first conference!

Mark and I went to Isaiah's first ever school conference this week.  I'm proud to say that he's doing GREAT!  Mrs. Knapp went over several things with us and was very positive about Isaiah and how much he's learned and grown since the beginning of the school year!  Here's a list of what we talked about (this is more for me to look back at in the spring and next year) but figured this is a good place to write it down!

* He is able to trace and write his name well except for the letter "s" however, he writes it in all capital letters.  She is hoping by the end of the school year he'll be able to completely write his first (maybe middle) and last name by himself without tracing it.

* He can recognize all capital letters except the V and most lower case letters except he missed v, y, q and I think one or two others.

* He could name the street, city and state portion of his address.  She encouraged us to help him learn the numbers in our address.  (the day of our conference I told him our full address and when I've asked him several times since he has said the full address including the numbers -- hopefully this will stick with him!)

* He does not know his phone number.  (No surprise, I've never EVER talked with him about our phone number)

* He has learned the rules of the classroom really well.  She stated that at the beginning of the school year she could easily tell that he was one of the younger kids in the classroom by his behavior (not listening as well, talking out of turn, learning about circle time, etc) but by now he is doing excellent. He is in a 4 and 5 year old classroom where you must be 4 by Sept 15 of the school year and Isaiah was 4 on Sept 11 so Isaiah and Caiden are the youngest in the class.  He does occasionally tune out and randomly comment to Caiden something completely off the subject - but this is totally normal and expected.

* Mrs. Knapp told us that Isaiah has a such a kind and loving spirit (which we knew :) and is always helping Caiden.  He likes to make sure Caiden has his folder turned in, his coat on, is sitting where he is supposed to. She says he is such a great friend to Caiden.  He also is very friendly and excited to play with the other kids in class.  (But Isaiah and Caiden are always right by each other)

* Back in the end of September they did a cutting exercise and Isaiah did well cutting 2 out of the 3 lines well.  She said she would like to see him continue working on his cutting, but since that activity he has really improved.  Part of his problem then (and now sometimes depending on his mood) is being patient and taking his time cutting.

* She was pleased with how far he could count, but when tested in class he counted upto 11.  Both Mark and I were surprised about this as he frequently counts much higher than this.  I'm sure he can count to 20.  Hopefully by the end of the year we can make it to 30!

* He can very easily count out different objects and when tested gave Mrs. Knapp the correct number of blocks when she asked him to.

* Mrs. Knapp said that he was a very smart boy and that academically he could easily go to kindergarten now and she's sure that socially he'd be ready by the fall!  This makes me happy, but we are almost certain that Isaiah will be attending another year of preschool and starting kindergarten just before he turns 6.  She thought this would be good for him too - his preschool offers a 5 afternoons class from 12:30-3 that I think we will check into in the spring.

I am so proud of him and how great he is doing!  His conference went really well and there were no surprises (except the counting maybe).  Great job Isaiah!

poor boy.

Isaiah managed to pick up the flu bug somewhere this past week.  Poor little boy.  He was up on Thursday and Saturday nights throwing up every hour or two and I don't think we can even count the number of trips he had to the bathroom on Saturday :( By Sunday he was feeling better, except he was so very tired.  In fact, so tired that this is what happened when Mark and Isaiah sat down to watch a little Sunday afternoon football.

Isaiah hasn't napped in MONTHS so I knew he was still not quite himself yet.  And Mark, no surprise that he fell asleep, but not because he was sick but because he had to work 6pm Saturday to 6am Sunday.  But we (thankfully) had an uneventful Sunday night and Isaiah has been just fine all day today!  Now let's just hope it isn't passed on to the rest of us!

Slumber Party!

Sweet little Jayda Violet turned 4 on October 31!  

It's hard to believe that it was already 2 years ago that they looked like this....

 To celebrate Jayda's birthday she had a slumber party!  I was really nervous -- Isaiah has never stayed over night anywhere but home or with my parents (except when he was 11 months old and Mark had just returned home from Iraq he spent a full weekend at Kammy's house).  And I'm pretty strict about going to bed on time and sticking to our same routine... but how could we not let him go?  So of course he went, had a blast and we've had no bedtime problems at home because of it!

From what Isaiah told me and the pictures that Laura shared with me, it looks like all the kids had so much fun!  They started outside with a pizza party!

And then inside for bingo, cake and presents!

Isaiah didn't have a sleeping bag to take with him and he really wanted to have one so when we were shopping for Jayda's birthday present, we decided to get one for him and one for Jayda.  I think they were both pretty excited about them!

Isaiah tried his out at home before the party...

Then they watched the Little Mermaid and the Tinkerbell movie and all snuggled up to sleep.

It sounds like they all did really good and slept from 10:30 to 6:30 or something like that.  I was impressed!  I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to host a slumber party with so many 3,4 and 5 year olds!

