Last Day of Kindergarten

Wow, it feels like this day has come so fast! It doesn't seem possible that our girls have completed Kindergarten, or that they are turning 6 in just one short week and that 1st grade is on our horizon.

They both have grown and changed so much and in so many ways this past year, it is so amazing.

The 5th birthday was big. Going off to Kindergarten was big. But for some reason, this transition seems really dang big. First grade feels so grown up. They can't be that grown up yet, can they?

But they are!

Birthdays Birthdays Birthdays

More birthday celebrations are upon us...

This Saturday the girls will have many many many friends over for a friend party from 1-3. It will be interesting to see how many come as we've only been notified that one can't make it. We are all excited about the party plans. It will be interesting to see how it plays out in reality.

Then the family arrives for a party beginning at 5.

Carie did another knock out job on the invites for both the friend party and the family party. I'm particularly fond of the family invite so I'll share that here.




















I think Sunday will be declared a day of rest.

Then we have big plans to celebrate their actual birthday (as a family) the following weekend.

Paci Fairy

The "paci fairy" has descended upon our home. She has removed all (I hope!) the remaining paci's. They are finally and officially removed from our home.

It's a good thing, a really good thing. It's also a hard thing. But we are all doing okay with it.

He had done really really well with the paci disappearance a while back. He was so incredible about it. But then one would crop up out of nowhere now and again. Then we had the recent bout of illnesses... that went on forever... and he had become somewhat reattached. He was so damn cute about it!

Then just recently the talk of paci fairies came up (again) and we ran with it. This time around he seemed quite interested in the paci fairy idea. We talked about what would happen, what he needed to do, what the paci fairy would do, yadda yadda yadda. We didn't drag it on, we just talked about it and did it.

He was way cool with decorating the package. He was way cool with collecting his paci's and even wanted to decorate his paci's! He wasn't so cool with the paci fairy taking his paci's, but we had fun thinking of all the ways that the paci fairy was using his paci’s. He was (of course) thrilled that she left him a big boy package. But he would still like his paci’s back, please.

Unfortunately we weren't so brilliant in our timing, but I guess you've gotta run with it when you have the option. This week is just so incredibly crazy and the paci fairy has killed our killer bedtime routine! But I know it will return in due time.

In the short time leading up to the paci fairies arrival, it was hilarious to hear about his ideas of what the paci fairy would leave for him. His first thought was that it would be a skate board! Then somehow a skate board ramp was included. There was a lot of talk about monster trucks, specifically a white monster truck with pink stripes. Both Abby & Ellie chimed in with their own ideas and helped get him psyched up about the experience. We continued to remind them that we have no idea what the paci fairy would leave for his big boy package, but it would be special and it would be a surprise. However, I was certain it wasn’t going to be a skate board OR a skate board ramp!

Recycling

We are finally a recycling family.

We should have done it long long ago, but didn't. I'm sure we had all sorts of excuses, none of them really good enough. But now we are and I guess that is what really matters. It feels good, really really good!

We recently signed up with a new sanitation service. The recycling program through our previous provider pales in comparison to our new service.

We had these incredibly small blue tubs to fill week to week. Sadly, I don't even know what we could place in the tubs. We would typically see various plastic containers recycled (in our neighbors tubs). On windy days it was great that they'd get blown all over the neighborhood. The visual is an example of a neighbors recycling contribution over a weeks time.

Our new sanitation service has a great partnership with Recycle Bank. We are barely within the limits of their service area, and I'm so glad we are!

I had NO IDEA how much of our consumables we could recycle. We easily filled our 96 gallon container in two weeks... without even trying.

As a total bonus, we get credit for our recycling and earn rewards. The service itself was a winner for us. The rewards are a total bonus!

The really cool thing is, the kids are fully on board and so excited about it.

Just after we got it all arranged we brought it up for discussion at dinner one night. We talked about what recycling is, how it works, and what we can and cannot recycle. Immediately they looked at all the things on the table and identified all the items that could be recycled. We now have two cans in the kitchen, one for trash and one for recycling. They are always eager to identify which can their item goes in.

I'm certain there is more that we should be doing, but for now this is a great start for us. I'm glad it is making such a great impact on the kids. I'm glad that as a family we are so excited about it.

The impact our small two week effort has made...

Memorial Weekend

Was GREAT!

