Half way....

We have made it halfway through the week and I have to say I think we are all adjusting well to this school thing. :-) I can honestly say I have not done much with my 'free' morning time, but that is OK. I went to breakfast with my friend Gingin on Tuesday and Wednesday...well lets say I caught up on all the lack of sleep I got at the beginning of the week. I woke up 10 mins before having to go get Caitlin. My nap was suppose to be a relaxing time with the new book I got....I guess you have to open the book to actually read it :-D

I totally forgot to take a picture of Caitlin with her new teacher on her 1st day..so here she is on day 2 with Mrs. York.

Caitlin is loving her class and all the things she is learning. I think she is super smart she is already using sign language at home. They will learn lots of signing in class..letters and words. 1st day they learned restroom..so they can raise their hand with the sign and not disrupt the class. So she is using it at home too. She comes to me with ther fingers crossed..not saying a word and I have to tell her that she doesn't have to ask to go potty at home. hahaha it is so cute. At breakfast yesterday she got up and I asked her where she was going...she looked at me held up her crossed fingers and I said OOOO OK. Wow he have a new language in our house.
Here is the sign I taught her...I love you...As she leaves the car she turns and gives it. It just makes me SMILE!! Here is a picture I caught while she did it the 1st time.

Isn't it cute :-)

Then my big kids walked into the building all by themselves. I sit and wait cause Caitlin looks for me to wave one last time before she goes into the building.


Austin has been a great big brother this week. Helping Caitlin with her backpack when they get out of the car and making sure she crosses the crosswalk.


We had parent-teacher meetings last night and then another tonight. It is going to be a great year! :-)

The 1st day.....

Well here they are ready to go to the 1st day of school. Austin being the very protective big brother was giving her lots of advice.. 1) You cross the street with the guard 2) here is how you sing the school song....break out in opera style singing 3) you don't get on red or sent to the principal's office. He speaks of all of this from experience....so he knows HA!

I did not sleep much the night before....I was a tad bit emotional for some reason... I finally fell asleep somewhere around 2am. It must be that my brain is still on Olympic time. HAHA! Then I was woke up even earlier thanks to a cat falling off of the window seal at 5:30am (of course right next to my bed) So I was up. I made a cup of coffee and did more reflection time of Caitlin and her 1st day of school and Austin going to a new room...thinking of all the stuff his teacher needs to know. Oo the joys of parenthood on the 1st days of school. So at 6:30 I grabbed the video camera and put it on night vision (I love doing that) and walked into Caitlin's room. I woke her up telling her it was her 'big day'...it 'finally' was 'here'..she was a 'kindergartner'. she smirked at me then squinted and said "MOMMY...I am still sleepy" Not what I was hoping to capture, but that will work. So then to Austin's room... he was much easier to convince to get up.

They were dressed, eatting scrambled eggs and bacon and it was almost time to go. While I was doing Caitlin's hair these are the things she told me...


"Mommy you don't have to walk me into class I know where it is"
(Are you kidding me...I am walking you all the way to your seat today!)
then "Mommy, daddy can take me to school in HIS car...you can stay home"
(seriously...this child was about to be missing a chunk of hair if she continued...I told her Mommy wanted to be there and take pictures and that I loved her very much)
She then adds, "I am a BIG girl now mommy"
(all I thought is I know I know I know and what I would give for you to be little just for a few more moments.....then i told her..she was a big girl, but she would always be my lil girl forever and we made a deal!)



So it was time to load up and head to SCHOOL
The two of them seriously wanted us to stay in the car and to let them walk up. Here Austin gave another pep talk to Caitlin...Plus a few more RULES! :-)


We entered the overly crowded cafeteria where all the parents were bidding final farewells or maybe they were silent cheers that school was finally back in session. :-D
Here Caitlin is patiently waiting to go to her class

Then it was time to make that walk to her future.....actual school!


We made it to her class and the little lady who didn't want anyone there was all the sudden ok with us being there...No she didn't hang on Dan's leg begging for him not to go, but she wasn't shoving us out the door either.
I helped her with her name tag...just to make sure she didn't poke herself with the safety pin. :-)


Mommy's BIG little girl.. :-)

Then all the sudden she realized that she was not sitting at the table with her friend, Kaden (blonde boy behind/side of her in white with green stripe shirt) She was sad...sat her head down and I was afraid she might cry. But she just sat like this for a bit....maybe she was a bit overwhelmed or nervous


Then the almighty Daddy gave her a pep talk and all was right in her world again. OF COURSE!



