Quinn lost his first tooth!

Over the past few weeks, we have noticed that Quinn has had a couple loose teeth.  He's been wiggling them a lot and tonight we decided it was time for one of them to come out.

It actually wasn't quite as loose as we thought, but we did some extra wiggling, said a lot of prayers, offered tons of reassurance and finally......

Counting the Days

About a week ago, my parents came up for the day so we could all celebrate my birthday.  They brought a little something for Quinn and Jacob, and we put Quinn in charge of it, seeing as how he is the older brother.

 

I'm sure you are saying, "What's the big deal? It's just a calendar."

Well, to Quinn (and Jacob if he understood), it's a very big deal.  This calendar counts down the days until the boys go to SC for their week of "Camp Grandma and Grandpa"!! 

This tradition started the summer Quinn was 18 months old, the summer of 2009. (You can re-read the fun here.  And here.  And here.)  What I remember the most is he got sick and I had to pick him up early. He had a double ear infection, which was the last one before the doctors FINALLY decided to put tubes in.  He also went in the summer of 2010, and the summer of 2011.  He did not go down last summer because Mom used her two big breaks from work to come stay with Quinn while I was in the hospital having Jacob, and then again when I had to go back to work.

So it's been two years since Quinn has gone for his stay at his grandparents. Needless to say he is really excited about going to their house for "the big sleepover" as he calls it.

So we are counting the days and marking them off.

Only 17 more days!!

Making Bubble Snakes

I've determined that this summer I will have specific activities for all of us to do together.  I finally bit the bullet and joined Pinterest, and now I'm wondering why I put it off so long!  Of course, you can find a million and one different things on this site.  Some of the ideas are way too crafty for me, but I've found many I can't wait to try.

I decided today would be our first activity, as the first "unofficial" day of summer...Memorial Day.  We took advantage of Jacob's nap time, and Quinn, Buddy, and I made bubble snakes!

First you take a 20 ounce water bottle and cut the bottom off.  Take an old sock and wrap it around the bottle, securing it with a rubber band, duct tape, etc.  Also take a pan, squirt some dish soap and add water until it bubbles up.

Dip the sock bottle into the bubble solution and blow....you get bubbles that "snake" out of the sock!

 

Was it fun?  I think this smile says it all!

Quinn's Last Day of Preschool

I can hardly believe this day is here, but today is Quinn's very last day of preschool!  I just cannot wrap my mind around the fact that he will be in Kindergarten in the fall.

Where has the time gone?

What has happened to my baby?

He turned into a tall, smart, sweet, caring, entergetic little boy.  He is so full of life right now, and you just never know what he will say next.

This year he got awards for Perfect Attendance, Memorizing 13 more Bible Verses, and a report card with greats all around.

Here is a picture on Quinn's first day of K-3 and his last day of K-4.  I am just so proud of all he's learned so far.

Quinn's K-4 Field Trip

Today was Quinn's field trip with the entire K-4 group at his school.  Again, we went to Dan Nicholas Park in Salisbury, about 30 minutes away.  We went there last year with the K-3 group.  The difference was, this year, Quinn and I rode the bus.  He was so excited to ride a real school bus, even if his school's bus is red, white, and blue, and not the typical school-bus-yellow.  Last year, I drove separately because I had 6 week old Jacob with us!

At the entrance to the park. It was a pretty chilly for a May morning in NC, but we shed our coats by 10am.

The first thing Quinn wanted to do was ride the train, so we went and got our tickets for the different activities. This park has no entrance fee, but it does have a train, barn animals, a zoo of sorts for animals native to this part of NC, several playgrounds, and Quinn's favorite part..."treasure rocks"...aka Gem Mining.  While we waited on the train, Quinn did this.

Waiting for the train.



The train conductor was sweet enough to take this picture of the two of us.  And yes,  I'm as cramped as I look....those train cars are super small.

Next, Quinn wanted to ride the carousel. He wanted to ride a camel. In fact, I rode too, although I did not get a picture.

After the carousel, we went down to the barn to see the animals.  They had goats, donkeys, sheep, chickens, a peacock and other birds, and this pig!  Quinn was fascinated that the pig was black and not pink.

