School Days

Well my boys have been back in school now for a little over a month! Hard to believe! Garrett took to preschool like a champ. He held tight to my pants leg but there were no tears.....from him LOL. I cried almost the whole way home. Because Big Joe has missed so much of the kids' lives he realizes that even starting preschool is a pretty big deal. He took a break from work and met me up there and Garretto was so happy that his Dad was there.

I keep thinking about when Little Joe started preschool....it really doesn't seem like that long ago...but when you look at Lil Joe now...yea it's been a while. He is loving the second grade. He has the same teacher as least year which I am very thankful for. She knows what makes Joe tick and she knows how to handle his feeding pump. It was a very smooth transition. He is bringing homework with the words "reading comprehension". Holy moly!!! He's so smart though he doesn't even bat an eye. His doctor at Vanderbilt commented on his brains. We are really blessed with him.

So having the boys at school leaves three mornings a week with me and Bug alone. She is eating it up!!! I have started running again with her in a jogging stroller. It's going really well. But I can't help but think this year will be precious as she may be headed to preschool next year (depending on the birthday cut-off). Ah they grow so fast, but I am loving every minute of it.

When the cat's away...

the mice will play!! So Big Joe was napping on the couch and Garrett decided he wanted to take up photography. His subject? Katie Bug. We did not discover these pictures til after the drama unfolded LOL.

...I can see it now. Garrett says, "Hey Bug, want me to take your picture?" She happily replies, "Yeah!" "Oh Bug you are so cute!""Work it!" Bug says, "This is fun!" "Ok. I'm done. My turn pwease.""C'mon give me the camera.""I mean it. Starting to get upset here."As Garrett backs away her volume increases! "DADDY!!!!!"

Growing up..

Man no matter how hard I try my kids keep seem to be getting bigger on me. Wasn't it just yesterday I was holding tiny babies?? Little Joe has started the 2nd grade. He loves school as you can imagine and was happy that he got the same teacher as last year (it's a 1st/2nd grade room). He just looks so stinkin big!! Garrett starts p-p-p-preschool next week. Holy COW!! Surely he is still the cute little dimpled baby wiggling on the floor! And Katie...my sweet little Bug. Yeah there's no way she is bigger than the remote on the couch. She is trying so hard to be a big girl. She is attempting to potty train :(. I sold my jumparoo and my high chair this week. There are just all these signs that my kids are getting so big. No more babies :(. Sigh such a bittersweet time. They are all so much fun right now in their own stages. It's just hard to think about how quickly the time is passing. Next thing you know Joe will be driving...oh good gravy someone is going to have to pick me up off the floor that day!!

Lucky 7!

Last week our biggest little man turned 7!!! Little Joe, being the math wiz he is didn't take long to figure out that on the 7th month of the 7th day he was turning 7. And that his party was on the 7th day of the week...just a touch of Joe for ya there. My Dad, Joe, and I gave him a new bike with no training wheels. He was so super excited. And even just practising for 2 days he can go a pretty good distance without falling over....now ask him to make a turn around a corner and you've got serious problems LOL.

We had a party with just a few local friends filled with silly string and 245 water balloons (Joe and I got a little crazy with a few of leaky ones the night before). Little Joe was so happy and we thank those who came over. I made his cake as usual. He wanted a Jimmie Johnson (a Nascar racer) theme so we made it work. He is a HUGE Jimmie Johnson fan! He keeps record of what laps the wrecks are on, what place Jimmie is in, and how many pit stops he makes. Again with the math...yep.

I'm sure most of you know about Joe's health issues. But if not...this was a very sick little boy when he was young. If not for the wonderful hospital and staff our precious little boy made not have made it to see this birthday so we always consider these big events. And even though Joe still has some serious health problems we know it could be worse and we are thankful for all of his gifts.

Now for 7 things we love about Joe.

1. Gotta say it like we always do...his smile. That kid is ALWAYS smiling. And you can tell exactly how he is feeling just by reading his smile.

2. His brains. This kid is terribly smart. It may bite me later but I love to see this kid in action and learning. He loves to watch the science and history channel, which my husband LOVES, and he will just sit like a sponge and soak up anything he can.

3. His compassion. Joe is a very loving kid. Towards his brother and sister, toward his friends, toward a worm on the pavement. I love that he randomly gives me a hug. I think his struggles in life makes him very aware of others' pain and he wants to help them.

4. His joy. Kinda of ties into the smile. Very rarely is Joe not in a good mood. He loves to laugh and joke and have a good time even in tough times. He is so funny...just love it.

