Young Love...

Child #3 started Kindergarten last fall. He's always been my happy boy, his nickname is my 95% boy because he literally is happy 95% of the time... that other 5% can be mindbogglingly terrifying to behold. He is also a total social butterfly. EVERYONE knows his name. We went to Fall Carnival at their elementary school last year and within 5 minutes of being there we literally had 50 different people say hi to him by name.

Several months ago he happen to mention in conversation that he had a girlfriend.

Hubby and I looked at each other... really?!? A girlfriend.

I asked him "does she know?" because honestly just because he likes a girl doesn't mean she knows who he is. Right?

"Oh yes."

What's her name?

"S-".

Yep, she exists and she's his girlfriend. We bumped into her mom at a school event. She knew ALL about Child #3 because her daughter talks about him a lot because he's her boyfriend.

ACK!!

He's SIX!! And so is she!! Holy cow! And he brings home little hearts and notes with "I heart U" on them from her. It is so sweeeet. Thankfully her parents think its sweet and funny too.

He wrote their initials in the sand in a heart at the beach last month.

Their kindergarten teacher Ms. C told me that they have these deep intellectual conversation together too. So it isn't just they think each other are cute. They love each others amazing and creative intelligent brains too. They were tested for the Talented & Gifted program together.

Both of them wrote in their end of school memory journals that they will always remember each other and each other are their "special" friend.



Her mom sent me this picture from Field Day at school last week.


It's six going on SIXTEEN!! ACK!!


I'm not ready for this. LOL!!

And so it begins...

Today is the official first day of summer vacation.

We decided to go to the Cedar Park Farmer's Market. Hubby has been craving one of the cherry danishes from Sweetish Hill Bakery. We load everyone up and head over there.

It was hot, not unbearable but none the less hot. We weren't there 20 minutes and Child #3 suddenly doesn't feel well. Like "spit yuckies" feel bad. So I quickly steered him out of the middle of the food vendors over the one of the grassy medians of the parking lot behind the vendor tents. I held him kind of hanging in my arms over some grass in case he actually had to throw up. Thankfully he never really did only gagged slightly and moaned a lot.

Yeah. Sick child on the first day of summer vacation.

Needless to say we headed straight home again. We thought he might be dehydrated after all the running around outside he did yesterday.

At least Hubby was able to snag the last cherry danish before they sold out.

Once home the boy layed down on the couch. Everyone else was outside playing when Child #1 noticed that he looked hot. He spiked a 101.8 fever. Lovely. He proceeded to crash and sleep on the couch for the next couple of hours. He never did throw up but did have to visit the bathroom several times for "other reasons". Poor buddy.

He seems to be recovering with lots of rest and light eating. He went straight to bed without the slightest complaint.

We ended up missing Hubby's best friends promotion celebration party but alas can't take a sick child out. Here's to hoping no one else gets sick.

Last Day of School...

Hubby got home about mid morning right before it was time to take Child #4 to Pre-K. She didn't hear him come in so when I called her downstairs she squealed on the middle of the stairs and launched herself into his arms. Yep, she was happy Daddy was home.

After taking Child #4 and a friend to school, Hubby and I went to lunch. Then it was time to hit the End of the School Year class parties. Four of them. This year and next year are the only years where all four kids will be at the same school at the same time. Next year they will be in for the same hours since Child #4 will be in full day Kindergarten (she better get Ms C!!!).

All four parties were outside for part of it. In that lovely Texas heat! Thankfully it was only up to 94 degrees while we were outside. Seriously were they trying to give us heat stroke? Could have been worse, it hit 100 degrees two days earlier. The older three were surprised to see Hubby since they didn't know he was going to be home so early on Friday and he doesn't usually get to come to the school parties.

It's official. The 2010-2011 school year is now OVER!! It's summer vacation.

Child #1 is very happy! She doesn't have to wake up early in the mornings.

Child #2 is also happy because he doesn't have to wake up early or do "reading" anymore. Little does he realize he will still be doing reading this summer.

Child #3 is conflicted. He LOVES school so much. He loves his teacher, he loves his classmates and his special friend, and he loves learning. But he is happy about not having to wake up early.

Honestly who are they kidding?? Okay so I'm not waking them up at 7am, they are all awake by 8am anyways. Okay Child #1 will sleep in later if the boys don't wake her up.

Child #4 is indifferent in that classic Child #4 way.

Report cards came home and were awesome all around.
Child #1 ended up with straight A's for the year. She was quite proud of how well she was able to bring her grades up from the B's of last quarter.
Child #2 was able to show marked improvement all around and his teacher was so impressed with how much progress he made in reading & writing.
Child #3 maxed out in just about everything just like we knew he would... my little brainiac. Child #4 improved her oral language from 6 yr 4 months to 10 years 2 months! Which means she has the vocabulary of a 4 grader! She's not even 5 yrs yet! We definitely saw that learning spike in her speech... she's always been a talker once she decided she wanted to talk but its increase exponentially this year. Seriously get her alone and she will overwhelm you with her constant stream of verbal conscientiousness. She'll make your ears start to hurt and your head spin.

Sadly we will be missing Child #1's teacher Mrs. F. next year. Between the budget cuts and the soon arrival of her first child she won't be returning to Jollyville next year. So wrong that we lose those amazing young and vibrant teachers to the budget just because they were the most recent hires. I'm hoping that in a few years she'll be back...

So now its time for sleeping in (HA!), loose schedules, lazy & carefree days, fun in the sprinklers, and lots of trying to not kill each other days.

Piano Recital

So Child#1 has been taking piano (midi) lessons at school for two years now. Tonight was her end of year recital.

She did great, no mistakes, good tempo and didn't have to stop and find her place on the sheet music.

