Field Day!

It was Field Day for the kindergarten class so Kaylen and I spent the morning volunteering and having fun.

There was tug-o-war, bean bag toss, sponge relay race, gunny sack race, three legged race, frisbee throw and water balloon toss. And there were 40 kindergartners. Needless to say - it was fun from the word "GO!"

Kaylen participated in everything except the tug-o-war with girls vs boys. Smart girl, that one. It got messy and a few kids suffered minor rope burns. Who really won is any ones guess - I called it finished when the boys ended up in a tangled mess and tears were starting to fall. The smaller groups of the game went very, very well but the entire two classes of kids was a rough game.

Kaylen and I won the water balloon toss. :) Of course I completely credit that with my taking teeny tiny steps backwards instead of the gigantic steps the other kids were taking. Kaylen is, after all, only three. :)

Once the games were over, we had recess and then headed back into the classroom for a small bit of seat work and an episode of The Magic School Bus. The class is learning about plants and the episode watched was a perfect fit.

It was a long morning but for some reason, the kids are on full energy level for the afternoon. I, on the other hand, am exhausted!

Aren't they sweet walking out together? :)

" Hi Mom!"

Getting ready for the bean bag toss.

Tug!! Kelton is the anchor man - his team won!!

Sponge relay race. Go Kaylen!

Anxiously waiting his turn.

Three legged race team.

And they're off!

Waiting for their turn in the gunny sack race.

Getting ready.

WooHoo! Look at him go!

She's trying but that bag was at least twice her size.

Working on her "seat work". Isn't she cute? :)

Look What Happened!!!!!

The sun came out!!!!! I am in complete shock...and soaking it all up! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Before the sun broke through Kaylen announced that she wanted to go for a bike ride which I agreed was a good idea. However, instead of riding their bikes around the neighborhood, per usual, I thought it would be easier to take them to a nearby park. We don't have sidewalks on our block but what we do have is the cut through for the high school - which means a lot of people driving way too fast. Coupled with kids on bikes still learning the rules of the road and well...two people are needed for a neighborhood bike ride. The park was a much better option even if it did mean driving to it. Yeah yeah - I know but again, no sidewalks, fast cars and a very busy road to cross means...no way!

I loaded the bikes, helmets, jackets, camera and kids into the car and headed to the park. By the time we got there and unloaded (maybe 5 minutes?) the clouds were starting to disappear. It wasn't long at all before jackets were removed - it was turning out to be a beautiful afternoon! Yay!!!

Here are some photos to share...and yes, Kaylen is indeed wearing one of her ballet outfits. :)










Could summer really and truly be on its way???

Thursday

Pink Eye; Day 3

The kids are doing well and their eyes are back to looking like their eyes again. Always a plus. We are surviving the eye drops though they are certainly not the favorite part of the day for any of us. Three more doses today and then Friday and Saturday. We'll get there dose by dose. Dakota and I have managed to stay clear of it - yay us. At least for now. I'm not foolish enough to think it still can't bite us in the rear. Lots of hand washing, pillow case washings, towel changes and wiping down door knobs and light switch plate covers. I hope, hope, hope that is enough to keep it at bay.

Kelton went back to school yesterday and by pick up time, his allergy irritated eye was fine. Thank goodness for the change in drops.

I am in disbelief that tomorrow is his last regular day of school. Monday is field day (Kaylen and I will be helping with that), Tuesday is cleaning up the room and sending everything home day and Wednesday both the morning and afternoon classes are there together for the final two hours of the school year. Wild.

