First Day of School

A very big moment in the family happened a few weeks ago and I have taken this long to sit down and write about it. My baby started school. My little Emma is suddenly all grown up.

I really didn't think it was going to be a big deal. I have no problem having her gone all day long...wait, let me think about that.....yeah NO problem. My sadness has come from knowing that one chapter in her life is over. She is no longer my little girl. She is independent, confident, and sucessful without me holding her hand. That's kind of a bummer as a mother-knowing that I'm not really needed as much as I was a month ago. But, enough about me...Emma is LOVING kindergarten.

Her teacher's name is Mrs. Puckett. Emma told me a few days after school started that she wished Mrs. Puckett was her mommy. How's that for cutting the apron strings?

Dropping her off was not hard for her at all. She just walked right in, sat at her desk and didn't even realize that I was tearing up as I stood there by the door.

She goes to a Charter school, so their facilities are somewhat lacking. They have no cafeteria or gym and so they're outside several times during the day. The poor girl just comes home sweating and bright red. I am very happy with her teacher and the staff at the school. Volunteer moms help out a lot and they all knew her name within the first week of school and knew who I was. That was very comforting to me. I don't think you'd get that in a public school with hundreds of kindergartners.

She is making friends easily (no surprise) and loves singing time. Her biggest complaint would be that life goes on at home without her. She gets upset if we go swimming or eat cookies or watch movies while she's gone and thinks that we need to do those things again in the evening.

She started dance yesterday, which she loved, and is counting down the days until next Tuesday when she gets to go again.

In a way, life is more calm at home without her, but in a way, I feel like I'm more busy. The day-to-day tasks have grown, but the drama of having three kids has subsided. So, I guess Life goes on. I think it goes way too quickly!

I love you too Emma.

Look what snuck into my lunch bag today. Emma has been getting these notes from Miranda and decided she wanted to share the love

The 3 Musketeers?

Yup.  This is pretty much how it happened.

Friday night at the park

The days may be hot, but if we can get a little monsoon rain the evenings are not bad.

Mowhawk Man

This is Aiden's natural look after he gets out of the tub. A nice strong mowhawk on top with peach fuzz on the sides.

Moving Hazard

Don't underestimate these kids.  They can find safety hazards without much difficulty.

My little girl is all grown up...

Emma's first day of kindergarten is tomorrow.  My first question is, "What kind of school starts in July?

My next question would be, "How did my little baby get so big?"

Good luck Emma!

Let's get to the good stuff

I (Brent) was the substitute pianist in primary today so I was able to
observe the girls.

Halfway through singing time Emma raised her hand to interrupt the singing.

"Excuse me, are we going to color today?"

Say what?

Syd- Dad, do grandmas know everything?

Dad- No.

Syd- Do moms know everything?

Dad- No.  I don't think anyone knows everything.

Syd- I think moms do.

Wicked

Sydney teaching Aiden how to be loud...

Just what we need... Another loud voice in the house.

Bite me

Aiden currently has four teeth coming in on the top.  That will give him 6 total.  Also, he is now crawling like a madman.  Lock the cabinets.

I'm a big kid now...

Emma can finally go on the big kid slides. She loves it!

Our Friend's struggle

This message was written by my friend Margie. She serves in the YW with me and our kids play together. Her husband's diagnosis has been a shock to me and I have spent many hours trying to think of ways to help and what their family must be going through. Please help them. They are good people who have a big trial in their lives.


***FEDERAL EMPLOYEES- PLEASE DONATE LEAVE TO RYAN HESS***

My name is Margie Hess, my husband Ryan was diagnosed on June 12, 2009 with a rare and aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Since this is an aggressive form of T-Cell Lymphoma, his doctor has put him on an aggressive chemo regimen that will result in him being unable to work for the next 4-6 months and possibly longer. At the time of diagnosis he was finishing up his 1^st year as a Podiatry Resident at the V.A. in Tucson, AZ. Ryan is a devoted husband and father of two children, Hallie (5) and Max (2). By the end of this month (June 2009), Ryan will use up the last of his vacation and sick leave and will have to go on unpaid leave. Ryan is the sole provider for our family; I stay at home with both the kids. Without him working we have no income. I need to stay home to help care for him, so I cannot get a job right now, either. As difficult as it is for our family to have to ask for help, we have realized that we must do so at this time. We were told that any federal employee (ie: military, Border Patrol, DEA, FB I, Dept of Justice, EPA etc. EXCEPT Post Office employees) can donate vacation time to be used as sick leave for another Federal employee. We would be so thankful for any number of extra paid days we can accumulate. Thank you so much.

How can you help if you ARE a Federal Employee?

Go to your HR department and request to donate leave to Ryan Hess who works for the VA. (Your HR person will know the form that needs to be filled out- each Federal agency has their own form to donate leave)

Once filled out and signed, the HR person will then need to fax or e-mail the form to:

OLIVIA McCLURE - Benefits Specialist (TUCSON V.A.)