We then LEFT! Kind of.. we then went to Austin's room to check on him...see it is much different when they have been there done that and in 2nd grade. hahaha
Here is Austin and his new teacher Mrs. Harlow


We then made a trip to the Tear and Cheer meeting for the parents of kindergartners...there was nothing special here...mainly donuts and more of a sense that parents were cheerful. I was hoping for a sweet poem or something like my friend, Danielle got, but nothing. They sold us on the reasons to join the PTA and that was about it. We chatted a bit and then finally left the building to go have breakfast without kids. :-D Denny's here we come! Afterwards I was wondering how Caitlin was doing and all the fun new things she was learning. It was almost time to go get her already... and I had done well..not a single tear.

Here she is being set free....

She was very happy and came to ME 1st and gave me a big hug...then went to Daddy. It usually Daddy 1st and then a 'hi' for mommy. So this was great.

Let's go Daddy


She SURVIVED and so did we. She told us about all the things she did and that she sits at the green team rable and what color table all her friends sit at. I think she is going to have no problem making friends, since she has previously met over half the class already from various places over the past 2 yrs.
Well day 1 down and many many many more to go. We get to this everyday.

Tomorrow....??

Yes! FINALLY, I have been able to tell Caitlin, "Tomorrow is the day you start school" She has been beaming all day. We even went and picked out a new outfit (a dress) for the very special occasion. Then of course we had to get matching shoes..so off to payless. She then insisted that we paint her nails. "they have to be beautiful mommy" is what she told me. She is 5 and going to kindergarten....not 16 and going on a date!..YIKES! Of course while I was painting her nails at 7:30pm she fell asleep. OUT COLD! But not before she told me she had to have a heart on the big toes hahaha mommy is not a professional, but I tried~! :-)


She was so sweet and angelic. We just starred at her and thought, 'WOW she is going to school'...it is still hard to believe that this time has already passed and we are at this grand moment in her life. It is only the beginning of many great things she will do. It is just the beginning!

Speaking of great things!!! Our kids have decided they want to be Olympians. They have spent many hours in front of the TV with mom and dad watching the great Olympic athletes. Austin has decided that he wants to do fencing or be some kind of runner. He thinks from all his pirate and Jedi training; he would make the perfect fencing athlete. :-) Arghhh!!
Now Caitlin on the other hand has very grandeur plans. She wants to do gymnastics, swimming, diving, beach volleyball, track and field...pretty much everything she saw! We told them with a LOT of hard work and dedication they can accomplish anything! And of course we will be there to cheer them on. :-D

This weekend we had 2 birthday parties and a cub scout swim party. We realized that Caitlin is a little fish. I didn't take pictures, but she was swimming above and under the water over 6 and 8 foot deep water the width of the pool. And very well, I might add. I guess with size 2 to 2 1/2 feet..she has her own built-in flippers. :-) HAHA! I guess I should look into swimming lessons for this fall! (since I have yet to take the kids to one..oops)

The Olympics are closing now and we must go to bed early for a change. A start of an early and exciting day will be here soon!

The backpacks are waiting and ready to go!! :-D


Check back again for how the 1st day goes.

Can it really be that time already?????

Well the answer is yes...Caitlin is old enough to go to kindergarten. O my! My baby is going to school. She is very excited and has been for months! Everyday I hear, "Mommy do I go to school to tomorrow?" I say, "NO" and she says, "The next day?" hahaha I have been hearing this for a long time..so I am excited to tell her Sunday night that she will go to school "tomorrow". :-) Austin is not as excited about going, but I am sure that will change. He says he will miss his kitty, Hook. (not mom??) haha
Tonight we had meet the teacher night. Austin will be starting 2nd grade..WOW! His new teacher is Mrs. Harlow. She seems really nice. He was excited to see one of his friends, Colby, was in his class. They have been in the same class every year of school. Plus he is tall like Austin..so they were very excited to see each other. He also has 3 girls from his 1st grade class in there. Emily, Brenna, and bailey...he was excited about that too. He makes friends easily, so I am sure he will make a lot of new friends.
Now Caitlin met her teacher...Mrs York. She is the same kinder teacher Austin had. She is different now that is is a mother. So we are excited. Plus she missed half of the year when Austin was there. So it will be nice to have her full time. Caitlin thought she was staying at school today and I could pick her up later...Such a big girl already. She made her teacher a picture and took her a little pad of paper. Already a suck up too. haha She was a little shy and quiet at first. She is excited that she has several friends (all boys) that will be in her class. Most of them younger siblings of Austin's friends. She will have her friend from her speech class there too....Kaden. They were best friends and so cute in class. So I am sure it will be good that they will know each other. Plus she knows, Kyle, Xavier, and Evan. We will have an awesome room mom group too. I have worked with several of them and ooo we will make sure the kids have great parties!! :-) Here she is seeing her new classroom

and her with a monkey in the Reading center area..it will look different on Monday.


