Cole going to Kindergarten!

This is happening earlier than we had planned. Cole will not be 5 until November; however, the schools out here let kids start school at 4 as long as they will turn 5 by the end of the November. We had hoped that Cole would sit out and not start K until he is 5 turning 6. Our plans came to a sudden change when his new pre-school director decided that Cole would not be allowed to attend their preschool any longer for behavioural reasons. I was extremely upset over this as I didn't want him to be transferred to another preschool as that just doesn't seem to help his ego. I was driving home from that awful preschool meeting with the director and my wheels in my head were spinning. (Where will he go next? I can't take time off work to look for a new place... etc...) Suddenly a light bulb went on! Wait a min.... Cole is old enough to start Kindergarten and school has been in session for just one week, we should just put him in Kindergarten. I took Friday off and registered him for K, he was with me and super excited that he will be attending the same school as his brother. He will also be attending the same after school program that his brother did. Cole was smiling from ear to ear. We also needed to visit his Dr office and get the immunizations records. That is when he got an unpleasant surprise that they had to give his final shots, a hearing test was ran and he passed, a sight test was inconclusive (unwilling to do it or sight prob? unknown). We will visit a Developmental Pediatric on Monday and then Cole will start his first day of Kindergarten on Tuesday. I asked Cole if he wanted to go to his preschool one last time to say goodbye to his friends. He absolutely did NOT want to go back to that place. He made this statement several times: "I'm a big boy now, I'm going to big boy school, I'm a kindergartner!"

1st Day of School

Tanner is a Big 2nd Grader now

Fentons Birthday

An 8yr old already

The Birthday Boy

The boy shall have his birthday breakfast.

I asked Tanner last night what he'd like for his Birthday Breakfast

T: "Pancake Grapes"

Me: "What is that?"

T:" You know... part pancake/park grapes.. a skinny pancake"

Me: "Oh, you want Crepes"

8 years ago today I became a Mommy and Dane a Daddy for our very first time. We didn't know the sex but I had a hunch. I saw baby boy parts on the ultra-sound. I didn't want to see this as I wanted to have that same experience that my mom had with all of her children. Our desire was to hear the Dr. state the sex once the sweet baby would exit my body. But, I was ok with my discovery as I always wanted a boy. I kept it a secret from everyone, even made sure to always purchase natural sex baby items for his nursery.

Tanner was due to arrive on my mom's birthday (July 12th); he had other plans.

7/23 The Ob sent me to be admitted into the hospital at 7pm.

7/24 midnight~ Mucas plug fell out then intense contractions started

2am-6am~ contractions piled on top of another with no breaks

6am~ Pitocin was given because of sitting at 8cm for too long

9am-12noon~ 9cm with no progress. BP at 140/80 and a high temp.

1pm~ rolled into the OR for emergency C-section

1:39~ Our sweet Tanner was born. 7lb 5oz

We are so proud to be the parents of Tanner. He has really blossomed into a sweet kind boy.

Great Day!

Tanner had his last day at Golf Camp with his Daddy

The boys played on Tumble Time Bus. Cole kept peering at me with a huge smile on his face. He was beaming as he was so proud to show me what he does every week (sometimes 2x's a week) when he is at daycare.

Our bunny was picked up from being cared for by my dear friend while we were in Tahoe. Ski, the bunny, looks so healthy.

I took Tanner with me to get a Pedicure and he was so funny. He kept wanting to get his feet wet too. He settled with having a chair with the message control. I mentioned to the lady doing my nails that Tanner never lets me cut his nails. I could try cutting his nails at 3am and he would wake up and fight me. She told him that she is going to cut them for him. She finished with my pedi and the approached Tanner. Tanner wasn't sure if he was willing to allow her to cut them, but then I told him that she is a Professional and wouldn't hurt him one bit. He let her.... He let her! Crazy kid. His nails look great! LOL

Cole's letter progress

"J,O,F,C,V,P,L,K,X,B,A,Z,T,E!" New game and a couple letters have been added. Match the letter to the picture with indiv per letter puzzle pieces. Example: Turtle picture puzzles with a match to the letter "T". Looks like he has added "A,E,F,K" Woo hoo!

