Last first day of preschool

I realized today was the last first day of preschool for us. How can that be! Next year Jack will be in school 5 days a week!!! Today he was so excited to go in the big 4 year old room and he was super excited that he gets to bring snack in his lunch box. This year there are 3 Jacksons in the class. One spelled with an x and one spelled the same way. And it just so happens that the other Jackson has the exact same firetruck lunch box. What are the chances of that?!?! I'm taking bets on how soon Jackson starts going by Jack. Today we were practicing his name and he asked how many letters are in Jack? 

So proud of my big boy. He walked right in to class with no tears or fears. I'm sure going to miss my coffee and shopping buddy on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, but I'm thankful I get one more year of morning trips for coffee, Target, and library trips on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Crazy to think next year I'll have all 3 of my kids at Alamo!

Who is this child???

So I am not sure if it's the mix of going back to school, getting back into a routine which he thrives on, having normal sleep since his tonsils have been removed,  or the meds that we decided to try, but I look at Caden and I am in awe. I struggled with the idea of giving him medicine for his anxiety. I felt like it was an easy way out, but after talking to lots of doctors and from talking to his therapists and them feeling like we were just not getting any where we decided to try it. A friend said to me... If he was diabetic would you give him insulin? So after getting over my guilt we decided to do a trial period. While things are not magically beautiful - we have seen huge improvements. We have worked on eating certain foods for 3 years with tears, anxiety, and endless battles. The past two weeks he has eaten two and enjoyed them. He still looked at it unsure, but he put it in his mouth without feeling like it was going to kill him. And then the biggest moment was last week. I saw him at Wesley's birthday and he was swimming. He was still wearing a life jacket, but he had his whole face in the water and was swimming around. We have worked for years on baths, showers, and washing hair and it has not been pretty. On many occasions I was pretty sure the neighbors were going to call the police on us. He was so excited and counting down for swim lessons - that has NEVER happened. I am not going to lie there have been several happy tears this week. After suffering the hardest few months with him that  made us question so many things about how to handle him and put a huge stress on our family, I feel like we are finally able to breathe a little. Caden's case manager has been so great and told us she sees these roller coasters with kids. We are happy to be finally sailing down the roller coaster right now.  So while I wish I had a magical mirror to know what it is that is helping things click - I am just so happy to have these days and these experiences with him.

Sunriver

Sunriver was just what we needed after our CRAZY summer. We officially win for the craziest summer. I tell people that and they keep trying to top it and then I keep adding to our list. I mean who really has a child in the hospital, a child with lice, a birth, a death, another child having surgery, and then a fire at their home????
We headed to Sunriver in the wee hours of the morning like we normally do and I had stayed up late to finish the packing since Daddy went to bed super early to drive. I  finally headed to bed for 3 hours to find that Daddy hadn't fallen asleep! Ugghhh..... After driving about 30 minutes on the road Chris had me take over the driving. That NEVER happens - so on 3 hours of sleep and a very large Coke I got us going on our road trip. After about 15 minutes on the road my check engine light came on. I didn't want to say it, but I was kind of thinking with our luck this summer that my van breaking down was next on the list of things to happen. I decided that we were in the middle of no where and we were just going to keep trucking! Thankfully we made it to our Sunriver house, unloaded our packed to the roof van, and the light came off!!!
We spent the next 5 days at my happy place with one of our favorite families the DeTars. The kids were beside themselves that we were staying in the same house. We lucked out and managed to get an incredible house that had the perfect floor plan for our two families. During our trip our family had some firsts. Caden and Emmeline biked to river all by themselves with no training wheels. Daddy was super happy he didn't have to haul a heavy bike trailer. We made it this year to the horse stables. I came out to find Emmeline on a pony with a borrowed helmet on her head when I sent her with HER HELMET!!! I really thought I was going to have a panic attack and Chris was standing their just smiling because he knew I was going to go crazy! A couple more firsts... Emmeline biked all the way to Village, was tall enough for the water slides, and the family went on their first rafting trip. Thankfully we opted to do the nighttime family float that was half the distance. I don't think we would have survived the full trip. Jackson only almost fell in once. I was not allowed to paddle after getting us all turned around and kept making us go in circles. We only crashed into one group of trees,  stayed on course and didn't get into the wild rapids, saw a beaver, had a little fun competition with our fellow rafters the DeTars, and swatted away a ton of bugs, but we had a ton of fun! Oh did I mention that our raft and the DeTars were the VERY LAST rafts to make it back in. We will just say our story is that we were enjoying a nice relaxing night on the river and it had nothing to do with our lack of paddling skills. Thankfully there were still s'mores and a good ole sing along with the most precious old cowboy still waiting for us.
We had such a blast this year. The trip went way too fast. I am already counting down until we can go back to my happy place!

