The First Day of First Grade

This is Emily on her first day of first grade!

Below is Em on her first day of Kindergarten. Look at how she's grown again! She looks like such a little lady in today's picture.

She was a little nervous, but I think excited to see her friends and get back into a routine. She only has seven kids in her class this year and they were all friends from last year.

And then, not to be outdone....Here's Ethan on the first day of...the week!

He picked out (and put on) the headbands himself. He'll be so proud of this some day.

Our Big Girl

On the Shores of Lake Michigan

Gymnastics

Emily has just finished her first 6-week session of gymnastics! I haven't written much about it, but Miss Em has some motor planning issues (along with a host of other subtle, mild forms of things) and so, at the suggestion of her developmental pediatrician, we decided to sign Emily up for gymnastics to help her with her coordination and balance skills.

Doesn't she look so tall and mature?

Em, practicing "the pretzel" on the balance beam.

Emily and her teacher. She's very focused. This is tough stuff for her. Tougher than it is for the average kid. She's the oldest one in her class by at least a year, yet her skills are somewhat...lacking....so she needs this work to help strengthen and coordinate her muscles and teach them to balance.

Getting some help with her headstand.

Working on a headstand on her own. Bless her heart, Emily works harder than anyone else in that gym. When all the other little girls have quit trying and are just standing around, Emily is still trying. She often doesn't have as much success as the other girls, but where they only try something new 5 times, she tries at least 15. She's a hard worker and determined. It will be interesting to see how she develops. We just finished the summer course and since she enjoyed herself, we signed her up for a nine-week session that begins just after school starts again. So we have about a month-long break and then we'll be back at it again. Ethan calls it her "flip" class.

Help Me Decorate!

I've repainted my little half-bath in a soft blue-green (with some grey undertones) and for the life of me, I can't decide how to decorate it. I've bought pictures....I've already returned some. These are the finalists (unless I see something else that I like!)

So I need some opinions. I need at least two. I have zero decorating ability. If you've seen my house, you know this. If not, my decor is best described as "toy store", "book store" and "Clutter heaven". Someone please tell me what to pick (or tell me to keep trying!)

Option #1: The squares are shades of brown (not orange, like in the picture) and a nice bluish aqua). The frame is dark brown.

Option #2: Shades of tan, brown, aqua and cream/white. Same frame as above.

Option #3: Brown, deep cream, tan, deeper aqua shades. Same brown frame, but only seen from the sides, if that makes sense.

Option #4: Shades in this picture are pretty true to life. Dark brown frame.

Option #5: There would be two of these. They're maybe 12x12 and a little smaller than the other pictures. The only difference in the second one is a different medallion in the middle.

One picture (or series of two) needs to hang above the toilet. The other will be on the wall (about 2 feet wide) facing the toilet (the door is also on that wall). The trim is light cream and the actual paint color is Sherwin William's "Rain", in case that helps!

So please, give me your opinions. I need help! And remember, I need two. I have no idea if any of these coordinate or not. If not....suggestions are also welcome.

Two Years

A more traditional birthday picture post will happen another day, but I wanted to take the time to share some of my favorite recent pictures of Ethan. Somehow, he turned two today! The time has truly flown and he is growing bigger (well, sort of) and smarter and funnier each day. He is a sweet and loving little guy and we could not possibly love him more. Happy 2nd Birthday, little buddy!

Our Graduate

It's hard to believe, but Emily is officially a Kindergarten graduate! The year flew by, had it's ups and downs and ended well with a very bright and happy soon-to-be-first-grader.

Emily learned to read (very well) and can count to 100 in a variety of ways (and she'll be happy to demonstrate to anyone who will listen!). She weathered her first broken bone (she broke her big toe when she fell from the monkey bars early in the school year), learned to navigate sitting at a desk and following directions, made friends, and had lunch in the cafeteria, even learning to order hot lunch. It's been a big year.

This is Emily walking in to her graduation. She looks so big to me.

Emily receiving her diploma from Mr. Hampton, who helped her get out of the car in the drop-off line on those days (and there were quite a few) when Miss Em just didn't want to get out of the car. I appreciated Mr. Hampton more than he knows.

Emily's Kindergarten class. Top Left: Jada, Emily K, our Emily, Sam M.

Middle Left: Mrs. Frazier, Abigail, Sam R., Naomi, Nathan

Bottom Left: Niall, Lily, Olivia

Emily and her wonderful teacher Mrs. Frazier. God definitely blessed us with the perfect Kindergarten teacher for Emily. She was just the right mix of compassionate and no-nonsense and knew exactly which one Emily needed at the time.

