Thursday, September 27, 2007

Pukefest, Round 2

My mom is cringing at that title, I know :) But, I thought you should have an accurate description of the last 15 hours in our house.

Carter this time. Last night, 10:30 p.m. comes downstairs crying. That's very unlike him. Britney was trying to comfort him and had no idea what was wrong. Something inside me said, "He's sick." I asked Britney if he had thrown up and yep! Ding, Ding, Ding!!! So, you can imagine how our night went from then until about 6:00 this morning. Every 20 minutes or so. YUCK. This can move along to someone else's house anytime now.

The funniest thing was Ashlyn. She woke up around 2:30 this morning because she had had a bad dream. She couldn't find anyone at first because we were all downstairs. After I got her back in bed, she would wake up just about every time Carter threw up and yell at me to go be by Carter. I wonder where she thought I was???

Anyway, Carter seems to be on the mend today. He bounced back even faster than Ashlyn did. If you think about us tonight, say a prayer that neither Britney nor I get it. That would just really stink.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Wednesday Night

Not too much going on now in Minnesota-land. I haven't been able to find a funny festival to go to in a couple of weeks! It seems that there will be a little break before all of the fall festivals kick into gear. We've heard about a couple that will be really interesting but haven't seen any details on them yet :) Don't worry though - we'll be sure to hit them and you can enjoy them with us here!

Ashlyn has settled into school. It turns out that the crying last week was from her worrying about her field trip last Friday to the apple orchard. After last Wednesday, I talked to her and she told me that she was really nervous about it and wanted me to go along as a chaperone. I asked her teacher if I could just meet them at the orchard, and that was all it took for Ashlyn to get over her fear of going. Now, she loves school and can't wait to get there in the mornings. Every day we try to think of something positive and fun that she will do that day. Wednesday is library day, one of the highlights of her week. And I love hearing at the end of the day, "Mom, I love school! Can I go again tomorrow?"

Carter is adjusting pretty well to his days without Ashlyn. We've enrolled in an Early Childhood Family Education class for the next few weeks. It meets on Tuesday mornings and you go and play with your child for the first half of the time. It's pretty nice because that's all I'm there to do - play with Carter. His favorite toys are the tractors! and wagons! We drive them around and around the room. Then for the second half of the class, I go in for a class or discussion on parenting while he plays in the room with the other kids and has snack and story time. It's a pretty good compromise for no 2 year old preschools here.

Britney is still alive and well, for those of you who have asked :) He's been very busy with work and has been putting in some extra hours. He's been fishing a few times since we moved with his uncle Jerry. In fact, we had some of the walleye that he caught for dinner tonight! I'm sure he'll try ice fishing this winter. I, on the other hand, will NOT be walking out on the frozen lakes this winter!

We hope you're all doing well. It's going to be a busy few weeks here. Britney's cousin Marci is getting married on the 19th and it's his grandparents 60th wedding anniversary this year. We'll be gearing up for company, the wedding and the anniversary, so if I'm not around here much, just drop me a line to say hi! I will email back :)

Oh yeah - Carter did get a new stocking cap yesterday, so he doesn't have to wear Ashlyn's purple one this winter. That's it for the exciting news in our lives. What's yours?

Monday, September 17, 2007

King Turkey Day

There's a celebration in Worthington every year called King Turkey Day. It's usually the third weekend in September and you can read the whole history of the day here.

Yes, they really do race turkeys through downtown Worthington and yes, there is the same celebration a few weeks from now in Cuero, Texas. We figured after Hot Dog Night we really shouldn't miss Turkey Day. So, after freezing our tails off on Friday night at the Adrian High School football game (which they won 29-0), we set out for Worthington Saturday morning.

When we got there, we found a pretty decent parking space and then put our chairs down on the sidewalk to hold our spot for the parade that afternoon. After walking around for just a few minutes, (during which time Ashlyn managed to lose her new purse, which was holding her new Polly Pocket doll), we trekked over to the fire station for a free pancake breakfast/lunch. They were some of the best pancakes I've ever had. The kids even loved them!

After the pancakes, we met up with Britney's grandparents who were nice enough to lend us a blanket for the parade. Yes, it was still cold on Saturday and even though the weather said it would be 65, I doubt that it made it that high.

Then we grabbed a spot to watch the turkeys race! Paycheck (the Worthington turkey) won in about 57 seconds. The turkey from Texas, Ruby, had to be carried down the race course and had a time of over 2 minutes.

