The beginning of a whole new adventure!

Last night there was an open house/orientation/book fair at the school.  Kids have the opportunity to see their new classrooms, talk with the teacher, and bring all their school supplies.  I seriously think that's the best idea ever! As soon as we arrived last night Mrs. S remembered Eli's name right away! And she even mentioned that she hadn't remembered the glasses to which I explained he got them when we went for his required checkup.  She showed him his desk and backpack cubby. We got his P.E. shoes tucked in the little bin and then perused the rest of the classroom while we waited for the short instructional meeting to begin.  It was nice to come home again with our hands free of all the STUFF that kids need for school.  Kleenex boxes, clorox wipes, nap mat, tennis shoes, and the pencil box full of crayons, glue, eraser, scissors, etc.  We rested well and got up this morning raring to go!

It was a little rough heading out the door. We were all ready to go and then Carter started pooping his diaper. Not wanting to wait on him, I agreed to let Kevin just stay home with him and Hannah while I ran Eli over to the school.  So Kevin gave him a hug and I gathered Eli and we headed out the door.  

 Hannah was crying because I'd gotten her ready to go and then she didn't get to go.  I felt bad really, but we left anyway.  I was quite nervous too and would rather just have Eli to care for at the moment. We snapped a quick picture and got in the car.  

 Eli was pretty really nervous but he did his best to muster up a smile for me outside the school.

And then we went in and met the rest of his class in the gym {by the way, this is the old gym, used for the lunchroom now and meeting place in the mornings}

And that was it!

But then I remembered I'd forgotten to tell the teacher helper that Eli's lunch money was in his bag and asked if she wanted me to take it to the office. But she said they'd take care of it.  

And that was it! Off I went!

But then I remembered we'd forgotten to grab Eli's lunch box out of the refrigerator when we left! So I went back into the gym again and told Eli we'd forgotten his lunch and to just get school lunch today, we'd save the other for tomorrow.

And THAT was it.  I left.  Came home to Hannah and Carter and Kevin. Kevin went off to sleep. And now it's just the little ones. And it's quiet. No fighting. And when Carter goes for nap in just a bit, Hannah will do her Little Girl devotional and probably get out some paints. And at 1:00 we'll go back to pick up Eli. Today is only a half-day. 

Tomorrow we'll do the school bus, it'll be a full day of school, and the REAL ADVENTURE will begin!

The ONLY good thing about friends moving away...

...is acquiring their things they are getting rid of.  We have yet another new outside toy at our house, completely free!  A trampoline!  It's pretty old, some rust on the springs, but definitely still good enough to use!  We ALL have such fun on this and it's great exercise! Now we just have to make sure it doesn't blow away!!!

(this video is before we had the side netting up)

Summer Recap.

This summer has by far been the busiest we've ever had ever! {for us who like to keep life on the simpler side} A few trips, lots of visitors, parties, appointments, playdates, etc.  Here's the recap....

Myrtle Beach Vacation

Ladies night for church

Sleepover

Holly's birthday BBQ

VBS at church 

Amana Colony Weekend

Photoshoot for the Martin family

5K Race

Father's Day BBQ

Visit from the Fred Fritz family

MOPS planning meeting

Visit from Carri and Lucas

4th of July party

Omaha visit with Michelle from Virginia

Day visit from Holly

County Fair and Parade

Eli's birthday party #1

Eli's eyes exam

Mommy sleepover

Omaha visit with Lynne from college

Birthday party #2

Babysitting

Carter appointment

Sarah's weekend trip to Ohio

MOPS meeting

Eli glasses

Night with Claire

Church music

Visit home to see Grandparents from N.C.

School registration

Women of Faith weekend conference

School!

WHEW!

T - 6

... DAYS UNTIL ELI STARTS KINDERGARTEN!!  How can this be???

A mommy getaway.

After Eli's birthday parties were done, I could start getting myself ready for my own little getaway to visit my good friend Lisa in Ohio! Kevin was working night shift so the kids went to Grandma and Grandpa's for the weekend, and I went and enjoyed a couple days just for me!

Early Saturday morning we got our hair cut and done (my request since I hardly EVER get a hair cut and desperately needed it), went shopping, successfully grilled dinner all by ourselves, went for a lovely evening walk, and then went out for ice cream! Sunday we went to their church, saw an afternoon movie at the theater, and then had our own little fondue party.  Then first thing Monday morning, we were off to the airport again.  It was such a great weekend!  Very truly!

Shawn and Lisa

 a sunrise flight!! It was seriously SO EARLY, especially considering the airport was 1+ hr from Lisa's house. Knowing I would be on-the-go again with the kids as soon as I got back, I invested in one of those neck pillows! It wasn't fantastic, but it was enough.

Thanks for such a wonderful visit, Lisa!!!!!

Not just an ordinary evening.

{Friday.}  It was a long day, I was sooo tired, sooo frustrated, and sooo done with the day. But Eli was insisting that we all do a race out in the yard after dinner. So we did.  That got our lazy butts outside for once. We've been in a bit of a funk ever since that extreme heat hit a few weeks ago.  I got motivated to yank some weeds, and the kids were happily playing.  Then there was a RAINBOW in a bright blue sky.

look closely, the rainbow is quite faint

 And later as the sun started to set there were SUN RAYS breaking through the clouds. It was a beautiful evening, and in my head I was already composing a blog post entitled "Surprises in the sky".

