Didn’t I just post about the first day of school?…. and now it’s the last…

The kids had their last day of Preschool on the 18th and 19th of May.  This has been a crazy busy year.  I understand the ‘mom taxi’ term now more than ever.  Tucker attended everyday Pre-K and Sawyer went on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  They both had the same hours but with Preschool only being 2 hours long, it felt as if I did nothing but load, unload, load, unload kids all day.  But I’m not complaining.  I could not be happier with the education that my kids have received there.  They would come home everyday telling me something new and interesting.  I love listening to their excitement for learning.  I hope they always enjoy school the way they have at Kidslink.  Sawyer will go back for another year before Kindergarten but this was it for Tuck.  He developed such a love for Christian education and for his teachers and friends.  These teachers gave him something that I hope and pray stays with him for a lifetime.  His favorite part of the day was the bible story time.  He would come home teaching me about the parables of the bible.  I went to Sunday school my whole childhood and I don’t remember nearly the amount of details he knows. – And he’s so excited about it.  I really love that for him.  I don’t love that he won’t get this when he attends public school in the fall.  I hope and pray that we (Darrin and I) can continue his love of Christian education.  He’ll love his new school but I just don’t want this interest to leave that little mind of his.

The last day of school for each of the kids consisted of a day of games and ending in ice cream sundae parties…. so fun! 

I got to help with Sawyer’s party which was also a ‘Summer Birthday’ party.  Since Sawyer is a summer birthday, we decided to bring balloons for each kid to take home.  BEST idea ever!  The kids loved them and even the younger siblings got in on the fun…

We will miss you Mrs. McCalla and Mrs. Tucker.  You have given her an OUTSTANDING first school experience and I love you for that:-)

This sweet girl is Ryleigh.  I went to Kindergarten through 12th grade with her dad, Bob.  I love that Tuck and Ryleigh had their ‘first school’ experience together.  This is also the Ryleigh and reason for the tie that Tuck wore to school… if you remember that post:-)

I did so well throughout the entire party.  I never knew that at this moment I would be hiding behind my camera lens in mid ugly cry… again.  Mrs. Bolan is one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.  She reminds me so much of my Aunt Candy (the most amazing 1st grade teacher you would ever meet) in her teaching style.  She’s soft spoken and can gain complete interest in her classroom.  These kids love her and she loves them.  God definitely put her in her perfect place in life.  She gave my son the most amazing experience and I am so grateful:-)

Oh what a night….

We went camping this beautiful Memorial Day weekend.  We got back late this afternoon and decided we would take MUCH needed baths/showers and go out for dinner.  Camping food is great… hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, candy, pop, JUNK food… but when you’ve had enough, you’ve had enough.  Dad’s choice tonight and it was Red Lobster.  We never go there so it was a welcome change.  Besides, there was no luck fishing so Red Lobster is the next best thing right?:-)

I don’t know if the kids were so tired, they were deliriously silly or the fact that with 2 full days of being outside - they were a little too used to talking/laughing/playing as loud as they wanted … they were right out CRAZY at the restaurant tonight! 

Let me preface a little… They have been obsessed with hamsters lately … don’t ask me why … for some very VERY odd reason, hamsters seem to make it into every conversation lately….. I know, WEIRD!

I ordered a broiled platter sort of meal.  Translation – there were several different seafood items all on one plate.  One was shrimp scampi.  Evidently in Tucker’s eyes, the way the shrimp were presented on the plate was very similar to the way crab legs might be presented.  I know – I don’t get it either – Bear with me.

Tucker doesn’t say crab legs though … this is what came out of his mouth:

“Mom, you’re not going to eat those hamster legs are you????”  [Did he mean to say crab legs?  But they’re not even close to crab legs it’s shrimp!!!]

“What????  Those aren’t hamster legs, Tuck.  Those are shrimp.”  What the???

Some time passes…  Sawyer’s shoes come off, her feet go on the table, Porter is covered in ketchup and lemonade because he throws a COMPLETE fit if I try to help him, I have given up and am just trying to eat my meal and start to pray to myself,  “Thank you Lord for there only being one other table of people in our area of the restaurant".

Darrin had ordered some sort of seafood linguine.  Tucker asks him what it is.

“It’s linguine.  Do you want some?”

“Little Weenie???”

Sawyer’s laughing uncontrollably, the baby is now trying to eat the crayons, I’m looking at Tucker --- WHAT did he just say???  And Darrin loses it.  Not, “Be prepared for your lifelong sentence in time out” kind of losing it – He joins in on Sawyer’s behavior.  He can’t quit laughing.  I’m glaring at him with the you’re-going-to-be-sorry-when-he-ends-up-in-the-principal’s-office-everyday kind of glare.  He says, “I feel like we’re having dinner with Doug.”— Darrin’s brother – Tucker is definitely his ‘Mini Me’…. in every way.

Why didn’t we just go to McDonald’s like they wanted to?

…. But you know what??? Sometimes you just HAVE to laugh to get you through the moment.  And I did.  I let Porter drench himself in lemonade and ketchup.  I let Sawyer sing the ABC song at the top of her lungs.  And I laughed at Tucker.  Hopefully after we all get a good night’s sleep tonight in our own clean beds, we’ll be back to normal tomorrow … or not????

