Kindergarten, Here He Comes!!!

Today Garrett graduated from preschool. The ceremony was complete with caps and gowns for the kids, blue for boys and pink for girls. Those kids looked adorable. The tassel on the cap was quite a nuisance for Garrett, though. The kids showed off their amazing skills they have learned this year. The can count to 10 in many different languages: spanish, french, german, korean, and chinese. Oh, and of course in english! They also can count by 10's to 100 and by 2's to 20 (almost...they got to 16 then said 17, 18, 19, 20). The kids each recited nursery rhymes in groups. Garrett and his friend Kylie said "Jack and Jill". They played "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" on hand bells (so adorable!) and they sang a couple of songs. Each child marched across the stage to receive his/her diploma and of course pose for the cameras. At the end, as they marched out, Garrett lost hold of his diploma. He looked panicked..."Do I get it or do I keep the line moving???" He got it and ran to catch up while EVERYONE laughed.

There was a cake and punch reception following the ceremony. We ended Garrett's special day by going to La Carreta for lunch with his buddy Ethan's family.

The only sad part of today was that I couldn't be at Hunter's awards ceremony today. He got an award for field day participation and for completing the Book It program. Hunter was only one of 4 from his class to complete the Book It. I am pretty pleased by that! Brian was able to attend the awards ceremony for Hunter while I was at Garrett's graduation. We met for lunch after both, so all's well that end's well!

Two days left...

...for this school year! How in the WORLD is that possible?!?!?! Hunter has two half days of school left for the year. Tomorrow is a fun day where the entire elementary school is going to Putt Putt. Friday is his awards assembly. They don't really give out special awards in first grade, but he should get one for completing the Book It program and one for field day participation. Tomorrow for Garrett is his end of the year picnic (hopefully the weather will cooperate!) and fun day. Friday is his preschool graduation ceremony. Don't you know, both Hunter's and Garrett's events occur at the SAME TIME!!! So, Brian and I will have to each go to one event. How guilty I feel, though, because I don't want to disappoint either of the boys, nor do I want one to feel I love the other more because I went to his event. Oh, the joys of motherhood...

But on a serious note, while the year has flown by, it has been a wonderful experience for Hunter and for me. I would gladly homeschool again if for some reason Timberlake Christian Schools (TCS) doesn't work out, but until then, I am very content with the arrangements. Hunter has thrived in the classroom, and his teacher was wonderful about challenging each student at their own level. This took a lot of time and preparation, and I am truly grateful that she cares so much for the children.

Garrett is officially enrolled in the Kindergarten program at TCS next year. And, they are moving the Kindergarten to the main campus, so both boys will be in the same building! That means less stops to make in the morning/afternoons!!! It is a win-win for everyone.

I shall post some pictures of the events upcoming this week!

Follow up hearing test

Back in March I wrote about how my amazing ENT patched the hole in my ear drum with cigarette paper. Well, we knew that was temporary, but the hope was that the ear drum would start to regenerate, using the cigarette paper as a lattice. Today I had a follow up appointment and a hearing test to determine how well things are healing. Not surprising, my hearing test shows hearing loss. This is not a surprise to me for two reasons: 1. the paper patch came out Sunday and 2. I have such scarring in my ears from years and years of tubes.

So, before I even saw the ENT, I knew there was still a hole of some sort in my ear. (I know this because they could not a normal pressure reading in my ear, which indicates a hole of some sort)But, this is not the end of the story. I am sitting here, as I type, in pain because of the amplification of sound in my ear! I now have another paper patch because the first one enabled the hole to close up approximately 75%! I will gladly suffer a little bit of pain for less-impaired hearing. I am hopeful that this will work to restore much of my hearing! We shall see...

Boys+water guns+rain=2 happy children!

Tonight our friends, Brian and Debbie had us over for a Memorial Day Cookout. The dinner was simple, brats grilled and pasta salad for the adults and nuggets and fries for the boys. Needless to say, everyone was pleased and ate well. After dinner, the boys wanted to play outside with their water guns. They had a blast! I wish I had pictures of the huge smiles upon their "sweet" little faces as they completely soaked each other. This was probably the first time today that they actually played well together. After the guns ran out of "ammo", it started to rain. The boys asked if they could play in the rain. Why not, they were already wet! They had a ball.

