A New Dress

Here are some pictures of Kait in the new dress she got from Nana. Thank you all so much for your prayers and concerns for her. She has bounced back like a champ from pneumonia. I keep reminding her to take it easy. She is really getting back to 100% again. She is loving second grade!!!

Family Game Night

Friday Night Game Night has resumed. We kicked off the year by making an "explosive" volcano and playing wahoo! It's going to be a fun year. Next Friday - Hammer Football. It just does not get any better;)

Kait's Second Day and Jon's Matching Camo

Scientology

Jonathan: Hey mom, I want to be a scientologist when I grow up.
Me: Um, what does a scientologist do? (Just checking)
Jonathan: Study dinosaurs.
Me: Oh, a paleontologist. That's a great idea. I'm sure you would love that.

Cool Presents for Sick Kids

I thought it might be nice to make a post listing some cool presents for sick kids. We had some very thoughtful gifts sent Kaitlin's way this past week.

1. A sewing basket. Ms. Janie got a small basket and put scraps and a teeny sewing kit in it. Kaitlin has to spend a lot of time just sitting because moving around gets her to coughing so much. This was an awesome gift. I've been meaning to teach her to sew and it really sparked her interest in it. She also brought Jonathan some cars. Siblings feel very left out during times like this. Kaitlin got so much attention. It was very nice when people thought of him.
2. Activity books, crayons, play dough. Trish and Crew brought these things to Kaitlin within hours of her entering the hospital. She played with them her whole time there. They also brought J some cars. Plus:)
3. In this case, Kaitlin missed the first day of school and there was a special kind of backpack they needed which was hard to find in anything other than plain plastic ( shoe bag style drawstring backpack). Her special teacher got her one and sent it to her with a balloon.
4. Again since Kaitlin was missing school, Connie went by and checked out 2 library books for her to read in the hospital. She also brought a book similar to an eye spy book only a little more mature. That book was a HUGE hit at the hospital. Kaitlin and her daddy really enjoyed it. She also brought candy. Plus for mom;)
5. I put sticky notes up on the wall for people to sign. That and cards were very special to Kaitlin and also an encouragement to me.
6. One mom brought several videos for us to borrow so that Kaitlin could watch things she hadn't seen before (the hospital had a DVD player). We especially enjoyed the Nancy Drew movie.
7. The last one is snacks or drinks for mom, dad, siblings that are there.

I may be forgetting something that she got, but I thought this post could come in handy to me later or might give some of you good ideas. Ms. Janie said Hancocks has the travel sewing kits with the little scissors.
We need to write thank you notes tonight;) We are so blessed.

Kaitlin's First Day Back

We have had so much precious support for Kaitlin. Yesterday she received two very sweet cards from church members and a new backpack (the drawstring kind required for second grade this year) and a balloon from Ms. Park (her teacher last year that has become very special to us). Her teacher (for this year) called yesterday to check in on her. I know she was so glad to finally get to go to second grade today.
Dropping both kids off this morning was very sad for mama. I'm so proud of my babies - but they both seemed so big this morning. I mean just look at these pictures! I am counting down until time to go pick them up.
Oh, and I wanted to add that this outfit is totally Kaitlin. Kinder and First grade I chose her outfit, accessories, hairstyle, shoes. This year it is 100% K designed from the hair cut to the shoes. It isn't what I would have picked, but I adore it because it is so "her"! As I walked her into school this morning I took her hand and she took it back. I guess second graders do not need to hold mommie's hand as they walk into school. All kinds of growing up. ((quiet sobs here))

First Day of Pre-K

We're home. Praise God we are home! Isn't it great when God shocks doctors (and even parents) with something like this? She's doing great. I'll try to post again tomorrow.

A Short Update

I do not have much time right now, but I wanted to post for the few of you who do not know. Kaitlin was checked into the hospital Friday with pneumonia. This morning the doctor told us to expect a few more days, but she did better than expected after they added a third mega antibiotic today - so we'll see. She is pretty amazing.
I do not think I am overshooting to say that she was being prayed for by 100 people today at different churches and homes. That is pretty powerful. No wonder she exceeded expectations! Please continue to pray for her healing and recovery.
Also - Jonathan starts pre-K tomorrow. He is very excited. He has memorized the four things to know before going to school:
1. Be safe (don't do anything that would hurt yourself or others)
2. Be kind
3. Be neat (wash your hands and clean up after yourself)
4. Always do your best
I think he'll do great. I will try to take a few pictures and post when I am at a computer again. If I have your cell # you've been getting texts to know how to pray each day.
The picture here is one she created herself on the computer.

