The unexpected

Well, we made it through our first week of kindergarten and definitely have had our fair share of unexpected surprises. I was not expecting the havoc of messing up our schedule. You have to understand, I have been running the same schedule for the past five years. Its not without flaws, but it works wonders for me. Its always been 7:30-8:00 breakfast, lunch at 11:30, 1:00-3:00 naps and rest then an afternoon snack, dinner at 5:00-5:30 and bed at 7:00. Day in and day out. That is how I live and breath. Well, kindergarten is from 12:50-3:21, which I thought would be doable. Nothing really changes except for Tayden misses out on rest time. That's where I was wrong.

 

First issue we are having is it is so close to rest and naps, we are rushed to drop him off and rushed to pick him up. We need to be back on time to start naps and rest. If we start late, it goes late which interprets into Tayden being picked up late. Since we walk to pick him up, we need to be out the door at 3:05. That allows a little wiggle room for the walk and then insures that we are there before the bells rings and Tayden is let out of class. 3:05 is rushed after naps and rest and cuts into their afternoon snack. I tried doing snacks after we got home from pick up, but then they weren't getting snacks until 3:30-3:45, which is too close to dinner for my boys. I have started giving Beckett and Cache snacks they can eat on the walk up to school. That seems to be working.

Unless it's chocolate chips on a hot day. That turns into a big mess. 

But Beckett refuses to rest on his own now, so I have to rest with him. Goodbye mommy naps.

 

The second issue, Tayden. He loves school. He has no problem with school what so ever. He honestly enjoys it. Every single aspect of it so far has been a huge hit. What's not a huge hit is him missing his rest. The mornings are good. The afternoons and evenings, not good. He comes home from school so excited and happy to show me his stuff and tell me about his day, but about an hour into be home, he turns into cranky bear. He has been so used to having downtime every day for his whole life, that not getting it is really throwing him off. I underestimated how much he thrived on the schedule. So, I am trying a few new things. A short rest between lunch and school. Or a rest after school. I tried earlier bed, but that's too hard on the family. They already go to bed early and that cut in on our family time. 

 

I know, I'm a freak. And that is only the half of it. I'll spare the details of having to rearrange our TV time, Becketts speech time and my own rest and nap. It's funny how they all intergrade together and how afternoon kindergarten could screw it all up.

 

I know over the next few weeks everyone will adjust and we'll start a new schedule. But this week was exhausting. Mentally and physically. I'm looking forward to the long weekend and am hoping for an easier week next week.  

Monumental moments

This week has been pretty great and full of some big milestones. So I present our monumental moments in chronological order. 

Wednesday night Chelsea and I went toilet papering. We hit Melissa with a big half roll and it was awesome. Big moment!! 

Some friends invited us to Wet 'N Wild on Saturday and the boys were thrilled to go. We drive by it quite frequently and to actually get to go inside was beyond exciting. And even more so was the fact that they were both tall enough to go on the big boy rides. 

The rainbow racer slide was the first on the boys agenda. I was expecting one of the boys, if not both, to chicken out. But they didn't. They went down...face first... and loved it.

It's hard to tell, but this is Beckett coming down. 

Next up was the big tube slide. Equally as fun. Cache wasn't feeling well, so we had to cut the day short, but they enjoyed the wave pool and lazy river as well. It was a fun morning. 

Now, to the really good stuff. The big stuff. 

Beckett is doing great with speech! It's been six months since he started and though it might not be as evident to everyone else, to his speech therapist and me, it's night and day. He has gone from calling Cache, "Dough" to "Caush", which is funny because he can say the long A sound, but doesn't with Cache. He used to call Tayden, "neigh neigh" and now says "Tay-en". And Tanner is now a right Tanner. When he first started speech he was dropping the last constanent. For example, "Ha" not "hat". That is now resolved and this week he just started to get over his fronting. Which means he is learning to use the sounds in the back of this throat. Such as K and G. That is something that takes sessions and sessions to achieve, but he picked it up over the weekend at home. He is hearing his mistakes and self correcting, which is the right on track to starting new, correct, habits. He still has a hard time remember to slow down and uses "me" instead of "I". But I can not wait to see what the next six months brings. 

Taydens had an exciting week as well. We had kindergarten orientation on Friday and he could not wait to officially start school. 

The wait for PM kindergarten was torture for this boy. He was chomping at the bit to get going. 

