Preschool bingo is where it's at

If you've never played Bingo with a room full of 4 year-olds, well, you need to. It's quite adorable. 

I went to play Bingo for Books with Maggie's classroom and let me tell you...they take their Bingo games very seriously. 

I'm pretty sad to see Maggie's preschool year coming to an end. We ADORE her preschool teacher and are just thrilled with the wealth of information Maggie has learned this year.

Each school day, every student has an "assignment". Letter person, light person, line leader, caboose (Maggie hates being the caboose...she would much rather lead! Ha!), and so on. On the day that I was there, she was the door holder. She explained to me that each person has to say, "thank you, Maggie" as they pass through the door.

If they don't say "thank you, Maggie", she tells the teacher. Oy. We are still working on the tattling skills. She's a cute little door holder, if I do say so myself!

Along with Bingo, they did an Easter Egg hunt. It was all the rage! Each student got to find as many eggs as would fit inside their egg crate. 

I tell you what...in all the hustle and bustle, it's moments like these that remind me to slow down and take it all in. I forget that I need to just enjoy them while they're little.

Because there's not much better in life than enjoying a little one on one time playing Bingo and eating popsicles with your favorite 4 year old girl.

Last weekend, we upped our parental status to AWESOME.

So, last weekend is a weekend for the books! We had it planned for a while and I'm so thankful the weather cooperated with us. 

Once upon a time, a loooong time ago, Eric used to do this thing called backpacking. I know. Sounds horrid. Like, they pack all their essentials for the weekend into one bag, hike off into the wilderness, and live there for said amount of time. Stink, stank, stunk. 

Then, we had a baby, Eric thought he needed to go back to school for another degree, life happened, we had another baby and BAM, he hadn't been in over 6 years. Well, this was the weekend of the comeback. The guys were going backpacking and Eric was jumping back in with both feet. AND HE WAS TAKING MY BABY WITH HIM. Yes, this was Levi's first trip out into the wilderness. I gave Eric many "talks" over the last few weeks and I'm sure he took each one of them to heart. Don't let him get hurt. Don't let him drink gross water. Don't let him use a sharp knife. Put a lock on the tent at night. Ultimately, my last words to him were, "You know if something happens to Levi, do not come home." I think I said "I love you", too. Details.

So, here they are - the boys. Cuties! Eager to explore and get dirty.

My boys. 

I tried texting Eric several times that evening. NOTHING. NADA. I knew he was safe, though, because PAUL WAS TEXTING GRETCHEN. Whatev.

I was told the boys cut up all the firewood they needed. Now I know why the dads were ready for the sons to go. Child labor.

I love these boys spending time together. They don't get to see each other that often, but Levi still thinks of Pierce as one of his best buddies. :-)

Mkay, see those little colored things under the rock shelf thingy? Yeah, tents. Tiny. That's where they slept. The same place that wild animals sleep to try and get out of the elements. Awesome. (OH EM GEE.)

I love these men. I'm so thankful that they take time to invest in their sons. Such a great group of godly men. 

SO, while the boys were out getting dirty and becoming one with their knives, I packed up little Maggie May and headed south for the weekend. We had some girlie things to do! Like wear bows and eat chips and salsa.

We were gonna have an all out girl weekend. 

We decided to get the girls toes painted. That idea bombed on us, but at least we got their cute little picture in the cute little chairs!

The girls literally ran off to play for hours. Hours! They'd shut the door to Hope's room and we could hear them giggling and playing pretend. They would come out occasionally with different clothes on or to show us a dance they made up and we would laugh hysterically at them. It was really sweet to watch them play. 

Over four years ago, my bestie moved away and it was not pretty. I was angry at God and pretty much cried "no fair" every day. However, God knows what He is doing. I never could have dreamed that our friendship would grow and flourish like it has.

God continues to bless our friendship as well as the friendships of our children and our husbands. It is just...well, it's a God thing. And, I'm so thankful. 

I would like to note that Eric and Levi both made it home safely and Levi can't wait to go back out into the woods. Gag. Maggie continues to say that hanging out with Hopie was one of the best days ever. So, yeah, we're pretty awesome parents. ;-)

Day ONE of preschool - check!

