don't fret....we're still here!

I've got plenty of blog fodder for ya . . . especially since we just took the kids to Disneyland for the first time!!! yay!!! . . . but I also have 484 photos to edit before I can post them so it'll take me a day or two. Stay tuned!

a kindergarten graduate

So, G graduated from kindergarten today. Sweet little girl is growing up....

They all marched in - and yes, there are more than the few kids pictured here. Somehow I didn't get a photo of the whole class but there are 60 or so:

And then she spotted her mom with the camera:

The teachers put together a little program for the parents, complete with each kid telling, "What I Want to Be When I Grow Up." Apparently - sniff sniff - she wants to be a stay-at-home Mom!

The rest of the program consisted of pint-sized Macarena and Chicken Dance-ing and a video of photos of the kids from throughout the year.

And then they all got their diplomas. Thankfully she's at the beginning:

I did really well during the program - even thru the sappy country background music for the video, something about letting them "stay little" - but then the last slide of the show said, "Presenting the High School Graduating Class of 2022" and I began blubbering all over myself. Thankfully I had the camera to hide behind. Love that girl!

Big Project Dump

So, I've been missing around here lately -- but I have a good excuse. I've been working on my Project list.

#4 Granny Square Bag
I lined it so my stuff doesn't fall thru the holes. Just love that yummy batik lining!!

It's huge and roomy, and a little ridiculous, but I like it and who cares?!

#5 Granny Squares Patchwork Bag

#6 Kim's Mother's Day Paper Quilt -- like mine but with all her grandkids!

#7 Blanket for a Little Guy -- after I send it I'll tell you who.

#8 Gifts for Kev's Core Teachers (his direct collegues)

They are summer drink recipe books. Each one holds 7 recipes for mocktails, smoothies, and punch.

#9 I liked how #8 turned out and had 2 more glasses so I made 2 more to try and sell. We'll see how it goes.

So, yeah, I've been busy. More to come!

Sneakiness, among other vices

So, the girl has decided to give us a sneak peek into our future with her, specifically the teenage years.

God help us.

Yesterday we were running late for the bus so I decided to drive her to school myself. We arrived in plenty of time and as she was getting out of the car I realized she didn't have a jacket with her . . . and her class was going on a field trip outdoors and it's still not quite spring weather yet. So I told her to go on out to the playground and I'd bring a sweater back to the school for her. I ran home and grabbed the first one I could find then hightailed it back to the school to see if I could catch her before they went inside. Just as I ran onto the playground the bell rang and I couldn't find her in the mass of K-4th graders running to line up so I drove around to the front of the school to go inside and take it to her classroom.

When I got to her room she was already inside doing the morning stuff with the class. Not wanting to interrupt, I found her backpack on the hooks in the hall and went to stuff the sweater inside for her to find later. I noticed that the tennis shoes she had worn to school were stuffed inside the backpack, and wondered why they were hanging there but figured maybe the teacher was letting them go sock-footed as part of the fun of being little kids on the last weeks of school. Whatever. I went on with my day.

After school in the random conversation that ensues when a 6 year old wants to tell about her day, I asked her what the deal was with her shoes hanging in her backpack.

Silence. It was palpable.

With further prodding, it came out that she's been sneaking a pair of nasty-old-too-small-raggedy flip flops to school in her backpack and changing out of her shoes into them once she arrives. We had told her weeks ago that she wasn't to wear the flip flops anymore because they are so small and trashed and she trips continuously in them . . . and then tears up her knees and cries a bunch. We've . . . both Kev and I . . . had this fight with her REPEATEDLY over the last 4 weeks but haven't seen the flip flops in a few days so we figured the argument was over. Turns out they've been living in her backpack, waiting for their daily attention at school.

Now, if she's starting this "sneaking to school and changing once she gets there" stuff now, what's she got to look forward to in Jr. High or High School?

I wonder how many more ER visits we have in store for us....

So, we've realized Gennie's been really easy on us. In 6 years we've never had to take her to the ER, and she's hardly been to the doctor other than well-baby check-ups and, of course, that random bout of Mono. Oh, and there was this unfortunate encounter with a mosquito on crack:

However, we've not been so lucky with Josiah. He had an emergency trip to the ER when he was just 5 months old - RSV - and now every time he gets a cold out comes the breathing machine and the albuterol treatments. He's been to the dr for ear infections and bronchitis numerous times.

And this past weekend we took our second trip to the ER:

We had a workday at church last Saturday and were just finishing up for the day with a pizza lunch. The kids were done eating and back outside playing while the adults visited. All the sudden, Gennie comes running across the parking lot, screaming hysterically, "My brother's BL-EEEEEEE-DING!!!" We ran outside just as Josiah was coming out of the shed, blood running all down his hand and arm. In a flurry of tears and antiseptic and bandaids the guys got him calmed down enough to finish cleaning up the workday, but the bleeding would not stop. (On an entirely disgusting note - he has an exceptionally strong heartbeat, which was demonstrated by the spurting from the cut.) So we took a trip to the ER in Rock Springs.

He was a great patient, considering what he'd been through and all without a nap. He was most excited when they gave him the clicker to control the TV, but had a hard time remembering not to push the red call-button.

The dr said it was a clean cut and serious enough to require stitches, but that the trauma of the anesthesia shots to numb it would be worse than the cut itself so she put the flap back together with Steri-Strips and a huge gauze bandage. She said he's for sure going to have a scar (but what boy doesn't want a cool, gnarly scar to show off?) and might lose the fingernail, or at least the part that was cut through, but that it should be better in 10 days or so.

Oh, and the fact that we have no idea what he cut it on really didn't instill trust in us with the ER personnel. We told the ladies at the front desk that we didn't know how he did it, the triage nurse, the nurse who took us back to the room, the two different nurses who came in to check on us while we were in the room, and the front desk lady (who we had already told) again when she came in to finalize the paperwork. I'm sure CPS loves to hear about parents whose kids mysteriously gash themselves and the parents can't explain it. But when we had gathered him up and got the crying to stop at the church, Kev and the others checked out the shed to see if they could find what had done the damage. He left quite an obvious trail coming out of the shed and there was a bigger pool of drops in one spot so we guess that's where it started. But without CSI equipment I doubt we'll ever know what did the gashing. Several times throughout the day we asked him what happened but all he would say was, "I can't know."

Anyway, we got out of the ER in record time: 2 hours total. Now we get to try and keep a bandage clean on a 2 year old boy for 10 days and watch for infection . . . and the bill.

And even in the midst of the trauma he was classic Josiah. When Jared and Grandaddy and Kev got him inside and over to the sink to clean off the drippy-ness and try to stop the bleeding, he told Grandaddy through the tears, "I not do that again."

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention.

So, what do you do when the sun is streaming down on your changing table into your eyes and Mom is taking for-EV-er to change your diaper?

One thought would be USE THE FREAKIN' TOILET! But until then:

Cover your face with the New, Unused diaper! He squinted his eyes and felt around blindly until he found the new diaper I was reaching for and snatched it away from me. Apparently it had a higher calling in its future than just covering a little boy's butt. Impromptu Sunshade!

Sneak Peek - The Little Miss A's

Oh, the fun we had!! This first one cracks me up -- she wasn't even sitting down all the way but that grin is just so cute!
Thanks so much, guys! Love 'em!