Scar?

Okay, so I never got around to posting that Seth is doing GREAT! He got his staples out 7 days after they went in, so no more worrying about him! I tried looking for the scars tonight after his bath and after some searching I finally found them (yes, there are two). No more scabs and a pretty little line remains for him to remember his first trip to the ER! Thanks for the calls and prayers for my little man though. All that remains of this little experience (besides the scars) are the staples that he keeps in a little jar on his dresser... to remind him not to rough-house I guess. *wink*

Staples!

Yuck, I know! But seriously, how do you pass up the chance to blog about a trip to the ER? Underneath all that matted bloody hair and goopy Neosporin are 4 staples. Why do you ask? Well, seems that boys will continue to be boys and in the midst of their rough housing at care group tonight, Seth came away with two cuts on the back of his head. Our wonderful friend and fire fighter, Heath, gave him an initial check out since it was a cut to the head. Then we were off to the ER expecting to get a couple of stitches. The Dr. said that staples worked great and they would probably be easier in the long run... no shaving the hair and so forth. So, the nurse proceeded to put Seth in a "papoose" (intended to keep children from flinging around as they gave him shots and stapled his head back together - it was one massive burrito with velcro that strapped his whole body down. . . that was scary in and of itself without the mention of needles and staples) and then the Dr. got to work cleaning and mending my little man. Soon after, Seth was all smiles again & talking about school again. In the picture below you can see the "souvenir" that Seth added to his shirt in memory of his first ER visit.

On a more positive note... these are some cute pics of my kids when we were on ACU's campus recently. I couldn't help but take a few sweet pics of them by the new Jacob's Dream sculpture (which you cannot fully see in the pictures).

This is my dramatic little sis, playing up the pose ;)

Kindergarten

Early this morning our little family of four ventured out on a walk to school. That's right. . . my little man Seth started Kindergarten today! Can you believe how fast he is growing up? We (Seth and I) were excited and a little anxious for this day to come. Mommy was not looking forward to waking up so early (since we have been spoiled by sleeping in, to the late hours of 7:30 a.m.), but somehow I managed to crawl out of bed, scramble some eggs and make some toast. While Seth ate a droopy-eyed breakfast, I made his lunch and talked to him about his expectations for the day. This quickly got his juices flowing and it was easy to see he was looking forward to his new adventure. Before we left, we sat in a circle and had a family prayer, asking for God to bless and protect Seth as he goes to school each day. Then the long 2.5 block walk began. . . I was not sure how I would feel walking away from the classroom and leaving my little sweetie there with a perfect stranger. Would he enjoy school? Would he have a good teacher? Will she love to teach and love her students? That is still to be determined, but since I taught Kinder when Seth was a baby, I know and remember how I felt when parents lingered on and on. . . so, we walked him to his classroom, helped him put up his back pack, took a "first day" picture with his teacher, gave one last kiss and hug and then said good bye. We were in and out in about 5 minutes. Drew kept asking how I was doing as we walked home and I would answer, "fine." I think I surprised him with NO tears all day long.

What Seth had to report about his first day of Kindergarten: "I drew this picture of a new friend I made today. In my picture we were playing and Mammaw was about to take a picture. Then it started to sprinkle and we just kept playing in the sprinkles. And then one minute later it started pouring rain on us and we just played in the rain too."

Drawing from left to right: Mommy holding Karsyn, Alexis (new school friend), Seth, and Daddy

[I just think his streaks of "rain" are so cute. - true words of a Mommy]

If any of you have kids in school and you ask the typical after school parent question: "What did you do today?" you know that your child is likely to respond, "I don't know. Nothing!" Knowing this, I tried to ask specific questions after school. . . three new friends he met, a center he tried, and a book they read. This is what Seth had to say about one of the read-alouds today: "I don't remember what it was called, but it was about a little raccoon that was nervous. He kept asking his mom, 'What are you going to do? What am I going to do? And finally, she kissed his hand and to him it felt like his mom was in his heart and with him all day long at school." This excellent back to school book is The Kissing Hand. I read it to my kinder kids the first day when I taught too. We would go on a scavenger hunt of the school... discovering all the places we "needed to know" (i.e. nurses office, library, gym, principal, etc.) We baked handprint cookies and put hershey's kisses in the palms of the cookies... those were some great memories! Makes me a little home-sick for my classroom and Ms. Ripley! Hope you have a great first day too Rip & an outstanding bunch of kids!

