chris starts elementary school!

Chris started kindergarten on the 23rd of August.  I can't believe he is old enough to be in kindergarten!  The Thursday before, he got a chance to meet his teacher and see his class room.  His teacher is really nice, and things have been going great so far.  On the first day, Naomi and I walked him to his classroom and got him settled in.  I explained to him that I would be there after school to pick him up, and gave him a big hug and told him I loved him.  I didn't get emotional that day; mostly, because I felt that he was so ready to be there, and had been so bored at home.  I did have a bit of a time the next few days, though, when I had to drop him off at the front doors.  After the first day, he had to make it to his room by himself.  He did do carpool drop-off at preschool last year, so it wasn't a totally foreign concept to either of us.  I guess it was just that there were so many kids, and he's expected to find things on his own a lot more.  I kind of felt like I was feeding him to the sharks.  Fortunately, that's just my over-protective motherly instincts kicking in.  He has done great, and is loving school.  I am realizing how important it is to make sure he has the skills necessary to make the right choices, since he's home so much less, and making his own choices so much more.  I love this kid, and am so grateful to be his mom!

dave gets his tonsils out

After dealing with strep, at least twice a year since moving to America, I finally convinced Dave to see an ENT and get everything checked out.  Especially since we had been passing it back and forth multiple times between our vacations.  The doctor took one look at his throat and said, "Those are some angry looking tonsils!  They need to come out".   It is an outpatient procedure, so we were in and out in about 4 hours.  The doctor also decided to take his adenoids at the same time.  He felt great as he was coming out of the anesthetic, and was even chatty. 

I brought him home, got him settled, called everyone to let them know how things had gone, and headed out to get his prescriptions.  The first and second days were okay.  He'd get sore if he talked too much, but was pretty mobile and not too sore.  Day 3 and 4 weren't as nice.  Getting your tonsils out as an adult is a pretty major deal.  I was worried about him, and did a lot of research before he went in to the hospital about what I could feed him during recovery.  What I discovered is that everyone is different as to what is tolerable, so I stocked up on lots of things so he would have choices.  He ended up going with stage 1 baby food (found that idea on a website - brilliant, right?!), tons of blue Gatorade, some water, avocados, natural Cheetos (since they're mostly air, and dissolve), boiled eggs after a week or so, and occasionally a popsicle.  From what I read, dairy products aren't good for people recovering from getting their adenoids/tonsils removed.  They cause a build up of phlegm, which creates a need to cough.  Coughing can rips the scabs off prematurely, and cause a lot of bleeding.  Something I didn't want either of us to have to deal with!  He did bleed a bit a few times, but didn't ever have any gushing.  It took him a full two weeks to recover, but now he's back to full health.  We're hoping to have put the strep behind us!

july {condensed}

July was another traveling month for us.  After we returned from Arizona, I unpacked and did all the laundry, so that we could pack it all up again for a trip to New York and Ontario, Canada to visit my mom's side of the family.  We had a great time!  We flew into Buffalo, and drove over to Palmyra where we stayed for a few nights.  It was nice to see all the sights and the pageant again, and especially nice that Dave and the kids were able to experience it too.  We asked the kids to be reverent while we were in the sacred grove, and they did a great job.  They both said that they could feel the spirit while we were there.

Saw some church history sites

Grandin printing press

Standing on original Joseph Smith family farm, with the Palmyra temple in the background.

Saw some church history sites.  Naomi LOVED my cousin Derek.  Everyone else, too, but especially Derek.

Pageant getting set up.  It was wonderful, and the kids were amazed.

Funny group shot.

After Palmyra, we drove up to my Aunt Marsha’s house.  I wasn’t feeling too well on the drive, and hoped that it was only a cold.  Unfortunately, it was strep – again!  Luckily one of my uncles was able to call in a prescription for me to a Walgreens in New York.  Dad and Dave drove down to pick it up for me, which was very much appreciated.  Unfortunately, having strep meant that I missed almost everything about being up there.  I was able to sit out on the porch for a little bit while everyone swam, but didn’t do much else.  I am glad I wasn’t sick at a hotel, though.

They did lots of fun stuff without me.

Niagara Falls was our next stop.  We saw the Canadian side, rode the trolley on the American side, and rode the Maid of the Mist.  Riding the boat up to the falls was a blast!  There is so much water coming over; it is amazing.  I recently read a book that said that only 50% of the potential water actually goes over the falls – the rest is diverted for the hydroelectric plant there.  And, during the night only 25% is allowed to go over.  I can’t imagine what it would be like with twice as much water going over.

crossing the border

cousins

The next morning we woke up early to make it to the airport for our flight.  It was delayed because of mechanical issues.  Dave called to see about our connecting flight in Cincinnati, which was a good thing!  If we had taken the flight out of Buffalo, we would have been stuck in the Cincinnati airport over night – we wouldn’t have been able to make any flights to DFW because of the delay.  So, instead of sleeping in the airport we decided to stay in Buffalo, where we already had a hotel.  Mom and Dad weren’t able to fly out either, so we had another day to spend together before leaving for home.  It was a fun vacation!

That left only one week remaining in July, which I used to catch up with everything around here.  What fun summer vacations we had!

june {condensed}

At the beginning of the month,  I helped plan the first Primary activity our presidency had done.  I think it turned out well.  The kids had fun, and learned about the prophets as well.  We had four stations, where a prophet of the Book of Mormon came to talk with the kids.  We had Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty, Nephi building the boat, the brother of Jared and the smooth stones, and I was in charge of Samuel the Lamenite.  I had someone from the ward dress up, and come tell Samuel’s story.  The kids were so excited to get to meet him!  After he told us his story, I had shields that I’d made for them, which said, “When I obey the Lord, I will be protected”.  I gave them each a sheet of aluminum foil and a piece of paper.  On the paper they wrote down something that they needed protection from.  Then they wadded up the paper in the foil, which represented a rock.  They practiced being protected with their shields and rocks.  As you can probably imagine, they had a lot of fun throwing the “rocks” and deflecting them with their shields.