So for 3 hours in the morning I will be kid free! WOW..next week will be hard on me, but give me a week and I will be finding all sorts of things to fill that time. Then I am sure I will be begging for more. HAHA!
I am looking into college classes. Since I will have to take a few or maybe a lot of refresher courses or updated courses since I have been home for so long. SO I can start working toward the time when I do go back to work. Who knows maybe I will go back and do the occupational safety stuff that interested me so much my last year in college...some 10 yrs ago! I know hard to believe..I am that old HAHA!

So summer is almost over for us. One last weekend and let me tell you it is BUSY! We have 2 birthday parties on Saturday (Kaden's and Natalie's) and then our end of summer swim party and BBQ with the cub scouts. Everything pretty much fell back to back to back. So we will be on the go! Then I have a Sunday school meeting on Sunday and then hopefully a nice last day before school!

Komen race for a cure

I have formed a team to run in the OKC Komen Breast Cancer Race for the Cure on Oct 4th. We are looking for sponsors and donations. So many of us have been effected by this disease in one way or another....a family member, loved one, friend, or co-worker. Please support this great event. I run for my Great Aunt Carol, my friend, Shantel Newman Gonzales and fellow sunday school teacher, Barb Guinn. But I also run for myself, my daughter, my mom, my mother in law, my grandmothers, aunts, my girlfriends future...I run for all women. Hoping they don't have to deal with this someday, but if they do they can have the help they need.

You can even join the team (sleep in for the cure) and not run or you can walk the 5 k or a 1 mile walk. Every bit helps!! make a difference and Check it out!!
THANKS!
www.komencentralok.org/goto/Cherie

if you want to join my team click here
www.komencentralok.org/goto/believeinboobs

Another Stay-cation..kind of

Dan had another week of vacation he had to take..so we did the same things..Hung around at home, but took a 2 days trip to Oklahoma.

I had to watch the kids this week..so 2 days where here at home. Dan is funny. He is not use to that many kids. He said well.."I was thinking I might like another kid, but after today..I have changed my mind" hahaha He survived. Of course I think worrying about work was harder on him then 5 kids in the house. His work called over and over throughout the week. Problems with this and that. He is short handed an assistant manager and the one running the store while he is gone is brand new. So he has reasons to stress. So when he goes back to work tomorrow he's already got a game plan. :-) WORK WORK WORK and hopefully cover some of the info his assistant needs to know in the process. He already told me he will probably not be taking his other day off this week. Something I have gotten way to use too. Corporate just doesn't get that you can't throw a brand new person to the company into the 2nd highest volume store in the company and not expect some bumps to go with it. HAHA

Well back to our stay-cation... We took the kids swimming one day, but after being there for an hour the pool was closing sections off for various reasons. One for a chemical imbalance and then another because some kid threw up in it. Leaving the entire pool area closed. SO we left. They actually gave us a ticket to come back.

One night we took the kids to play tennis. That was interesting and FUNNY! It was HOT and the kids were trying which were giving Dan and I a lot of laughs. Here are a few pictures
Left handed.....


OR Right handed??????

Caitlin had a ball, but she would get mad when she missed the ball (and it was often!)


Dan spent a few nights playing guitar hero..here is a picture Caitlin took


We decided to take a trip to Oklahoma. Dan hasn't been there since Jan. and the kids and I went the 1st weekend in June for a day to see my grandparents as they drove from AZ. We also figured this would be the last trip up there until who knows when..with school and my Sunday school starting soon.
So we left on Friday and drove up. it took almost 5 hours. It was crazy. There was construction on the highway and we sat there for a long time..not moving an inch. We all felt like turtles in a race. HAHA We stayed with my brother and his girlfriend, Ashley. We drove to Shawnee (another 30 mins) once we got there with my brother to pick up some stuff for him and then met some of his friends and went to dinner. Yes we had 14 people with us on a Friday night. We ended up splitting into 3 groups 4-4-6 to get seated faster. Which we did and ended up all sitting in booths right next to each other. So it worked out nice. Of course we were seated 1st and the last to get service and our food. Our waiter needed some work. :-)
We then drove back got the kids ready for bed and tried catching the end of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. We missed them :-(

BUT we sure have been catching some great Olympic action all weekend. Sunday night we watched the men's 4X100 relay in swimming and WOW was it an epic race. I am sure most of you know which race I am talking about. It has been ALL over the news. We were cheering them on, but when the last 50m came we thought they are getting silver, but then with 40m to go the USA started gaining slowly on the France team. By 20m to go he was right with him. I was standing in my living room..yelling, "COME ON...KICK KICK..GO GO GO GO..YOU CAN DO IT"!! I think it worked!! Then when the finish came up with the gold going to the USA..Dan and I went NUTS!!!! We were high fiving each other and just all smiles. The race was intense! It was so close, plus they killed the World record..I mean DESTROYED it!

