1st day of school and other tidbits

The first day of school went great... When I asked Coby "how was your day?" He replied, "Great.... except I didnt learn how to read!!!" He said that his favorite part was music when they got to sing fun songs, and PE and recess and story time, and the list went on and on. His teacher told me that today (day 2) he fell asleep at rest time and she could not get him to wake up for recess! Today when I picked him up, he beat me to the punch and said, "hey mom, how was your day?!" Sweet boy! Micah had a great first day, too. He made 2 new friends that he didnt know from last year and he ssid his favorite part was PE and the games they played. He also like reading because he knows how to do that now! The 2 little ones stayed with me and worked in my classroom all day to get ready for our preschool which starts next week. We headed to soccer practice, a basketball game, and to church, so it was a LONG day! :o)

ok, now to the fun part... pictures!!!

Here we are at 7am before we left! Whew, that was early! They were all 4 so excited. Even Bryson got to carry his new lunch box with him. It is a basketball and he held it the entire wat there and carried it into school, too... man, they are all growing up too fast!

Cason took this picture of the 4 of us...

Micah took this one... not bad! Coby looks so old to me here. He was so proud to be in kindergarten!


And my sweet biggest boy... he had a great first day of first grade!

Coby at his desk. I leaned down to give him one last hug and kiss and he said, "Are you gonna miss me?? Its ok, mom... dont cry. I am gonna be just fine! Tell Cason I will be home to play with him soon"

Mimi came by to see him in his classroom!

Here we are before school.... I loved how Bryson (who you will notice is still tightly clinching his basketball lunchbox) is looking up at the big boys!

We celebrated the beginning of school by making pudding for dessert tonite... I would say that Bry enjoyed it to say the least. He was so proud to be sitting in mommy's chair, using his own spoon and feasting on the chocolate pudding!

CHEEEEESE

Messy?? Who me?

Here are the "big boys" in their new room.... this room was one of my summer projects!

I have lots more pics from our soccer & basketball games and some fun times with cousins, but they will have to wait for a new post..... I am exhausted!

'Twas the night before Kindergarten

Tomorrow's the big day... the first day of school. Micah will be in first grade and Coby will be in kindergarten.... we went to "meet the teacher" today although we knew them both from church already... but they reconnected with old friends and delivered school supplies... we picniced at the park in honor of the last day of summertime... The excitement was unbelievable, especially since I can still hear them giggling intheir beds!! Coby's prayers tonite went something like this:
"Dear God, Thank you for this beautiful day and thank you for the summertime and the swimming pool. Thank you for mommy, daddy, micah, coby, cason, bryson, and mrs. allen. Thank you for kindergarten and help me stay on green. Thank you for my trains and my soccer team and for my food and my bed. Help me to stay on green in kindergarten and for mrs. allen to be nice to me. Help me not to lose my glasses or get them dirty. And help our fish not to die anymore [we lost 2 over the weekend...] and help me stay on green and make good choices. Help the hungry man on the road to find a job so he can work and have money to buy some food and a house. Help Sam [his friend from preschool] not to cry tomorrow at school and help mommy not to cry too [he saw me all teary in the hallway last year when we dropped off micah]. Make me not be tired at kindergarten and make micah say hi to me at lunch time. And God, please just help me stay on green. In Jesus name, Amen"
I was tearing up and laughing all at the same time... do you think we have hammered it into him enough that we expect him to stay on green??? I thought it was so sweet to have the glimpse into his little innocent mind to hear his thoughts! Sweet boy!
I posted this last year, but it is so sweet I will post it again for Coby.... good luck to all you other moms who are bringing kids for their first day tomorrow.... and to those who start on monday as well!

'Twas the night before kindergarten, and as they prepared,
kids were excited and a little bit scared.
They tossed and they turned about in their beds,
while visions of school supplies danced in their heads.
Erasers and crayons and pencils galore
were stuffed in their backpacks and set by the door.
Outfits were hung in the closets with care,
knowing that kindergarten soon would be there.
In the morning it came--school starts today!
Would the teacher be nice? Would they still get to play?
Faces were washed, and teeth were brushed white;
kids posed for pictures with eyes sparkling bright.
Parents packed snacks, and kids hopped in cars
as if they were boarding a spaceship to Mars.
Some kids brought blankets or their favorite stuffed bear,
in hopes they could nap like they did last year.

Their parents exclaimed, "You're big kids--wow!
Let us hold your bears and blankies for now."
The parents were worried their children would cry
if they left them at school with just a good-bye.
So they told their darlings, "If you want, we can stay
and make sure that everythingwill be A-okay."
The teacher then greeted each one with a smile,
and invited the students to stay for a while.
The room was all filled with toys, books, and maps,
but where are the beds for midmorning naps?
They colored and painted and played Simon Says,
then tumbled and skipped and stood on their heads.
They sang silly songs from beginning to end.
Within just a minute, each kid had a friend.
The children were happy. They loved Miss Sunrise!
It was she who was in for a giant surprise.
When what to her wondering eyes should appear
but sad moms and dad who were holding back tears!
Their noses--so sniffly! Their eyes--red and wet!
This was the saddest good-bye Miss Sunrise had seen yet!
She gathered the grown-ups on the magical rug,
then sent them away after one final hug.
The children all waved from the door of the school,
"Don't cry, Mom and Dad; kindergarten is cool!"
-- by Natasha Wing