Kaylen and I went to playgroup this morning. We all had decided to visit our local community pool and it was so much fun! Kaylen, contrary to her not wanting to do lessons, is a fish! She was jumping in and kicking and floating and "swimming". All with mommy by her side, mind you but still - the girl LOVES the water! No fear - which tends to scare the crud out of me. It was the first time I have ever taken a child swimming alone. That's not to say I haven't been in the pool alone with a child but it's never been just me and a child from start to finish. We usually go as a family because well...we have two kids. Two kids who are three years apart in age require two adults. :)

Other than that - I have nothing spectacular to share. Just living, breathing and getting things done. And yes, I'm *still* waiting for the sunshine. It was beautiful here on Sunday but since then the sun has not let itself be seen. At all. At least it is dry today - that's something.

Last year at this time we were already in the kiddie pool. As of this very moment, the pool is still safely stored in the garage. It hasn't seen the light of day since last September. I hope it is still in good shape. You know, minus all the dusting it will need. :)

Time to go get my son - catch ya later!

As It Turns Out....

Kelton is allergic to the drops they gave him this morning. I called the nurse help line this evening because of a problem Kaylen developed and I mentioned that Kelton's eye was very red around the entire eye area of his right eye. Kaylen's problem turned out to (most likely) just be a coincidence but Kelton's got the immediate response of "Stop the drops immediately and I'll call you back when I have a new medication order waiting for you."

I raced out tonight and picked them up. Hopefully by tomorrow Kelton will have lost his "Hi - I just got punched in the eye. Someone please hand me a steak." look. Poor kid. :(

The plus side is that we were able to experience only a local reaction to Sulfa instead of a systemic reaction. From here on out, I can no longer answer "He has no allergies to medication." *sigh*

It doesn't so much surprise me though. My mom was allergic to Sulfa. My sister and I are both allergic to it as well. I don't know about my brothers or my dad but still - those are high odds for a family. They say allergies aren't genetic but you just have to wondering sometimes. Giving kids new medications is so much stress!!

So - the drops for Kelton were a piece of cake for his final dose tonight (the new ones have no possibility of stinging. And in fact, the screaming and yelling about the stinging from Kelton was a red flag for the allergy. Who knew.). Kaylen though - she's another story. It was darn hard to get her last set in tonight. They don't sting - she just hates them completely.

Ought to be interesting to see what tomorrow holds.

Not a Boys Best Friend

In case there is any questions what-so-ever, pink eye is NOT a boy's best friend. Poor buddy is miserable. He is curled up on the couch with a hot compress and the last dose of eye drops he actually requested a bit earlier than it should have been.

He has it the worst. No doubt about it.

Kaylen is doing ok and isn't actually too bad. Discharge, yes and a bit red but nothing like Kelton.

I am actually ok.....so far. Nothing from me except that my eyes feel "weird". Nothing concrete - just not normal. Could be I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well last night knowing what was ahead of me today. I hate when the kids are sick or have something that knocks them from the "healthy" category. *sigh*

In a few days all this will be behind us. One step at a time. Just one step at a time.

Bring on the Drops

The good news...if there can be such a thing, is that it's bacterial conjunctivitis which means 24 hours from now the kids and I can rejoin the world. Thankfully, once the nurse ran through her list of questions we qualified for the "no visit required - we'll call in the meds for you to pick up" service.

That's a plus.

Once back home, Kaylen was first in line for drops which she took like a little trooper. Kelton started freaking out before the drops were even near his eyes. It's going to be fun for the next five days....four times a day. But at least we are only home bound for today.

I just wish it wasn't raining. Again.

Pink Pink - You Stink

Really? This is what it comes down to? For 6 plus years we have successfully navigated our way around this. Just dumb luck, probably, but still...never before.

Until now.

I think the kids (and probably me, too) have conjunctivitis which is really just a high falutin' way of saying "pink eye". Fun times! Yesterday Kelton's eye was bloodshot but he said it felt fine. By bedtime he was complaining that his non-red eye was bugging him. When I went to check on him before I went to bed, his eyes were very yucky. Kaylen has a little yellow-y goober in her eyes off and on yesterday but. again, I gave it little thought. By this morning, she is complaining her eyes hurt and she doesn't like "the snobbies" in them. As for me, my left eye starting burning a little last night and this morning it feels a bit swollen. No goobies for me though - which I am happy about, thanks. :)

I've done some looking around on the web this morning and apparently pink eye is as common as the common cold and usually follows a cold (which we all have had in recent weeks). A "cold of the eye" is the school of thought.