Bee Stings

Emmeline suffered her very first bee sting and the crazy thing is that it happened of all places inside our house! I heard a scream and came in to find her crying and hopping up and down. I happened to glance down and see a bee on the ground and put two and two together. The poor thing was miserable and I was kind of a mess trying to figure out what to do. I have never been stung by a bee so I turned to the internet for research and help. The first thing it told me to do was remove the stinger. Her poor foot was swelling up and turning red and I had no idea what the stinger looked like to try and remove it. I kind of assumed it wasn't in there and I talked her into a bath to soak it out just in case. A little bit of benadryl and ice  and she was golden.

Happy Birthday Wes-a-ley

Happy Birthday to on of our favorite little buddies. Jackson was counting the days until the big celebration. I need to record Jack saying Wesley before he out grows it, but he manages to add an extra syllable in there. 

We had so much fun at his  construction party. His mama did an AMAZING job and doing it all while in the final stretch if being pregnant is amazing!!!!

Happy Birthday Wesley Simon. We love watching you grow and discover things. It gives us so much joy to see you play with our kiddos. I smile when I think about all the mischief you and  Jack are sure to create over the years!  We love you sooo much! 

Put me in coach

Tonight the big kids went to a Rivercats game with Daddy, Uncle J, and Papa. Since they were off having fun I thought we would have Jack's best buddy over did dinner. These two crack each other up and crack me up!

After dinner, playing outside, and Popsicles it was bath time. And bath time with your best friend is so much better. I learned tonight to be clearer with my directions. These two are going to be trouble when they are teens.

After bath time I came out to find Jack all dressed up. I think he was hoping he was at the game. He was so funny trying to play ball with Wesley. Oh Mr. Jackson you always keep me on my toes.

First Grade

Today my babies head back to school!!!! They both had a small case of the jitters last night and Mommy had a BIG case. I think I know too much about situations that could arise that wanted to prep them and may have really just planted ideas in their heads. We practiced eating out of our lunch box, organizing their folder, rules on the playground, and lots about about bathroom etiquette. 

The kids were in great moods in the morning and I was able to snap some pics. 

Emmeline 

Age 7

First Grade - Mrs. Colombani 

When I grow up I want to be a swim coach. 

Caden Jonathon

Age 7 

First Grade Mrs. Colombani 

When I grow up I want to be a baseball player. 

Off to school they went. They were so exited to see their friends and new teacher.

I picked them up at the end of the day and they came out all smiles. So thankful they had a great day!

Happy Birthday

Today we celebrated this guy! A very special happy birthday to my amazing husband and even more amazing Daddy to our 3 kiddos. He didn't want much besides a nap, ESPN, ribs, and ice cream pie. Thankfully those requests were easy and we were able to make all of them happen. We even had a special visitor - little Miss Hailey was all dressed for the party and was so awake! 

Happy Birthday Babe! We love you and hope you had a great day! 

Socks

Today I had an opportunity to help with an amazing event. Today we helped 20 foster kids in our area go back to school shopping. I was paired up with the sweetest 5 year old boy going into kindergarten. He was so excited to get his own, new socks, and "cool" underwear. I just about lost it when he asked if he could have some real pajamas because he doesn't have any. It was so much fun and he was so impressed that i knew all the Ninja turtles, Superheroes, and Star Wars. Kohls had some amazing sales and he was able to get a lot of needed items. I wish I could have snapped a picture because he was beside himself that he could get a Ninja Turtle sweatshirt that has a turtle mask. It's the same one Jack has, the same one that Jack could care less about and yet this sweatshirt was like Christmas morning. I met so many great kids and people who work or volunteer for CASA. What an important organization with not enough help. During donuts and juice the kids got some treats from Chick-Fil-A. One of the things was a small stuffed cow. They could not stop playing With them. Meanwhile my kids have destroyed or thrown away at least four of them. 

It wrap up the event we were able to get backpacks donated and I am setting up a lunchbox drive on Saturday at Chick Fil A. It really was heart wrenching to see these kids and hear their story. I almost lost it in front of the big boys when they were showing their newest prized possession a pair of Nikes. They were so happy to have "real" shoes not a generic brand. I can not wait to collect lunch boxes for these kiddos and to help with a another event.