Hooked on Phonics

Cole is the type of kid that wants to learn when HE is ready. Can you say.... CONTROL?...In the middle of my summer break I found a gal selling Hooked On Phonics for the Pre-K level. Cole picked it up for me and brought it to me this morning telling e that he wants to play with me. We both sat down and he found the book. I asked him if he wants me to read to him. This book puts the child through a letter hunt. Each page that is turned has the child looking for 2 or 3 letters. We got up to "V". He ran off one me a few times stating that he was done, but kept cooming back for more.

The boys first camping trip

Tahoe is one of my most favorite places to be. I had the pleasure to camp with my boys at Sugar Pines, Lake Tahoe. We met up with 4 other families from our church.

Day 1 and 2~The first couple of days were mixed with fun and struggles. The fun part was taking a beautiful 90minute bike ride pulling Cole in the bike trailer and Tanner riding along my side on his little bike. The whole group took the ride. Jon had his little Chihuahua/poodle riding in a dog harness on his chest, it was the cutest thing. We were all impressed how Tanner was able to keep up on the uphill areas and able to stay with us for the duration of the ride. I know he was so proud. We also went and lounged around at Meeks Bay. It is a beautiful beach area w/ beautiful sand that is brought in. The water was freezing, I was unable to get in and play or swim. I was able to take the boys out on a raft trip to the buoys and they enjoyed that. Our first night, I made the boys egg salad sandwiches and the second night, they whole church group went out to dinner at Rosies; that was yummy. My struggle was with Cole; I had to bring him to the restroom every time I had to go. He didn't understand that he isn't allowed to stay at the campsite alone. He is a stubborn little stinker at times.

Day 3~ Cole and I stayed in our camp site while Tanner went with the rest of the gang to play at Meeks. Cole and I stayed behind to wait on our neighbor and her two kids. While we were waiting we heard that a teenage bear was in the camp grounds and about 5 sites over (the sites are huge lots). They said that it was shooed away. I do wish we had been aware of this as I would had put Cole w/ another adult from the church and would had went to take a picture of the beauty. My neighbor eventually showed and we went to the store with Cole and her two kids. Tanner came back late from the lake. Once Tanner arrived the 4 kids were very excited to see each other and played around on our camp area. Carrie and I made dinner on the camp fire: Chicken, turkey patties, sliced potatoes....fruits served on the side. We did a pretty good job considering that was our first time. We would always join the church group once the sun would go down for chatting by the fire and making popcorn and s'mores.
It was then late night, Carrie and I took the kids to the bathrooms to clean up for bed. Then Carrie was far behind me when I returned with our boys back to our site. With all of the hype about the bear sighting, the boys and my imagination ran a little wild. We heard wrestling in the bushes, my flashlight couldn't see more than 3 feet in front of me, and then we heard what sounded like a grunt. I just rushed the boys into our tent once we got back to the site. I stood out trying to watch for Carrie but they were still not very near, it was then that I realized the bearlike sounds were coming from a man snoring. :o)
Day 4~ Another day at Meeks Bay and my good friend Elizabeth arrives with her nephew Cody. The kids are playing a fighting like siblings. Cole shows tender moments of wanting to be helpful to the adults and other moments of frustration over Shane and his bug obsession. Cole dislikes that the bugs that Shane had caught were being cooped up in a jar for too long and fears that the bugs will dye. I found out that Tanner is usually Shane's bug catcher as Shane has a small fear of actually touching them and Tanner is not fearful. I saw signs of Cole handling stressful moments with much grace and control. When at home in a tense moment, he would normally place himself into his room, but at camp he would dismiss himself to the tent, with the announcement, "fine, I'm going to the tent!" There was one time that he was especially upset with Shane and decided that he would place a chair with is back to everyone and stated that he is angry and doesn't' want to look at anyone, but that he is not in time out. The whole church group got together later that evening for hot dog roasting, s'mores, and popcorn. Elisabeth believes that she knows our pastor as they had crossed paths in her elementary and junior high years.