Yesterday was Maggie's first day of preschool! 

We've been talking it up for a couple weeks now. Some days, she seemed super excited, but most days, she said she just wanted to stay at home with me. Ha! Needless to say, I was a little worried that she would cry when I dropped her off. I am happy to report that SHE DID GREAT! But, why does she seem so LITTLE??

I was anxious to pick her up and hear all about her first day. The first thing she did was ask to take her shoes off. Ha! She's a flip flop girl and they aren't allowed to wear sandals to school -- INSANITY! ;-) She said school was fun and she can't wait to go back. That makes me so happy!!

The parents got an email from Mrs. Vicki last night and she "anonymously" shared some of the funny things they said. One child just kept asking, "When do we get to go to the playground?" and another one said, "Mrs. Vicki, you sure do have lots of words to say!" I really hope those two weren't from my child. :-)

Just Tri-It!

This was the second year that Levi competed in the Jeffersonville Tri-It kids triathlon! We weren't sure that he was going to do it this year. When it came time to register, he said he would compete if he didn't have to do the week long camp, but just the tri. Ha! We were okay with that.

Eric and Levi trained at home and at my parent's pool. The night before and the morning of, he was extremely nervous, but when it was time to jump in the water, he was in the zone...

(That's him, on the right in the navy swim shirt.)

The bike is his thang. He loves biking - loves it! It was really adorable watching all the kids race to the transition area. ;-)

Finishing up with the run, with Eric at his side. I love that one parent could accompany them during the run portion. Too cute!

AT THE FINISH! He beat his personal record from last year. Yay! He came in 7th in his age group (out of 22 kids) and finished 24th overall out of 120 kids. Great job! For us, we keep telling him it isn't about coming in 1st, and it isn't even about beating the kid next to you. It's about challenging yourself and conquering little fears. He loves the actual athletic part of the race, but HATES doing it in front of people. I guess the crowds of screaming parents make him nervous! Ha! 

Love this boy with my whole heart. I'm so thankful I get to be his mom. 

Cousin shot! Proud of these kiddos! Emmy even got a trophy for coming in 3rd in her age group -- so awesome! Next year, Maggie will be old enough to compete. Cuteness overload!

Way to go, kids!!! Proud of you. :-)

We're about to be transparent up in here...

Summer has come and gone. It seriously seems like our summer was about three weeks long. Part of me wants to kick and scream and beg for it to come back, and the other part is just incredibly thankful for more memories we've made.  

We went to BG and visited our people. And it was good. 

We went to the movies. And it was good. 

Our people came here for an impromptu zoo trip. And it was good.

It was very good.

And, then it was time. Time to start thinking about school.

For Maggie, that is fairly easy. She is my easy going child. As long as she gets to hang out with Mommy everyday, she is a happy camper. (Preschool starts next week, so we won't bust her bubble yet and tell her she will be away from me for three hours a day, four days a week. EEK!)

However, for Levi, this has been a different year for us.

I'm going to back up. Way up. This is hard for me to write about, but I feel like I need to be transparent and share our struggles. When the tornado came through Henryville and demolished his school in 2012, it forever changed our child. His safe little kindergarten world came crashing down. Not only was his everyday life different with going to a temporary school, but his personality was different, too. He became a very nervous child. He was obsessed with the weather. The slightest change in the clouds bothered him. Heavy wind made him nervous. If it rained, or stormed, he was beside Eric or me pretty much in the fetal position crying. We met with his pediatrician and talked about counseling. She assured us that many kids in our area were in the same boat as Levi and that she was behind whatever we wanted to do. Eventually, with time, he started to get better. Even now, he can look at dark clouds and not break out crying. He starts to visibly change, though. He bites his nails, his eyes start to get antsy and he paces. We've learned to pray him through it and he will calm down easily.

