School Visit Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day when the kids are visiting the school that we potentially want them to attend. The boys are going there for the whole day while DD is only going for the last hour of the school day. The school parent handbook says that they don't allow eighth graders to transfer in, which is the grade that DS#1 will be in--unless it's a special circumstance. We're hoping that he qualifies as a special circumstance. If he can get in, we feel confident that they'll allow the other two to go there. They already have "waiting pools" for the grades that DS#2 and DD will be in, so since it's not a "list" then there's a chance we will get in ahead of others that are already waiting. Wish us luck! DH and I would really like to be able to rest easily about this soon!

The baby has awakened with a fever for the past couple of days. He actually took a three hour nap this afternoon in addition to a 45 minute nap in the morning. I had gone to take DS#2 to get his hair cut. When I got back, DS#3 had awakened in a great mood--he often wakes up rather grumpy. I sat down on the floor near him. When he saw me, he gave me a big smile and crawled over to where I was. He came up to me to give me a hug! What a precious boy! That totally made my day! Now, if he would just get over whatever it is that he has, that would really make my day!

Transitions

Tonight, I was walking with DS#3 and holding both his hands to stabilize him. Suddenly, I saw him let one hand go and walk while holding on with just one hand. At one point, he let go of that one hand and did a controlled drop or sit to the floor. He's so close to walking! It's just amazing to see the subtle "steps" forward in his development!

Today, DH made arrangements for our kids to go to class one day at the school we'd like our children to go to next year. I'm a little anxious about this because I know that this might be an "interview" to see if they'll accept our kids. I know there is a "waiting pool" for at least two of the grades. We have a better chance with a "pool" than a "list" since if they want to accept one of our kids, it will be more likely that they accept all of them. Still, this will be our kids' first look at this school and we hope that they love this one also.

Those of you with children know that sometimes it's better to warn them ahead of when things will happen, so they can mentally prepare for a change. Tonight, I didn't give DD much warning before taking her home from her Daisy Scouts meeting. She really loves these meetings because she gets to play with her friends, but I didn't have a watch on and when I realized the time, it was already 7:30 PM (her usual bedtime). She started crying, of course, and it took a little bit to calm her down.

I hope she and the other kids take the upcoming transitions better than that. It has been a very stressful last couple of weeks with the usual kid activities, some atypical stressors at work, and then this added stress of finding a new school. I'm sorry that I keep dwelling on this school thing, but it's consuming our thoughts and lives right now! Despite the stress of changes, we're looking forward to this one more transition or change in our lives.

Awesomeness

On Sunday, the older boys and I were playing Scrabble when DS#1 started frequently using the phrase "my awesomeness". I can't remember the exact instances, but he would say something like, "I was able to use that word because of my awesomeness" and this would be accompanied by a big toothy smile. He said it often enough that all of us started talking about his "awesomeness." Later, I told DH that I loved DS using that phrase because he showed confidence in saying it (even if he was actually joking) and that when he smiled he looked so much older with his big grin and squarish jaw. He can be a little jokester too, that one... :)

Speaking of jokester, here is a picture of the oldest three at Fiesta Texas this past weekend. I wanted to take a photo of them in front of this measurement sign. DD was tall enough to ride in the "regular" bumper car ride this year, with an "adult", which was DS#1, in this case. DS#2 was big enough to ride all by himself. You can see DS#1 on his tiptoes in back of the sign--he isn't really that tall without being on his tiptoes, although he is close...

DS#3 rode on a carousel for the first time. He was so tired that he really didn't seem impressed. He did, however, look around the carousel and seemed to just be taking it all in. He did manage a little smile here as if to humor his picture-taking Mama. :)

As you can see, his mood was much different last Saturday. We dressed him in his new soccer outfit that my dear sister gave him for his birthday. He looked so adorable and looked ready to play! The good mood lasted, thank goodness, and also luckily for me, I was able to keep him busy during DS#2's soccer game by feeding him Goldfish crackers. He is also getting quite good at drinking from his sippy cup. Unfortunately, because of the partially liquefied Goldfish crackers, this outfit promptly went into the laundry.