After that, it was time for the parade. The parade was one of the longest ones I have ever seen, and it did get a bit boring. There were over 120 entrants, including floats, marching bands and horses. Once again, our stock of candy is well supplied and we're planning to save it and hand it out at Halloween :) Britney's grandfather was part of the historical society entry and rode in the back of a Model T playing his accordian. Britney's cousin Marci was also in the parade handing out candy. She gave our kids an extra helping!

So, despite the cold weather and other mishaps of the day, we had a really great time. Ashlyn loved watching the turkeys and Carter loved playing hockey with the candy that was leftover in the street. Everyone should experience Turkey Day at some point in their lives!

There are pictures from the huge event posted here.

A Long Weekend Makes for a Hard Monday

Today started Ashlyn's second full week of school. She cried all morning. We were busy all weekend, but the kids went to bed pretty close to on time except for Friday night when we went to the football game (more on that in another post). Saturday was King Turkey Day, which deserves a post all its own. But Ashlyn lost her new purse and new Polly Pocket doll while we were in Worthington for the race and parade. We looked all over for it, but we couldn't find it. Of course, this was AFTER she insisted on taking it and just knew she wouldn't lose it. Sunday was church and then out to the farm for Robin's husband's birthday dinner.

Today was the hardest day for me to leave Ashlyn. I don't know what to do for her when she gets like that. I spent extra time with her this morning and even played a quick game of Memory with her - just she and mom. But in the end, I felt like it still wasn't enough. I plan on taking a walk with Carter in a little while and we'll go peek in the window of her classroom, just to make sure :)

Thursday, September 6, 2007

First Day of School

So, the big girl made it today! No tummy aches last night at all and a good night's sleep was a welcome relief. I made the kids pancakes for breakfast today and we didn't even have to run to make it to school on time. :)

I'll pick her up a little after 3:00 and will try to post more about how her first day went. She walked in with a smile on her face, ready to give her teacher her "flowers."

By the way - do you like Carter's boots? They're the latest wardrobe staple. Everyone should run out and get a pair. He's starting a new fad.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

No First Day Today

So, Ashlyn missed her first day of school. She was up all night with a stomach virus of some kind. She's sleeping peacefully for now, but in the process of all the commotion, Carter woke up and is now wide awake at 3:45 a.m.

Ashlyn's a little disappointed, but I think she felt so bad that she was relieved not to have to go. Hopefully it's just a 24 hour bug and she'll be back to her old self tomorrow.

One question for anyone out there who might know...Why do these things always hit in the middle of the night?

I'll update on how she's doing and how her actual first day goes!

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Big Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Ashlyn's first day of kindergarten. We went today to meet her teacher, only to find out that her teacher had a baby two weeks ago, and she'll have a substitute until October when Mrs. Erdmann returns from maternity leave. Ashlyn's current teacher is Miss Christensen. She seems really nice and like she'll do very well with kindergarteners. Ashlyn loved her right away and even made her flowers for tomorrow.

Honestly, I'm relieved that this is the way school is starting. Maybe I'm projecting my fears from elementary school onto Ashlyn, but I remember being terrified when I walked into first grade one day and we had a sub! From that day forward, I asked my teacher, Mrs. Causey, every day if she would be there all day or if we would have another substitute. I'm sure I drove that woman nuts! But, I didn't want Ashlyn to have the same experience I did, so we've been talking about how Mrs. Erdmann would leave after a couple of weeks and a new teacher would come in while she was out having a new baby. Whew! I was anxious for nothing! We don't have to worry about that transition until October and we'll only have to do it once. I'm sure Ashlyn would do fine. She never even blinked an eye when she would have a sub in preschool.

As for the big girl, she's excited and a little anxious. She was already saying she didn't want to go to kindergarten today - until we were able to go and find her seat and look around the school. When we were leaving, she looked at me and said, "Mom, I'm not nervous at all anymore. I can't wait for tomorrow!"

I'm going to bed tonight holding onto that statement. I'm a lot more emotional about her going to kindergarten than I thought I would be. I didn't bat an eyelash last year when she went to preschool, but this is a real SCHOOL with FIFTH GRADERS! I can only imagine what I would be like if we were in Georgia and she was going to Suwanee Elementary for the first time. I am so thankful that the Lord provided for us to move out of that area and even though it's very far away from family and friends, we all rest assured every day that this is where we are meant to be.

Okay, enough rambling. I'm off to clean and do laundry! My parents come in on Thursday and I want to make sure I don't have any boring housework to do while they're here. Pray for me tomorrow if you think of it; and Ashlyn and Carter too. I'm sure she'll do just fine! I only hope I do as well :)