Kindergarten, Here We Come!

Reality has finally hit me! I am now the mother of two "school-age" boys. Wow, does time fly by! This entire summer I've been looking foward to school starting and wondering to myself, "Am I a bad mother for being so anxious for my boys to go to school?". Well, it all caught up with me this past week. I've been a little emotional, to say the least. I have learned that I had better start enjoying and cherishing every moment with them because they do grow up fast!

Yesterday morning was a little chaotic as the boys are used to sleeping in and "lounging" around the house all day. A perk when your mom stays home. Once they got up and moving they were pretty excited. I will definately have to get them into a better morning routine!

My handsome little guys!

Greyson & Kaeden

Greyson is such a ham.

Kaeden is such a cutie.

Checking out the action at the playground.

Enough already, mom!

Proud papa!

Proud mama!

Kaeden, Alex & Greyson.

Alex is our neighbor and Kaeden's best friend.

Sarah, my best friend and Alex's mom, hope to capture pics of our boys together every year as they grow up.

Mrs. Cox counting Kaeden in her list of students.

Kaeden: "I think this is going to be a piece of cake! Don't you Alex?"

Greyson waiting patiently in line.

Greyson: "I'm ready, how about you?"

Kaeden waits patiently.

Kaeden waves to all of his "older" friends.

And they're off, sniff, sniff. Kaeden never looked back at us once!

Greyson looked back and waved at us until he was through the doors.

Both boys had a wonderful day and loved every minute of it. As the retold the details of their day to different people (ie: mom, dad, dad's co-workers, grandma & grandpa) I learned more and more about how the day went. It was so much fun to listen to their animated tales! At this point they enjoy school and look foward to going back tomorrow. We'll see how long that lasts.

Open House

Well, the day finally arrived for us to check out the boys' classrooms during the school open house. The boys have been counting down the days ever since we purchased their school supplies. Andy and I also had to attend a "Parent Meeting" for kindergartners. We arrived a little early so we could go to each boys' classroom as a family. We helped each of them disperse their supplies according to their teacher's orders.

Bless their little hearts, they put up with so much from me! I made them each sit down in their own chair so I could get a picture. They were very proud of their "new" spot! Now the countdown begins for the first day of school.

U GOTTA LOVE IT!

YEAH! It's time for the Iowa State Fair! Can't you just feel the excitement?! Doesn't it show on Andy's face? Well, the boys and I were excited anyway.

We made our 7th annual family trip to the fair this past Saturday. For those of you who may not remember, our first "family" trip to the fair was made while the boys were still in utero and I was being pushed around in a wheelchair by my loving husband! I had begged and pleaded that my OB/GYN allow me to attend the fair just once. Who could pass up the opportunity to go to the fair and stuff yourself with all of the wonderfully delicious foods and have an extremely good reason to be eating so much (I was eating for three after all)?! I have to admit that I probably over did it while there because a couple of days later I ended up in pre-term labor, had to go to Mercy Hospital via the Newton Ambulance and spent several days in the hospital, later to be sent home on bedrest. Luckily, the boys waited a few more weeks and were born big & healthy and we've been going to the fair every year since!

Our first stop of the day was the "Little Hands on the Farm". They have gone through that since they were old enough to walk and still enjoy it thoroughly. Although, Andy and I feel that they are almost too old for it.

The boys have donned their aprons and are off with their buckets.

Greyson plants his seed.

Kaeden plants his seed.

Kaeden on the tractor. (This is why we think they are too old.)

Greyson on the tractor. (They are almost too big to even peddle it.)

Who's gonna win?

It's amazing how fast your money goes when at the fair:

• 2 adult tickets: $12.00
• parking: $6.00
• drinks: $12.00
• food: $50.00
• rides: $6.00
• the look on your children's face while at the fair:
  

PRICELESS!

We had a "first" at the fair this year. We let the boys go down the Giant Slide all by themselves. Sniff, sniff. They were thrilled! We were concerned! My fears were: a) they wouldn't want to climb ALL the way to the top by themselves; b) once at the top they would want to come back down; c) they wouldn't slide down and d) they would cry from fear once at the bottom again. Well, they did just fine....sniff, sniff. My boys, er, I mean little men are growing up! They absolutely loved it! Kaeden was smiling the whole way down and said it was bumpy. Greyson, however, had a very serious expression on his face the ENTIRE way down until he came to a stop at the end and then broke out into the hugest smile! It was a blast to watch them!

Kaeden sliding down.

Here comes Greyson.

Meeting Clifford.

Our future Cyclones!!! We already have them hooked.

A very tired Greyson.

An exhausted Kaeden.

All in all we had a wonderful day! The boys' favorite things were the animal barns, watching the ice carver and getting nailed with ice shavings and the Mechbot Robot Wars (daddy liked that too). We'll see what next year has to bring for our family.

