School Days

I sit here in bed and am emotionally and physically exhausted from the days leading up to today and today it's self. My big boy started Kindergarten today and big girl, pre-school. Exciting, terrifying, emotional, great, and sad all at once.  On one hand it went better than expected and on another it was a mini-disaster. 

We have been talking about school, visiting school, reading books about school, doing everything we can do to prepare both of them. Here we were practicing waiting for the bus. Corbin will take the bus too and from school each day. He expressed feeling the most nervous about this unknown part of kindergarten. Three days a week he will get off on the next stop with friends instead of at home since it's such a tight squeeze for me to make it from school to home in-time. 

Backpacks packed, lunch made, signs ready. 

And yet, as I was making these, Eliza was either being bitten alive by fleas or starting some weird allergic reaction to something while she was sleeping. We notice what appeared to be flea bites on her Wednesday and yesterday. She woke up 2 times last night to ask for itch cream.  Then this morning at 6 am she was screaming in pain from huge welts all over her body. The apparent bites had been bothering her so much over the night that she had been scratching them in her sleep. Her whole body was red and itchy. I gave her a small amount of Benadryl and waited till the advice nurse at our doctor's office was available.  By then we were in the car getting ready to take Corbin to school.   

Check out this big kindergartner! 

How sweet... he went from super hero to daddy...which is almost the same thing!

My big kids ready for school!

 A mommy pirate! Love it! 

She was such a trooper once the small amount of Benadryl was kicking in. And excited to wear all pink!

When I finally talked to the advice nurse, we determined it was getting better and that she had no fever and could have more Benadryl than I had given her. So the decision was made to take her to school after Corbin. 

We walked in the pouring down rain to wait outside with all the other kindergarten parents. 

Still pretty happy at this point, but also nervous.

It was a little crowded getting into the classrooms and the nerves started kicking in. But luckily the legos helped and a few familiar faces. 

  Here is his new buddy Lucy.  It was here that we said goodbye. I was almost expecting him to be peeled off me... which he wasn't and didn't. He did not want me to leave but after daddy left and we had a few extra hugs, I left and there were no tears! 

 It was now Eliza's turn! Two drop off's in one morning is hard! 

She was super excited about her cubby. And just felt like she knew what to do. We washed hands and then she instantly found the dress up clothes, put one on, and then proceeded to play while I filled her teacher in on the bites/hives.  

 She then found this little area and was in heaven! It might have also helped that she got more Benadryl after talking to the nurse and was a little out of it or that she got to play with pink toys! But she barely batted an eye when I left. 

And her is Corbin all smiles after getting off the bus! He said he LOVED it. The best part was music class and recess! Even though he couldn't play as much as he wanted! He wanted to go back tomorrow... Adam and I are so proud and excited for him!!

They said Eliza did a great job all day and had a few moments of sadness but did really well. Except when I picked her up, her rash got even worse. After our treat of ice cream she was a mess. Her bumps were so raised and irritated, her little hands swollen, and she was just miserable. It didn't look like bug bites any more. Another call into the advice nurse. They had no room. Her advice, if it doesn't get better within an hour of a new dose of Benadryl then the emergency room. Ugh! Feeling like a terrible parent for sending her to school, Corbin wants our attention to tell us all about his day. Her whole body was just inflamed. It was kinda scary. After consulting with the advice nurse and my parents, she actually fell asleep in my arms completely naked from a failed attempt at a cool bath. It was only 5:45! We were not sure what to do but since her breathing has been good and she has stayed asleep, her hand appear to have gone down and nothing is getting worse, for now we will wait till the morning to take her in to the doctor. She is asleep next to me in my bed and will stay her the whole night. 

It's been quite a day! But we are on to the next chapter and adventure! 

Bones

Ah, the first broken (fractured) bone! Corbin fractured his collarbone last night. We were playing whiffle ball and he was doing these cool slides down the slide, jumping and then diving for the ball as I threw it.  He landed wrong on one. I heard a pop. At first I was afraid he had dislocated his shoulder and he wouldn't let me touch or feel it. Once I did, it felt like there was a small bump. Adam finally got some pressure on it to just feel it and see what would happen and he felt it pop. So we got him some ice and tried to calm him down. He was really tired to. But after still 30 min or so of saying it still really hurt, I called the doctor. But they couldn't see us till 8:45 and then might still need to send us to the ER for x-rays.  So we waited another hour to let the meds kick in and see how it was doing. He said it felt better but then getting jammies on, he said it really hurt still. We still decided to wait till morning. It was my first day of school with students though and Adam planned on working in his classroom. Our AWESOME friend Jen planned on having him and still took him because Adam couldn't get an appointment till 2:50.  So I zoomed away from school and met them at the doctors office after school was out. They x-rayed it and found a small fracture. 3 weeks in a sling. The sling is more for others to visually see it and to remind him to keep it still. But the next three weeks are full....