It was fun to watch them enjoy something so simple as playing in the rain. Too often they seem to want to be entertained by "something" like a movie, a video game, or a TV show. Tonight the boys got to be boys! Note to self: water guns make the boys really happy! Maybe this won't be such a long summer after all!

(I am really trying to make an effort to post more often. I don't know if anyone even reads this, but nonetheless, I am making an effort!)

Strawberry Pickin' (or NOT)

Today we planned to have lunch with the drama team from church and families and then we were supposed to go strawberry picking. Well, it seems everyone had the idea to pick berries, as the farm we were going to go was closed because they were out of berries! Garrett has looked forward to strawberry picking for a year, and I hated that we had to break his little heart. He took the news well, though. He was very busy playing with our friend's daughter, Gillian, that he didn't have too much to complain about. They were just too cute...

...playing with night crawlers!!!!

Trying something new...

Today, I am going to make my own household cleaners. I was literally out of everything, so I had to go to Walmart anyway, so I purchased borax, vinegar, and baking soda and will now attempt to clean with these products. I am really excited about this (not sure why, but I am). I will let you know how it turns out (the two of you that might actually read this, that is!).

BTW, I am also on a organizing binge, so I am cleaning out closets, clearing off shelves...please, someone stop me...I'm out of control! But, my husband will ADORE me for the organized house!

Fishing, Field Day and Soccer...oh, my!

Just to keep everyone up to date (yes, I know I have been really bad about updating the blog lately), here's what is going on in the lives of Hunter and Garrett.

Two weeks ago we took the boys fishing at our friends, Hutch and Linda's house. They have a pond on their property and the boys just love to fish there. Garrett fished with his Spiderman fishing rod (is there anything else???), and immediately after casting the first time he got a nibble. The little fish got away with the worm, though. He did manage to keep a few fish on the hook, and even caught a decent sized cat fish.

Hunter's evening didn't start off as well. He kept casting, but couldn't get any bites. Finally, he cast across to far bank, where the fish were biting, and caught a "fish stick" as Brian calls it. Hunter lost his hook and bobber in the tree. But after that, he was able to catch a few fish. Brian and I were also faring pretty well that evening.

This spring we have Garrett signed up for soccer. This has to have been the wettest spring on record...at least it seems that way. He missed 5 practices/games in a row. Every Monday and Wednesday for over two weeks it rained! He is having fun running around aimlessly, but I am wondering if he is really learning anything about soccer. I will say that he is quite fast, so when they run in the beginning, he usually is one of the first to finish.

Garrett tends to spend a lot of time on the ground...

...or playing with his shirt! Yes, number 5 is Garrett!

Tuesday, Hunter's class had Field Day. With the younger children, they only do relay-style events. One of my favorites was the ping pong ball relay, where they had to blow through a straw to get the ball to a cone and come back. That ball went all over the gym. I got a good laugh out of that. They also had a water slide for the children. Keep in mind it was barely 70 degrees for the high that day, and Hunter's class used the slide at 11:15...it was quite cold, but the kids had a blast! Garrett was able to participate in most of the events, too, including the water slide. All three of us were worn out after that fun-filled day!

That about sums up the highlights from the last week or two. Next week is the last week of school for both boys, so there will be more to post then!

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma

Sunday we celebrated my Grandma's 90th birthday. Her family (5 children+spouses/significant others; 14 of 15 grandchildren+spouses and 8 of 10 great-grandchildren) surprised her with a luncheon. I have never seen my Grandma look more radiant. You'll see what I mean in the pictures I post.

My Aunt Marjorie and Uncle Parke hosted that shindig at their home that is a renovated barn. It was one of the neatest homes I have ever seen! Aunt Anita and Aunt Marjorie arranged for all of the grandchildren to share a favorite "Grandma" memory and the great-grands all made cards for Grandma. It was a general consensus that Grandma is quite a remarkable woman. I hope that I could have such a legacy when I am older.