EK's take

Ek got in the car yesterday so excited about what she had been working on. She had made a book about our trip. She only had one page to go, but then added 2 more pages when got home. She likes to pull the big wagon out into the driveway on a pretty day, added towels for padding and sit in the wagon with container lid across the sides to make a desk. She even went for a walk the other day while coloring. Anyway, I loved the book. Love seeing her take on the trip. I especially like the dolphin, the castle on the beach and that she included J and H playing basketball, please note the girls are not playing, its true.




I'm glad we were smiling throughout, even going home...

Watch week! Horray!

I love watch week at dance. I love to see into my kids worlds! The girls have been having a blast at dance lately. Ek has 5 recital dances and has been practicing them at home, it was so fun to see it with her class. Her teachers are teaching them so much and seem to really have a vision for where they are taking them. Ek seems very happy about what she is learning. Interestingly her favorite class is the class they are pushed the hardest in because it is for the girls that are considering trying out for the competing company. She seems to have really nice girls in her class, and was asking to play with several after class. Fun, fun, fun. Ek has on the bright pink top and light pink shorts...

L was a hoot in her class. She was perfectly happy as long as I was less than one foot away. H was the official photographer in between games on the ipod. (I tell you, that boy was a trooper to watch 2 1/2 hours of dance last week!) L's class was amazing! Who knew 3 year old ballet could be so fun!! The danced with scarves, umbrellas, pretend babies and danced on a pretend beach. L said they do the baby song every week. Her recital song is Barry Manilow's "Can't smile without you." fabulous. She did the her recital dance quite well actually but did interject a few extra twirls (and if you had on her skirt, you would have too!!). I was bubbling over with joy to see her having so much fun dancing.

I can't help but think of what Mom's said when we were in Orlando (oh that should be tomorrow's post!!), she said she hopes that the girls would have great confidence and joy to not only dance in dance class but also to have confidence to lift their hands in freedom before the Lord. Amen, Mom.

Saving

Friday morning, Ek came to our bed at 5:15 with a report that she had just woken up with one less tooth. Her other front tooth was out! How you loose a tooth in your sleep and do not swallow it takes amazing skill. She was very excited. L followed her to our bed and amazingly, they both fell asleep flanking J. I got up. She had added it to her "special box" to continue saving for them to all be lost. I was thinking she was wanting an American Doll with her tooth saving, but she reported that now she is saving for an Ipod Touch. yikes. I guess she thinks her teeth are pretty valuable. Considering I may have 2 more years to go before she turns in her teeth, I guess I have some time to start saving myself.

In this picture you are actually seeing bottom teeth there in the middle.

Ek's take on the whole thing

Ek played extensively with my ipod while awaiting her surgery. She took about 50 pictures of her room.

She was looking at them today and said she took them for H and L to see where she was, to see what her room looked like. "It wasn't really much of a room, she said." hahaha True, but mom and I decided it was much better than being on the floor with everyone from the surrounding counties flu germs all over our nurse. And speaking of mom, sweet mom, she spent quite a bit of time in hospital rooms this Christmas. But both really good outcomes. She's a great Mopsy.

All for EK's new and improved airway

The Monday after Christmas, I was looking forward to a week of fun, then we saw the ENT. He said he could take out Ek's tonsils and adenoids any Tuesday or Thursday we wanted. How bout this Thursday? sure. So all of the sudden we were straight from Christmas to pre-op. Ek was a-maz-zing. She was so peaceful and trusting. The absolute worst moment was having her preop blood drawn. I didn't prepare her well, or at all, because I wasn't sure what they would do. She was sitting there so brave and mouthed to me 'what are they doing?' not a happy moment. The day of surgery, she never once complained, whined or was scared.

I realize that she came a trusting, peaceful little person, I wish I could bottle that. The second worst moment was when she woke up, crying in pain. Thankfully after the pain medicine and a nap (breathing through her nose- wow), she was good from then on. She slept on a off and they woke up hungry. When we were discharged and on our way to the ice cream shop. I turned around to tell her what her choices were and turned her dry erase board to reveal a picture of the word "purple" and a huge dinosaur. That was a good one. We got her home and all snuggled into my bed with Julie and her nice little tray. I couldn't feed her enough and then she slept wonderfully, with me. She tried to move into my bed permanently but I through 2 nights were enough. I am so thankful that it was a non-event in our lives. She was peaceful, easy and cooperative. She is breathing better, sleeping better, he voice is a bit higher and she lost that loose tooth that anesthesia gave an extra bump to.

A few more Nutcracker...

These blogs are just coming from looking through the pics, hence the randomness order of them, but hey that's appropriate for my life.

One of Mom's favorite memories of Ek from last year's Nutcracker was seeing her in the dressing room (while the rain was coming down and Dad was probably mopping), and there was absolute chaos (somewhat controlled) around her, people everywhere playing, dancing, coloring, eating and Ek was sitting in her chair with her Caboodle on her lap putting on countless layers of lip gloss. Here she is a year later, still at it. And yet, amazingly, keeps all her sparkles, glitter and gloss contained to dance performances. for now anyway.

