Last Day of Preschool

The craziness continued today as we celebrated Max's last day of preschool. We've loved his teacher and classmates this year, in spite of a slightly rough start. It's been a great growth experience for him, and I know that he'll miss his school immensely next year. Today we celebrated the end of school with a giant field day, complete with bounce house, bubbles, face painting, and a barbecue. The weather was perfect, and the boys did great for almost all of the day. Both boys were definitely ready to get out of the sun and head home after a few hours. I was so impressed that the school went all out to help the kids move onto the next year. It's just one more reason to love Ursuline Center. I really hope that we can get Luke in there when the time comes.

I was absent during part of the festivities, however, going to a doctor's appointment. I've already started some early labor symptoms, so the doctor elected to run a fetal fibronectin test. Luckily, it came back negative, which means no baby for at least two weeks and no bed rest. It's certainly good news! He needs to stay in there and bake awhile longer.

 Max and his teacher, Melissa Schoenen. 

 

First Day of School, August 2013.

Last Day of School, May 2014.

Student Recital

Tonight was my semi-annual student recital, and it went wonderfully! I'm so proud of my wonderfully talented students and all the hard work they put in to their pieces. I'm especially proud tonight because it was Max's first recital. He was supposed to play in December, but he was sick. This was his first opportunity, and he's been telling me all week how he wasn't going to get nervous. The look on his face when he stood up was sheer and utter terror. Overall though, he did pretty well, especially since he's been five for less than one week.

We were missing a few students today due to other commitments, but the ones who could make it did an excellent job. It's been the best year yet, in terms of teaching. All my students have been dedicated, hard-working, and consistent throughout the entire year, which I could not be more grateful for. As a teacher, there is nothing better than having a group of families who really "get it". It makes my job so much easier and the kids see so much more progress. I'm losing the Pfile kids next year, but I get to keep the rest of them and add in some fun new kiddos. Right now the only thing I'm looking forward to is getting this baby out, but I know that I'm in for a treat next fall.

Max's Birthday

Today we celebrated our wonderful, crazy, loud, intelligent, funny, energetic, and lovable Max. I can't believe it's been five years since he was born, even though I know I say that every year. It's true that children make the days longer but the years shorter.

We tried to learn from the mistakes of past years and keep today very low-key. Max has a low tolerance for stimulation, and we knew that having another big party with a bunch of friends wasn't necessarily the best idea. This morning our family went and fed the ducks at Gibson Pond then played on the playground. After that we went to pick up Max's cake and find a dairy-free treat option for Luke (easier said than done!). We made the mistake of asking Max where he wanted to go for lunch instead of giving him a few options, and of course, he picked McDonald's- the one restaurant where it's almost impossible to take Luke. We finally talked him into Burger King, and the boys had a great time playing on the playground. Oftentimes, eating out results in a huge wrestling match, but today was mercifully peaceful.

After quiet time and some chill time, we met two of Max friends and my family at Flippin Family Fun, the indoor trampoline park. The kids jumped themselves silly! It was a quiet evening, and the kids had free reign over the place. Max invited two friends from church, Ben and Connor, and I was glad to see him making such good friend choices. All three of them get along well, and the dynamic worked out great. Grandma and Papa provided the pizza and we provided the cake after the trampolines, and Max opened his presents. We mostly let the boys play in my parents' backyard, and all three boys went home very, very ready for bed.

It was a slam-dunk birthday for everyone involved. There were no major meltdowns and everyone had a great day. We couldn't ask for more! We're so lucky to have Max as a part of our family; he brings so much light and laughter into our lives. He may keep us on our toes more than we like sometimes, but I wouldn't trade a day with him for all the riches of the world. I don't know what we did right to have Heavenly Father send him to us, but I'll certainly take the blessing.

Swim Lessons- Preschool Program- Kindergarten Tea

Talk about a crazy busy day! This entire month has skipped into overdrive, just in time for the weather to warm up and mommy to get really, really tired again. This pregnancy is wearing me down, which is completely unacceptable with two very excitable boys.

We started out this morning with swim lessons. Max is taking swim lessons at the Peak again this month, and he's loving every minute of it. He has always been hesitant around water in the past, but it appears he has found his mojo this year. The only problem is that he cannot float, not a huge surprise seeing as how he has absolutely no body fat. Max is nothing but skin and bones, probably because of all that running around. Floating aside, he sure is trying hard.

