Homework

Ethan started his homework for this week on Friday when he got it. All he has left to do this week is daily reading and his spelling. Here he is finding his spelling words in a magazine. Seems like a pretty easy thing, right? Well, 45 minutes later I am still pouring over the silly thing looking for the words man, ran and tap. Who knew! We will not pick this option again for a long time! It works though, I sure do know his spelling words now!

School BBQ

Today the PTO at Ethan's school put on a free BBQ. I must say that the event was very well planned, they had plenty of food and the kids all seemed to be having a great time. Aubrey really liked the bounce house, which is new for her. She usually wants to go, but then once inside she gets scared and wants to come out. Not this time, she just bounced away!

While I was at the bounce house, Derek and Ethan headed over to the football throwing game. They came back with an ice pack and quite a story. While Ethan was throwing at the football game, someone from the nearby baseball game hit at ball and it went sideways and whacked Ethan right in the side of the knee. Derek said it was pretty hard and it left a good mark. What are the odds of that happening?
Aubrey blowing bubbles. This was the Kindergarten station, so we got to hang out for a little with Mrs. Ramage, Ethan's teacher from last year.
Face painting - always a favorite. Ethan got a football and Aubrey a smiley face. It was so hot though, they smeared pretty quickly.

They were doing the kids cake walk. Ethan won some mini brownies. Can you tell that is was hot out?
We then headed over to the church and the new light bulbs that Derek and Barry installed earlier this week were a bad batch and already burnt out. I helped Derek put up the scaffolding so that they could be changed. This was a first for me and scaffolding is some crazy stuff. Derek and I also worked really well together. Usually home improvement projects or this sort of thing do not usually bring out the best in us. Derek says I do not think like a guy. That translates to I do not move the correct way or the correct speed that he is thinking in his mind. This must be a test to almost 8 years of being married, because we worked very well together today!

Poor Aubrey

We found out today that Aubrey has asthma. Here she is with her nebulizer. For three days she needs to do it about three times a day or whenever she has a coughing attack. Then it should not be needed as much. It looks worse than it really is. It is like an oxygen mask that she to wear and it does not hurt her at all. She did not particularly love having it on, but hopefully it will make her cough better. She is also on medication for asthmatic bronchitis.

Aubrey's First Day

Aubrey had her first day of preschool today. She will be going on Tuesdays and Wednesdays this year.
The two of them ready for their day.
Mommy and Aubrey ready for school. I am so glad that tomorrow I do not have to shower and get ready for any pictures before taking them to school!
Aubrey loved this doll house and all the little dolls to play with. She did not even care that I left.
Aubrey with her teachers, Ms. Deb and Ms. Deb - that will be easy to remember!
Daddy was not ready for a picture this morning before we left, so we stopped by his office to tell him about the good day she had. She stayed on a green card all day (that is good).

Ethan's First Day of School

Our little man all ready for First Grade!

Ethan with his teacher Mr. Menard.



Ethan at his seat.

Ethan's best friend Jordan is in his class again this year!
The first day of school would not be complete without homemade cookies when you get home. At Target they give the kids a free cookie in the bakery, so Ethan's new favorite is M&M cookies.
Ethan had a great first day and had a lot of fun. He said his favorite part of the day was reading time when they read a story about the letter M. He is very much a rule follower (at least at school) so he enjoys learning all the new rules and what is expected. He is such the model student!

Feeling Alive Again

I was sick and in bed for the last two days. It was absolutely horrible. I ached everywhere and could not get comfortable and almost passed out twice. Friday night was so miserable and I had the worst headache that I could not get rid of. We have quite the extensive array of pain medication at our house from 8 months of Derek dealing with a kidney stone, so I tried one of those and that did not even work. Sometime during the night on Friday I convinced myself that I had a brain tumor, crazy I know. So, we were at the urgent care when it opened on Saturday since I was so uncomfortable. The doctor checked me out and was pretty confident that I only had a virus and not a brain tumor. He prescribed me some pain medication to make the headache go away and told me it could last for 7-14 days and to get a lot of rest. Are you kidding me? We already had that pain medication at home as well, so I did not have to get that filled. A combination of Advil and the new pain medication did take the headache away and allowed me to sleep most of Saturday. Praise the Lord I woke up this morning feeling much better. I went to church and took a little nap this afternoon and did some laundry, but otherwise took it pretty easy.
I must say that Derek was wonderful while I was sick. He took care of me and brought me whatever I needed when I called for him. He took care of all the things around the house and the kids, which is not a simple task. He took Ethan and Aubrey to her open house at preschool (I was sad to miss that) and took Ethan with him to church last night. I am blessed to have such a wonderful husband!
Tomorrow, Ethan starts First Grade. We are very thankful again this year for a wonderful teacher for him. His teacher is Mr. Menard who taught 3rd grade last year and was the teacher of the year at the school. He moved down to first grade and we are thrilled to have him! It is rare to have a good male teacher in elementary school- so I am really excited for Ethan this year. I will post pictures tomorrow of his first day.

Curlers

Aubrey slept in curlers last night and her hair looked really cute today curled. I was surprised at how well she did and only one fell out while she was sleeping. We will definitely do this again.