I love being backstage just to hug on her. And smile at her. But my absolute favorite is seeing their faces from the side stage during the performances glowing in the bright lights. It is a most stunning sight. They go from excited, anxious, tired or unaware until they get on stage and they are looking at the crowd and smiling and confident and they literally glow.

Its awesome.

Ek was so so blessed this year to have the absolute gift of being cheered on my 2 of my favorite aunts. Seeing them and having them in my home was so wonderful. I guess I should thank Ek for getting them to Dublin!! So so glad they could come.

First poetry

Ek was learning about poetry in school, I love her couplet that she wrote for homework!!

"I went outside to play on my swing,

and I heard all the blue birds sing."

What keeps me busy...

Several weeks ago I had one of the craziest weeks with my kids activities. They had me on the go!

Monday, L was off from school for her fall break. You know those preschoolers, they really work hard and need a break from school!! It did give her some time to work on her new photography hobby.

Tuesday, H and I were off to a field trip to an awesome farm. We rode the

school bus together, played, and ate our picnic lunches together. We had a blast.

Wednesday was L's fall fun day. Maybe thats why they needed Monday off, to rest up for the big party! She dressed in my cheerleading outfit and had the most fun. She played every game at least 5 times. Pumpkin bowling was at the top of her list.

Thursday, Ek and I went to the same farm H went to. At first I thought I was seeing the same permission slip over and over again, I finally had to put the 2 side by side to convince myself I was going to the same farm on an hour school bus ride twice in 3 days. And yet, it was soooo much fun. Ek loved it too.

Friday was H's Farmer Brown Day at school. One of the most fun activity days of the year. It is very simple and very fun.

Saturday I stayed in bed all day. No not really. It was a really great week.

Ek's new look

Last Monday, Ek brought home a page of school work that I was a bit confused about. She was to, as she does every Monday, copy her spelling words from the board and write them 3 additional times. Half of them were circled and corrected. When I asked her what happened, she said, "Mama, I couldn't see them good." She was very disgruntled. So we got a work in appointment with her ophthalmologist daddy and were quite surprised at the severity of her sweet little eyes' nearsightedness. We were then surprised at how hard it was to find glasses to fit her sweet little face. But finally today H and I went to pick them up while the girls were dancing and before our soccer games. She was so excited. She put them on and said "wow." All the way to school she was comparing her naked eyes to her new and improved corrected eyes. It was like a whole new world. She said she had been able to see close up just fine but everything far away was blurry, and now with her glasses it was clear. She was so impressed. I am so thankful. The details of her new specs are: they are a pinkish burgundyish metal with pink butterflies on the temples. And she is adorable.

Between, part 2

We were really excited that our dear friends, the G. We met up with them at half time and planned to meet after the game and walk to a field for the boys to play a bit of football. WGbrought his ball to the game, that's commitment. So we quickly made our way to a wonderful field full of tailgaters for the boys to finally get their chance to play some ball. I mean, enough of watching other boys play! They immediately lined up to play. Sometimes they start from a line of scrimmage and hike the ball, and other times they kick off to each other. Considering their soccer background, they seem to really like the kickoff method a lot. And they have gotten really good at catching each other's punts. There is a lot of tackling involved. Funny note, at one point during the first quarter of the UGA game, H did ask if they were playing tackle. hahahaha The girls started out playing ball but quickly changed to tag. Good choice. It was a blast.

Saturday between the hedges, well not us, but the players were

I realize they are my kids and my husband and I get to see them everyday, but somehow I just can't get enough of them. Saturday John and I were blessed to get to take Ek and H to a winning UGA game and really had fun. I love holding their little hands all the way there, sitting close to them and trying to explain college football, watching them take it in and try to stay entertained, watching them eat a bag of cotton candy as big as their head, listen to my boys eagerness to find some grass to play on, watching my girl desperately trying to find the mascots in the binoculars, and wondering what they were thinking when John and I shot up in excitement over a touchdown. It was really a nice day and I appreciate the Dawgs going ahead and winning it. Oh, and the weather was perfect. And L had a blast with her Mops and Pops. Oh and I didn't even mention J and my run through campus with more runners that I have even seen in my life, past the band warming up and past 100 tailgaters with the most delicious smells, and J wasn't 10 steps ahead this time, yeah!

Two ballerinas

YAAAA HOOOO! Her day finally arrived! L got to go to dance for the first time last Thursday! She was so excited! She wanted to wear her dance clothes all day but managed to wait until afternoon, she did wear them to H's soccer game after dance though. And yes, I did put her hair in a "bun." Ahhh! So cute. The only time she got anxious was when Ek's dance teacher called for Ek to go to class and L's hadn't called for her yet- "But I want to go to dance class!!!" I said "You will, you will, your class is here and Ek's class is here!!" Then she was ok. She walked right into her class and was all smiles. I know she had a blast. H and I came home and he sat at the counter with me while they were there, he worked on his number words and I fixed supper. L's class is only 45 minutes which H thought passed pretty quickly. The girls were all smiles when I picked them up. I think they are going to have a blast there this year!

