Aggies

We were excited about taking the kids to tailgate and watching the band march in at the first Aggie game of the season. Instead as we walked through the crowds Addison gets sick and throws up all over Granny, after a change of clothes we thought she was fine. We continued on and as we were waiting on the band to march in she starts round number two! By this time we realize she is really sick, Steven's patience are getting slim and I was on the verge of tears from the stress, it was time to get out of there! On the way home we made several stops to let Addison do her thing and that was the start of the stomach bug hitting our clan. The last two weeks we have been fighting the virus, ear infections, cough, congestion, you name it. We are hoping everyone is well by this weekend so we can try the game day thing again, tailgate and watch the Aggies BTHO Arkansas!

This is the only picture I got from the day and it was taken as we were waiting on the band to march in.

 

Back to School 2012-2013

 

Well the 2012-2013 school year has begun and we survived the first week. Mom and Dad are extremely exhausted and are looking forward to a three day weekend! Addison, Bryce and Collin have done better than expected and adjusted well to a regular routine again. The kids are once again in Mrs. Schmidt and Mrs. Connie's frisky frog class. Last year Mrs. Schmidt recommended we hold them back to allow them time to grow and mature. Since they have summer birthdays we knew it was something we would probably do eventually and after much discussion we thought it would be better to do it now rather than later. So far the year is off to a great start and they are coming home sharing everything about their day which is something that they didn't do last year. Their stories have been pretty entertaining so we are looking forward to what the rest of the year has in store for us.   

Addison ready for her first day of school

When Steven puts the kids in the car he tells the kids to "have a good day". Last year Addison always answered back saying "have a good day daddy". The first day of school Steven put Addison in the car and made his usual comment he asked Addison what she was going to tell daddy. After a little thought she said "don't cry"! Well she didn't cry (daddy didn't cry either) and she had a great first day.

Bryce ready for his first day

Bryce is the only one that struggled a little this week. A few mornings he cried saying he wanted to go with mommy. Their schedule was changed a little and instead of staying with Mrs. Connie they go to the room next door for the afternoons. This has bothered Bryce the most, he cried several days that he wanted to stay with Mrs. Connie. His teacher called this week and on his first day she told him to go next door to take his nap, he cried for her but she assured him she would just be next door. Well he wouldn't go to sleep and got up several times and walked thru the joint bathroom to check and see if she was still there. She said he came in asking "Mrs. Connie are you still in here" she would answer "yes Bryce I'm still here" then he would go back lay down for a little while and then come back to check again. Eventually she said he fell asleep but I thought it was so sweet that he loves her that much! It's reassuring that our kids are in good hands and loved.   

Crazy Collin ready for his first day

The teachers and staff will have their hands full with our Collin this year. He has become a bit of a wild man (if you can't tell by this picture and my previous post). High energy are the words his teacher used to describe it! When he comes home he is still running wild around the house, yelling, chasing his brother and sister, jumping on the furniture, etc. so if he has this much energy after school I can only image how much energy he has at school! God bless his teachers!  

By the end of the week we had three smiling frisky frogs!

Our little piggy bank!

Its been a while since I've had time to sit down and blog but I have to back up a few weeks and include a story about our little piggy bank!

Two weeks ago I was getting ready for an interview when Collin comes to me saying he has something in his mouth. Well I look thinking its a piece of hair or something but don't see anything, I told him he was fine and told him to go play. He continues to tell me something is in his mouth but won't tell me what, I couldn't see anything so I just left him alone for a while. He then lays on the floor with his blankie and I thought this isn't like him, something really must be wrong. Finally I hear him mummble "I can't get daddy's monies out". That's when I start putting it all together, he had money earlier and I bet he put it in his mouth! When I tell him I have to call the doctor and he starts crying "no, I don't have daddy's monies". Okay so did he or didn't he put money in his mouth. I call the doctors office and of course they want me to bring him in, although I was concerned about my child I'm also thinking really, does this have to happen today, I have an interview! We get him to the clinic and get an x-ray and sure enough he swallowed a coin. After waiting a week for the coin to come out I call the clinic again to say we haven't seen anything. Another x-ray was done and it was gone so it's still a mystery what he actually swallowed (quarter, dime, nickel or penny?) The good new is I still made it to my interview and got the job (teaching 3rd grade math).

Fishing with the Rau's

For the kids birthday Uncle Dane and Aunt Melonie bought the kids fishing poles and took them fishing for the first time. It was fun to watch their excitement as they caught several fish.

Collin, Bryce and Addison with their fishing poles

Addison holding her big catch  

Dane and Addison fishing

Bryce with his big catch

Dane and Bryce fishing

Collin with his big catch

Collin and Daddy reeling in a big one

Riding on the gator with Nate

3 year check ups

We took the kids for their 3 year check ups Friday and they are all healthy and well. Their stats are below:
Addison:
weighed 27 1/2 lbs.
36 1/2 in. tall
she was in the 30th %tile for weight
and the 40th %tile for height
Dr. Draehn said she will be 5'3-5'4
Bryce:
weighed 33lbs.
39 in. tall
he was in the 80th %tile for weight
and the 75th %tile for height
Dr. Draehn said he will be 6ft. tall
Collin:
weighed 26 1/2lbs.
37 in. tall
he was in the 20th %tile for weight
and the 40th %tile for height
Dr. Draehn said he will be 5'9-5'10

Backyard project #2

It only took a few days to clear the backyard but it took us about 4 months to figure out what kind of fence we wanted and what kind of patio to do. Then we put in a sprinkler system before we could get grass.

While the guys worked on the patio three heads watched out the window.

We then waited outside watching them so we could put our hand prints in the concrete.

After a couple of weeks of rain we were finally able to get our grass delivered, a whole eighteen wheeler truck load!

The kids were excited to watch the grass be taken off the truck

We had eighteen pallets delivered to the backyard

It was great to have a lot of help from family and friends!

Lane helping carry the grass for the guys

Mark helping fill in the gaps

Kyle, Dalton, Jason, Steven, Dane, Ryan and Lane admiring their hard work

Watching these two play in the yard and the sprinklers made it all worth it

Our back yard looks so big now (this is only about 3/4ths of the yard)

Backyard project

This has been our biggest and longest project thus far! We started back in March clearing the yard. I regret that I didn't get a good before picture but the backyard was very over grown and looked really small. We removed rocks, bricks, railroad ties, chain link fence, vines, over grown plants, a lot of shrubs, some very large wild peach trees, and two large trees.

This is the back fence when we started

We halled off several trailer loads of shrubs and tree limbs

The kids loved watching the tractors work in the yard

Steven worked hard to make our backyard look good

Ryan worked hard helping us remove stumps in the yard

Addison eating her snack on the tractor

The boys had fun watching the tractors

Collin spent a lot of time on this tractor

and loved every bit of it

Driving the tractor around the block (I'm sure our neighbors loved us)

This is how our yard looked for about 4 months while we did one step at a time