Dance Class

Aubrey had her first dance class today, so we had to try on all our outfits to see which one she wanted to wear.
Derek hung this mirror for her yesterday on the back of her door. She loves it! After he finished she ran up to his legs and gave him the biggest hug and "Thank you daddy!" Made his heart melt. Here she is checking herself out in the mirror.
Option number 2. This one is velvet though, so we might save this more for winter time.
This was the winning outfit for today. She just looks too cute! We had to stop by church to show Daddy and everyone else who was there her dance outfit before we went to class. (Pam, we could not find you and Rebekah you were on the phone)

There was only one other girl in her class today, but a few more are supposed to join. This one was opened up since the Saturday was full, but I wanted a weekday anyway. She was a little nervous at first and did not want me to leave the room, but I could hear from outside that she was having fun and already had started peppering her teacher with questions such as "Where are your shoes?" I knew the shyness would not last long!
The door was closed, but Ethan and I peaked in a few times to see what she was doing. I stuck my camera in one time a got a few shots.
I could tell that she loved watching herself in the mirror that runs along one wall. I think this was where she was hopping like a bunny.
She loved it and is very excited to go back next week. I think the best part is the dance clothes though- she did not want to take them off when we got home. Choosing my battles, this one she won.

Fort

We are taking it kind of easy this week and staying around the house, enjoying our last week before school starts. The kids wanted to go the park and take a picnic, so we headed out. We did not even make it a minute down the road and we could see the rain coming down ahead of us. I decided we should probably not chance it so we came back home and built a fort and had a picnic there. Of course, it has not rained one drop at our house yet!

The soda was a bad idea, because Aubrey spilled it all over the blanket. At least it was on the blanket which can be washed instead of the carpet.

Aubrey has her first dance class today....I will post pictures tonight!

Handy Household Helper

At church we are doing a series with the kids on robots and they are H3's or Handy Household Helpers. Our main point this weekend was I Will Do Helpful Things For Others To Show Them God's Love. One of the examples given was to take your neighbor some water while mowing the grass. Tonight Ethan came out with a bottle of water for me while I was mowing. He was so sweet and so helpful and continued helping by raking for me, or at least helping. When we finished he then went on to ask if there was anything else he could do. Yeah, for learning things at church!! While I was mowing I noticed that our neighbor Linda's grass was still pretty high, as her mower is broken. She is very kind and helpful to us with watching the kids and getting our mail when we are gone and all sorts of other neighborly things, so I decided that I would mow the grass for her since she helps us so much. I also wanted to be an example to Ethan about helping others if that is what I was asking him to do. We had a really fun time out at the beach this afternoon. After the last service, which we LOVE only having two Sunday services, we went and grabbed some lunch and then went to the beach. The waves were great for boogie boarding so Derek and I both took turns with Ethan in the water. The waves were a little too much for Aubrey today so she was content playing in the sand. I sat there at the beach watching Derek and Ethan in the water and Aubrey in the sand and was just thankful for my wonderful family. I really am blessed!


I curled Aubrey's hair this morning for church and I am glad I took a picture because an hour later by the time we got to church it was almost flat. Oh well, it was cute while it lasted.



She really wanted to take off her jacket when she got to church because she said a jacket is for when you are chilly and she was sure she needed to take it off at church. It took some work to convince her that it was just part of her outfit and not really meant to keep her warm.
Of course I had to take a picture of my handsome little guy too.

Ethan's Science Project

The other day at the grocery store Ethan declared he would like some items to do a science project. He needed Red and Blue Mountain Dew and clear cups, so I obliged. We were not sure where he was going with this idea. He was not completely sure either, but he seemed to know what he wanted. Derek was a great sport this morning helping him out.

Here was the final product. Still not sure about where the experiment comes in, but Ethan enjoyed doing it.
I spent most of my day yesterday making this cake for a rehearsal dinner tonight. Since neither Derek or I like coconut, I have never made a German Chocolate cake. My icing was too thin, so it presented some problems. I did finish it though and was happy with the outcome, but from now on I am sticking to cakes I have made before. I am so glad that I turned down making the wedding cake!!

Surprise Party

Yesterday, Ethan found a shiny stone in the nursery at church and that inspired him to give me a surprise birthday party - even though my birthday is not until March. While I mowed the yard yesterday he worked with Aubrey in the guest room to set up the party. When Derek got home they made us close our eyes and took us into the "surprise party." I took pictures of it because they were so excited and it was so thoughtful and cute.



Derek on the bed with the balloons that Ethan had found in his closet.
Ethan giving my my present that he had wrapped in paper. I wondered why the top sheet of paper in the tray today and two little squares cut out of it. I just figured it out now.
My present

Our party food. The loaf of bread was the cakeBruster's bed and accessories were decorations.


We ordered pizza last night from Domino's because we had a coupon and Derek thought the free chocolate lava cake sounded good. He called on the way home laughing with Ethan about how small the lava cake was. We all had a bite of this cake. I took it next the the candle jar lid to give you an idea of how tiny this thing was. We just had to laugh and we won't do that again. We said we should have gone with the free breadsticks, but we may have only gotten a half of one!