Violet's kindergarten celebration

WCS held a Kindergarten Celebration party on Tuesday night this week.  The families and teachers of all the kindergarten students got together to celebrate the completion of their first year of school.  They sang some songs they learned, did some silly motions, recited verses they learned about all the honorable characteristics, and Miss Smits spoke individually about each child and their best qualities.  Miss Smits said Violet most demonstrated initiative doing her work, and commented that Violet was very orderly.  Violet volunteered to recite the verse for the characteristic "Kindness" which is "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you." Eph. 4:32.

We had cake/punch in the lunchroom and the kids ran around with balloons for awhile.

 Goofy pic:

Calvin's 3-4 yr old preschool graduation

We celebrated Calvin's completion of his first year of preschool today.  The kids sang a song together (My God is so big).  The teachers put together a picture slideshow, gave the kids a certificate of completion, and enjoyed snacks and games this morning during the time he normally has school.  Calvin enjoyed every moment of it!  He did a great job singing, doing all the motions, and was happy to take a picture with his two teachers, Mrs. A and Miss Jesse.  While he sat in the benches of the church sanctuary with the others in his class, he looked back and noticed me a few benches back and gave me the hugest smile and grin.  I didn't capture it well in a pic but he just looked so sweet and confident.   I know he loved school this year.  Miss Jesse said she will always remember Calvin as the kid who was always hot and loved muscle shirts. :)

Super tired Violet

An hour after putting all the kids to bed last night, Violet came out of her room crying saying she had a nightmare about monsters chasing her.  I let her come downstairs so I could read her a few books to distract her mind from what she had dreamed about.  She ended up staying awake for another hour or so, and eventually got back to sleep.

Today she had a "field day" at school, where the last 3 hrs of the day were dedicated to outdoor games in the big grassy field by the playground.  She was allowed to wear a t-shirt, shorts and enjoy a Happy Meal from McD's for lunch with her friends.  The combination of going to bed late, dragging her out of bed at 7:15 am, sending her to school (seemingly happy, not acting too tired) and getting her at the end of her long day was enough to knock her out.  When we got home from school around 4:30 pm (I let the kids play on the playground after school for awhile), I laid on the couch and Violet snuggled up with me.  We both ended up falling asleep together.  Calvin woke me up whimpering that he was "staaaaaaarving" so I left her to sleep on the couch and fed Vanessa and Calvin.  While Violet and I were sleeping, I don't know what Calvin and Vanessa were doing.  I heard a lot of screaming. Calvin and Vanessa had big servings of oatmeal and raisins for supper.  Violet slept right through supper (Dave grilled pork and potatoes).  We got Calvin and Vanessa ready for bed and IN bed at 8:20 and Violet was STILL sleeping on the couch.  We tried waking her up a couple times but could barely arouse a very irritated Violet who just wanted to stay asleep.  Dave carried her up to bed, somehow got her to use the bathroom and slipped on some pajama shorts and left on the shirt she was wearing, and tucked her into bed.  She happily kept on sleeping.

She's already gotten 5 hours of sleep today and she will probably keep sleeping until we wake her up at 7 am for her LAST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN tomorrow!!  Wow!

Violet and Calvin created a library in our living room

Saturday mornings Violet and Calvin are always awake before mom and dad....I know...we feel lazy but they seem to enjoy the alone time in the morning.  They usually snuggled in bed with us for a few minutes before they have a big idea concocted up in their head, and they're off to go complete their mission.  This morning's activity was creating a library in our living room.  They took every book and movie they could find and arranged them in a very particular way around the couch and on the coffee table.  They were so proud of their creation!   I love it when they use their imaginations.  When we got downstairs, of course, they couldn't wait to show us...then begged for breakfast and said they were staaaaaaarving.  This picture was taken at 8:03 am  :)

Violet's school program - "Homeland"