Friday afternoon it was just the girls and I. We were off doing some things and they brought up the fact that the coming Monday was Memorial Day. It was fascinating to discuss with the girls the intent of this holiday. They both had amazing questions and thoughtful answers. It gave me an opportunity to talk about Great Grandpa, who is no longer with us. It helped that they do know Great Grandma (my mom's mom) and could make the connection. They debated over the location of the "rocks" (headstones) at the cemetery. I helped clarify that one and then the conversation got a bit theological. It was clear that they were struggling with the concept of the physical bodies (or bones as they referred to them) being in cemeteries and a person's soul being in Heaven. They seemed content with the discussion, the questions and answers. But next time, I think I'll need Carie’s help with the theology!

Saturday morning I woke with pink eye. Of course I went on about our day as planned. It was a busy one! Sunday & Monday were pretty much stay at home family days. It was nice to be at home and getting things done. It was nice to have an extra day!

I don't know the last time that we didn't go to "the lake" over Memorial Weekend. It felt kinda weird not going. But it felt really good to just be... at home. After we get through this week and the dust settles, I think I'll take a day off work and we'll all head up to the lake during the week. The kids would love that! Great Grandma & Grandpa (my dad's parents) would love that!

What A Week!

Really, it has been a long couple of weeks! I feel so behind. I feel like I need to rewind time a good 4 weeks, but in doing so I'd not want to undo any accomplishments that have been made. I just need extra time to make forward progress. Oddly, taking time off work hasn't helped at all. Carie has actually told me that I shouldn't take any more random days off work because our life seems to go to heck when I do.

First Ellie was sick. Ellie recovered and went back to school.

On the heels of Ellie's recover, Spencer became sick with Ellie's mystery illness. As a bonus, pink eye was added. Spencer seemed off Wednesday evening and by Thursday it was clear that he was our next patient. On Thursday we setup an appt with the Ped for first thing Friday morning. I had the day off and both Carie and I took Spencer in for his appointment.

Not long after we leave the doctor's office from Spencer's appointment we get a call from the school nurse to come pick up Abby. By the time we picked her up we had already made an appointment for her at our Peds office. We pick her up and went straight there. At that point we all felt that Spencer and Abby had whatever Ellie had just gotten over. We had already done the 72 hour waiting period and thought antibiotics were needed. In hindsight, it may have just been coincidental with Ellie. It's hard to say. She did seem to respond, but it doesn't seem that Abby has responded.

I don't think we've ever been in for two different sick visits within the same morning before! Friday evening, by the request of the on call nurse, Carie ended up taking Abby to the ER. It was a scary situation with some uncertainties. She's fine. She was just really sick and very mildly dehydrated which made her dizzy. Odd thing is, she was drinking fluids and she wasn't throwing up. She had been napping and then suddenly I found her on the floor in the dining room and unable to move or recall really how she got there. She was coherent enough to call for us but we had no idea if she had lost consciousness or not. All we did know for certain was that she wasn't there for long.

It just feels like it is never ending. In reality, I do believe the end is very near. This is one we just have to wait out.

We are also...
- Wrapping up our first year of school. It seems to be the time of year for field trips, field days, mother's day programs, culture programs, all school picnics, and everything else that needs to be crammed in during the last month of school.
- Wrapping up spring soccer season... an odd one at that.
- Kicking off softball season... oh this ought to be interesting.
- Getting signed up for summer activities... and not feeling very on top of it!
- Celebrating birthdays galore.
- Trying to plant a garden again.
- Trying to repair the yard after it didn't do so well last year.
- Preparing for back-to-back birthday parties... at our house... in 12 days.
- Trying to find summer clothes that fit the kids.
- And whatever else comes our way.

Mother's Day

Happy Belated Mother's Day!!!

Carie is such an awesome Mom to our amazing kids. I couldn't ask for a better partner or better mother and I know that we both feel blessed to have these kids in our lives.

We had a nice Mother's Day weekend! Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and we weren't able to plant like we had hoped, and Ellie was still fighting off her mystery illness.

We had a little family celebration at home on Saturday evening, complete with Chinese takeout, a fire in the fireplace, and yummy s’ mores! Sunday we spent the day in Lincoln celebrating with my family. I think everyone had a great weekend.

Thankfully Ellie is well on her road to recovery after 5 days of really high temps. She was happy to be able to return to school today! The last pic of Ellie was taken during her low point of the day, and it shows.

