Brevin’s First Day of School

For weeks and weeks you have been looking forward to going to school. You were so excited the night before that you were awake from 2 am to 4 am just talking to me:)  Made for a hard time waking up, but once you did you were ready to go!

Breakfast was pancakes and sausage and you chatted with Jaeley while you ate. You picked out your favorite purple polo shirt and your new Sketchers. (Whenever you put them on you say “Buy Sketchers!” from the commercial??) We went shoe shopping for velcro shoes last week so you would be able to do them yourself while at school and not have to ask the teacher to tie them for you.

It was a rainy day, so we took the picture on the front porch…you wanted Jaeley with you.

What a good-looking guy!

We went to pick Daddy up at work so he could be part of your first day and parked the car. You pulled out your Scooby Doo umbrella and sang “Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you?” all the way up to the front door. When we got there, you called goodbye to us, but I thought it would be better to escort you to your classroom…(may not have been the best idea as you’ll see in a minute.)

This is your Pre-K teacher, Mrs. Pettit! When we got into your classroom you put your name under juice for your snack later in the day and found your nametag at your table. Everything seemed in order, so all three of us gave you a hug and started out of the classroom. You must have felt it was not right to have your whole family leaving you in a strange place because you chased us down the hall:( I went back into the room with you and you cried for a little bit…and I tried to hold my tears back. It didn’t take long for me to know that you would do better once I left so we pried your little hands from around my neck and I left you to read a book with Mrs. Pettit. 

I sped walked down the hall and out of the building so as to get back to the van before the real crying started! I can’t believe how fast these 5 years went.

Luckily, I had a place to go:) A few moms got together for a cry-n-coffee. It was the perfect setting and just what I needed to get me through that first morning. There was the perfect combination between crying and dancing to have the kids starting/back to school!

Your good friends Joel Merschman and Peyton Meyer are in your class. When I picked you up at 2:30- Mrs. Pettit informed me that you did great and did not cry long at all after we had left. You talked about the lunchroom the most and loved the hotdogs. You were also mad that you didn’t get to ride the bus-too bad, buddy! As long as I can, I will be your personal escort to your new adventure!

Brevin

Today at your 5 year check-up you were 44 in. tall and 44 lbs! 71st percentile in height and 72nd percentile in weight- pretty much where you have been on the chart since you were born.

You LOVE to pretend and spend a lot of time dressing up  with Jaeley. You’ve recently earned the privilege to ride your bike on the street when it’s not busy and down to the cul-de-sac. You can just taste freedom. We have to remind you to put on your helmet all the time!

I asked about bedwetting at your appt. and they said it’s normal for boys at your age- you’re dry 5 nights a week, so that will keep improving:)

Brevin’s Bday party

We were lucky we were able to carry on with Brev’s bday party at planned with all the flooding! (As you can see here in the background.) I CANNOT believe that we were celebrating your 5th birthday!! You invited neighbors, cousins, and a few friends to swim at the Adel pool for the afternoon.

 

Grabbing a snack during one of the pool breaks

Because it was your birthday party, the lifeguards let you sit in the lifeguard chair…

and then jump out of it!!

Brevin and Joel

Pumped about the Backugons!!! Before the party you said to me, “So you mean that I’m going to be the ONLY ONE opening presents!?” Birthdays rule, huh Brev?

Brevin and David

Costco cake! Yum.

 

We had to pretend to blow out the candles because it was too windy to get them lit. You were a good sport about it.

Daddy was supposed to have come, but unfortunately got the flu and was miserable in bed with temperature. Good thing for pictures and video!

Sweet Corn Fest-The Big Day

The day began with the annual 5K run-Adam and I could both run it because of Erika staying overnight, and were both happy with our times…because we ran it together; holding hands. YAH RIGHT! Just checking to see if you were still reading…Adam’s last words to me before the race began were “Yep, I’ll run with you…until you see the tail-lights.” Thanks honey.  Jessie Zeigler and I set our pace and crossed the finished line in 26:40. Adam was 23:something.

Brevin, Jaeley, and neighbor Lexi watching the parade.

BAHAHAHA! Adam made his third appearance on the Rotary 10-man bicycle and armed himself with a squirt gun. Oh, the fun:)

Battle of the area fire departments. Felt awesome to get wet and cool off.

