Trip From Hell. Honestly.

We made a super last minute decision to jump in the car and drive to Wyoming for Christmas.  My grandparents have been having several health issues, and we had a window of opportunity to see them, so we jumped on it.

Let's back up a little.  On December 9th, Booker started having diarrhea.  It lasted until the 15th, when he then started vomiting.  But just for one day.  On the 17th, he was completely back to normal and we decided to leave town the 19th.  Bodey woke up with an upset tummy.  Stupid us.  We honestly thought it was because he was sad that Elvis went back to the North Pole.  One hour into our drive started "Wet Farts 2012."  He sharted/pooped his pants 3 times before we could even get back on the road.  In pull-ups.  On we go.  Until we were 4 hours out of town and he started vomiting.  In the car.  We pulled over and cleaned it all up.  Dusty wanted to turn around.  I couldn't see turning around and driving 4 hours back - in the direction of the storm we had just avoided - when the damage was already done.  If we were going to get sick, we were going to get sick.  The germs were spread.  So, against his will, Dusty kept driving.  We stopped at a gas station every hour for Bodey to have more, and more, and more diarrhea.  Then he puked again.  And 9 hours later we were in Rapid City, SD.  The next day (Thursday) he felt fine.

Thursday evening, around 6, Dusty tells me to run and grab the puke bowl.  I was too late.  He was already in the bathroom... vomiting and diarrhea.  Friday early morning, about 3am, I am awakened by the sound of my stomach.  And I have my dose of the same.  I couldn't function all day Friday.  Saturday I felt fine, but wanted to give it a full day before I went to visit my grandparents.  Saturday night.... Booker wakes me up vomiting with diarrhea.  I couldn't even believe that he had been healthy for 8 days and then he started it AGAIN!  So I cried.  That's what overwhelmed, stressed out mommies do.

But I decided not to touch Booker with a 10-ft stick because, dammit, I was going to see my grandparents!  So Dusty had Booker duty.  And Sunday I finally got to go over and visit my grandparents.  I love and miss them so much.  I spent a little over 3 hours just sitting and talking with them.  My grandma just isn't the same, but it was still such a blessing to get to see her.  While I was there she told lots of made up stories and even tried to cut her own hair!  But she's still my sweet little grandma with the same ol' laugh I'll always remember.  Even though the trip SUCKED, it was totally worth it to see them.

Monday, Christmas Eve, everyone seemed to feel ok, so we decided to go swimming in Thermop.  It was nice just to get out of the house and do something together.  But, even Christmas Eve sucked.  It is also my dad's birthday, and he ended up having to put his 13-year old dog down.  :(

Then, Christmas morning, we were supposed to open presents from Santa and then hit the road.  However, my mom was up vomiting all night and round two had taken it's toll on Dusty.  But we had to get going anyways, because I had to be back on the 27th for work.  Oh, and it snowed, which is usually one of my favorite things in the world.... except we had to drive over the mountain.  Long story short, Dusty had to puke and poop MULTIPLE times while I white knuckled the steering wheel for 9 hours.  But we made it to Chamberlain, which made our day 2 drive an easy 8 hour day.  

Dusty just started feeling up to par, but I highly doubt there is any way Bodey and I have completely escaped round 2.  Oh well, at least we are home now.  

On a good note, my parents were excellent hosts.  My mom was there to baby me when I was sick, and they cooked us awesome home-cooked meals every night.  My dad even cooked an outstanding prime rib for us on his birthday!

This is where Harley rode the entire trip.  She's the best traveler dog ever.

Bodey and his puke bowl.  :(

The beautiful Big Horn mountains.

I thought these roads on the way there were iffy, but they were worse on the way home.

We stopped at Deer Haven Lodge on the way over the mountain for lunch.  It was so cozy.

Deer Haven

Deer Haven

Beautiful Ten Sleep canyon.

Making Santa cookies, which we later threw away due to germ infestation.

Tuckered out.

My sick Booker snuggling with KoKo... my parents new puppy we all fell in love with.

KoKo just let Bodey drag her around.

My wonderful grandparents.

My grandparents house.  So many great memories here.

Swimming in Thermop on Christmas Eve in 20 degree weather.

Wind River canyon.

Wind River canyon.

Santa found us in Wyoming!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Our washer bit the dust.  So we decided to upgrade and we got a new washer and dryer.  I've been making laundry detergent for about a year now, in powder form.  It's just one part borax to one part washing soda.  It works pretty well.  However, we now have a front load washing machine and it needs to use HE detergent.  I had no clue if my homemade stuff was ok to use or not, but after a lot of research, I found it is just fine.  But I also found that more people liked liquid detergent over powder for a front load washer.  So I decided on the Duggar's recipe and made it yesterday.  