Girl's Day 2008

This is our third annual Back to School Girl's Day. It's one day the week before school that Kaitlin and I run away together for an entire day. We usually have a nice sit down lunch and do a little back to school shopping. This year she chose a coffee shop for our lunch (she is a sucker for a coffee treat just like her mama). She also chose girls day to get her brand new hair cut for school. Then we did some shopping in a few of her favorite stores and got dippin dots. It is always a lovely day. We just come up with a few things we'd like to do and spend the day being flexible, because its just being together that makes it so great.
Another important part of girls day is that it keeps me accountable not to let more than a year go by without having a sit down talk about "girl stuff". Periods, puberty, boyfriends, sex, feeling embarrassed - all the topics that need a sit down discussion on at least an annual basis. These talks will get more frequent as puberty plows down its door in the coming years. But we have embarked on all of these discussions, and I am so thankful for the openness that is there. She asked some questions and shared some secrets (that she actually told me not to blog...not that i would have, but that was hilarious to me). We talked about the boyfriend deal. As I've said before....I frequently remind her....you can have lots of boys that are friends, but only one will be your husband. Any boy that will not be your husband is not worth your heartache, body, jealousy, etc. We made a list of what her husband must have (anyone else can immediately be written off as fairly unimportant). #1 He must love God with all his heart soul and mind #2 He must a-d-o-r-e her #3 He must be as awesome as her daddy
I considered adding #4 He must be able to support her $4 mocha-coffee drink habit!
Overall this girls day was fantastic. I am so blessed to be her mother and to have her as my friend. She is growing up so fast, and it is showing in so many ways. Just look at the hair cut pictures! God is bringing up the greatest gal in her, and I am so thankful that He lets me partner with him in raising her!

First, The Haircut

Forgive the blurry pictures (didn't have my camera with me), but I just wanted you to see how happy she was when she was getting her hair cut. Yesterday was our annual back to school girls day. We look forward to it for months every year. Its an entire day -just the two of us. (I'll try to blog more on that in a moment).
Here are a few before and after pictures of Kaitlin's new hair style. She just loves it!

Here we are having Dip n Dots after the haircut


Long hair - Say adios!

Look how excited she was!

There it goes!

The Back

The Side:) Notice the maroon streak (which is way cuter than I imagined.)

Now, these were taken this morning. The streak is actually a clip in, stylable extension. I didn't do quite as good a job as they stylist, but its still cool and happens to match her glasses.

This is the child that had a 104 fever and nearly got taken to the ER last night. She seems fine this morning. We are going to the doctor at 2:30. What is wrong with my kid??? More on that later.

Ok, this picture reminds me to keep all boys at a SAFE distance. Back Away!!!!

Bangs, Short hair, a Maroon Streak and Glasses .........Yes, she looks different! But Gorgeous!

What's Logical?

My son has developed a fascination for spraying things. He loves to load up his hair with gel and hairspray. Yesterday he sprayed lysol in his hair. Today he sprayed his sister with Wrinkle Releaser. He has also sprayed bleach in the bathroom, etc.
Ok, so here is my question. What is the logical consequence for this? What would work for this? Be creative for me if you've ever encountered this? Time out hasn't worked. Having to clean the kitchen cabinets with a wipey hasn't worked. A long cold shower to wash off all the lysol hasn't worked. Lengthy (and to the point) conversations about how spray things can blind you, make you sick, ruin your clothes, make you cough, they are expensive (as in the hair stuff)...hasn't worked.
Applicants with no experience need not apply - you obviously wouldn't get it!

My Little Hero

Jonathan is my dancing buddy. He is a mother's dream who always tells me he loves me and that I'm his best buddy.
Yesterday I grabbed his hands as he dashed past me in the kitchen and tried to start dancing with him. He said - not now mom, I'm saving the world. Then he dashed toward the living room. He swooped back in and said, "wait, one more thing." Then he puckered up his lips for a kiss before zooming away again. Now that is the good life!

Bangs

Conversations with Kaitlin about hair cuts usually go something like this:

Me: You need a hair cut

K: CUT?????

Me: Sorry, I meant trim - TRIM. Tiny little bit off the bottom.

K: (Afraid) Ok.

Then I tell the hair stylist to hide how much she cuts off so that K doesn't panic! At camp a mother meeting K said, "Oh, so this is the Kaitlin with the long blonde hair." It's like a trade mark I suppose.

Well she got a "trim" recently and there was no panic. Then a week later she decided she wanted it (GASP) shoulder length!!! No, it will not be enough to be a locks of love gift (sadly), but she has stuck to it. And...she has begged for bangs. I hate bangs. I grew my bangs out in junior high and never looked back!!! But with great mercy and love I cut her some thin whispy bangs in our bathroom on the spur of the moment last night. She was THRILLED. So here is part of the transformation of Kaitlin. She wonders if anyone will recognize her the first day of school with glasses, bangs and short hair. I'm starting to wonder myself as it seems to be adding a full year to her looks!