It would be amazing how much better she could play if she actually practiced. She has such natural talent... but practice would help. She decided last month that she didn't want to do piano anymore but she couldn't just quit with only 6 weeks left! Besides she has a duet and it wouldn't be fair to quit on her partner like that. So she soldiered on and finish out the year but I don't think she'll play next year.

Maybe one of the other kids would want to take piano...

Single Parenting.

Hubby had to leave for two weeks early this morning. He has to attend an AGR course/class in Brownwood TX (about 3 hours away) for the next two weeks for work. He'll be back sometime on the 27th, the last day of school. Hopefully he get to come to the kids school parties.

So its time to switch into the "single parent" mode.

The Posse spend the night again...

Child #1 had a slumber party for her birthday earlier this year. I had to limit the number of people to 3 friends plus Child #1. Her bedroom floor is only so big. It was difficult for her to decide who to invite because her "Posse" as I like to call them numbers about 4 + her in her class and two more in one of the other 4th grade classes. She decided who to invite

Unfortunately not all of her "Posse" were able to come, especially her BFF K. So I'd promised her that she would be able to have another sleep over with some of her friends again. So she invited two of the friends that weren't able to come last time and her other BFF.

Hubby has drill this weekend before going out of town for two weeks... so why not, let's do it tonight. So two of her friends (J and BFF K) came home with us straight from school. Her other BFF N came over later after her Girl Scout end of the year party. So there were 4 giggly 10 year olds in the house tonight.

Again it turned into a nail salon with me painting everyone's fingers & toes.

But everyone was asleep by midnight!

Dental Appointment for #3 & #4

So today was the dental appointments for Child #3 and Child #4.

Both did great. Both do a great job brushing and flossing.

Child #3 sadly has a lot of cavities... between his teeth which are very tight together. The oral hygienist commented on what a great job he's doing brushing because there wasn't plaque build up at all. Unfortunately it looks like Child #3 has the oral bacteria that is more prone to cavities. At least he's the one who enjoys brushing and flossing his teeth and he has that meticulous nature so maybe we'll be able to keep new cavities away.

Both left feeling positive about going to the dentist. Score!

Lost First Tooth!

Oh and how could I forget!

As I walked up to the pickup line for the kids after school today... Child #3 walks up to me with his first tooth in his hand. It had come out a few minutes earlier. Literally while he was walking out to the pick up line.

Didn't even know the tooth was loose! Bottom front center.

Field Trip with 44 children aged 4-5 years old...

Yep, its that time again. The Pre-K annual field trip to Crowe's Nest Farm in Elgin TX. I went with Child #3's class last year.

A 45 minute bus ride with 44 kids and about 10 adults. Woohoo!

The kids have a blast. Between the tractor hayride, seeing Emu, Bison, Longhorns & Cows, Sheep, Goats, Llama, Peacocks and lots of Chickens & Turkey... they had a lot of fun. Then there was also the snakes, spiders, and creepy crawlies... honestly could have done without those but at least they were all in cages or tanks and not "free-range".

It was overcast for most of the day which wasn't too bad. It kept the heat down some and it didn't rain on us. Though we desperately need the rain... just not for those 4 hours.

Dental and Lacrosse

Thankfully those two things only have in common the same day and the same child. Child #2 had a rescheduled dental appointment this afternoon with a removal of a molar. He had a bad cavity that quickly went south. The tooth was too badly damaged for the dentist to save it so he pulled it.

Child #2 was amazing. He was calm and didn't make hardly a sound during the entire procedure. I was so proud of what a little man he was through it all. He felt great within a couple of hours, enough to go to the Lacrosse dinner.

Which beings me to the second half of the title... Tonight was the Lacrosse Team end of the season dinner. It was held at Waterloo up in Avery Ranch. They have a huge outdoor covered patio and a big field and playscape for the kids to run around and play on. A good time was had by all... even though the kitchen seemed to have been overwhelmed and took forever for our food to come out. The cake that one of the mom's provided was amazing. It was half chocolate and half yellow cake. The yellow cake was incredible and the Lacrosse design was fabulous.

Hubby might be coaching the 1st & 2nd grade team next year. The current coach is moving up to the next level 3rd & 4th grade because his son will be in 3rd next year. Looks like about half the team will be move to the next level next year, many are 2nd graders right now.

Cinco De Mayo!!

That means we eat Tex-Mex tonight. Tacos, nachos and guacamole!!

Its the little things in life.

The skullplate... its so important.

Last fall a very close family friend C was hit by a pickup truck and badly hurt. Thankfully he's made an almost full recovery, he still has a few brain injury issues (it takes up to 2 years for a brain to heal from trauma) but otherwise physically has fully recovered from it.

Except his skull. While he was in the sedation coma they temporarily removed a large portion of his skull (from midline down to his brow) to allow for the brain swelling then put it back a week later when the swelling was down. Unfortunately his body has decided that the skull piece isn't part of him and has "consumed" it. Over 90% of it has been "absorbed" back into his body. Needless to say very scary. He's been on "house arrest" for the past 8 weeks unable to go and do anything physical but school while wearing a helmet. Doctors say he'll never get to play contact sports again... he'll never get to play his beloved football again. Not something a 10 year old boy wants to hear at all.

So C is going in for surgery today to place a plate into his skull (hopeful that might also encourage regrowth of the skull pieces) to protect that amazing precious brain of his.

This last round of hospital drama has been hard for the mom since her best friend & neighbor who was her rock (heck was a rock to all of us) through last time passed away from breast cancer in Feb. It hasn't been the same without Michelle's amazing humorous presence to keep us all so positive and laughing.

Just trying to keep lots of positive thoughts and prayers for them right now...