Final Lesson

Last night the kids had their final swim lesson. I don't know how much they learned, but they sure had a good time. They love being in the water. They always wait anxiously for their turn to get in.

Isabelle even went down the slide without any protesting

And they made some mean "ice cream scoops" in the water. But they are still attached to the "bubbles" and the noodles. Hopefully, next time they will be challenged just a little more...but at least they had a good time!

The Greatest Show on Earth

Every year the Ringling Brothers circus comes to town to do a show. We NEVER miss it. We have been every year for the last four years! They really do put on a pretty amazing show!

This year, we didn't tell the kids that we were going. We just started driving. As we reached downtown, Ian started recognizing things. He asked us, "Are we going to THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH?" (that is their own slogan...not just his thoughts) He was right. What he didn't' realize was that our best friends were following right behind us to go to the show too!

Unfortunately, the traffic was terrible. As we sat outside the arena waiting to get into a parking lot or garage, David got nominated to get out of the car and take all EIGHT kids into the circus so that they didn't miss anything! Deer in the headlights doesn't even begin to explain it...but he is a team player and he didn't disappoint! In fact, he took all the kids in AND got them all pottied before they found their seats! I was totally impressed!

By the time Debbie and I had parked, the show had started and the kids were watching so intently!

I was happy to see that we didn't miss all of the elephants performance! I love the elephants!
Mike and Debbie got suckered into spending half of the kids' college fund on cotton candy...but at least they got this adorable hat! (Sorry for the pic Deb, but I couldn't not put my favorite clown on here!)
Isabelle and Kolby enjoyed the little horses. Isabelle perked right up as soon as she heard the My Little Pony theme song being played.
The tigers were a big hit with the kids too! They seem so sweet behind that cage. Isabelle informed me that she doesn't think that they would hurt her if she were to go in the cage. We decided not to test that theory this time...maybe another day.
All in all...it was a great time had by all! I hope we still get to see them when we move!
It was OVER THE TOP!

The ick

It is living among us...the flu, that is. I am not talking about some random stomach bug, but the real, live influenza.

Isabelle started complaining about a sore throat on Friday and by Sunday was running a pretty high fever. I took her into the Dr. yesterday, fully expecting a strep diagnosis. When that came back negative I was almost disappointed. I knew she didn't feel well and I didn't want the whole, "wait three weeks and come back if she still isn't better." Instead they told me they were going to swab her to test for flu. The test normally takes 10 minutes to give a result, but hers was positive in 3. So she is on some meds now and should be able to get back to school on Thursday.

The good news is that I took Ian in this morning to have him tested and he was negative. He has been given a preventative treatment to help prevent it since they spend so much time together.

So off I go to lysol and clorox everything I can...ick!

A Sweet Celebration

On Tuesday, Isabelle got to have her delayed Valentine's party at school. They read a cute story...

Enjoyed some yummy snacks

and shared a little love with each other!
(You can see that Isabelle was loving her cookie a little more than picture time!)

Birthday Bash

Remember how you always used to look at your parents and dream of how you were going to do things differently when you were the parent? Don't get me wrong. I love my parents and I think they did a pretty darn good job of parenting...but we all know the things that our parents said that we weren't going to say, or the things that they made us do that we swore we would never make our children do.

Well, here I am all grown up...okay more grown up...and some of those things I am starting to understand. I do a lot of things very differently than my parents ever did. But I have adopted a lot of things from them also! One such thing is the birthday party rule. When we were growing up we didn't get big blowout birthday parties every year. We were able to do something every other year. Even so, it was usually a sleepover or something reasonably inexpensive. I didn't seemed too bothered by it growing up, but once I had Ian, I knew there was no way I could not have a birthday party for him each and every year. And why couldn't it be a big production.

So it started with his first birthday party. It was at our house with every friend we had in Charleston! Our house was jam packed full of people and the table was overflowing with food. We had a firetruck theme with big "1"s on the side of the truck (in case anyone forgot that it was his first birthday.) We even convinced the volunteer fire department down the road to come by and show their truck to the kids during the party. We even had a firetruck pinata! It was a pretty cool party...until you start to think about it a little harder. We had all these people...that Ian barely knew. We had all this food...that Ian didn't eat. We had a real live firetruck in our front yard...that Ian doesn't remember. We had a firetruck pinata...that Ian wasn't big enough to hit! I soon realized that I didn't throw a birthday party for Ian...he couldn't have cared less! I think he had a great time, but he would have been thrilled with one new toy and the wrapping paper it came in.