Father’s day started off well, but didn’t end so great.  I made Dave a nice breakfast, and the kids gave him some presents and picked some flowers for him.  I had a little sore throat, but I thought it would get better as the day progressed.  Unfortunately, it got worse!  By the time the third hour of church came around, I was completely miserable and nauseous too.  I got Dave and the kids, and we left early.  I spent the rest of the day in bed, and went to the doctor the next morning.  It usually takes me a while to decide I should go to the doctor, so the fact that I went straight away shows how sick I really was.  I was diagnosed with strep, and got some antibiotics.  Man, was I miserable!  Unfortunately, Dave’s birthday was that Wednesday and I wasn’t feeling well enough to do anything for him.  He worked extra hard and took really good care of me and the kids while I was sick.

I finished up my recovery on the road out to Arizona, for a family reunion on my dad's side.  I like road trips, and the kids seem to enjoy themselves as well.  It was so fun to be at the family reunion and see everyone again.  We spent a few days at my grandparent's house, then traveled up to Sedona.  It is so gorgeous up there.

We had a barbecue

Watched the sunset over the red rocks

We all rode a ski lift up a mountain.  Some of us, are a little tinsy bit nervous about heights.  It's definitely genetics for me, from my dad's side.  Kind of a crazy vacation for a family of people a bit anxious when near the edge of things.  There was also a hot air balloon ride as well.  I found out on this trip how nervous Dave gets.  I guess I hadn't realized that about him before.

Posing for pictures at the top

We made it!

We also got to spend a day at the Grand Canyon, which I had never been to  before.  

Cousins

A rainbow over the Grand Canyon!

We stayed for the sunset

Which was amazing

We spent the night at my aunt's house, and then it was time to head back home. Unfortunately, on our way home, Dave got strep AGAIN!  He had had it on our way out, and then got it again on our way back.  He went to an ear, nose, and throat doctor when we got home.  The doctor told him that he would have to have his tonsils out.  That got taken care of in August.  Kind of a crummy end to our vacation, but we had a great time seeing some beautiful places, and enjoying family.

swim lessons

June started with swimming lessons, which are one of my favorite parts of the summer.  Both kids did fabulous in the water, and are doing even better now.  Chris was in level 1, and can swim across the pool by himself.  We're working with him on his strokes and kicks, but he can swim independently.  Naomi had her first year in the toddler class - without me in the water with her.  She had such a great time playing the games and practicing floating, kicking, and scooping the water.  Since lessons, she has started swimming short distances under water.  We're pretty impressed with her lack of fear - it also means we have to watch her pretty close!

may {condensed}

May was busy and fun for us.  Christopher finished up T-ball, and decided that it wasn’t really the sport for him.  He thought it was kind of boring, but since he’s only 5 we’ll probably try again sometime.  He’s signed up for soccer in the fall, so we’ll see if he likes that one any better.  It’s what he chose, so hopefully it will be fun for him. 

He “graduated” from preschool, with a ceremony and everything.  The kids sang a few songs, and each child got to say what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Christopher said, “a Daddy”, which made me smile, of course!  They each got a diploma and treats from their teachers.  It’s on to kindergarten in the fall!  He and I are both excited for that.  He gets bored around here, so it will be fun for him to have a new adventure.

 we were far away, and didn't have very good lighting.  chris is on the bottom row in the blue shirt

chris and ms blythe

 chris and ms. janet

 with jacob in his cubby

 getting ready for next year!

We celebrated Mother’s Day, which was fun.  I got breakfast in bed, flowers, and cards.  The kids tried extra hard to be nice to each other.  We had dinner at our place, and invited Donald and Stella, and Jonathan and Katie and their kids.  It was fun to spend Mother’s day together.  We were also able to all get on a conference call with Ben on his mission.  He comes home in September, so he’s getting close to being done.

At the end of the month, Jonathan and Katie surprised us with a trip to Forth Worth.  They booked us a hotel, and watched our kids for us over the weekend.  The are super duper, and we are really, really lucky to have such great family!  We mostly relaxed and walked around downtown, and enjoyed each other’s company.  There are a lot of fun shops to see.  It was nice to get to spend some time together, just the two of us.  The kids had a great time, too!  Memorial Day was the standard pool and barbecue, which kick-started our summer quite nicely!

april {condensed}

No pictures for April :(.  My camera was acting up, so we didn't get any.  Here is the month in a nutshell:

We really enjoyed General Conference.  The kids are old enough now to give us the chance to listen to almost all of the talks.  I enjoyed how many people spoke about families, and protecting them.  It felt very pertinent to me.  That Sunday, was of course, Easter.  The kids got their baskets, which just had fun little toys in them.  We watched Conference, then went over to Jonathan and Katie's for an egg hunt for the kids.  They had fun with their cousins looking for eggs.  Afterward, the kids played with their cousins, and the adults watched the last session.  I helped Katie in the kitchen, and we had a yummy Easter dinner.  It was a wonderful weekend! 

The other fun thing  was celebrating my birthday.  I was completely spoiled!  My friends took me out to lunch the day before, Katie watched my kids all afternoon, Donald and Stella had us all over for dinner and then kept the kids overnight so Dave and I could have a date, and Dave took me out for breakfast the next morning.  What fun! 

Other than that, we had a few get-togethers with some friends, which was fun.  And mostly just day-to-day activities.  Storytime at the library, piano lessons, preschool, T-ball practices and games, and church.  It all keeps us pretty busy, but I like it better that way.