We caught up with a few of his classmates as we were leaving the barnyard, so we walked around the zoo area with them.  Here they are, seeing if their "wingspan" compares to a bald eagle.

The kids had a lot of energy to burn, so we went to the playground. Quinn and his friends had a good time playing before we had our picnic lunch.

After lunch, we did Quinn's favorite activity...gem mining.  We got a 20lb bucket of sand with various gems inside.  We went to an area where they have water tables and mined for the gems.

 

Quinn was thrilled that this one was green....his favorite color!

I loved watching his expressions as he found different rocks.  We ended up with a small bag full.

When we got back to school, it was only about 2pm, and I know Jacob usually naps at Susan's longer than 2pm.  So while we waited to go pick him up, we ended the day getting ice cream at McDonald's.  It was a great end to a perfect day!

Re-Creating a Memory

I grew up in my Great-Grandparents house.They lived next door to my Grandma Margaret. PaPa and Grandma Belue both died by the time I was and we moved into their house, Even though I was young when they passed, I have two distinct memories of them.

I explicitly remember walking through the yards one day to get PaPa so he could eat lunch with us. I remember going to the back door and then holding his hand as we walked. I remember he swung our arms back and forth. I remember he walked pretty slowly but I still had to take quick steps to keep up with him.

My one memory of my Great-Grandma is standing in her kitchen at the sink and asking for a cracker. She handed me a small square Saltine out of the long white sleeve, the kind you might crumble to put in soups. From that day on square Saltines became "Great-Grandma Belue crackers".

Fast forward from the mid 1980s to 2013.

Quinn wanted a snack today. He wanted crackers, he said.

I had only one kind of cracker.  Keebler TownHouse crackers, in a brown sleeve.

I opened them up and gave Quinn a few. 

He ate one and said how yummy it was.  He asked me what kind of cracker this was.  I said the only thing that came to mind.

"Other-Grandma Crackers". 

My grandma Margaret is Quinn's Great-Grandma. He calls her the "other Grandma" since my mom is his "Grandma".

Now he has a Great-Grandma Cracker memory too!

It's a full house

I tucked Quinn into bed tonight, and this is what I saw.


From left to right we have:
Blue, Giraffe, Elephant, Fuzzy Buddy, Monkey, Big Patty (Penguin), Little Patty (Penguin), Red Dog, and Quinn.

The gang's all here!

Riding Away

Earlier this evening, while I was cooking supper, Buddy and Quinn went outside to play.  It's been so nice and warm the past few days....very unseasonable for NC in April, but hey, we'll take it!

After a while, I got a text from Buddy that said "Come outside please".  I thought to myself, what in the world...are we so high-tech that he can't even walk in the house to come get me?

So I went outside and instantly saw why I got the text.....

They had gone outside and Quinn finally learned to ride his bike!  We got him the bike last year for his birthday, and while he loved the gift, he never really got the hang of it. Summer came and went and still nothing. Then winter came and Buddy had to work out of town in Maryland. He's finally home, and I guess Quinn was ready!  And you can see in the picture, Buddy is running to keep up with him!

As he got closer to where I was standing, I couldn't help but tear up a little bit. 

The sheer happiness in himself is so evident on his face.  He could not believe he was able to ride his bike, and his future independence just smacked me in the face. Sure he's only 5 now and ten years seems like a long way away, but in another since, its just right around the corner. 

It won't be long before he'll be wanting to borrow the keys to the car, traveling around town. It won't be long before he'll be going off on his own.

As he pedaled on past me, it became increasingly clear.....he's only mine for a little while.  I only have a short time to teach him things about life and to teach him how to be a loving, caring, strong, independent individual.  I only have a short time.   But I have forever to pray for him and to love him.

Lord, help me to raise up my child in the way he should go,

so when he is old(er) he will NOT depart from it.

Bond of Brothers

Jacob is one hundred percent, absolutely, positively in LOVE with his brother!

Quinn is becoming an excellent big brother.

These two are becoming best friends.  Jacob has to be with his brother at all times!

Oh The Places You'll Go.....

.....when you learn to read!