Huh? I always assumed pink eye was an infection and needed to be treated with antibiotics. But it can be no big deal? I had no idea. Everyone I've ever known with pink eye was treated with antibiotics.

To be fair, this is my first encounter with the eye goobers so I have no point of reference. I'm waiting for the doctors office to call me back so I will know how to proceed on this one.

The fun never stops. :)

You Can't Stop Time

I just can't quite wrap my head around it. Kelton's last full day of school will be one week from tomorrow. One week. The last day doesn't count - it's not even two hours long. Hardly worth the fuss of getting everyone fed, dressed and out the door but still - last days are important. At least, they were to me when I was a kid...you know, back when we all lived in caves. :)

What I can't quite get though is how this happened. How did we get to here from ....well......there. It feels like just weeks ago we endured those first few weeks of adjusting to him being in school and now we are starting to plan for the adjustment from being a kindergartner in half day school to a first grader in full day school. The weeks and month in between then and now have blurred together. It's gone so unbelievably fast.

I have been trying to decide what, if anything, to do for an end of the year thank you for Kelton's teachers. I had thought about just his classroom teacher but when Kelton and I were talking about it, he said that he really wanted to do something little for his PE teacher, his music teacher (I'm not surprised by this and I had actually planned to do a little something for him) and the librarian (this one surprised me a little). Clearly these are all people with whom he has created a bond of some sort. We talked about how Kelton would write the thank you cards this weekend - I figured that would put in perspective who was really of great importance to him. To my surprise, he readily agreed.

The ideas I have in mind are nothing as spectacular as designer jewelry but still they are respectable and individual. My amazing, beautiful son has grown this year and it's only right that we thanks those who had a part in his transformation.

I still can't believe that kindergarten is almost over. When I was talking with Kelton about how I was a little sad that the year is coming to an end (but really happy for the time we;d have together this summer) he said "But Mom! I'm going to be a big first grader now!" It's true. He will be - and there is no holding back time.

There is one for sure thing about being a parent. It is filled with bittersweet moments.

Saturday Garage Sales

A couple friends and I went out and hit some of the big neighborhood garage sales this morning. The biggest one was in the high priced neighborhood not too far away. Talk about disappointing. After stopping by many, many, many garages I walked out with three puzzles. (24-piece puzzles for a certain 3 year old who is really getting into them and wanted more complex ones than we have.) For all three, I paid a whopping seventy-five cents. I know - big spender.

I had really thought there would be more to peek my interest but nope....there was stuff to be had, of course, it's just that I didn't really need beauty salon chairs, chandeliers, or a gigantic bar. I didn't have a need for the selection of wedding dresses or the massive amounts of VHS tapes. Eventually I found two new superhero costumes (for dress up which occurs regularly around here) that I picked up for Kelton. It took the grand total spent to $8.75. I was willing to pay the $4 each since they were new and in sizes that Kelton would be able to use for at least two years.

What did strike me while we were out and about though is how many houses are up for sale. So, so, so many of them. It scares me. Not that I think you need a $1.6 million dollar house but it wasn't just the ritzy neighborhoods, every neighborhood had houses for sale. I find it alarming. What a strange and frightening time.

Here's hoping we can all hold on through these times and make it into smooth waters again. Now that the Democratic candidate has been secured - let's move forward and work like hell to get back into the White House!!!! It's definitely time for a change.

I'm just saying.

The Mane Event

Kaylen had her very first professional non-mommy haircut and she could not have been more excited or proud of herself.