 Then I went to check the mail and set it inside on the dining room table, along with my camera, and headed back down to the kids at the swing set.  As I stepped out the door, I heard crying.  Already exhausted from a long day, I immediately sighed and thought "What now..." and continued down toward Eli who was crying that he'd gotten stung by a bee.  He was gripping a swollen pointer finger and when he showed it to me, it was indeed stung by a bee, so I shooed him on to Kevin so I could go get Carter from the swing set.

TURNS OUT...

Just a moment earlier, Eli and Carter were riding in Eli's power wheels Jeep.  I'd watched as Eli parked it under the swing set. It was a fun little spot and it fit perfectly.  BUT apparently, in that long grass where we can't fit the mower, there was a bee nest.  And when the car invaded, the bees went into attack mode, swarming around and around Eli and Carter. Eli got out right away, heading up to the house where I met him. But Carter was still sitting in the car just crying and crying. I rushed down to him but freaked out when I saw the swarm of bees and blood dripping down my baby's lip! I screamed to Kevin GET HIM OUT OF THERE! GET HIM OUT OF THERE! And he ran down the hill and without hesitation yanked him out of the car!  We ran up to the house and I yelled to Hannah who was on the trampoline, GET INSIDE NOW!!  I helped her off and we rushed inside, making sure to shake any bugs off! It felt like they were still on me because I could still feel the stings! The bees, just flying and bouncing off your skin was a STING, I couldn't believe it! We got inside, killed a bee that was still in Carter's shirt, and Carter's lips were already swelling a lot, so Kevin decided to take him to the ER. He had so many stings, and his lips were swelling, I just wanted to be sure his throat wasn't swelling too.  But I stayed home with Eli and Hannah.  And ohhh, it was so hard to be away from my baby boy, not knowing how he was!! I've seen the old movie My Girl, and in that movie the boy DIED from bee stings!

At home I gave Eli Benadryl and cold wash cloths for his stings.  I kept the kids up for awhile to be sure there wasn't any further reaction to the stings, but after an hour, Eli seemed fine (Hannah wasn't stung at all because she'd been up by the house at the time of the attack).  In the meantime I was already on Facebook, calling for prayer and was immediately "surrounded" with wonderful friends and their support.

Kevin reported that Carter threw up several times in the ER but they'd given him Benadryl and he seemed to be doing okay, though still unhappy. After an hour or two they released him and they were able to come home with instructions to continue doses of Benadryl.

this is right after they got home, still wrapped up in a hospital sheet since he'd thrown up on his clothes

the bee that was still in Carter's shirt

 We got Carter bathed and down for bed. And we were just getting ready for bed ourselves when Eli was up saying he couldn't sleep, when clearly he had vomit all over his shirt sleeve and alll over his bed.  Sooo.... Kevin finished HIS shower (because he'd been puked on in the ER) and we got Eli all cleaned up and all that comes with it.  And at last we were all down for bed unsure of what the night would bring.

The kids actually weren't sick in the night but Carter cried in his sleep all night long. At 4am when he seemed more awake I got him up for another dose of Benadryl and some water.  He drank quite a bit so I thought that was a good sign.

In the morning Eli was already up and at 'em and Carter seemed pretty well too.  We managed to get to town for a quick errand (out of diaper wipes!) but before we got back home, Carter was fading.  Even though he'd slept til 8:30 that morning he was clearly VERY tired and needed a nap.  He threw up in his nap though and there it started all over again.  He was up and down all day, feverish and continued vomiting. Kevin was at work, and I just really didn't know what to do.  I'd called the Dr again to see if we needed to bring him back in, but because he wasn't wheezing they didn't think it necessary.  So I put him down for afternoon nap, hoping he'd be at least a little better after some good rest.  And he was. Thank goodness!

It was certainly a roller coaster ride for sure! Carter's still been flushing out his body with some nasty diapers but he's finally seeming all himself now!  See?

So very thankful. Thankful that Kevin is a man and so fast-acting without hesitation. Thankful that Carter didn't have an actual allergic reaction (just a hard thing getting a DOZEN bee stings and you're only a little guy!). Thankful Eli bounced back quickly.  Thankful for modern medicine. Thankful we're well again!!

We've since been still quite fearful of playing outside at all.  We still haven't ventured down anywhere near the swing set yet. And Carter cries every time he sees anything so much as a fly!  Here's Kevin preparing for battle with the bees. Every inch of skin completely covered before he goes to stir them up and find where they're at. In 90-degree weather, all that clothing was HOT!

He used the tractor scoop to lift that end of the swing set, and immediately the bees starting flying up. Then he SPRAYED.  First with bee killer which, from watching from the house, looked like it mostly just blew away. Then he sprayed all the grass with a couple gallons of gasoline. BRAVE man he is!

He sprayed a little more the second day and we think they're mostly gone now.  Here's HOPING!!!

Presenting to you...

Eli's new look!

Eli got his glasses last week!  He's been doing pretty well with them, though for awhile there he kept using every excuse in the book to take them off.  Doesn't he look sooo handsome!  AND he recently made a trip to the barber for the first time with Daddy.  Now NEXT WEEK is Kindergarten!  This boy is growing up sooo fast!

Now back to the continuation of birthday posts. I promise I will get them finished up!