DH was at DS#1's soccer game across town and that was followed by DD's soccer game at the same field. I missed those games again, of course. Next week, we'll actually be able to go to all the games as a family. We had a pretty awesome weekend with awesome weather overall and hopefully next weekend will be too!

Things Happen For A Reason

I'm a strong believer that things really do happen for a reason. During our search for a new school for our kids, I've often felt that maybe DH and I made a "mistake" a few years ago when we pulled our oldest son from public school and put him in the school he's in now. DH has found some really good schools here in town and I can't help wondering what would have happened if we had started out at one of those schools instead. I realized today, though, that it is because of our past experience at this school that we are where we are now. If we hadn't switched to this school, DS#1 might not have skipped a grade. When we were approached about this a couple of years ago we were ready for that change, but not before. If we hadn't switched to this school, we might not have found the good friends that we did, or we wouldn't have become such good friends. Most importantly, we might not have appreciated what these other schools have to offer. I hope this all makes sense!

We're much closer to choosing a school. Now, we have to figure out if they have room for all three kids...

Here are three LOs that I started last month at a crop for Jen that I finally put the finishing touches on. The first one uses photos from 2002 when we were still a family of four! The second one is from 2006, and the last one (using a sketch from Scrapaddict) was just last year with DS#1 turned 12. :)

Sneak Previews of May Scrapaddict Kits

I'm really excited about these kits from Scrapaddict.com and I can't wait until the first of May to show my LOs off. These first two pages have pictures from our trip to Wisconsin in 2006. We're going back for a visit this summer and I know the kids will have a blast!

These next two pages use these beautiful papers and I had to use beautiful pictures to go with them! The first one below is from our Disney trip last year. Those acrobats at the China pavilion at Epcot were amazing!

This is one of my favorite photos and pages ever! This is one of the photos that were taken at The Picture People last week. Do you see what I was talking about? You can't even tell that DS#3 was in a cranky mood that day. I just want to kiss him all over when I see this photo! :)

For some personal news, we have officially "un-registered" our kids from their present school. In other words, we didn't pay the enrollment fees for next year. We still aren't completely sure yet where they will go to school next year. We're still looking. Please continue to wish us luck in finding the right school(s).

USS Lexington trip

I thought I would post some photos that DH took during DS#2's overnight USS Lexington trip this weekend. DH was so proud of himself that he took 50 photos and most of them were pretty good. :)

The Texas State Aquarium was there in Corpus Christi, too. DH discovered that if he turned the flash off (so the flash wouldn't reflect off the glass) that the ISO automatically adjusted itself higher so that he was able to get some pretty cool photos. Here are a couple he took of some jellyfish. He took some of some turtles and frogs, too. DH was so proud of himself! :) Look at this cool photo of the sunset! I have to say that I was pretty proud of him too, plus if he enjoys taking photos, maybe he'll take more of them! ;-)



Most importantly, DS#2 had a blast! When we asked him later what his favorite part was, he said he couldn't choose because he loved all of it! He loved looking at the sea life. He loved looking at the planes, the weapons and some of the historical info about other ships. He even let DH take a bunch of photos of him and he smiled! Now, why doesn't he do that for his Mama? Here is a photo of DS#2 next to a "night flight trainer" that he thought was very cool and actually wanted a photo next to it. Even DH thought it was worth sleeping in the apparently tiny berths that they had to sleep on, the resulting lack of sleep, and the long drive to and from, etc. :)

One more thing--we finally have tooth #6!!! He finally got the upper right tooth in after months of teething!!!

Birthday Recap

Isn't this the most hilarious picture? Let me start from the beginning. On Wednesday, April 9, we celebrated, DS#3's first birthday. During the "day", DH tried so hard to do something fun for him. He took him to the park because he thought DS would have so much fun there. Well, DS really disliked being on the swing, whether it was by himself or when he was on DH's lap. DH then decided to let DS get messy, so he took off DS's shoes and put him in the sand play area. Poor DS was miserable! He was apparently trying to shake off his feet as if very upset and not knowing what that stuff was that got in between his toes! So, at home, DH unfolded one of the big play things we have that has little areas to crawl through. Finally, DS actually seemed to enjoy himself for a bit. He was just all out of sorts that day!