The day concluded with parents’ night out at a couple adult gatherings and the beer garden downtown featuring “Gimmick” as the band. No pictures to document this portion of the festival:)

Sweet Corn Fest

Adel’s sweet corn festival kicked off tonight with the corn shucking- 7 1/2 tons of corn needed to be shucked in order to be served up for FREE the next day, so we joined in. This year, Adam was in charge of organizing the event-so the kids got some special treatment and got help him…IN the truck!

Erika stayed the whole weekend with us!  We loved having her:)

Are they “sweet!?”

After the shucking we set up the fire pit in the standard spot between Seidl’s and our house. It was hot, but we NEEDED smores!

Neighbor Sarah playing tea party with the girls

Relaxing Friday night before the big day the next day-we were all in bed by 10:00:)

Ready or Not: PreK here we come!

Much to my surprise, I have been struggling with the idea of Brevin starting Pre-K a week from today on August 17th. Signs that I'm losing it include: receiving a very nice letter from his teacher, Mrs. Pettit, only to bawl the whole way through it and then cry every time I talk about it after reading it AND having to quickly look away from the calendar after I see we only have days left before school starts.

I'm worried about if he'll get too hungry between breakfast and lunch, if he'll be able to handle bathroom duties by himself, and if he'll get too tired with the all-day everyday schedule. And I'm worried about myself on the days I'll still be home with Jaeley-that there will be a huge void in the house.

So tonight Brev and I went out-just the two of us- to spend some time together. We did a few random errands and then went to pick out his birthday party supplies and order a cake for this weekend.  I turned off the radio in the car and we talked the whole way into West Des Moines. I think that was his favorite part of the evening as he was able to talk freely without a little sister to interrupt him-which has really been bothering him lately. We stopped and got a slice of pizza and a pop at Casey's and ate it on the way; his choice.

And I made sure to notice all the little things that make Brevin himself-putting his shoes on the wrong feet, worrying about Jae when we left because she was crying, reaching up to hold my hand on the way into the store....

I can't believe how perceptive this kid is, but on the way home he asked; "Mommy, are you sad I'm growing up?" I said, "No, that's the way it's supposed to be." I think I convinced him...now I just need to convince myself!

My Garden

This is the only produce to come from my garden. It’s a red pepper. There were supposed to be cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and green peppers in addition to this lonely little guy. Adam says that we need to landscape the area where my garden is, but I refuse….next year I WILL have fresh vegetables. In the meantime- all the produce from Dad’s garden is tasting REALLY GOOD! 

Weekend with the cousins

The kids were able to spend some quality time with Maggie and Riley this weekend. On Saturday they went over to their house in Johnston while we were at a golf-outing party.  After Ankeny Splash Park and pizza/popcorn/movie night at their house- they did it again today when they came over here!  We need to do this more often! Although it IS busy with four kids and I didn’t get one picture:(

Melissa’s 30th

 

Happy 30th Melissa! As shown-Adam REALLY wished they would have played Miley’s “Party in the USA” so he could do his butterfly actions.

Sick in the Summer??

We were supposed to have an eye appointment for Brevin and spend the day at Raccoon River, but instead poor Brevin spent the day soooo sick. He typically runs high temps-and today it got up to 105.2. We were ready to take him to the doctor, but Motrin did the trick and lowered his temp. He woke up the next day like nothing ever happened. Crazy!

Daycare Swap

In order to save some money on daycare costs-we do a daycare swap with the Dawes’. Today was our day to have them over to play-so we filled it up with a picnic, park-time, and swimming. Braylon and Brevin are only six months apart in age and always have a good time wrestling and beating each other up!?

The guys enjoying their ice cream at the Dairy Shoppe after the pool.

The Vinton Padres-starring Uncle Judd

We spent Saturday night in Vinton and were able to see Uncle Judd play baseball this morning. Although we were pretty impressed with his efforts while we were there-we heard that he pitched after we left and had 10 strike-outs!

I wonder if Uncle Judd could have been distracted by all the WHINING going on at the game!? Here is a picture of Jaeley in mid-whine right after leaving the game- and it didn’t stop ALL DAY. Wow…the patience required by mommy and daddy on this leg of the trip was off the charts.

 

Didn’t grab an in-the-moment pic of Brevin in his bad mood-but this is a pretty good representation.

The kids and I hung out in Osage while Adam headed to Clear Lake to take Uncle Matt out for his birthday. I am shown here trying to get Miss Grouchy down for nap- I did not succeed.

Visitors while at Ahnya and Papa’s included Great Grandpa and Grandma, Lindsay, and Lauryn/Syenna. AND we went swimming!  Whew-this was a BIG weekend.