Ek's prayer

Somewhere along the way, it was discovered that Ek likes to pray for her Daddy on the days he operates. So for a long time now, he will ask her, "Ek, will you pray for my surgeries today?" Well, sometime this summer her prayers have included this, "Dear God, please help Daddy's surgeries go well today and please help his patients come back the next day and say, 'Wow Dr. W, I can see so much better now!,' Amen." Love so many things about that. :)

Close call

I have been meaning to write about a crazy moment in my mommy life. The kids last ball game was on the last day of school. At noon. Wowsiers it was hot. Not a very good turn out for that one. J wasn't even able to make it. H's team played one inning. Really? one? yes. So we headed over to Ek's game. Her opponents only had 4 players and they called up an adorable rookie. H timidly went onto the field and played a big of first base. He did great. Once we helped him a bit. After all his team had batted, H was moving to the plate ready for his turn. They were so kind to let him bat. He got a hit pretty quickly and it went straight to the first baseman who happens to be his sister. oh no! and she quickly dove for the base. oh no! and they just about tied at the bag. oh no! and looked at me! really? you're going to make me make that call? H looked at me? Did I make it? Ek looked at me. Did I get him out? really? really? not fair at all. Good reason to hire umpires. safe. I say. good call, good call. Please Lord, I umpire enough, not on a field again!

Ball girl

Who would have thought? Ek loved softball! loved. Not my prediction, but, oh, I was so happy that she did. The first and second grade girls were together. There were 2 teams, so they played each other 10 times. Not one of them complained over that! They seemed to just enjoy being out there together. Ek was a Brave. She had a hard time remembering if she was from Atlanta or Alabama. hahahahaha I loved being out there, at the field, with H on one field, Ek on another and L sticking with me to take it all in. Ek would run out to the field to get just next to the pitcher where she would get a great chance to get a lot of balls. She made amazing progress as the season went on. She progressed from good t hits to hitting the coaches pitches. She had a hard time swinging through with that heavy bat hitting that heavy ball, but she was always grinning on her way to first!

building

I am really quite disappointed that I did not take my opportunity when I had it. Today Ek and H were playing legos. Ek was building houses and H was building trucks. While he was building his truck he decided it was a marshmallow truck and he made marshmallows. So he made a truck that had an attached trailer that held his mini marshmallows. adorable! He even had a lego hand truck to tote them on loaded in his truck. My disappointment was I didn't get a pictures. I did get a picture of their home.

Please note the diving board from two levels. And the stairs to the second level. I think it may be a beach house since it is on risers but I did not ask. Ek was an eye doctor who had taken the week off to catch up on charts. hahahahahaha Great building kids!

Dancing girl

The way I see it is I have 2 options... quit or keep going. I really don't want to quit, so here I go...

Yesterday was Ek's dance recital. I thought she did great. She was a bit dependent on the teacher helpers in the morning dances but the afternoon dances, I thought she did amazing. She said tonight, "I just love to dance mommy." Well, there you have it! I asked her how she thought she danced, she said, "awesome." She also said after her first afternoon dance, "Mommy, I didn't even think I could do it that good!" So grateful that she was pleased with how it came together. She worked very hard at her dance lessons this year and I'm just glad that she enjoyed it, felt good about and wants to keep going.

During the last dance last night, she was standing on a folding chair on the side stage watching. Her face was glowing from the lights on stage and it was very dark where we were standing. She had a glowing grin on her face while she watched and was even imitating what they were doing. She was obvious to anything else around her, she was just in awe of the seniors who were on stage. It was such a joyful sight to see her just enjoying that moment and seeing her look up to those girls who have worked so hard for all these years.

This morning as we were at church, Ek was the only one with me. J was bringing the other two to second service. We were singing about raising our life to the Lord. I was praying for her sweet life that the Lord will bring her to the place of giving her dance to Him and dancing for Him. And just asking for big things for her life. I can't wait to see what it will be.

New ride

So happy to see my girl's happy face on her new ride. She is amazing on it- so fast and so happy. Can you tell?

All the time

I'm not sure when it began. I'm not sure how it began, but it did. Ek wears a variety of rubber bands and bracelets with her watch everyday. She even has some little rubber bands on her watch band. Sometimes as many as 12. They are not so much to be used. How do I know? She told me one day last week when I was desperate for one that 'ummm, they aren't really for hair.' sigh. It has drawn some attention. But she likes them and that is fine.

Early

It had been 6 weeks since the day of the great piercing. This is Ek's birthday present from her daddy and me. I knew she wanted to change them, so we opened birthday a bit early. She was thrilled with her pink flowers with a sparkle in the middle. They are a bit bigger than I wanted, but they are sweet. "Bigger that my ears!" is her description. Happy Birthday Ek.