After taking the kids out to celebrate the end of the swimming session I causally mentioned to Kaylen that it would be nice if we could get her haircut one of these days. (I've been trying to get her to agree to a professional cut for months now - it's been challenging to cut her hair these days and it desperately needed some real layering done and well..I needed some cleaner lines to follow.) She surprised me by saying "Let's go now. Mama is here and I want her to see me get my hair cut."

Well ok then.

She is so freakin' adorable with her short hair! I love, love, love short hair and I think it looks amazing on her. Today it is even better because her soft curls are back (after being combed out by the cutting process) which gives it such a sweet look. She loves her hair, too and especially loves that it isn't in her eyes. Yay!!!

I wish I had a hidden spy camera so I could show you exactly how much fun she was having - so cute! :)

Little Fish - or is that Walrus?

Kelton had his last swimming lesson of the session today and I could not be more proud if I tried. I honestly didn't expect this considering the rough start we initially got off to but....

He passed level 1! It's on to level 2 for this boy.

I had placed him on a waiting list to retake level 1 a couple weeks ago because I had no clue, and zero expectation, that he would actually pass on the first try. So after class, we stopped by the front desk and removed him for that waiting list and inquired about space in the next session for level 2. They had a spot for him so he will start level 2 in two weeks. Perfect!

He is so excited about his accomplishment and we are so proud of him! Yay Kelton - you rocked it!

Of course he also just gave us more ammunition for the whole "You can do anything you put your mind to" thing because well....clearly he can. :)

Are You Smarter Than a Three Year Old?

Kaylen: Look Mommy - it's a rhombus!
Me: Do you even know what a rhombus is, honey?
Kaylen: Yes. It's a diamond. Only a little different.
Me: Really?

A quick Google search reveals that yes indeed....a rhombus is a slanted diamond.

Go figure. Go Curious George who apparently discussed a rhombus on the episode this morning.

I guess I knew that somewhere in the back of my mind but if you had asked me (as I asked my play group moms today...to which none really could remember what it was exactly...) I doubt I would have been able to tell you.

Interesting.

On another note; Kaylen experienced her first time having a body part fall asleep. She was painting this afternoon and chose to have one leg underneath her. It fell asleep. She yelled out "Mom! Something is wrong! My foot is tingling!" I looked her over trying to figure out what she meant and it finally dawned on me what had happened. What's funny is I remember Kelton having an experience similar to this when he was about the same age. I guess three is when this stuff starts happening - or when they start realizing it. Did you know that three is also the magic age of when they start being able to talk about their dreams. I love this part! Sometimes I wish I had a passport into their dreamworld. It sounds like a fun, happy (well - for the most part) place to be. :)

Little Fence Eater

Sometime between yesterday morning and this morning Maddie, our three year old boxer mix pup, decided that since sticks taste so yummy that fence slats ought to be pretty good too.

OY!

This is what I saw when I opened the blinds in Kaylen's room this morning. A hole chewed in the bottom of a fence board. She also has managed to loosen another board a couple down from this one. This dog and her affection for all things wood is going to drive me batty! I'm glad she isn't (yet) attacking anything wood in the house (thank goodness for a crate trained dog. She isn't left unattended in the house for any length of time) but this is getting downright crazy.

Not just because she is eating the fence but seriously? How much wood can a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood. Or in this case - how much wood can Maddie ingest before we are needing to look into a clinical laboratory service? Seriously. We don't need a vet bill because the dog likes to eat wood.

*sigh*

We'll be taking a trip to Home Depot to buy replacement fence boards tonight or tomorrow. Until then, I have blocked access to the area. Let's hope she can channel her energy in a more productive manner.

You've Got to be Pooping Me?!?!

Oh my goodness.

Let me start out by telling you the back story. Kaylen saw me getting some Little Swimmer swim diapers ready to go to a friend as we have no further need for them and they are just taking up precious space. She, of course, had to have one. Or two. I drew the line at three. She proceeded to put one on even though I said she was too big for them and that they did not hold pee and were only meant for keeping poop from kids, who are not yet potty trained, out of swimming pools. She didn't really need them because she has been potty trained for a long, long time. She says she understand all that but wants to wear one anywhere. Ok - whatever. Who is it going to hurt, right?

