1st Grade

Well, the inevitable happened...school started. I'm still in denial, but maybe posting the event will make it more of a reality?!

Ethan started 1st grade on Monday of this week, and he was SO excited. He was up at 6:15 ready to go. He requested homemade cinnamon donuts for breakfast, an everything bagel with cream cheese for lunch, and cinnamon crunch cereal for his snack. The kid knows what he likes!

I was a little curious how the first day would go with his 2 best friends having moved this summer, but it was so encouraging to see him walk up and talk to kids that were new in his class. By the end of the day, he'd become buds with a new boy that shares his love of super heros. Thank you, Lord!

The highlight of his day was recess, naturally. He said Mrs Temple was "super fun" and "all smiles", so it was going to be a good year. I am so thankful for Providence and what a blessing it's been to our family. It was easy leaving Ethan there knowing that he was being loved on and taught well. And that I would get him back the next day!

Stitches

2013 is proving to be an interesting year of health for my first born. He opened the year with a broke leg. He had the usual illnesses in the spring, and this summer had a pretty bad double ear infection, a concussion, and the latest ER trip was to get stitches...

The boys were playing in their room building a fort when I heard a blood curdling scream. I ran into the room to see blood gushing out of Ethan's head. I had to keep telling myself that head wounds bleed the worst... We finally got it to stop bleeding and sent pictures to our ER nurse friends to see if they thought Ethan needed stitches. We ended up going to their house to see what they thought, and they promptly sent us to the ER. Again. Thankfully our ER nurse friend was actually working that night, so she hooked us up with the best doctor to do stitches. They numbed Ethan's head really well, turned on the tv and he did not care what they did to him after that. Four stitches later, and we were free to leave.

I asked Ethan to pose for a picture and this sad, sad face is what he gave me. I then asked for a picture of how he really felt...

...and this is what I got. He said he was pretty tough. Pretty tough indeed, buddy! Pretty tough indeed!

July

I'm in mourning over the fact that July has come and gone. I realize we still have 2 more weeks before school starts, but when July ends, it feels all over. Here are a few random pics from July...

Harper has become our newest little fish this year. I credit it a lot to the Penturf girls who she has spent a lot of time in the "little pool" with. All 3 girls love being in the water!

My sweet friends surprised me for my birthday, and I loved spending time with them! It was definitely a good way to ring in 35. (gulp)

Ethan got his first legit concussion 2 weeks ago. We have been to the ER for head injuries before, but this was the first one that we didn't hesitate taking him. We still don't know exactly what happened, but my best guess is that he was running down our hall and slipped on something. He blacked out and still doesn't remember what happened, and Chris was standing right there but with his back turned. Ethan started asking really random questions over and over again, and then he threw up. Our friend who is an ER nurse talked to the doctor that checked Ethan out, and the doc told her he had been pretty sure Ethan was going to have to stay the night. Thankfully, Ethan threw up again while at the hospital and then seemed to recover. We had to take a week off of any activities, so we watched a lot of movies and stayed inside. My kids should probably wear helmets 24/7.

With Ethan taking it easy, Owen and Harper had a lot of time to dress up...

We also told our sweet friends, the Herrons, good bye this last week. They've become dear friends, and it's not going to be the same with out them around. Montana is lucky to have them!

 We also FINALLY made a trip to Ft Smith to see our buds, the Crawfords. My kids were so excited to see their new world and play with them. It was a little surreal leaving them, though, and going back to G Ct w/o them.

And this past weekend Harper and I went to OKC while the boys went camping. The boys had a blast, but I have no pictures to document it! Harper and I enjoyed soaking up time with the STL Dodsons as well as the OKC Dodsons. Mimi sewed dresses for all the granddaughters, and they all looked adorable. Thanks, Mimi!!