Levi and I dropped Isaiah off at the party and went home to have our own little party - just the two of us!  Levi was very upset most of the way home, he was so sad that Isaiah was gone.  But we made pizza and cookies so he got over it pretty quickly!:)

Happy Birthday Jayda Girl!

Thanks to the veteran's, especially ours!

Our family on one of the happiest days of our life, July 26, 2007 - Mark made it home safe and sound from Iraq!

Until 6 or 7 years ago, Veteran's Day meant nothing to me.  It was just another day where there wasn't mail, certain stores were closed, and you have to wonder if the garbage man is going to show up, but my life experiences have changed my view on this holiday (along with a million other things!).

For those of you who don't know, my husband enlisted in the Army in September of 1999 - the beginning of his senior year of high school.  He graduated a semester early and was shipped off to basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky in February of 2000 (if I remember the dates right, it may have been January).  From there he was sent to Fort Sam Houston, Texas to spend 3 months training to be an Army Medic.  Because of hearing loss, he was unable to go full-time army as he had hoped, but was slotted with the Army National Guard.  A few years went by (we were married in August 2002) and his unit was deployed in May of 2003 to the Siani Peninsula on a base near Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt and close to Saudi Arabia.  He spent almost a year away from home.  In early 2005 (I can't remember exactly when) we were notified that his unit was going to Iraq and in October 2005 his unit left to train to go to war.  In March 2006 their training was complete and they arrived in Al Asad, Iraq to perform security for convoys transporting goods all across Iraq.   He was scheduled to come home in April 2007, but with the need for troops in Iraq his unit was notified in January 2007 that their deployment time had been extended.  He FINALLY made it home the very end of July 2007.  He made it through 22 months away from home.  His unit was deployed for the longest period of time out of any other unit in all branches of the military since World War II. After he came home they had to go through some regular physicals and medical screenings and the results showed that his hearing loss was much worse.  He went before a medical review board in the summer of 2009 where they decided to medically discharge him as he was no longer able to safely be a medic in the Army because of his great hearing loss (I think it's like 90% loss in his left ear). So on September 30, 2009, exactly 10 years to the day, he was out of the military.  He served our country proudly, giving up years of his life, missing the birth of his son, basically losing complete hearing in one ear, and so much more.  And he doesn't expect anything in return.  He is such a selfless soldier.

I am amazed by him and so many others, and the sacrifices that our soldiers go through in order to keep our country safe.  They give up so many things both big and little that the average civilian takes for granted.  The sacrfices come not only during deployments, but with every day life.  (I can't even count the number of times that Mark and I have had something planned and we had to cancel or rearrange it because something came up for the army).  So, I would like to say thank you to all those who have and are serving our country (and to the families at home, who serve our country too).  Your sacrifices do not go unnoticed.

Happy Veteran's Day.

Isaiah and Levi's first phone conversation

Isaiah went with my parents to visit my grandma in Ames.  They called to check in and Isaiah and Levi had their first ever phone conversation (I think).  They have very, very rarely ever been apart other than when Isaiah is at school or when they are each in their own Sunday School class. Here's how the conversation went...(I could only hear Levi's end of the conversation).

Hi Zay-ya.

Hi Zay-ya.

I wan play with you (I want to play with you).

Zay-ya.

I play with you.

Hi Zay-ya. 

*** They had to hang up. ***

Let's go get him.

I call Zay-ya.  You play on put-ter (computer).

*** We called them back. ***

Hello Zay-ya???? 

Hello.  

I wan to play with Zay-ya. 

I'm Superman.  (pointing to his Superman costume that he's wearing again:)

HE'S TALKING TO ME!! 

It's daddy!!!

(Me - is it grandpa?)

Yeah!  I play with Zay-ya.

I hear Go Fish Guys. 

Zay-ya?  I play with Zay-ya?

Hi Grandpa.  

Mommy, he's talking to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bye grandpa, bye grandpa, bye grandpa

Hi Zay-ya.  

I'm talking.  

Hi Zay-ya.  

No talkin to grandpa, no talkin to grandpa.  No talking to Zay-ya.  

*** They hung up on him! ***

Levi threw a fit because no one was talking to him on the phone.  We called LeAnna but Levi had to leave her a message.  Then we called Kammy and interrupted her dinner (sorry!) and they had a 10 minute conversation. Finally we called Isaiah back...

Hi Zay-ya. 

Hi.

Hi.

I'm talking. 

It's me.  It's me.

It's me.  

Bye.

And he handed the phone to me.  

:)

A walk in the park.

My dad took the boys and I on a walk in Hartman Reserve the other day.  It was one of the days where the wind was supposed to be going 50 miles per hour or something like that.  We hadn't been outside all day so I knew the boys would love it regardless of what the wind was doing.  When we got to the trails, it really was hardly windy at all. 

Isaiah was so excited to be outside that he was RUNNING all around.  He kept going so far ahead that we couldn't see him. 

 Levi was equally excited to be outside, but expressed his excitement in a completely different way.  He was walking slowly behind us with a stick in hand singing "hakuna matata" over and over and over and over and over and over and over. (you know, the song from the Lion King).