In the evening, we went out to dinner at "El Mirasol", one of our favorite restaurants. The older boys had decided earlier in the week that DS#3's wanted to go there for his birthday. DD thought DS#3 wanted to go to Fuddrucker's. She was outvoted by her parents. Well, I think we were right to go there. He ate a lot of his Papa's tampiquena steak, and Mama's borracho beans. He also ate a lot of tortillas--one of his favorites. He also discovered drinking water from a straw. He loved that, too!

At home, we had cupcakes. We put a candle in DS#3's cupcake. He just looked at it as if fascinated, but he didn't know what to do with it. He didn't try to reach for the flame like DS#2 had done. He didn't even reach for the cupcake once the candle was removed. DH decided to show him how to eat the cupcake by eating one in front of him. DS#3 still just stared. We then put the cupcake up to his mouth. He took a tentative bite, and then we put the cupcake back down on the high chair tray. He wouldn't touch the cupcake at first (thus the picture up above). Later, all he would do was mush up the icing and eat when we fed him cupcake. After a short while, he didn't want anymore. The next step was to give him ice cream--chocolate, of course. He LOVED that!

This weekend, my whole family came for a visit, just for DS#3's birthday. DH left with DS#2 to a Cub Scout overnight trip on the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi, so they missed it. On Saturday, DD and her two cousins iced the brownie cake that my mom had made. They couldn't decide between vanilla and chocolate icing, so they used both. After that, they decorated with sprinkles. They used all the sprinkles that my sister let them have! After that, we sang "Happy Birthday" and we had brownie cake. DS#3 refused any! I let him have some of my fudge popsicle instead. :)

One Year Photos

Isn't amazing how one activity can consume your entire day? I had an appointment today at 10:30AM with The Picture People (on a strong recommendation from Jen) to get One Year Old photos of DS#3. First of all, how does he always know when I don't have to get up as early as usual? He woke me up at about 2AM! He had a very restless sleep, and therefore, so did DH and I. He was up by the time I got home from taking the other kids to school, and he wouldn't take a morning nap before the appointment. He was SO cranky! I was bracing myself for a disappointment like when I took DD to get her One Year Old photos taken. Can you see the photo on the upper right of this page where she is just bawling her eyes out? You can't see it here, but the picture of her standing shows tears in her eyes, too.


The photographer that helped us today was SO patient. His first look said, "Who are you and what do you want from me?!!" She really worked at playing with him so he would start to trust her and start playing with her--a little bit, anyway. He was still very clingy and intermittently whimpered and cried, but he did give her a few great smiles. I don't have time to scan in some of the photos, but I liked some of them enough that I bought one of their frames with the space for an 8x10 and 2 5x7's to display at home. I also decided that when the other kids have their next birthdays, I'm going to take them to The Picture People so they can each get similar frames to hang with their brother's frame. It was a bit more pricey than what I was used to (going to JCPenney's), but in this case it was very worth it. Thanks, Jen! :)

Decisions, Decisions

Don't you sometimes wish that someone would tell you what is the right thing to do? DH has talked to several schools and teachers, and we're still very unsure about whether or not to keep the kids at the same school or to switch schools or even what school to switch to. We're trying to reassure ourselves that the kids will do well at whatever school they end up, but we're still stressing about this as if our lives depend on our decision. *SIGH*

On a "happier" note, I got to play with DS#3 a whole lot today. He was mostly in a good mood, and I missed him when I was working for 24 hours straight. He started getting really tired around the time I picked the kids up from school. I spoiled them by getting shakes from Sonic on the way home. DS#2 was the first one willing to share his shake with his baby brother, but DS#3 screamed very loudly whenever DS#2 stopped to drink from his own shake! We learned one more thing--DS#3 can drink from a straw! When DD was sharing her shake, whenever she stopped to drink from HER own shake, DS#3 would try to grab her to pull her towards him! It was both funny and annoying at the same time. I told DH that we've created a monster, albeit a very cute one. ;-)

We Have Number 5!