Phone #: (520) 792-1450 x 6076

Fax # : (520) 629-1849

E-Mail : olivia.mcclure@va.gov

ALSO, for those who are federal employees, please print out this message and post it in break/lunch rooms to help get the word out as well as emailing it to co-workers!

How to help if you are NOT a Federal Employee:

PASS this along to ANYONE and EVERYONE that you know and then ask them to pass the message along. Post it on blogs, Facebook...whatever you can think of.

Thanks again everyone- this will help SO much!

GO TEAM RYAN HESS!

(E-mail teamryanhess@gmail.com to receive updates or to send a message!)

Where have we been?

So, I spent a week and a half in Utah visiting my family. It is always great to have so many helping hands and some great adult conversation. I sure love my family. I think I like my brothers and sisters more and more the older I get. I was really bad about taking pictures. So, there's not many to look at.

My mom made a list of things that we did so the girls could take it home and tell Brent about how great their trip was. It turned out to be a rather long list. Unfortunately, Emma left it on the plane. So, I'm going to have to go by memory.

• Swimming (complete with waterslides, lazy river, todllers pool etc.) Sydney LOVED the slides. She would squeel and put her arms up like she was on a roller coaster. I almost drowned at the end because I was laughing so hard.

• Riding Horses (even Aiden laughed while ridding)

• Going up to out timeshare condo in Eden (it was GORGEOUS)

• Rode Four-wheelers (I only tipped once-just a few bruises, this was my favorite thing. We found awesome trails, went on great jumps and just had a really great time. This girls even came for a little while one day)

• Went out to dinner (this was a big deal because the girls didn't really like their meal, and when the manager asked about it-they told him. So, he asked what they wanted instead-Ice Cream and they ordered it with/without cookies, cheeries, whipped cream etc. They thought it was WAY cool that they ordered whatever they wanted and go it for free) We went to Iggy's-my new favorite restaurant

• Played with, fed, and then (accidentally) killed two cotton tail rabbits that my mom had caught

• Went to the Children's Museum (there was a castle/knight/princess area-need I say more?)

• Went to the zoo. (The girls are a great age for this. Aiden wasn't interested until we got down close to a skunk. The skunk was interested in Aiden on the other side of the glass. Aiden didn't really appreciate the attention and started crying and trying to run away)

• We went and saw UP at the theaters. Highly recommend it. The little kids, big kids, and old kids all loved it.

Those were the big things I can think of right now. We did lots of little things while hanging out at Grandma's house. We watched movies, did the slip-n-slide, jumped on the trampoline, and had lots of fun with all of the barbies.

Thanks mom and dad, for everything! It was a really great trip!!!

Photography Parents....

We are normal parents. I promise. We took Aiden to the park for his 9 month photos. 24 minutes later we had taken 220 photos. Is that normal?

Aiden picked up a second tooth. I think it makes him look much more handsome.

Here are a couple of shots from the trip. There are more posted at our website.

This Child Will be the Death of Me - Part 2

Sydney found the scissors. After giving all of the "My-little-Pony" dolls haircuts, she decided to go through a important rite of passage for a 3 year old: The SAH (Self Administered Haircut)

The pictures below represent her new look after the Miranda took her in to a local salon to get things evened out. *sigh*

This Child Will be the Death of Me

Does anyone want a 3 year old? I can get you a great deal.

Aiden the Kangaroo

Brent's mom has told me about how much he loved the jonny-jump-up when he was a baby. Apparently, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Here is a video of Aiden having a good time

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Not Sharing

Do moms always have to share? As a child I thought so. I can distinctly remember the first time my mom said she wouldn't share her candy bar with me. I was floored! "What!?" I thought, "You can say NO!!! But, you're my mom and I'm asking you to give me a bite and you just said no?!"

Emma learned this lesson on mother's day this year. Sometimes she has a hard time with other people having birthdays, winning prizes etc. I got a bag of yummy chocolates in church and she wasn't happy about that. We dropped her off at primary crying, picked her up at the end and when I offered to give her a hershey kiss, she started up again (she didn't want a kiss), then when I told her that mommies get treats sometimes and they don't always have to share-she lost it. She cried all the way home and for 45 minutes afterwards. She kept asking why kids didn't get things and only mommies and why I didn't have to share etc. (I will admit that I was being a little selfish, but the bigger her tantrum, the more determined I was to NOT share and make a point) At one point, she even started crying because she WASN'T a mommy "I want to be a mommy! Then I will get treats!"

At bed time, she told me what her game plan was for getting even.

"When you're resurrected and a mommy, and I'm resurrected and a mommy and it's mother's day and I get treats at church-I'M NOT SHARING THEM WITH YOU!!!!"

"Okay,"I said, "because mommies don't always have to share"

As a side note, I had a great weekend. Brent watched the kids for two days while I left on a scrapbook retreat with a big group of friends. I had a really good time, came home to a clean house and happy children. Thanks, Brent, you're the greatest (I think I might share my treats with you).