Tonight as I tucked Seth in for bed he smiled and said, "Isn't school lovely." I'm so glad he enjoyed his first day!

Summer Fun

What a busy summer this has been! It seemed like we were on the road traveling and visiting and playing & having fun 80% of the time. . . we were seldom home as most of you know. We did so many fun things, I don't know that I can blog about them all, so we'll hit some of the kids favorites. SEA WORLD was a big one! Seth loved the sea lions (so funny), the Rock'n Ski Show (super talent), the acrobats & dolphins (flipper in action), and of course the killer whales - SHAMU! I have to admit, as this was my first time to visit Sea World, the animals and their trainers were pretty impressive. I cannot even fathom the patience that the trainers must have to work with animals that are so large and possibly not always agreeable to the requests of those silly humans on land. They develop relationships with the animals and they each learn to trust and love each other. After one of the shows, we hung around in the Killer Whale stadium watching the trainers try tricks that were not part of the show. The whale known as "Shamu" did a full flip and the trainer were so excited. . . she nearly jumped into the water to hug him, but Shamu beat her to it. You could see how proud she was of him and how much she cared for him (brought tears to my eyes). I think the best part of Sea World is watching the shows, but there is also a mini-water park & Seth made sure to spend some time in the wave pool. There are a few roller coasters for the thrill seekers (I recommend the inverted one called Great White - good times to be had there!). Seth really didn't want to try the kiddie-Shamu coaster, but after some coaxing, he gave it a shot. I could hear him yelling as he got off the ride, "That was stinking fun dude!" And again he went. . . hands in the air, loving every minute of it. (You can see him in the last car on the coaster.) So, yes, Sea World was a blast and I highly recommend taking a visit with your kids. We went 4 times in August!







When we went to see Gran and Grandpa, Karsyn was able to ride her first carousel - a two story carousel. It was a bit of a love-hate experience. . . meaning at moments she loved it, and at others she couldn't get off that horse fast enough. Seth, as always, had a good time and was ready to ride again! While there, we made a trip out to South Padre. . . spent some time at the beach & then ate at Dirty Al's. Karsyn loved the water and the sand. We have no idea how much of it she was able to eat when we weren't looking - YUCK!

Singing School & New Starts

This summer has felt unusually busy to me. I'm not exactly sure why, but it feels like I am always on the go or on the road and not at home. So, blogging has gone to the way side. Last week, Karsyn and I went to Singing School - always a great time to freshen up on my harmony writing, I, IV, and V chords, etc... Singing School is a special time for me, not only because I get to spend time with my family who also goes, but because I spend a week with godly people who are also there to praise the Lord with all their heart. I have finally made it to the Advanced Harmony class, otherwise known as "practical" song writing, and find myself in awe of our teacher and some of the other students in the class (both young and old). Some people in this world have a gift for poetry and music... putting it down on paper and making a melody and harmony that speaks to and lifts your heart and soul. I am grateful to them! Can you imagine worshiping God without some of the awesome songs we sing? Singing School is also a time when I get to sing songs written by people at camp & there are some pretty amazing songs! We should incorporate them into our congregational singing too!

Also this week, Karsyn had some firsts. She is 6 months old now and weighs in at a whopping 14 pounds! She is a petite little thing and it is so cute to watch her move around like she's "big stuff." Really, she thinks she's just as big as the other kids around! At 6 months, one week I put the official "crawl" sticker on the calendar. She is still pretty slow about it, but it is actual crawling. Mostly, she crawls to a piece of furniture to pull up. That's right, I said PULL UP! Less than a week after crawling, she is trying so hard to pull up on chairs, couches, people's legs. It's fun to watch and laugh at her little attempts, but at the same time... YIKES! Seth didn't crawl or pull up on things this early and it has kicked me into baby-proof mode! We have stairs that I'm sure she will think are great fun if she ever finds them, also decorative things down low, now need to be moved to higher ground... aaahhhh! I've posted some pictures of her fun adventures during singing school... she loved to play on the floor during group singing, especially when her new little friend, Adam, was there... they just loved each other!

If I can figure out how to post a video, I'll show everyone the cuteness of her pulling up! :O)