 I thought that it was so cute that Isaiah and my dad both had on their vests.  Isaiah almost always refuses to wear this vest (or any coat for that matter), but was willing to keep it on during this walk.

 There is just something sweet about watching little boys throw sticks and rocks into the water :)  They could have stayed here for hours.  But we gave them a few minutes and said it was time to move on!

Happy Fall!!!

Halloween 2010

We had a fun-filled, busy Halloween weekend this year! It blows my mind that it's already come and gone and Thanksgiving is just 3 weeks away!  Where does the time go?  

Our Halloween weekend started on Thursday morning when we carved pumpkins together as a family!  Well, actually it started Wednesday night at 8:15pm in the freezing cold, windy, darkness in front of Hy Vee -- the kids and I were out picking our pumpkins -- not quite the pumpkin farm, but we just didn't make it there this year!  Our family time together is very limited because of Mark and my work schedules and we knew we would have a short window of time to carve the pumpkins Thursday morning so I wanted to make sure we were ready to go Thursday morning.  Wednesday night we had stuff at church that didn't get over until later than expected so, oh well.  We survived! 

The boys were so, so, so, excited to carve the pumpkins.  They could hardly wait for Mark to wake up so we could do it (remember he works until 2am and has to be up most mornings by 7:30 so when I'm home we try to let him sleep until at least 10).  Well, I finally gave in and let them wake him up around 9:30 and we immediately started our project.  

Levi REFUSED to touch the pumpkin insides at all...

   

And Isaiah really didn't want to either, so he hardly helped.

And I'm just not good with a knife - so Mark ended up carving the pumpkins while I separated the pumpkin seeds and the kids were off playing somewhere... until the pumpkins were done.   As a way to keep the kids entertained Thursday before it was time, we had looked online for pumpkin ideas and Isaiah picked out a scary face and Levi picked out a kitty.  So that's what we got.  Mark did a great job!

Thursday night the YMCA had their annual Halloween Party.  We went last year and had a lot of fun so when a friend from work reminded me about it, we were sure to attend.  For the past month or so Isaiah has been saying that he was going to be a ninja for Halloween, well that Thursday he decided that he should go as a dragon slayer (we have a costume that is red with a dragon on it that came with a sword so we've called it the dragon slayer even though I'm not so sure Isaiah knows what that really means) and he thought that Levi should go in our dragon costume -- I didn't think that would be such a good idea!  But Levi had his own opinion, he wouldn't dress up as anything but Superman.  So when Isaiah found out that Levi was going to be Superman, he wanted to be Superman too.  Thank goodness we have 2 sets of Superman jammies that have capes on them! I must say, they looked so cute together.

I invited my mom to come along with us, and thankfully she did!  The boys were both in all different directions at the party, so excited!  Because we got to the party right as it started, we hardly had to wait in line for any of the fun games they had for the kids to play.

They had a few cute little projects for the kids to do too --  banana halves with mini chocolate chips to make ghosts and apple slices, peanut butter and marshmallows to make monster teeth.  Isaiah had fun with them - Levi, on the other hand, just ate a few apple slices.

We ran into Abby (my friend who reminded me of the party) and Isaiah's friend Erika.

The party started to get crowded and the kids had made it through most of the games -- and so we decided to sneak away.  We found a martial arts class where the kids were learning to use nun-chucks.  They both sat completely still and watched for several minutes.

Then we found a place to burn some energy.  Erika came to join in with the fun, so the kids ran for awhile and then it was time to head home.

Saturday Levi decided that he wanted to be Superman again, so he was.

And Sunday was the big day!  I had asked Isaiah what he was going to dress up for trick-or-treating and he looks at me and says, "I'm going to be a ninja, silly."  :)  I knew Isaiah would be too excited to wait for 6pm to go trick-or-treating, so we went to the mall to participate in their event at 3.  (Thank goodness for church in the morning and then lunch to occupy Isaiah or we may never have made it until 3pm!)  Levi wanted to be Superman again so here we are - a scary man, a witch, a ninja and Superman.

We made a stop at Mark's parents and then to my parents and then it was time...finally!  We went to the houses around my parents neighborhood.  After a handful of houses, Levi was saying, "let's go home."  But Isaiah wanted to keep going, and Levi has been extra clingy lately and didn't want to go home unless I was, so he lasted 20 minutes or so and then Isaiah decided that he was done too.

We went back to my parents house and the boys had fun passing out candy with my mom.

   At 7:30 Isaiah says, "okay, I'm reading to go trick-or-treating again."  Levi wanting to stick with me, wanted to come too, so the boys, my dad and I hurried back out. Isaiah said he wanted to go to every house.  So we went down another block and made it just a couple houses around the corner and he was done again.  We walked by several houses with their lights on, but Isaiah said he just wanted to keep walking home.

 We then made it home and got ready for bed.  Whew!  Happy Halloween!