Our very lovely little graduate. I had a strange experience that night, because seeing her all dressed in her white cap and gown sort of gave me a glimpse into the past and the future all at once. She looks so very like me as a child, something I'm seeing more and more, and I could see a pretty good resemblance to how I looked on my high school graduation day...which sort of gives me an idea of how she will likely look about 12 years from now. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be ready for that.

A rare picture of our little family. Ethan did his best to last through the ceremony, but since it started at his bedtime and he has never been one to sit still for...anything...we were very grateful that Grandma and Grandpa were there with us to help entertain him.

Emily with Grandpa and Grandma.

Public Service Announcement :Very Important

Ladies and gentlemen, if you have any gas appliances/gas water heater/gas heat....please GET A CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR!

(Sorry to yell, but adrenaline is running high today)

Longish story short, I was out of the house all morning running errands, went grocery shopping and then came home with Ethan. I fed him his lunch (we'd picked up chicken and mashed potatoes from the deli). Since it was already later than normal, I decided I'd eat a little later. Ethan finished his lunch and was a little crabby, so I went to take him upstairs for his nap.

On the way upstairs, I stopped to turn on the oven so it could preheat. I was going to let it preheat for 10 minutes (set the timer) and then stick my lunch in. I went upstairs with a headache, changed Ethan and laid him in his crib (5 minutes, tops) and on the way back down the stairs kept thinking how bad my head hurt and noticing that I was feeling kind of nauseated and dizzy, but since I get a lot of headaches, I didn't really give it much more thought.

I sat down in the living room (just off the kitchen) and started reading a friend's blog post and all of a sudden this awful noise starting blaring. I had no idea what it was! The dog was going nuts and frankly it just scared me and made my head hurt. Then I realized it was the carbon monoxide detector. I looked over at it and it was reading GAS. Not a good sign.

I ran upstairs, grabbed Ethan from his crib, grabbed my purse and got out of the house as fast as I could. I had no idea if we had a major gas leak or what, but I was terrified. I went across the cul de sac and called 911 and reported what had happened and they sent out a fire truck. (Meanwhile the dog was running all around the neighbors' yards!)

The firemen checked out the house and couldn't find anything wrong (but then they turned off the oven when they got inside. They waited with me for the gas company to arrive (it took at least 30 minutes). The gas man tested all our gas appliances except the stove and then had me come in (the firemen left since nothing was apparently wrong) and tested the stove with me. Sure enough, as soon as the oven was turned on, his CO detector started going nuts.

So, our oven (which is approximately 18 years old ) has now been officially tagged as unuseable, we've had a minor case of carbon monoxide poisoning and we need a new oven/stove ASAP. But we're alive. I just keep thinking "what if?" I was sleepy anyway, Ethan was supposed to be napping....I wasn't feeling good and so easily could have just tried to nap my headache away like I usually do.....It could have ended so tragically. Quite literally, the carbon monoxide detectors saved our lives, as I am fairly sure that we would have died without them...either now or later when I was supposed to be baking 4 dozen cookies for Emily's school.

So, please get a CO detector TODAY if you don't have one and actually install it. We just recently (in the last couple of months) installed the ones we'd had lying around for years. It really is a true life-saver and every bit as important as your smoke detector. We always think these things won't happen to us...but they do. And if you know a family member or friend who doesn't have a CO detector...tell them this story. In our case, it only took a few minutes for the effects to kick in (less than 10) and I can't imagine how horrible it could have been.
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Some Fun Pictures

Pure Mischief

There's a t-shirt that I saw recently that says, "Mischief is my business and business is good!"

I think we may need to buy this shirt...perhaps in multiple sizes because it's a pretty good bet that the saying will remain accurate.

Mr. Ethan is 21 months and some odd days old now, and it's pretty clear that he is an ornery mess...but oh, so fun and happy and easy-going.

He loves his big sister, whom he calls "Em" and he adores (and copies) everything she has and does. He is especially fond of anything Barbie.

Despite his love of Barbies, he's all boy. He likes to run around with no clothes and kick back with the remote. I think they're just born with the need to have a remote in their hands!

He likes to play dress up with Emily's "pretties"...including any shoes that might be left out.

But again, he's all boy because he loves all things technological. He was being a little naughty today, playing with daddy's computer.

But like all ornery little boys, he knows how to make his momma laugh to get himself out of trouble. He's trying to wink in this picture. Oh, and who knew one Oreo could make such a huge mess?