We ran (literally) from swim lessons to Max's final preschool program of the year. Don't let the smiling pictures fool you- he stood up there looking like he was being tortured the entire time. Max is slow to warm up to new situations, and big crowds with lots of kids make him nervous. He sang the words to his songs, but only barely. He did some of the actions, but only barely. Max is more the observe and watch type than the jump right in type, which I entirely empathize with. Big school programs make me a little nervous, too. I also managed to get some pictures of the boys in the lawn following the program. Max posed like a champ, but Luke is in this phase where he runs the opposite direction every time he sees a camera. It may be a few more months before we get really good pictures of him again.

This afternoon, I dropped Luke off at my parents' house and took Max to his Kindergarten "Hi Tea" at Morningside. The principal and both teachers talked then we took a tour of the school. Everyone was perfectly nice, but I still have such mixed emotions about the school situation. After years of not believing in home school, we've been doing it and researching more about it this past year, and planned on homeschooling next year. However, he's having such a hard time getting along with Luke that we're unsure whether or not we can have him home next year. Deep down, I feel that he'd progress faster at this stage and have better learning experiences at home, but we just don't know if that's what's best for our entire family. It's beyond frustrating, and we haven't felt any peace about it either way yet. I'm hoping that at some point all the answers become magically clear, but these kids didn't come with instruction manuals. All I want is happy, healthy kids, but that's proving to be difficult lately.

Luke's New Toy

Grandma and Papa bought Luke a strider bike a week ago, and he finally got to try it out tonight. Talk about excited! Luke loves getting things that are just for him, which doesn't happen very frequently. I'm so glad that he got something to bring a little joy into his life right now because he could certainly use it. We're still having problems figuring out his allergies, especially now that spring is warming up and his seasonal allergies are kicking in. He's also still not speaking much, so we're trying to figure out the delay in his language and how to help him learn more words. Even though he doesn't speak much, Luke has gotten pretty good at signing, and being able to express himself in some way helps cut back on the squealing he does. That kid can shriek louder than any toddler I've ever heard before. Good thing he's so stinkin' cute!

Not to be left out, Max also had a pretty great day today. His preschool class went on a field trip to the pet store, which is one of his all-time favorite places. They rode the city bus, looked at the animals, and had an awesome time. He's taken to preschool so well, and I wonder how he's going to do this summer without the structure. We have him registered for kindergarten next year, even though we originally planned on homeschooling. He's so ahead academically we're worried about him getting bored and becoming disruptive, not to mention losing some of those hard-earned skills. Truthfully, we're still debating what exactly will be best for him and for the entire family. It seems that no decisions are coming easy right now. Hopefully that will turn around soon.

I'll leave today with a few pictures of the boys; always the best part of these posts. I just cut Max's hair a few days ago, and I can't believe how grown-up he looks!

A Big, Busy Day for Max

Today was all about Max, especially as we face the push towards summer. This morning we had to pick up his shot record at the break of dawn so that we could register him for Kindergarten this morning. He got to meet the principal at Morningside, and he seemed to really like the school. After that we took him to school where he celebrated the 100th day of school. They had a little party with the morning class, which resulted in a lot of sugar and one very hyped-up kid. He told everyone he met today about his 100 day party at school, and I love that it's such a big deal to him. Most things are a big deal when you're four.

We were originally planning on homeschooling Max next year, and we still reserve the right to change our minds back and pull him from school before he starts. I still maintain that home school could be an awesome thing for us, but Max has gotten hard to handle at home. It seems like he and Luke cannot get along, and Max really does want to go to school (not that it's his decision). He's also been doing much better about not coming home after school and taking out his over-stimulation on us. I'm very concerned with how he'll do seven hours a day with twenty other kids, but only time will tell. The worst part about being an adult is having to make the hard decisions. Max certainly gives us a run for our money sometimes; he's so lovable when he's not being completely impossible.

After some much needed quiet time, I taught lessons while Grandma and Papa took Max out to Belt for his first T-Ball game. Darreck and Luke met them out there after Darreck got off work and got me some fun pictures. I was so sad to miss Max's first game, but such is life sometimes. My teaching schedule gets in the way of most of his first games, but I'll make up for lost time during the second half of the season. According to reports, Max was the first to bat today, and he got in some great hits. He always chased after the ball valiantly, when he knew where to look for it. He's still such a little baseball fanatic, just like he was when he was a toddler. I always assumed he'd outgrow the obsession, but here we are three years later and he's just as invested. I really think he's going to go nuts over the Voyager's games this season, and Darreck and I are getting excited to take him. We all went to Dairy Queen after the game, of course, and it was our first time taking Luke to an ice cream store since his peanut allergy diagnosis and eliminating milk out of his diet. It was a challenge, but something we'll just have to get used to.

Tomorrow is Max's second swimming lesson, which I want to get some pictures of, and life just gets more busy from there on out. Bring on the summer!