I wasn't even thinking about Kindergarten or soccer starting up next week until Adam brought it up and how it would change his experience. Now I think I feel more bummed about that and sad for him. I know we will make it fun, but I am worried that somehow he will miss out on something because he can't climb, run, or jump on the playground or won't start practicing with his new soccer team at the same time. Both are big transitions without this. I actually teard up after the doctor found the fracture thinking about it. I know that the kids will think the sling is cool and he will still be able to play and hoping that he feels better by next week. It's a small fracture and he is a strong and brave boy, so hopefully it will be fast healing. For now, we will have some quiet play time for the next week or so before school starts. 

Ack!

Ack, I am still so far behind on documenting our latest summer adventures....and summer is dwindling. I started back to school this week. Six am feels REALLY early. But I am always surprised at how much it starts to feel like fall this week. The mornings are cooler and crisper. I don't know if it's just the realization that school is here or that I am up at a different hour. I like it. 

We have some big things happening in the next two weeks... this guy is entering Kindergarten!

Of course our garden is in full production, right when we need to start focusing outside the home...but mmmmm, dinners have been good. 

Lots of fun with Instagram lately

New family member; Rocket Princess the Beta Fish. 

10 Years!

Yep, that's right. Adam and I celebrated 10 years of marriage in July. And we decided to celebrate big time style, in Hawaii! And the best part, it was by ourselves!  Eight days and 9 nights on the Big Island in Hawaii without our kids. Don't get me wrong, we missed them (and we love them), but it was wonderful to have a little vacation all to ourselves. Adam and I didn't go on a big "official or fancy" honeymoon after we got married. We spent 2 nights at a Bed and Breakfast on Vancouver Island and then hopped on an airplane to go to one of my very best friends wedding, Kelcey and Alex Loomer, and then went camping for a week in N. Eastern Canada.  So When Adam looked at our airline miles from our credit card this last winter and saw that we could fly to Hawaii for almost free, we jumped on it! And we were able to stay at a friends parents vacation house for free too, we double jumped on it! Super thanks to them! And of course we have awesome grandparents who both volunteered to take our kids for that long. We ended up having them go to Adam's parents for the whole time and they had a blast, all of them grandparents and kids. It was a win-win for everyone. 

I posted a lot on Facebook but I will do another post with just pictures if anyone wants to see them, there are a lot! 

 To think that 10 years ago we were two 23 year old kids who had just bought a house, I had just gotten into grad school and Adam was in his 2nd year of teaching. 

Now we have bought 2 houses and sold one; added a dog and various chickens to our pets (we still love Gryffin); grown lots of veggies and now some fruits; traveled through Eastern Europe on our bikes; done countless camping, ski, and bike trips with friends and now kids.

We have both gotten our Master's degrees and love our jobs. And our summers off. 

We have two of the most amazing children we can think of. Parenting is the hardest thing we have ever done and is always keeping us on our toes and challenging us both mentally and physically in both good and bad ways. Making us have to work that much harder on our marriage.  

We still loving to play, learn, go on adventures, enjoy our passions both together and apart, learn from one another, and work together. 

We have amazing role models in both of our parents who have been married 40 and 35 years! 

We are different and yet still try to find a middle ground (most of the time :-)! 

Adam has gotten cuter (and more stylish)! 

And we can't wait to spend the next 10+ years on our adventure! 

I love you Adam! 

3 and Pink

 Happy Birthday to Eliza! It's only a couple of weeks late! It's not like we have have been to Hawaii and then jumped back into a packed week of soccer camp and swim lessons or anything :-)

Wow, I have a 3 year old girl! And what an amazing little girl she is! And can you guess what this special little girl loves? Pink, princesses, babies, pretty things, girly things, dancing, oh and lots of riding bikes, running, playing, swimming, following her brother, showing everyone who is boss, reading, helping (sometimes), and generally being a 3 year old full of life! 