Darrin says to me tonight before he headed up to bed, “Our kids might be REALLY naughty, but they are damn funny.:-)”  I would have to agree….

but I won’t let them know that until they are grown and out of this house:-)

Take me out to the ballgame…

Summer is here and that marks the beginning of BASEBALL season.  Tucker has had his first 4 or 5 games now and he is just loving it.  He’s grown so much regarding the whole sports thing.  He did soccer when he was 3 and that was… well… an experience… I’ll just put it this way – he was much more interested in the dirt and the dandelions than actually chasing the ball.  Baseball seems to be different for him.  Of course, he’s more mature now and I think baseball is a little more up his alley.  If anything, I hope he continues to play if for anything but all that cuteness in that uniform … can you stand it???? !!!!! :-) He had his first REAL hit last night.  I missed it.  I missed it because I didn’t get to go to the game last night because his sister decided to spray paint the basement carpet purple.  Do you think I was going to let her go to the game and have all kinds of fun playing in the dirt aka mud with all the other baseball player siblings?  She loves going to those games more than he does sometimes.  She had to stay home.  I stayed home with her.  I missed my son’s first real hit.  :-(  That’s ok.  It will happen again:-)  Right now I need to figure out how to get purple paint out of white carpet…

A cause for celebration …. May 7, 2010

Mother’s Day weekend brought with it a trip to St. Francis – the western frontier.  We usually travel out there once every summer but usually for a graduation.  There were no graduations this year but there was still a big reason to celebrate.  Do you remember Nanny Nichole  -- Trey’s (Darrin’s nephew) fiancé?  Nichole lived with our family while she worked just outside of Wichita.  She became part of our family back then but now it’s official.  Trey and Nichole were married in late April in Mexico and the big reception celebration was the second weekend of May in St. Francis.  We traveled out and as you can see, our 90 degree temperatures did NOT follow us.  Who knew we’d hit freezing sleet in Goodland, just 5 hours away???   

 

I took this picture right before I touched the electric fence … yeah, you heard me right….

Welcome (officially) to our family Nichole…

 

This girl has decided that she will share her ‘buddy’ with Nichole.  There was quite a bit of reluctance but if Trey loves her, Sawyer does too… :-)

 

Oh the tushies this lap has seen.  I believe the count is 24? … Yes, this woman has 24 grandchildren!  And that doesn’t even include the tushies of her own children.  :-)  We sure do love that Grandma Bucholtz!

Kindergarten Round-up…April 29, 2010

The last week of April was a tough one on this mama and her first-born.  Tuck’s last preschool program was on the 27th and the 29th was Kindergarten Round-up.  Obviously this is tough on me but why on Tucker?  This 5 year old might not like look like his mom but we are two of the same when it comes to  sad good-byes and scary new beginnings.

He knows he’s going to Kindergarten in the fall.  He also knows that his days… and I mean 8:30am to 4pm…. will be spent away from everything he knows.  Everything will be new and unfamiliar and NOT with mom.  I think this last part is actually the scariest part for him.  I have been trying to prep him for this.  I put on my happy face, though this is the hardest happy face I’ve ever put on because I’m sending my first born to KINDERGARTEN!  Every new change he goes through for the the first time, so do I.  Don’t get me wrong, I do love a certain amount of change, just not when it involves my child going out into the big world where the innocence of staying home with mom (also known as his bubble) will be broken.  Wow I sound uptight about this!  It’s just all so new.  Come August, this new adventure will be welcomed with open arms.  Shoot, there are days now that I’m ready to call the elementary school and ask if I could just drop him off and I’ll pick him up next May.

So I put on my happy, overly excited face that evening as he, his dad, and I went to the new school so that he could meet his new teachers and LOTS of other kids.  The first part of the evening consisted of the three of us sitting in the library being welcomed by his principal.  Soon I felt him start to hug my arm and not let go.  I had been strong  all day, putting on that (artificial) happy face.  This was fun – so fun I could just hardly wait --- remember the word ‘artificial’?  Anyway, I looked down at this little person hugging my arm with tears welling up in those big blue eyes and all that strength I had mustered all day was gone, all GONE.  I lost it – completely lost it.  He was crying.  I was crying.  The principal was getting ready to dismiss the kids to go with their new teachers for activities while we (the parents) stayed in the library to go over all the ‘boring’ school stuff.  And there I was in the middle of my ugly cry.  I’m pretty sure I was the only one (other than a few other 5 year olds) not in control at that moment.  How embarrassing!  Darrin looks at these two pathetic souls sitting to his right and lets out his common little chuckle (with eyes rolling) that he does every time he watches his wife watch one of those Hallmark commercials.  We’re emotional – Tucker and I.  We always will be.  Thank goodness Darrin was the one to take Tuck to the teacher.  He knows me well.  He knows that when the ugly cry comes out, this woman doesn’t want perfect strangers to witness the swollen eyes and puffy red nose.  I got myself under control and evidently Tucker did too.  We picked him up in his new classroom and he just couldn’t stop talking about how excited he was for Kindergarten.  I’m SO glad!

A camping we will go…(April 27, 2010)

Holy Smokes!  The months of April and May have completely zoomed by and I’m suppose to be keeping this online account of my children’s fun-filled lives.  Do you remember that blog ??? – The Ross Family Happenings – I think it’s called???  :-)  To the little short people that live in my house:  Mommy is sorry for being so overly busy these past two months as to not be keeping up with this here ‘online journal’.  The whole point of this project is to keep a chronological order of the little and big things that go on in your daily lives.  I will do better. 

Sooo… here is the beginning of several back posts that need some much over-due attention.

Tucker and Sawyer’s end-of-the-year music program was back in the last week of April.  This year’s theme was a camping theme – PERFECT for these Ross kids.  The school does such a good job of setting up photo ops. 

Here they are going for a boat ride…

On a bridge…

and enjoying the great campfire in the great outdoors…

I wouldn’t say that my kids are the most musically talented, but their singing expressions are my absolute favorite… :-)