School Days

Friday August 28, 2009

Skylar's First Day of school. Ok, so I am behind, I know. We decided that we were going to send Skylar to preschool this year. She was content to stay home last year and be the big sister to her new baby brother, Kamden. We figured she could gain some sense of independence from Dustin and be in charge for a little while. That went well. Then towards the end of last year she said, "When is it my turn to go to school, I am ready now?" I was sad to hear those words but thankful that we were on the same page.

So the new year was here and Dustin was starting first grade on Wednesday and Friday was her turn to start. We decided to have a girl's day the day before she went. It was an enjoyable day of dresses at Savers and lunch at Friendly's.

Friday was here and she had been bouncing for days anticipating this day. We dressed her in one of her dresses (because you have to wear a dress the first day, right!) She had her hair done in braids and was ready to begin. We walked her to the meeting area and took pictures. Can't miss that moment. The first day of school ever. Then I knelt down and kissed her head and said, "We're going to take Dustin to class (as much as they fight, he wanted to see her off on her big day) and we'll wave to you when we come back through." She quietly says, "I want to come with you." I assured her that Mrs. Lusa would be there and I would pick her up after school. Then I quickly turned myself away to shield her from seeing the tears that ran down my face. I knew she would be fine but it is so hard to see your babies take steps. I walked into the school to teachers asking if I was ok. Fighting back the crying fit, I tried to motion a little body. They looked at me, with tears running down my face, camera hanging off my shoulder... You have a preschooler starting today.

She had a wonderful day and is so excited to share some time with new and old friends (siblings of children in Dustin's classes). She is eager to share with the teachers her ability to read at four years old as well as to be able to "eat snack, and you don't even know I ate it, mommy." The wonderful things about going to preschool.

Daddy was certain to get the morning free to see you off to school, Sunshine!

Happy Day, August 22

So many blessings in just one day. Happy Birthday, Adam. So blessed to have you near. Action Air Systems: what a blessing to have a job in the field of Adam's study. To make it even more fun for the day we headed to the company's annual "Employee Appreciation Day" at Lake Compounce. What a day of excitement. We asked Grandma and Grandpa Sherwood to watch Kamden to make it more of an enjoyable, free running day for him. They were excited about their day of bonding with him one-on-one, filled with sprinklers, sand and balloons from Walmart.



For myself it was a day to take each of the others and truely get to see their excitement at its fullest. Just watching Skylar in her matching Action Air t-shirt sit on the carosel horse next to daddy and laugh so much that she would tip her head up to the sky. I just watched that little head, hair in such a grown up bun, laugh and smile so innocently. Boy, there is nothing that will take that moment from me. Dustin just could not get enough of the water slides. I watched as he conquered some of his fears of heights and climbed again and again to the top of the Splash Harbor tower to await his turn to get the bucket of water dumped on his head then slide down this tunnel in the dark. Wow, the smile that was plastered on his face each time he make it down. Then as we waited, just him and I, to go down the tall slide separately and race to the bottom. How nice to spend that time with him awaiting such fun.



As the day came to a close and I realized that other than buying Adam a breakfast sandwich and his gift, I had not prepared anything special for Adam's special day. I apologized to my husband for Lake Compounce Day taking the place of his special day. He said to me, "You don't have to apologize for today. It was a wonderful day filled with smiles, laughter, no time outs, no spankings, and almost no crying (sorry Skylar for the green water slide.)" He said, any day like that is a great birthday gift for me. It made me realize how much I love him and his way of thinking, his appreciation for time well spent with his family. I, too, want that for my birthday. A day of enjoying the family.



Pictures to come when the water camera is developed ..

V

Lost Tooth

So much happening in such a short amount of time. Just another reminder of how fast our little ones do grow. As Dustin is 3 days away from going to First Grade he prepares to lose his first tooth. He has wiggled it and had become excited about his big teeth growing in already. We had avoided telling him that it will bleed. Sure enough it fell out on Sunday while he was in the swimming pool. We left the neighbors to enjoy their swim and came running in to show daddy. I come in seconds behind him to small tears of excitement and anxiousness to hear him say, "It's bleeding." Good thing there was excitement going on around because we assured him that it was supposed to and he handed me the tooth and ran back to the pool.



He insisted on putting it under his pillow to see if he would get coins like his friends at school had talked about. The first night nothing happened. He was disappointed. This opened up the conversation about patience and what would happen to this tooth. He was startled to find out that the tooth would not be there if something special took it's place. So we agreed to leave a note to inform "someone special" that he was done showing it off and was ready to trade. Wait til he gets up and finds that someone special has left him something special.

Those first grade pictures are going to be fun. Gotta save those.

