Buckle Up, because this weekend update is all over the place!

I sit here on this Monday morning, feeling as though I need another weekend to recover from our weekend!  This was one that we definitely got our money's worth out of.

We have been planning for months to be in Lewistown this weekend to be on hand to celebrate sweet baby Hayden's dedication.  The trip suddenly became more important when we found out on Wednesday that my Dad was admitted to the hospital for a blood clot in his lung.  Against every instict I had, I listened to my parents and stayed home until our trip on Saturday.  It is times like that that I absolutely hate being an hour away-- I just felt like a horrible daughter for not being with my Dad sooner than four days after his hospital stay began.  Our prayers are that he will be able to go home today, although there has been no word on that to this point in the day.  I know he's getting anxious for his own bed and some much yummier food than what he is getting in the hospital.

Before we could leave for Mom and Dad's, there was a big game for the Cobras at Upward.  Jason and Earl had a brainstorm to teach the kids an offensive scheme at practice this week, and the kids did GREAT following their instruction and performing their jobs.  The highlight of the game was that Joshua made his first two baskets!  He was so proud of himself and turned around, put his arms up in the air and had the best smile.  I am sorry to report that he also got whacked in the eye with the ball while going for a rebound at the end of the game and had to sit out the last few minutes.  The good news is that he seems to be really enjoying playing basketball, and I love watching him...that is, when the girls allow me the opportunity to focus on his game.  Mara had a serious case of the scrooches during the game on Saturday, so we spent the better part of the game walking up and down the hallways.  Luckily for me, Joshua didn't seem to notice.  He was on cloud nine after the game after getting the offensive star for the day since he made his first basket.

We quickly changed gears and hit 522 toward Lewistown.  Thankfully, after burning off some steam, Mara promptly went to sleep in the car while the big kids watched movies.  Josh and Lauren were so excited to get to Nana and Pap's house.  It had been since Christmas that they had been there, and they always love it. 

We arrived and had some nice play time with Brooke and Hayden while Jason and I made a quick trip to the hospital to see my Dad.  His spirits were good, but I know it couldn't have been easy for him to know that we were all back at the house, getting ready for a yummy supper as a family while he was there.  Given the noise level of the kids, perhaps he was spared from being at the house, but I know he would have rather been with all of us.  Mom cooked a fabulous supper as always, and we even had cake to celebrate Libby's birthday on Sunday.

Sunday morning, we headed to Maitland Church of the Brethren for Hayden's dedication.  She looked absolutely precious in her little pink dress, and was as sweet as ever for her walk around the church.  I'm sure you are shocked, but Lauren and Mara didn't do so well at sitting still through the whole church service, so I ended up in the nursery with the girls until it was time for the dedication.  Mara stayed quiet (mostly) and I only had to take her out for a quick minute while they prayed.  That child is going to be the death of me, I swear.  She has zero ability to sit still or be quiet.  And I don't remember the other kids being quite this bad at this stage.  It wouldn't be so bad if I could just leave her in the nursery with perfectly capable volunteers who I know would take great care of her.  But she has a complete and total meltdown that has no ending point when I walk away from her.  And so, we push through this stage...which better be a stage or else you can just send me right to the funny farm now.

We ended the weekend with a yummy lunch and then got packed back up to head home.  It was a whirlwind trip for sure, but we wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Remember Mara's Rock & Play sleeper?  Well, it has been taken to Nana and Pap's for when Hayden is there and needs a spot to lay down.  Mara fell asleep on the way home from church, so I put her in it while we were eating lunch.  It cracked me up how big she looked laying there!  In case there was any question as to how much she has grown!

Love these three!  They had so much fun playing together.  I so wish we lived close by enough that they could see each other daily.

This was Lauren on the way home.  Think she was tired?

Here is the first picture we have of Hayden and Aunt Meg!  I just love this sweet girl to pieces.  I may be partial, but isn't she just the cutest baby you've ever seen?

100th Day!

Since the first day of school, Joshua's class has been counting and counting and counting the days of school.  They were told that first day that when they got to 100, they would have a special party to celebrate the 100 days of Kindergarten that they had completed.  Well, today was the day.

Joshua began the day requesting pancakes shaped like 100.  If I have perfected any parenting skill over the years, it has been pancake art.  I was pleased to oblige him as long as he promised to gobble up the pancakes so that we could make it to school on time. 



They all were SO excited to get to yell out ONE HUNDRED on their 100 day chart.  I wish I had the video camera going as they were counting and building up their excitement.  This photo looks way too orderly for how the day actually went.  But suffice it to say that they had a blast!

They worked on special 100 Day placemats full of activities that went with the theme.  They also wore crowns and glasses with the number 100 worked into them.  They got new 100th day pencils, stickers and bookmarks.  And I have to be honest....this school supply loving nerd thought they were pretty cool!

It is always fun when there are lots of parents around to help with the kids.  I have to tell you that if we are blessed to share the next 12 years of school with this same group of kids and their parents, we will be so lucky.  What a special group of families.  We all were assigned a station, and I was asked to handle these little charts where we counted a whole bunch of different items (plastic fish, sea shells, pennies and plastic bugs).  The kids had a ball.  But if I never count to 100 again, it will be too soon.

We ended the day with a complete sugar rush.  Good grief.  Each child was asked to bring in 100 edible items that could be added to a class snack mix.  We obviously couldn't partake in that, but Joshua did count out 100 jelly beans to add to the class mix.  And then I put a mixture together for him from things we had at home so that he could eat his own safe snack mix.  Add to that the ice cream sundaes that they had....and don't forget his chocolate milk...he was just about bouncing off the walls, as were the rest of the kids in the class.  I'm hoping by the time I return back home after work, it will all have worn off.

I find it hard to believe that Kindergarten is now more than half way over.  We're just inching closer and closer to him being a big first grader, which will mark the beginning of him going to school all day.  It seems, these days, that every time I look at him, he has grown- with pants and shirts that seem to be shrinking before my very eyes.  I feel very lucky to get to share these experiences with him, and to get to watch him experience all of these special events with the other children in his class.  I am so grateful for his loving school environment.

Way to go, K5!!