So far so good.

Fast forward to 30 minutes ago (about two hours and two successful potty trips since putting on the swim diaper).

I hear rustling around in the bathroom but pay little attention as the kids, both potty trained and able to handle all but the finishing part of pooping by themselves, are in and out of the bathroom all day. The stool moves from its usual place to in front of the sink and back again many times a day. Water runs as they wash their hands. I'm used to it and pay little attention. When they yell "Mom! I'm done!" I tend to their needs and we go about our lives.

I hear "I'm done, Mom!" so I go in to help. Except......

EXCEPT!!!

Poop. Poop on little hands. Poop in and on the potty chair. Poop smeared on the toilet seat. Poop on the stool. Poop on the counter and in the sink.

Oh. My. Hell.

I am a novice at this. Neither child has been poop explorers (thank God!). I am stopped dead in my tracks. I can't really think and I can't really understand what this tiny child is trying to explain.

Something about not getting there in time...poop in her swim diaper so she picked it up (!) and put it in her potty and then she had to wash her hands but it's still on her and ..."Mommy - can you help me please?"

I snap to and wipe her hiney. I grab a wash cloth and I do a preliminary wipe down of her hands and a quick swipe of the counter and sink. Then I turn on the hot water and lather her hands, get her clean and scoot her out of the bathroom.

Oh dear. Where to even begin?

I grab the sanitizer wipes and start with the floor. Grab another one and clean the sink and counter. A third takes care of the stool and the toilet. Finally....finally...it's cleaned up and I feel pretty good that I have gotten rid of the poop germs.

I think I'm traumatized though. And I think I've sprouted a few more gray hairs. Pass the anti wrinkle cream please.

Oh. My.

Too Tired to Blog

It's been a here to there and everywhere day and I'm just too tired to do much blogging. Here's a quick over-view of my day:

Up at 12:30 AM to resettle Kaylen

Up at 3:30 AM convincing Kaylen it isn't time to get up and watch Angelina Ballerina. Finally succeed around 4:15. Yes, it would have been 15 minutes less time to just let her watch the damn show. I realize that. But no way, man.

4:50 AM Dog starts cleaning himself in the same room where I am trying desperately to sleep. ARGH!

5:15 AM second dog comes into room and licks my arm. Double ARGH!!

6:00 AM I give up and get up to spend some snuggle time with sleepy boy who has been awake for a while. I love snuggle time with sleepy boy so it wasn't *that* much of a hardship. :) Bonus, got to say goodbye to Dakota who was leaving for her busy day. Kelton and I start watching Spy Kids.

6:45 AM Kaylen calls out. She's awake and ready to snuggle. Again, I love sleepy snuggle time with the kids. We all watch more of Spy Kids.

Then it's breakfast, shower, dressing, teeth brushing, dishes, start laundry, make beds, etc.

9:00 AM Drop Kelton off at school and go back home to check email and blogs.

10:00 AM MOMS Club.

11:30 AM leave MOMS Club and head to Kelton's school to pick him up.

12:05 PM pick up Kelton and run like hell through the downpour to get to the car. We're drowned rats.

12:15 PM arrive home, getting drenched again on the way into the house. Feed dogs, help kids into dry clothes, brush teeth, greet Grandma, kiss the kids goodbye and fly out the door. Notice that I neglected to change my own soaking wet clothes so that makes for big fun for the next couple of hours.

1:00 PM dentist appointment which I first had to drive clear across town to get to. Not my regular office but I was seeing a specialist so I had to go where he was.