The Lord's Reminder During Ice Cream

So we decided to take the kids to the Ashford Dari Bar for Dustin's last day of summer vacation. It was a nice idea since we had not gone at all this year and we live right down the street. So we packed up a cup of Italian Ice for Kamden and searched out our gift certificate winnings and headed to get some ice cream. No one dressed fancy, hair done in a bun from getting out of the pool just moments before going. I will admit that Adam grabbed a lounging t-shirt from somewhere. That is my polite way of saying it carried some wrinkles. I do love you, George. Just trying to remember the moment for what it was. But as we sit there eating our ice cream a man gently walks over to where we are sitting and politely says, "You have a beautiful family. Have a blessed day." Wow, what a reminder to take that moment to reflect on the wonderful family that the Lord has given to me. He does not judge for the clothes we wear or how our hair looks, He loves us unconditionally. He knew that I needed that reminder take time to see us.

So as in years passed we ate our ice cream and then tossed around the football. Dustin is such a wonderful reminder of keeping with "tradition." If you do it once, he will help you remember to keep it going. It is the little things. Oh, I am so excited to have been given that reminder of my blessings tonight.

Summer Fun At Nana's

Did someone say it was time for backyard baseball?

Must run in the family.

So here I am about to add my culmination of August activities all into one post. The main reason for this style of doing this, is due to my lack of knowledge, thus far, on how to get my camera and computer to cooperate with eachother. Okay, so maybe it is not the camera or the computer's fault but rather the operator not taking the time to find out how to use them in conjunction with eachother. Well, anyway... I have some pictures that I want to add with each of my posts but well...you've heard the story. So here they are.

My grandparents came up from Florida again this year. It is always a mystery whether they will come again since they insist on driving and their health is questionable sometimes as to if they can stand the drive. So when they announce that they are coming we are so thankful to get the chance to see them.

It is in the little moments that I take such joy in remembering. The weekend was not filled with amusement parks or extravagant picnics but in just making memories, building new bonds and strengthening existing. Treasure each moment as we do not know when it will be our last.

4 Generations of Waites

Adam and Kamden working the stick T-ball set.

Say, "Cheese".


By far, Dustin's favorite part of the trip.

My grandma took a particular liking to Kamden, as she did to both of the others when she saw them at this age. I was nervous about our sneaking up to my mom's house the night before our announcing that we would be there. My grandma tends to enjoy the quiet, or so I thought. She coould not keep from bending her little body over to play baby games with Kamden or to throw him a ball or pass him a cracker.

Her biggest joy came from following him around repeating his favorite phrase, "Hey, Hey, Hey."

Grandma even took the time to share the secret family recipe of real German "badada salad". Sorry Adam but we will have to wait for Skylar to make it. We have a better chance of her making it before I do. Ha.

I look forward to making new memories when they possibly come up next year. They say if they come next year they will fly. That means that have not ruled it out. With this much fun, how could you turn it away?

I Did It

Learning a little more each day. Thanks for the help, girl.

Think Before You Speak

Many of you know that hot weather is not my thing. It definately does not bring out my most patient side. Not something I am proud of but atleast I am working on it and honest enough to admit it is a short coming of mine. But I knew it would be a day that I would need help from the Lord, so I was sure to start my day with my devotion as I am making more of an effort to start my day with Him rather than call upon His name just in my time of need. Or more so, to start my day in frustration and then seek Him after than. But as I was saying, I started my day reading, in Proverbs, about sharing the joy of the Lord. So I decided, as my cell rang, that during this heat wave I would go ahead and invite the friend over for the use of the pool that I am not sure I would want to be without right now. She willingly accepted the invitation for her and her two children to come over. So here I am now needing to tidy up. On the top of that list was to run the vaccum quickly over the grass pieces run through the house by the children from the lawn being cut, the pine needles that endlessly seem to hitch a ride on one of the children, and to suck up that dirt that needed a ride back to the softball field that Kamden seems to think he can take home in his shoes to add to his sandbox.


Dustin was so willing to help in order to ease some of my frustrations that were already seeming to boil. (I guess he could tell by the steaming lava face. And I don't mean that in an angry manner. I was that my face was so red from the heat.) As I toss in a load of laundry, he decides to start the vaccum but in doing so detached the belt. Which I then tried to reattach and broke. Now I was red from the blinders that only allowed me to see that he had "broken" my vaccum. Neglecting to see that he was trying to help, and that I in actuality had truley broken the vaccum belt. I sent him away since the lava was now boiling over.


As he went crying to his room, I thought...what are you doing? Where is the joy? Moments later this sweet boy comes out of his room with a few dollar bills and some change in his hands. I felt horrible. Wow, did the Lord know my day before it started. What a blessing that He tries to prepare us if we are willing to listen.