Okay, don't panic! We're not having another baby--DS#3 has another tooth! He was SO fussy last night and all day. He was absolutely miserable at DS#2's soccer game this afternoon. Usually he'll just play or be fine with being in my lap. He whimpered or cried loudly the whole time! :( He did the same thing at church right after the game. He was miserable and DH and I were miserable trying to deal with him. :( This evening, after the ibuprofen hit, he was angel baby again. He was even dancing to the music of one of his toys. He came up to me with a smile on his face, and when I asked him if he had been dancing, he started dancing again--without music! :)

Changing It Up A Bit

I just decided that I wanted to change the look of my blog a bit. I like this new Blogger template where it's easier to add the header and links and stuff. The new header is a photo that I took when we were on vacation last week. My BIL was having trouble getting the baby to smile for photos. I took the camera out when I saw DD giving the baby some love. This was the first photo I took. Can you believe that? I had to tell my BIL that sometimes you get lucky...

We had another awards ceremony today. Both boys got Golden Arrows this time. We're so proud! DS#1 still hasn't received the Golden Arrow that he was supposed to get (instead of the Silver Arrow) during the last awards ceremony, or more importantly, his grade hasn't been changed on his transcript. DH sent an email to the teacher in question--again. He hates always being the squeaky wheel, but if that's what it takes, what can you do?

Lately, we've been stressing over whether or not to keep the kids in the school they're at, or switching to a different school. We'll be visiting other schools in the coming weeks so we can make a better informed decision. We have to be thankful that our problem is that the kids aren't being challenged rather than other reasons. They'll do well at whatever school they're at, but we really want to give them every opportunity to fulfill their potentials. Please say a little prayer and wish us luck in making the best decision for everyone!

Flat Meg

DH and I took DS#3 with us to visit the Alamo and Riverwalk today. My friend Julie's DD sent me a "flat" version of herself for a school project and I've had her for a month waiting to get pictures around San Antonio. It just seems to be a big trek just to drive downtown. We picked a good day to do it. Even though there are lots of extra visitors in San Antonio this weekend for the NCAA Final Four, it wasn't too crowded. It was humid but at least it wasn't too hot. We got the photo and the postcards first, then we went to find a restaurant to have lunch.

We stopped at this "authentic" Mexican restaurant and it was nice enough to sit outside, so we did. It was probably better that way, because we gave the baby some chips to eat and he was SO messy. The birds loved picking up his leftovers and he enjoyed watching them pick them up. I gave him some of my grilled tilapia (white fish) with Mexican type rice and he loved it. He loved it so much that when DH tried to give him some of his rice, he wouldn't take it! He would only eat from Mama! :) When DH and I were done, we packed him up to go and he still wanted some more! We knew he would love our next stop, though--Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream! :) I was surprised, but he actually didn't complain too much when we finished our ice cream. He was pretty tired, though, and he fell asleep in the van on the way home. He and DH just left to go to the store and I'm about to leave to go to work. It's been a pretty nice day so far. Wish me luck at work tonight!

April (and March) Scrapaddict Kits

It's a new month and I get to share what I worked on last month. This first Scrapaddict kit was actually for March but I didn't receive it until just a couple of weeks ago. The first page has photos from the Father-Daughter Dance that DH and DD went to in February. The second page is about DS when he mistakenly got a "Gold Arrow" instead of a "Silver Arrow" at his schools' award ceremony in January.

The second Scrapaddict kit also has papers from one manufacturer but from different lines, so this took me out of my comfort zone but I rather enjoyed it. The first page below uses a photo from last Mother's Day. The second page is from this past Valentine's Day when DD and I prepared these premade bags together for her classmates.



The third Scrapaddict kit uses these elegant papers, so it was also a bit of a challenge but I love these photos so much that I love these pages, too, especially how the baby looks in them! The latter page has my most favorite photo ever! :)

Speaking of the baby, DH said that he was actually able to take a short nap in his crib today--only 30 minutes, but it's a start. This evening, he actually wanted to lie down in bed and got a little upset when I nursed him on my nursing pillow instead. He was still awake when DH put him in his crib for the night, but he barely let out a whimper. We're on the right track--yayyy!