So we spent the weekend in Oklahoma hanging out with my brother. Dan strained his back somehow the day we left. Must have been the suitcase ;-) So he didn't do a whole lot while we were gone. But he did ride my borther's girlfriend's motocycle. I missed it, but was told it was funny, since it is a small bike :-D I say my best friend Melissa. We went by her house for a bit. She had an extra kid she had to take to his house so we were unable to visit long. I miss her and all our time we use to spend together.
Saturday I did get to spend some fun time with my best friend of 18 years, Andrea(but we are saying 10 so we don't feel so old hahahaha) here is a picture of us at the store before heading out.

She invited me to go to OU's campus corner for some bar birthday party. I haven't been to a bar in a long time. So why not. Her husband has been hired for a bouncer/id check for a bar down there as an extra job. So we hung out with them and her sister who works a bartender in the place we were going too. Of course there were no special deals on drinks. X-) We went and had a great time.

She is also Caitlin's Godmother and she came by on Sunday to see Caitlin. Caitlin was excited she even made her a card that said "I love my Godmother, Andrea" She told me what she wanted to write and I wrote it down on a piece of paper for her to copy. It was cute. Andrea loved it! Here is a picture of the 2 of them.


We had a nice time, but was a little sad we were not able to see my parents. BUT they had an anniversary last week (Aug 1st...34 years) and they went out of town and did a few things in Arkasas over the weekend. They so deserve the time away and I was so happy that they were able to take it. I can not think of a time when my parents have gone on a trip just the two of them without it being for one of my brothers races. So it was way over due!

We came home Sunday night..watched the great Olympics and now we are watching 5 kids. HAHA Dan goes back to work tomorrow and is hoping that his back is feeling well enough to play basketball tonight. He might need it for stress relief going into work tomorrow :-D

Block Party!

We had a block party last weekend for one of our neighbors who are moving. They have been the best and organized most our get togethers. So we will miss them. Now we have to try to keep it going. We also have new neighbors....so we got to welcome them in with a nice get together. I planned this party. It turned out great. The invite everyone loved. We rented a margarita machince..which has been a tradition for our cul-de-sac parties. :-) Here is the Big Cypress crew


I made flour bombs (knee highs filled with flour) for the kids to have a good time with. And they did! Along with a few adults...aka Dan! :-) Later the adults would find one and smack each other with it. Needless to say the cul-de-sac was a whiter shade. :-) here are a few pictures. One it looks like it is snowing from so much flour flying!



We had a lot of fun.

Now here is a funny picture of Caitlin


Austin and Jake (one of the boys I am watching this summer) playing Mario brothers. They made paper mustaches and even built a fort in my formal dining for the club house. They were very funny doing this. :-)


Here is a picture of Puffy saying her bedtime prayers. I just thought it was cute the way she was sitting with her feet together. >^..^<

here with her pretty eyes


Caitlin's new hair cut..I promised it to blogs ago...sorry!


Here is a picture of my new haircut and color. We added a lot of low-lights so it is darker, but some of the dark color has already washed out. Gotta love blonde hair it doesn't seem to keep dark color very well...at least for me. OO well I like it!


Now I need to go finish getting everything ready for our mini trip to Oklahoma City. YEA! We are going somewhere for our last vacation days. The kids start school in two weeks and then I start teaching Sunday school again. So this will be one of our last free weekends. My parents are out of town, but we will stay with my brother and visit with them and some of our friends up there. So off to the OKC! :-)
Love you all!

A trip to the Dentist

Well it was time for the kids to get their teeth cleaned. So this morning we went. Austin loves going to the dentist and wearing the sunglasses they have for the kids and having his teeth cleaned. He has great teeth and NO cavities!
Caitlin was a bit nervous going into the dentist. She gets that from me...oooo the stories my parents could tell about me at the dentist. But that is a whole other story. Caitlin watched Austin breeze through his while he laughed at all the "tickle tools". When it came to her time she let the lady look in her mouth with the mirror and quickly closed her mouth when she came with the scraper. She would NOT open her mouth and grabbed my arm and just shook. I can totally relate, but I told her they would just make her teeth shiny. That she was going to be a big Kindergartner in 2 weeks and she needed clean teeth to start school. She wasn't so sure about it. The lady gave up and just figured the dentist may at least get to check her out. I brought her to the dentist to get her teeth cleaned not just sit there... So I got Dan to come in with her. He was no help, but did make her laugh a few times. Then I said the magic word....we will so SWIMMING today if you have shiny teeth. Man she straightened up and opened up wide. We got the lady to come back and she cleaned Caitlin's teeth. She did GREAT! And then the dentist came in and said again that they both have great teeth and again NO cavities. So we did good today. NOW I have to find a place to take them swimming. :-)

Dan is on a vacation week again....again we are too poor to go anywhere. Thanks to wonderful gas prices, the increased cost of everything, and all my doctor visits last month. We were really hoping to do some kind of mini vacation with the kids, but I guess it will not happen this year. So again we are doing the stay-cation. I am working on finding something for us to do this weekend.