Violet's school put on an end-of-the-year program called "Homeland" - a patriotic program.  They performed the entire show for Grandparent's Day on Thursday the 17th.  My mom and dad were able to come, and my Grandma Rowena drove up from Albia.  They spent the morning with Violet at her school touring the school and having lunch together before the program.  The last show was Friday the 18th at 6:30 pm.  She sang in a few of the songs at the beginning and end of the program.  She learned each song well and sang her heart out!  She loved wearing her "new shiny black clippy-cloppy shoes that sparkle and shine in the sun" that Grandma Jo got her and she said they look just like Selah's (her classmate) shoes.  She only has one week of kindergarten left!  She told me this morning that she had a dream she was already in first grade.  Maybe this stubborn baby boy was waiting for Violet's program to be over before he makes his appearance!

If it smells clean...

...its probably good enough to eat.  At least that's Calvin's logic.  Last night at Violet's patriotic program at school, Calvin dropped a cracker on the ground.  He picked up a broken piece of it, sniffed it, and said "It smells clean!" and popped it in his mouth.  ha!

Calvin figured out how to swing

I mean...he figured out how to pump on his own.  He is super excited about it and always wants to go outside and practice. :)  good timing for me! 

Feeling yucky

I don't feel 100%.  Ok...that's true of most days...but I just feel "off" today.  My nose is still really stuffy, my lips are chapped from not being able to breathe through my nose at night.  My body feels a little weak but I'm not in pain.  I got a 2 hour nap this afternoon and woke up incredibly sweaty and my right eye keeps gooping up on me.
Tomorrow is Mother's Day, and also my "official due date"....for those of you who are counting. I'm not, however...I don't really think due dates matter!
Update today: I do feel better, not so yucky!  I am thankful for so much, my family is such a blessing!  I had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Nothing new lately...

I have been a lazy blogger.  I can't really think of what to update...and I'm too tired to write out long stories, so I'm going to create a bullet list of recent happenings that may be of interest:

- Dave had carpal tunnel surgery (snipped the tendon on his inner hand that was smashing the nerves causing numbness in his fingers) about 2 weeks ago, and yesterday he got his stitches out.  He is feeling great.  The feeling in his fingers is coming back, but still taking some time.  His next approach will be chiropractic.

- I'm waiting for baby boy to be born.  His estimated due date is May 13, which just so happens to be Mother's Day.  The doctor I'm seeing is comfortable allowing me to labor/deliver this baby with in the next 2 1/2 weeks if I go into labor on my own.  If not, I will find a local option here if I reach the 42 week mark and have a cesarean done, but I honestly haven't made that phone call yet.  I'd rather wait.  I feel pain-free for the most part, thanks to good chiropractic care throughout my pregnancy.  Baby boy is very healthy and I'm thankful for no health issues.  I've been experiencing a lot of braxton hicks contractions...nothing painful but its noticeable.

- Violet crashed and burned on her bike today.  She got going too fast and got scraped up, but mostly pretty shaken and scared.  She instead opted to ride in the back of the double stroller for the remainder of our walk and ended up climbing trees at Calvin's preschool park.  The kids also smeared themselves blue with blue sidewalk chalk they found on the sidewalk at the park.  This called for an immediate bath before supper.  They frequently request cream of wheat for almost any meal, that's what they ended up having for supper tonight.  Then a strawberry banana smoothie and bagels, it was a random night.

- Our kitchen remodel is about 80% done.  We are working with someone on a design for the tile backsplash.  The island counter top needs more support and more trimwork, which will be done in the next 2 weeks.  The microwave is also getting a bump up a few inches and a new black one will be installed in the white one's place.

- Violet is almost done with kindergarten!  Calvin is finishing up his first year of preschool, soon both kids will be OUT of school for the summer, wow!  I am hoping their constant presence will be helpful to me in assisting with newborn boy and a wild 2 yr old Vanessa who is still learning her boundaries.  Her favorite word just so happens to be "no" right now.  Fun.