To Be Cont...

Letters @ camp

I'm posting this while it is on my mind. I will make a new post about our camping trip soon. I worked with Cole on his letters when he and I had a quiet alone moment. The letters that he wanted to pick out: L,J,P,O,T,V,B,X,Z...By looking at his previous sit with this exercise, he has added "P" and "O". Progress is always good!

Pride and Progress

~Pride~
Our family took a trip to the Cornfest last night. We had a lot of fun. We have a couple of daredevils on our hands and this Momma loves it (I know.. weird and a bit twisted). But, I want my boys to have fun and an adventurous spirit. I'm looking forward to riding wild roller coasters with my family, climbing Half Dome in Yosemite. And watching other wild tricks that boys will do. Tanner's doing back flips! I'm in AWE. OK.. back to the Cornfest.. I've found out that Cole is eager to get on the BIG rides too. He was sad that he couldn't ride the Zipper yet as he is just not tall enough, but Tanner wasn't either so that made it a little easier. However, that consolation didn't last long as he had to sit out while Tanner rode the Hammer with his Daddy. Cole's disappointment faded fast when both boys attention focused on the Ping Pong toss. Cole's ping pong made it into a dish of water, winning him a goldfish. He was so proud!

~Pride and Progress~
Cole has shown a lot of progress this past week. He sang the complete alphabet song to me without skipping a beat. He usually gets hung up on "H" as he usually likes to sing it as, "A,B,C,D,E,F,G..next time wont you sing with me". Can you blame him? He has a lot less letters to sing and he made it rhyme! Today, Cole came to me with his letters books (small little books w/ each book dedicated to a letter) and told me he loves (be still my heart) his letter books and wants us to read them; however, he added a small twist to this. Cole left the pile of 26 books in front of us and he said, "I will pick with letters". I was shocked~ Here is the letters he chose and we had to read about each letter as he was picking. B, X, L, C, Q!, J, Z, T"for Tanner", V and K. I think he could had gone further but he stated he was tired. :o) He also counts to 20. This sudden desire to count to 20 came when he and Tanner decided to play bunny-hide-and-seek. One kid hides the bunny in the back yard while the other stays in the house and counts to 20 then has to figure out where the bunny is hiding.

Thinking out loud (sorta)

I'm preparing for my first tent camping trip. I've been camping several times... tent & motor home camping, but I've never camped alone as the adult responsible.

This blog is my thinking out loud about what I need to bring. So here it goes~

comfort list
Done ~tent
Done~sleeping bags
`pillows
Done`folding chairs
Done~`sleeping mat
Done`2 lanterns
Done~`1 flashlight
hammock
books
Done~magazines
`Tanner's Didij &games
Done`Bikes/ Helmet
Done`emergency kit
`hygiene supplies
Done`cell phone
Done`camera w/ both batteries fully charged
Done`sun block
Done`insect repellent
`Tanner's clothes
`Cole's clothes
`my clothes
Done`roll or quarters
Done`sun hat

kitchen supplies
Done`spatula
`marshmallows/hot dog roasting forks
Done`Smore supplies
Done`Grill that is placed over fire
Done`hamburger patties
Done`hot dogs
Done`foil
Done`corn
Done`potatoes
Done`cereal
`milk
Done`bowls
`eggs and egg carrier
Done`bread
Done'peanut butter
Done~jelly
`honey
gas
wood
Done~fire starters
Done`plastic forks/knives/spoons
`paper plates
Done~table cloth
Done`plastic cups
Done`butter
`bananas
Done`mayonnaise
Done`frying pan
Done~pot holders
Done`canned beans
rope string
Done`ice chest
Done~cash

trash bags


Am I forgetting anything?

Race and Tricks

There were two heets for the men's sack race

Dane and the other guy came in first in their heets

Dane won the final match! :o)

Cole showing his swimming skills

Tanner showing his tricks