Preparing for Kindergarten

Our house has been full of energy and excitement this past week! The cause....two boys who are preparing for kindergarten. A couple of the families that I provide daycare for were on vacation this past week so I decided to take full advantage of that and pack the week full of "need to do's" for the boys. The week started off with me registering the boys for school on Monday. Reality finally hit me once I saw their class list and discovered what teacher each of the boys had. Greyson will be in "Ms. B's" (Ms. Berkenbosch) class and Kaeden will be in Mrs. Cox's class. They were both very excited and made me read the list of their fellow classmates. As I read the lists to them, I would here an occasional "Yes!" or clap of hands to show their growing enthusiasm. As we walked out of the school that day, both boys beaming, I couldn't believe that my "babies" were actually going to be in school full time now.

After registering them for school, we then ventured to the Dentist's office for a regular check-up. Both of the boys saw Dr. Matt and came out with no cavities and a set of sparkling clean teeth. They do pretty good for the dentist, they just think his toothpaste "tastes icky", but they love the fact that they get a sticker and a new toothbrush!

Wednesday brought on a whole new "barrel of fun".....NOT! That afternoon we went to see Dr. Frost to have their kindergarten physical. Now, I had been preparing them for this for a couple of weeks to help them to be brave and strong, but if I had been them, I would have been terrified too! I enlisted mom's help that day because I knew I couldn't do it alone and I was right! We started off by having to give a urine specimen and have their finger poked or "finger shot" as they called it. Leaving the "specimen" brought on an entire onslaught of questions to which I had few answers. After leaving the restroom sweaty and frazzled, I then had to sit down with each one of them while they had to get their finger poked. Greyson took it like a champ, but Kaeden needed a little coaxing and had to add in his last minute "Wait! Don't do it yet. Mom, I need to tell you something.....I love you." and as I told him I loved him back, I held out his finger and they poked it. Sob, Sob. Next came the actual appointment. I decided to do one of them at a time, so mom stayed in the waiting room with Greyson as Kaeden and I headed back to the exam room. The few minutes spent with the Dr. went fine, but after that it kinda' becomes a total blur. I remember the nurses coming in with a tray carrying FOUR syringes, all lined up. They had me sit in the chair, Kaeden standing, facing me, my legs wrapped around his legs, me holding him in a "bear hug" while also having a tight grip on each arm as they proceeded to give him two shots (one at a time, mind you) in each arm. That was one of the hardest things to to do, to see and to hear. I felt HORRIBLE and physically and emotionally drained.....and I still had one more child to endure that with. Sigh! Once Kaeden had stopped crying and Marsha (Dr. Frost's WONDERFUL nurse) had talked him to going with her to get a sucker and stickers, I went out to the waiting room to retrieve my other child. When I got out there mom asked "Why are you so hot and sweaty? Did he do that bad for you?". Well, she soon found out Why I was so hot & sweaty because she came into the room with me as Greyson was being examined and received his shots. When the nurses left the room she then said "Oh, now I know why you were so hot & sweaty".

All in all, the boys did darn good! Poor things! I wouldn't want to sit through four shots either. Andy and I rewarded them by taking them to the McDonald's in Altoona for supper. After they were done eating, they played in the "Play Place" for over 30 minutes. Bribery can get you far...sometimes, anyway.

Greyson loses some teeth.

Well, we have hit another milestone in our home. One week ago today Greyson lost his first tooth! Both of his bottom middle teeth were loose, but one was on the verge of falling out completely. He woke up last Friday morning and said "Mommy, looky!" and when I looked, he had his tooth pulled all the way down to the point that I could see the raw gum underneath. He then ran into the bathroom to look in the mirror. When he came back out, he showed me that he had twisted his tooth about 180 degrees. I winced when I saw that. He then started to whine and said that he couldn't eat breakfast because it would hurt his tooth. I told him that maybe if he twisted it a little more it just might pop out. He ran back into the bathroom for about 15 seconds and then came back out...tooth in hand....beaming! He was soooo proud of himself, as was I. He then called daddy to tell him. He stood in front of the mirror, grinning from ear to ear the entire time he was telling daddy. It was so cute!

Then, yesterday my "little man" pulled out his other loose tooth. Last night we stopped by Andy's parents house so Greyson could show off his new "smile" and Grandma called him toothless and he responded by saying "why do you old people keep calling me toothless?". She just laughed and said "I'm not old!"

Oh, the things kids say....

Greyson showing me his "twisted" tooth

The first one's gone

Two down, many more to go

Welcome to our family!

Seeings how the internet is the most popular way to keep in touch, I thought I would create a blog of our family to keep everyone "in the loop". With three out of our four siblings living a good distance away, we can keep them up to date on everything that is going on in our little family. So to all of you I say "Welcome!".