So, suddenly I understood my parents just a little bit more.

For most of his birthday celebrations we have been at home with our closest friends, enjoying homemade food and eating yummy cake. He has always had a great time. One time we ventured out to Chuck E Cheese for a party, but I am pretty sure that will be a once in a lifetime event. Way too much money...way too much noise...or maybe it just lost its birthday appeal because I had to do one too many birthday parties when I worked there as a teenager.

This year, however, we decided to let Ian pick what he wanted to do for his birthday. It is the last year that we will be in Virginia for his birthday since we expect to move in the next four or five months. So, we let him choose. He opted for a party At The Hop. It is an indoor inflateable park that you rent out for just your party! We were able to get a SUPER deal on it and the kids had a wonderful time!

The kids jumped, climbed, went down the slides, sang karaoke and played dress up!


This is the little meeting in the back of the jumphouse to plot their next move.
There was lots of running and chasing.
Pizza and cupcakes were enjoyed by all!



We surprised Ian with cupcakes that had autobot and decepticon rings on the top!

There was wonderful blue and red icing enjoyed!
Isabelle especially enjoyed the dressup trunk!

The boys seemed to really get into the present time! Legos were definitely the big hit of this year. Transformers took a very close second place!

All in all, it was a good time had by all. David and I even got in on the jumping and sliding fun! I am sure next year will be back to a simple celebration at our house, but I am glad we did it big this year! And this time, Ian was even capable of enjoying the entertainment!

Happy birthday big guy! WE love you!

Valentine's Goodies

I know these are hard to see. This picture almost reminds me of one of those pictures that you would get in school and you would have to figure out what it was. Do you remember those? They would zoom in on the most random thing...to the point that it was hard to figure out what it was that you were looking at.

Anyway...enough of that. This is a picture of the melted crayon hearts that we made to put on the kids' valentines this year. We have what seems to be an endless supply of broken crayons it seems. We decided to put them to good use this year! We peeled the paper off of all of them, broke them into little pieces and filled a little heart shaped mini muffin pan with them. Just a few minutes in the oven melted them right down and once they cooled, they were adorable little crayons! The kids thought it was so much fun to do!


After all of our crayon melting and valentine making activities, we all crawled in bed to the sound of rain falling outside. It was nice. What wasn't so nice was the fact that sometime during the night, that rain turned to snow. It wasn't much, but you have to understand that I live in Virginia where people can't even drive in rain. Who am I kidding? They can't drive in perfect weather!!! So as we started our morning routine on Valentine's day, I just happened to hear a mention of snow in the weather report and then looked up to see the school delays scrolling across the bottom of the tv screen.

Delays don't affect Ian's school really. He is in afternoon kindergarten, so the roads are clear and there are no worries for him. Isabelle, however, is greatly affected. Her school is only 3 hours long in the mornings. SO, if they have a two hour delay on the city schools, her school is then closed for the day. Therefore, I got the wonderful duty of explaining to her that she now had to wait until Tuesday to have her Valentine party. All in all she took it quite well. Especially when I told her that I was going to take her with me to Ian's classroom party!

So that brings us to his party. As we arrived, they had started passing out their valentines. They seemed to really enjoy it! Then they found a special spot in the room where they could look through all their valentines.

Isabelle was thrilled when she was invited to sit down with Ian for some snacks! Food is her love language!
This is one of Ian's best buddies in class, Brennan. Brennan always has a secret.
After snacks we stayed for centers. We played a lot of playdoh!
And, apparently this is Isabelle's look of concentration. Remember Ian sticks his tongue out? She just opts for the open mouth. Funny girl!

Compassion

Okay...no pictures or words from me right now, but if you want something that will grip your heart and callenge you to your soul, you NEED to read some of these blogs! These people were selected to travel to Uganda with Compassion International and to blog about their time there. If you have a minutes (or a few) you should take a look!

Compassion Blogging Team

My Favorites:

Shannon

Sophie