We got there a little early and let the kids play on the playground. When the bell rang Tayden ran over and lined up like he had done it a million times before. I asked him if I could walk in with him and he told me, "No, mom. I got it." So, Beckett gave him a hug and off he went. 

Taydens school is within walking distant from our house and when we got there, we found one happy boy. He loved school and can't wait to go back tomorrow. 

Lots of big fun stuff happening here. 

Forbuss Falcons

We had kindergarten orientation this afternoon. To say Tayden is excited is an understatement. I don't think he will even bat an eye when we drop him off Monday. Which is hilarious because he used to be such a mommas boy that I joked I'd have to carry him into kindergarten. But here he is, growing up and heading to school. His teacher was great and very nice.  I have high hopes that he is going to love school. Go falcons!! 

Primary

Yesterday morning our ward held a primary activity. Beckett, though still in nursery, really wanted to go with Tayden-- so I called the primary president and asked if B could join. She agreed. I dropped them off at the church and Beckett started to back out. After some encouragement from a friend he decided to stay. 

Melissa was helping with the activity and sent me a few pictures if the boys. 

Tayden, the ultra protective big brother. Melissa said at one point Beckett had to brush Taydens hand off as if to say, " I got this". They are just the best two buddies. 

 

They had a blast. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful ward. 

Big boy birthday

Last week I got a text from a mom in our ward saying it was her sons birthday Wednesday and he got to pick one friend to join their family to celebrate his birthday. Carson chose Tayden. They spent the day playing at the children's museum, then off to the Lego store and out to dinner at cafe rio. Tayden had such a great time. He was a little nervous about spending the whole afternoon with another family, but the minute we dropped him off he was a bundle of excitement. 

His mother on the other hand, was a bit weepy. Okay, not really weepy, but it was some eye opener. This kid is growing up and there is nothing I can do to stop him. I'm excited to share in his new adventures, but wish I could hold him tight a little bit longer. First stop big boy birthdays, next kindergarten. 

Bed making

The boys surprised me today and made my bed. 

Besides the comforter being upside down, they did I pretty dang good job. Moments like these sure make me grateful. I love being their mom. 

Slipping and a sliding

We have an awesome friend in our ward who lives at spring mountain ranch. It's a national park about 20 minutes from our house and her husband works there as a park ranger. This past week they build a huge slip and slide and the boys jumped at the chance to exchange city for fresh air and big open grass. It was a hit. 

Even though it wasn't very fast and Tayden wasn't quite heavy enough to go very far, he still had a blast. 

Beckett went once and then enjoyed the rest of the morning climbing fences. 

I enjoyed the cool shade and cache looked for bugs. No surprise there. 

And the view can't be beat. 

Such a fun morning. 

Samwise

Our good friends, the Turneys, enjoyed their eighth year of marriage this week. They asked us to watch their kids while they went out and celebrated. We were so excited to watch the kids because that meant snuggle time with baby Sammy. We could not have been happier. 

The pictures of the boys holding Samuel were taken before we left for Idaho, I think he was about a week or two old. But they loved him then and they love him now. 

So glad to have friends that are really family. 

Sad news and gratitude

This weekend I was made aware of a tragic accident in chubbuck involving a five year old little girl. She and her parents were visiting some friends and while in another room she was shot and killed by another five year old. My heart sank. Later on in the day, I was surfing the internet and came across the article from the local news. I opened it up and staring back at me was the familiar face of her mother. I know the mom to this sweet angel. I literally gasped in horror and dropped the iPad to the bed. I worked with Stacie, the mother, when Scott and I were first married. We taught preschool together. And she left a lasting impression on me. 

I am 100s of miles away mourning with her. Trying to comprehend what she is going through or feeling after your child is taken in an instant. She still has to be a mother to her other children, she still has to go day to day and she still has to survive. But how? It makes me grateful for my children. Obviously all of them, but especially Tayden. He is the same age sweet Noelle was. They were at the same stage in life. 

Tayden is smart, funny, happy, energetic. After five years of hard parenting, not all hard-- but hard at moments, he is becoming his own person. He tells jokes, makes decisions, senses tension, is aware of different relationships, has a sense of time and his surroundings, loves without end, has a desire to serve, wants to be good. He is about to start kindergarten and his second season of Tball. He is so full of life and a crucial part of our family. I can not imagine their heartache and am moved to tears of gratitude for my son. 

I know families are forever. I know that our savior loves us and watches over us. I know that one day all our trials will make sense and hope and pray I can help ease the pain of others while here on earth. I am eternally grateful for the knowledge of this church and my testimony of it.