"The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love." Proverbs 103:8

Out From Behind The Camera

As many of you doing blogs know, getting out from behind the camera is hard to do. All too often I find that there are no pictures of me with my children. I enjoy capturing the tiny moments in their lives and those of them interacting with each other or daddy. I desire so much to savor those moments for both myself and for each of them. They grow so fast and we seem to forget some of the little moments. I think much of my eagerness to capture those moments comes from not having any photos of myself growing up. I do not have baby pictures, no family group shots, or even just splashing in the pool with the cousins. It is from that circumstance that has come an overly eager desire to capture all of my children's moments. And so far they are not hiding behind pillows or shooing me like the paparazzi.
I picked up my pictures of my aunt's wedding and was excited to see an unexpected surprise. You could say, "Well, why is it such a surprise? Isn't it your camera and didn't you pose for the picture?" And I would respond with, "Yes, but my mom does not see without her glasses!" She took the picture by pointing and clicking. So thankful that I am blessed with a camera and the time to share with my children.

Playing With Pictures

Did I ever mention why we don't give Kamden amoxicillin? The pictures speak for themselves.

I am learning more about blogging and how to position pics, scan kids' pictures from the printer/copier and perhaps share those pics that are stuck in my camera like a digital camera commercial. I'll get there.

I Scanned This Myself

So we started our morning out like every other Saturday, hoping to catch a couple extra winks after being out late at a softball game. Well, our little Kamden Bear is not always as cooperative as we would like. He feels like he has gotten enough sleep and is ready to be up with the sun. I can not blame him, afterall, it is actually morning. As most days start out, Dustin and Skylar are fueding about something. That is what brothers and sisters are supposed to do right!? So my nerves are a little frayed before I have started my day. So I plan to run down to the post office and pay some rediculous price for postage stamps and pick up our library winnings. (As mentioned in the previous post.) Before I head out the door my sweet sunshine, Skylar hands me this empty diaper box. The one her and her brother were fighting over the day before. Out of the box she pulls this piece of paper and two stuffed puppies dressed in their jammies.

As I looked at her message with all her independence and sacrifice it made me just melt. One of these puppies that she was willing to share was one that she had just gotten as a special gift. Now Skylar is an animal lover and snuggles both real and stuffed just the same. But the time and effort it took that little girl to write me a letter was just a sweet, innocent, blessing for my day.

Summer Fun

Just picked up the free tickets we earned from the library summer reading program. With Skylar's desire to read and Dustin's desire to keep up with how many she is reading, they were able to win chances for these free tickets. And since I am a stay at home mom and have little money for doing those day trips, it is such a treat to have someone else treat. We have won tickets to a Jorgensen show, tickets to the Ashford Dari Bar, and a marker art set. Wow, what a blessing to be able to be given such treats. (You know free ice cream over here just tops the cake.)

God's Timing

I woke this morning, preparing for my day of watching our neice and nephew. I had a day of "secret agent" stuff prepared. We decorated secret agent clue bags, after we got our secret agent name badges. Then we were off to the school playground where we would refer to our secret agent notebook for the clues we needed to search for; sticks in the shape of a "y", as many leaves as you are old... The some swimming in the pool. But that is not the start of our blessings for today.
As my sister-in-law was leaving out the door she heard a noise from beside the house (where that wonderful pool is located.) I brushed it off as the cats waiting for breakfast. She was insistant to check it out. I followed her to find that our neighborhood kitty, Jack, had fallen in our pool and could not climb her way out. I scaled the pool side and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and pulled her out. A very unhappy, dripping wet kitty ran her way home.
As the kids and I went about our day there was not a one of us that was not thankful for the chance to save this one eyed precious kitty. Oh, imagine that we had not been walking out the door at that moment. What an unpleasant surprise that could have been as four children prepared for a day of swimming fun:( Thank you for the Lord's timing.
As we went over to tell the kitty's mom she shared the story of how "Jack" had come to her family and shared that her name is Faith. A reminder for our day.

Wonderful Wedding

Yesterday my aunt got married to a man that makes her so happy. I was so thankful to have played a part in making their day special. I made my first attempt at making a 5 tiered wedding cake. (I have never made any wedding cake before. Nevermind, a tiered one.) It came out beautiful, was the concensus. And it even tasted good.
I was also in charge of taking pictures. Boy do I feel so great about having the materials to share with others especially for such a special day. Once I figure out how to set the pictures up, I will share them.
Sharing in the joys of a new wedding make you remember your own and the blessing of being married to a wonderful man.

Here it is:

A New Journey

So here I am about to start the journey. Blogging to journal for myself the daily blessings that the Lord has so graciously given to me. All to often we end the day wondering what we have accomlished or what we have to be thankful for and I want to be able to see those things. The Lord has blessed me, and continues to, bless me and my family and now I am ready to see it.