2:20 PM arrive back home. Make the kids lunch because for some reason they didn't think to ask Grandma for lunch. They only had her make some cheese and crackers. Do laundry, clean up the house (oh the fun that was clearly had in my absence. WOW!). Bail out the tarp covering the new sandbox because it was filled with water from the storm, help Kaylen "sidewalk paint" and work on other various things (I also talked with my brother somewhere along the line in there and quickly watched Hot Topics on The View. Hey - don't judge. It's how I keep up with the world.).

4:00 PM Get Kelton ready to go to swimming lessons and get kids in the car and to the rec center. Dakota meets us there.

5:00 PM lessons over. Help Kelton get dressed and we all head for home. I arrive first and start easy dinners for the kids.

5:15 PM Kids and Dakota have some food for dinner and then we get ready to leave again.

5:50 PM arrive at Kelton's school for Pride Night. Stay about an hour and then head home. Not without it's drama from two tired kids and equally tired moms.

Let the kids wind down for about 20 minutes and then everyone changes into jammies and it's story time and now - at 7:53pm the kids are blissfully sleeping.

Dakota just put food in front of me (Bless her heart!!! Thanks honey!) and I am going to hit the couch, flick on the TV and watch mindlessly for a while. I am hoping like heck that Farmer Wants a Wife is on tonight. Now that is some silly entertainment. More on that in another post. :)

I'm tired. It's been a big day around here.

Third Annual Blogging Day!

Not that blogging today makes it different from any other day but just for the fun of it - here we go! :)

For those of you who are visiting for the first time; Welcome! I hope you will take a few minutes to look around and, if you like what you see, come back to visit often. I update frequently (usually daily) and love to show off pictures of my family as well as talk (endlessly *grin*) about our life. To see recent photos, scroll down a post or two. It was a busy weekend around our house and I managed to capture a great deal of it.

Happy Blogging Day, everyone!

Twinkle Toes

This post really doesn't require any words. Wouldn't you agree? :)








This is called Bella Dancerella Home Ballet Studio. It retails for *cough* $79.99. I'm sure that includes the ballet outfit. Now here's the good part for us - we paid $5.00 at a garage sale for the Home Ballet Studio and I found a ballet outfit and removable tu-tu which she has fallen head over heels in love with for $2.00. So umm...yeah, I paid $7.00 for the whole thing. This, my friends, is why I go to garage sales. :)

The Sand Box Photos

The sand box we've been using since Kelton was a year old. Now I just need to find it a new home. (Here that all you locals? It can be yours for a mere $5.00! *grin*)

The cleaned up and widened area for the new box.

Getting ready!

The ballerina helper.

The finished box!

And in goes the first bag of sand.


Sand angels.
Happy kids.

Thank you kisses.

Building a Sand Box

Dakota has been one heck of a busy bee today. She was at Home Depot by 9:30 this morning (we followed in the other car and were about 10 minutes behind since the kids who previously had no interest in going suddenly HAD to go the second Dakota was ready to walk out the door. They were still in their jammies and we had removed their car seats from my car so there would be room to bring back supplies). She had plotted and planned and was ready to build the kids their brand new sand box!

Oh the excitement as lumber was measured and cut. Next came counting out the bags of play sand - twelve in all for a total of 600 pounds! Once home everything was moved to the back yard and construction began. And what was our little ballerina wearing as she helped? Oh yes - you guessed it. Her ballet outfit. The only thing missing was her fancy bracelet (thank goodness!). No, it wasn't amazing Celtic jewelry but rather a delicate little thing with three pair of ballet slippers as charms. It came with a book that my sister gave her for Christmas about ballerinas and she loved it!

All told it took about two and a half hours from start to ...well...kids playing in the sand box. Dakota did a fabulous job and I know we are going to see lots of sandbox play this summer. And no project (or day in the life, for that matter) is complete without photos so yes, there are some. I just need to upload them. Check back soon. I'm hoping to get it done before Dakota's mom and step-dad arrive for our dinner bbq.....too bad the weather isn't cooperating. *sigh*