The Boy's 3rd Birthday Bash

Spencer's big birthday celebration was a couple of weekends ago. Of course we scheduled it for a time that we thought would be ideal for his afternoon nap. Of course he took an incredible nap and woke up just as our house was filling up with people. He adjusted quickly and all was good.

We enjoyed pizza from 0ld Chicag0 and salad. He then had great fun opening his awesome gifts and got confused at who he was thanking for what. Then it was time to blow out the candles, his favorite.

Mommy did a knock out job on the rocket cake! Great Grandma Nickels did a fantastic job on the chocolate cake (not pictured).














Of course he was able to easily convince a couple of his uncle's to setup one of his new gifts. This is something he's wanted for quite a while. Great marketing at work! But it was hilarious to hear him walk around talking about it endlessly. You try to say it ten times fast! Unfortunately it doesn't perform as hoped and provided some (frustrating) fun for a short while.














We have our own Sleeping Beauty shagging balls!

Word Play

Spencer has been experimenting with words lately... including some words that simply aren't acceptable. So he'll test them out, we'll remind him that it isn't an okay word choice, and give him appropriate alternative words. Some alternative words for the specific word he is fixated on (repeating) would be... shucks and darn it. I’m not thrilled with these alternates, but they still beat the original word choice.

Yesterday his big word was Daddy. I've heard him use this word before, but yesterday it was excessive and Daddy was involved in several phases of the evening.

Some examples...

He was helping me with dinner by setting the table. He was counting out the silverware.
As I’m at the stove I'd hear him say
... one for Abby
... one for xxx (I wasn't really paying close attention)
... one for Daddy (That caught my attention)
When there was a break I said "Spencer, who is Daddy?"
He replied, ME!
Me: Oh, okay!
I'm not worried about his use of the word, just curious as to what it currently means to him.

Later he was playing with his fingers and talking. It appeared that he was labeling his fingers... Mommy, Daddy, etc...
Curiously I asked, Spencer who is Daddy?
He pointed to a specific finger and said THIS ONE!
Curiously I asked "Spencer, do you have a daddy?"
He, in a silly animated tone (his usual demeanor) said nooooooooo
Like - are you crazy woman!
This is Daddy (pointing to his finger).
And this is Mommy (pointing to the next finger)
And this is Momma (pointing to the next finger)
I guess we only exist as a finger now.
At least we each have our own finger.

At bedtime we were rocking and talking. He tells me that he wants to be a Daddy. I think… awww, how sweet! I remark that someday I’m sure he’d be a fine Daddy. We cuddle and then a warm fuzzy image of him as a Daddy flashes by... momentarily forgetting that he clearly doesn't know what Daddy is.

Then in the next breath he tells me that he wants to be a closet.
I remark that it might be a challenge to become a closet.
He says “But I want to be”.
Well, I guess we can become whatever we want to be if we work hard enough for it. This one might prove to be a challenge though.

School Love

I had a great conversation with Ellie's teacher and as a bonus Abby's teacher got in on the tail end of it.

Even better, the teacher quickly figured out where it was all coming from even before I shared what I knew. Thankfully we were able to put our information together and we both now know more about what is going on.

My timing couldn't have been more perfect (lucky!) as the teacher had plans to talk with the other student's parents that afternoon. Our information helped clear up the teacher's version of what was going on and helped support her existing concerns.

I really feel for this other girl. I knew that she was relatively new to the school. What I didn't know was that this is the 3rd school she's been in this year. That is a lot for a Kindergartener to handle and it sounds like it has been tough.

With all the activities going on at school over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be at school and in contact with the teachers quite a lot. The plan is that we’ll share any new developments. I just hope that they all get the support they need to move past this in a positive manner.

In the mean time, Ellie is actually out of school for a couple of days. She has spiked a fever of 104.3 a few times yesterday and had us really concerned. Thankfully we were always able to get it under control and into a safer zone. It appeared to finally break late last night and I’m hoping that it doesn’t repeat today! I was at school for their culture program yesterday and her teacher and friends were so awesome and were worried about her being gone. I’m hoping that she’ll be able to return to school tomorrow since they have been really looking forward to their Mother’s Day program. They’ve been working on this for some time now and they are so excited and so proud. I’d hate for her to have to miss it.

Fat

I really despise that word, really really do.

I don't think it is because I am... that. But I think that the word carries with it so many connotations and each individual’s perception of what is, is different.