I Bribe My Children

Yes - it is true. I fully bribe my children.
Now some things just must be done...good manners, room cleaning, being kind to others. Things that fall under that category do not earn "bribes". Reading an extra challenging book (Prince Caspian) rather than a super easy book (Junie B. Jones) might be bribe worthy. Both kids have reading charts (I'm such a fan of a sticker chart. I wish I could get gold stars for chores or something!) Jonathan just completed 2 sticker charts to earn a dinosaur collection. For him, that meant completing 40 reading lessons - a big accomplishment. The reward for his hard work was a great incentive during tough lessons. While Nathan was here he and Kaitlin had charts. Nathan got a sticker for every book he read to me and K got a sticker for every chapter book she read. In the two weeks he was here they each earned 15 stickers and got to go to Chuckie Cheese.
Now we are encouraging Kaitlin to read a few longer, more challenging books. At school they are encouraged to compete for "points", and it is very tempting to read a lot of "easy" books to get more points. We however, do not encourage that. So, we are creating a list at home. She can still test on these books at school, but for every book she reads from the list she gets a sticker on her fancy new frog chart I made today. (Jonathan just got a new one made with dinosaurs. He wants to work toward a dinosaur backpack.) She can read fun books as well (reading is f-u-n after all), but this is just an extra incentive to read some classics, etc.
An example of her challenge list includes books from the Narnia series. If you have something awesome that you have read that is appropriate for an 8 year old - let us know. She is at a level that everything has to be previewed. Its not easy finding age appropriate books at this reading level, so I'm up for suggestions.
You may be wondering what she is working toward - a Claire's gift card. Homegirl loves her some Claire's and some gift card action. It is pure joy for her!
As far as bribing goes - I believe that hard work should be rewarded. I try to look for life lessons whenever possible with my children - and I do want them to understand the work/reward connection. Another saying that I have drilled into the kids and that Charles and I truly believe is "It's not how smart you are; it's how hard you work."

The Test Results

Well I finally went to the doctor about some of the problems I've had over the past couple of months. I have a strong family history of thyroid problems and cholestrol problems - so it was reasonable to go have those things checked first. When I listed my symptoms to the doctor he was fairly convinced that I would have thyroid problems. Honestly, I was hoping I did - then maybe a pill a day would take some of my troubles away. But we were both shocked when those results came back fine. If the symptoms continue...I will have further hormone/thyroid testing done to get more specific results.
My cholestrol didn't come back so well. Overall it is 271 (which is high, but not scary by itself) but my "bad" cholestrol is 190. The doctor is going to let me start out with some natrual supplements to see if we can bring it down. He said it is obviously not diet - but genetic since my mother and grandmother run in the 400s without medicine and my sister who is a size 1 on a fat day and often eats vegetarian even has trouble with hers. He basically said for my weight/age it is an unexpected result. My first question was - so am I just getting fat and tired all the time??? He said that high cholestrol can make your blood a little more "sluggish" and might make me tired. So I have no explanation for some of the other problems.
I will have my cholestrol checked again before Thanksgiving. Here's hoping I can get it down without real drugs.

Kaitlin's Request

The first picture is 3rd grade (before glasses) and the second picture is Christmas of second grade. You can tell how much of her daddy Kaitlin really does have in her (luckily). ;)

My Boy

As if he could deny me before...here is photographic evidence that Jonathan is MY boy!
Kaitlin wanted to see a few pictures of me at her age - well I couldn't find anything exactly at her age (I don't have very many pictures from when I was little) but I did find this picture from when I was four and one from the first half of third grade (before glasses). I tried to find a picture of Jonathan making a similar face (so not the best picture). But WOW! He looks just like me. And get a load of my mom!

My Daughter

So now my daughter wants a skateboard for her birthday. She's usually the type of gal that picks a wishlist and sticks to it for months...but not this year. We've gone through several changes, but she waaaaaaaaaaaants a skateboard plllllleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase. (Tell me you recognize this begging tone). Moms - you are all seeing injuries, right? Dads - are you all saying - awesome?
PROTECTIVE GEAR REQUIRED!

And Lucille's Little Blankie for the Diaper Bag and Car

Lucille's Blanket is Finished

Little LD

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Here is Lucille Dawns first (of many I'm sure) personalized LD gift from her La La. I am almost finished with the blanket I am crocheting for her. I'll try to get a picture of it up soon.
This picture isn't great, but the beads are hearts (even the little chain) and the silver blocks say LD. And of course a cross for the little girl we've all been praying for.
It was done by http://www.jewelryandbabyblingbydara.com/
She did a great job - its very bright and sweet in person.