Fast forward to this summer. We decided a few months ago to put the house on the market. Due to Eric's position at work, we feel like we need to support and live in the school district in which he works. This requires us to move. Several weeks before school started, we sat down with Levi and let him make the decision on where he wanted to go to school. We told him we didn't know when the house would sell, so he could start at his old school with the possibility of moving, OR, start at the new school where we will be moving to. I was very proud of him. He thought it over for two days and then told us he wanted to go ahead and go to the new school and start making new friends. This kind of blew me away! I felt like it was a big decision for a kid and was proud of him.

A week before school started, even though he was excited he would be at a new school with his cousins, he began to get extremely nervous. He started having some pretty crazy symptoms. He told me his stomach hurt, he was having trouble breathing, his chest hurt, he even asked me if he was going to die. :( One night, I realized he was having a severe panic attack! I almost took him to the E.R. I had never seen him like this and didn't know what to do. We were able to calm him down and I prayed over him until he fell asleep. After that night, I realized that he had extreme anxiety about school and we started praying constantly. He memorized several Bible verses about fear and we would repeat them pretty much all day. Eric and I decided he needed lots of encouragement, love and prayer. It was so easy to get frustrated with him and that is NOT what he needed.

The night before school came and we were all nervous. I wanted to go with him, you know...to make sure everyone was nice to him and beat up anyone who wasn't. ;-) One awesome thing is that he got to ride the bus with his cousins! He was SUPER excited about that!

    
Before he got on the bus, he told me, "Mommy, pray for me. My stomach hurts." We prayed. I wanted to tell him just to come back home with me, but I didn't. He was ready to do this and conquer his fear!

He got on the bus and didn't look back!

I cried the whole way home.

Somewhere after lunch time, Eric sent me this picture! This is a perk to your husband working in administration. :-) The principal sent this to Eric and said, "this may ease Momma's nerves". IT DID! Loved seeing that smile!

Day two, I got this picture. Lunch buddies. :-)

And I realized that he is okay.

He still obsesses over the weather every morning. He wants to check my phone to see if it is going to rain. This morning, he asked, "If it tornadoes at our school, where will the new school be?" Some things, you just wish your child didn't have to worry about. But, for now, we will treasure the little victories. He has two new friends that are "sooo nice"! He knows how to buy his lunch in the lunch line now. He loves gym class. His teacher is really nice. He loves his new orange backpack. It's the little things. :-)

So tonight as he sleeps, I don't care that he wanted to sleep on our bedroom floor because it made him feel better. He can sleep there until he's 35 if he wants. Well...  ;-)

John Deere Green

We live for milestones.  Throughout our school years, we look forward to our senior year.  Prom - Graduation - College - Graduating college - Getting married...

Then, if you become a parent, you celebrate a whole new set of milestones through your child.  First crawl - First tooth - Walking - Talking - First day of school... the list goes on and on.  

A new milestone for us was the first time Papa let Levi drive one of the tractors.  Yes, DRIVE the tractor!  

My kids love tractor rides.  A couple weeks ago, my dad was mowing grass and they begged asked for a ride.  Dad told Levi to get in the seat and he gave him instructions.  Oh my stars...if he didn't already think Papa hung the moon, he sure did now!

As he started to take off, I choked back some tears (because I'm crazy sensitive like that!) realizing how big Levi is getting.

I would like to point out he is still KIND OF little because the tractor kept shutting off.  Levi didn't weigh enough to keep the seat down (safety feature!) so my dad had to help apply enough pressure.  Cute!  

Off they went.  I swear, I want to keep them little, but I love each new stage that they reach.

Not much better than watching your son learn to love John Deere Green.

When the little people make you proud :-)

Here's something that will make you feel old --

This was my niece, Bailey TEN years ago!  TEN.  That's crazy town!  I was there when she was born (and so traumatized, I might add, that I didn't want children for several more years! Ha) and I remember how tiny and fragile she seemed.

She was gorgeous.  Ten years later, she is just as gorgeous.  And, she decided that she wanted Jesus to live in her heart and save her from her sins.  She chose to be baptized on her birthday.  It was precious!

I could not be more proud of this little big girl!  Love you, Bailey Michelle!

There were lots of little people there to show their love and support, too!  Cousin love is the best kind of love.  These little people melt my heart.