School

Last week Grant started his 3 school.  The week started off quite dramatically with Grant screaming in pain on Monday with a tummy ache.  We went through the day assuming it was gas from constipation and then later that night, attributed it to nerves after Grant declared that he had butterflies and a froggy in his tummy when he thought about school.  Later in the week we discovered he actually did have a bug when Jason also had the nasty stomach ache.

when asked what he wants to be when he grows up, he said a golfer like his daddy.  Good thing we got him a golf bag for his birthday!

Tuesday he woke up excited for school.  He even woke up before his alarm which is pretty good for our little sleeper.  He really hates mornings so I anticipate his happy attitude to go back to grumpy morning Grant really soon!  I got to spend the whole morning in his class with him that day.  He had so much fun digging in the sandbox and riding his (already) "favorite" blue bike.  They ate a snack, went on a hike through the trails, made a craft and played inside at all the learning stations.  They sure pack a lot in 3 hours!

He found his coat hook!

playing in the sandbox- he gets 20 min of outdoor play first thing in the morning.  Rain or shine.

heading off on his first hike- he will take a 30 min hike every morning.

finding shapes and colors on the nature hike with Miss Lonna

so proud of my little reader for going straight to the books!

by the end of the morning, he (and all the other kids!) were pretty much over it.  A lot of crying and fits were witnessed the last 20 mins!

As we got into the car on Thursday, he looked at me and said,"don't worry mom, I am going to be a brave boy."  Melt my heart!  On the drive there, he expressed his concern over what to do if he got lost and was really worried about a tree falling on him.  On how I love how little minds think!  We walked in and he was clinging to my leg but once it came time for me to leave, he was such a big boy.  I was sure I was fine until I turned around to leave and suddenly felt the tears streaming down my face.  Can't believe my little boy is all grown up.

Hopefully he is as excited to go back this week!

Ten on Tuesday

1.  Cutest thing Ashton says right now- Oopsy daisy.  It is so cute, it just makes me smile every time I hear him say it.

2.   I was looking for some Greek seasoning in the international aisle at Meijer the other day.  I laughed out loud when I came across the "southern" section.  It included hush puppies, creole seasoning, hot sauce, etc..... since when are the southern states considered international????

3. A few weeks ago Ashton walked up to the table to eat lunch and proclaimed,"no chair. I sit table" and pushed the chair holding his booster seat onto the ground and climbed into a normal chair.  Who gave this kid the rights to grow up so darn fast?????

4. I thanked Grant for being a good boy the other day while we were out and about and he responded, "I did the best I could mommy."  LOL.

5. Anyone else get totally addicted to the show Camp this summer?

6.  I laid down on the couch the other day and got ready to watch my favorite fall movie, Mystic Pizza and realized our VHS player has finally bit the dust.   I suppose it is finally time to join this century update my favorite movie collection to DVDs!

7.  Ashton and bugs do not get along.  He was stung by a bee last week.  He reacted fine to it that day.  When he woke up the next day he was covered in one large hive all over his tummy and back.  Thankfully Benadryl cleared it up within 24 hours.  This past weekend, he got bit on his cheek by something while out with J on our property.  He woke up the next day with his cheek all swollen.  After a day of Bendryl, he woke up the next day with his eye all swollen.  We headed to the dr where he received an antibiotic shot because the Dr was concerned about infection.  We had a follow up appt the next day and it was finally looking better.  We left the office with a script for oral antibiotics and a referral to an allergist.  Yippee.

8. Ashton's favorite phrase right now,"I do it."   I love that he is a little more independent, but he gets so frustrated when he can't do everything and I get frustrated when he insists on doing everything his way when I am in a rush!

9.  Grant starts school next Tuesday.  He is going to a new nature based preschool so most of his learning will be about nature, animals, etc.... I am so excited for him, but am also a little anxious to send my baby off to his first day of school.

10.  Blessing of the week: medication.  The Dr informed me that when he was a resident (not that long ago) he would have had to admit Ashton for IV antibiotics and cat scans to ensure the infection didn't spread and affect his eyes.  Thank God for antibiotic shots that they can give you in the office and save you an overnight stay in the hospital.

Camping

On Friday we returned home after our week long camping adventure.  I had never been camping and really, this wasn't necessarily camping, more like RVing.  However, we were at a campground and had a campsite so I am calling it camping!

The Friday that our RV was delivered was a rough day.  I was running errands, trying to pack for a week long trip that required a lot of stuff and then we had some news about our house plans that sent me directly downhill.  I didn't end up getting to the campground until about 7 and within 2 minutes of checking in, the skies opened up and it downpoured for about 20 minutes.  I sat in the camper with my boys who were scared out of their mind with the thunder and lighting and the sound of the rain pounding the top of the camper and I wondered what I had gotten myself into!  Once the rain cleared out, the boys ventured outside and played in puddles while I unpacked the car and our spirits instantly lifted.

Saturday was our family day.  With such a busy summer, it was a rarity to have all of us together for an entire day.  It was so refreshing!  We took a walk through a nearby neighborhood to look at houses, the boys rode bikes around the campground, played on the playground, petted the goats and bunnies in the petting zoo and swam in the pool.  At night we made hobo pies (so.much.work!), went on a candy hayride and then went to the pool party hosted by the campground.  The boys had so much fun swimming with about 100 other kids.  Made me crazy as it became harder and harder to keep track of them as it got darker and darker!  At one point, Grant got out of the pool and declared he had kissed two girls!  They were both 8 and above!  Jason and I both decided that he is going to be the boy in school that has lots of girls for friends.  The girls were all over him and he is only 3!

this is as close as Ashton was willing to get after his goat biting incident last fall!

The next day we went to church then headed back into town to celebrate Jason's birthday with family on the boat and at the beach,

On Labor Day we headed back into town for the annual Truck Parade and then spent the rest of the chilly day with family at the campground.  I have never experienced such a dramatic end of summer as I did that day watching all of the campers check out at 1:00 to head home.  After that, we pretty much had the campground to ourselves.  We rode bikes to the beach, ate ice cream for lunch, stayed up late by the campfire and then did it all again every singe day of the week.  Jason and I even snuch into the hot tub after the kids were asleep and then walked around the campground then around again. 

I can't say enough good things about our camping adventure.  Obviously this was a special vacation because it was something we won so were indeed spoiled. The campground had flowers and a big basket of treats waiting for us upon arrival, they brought us wood for our campfire, they let us use the bikes and Burley at no cost and the best part-  they treated us to a date night out with babysitting included!  Our camper was also amazing!  I had my doubts how we would handle being in such a confined space, but it worked out just fine.  We were richly blessed by all of those gifts, but the best part about the trip in my opinion was just slowing down, hanging out with just the four of us, talking, playing, and making a lot of wonderful memories.  It seems like all summer we have been running around trying to get things picked out for our house, then waiting and waiting then getting some news that threw all of our hard work out the window, then re-doing the work then waiting and waiting....it has all taken a toll on us.  This week allowed us to forget all the house stuff and just have fun for once this summer.  I will be forever grateful to my husband for winning this trip for us and to Oak Grove Campground and American RV for spoiling us rotten! 

 Camping sure is exhausting!

 As well as the laundry afterwards!

I had to laugh when I looked up from my laundry pile to find the boys sitting in the boxes I used for packing.  They claimed they were boats- so cute!