Again, I could write a whole blog post, and maybe someday I will, about gender roles and how fascinating it has been to see these two kids fall so closely into their gender roles. For some reason Princesses and pink are harder for me than Batman and Spiderman were though...but isn't that the double standard! I know I went through a pink and purple phase but it was around 4-6 and this is from 2 to who knows when! And this kid, like Corbin, has not been exposed to a bunch of Disney or anything close to it. Some TV, yes, but not too much princess and pink but oh man, she picks this out from across the room! And says things in a sweet sing songy way, like "oh mommy, pink, my favorite!"

Most of Eliza's little friends and family friends were out of town near her birthday and yet she had seen Corbin's special Space Party and since then (and before) she had been talking about her "Party" a pink party of course. With lots of friends, pink, pink cake, pink presents, pink things to do, everything pink.  So without having a big party, I knew I had to do it up right, pink style! So a week before, we had a "Fancy Nancy" picnic party.  For those of you who do not know of "Fancy Nancy", she is awesome! It's a book by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Priess Glasser. Fancy Nancy is all girl. She loves everything fancy, frilly, dolls, cute, french, and more. And yet she also loves exploring, learning, learning to live with her sister,  is independent, deals with disappointment, and many more emotions. She is strong, she is fun, she is wild, and she learns how to solve problems herself, in her pink tiara and frilly dress. It's kinda like "Lady Bug Girl" which I also really like a lot. 

So we decided to dress up fancy and go have a picnic and fancy cupcakes with her friends Uma and Alden.   

Corbin decided that fancy meant ninja style. 

Fancy brother, fancy mommy, and fancy Eliza. Daddy stayed home and did daddy things.

Eliza had on her flapper style dress, necklaces, princess shoes, a boa, and her princess doll. 

Eliza and Uma on the Village Green 

These two 3 years olds are FANCY!

Now check out that pose! 

Brothers attempting hugs from girls who did not want hugs. But it was worth a try!

Picnic!

 We brought out the fancy picnic basket with fancy glasses, fun pink plates, little cream cheese and jelly triangle sandwiches, sparking cider, and veggies for lunch. MMMMmmm good! 

mmm...cream cheese and jelly sandwiches with white bread. What is this goodness???

 We had planned to go and get fancy cupcakes but the cupcake store was closed for the whole 4th of July weekend. Luckily, there is a restaurant right on the green with cake and ice cream. Not quite as fancy but everyone was happy. 

Thanks for celebrating with us Uma, Alden, and Aimee! We then had a little breakfast party with her other best bud, Silas and family a couple of days later. Breakfast is fun to have coffee cake for dessert!

The other thing about Eliza's birthday this year was that Adam and I left for Hawaii (by ourselves!) on her actual birthday. At first I felt horrible about doing this, then I realized that she has NO idea what her actual birthday is, so we just pretended it was the day before we left. So much so, that I almost forgot it was her actual birthday when we left! 

Big brother really wanted to help her with the tricky tape (and the rest of it too).

Bubble Gum! Pink bubble gum! 

A fancy, frilly, girly, pink dress from Grammie Dani! Who knew Grammie Dani would ever by something like that dress. But she loves it!

All dressed up to go to Grammie Susan and Grandpa Marks' house for 10 days!

A ferry for a princess. 

Don't forget your sparkly green Tinkerbell shoes when wearing fancy dresses!

We celebrated down on BI too. Pink presents, pink cake, and lots of fun. 

Corbin really wanted to help again. Daddy intervened this time. 

Princess decorating set!

a pink cake for me!

This is one happy 3 year old!

Thanks Grammie Susan for the Pink cake! It was even pink on the inside! 

 We had so much fun celebrating this 3 year old who is so full of life; both the good and the bad. She is a joy to have in our lives. Not only is she into pink but she also loves to swing on her new swing set and just learned to pump (thank God!), she is riding her balance bike like a pro and is ready to try a pedal bike, she love to say things like "Tomorrow Uma and I will be princesses when we grow up." Tomorrow refers to both the past and the present for her. She is quick to show her emotion, she can scream like no other, she is switching between napping and not napping. Which can be great and horrible all rolled into one. She is very excited to go to the "Yellow School" next year, which is where Corbin went. She is fully potty trained now except at night! Yahoo!!! Thanks to Grammie Susan helping while we were gone and some bribing with pink bubble gum to go poop :-) 

We Love you Eliza Jolie!