Update to my "backyard banishment" post

okay, it is midnight, but clint is working nights this week and I can never sleep when he is not here, so I am posting a quick story before I head to bed so I can toss and turn and wake up at every little noise with my metal baseball bat beside my bed! I am a freak, I know!
Anyways, I had posted a while back about my new "no fighting in my house" policy... well, I have used it several times and it has proven to be quite affective. Today, I sent Coby and Micah out there and I heard Micah say, "Watch, Coby, watch right there at the window and you will see mommy. She will be looking out here at us in just a second..." Smart little booger! Who knew that all this time I thought I was "sneaking one by them" and he knew I was watching all the while! I laughed out loud and let them back inside. They were just glad to see me laughing when I opened the door back up so soon! :o)

Do you see what I see??

Coby has a new look!!! How cute is he?? He will also be wearing a patch over his right eye for about an hour a day to help the left one gain some strength. Apparently the left one decided it was having to work to hard and it realized that the right one had it all figured out, so it was letting the right eye do all the work. We are hoping the patch and vision therapy works so we can avoid surgery! In the meantime, check out his new specs!

And of coarse, since we are talking about Coby, the post would not be complete without a silly pose!

In other news... I have 3 extra kids today and tomorrow (and overnight) while my brother and sis in law go celebrate their anniversary.... so say a prayer for patience and sanity for me as I try to be the "fun aunt" with 7 kids under the age of 6! :o)

Update on Bry and a funny story!

He is soooo much better. The dr gave a one-time high power dose steriod that worked wonders! He is not totally back to normal, but he is definately much better! Thanks for the thoughts and prayers!

Now the funny story... my boys have a new hobby this summer... fighting!!! I am so sick of the constant arguing, bickering, etc which usually leads to someone hitting, pinching, chasing, and occasionally biting. SO.... a friend of mine from church (who has 2 older kids who are so well behaved now) gave me some advice on it... she told me to try what she had done when her kids were little, so I did... I told them when they fought that they had to go out in the back yard. I locked the door (but I peaked thru the window without them seeing me) and they could fight all they wanted out there. This takes the fun out of it by telling them they can do it. I was a little worried how my BOYS would respond to this, butI tried it... I said, "You can kick, hit, bite, pinch, chase, what ever you want to do, but you are not going to do it in my house!" So I locked Coby and Micah out there and they just looked stunned...
I heard Coby say, "did mommy say we could bite and hit?"
Then Micah, "Yes, but please dont hit me or bite!"
C: "OK, Micah, I have a great idea... how bout you dont hurt me and I wont hurt you, k?" (what a novel idea!)
M: "yeah... great idea... you wanna go play dumptrucks in the sand box?"
C (big smile): "yeah!"
And off they went......
Between the 3 of them, we did this 4 times yesterday and by the end of the day they were pretty much working things out themselves without being banished to the back yard! :o)

A birthday party and a trip to the Zoo

Before I start this post, I want to solicit your prayers... little Bryson has the most awful case of croup I have ever seen. He is a very sick little baby. It amazes me how fast that illness comes on, but it hit him so hard.... we have been to the dr and he is on a steriod, so hopefully the worst is over and he will only get better... please offer up a prayer for him today... it just hurts me to hear him "bark" and watch him struggle to breathe!

Well, I am going to attempt to play catch up for the last 2 weekends before another one comes and goes... sheesh we cram so much in over the summer! I wont type much since most of you jusr scroll thru the pics anyways, but here are a few events in the best household over the last few weeks....

Cason's 4th Birthday Bash!!!

here is the birthday boy with 2 of his buddies, Caden and Ethan

Cason, Mommy, and Lightning (this was my 3rd time to make lightning this year... he gets easier every time!)

Blowing out the canldes as bryson looks and learns


this is the face he makes at his new fish... he is such a hoot! he loves his new fish!

Abilene Zoo!!!
I really think this might be my favorite zoo... especially for my kids at this age. I hate big crowded zoos... we lost Coby at the FW zoo one time and it was the most horrifying experience! I dont like zoos that are so big that my kids cant walk the entire time... maybe bc there are 4 of them and they are really heavy and it is physically impossible for us to carry them around. Anyways, Abilene Zoo is really small as far as walking goes, but it has all the animals that we want to see and it was only $14 for my entire family!!! That is the cost of one adult admission to the FW zoo I think.... anyways.... on to the pics... it was hot, but it was fun!!:

Bryson and the monkey... he kept pacing back and forth on this ledge right by the window where bry was sitting... he was squealing and laughing at him until he stopped to look at him... then he got scared... hilarious, but I missed that kodak moment!


Bry and the aquarium... he was so intrigued!

The giraffes were a crowd favorite... this is probably my favorite part of this zoo... the kids can literally reach out and tough these giraffes... they fed them thru the fence.

Cason was the only one brave enough to let the giraffe eat out of his hand. Everyone else threw the food as soon as he got close (mommy included) Check out his black tongue!

I just thought this one was sweet of all of them peeking over to see the turtles...

Anyone see 4 sweet boys?

ACU revisited:
I posted before with some pics from our trip to acu... one afternoon, I went with the girls to do some shopping and when I got back to our apartment, I found this:

And this....

And THIS!!!