I also take issue with other people taking concern over other individual’s level of fatness. Why it is necessary to concern themselves with the condition of other people is beyond me. They don't have to live "with it". I take issue especially when inappropriate comments are muttered. I will never forget the comment that was made the day that our girls were born. It would have been easier to brush off if it were a nurse or someone from the hospital. But no, it was from a family member and nearly 6 years later I can still visualize it. Amazingly, none of these same people seemed to notice when I did lose a lot of weight after Spencer was born. Unfortunately I didn't even realize or appreciate how much weight I had lost. I myself didn't even truly believe the people who did notice. I wish I could go back and have a do over.

Moving on as this really isn’t about ME.

Our dear sweet Ellie is suddenly using this word and we are very concerned. How in the world? She is only (almost) 6!

As near as we can tell thus far, it sounds like this word is being used amongst some classmates at school. We suspect that Ellie may be using these words as well, which makes me sad. This isn't language we use at home and it isn't language that we've heard her use before. As part of all this, she's recently made some really inappropriate, and way out of character, remarks that are very concerning.

I don't know how the other kid(s) are feeling, but Ellie is now worried that she is fat and is convinced that she needs to exercise. In reality, that is so not the case and it is concerning to think that she thinks she is fat. I’ve also very recently noticed her interest in a different angle of food nutrition… and whether or not what she is eating has fat in it.

We've had some good (I think, I hope!) conversations about our bodies, how we are all different, and what we need to continue to do to keep our own bodies healthy and strong. We had a great conversation about all of the things we DO do to achieve this and how they are perfect just the way they are. We’ve always openly talked about the food that we are eating and how it benefits (or doesn’t) our bodies. It isn’t at all unusual for them to ask questions about the food. But the fat question is a new twist and one that now seems to go hand in hand with these latest developments.

We will be having a chat with the teacher to see if she can shed any light on what is going on. If she isn't aware, we want to make her aware so they can help put an end to this.

We - our society - need to leave the judgments at the door! They aren't helpful in the least, they are only hurtful. Until you walk in the shoes of the person you are judging, you have no idea!

More Than We Bargained For

We are Webk!nz newbies. The girls' had become privy to them through their older friends on the bus. They have been talking about them for months. It seemed inevitable that we would have this experience and the Easter bunny surprised them with plush virtual animals in their Easter basket.

It has been quite the experience. I think it is fair to say that we've gotten more than we bargained for out of this experience. In a good way.

During the newness phase of it all Carie and I got addicted to a couple of the games. Our short lived addictions helped the girls' in their efforts to create their rooms. Then life got busy again and our competition died down. I don't know the last time either Carie or I have logged on for our own enjoyment. The girls though, they still love playing with their virtual pets.

The girls' personalities have once again shone through. Ellie is all about collecting her points and saving them for certain things. She is also interested in waiting for things to go on sale or waiting until she has a coupon to buy her big items. Abby is all about immediate gratification. That's my girl! This has been a great lesson in saving and waiting.

Over the Webk!nz Extravaganza weekend we managed to get some new (free!) pets. All we had to do was spend a small amount of $$ at specific stores to get a free Webk!nz. Well, we have 3 birthday parties coming up and needed to buy birthday decorations and such. It was money we were going to spend very soon anyways. So it was a no brainer. All 3 kids ended up with new Webk!nz. Spencer loves his Webk!nz friends as much as the girls' do even though he doesn't utilize the virtual aspect. The girls' logged into their accounts and added their new friend to join their old friend. They had great fun playing with both of them.

Saturday night it was time to head to bed. Abby really wanted to put her Webk!nz pets to bed and we agreed that that would be okay. Carie and I were chilling out, taking in the 30 seconds of quietness, when suddenly Abby appeared and she was clearly frustrated.

She says (in an exasperated tone) "I'm trying to put my Webk!nz to bed but every time I go to put the 2nd one in bed, the first one gets out of bed!"

This is where I earn the "Mom of the year" award! I say: "Welcome to our world!" "You and Ellie have been doing this for nearly 6 years now!"

Carie burst into laughter. You know when you are downright tired and just can't control yourself anymore, yeah.

Abby looks perplexed.

Abby honey, I know it is frustrating! How about I help? But can you and your sister stay in bed!?!? Because really, it is frustrating.

You know what? It might be my imagination, but I think they have stayed in bed more this week.