I am so excited that Quinn is beginning to show interest in learning to read. Lately he has been asking me what different words say, whether we are in a store, in the car, or reading a book at bedtime.  He has always enjoyed his "computer" that we got him a few years ago. The games that come on it include an e-reader book. I've even found some book apps for our iPad and he is enjoying listening to those as well.

A couple days ago, he came to me with "Green Eggs and Ham" in hand, and sat down beside me on the couch.  The next thing I hear is "I am Sam....Sam I am....Do you like Green Eggs and Ham?"  And with a little help from me, he proceeded to read the entire book!

What I noticed about this book is there is a lot of repitition.  At first I thought he had memorized part of the book. As he got to the harder words, he needed help with some of them, and then the next time that word appeared, he sometimes stumbled over that word again. That made me feel as though he was truly trying to read the book!  What makes this even more special is that "Green Eggs and Ham" was the first book I learned to read as well!

Cowboy Quinn

This past week at school Quinn's class had a unit on cowboys.  They ended the week with Cowboy / Cowgirl day.  All the students were encouraged to wear blue jeans, plaid shirts, bandannas, boots, hats, or any other western wear.  We had everything but the cowboy hat, so I borrowed one from a friend at school. 

Just before we walked out the door, I told Quinn I wanted to take his picture. Imagine my surprise when he tipped his hat and said "Howdy ma'am!"

Quinn's Classwork

I found this paper in Quinn's bookbag. I thought that for a child in K-4 Preschool, this was pretty advanced work.  Quinn said "But it was easy Mommy.  You just count the animals and color the blocks like this."

Works for me!!

Why, yes, that IS a rocketship in my living room!

Over the Christmas holidays, we did not get to travel due to Buddy's work situation.  When everyone came for Quinn's birthday, they also brought our Christmas presents.

I can't remember if it was Evan or Mackenzie who pulled Quinn's name for the cousin exchange, but Buddy's sister, Fran, was really excited about the gift they had chosen for him.  So much so, that on their way back to Ohio, they were going to come by for lunch just so they could see Quinn open the gift.  Unfortunately they got a stomach bug and opted to NOT visit...for which I'm very grateful!

When I saw the box, it was large, and I'm not quite sure what I thought it would be, but I certainly wasn't expecting this.....

 

The box is upside down, but you can see it shows a picture of a rocket ship.  What you CAN'T see, is that the box says it is 5 FEET LONG! Hmm.........

I will honestly tell you trying to put this together about put me in the mental hospital.  Who would have thought that cardboard could make you feel so stupid.  I literally had to walk away from the kit because it was driving me foolish.  Luckily for all involved, Buddy stepped in to help. If he can build multi-million dollar offices and other buildings, surely he can put together a silly cardboard rocket ship.  (He had trouble too....just so you know!)

After a lot of heartache, sweat, and a tear or two (that was me), we now have THIS in our foyer.

So if you stop by, don't be alarmed.  We won't be sending you to a galaxy far far away!

Sick Day / Work Day

This week I had a couple of days without my students.  The end of 2nd quarter combined with the Martin Luther King holiday gave me an extra-long weekend.  Quinn's school was also closed Monday so I was looking forward to a nice "Mommy and Me" day with the boys.

Life, as always, had other plans.

Quinn developed a cough over the weekend, and we were pretty concerned. Buddy listened to Quinn with our stethoscope and thought he could hear wheezing. By Monday morning, I knew it was time to head to the doctor. At least I didn't have to make sub plans.

The doctor also heard the wheezing and insisted that Quinn take a breathing treatment before we could leave.  We've been down this road once before, but he was so little, I doubt he remembers it.  We ended up with orders to continue these treatments 4 times a day for the next two weeks.

The rest of Monday he was so pitiful, just laying around on the couch.  If you know Quinn, you know this is not his typical behavior.  Tuesday, I decided to keep him with me.  He doesn't have his preschool class on Tuesday, and I had to be in my classroom anyway, so I took Jacob to Nana Susan's and Quinn went with me to work.

I took our big orange afghan and that was his "resting spot".  Fuzzy Buddy came along too. He chose several VeggieTales and other videos and he watched them on my big screen.