5. His bravery. Joe never cries when I say we need to go to the hospital. He may look concerned as to what they will do but he never cries. We have had a few serious things happen with his tube and the only one shedding tears was yours truly. He is a very tough kid.

6. His eyes. I've mentioned these in past birthday posts too. Those eyes are some of the palest blues I have ever seen. Just beautiful.

7. His independence. Joe was never a cuddler (which I wanted when he was little). He was always reaching, crawling, grabbing for anything new that he could. He is not a shy kid at all. he will dive right in on a playground and come out with 8 new friends.

There are so many other things I can say about Joe, but I am getting long winded. I hope he remembers this lucky 7 birthday. We love you so much buddy!!! Happy 7th!

Kentucky Stops

Well Joe's Mom and brother were here for about 6 days earlier in the month. We had great fun, and as usual my hubby packed our days full of things to do. We went to the zoo, Churchill Downs, Mammoth Cave, Dinosaur World, Louisville Slugger Museum, and I am sure I am forgetting something else right now. Forgive me...I am still recovering from this LOL. Anyway I will break these trips up a little bit. The first big place we went was to the Louisville Zoo. It's actually quite big with a lot of things to see and do, but we had a pretty big complaint about their service. The train wasn't running but they still sold us a ticket...they advertised food that they didn't have, and the food they did have was not good (that's putting it lightly), and we wanted to see a 3-d movie they had there and waited for 20 minutes before they told us it wasn't running. So if you go..I'm just warnin' ya. Bring your own food and ask if the train is running. It was a hot long day but everyone loved it. They had a baby giraffe there that was running around and kicking. Looked a lot like a young calf of a cow with it's tail up sprinting around it's Mama...super cute!

Garrett looking at a pygmy hippo :)

That's Joe's brother holding Garretto. What do you think they are looking at so intently????

.........well if you know little Joe you know he is obsessed with elephants (has been since he he was about 12 months old).The kids and Joe's mom looking at something...jeez I don't even think I can remember what it was!Notice how tan the Bug is getting already! Can you tell we are spending a lot of time at the pool :o)?

More stops to come later!

Let Summer Begin!!

I remember this time last year I was so nervous to face a summer with three kids alone. I remember wishing Joe could stay in school just so it could help me out. Now I was so excited for him to get out!! What a difference a year makes! Even Big Joe will get a break from work. His class graduates on 10 June and he gets about 3 weeks off before his next class comes in :). The kids and I are already loving the water park on post. Little Joe is really starting to swim well. I'm thinking by the end of the summer I can let him swim anywhere in the pool without me being 10 feet away. Big Joe's Mom and older brother will be here this week for a visit :). We plan on making several day trips around northern Kentucky, including the Louisville Zoo and Mammoth Cave, so it should be tons of fun. And Joe and I have attended a couple of balls. It's been a while since we've been able to get dressed up and go out because of deployments. It's been busy but fun.

2010 Regimental BallJoe (far left) and most of his students
Even summer time can wear a kid out :)

My business is doing well as well. I have at least one order a week and I have actually hit the point where I am making money over the investment that I made to start the business. Yay!!!! My next step to to get a combo embroidery/sewing machine and custom make some blankets and burp clothes to add to the cakes. My sewing machine has pretty much gone ca put and I miss making things. Can't wait to add this addition to the house and the business!

All Aboard! Things are winding down.

HUGE NEWS!!!!! The house has been sold!!!! We went to Tennessee last weekend and closed on it. I cried like a little girl...even Big Joe got a little sappy. I couldn't even drive by it...shoot I haven't stepped inside the door since we had the floors redone and walls painted. It was just too hard. BUT I am soo happy that this burden has been lifted! I feel like we can focus more on the family now. We went out that evening with Dad and Susan to my favorite restaurant and celebrated :).

The next day we drove back here and took the kids on a surprise trip to a tiny town called New Haven. The have a railway museum and train rides there. Unfortunately because of the flood their model train museum was severely damaged and had to be closed but we took the kids on the family pizza train. It was about a 40 minute ride and they served us lunch. The boys loved it! Katie had a good time eating and smiling at her brothers. It was just nice family time together.

This is little Joe's last full week of school. And last night was his last soccer game of the season. Strangely I never got any pictures of him playing this year. Probably because whoever took Joe to the game usually had either Garrett and/or Katie with them and wrangling them takes up much of the game. We did get his team pictures though. Just amazes me how this kid is growing up. Seems to look bigger every day.