I stopped working a few times to give him his breathing treatment and by the end of the day, he was perking up.  I guess he could breathe easier!  So I could get the last of my work done, I turned off the videos and put on a website that the Kindergarten teachers use and let Quinn play with my big board.  He was quite the natural!

He has already asked to go back to my school...."It's so much fun in your class Mommy!"

The Other Grandma

I've said it before many times but I absolutely LOVE my grandma.  I lived next door to her until I was a junior in high school. When we moved, it was to a house about 5 minutes away. When I was in college we moved in WITH her.  She has been a major part of my life and I am so thankful for that influence she has had in my life.

When Quinn was learning to talk, he had a little trouble distinguishing between my mom (whom he called "Grandma") and my own Grandma (which would be his great-grandma).  I wanted him to call her GG...for "great grandma" but neither Mom nor Grandma cared for that name. They never said anything but I could tell by the look on their faces that GG would not work.  So we decided to see what Quin would call her and that would be it.

My parents came for a visit not long after that and Grandma did not come.  Quinn went out to the driveway to greet my parents, but looked confused. He looked at me and said "Where's da other Grandma?"  It took us a minute to realize it, but Quinn had officially given my Grandma her name. She LOVES it, and now signs all his cards Love, The Other Grandma!!

I wish we lived closer so Quinn and Jacob could experience the every-day love from this lady that I grew up with, but for now, we will cherish every moment we can get.

School Spirit Week

School Spirit Week at Quinn's school is usually held during the first weeks of January, to coincide with the school's homecoming game and pageant.  Last year and this year it fell on the week of Quinn's birthday!

Unfortunately for us, some of the dress-up ideas were a little too difficult for this non-creative mama.

Monday was "Medieval Day".  This is easy if you are a girl.  Put them in the Princess costume of your choice and you are done. For boys, this means being a knight, a jester, or a king/prince.  If I had more time, maybe I could have consulted with crafty friends to help me come up with an outfit, but this time, it meant buying a costume.  So we did not participate on this day.

Tuesday was "Alphabet Day".  Each homeroom chose a letter and kids dressed up with things that started with that letter. Quinn's class got the letter P.  Girls wore polka-dots or pink.  Quinn wore what any country boy would wear....PLAID. And he insisted I wear purple.

Wednesday was Pajama Day (and Quinn's birthday.....separate post)

Thursday was Character Day....so Quinn wore his Super Mario Bros (no picture).

Friday was Red, White, and Blue day....school colors. And I didn't get a picture of this either.

Five is Fantastic!!

I'll never forget the day I found out I was pregnant.  April 28, 2007 helped my heart heal after losing my first baby when I was only 9 weeks along.  I never would have imagined that 7 weeks after my greatest loss, I would be given a great joy.

I'll never forget the day I held my baby for the first time.  January 9, 2008 taught me that hard work (12 hours of labor; 2 hours of pushing) and fear (emergency c-section) can still bring about something sweet.

Today that precious baby turns five years old, and I'm beginning to forget.

I'm forgetting what it was like to hold and rock him until he fell asleep in my arms.
I'm forgetting what it was like to hold a little hand as he takes unsteady steps.
I'm forgetting what it was like to listen to a little voice ask for a "cheese shanka" or his "on-ge na-na".
I'm forgetting so many things.

I don't want to forget.

Babies grow up in the blink of an eye.  I've got to stop blinking.

But if I stop blinking, I won't be able to see what is right in front of me.



Quinn turned 5 on Pajama Day

 Please Lord, help me see in the moment and never forget the memories.

Mommy loves you Quinn.  I am so proud to be Your Girl!!

Christmas Eve 2012

We had a very simple Christmas this year.  With Buddy's new job he got back in the summer, he had a very minimal amount of time off. On top of that, his current project is due to be finished shortly after the first of the year, requiring him to work the day after Christmas.  Makes it hard to do our normal holiday traveling when the majority of it takes place after Christmas.  So we stayed home this year, although I will admit it didn't feel very much like Christmas without seeing the normal family.

I did manage to get a couple of cute pictures of the boys.