Recipe:

1 bar Fels Naptha

1 cup Washing Soda

1/2 cup Borax

First you grate the Fels Naptha.  I used my food processor and it worked like a charm!  And I love the nice clean, fresh smell.

Then you heat it on med-low heat with 4 cups of water until it is dissolved and melted.

Then you add it to a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water.  After you stir it all up, you fill the bucket the rest the way with hot tap water.

Let it sit over night and it will gel up.

Stir it the next day.  Then fill an old detergent container half with detergent and half with water.  Shake it up and use 1/4 cup with each load.  This recipe yields 680 loads!!!!!  That's like $2/yr in detergent.  

Christmas Stress

The holidays are stressful.  Time, money, family, weather, health.... the list of culprits goes on and on.  But I'm not the one that's stressed.  It's Booker.  This Elf on the Shelf business stresses my little pleaser OUT.  I had been using Elvis to bribe them, threaten them, and even scare them that Santa wouldn't come.  And Booker just kept getting more and more of a put out attitude.  He was telling me he wished we didn't have an elf.  And then it hit me.  I'm obviously taking this elf thing a little too far.  I don't want him to lose his Christmas spirit because he's so stressed out about what the dumb elf is going to think or fly back and tell Santa.  That's pretty sad.  Booker is not a bad kid.  He's a boy... a rowdy, rough, loud, crazy boy.  But he's not the type of kid that deserves coal in his stocking.  And that's what it had come to in his little mind.  He knows he's on the naughty list, why even try anymore?  And that breaks my heart.  So, Elvis wrote the boys a little note that seems to have helped.  He explained that Santa understands that nobody is perfect, that boys will be boys, and that as of right now they are on the nice list.  I think Booker is starting to enjoy that devilish little elf again.  :)

Party

Booker wakes up at 6am, almost every day.  Bodey wakes up shortly after.  I usually don't get out of bed until about an hour after them.  Bodey has been mad at Booker because Booker always gets to find Elvis the Elf first.  So Booker promised he would wake Bodey up the other morning so Bodey could find Elvis.  I heard them get up, search the house, find Elvis and watch cartoons and rough house.  This had been going on for about an hour or hour and a half when Booker came in to ask if he could play the iPad.  I looked at the clock and it was 5:40am!  That means they had been up since about 4:15!  They told me they had also been downstairs playing the Wii!  I couldn't believe they had been partying in what I consider the middle of the night!  I made them both go back to bed.  This elf is going to be the death of me.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

I've had kind of a rough week with the boys.  Dusty has been out of town for work since Sunday night, and then went hunting all day today.  I love my kids, but we've had a bit too much of each other this week.  But, tonight putting them to bed tonight put it all back into perspective.  I love them so much, and they crack me up.

While putting Bodey to bed:  "Mom, my armpit feels fuzzy."  So I check it out.  "Is there anything on it?  Am I starting to grow hair under there?  Some people have hair there, ya know?"  I couldn't help but busting out in laughter, and Bodey joined me.

Then, while I was tucking in Booker, Bodey came in reminding me that we forgot prayers.  I told them we would just all three do them together tonight in Booker's room, and asked Bodey to go first.  After his prayer I told Booker it was his turn, and his response made me crack up again.  In a cute little gentleman voice he said, "Wait, we have to start aaaaaall over.  Laaaaaadies first!"  And the three of us died laughing.

Booker's Reading and Bodey's Praying

Just want to jot these down so I can remember them.

Booker is reading a book about sprint cars.  It is basically going through the evolution of race cars to get us where we are today.  Several sentences start out by saying, "In the early 1960s...."  or "In the 1970s this type of car was very popular," etc.  When Booker gets to the year he reads it like this, "In the early one thousand, nine hundred and sixties..."  I just can't correct him!  It's too cute... and really, he's right!

Bodey's prayer tonight just made me grin from ear to ear.  "God, I just love my family so much.  And my friends.  And my dogs.  And my lizard.  And I just love you, God.  I love you and my family the same.  (Then, knowing you are supposed to love God above all, he adds)  But I just love you an inch more than my family."

Boys

Tonight I sat the boys down to have them each say 3 nice things about each other, to each other.  Bodey's first thing was "I love you."  Booker couldn't think of a single nice thing, only bad things.  But he kept them to himself.  After starring at him for what seemed like FOREVER, he finally said, "You're cute and I like how you pee."

And they both died laughing.  Boys.  I guess there will just be some things in life that I never understand.

All I Want For Christmas

This year Santa needed a little help deciding on something small to bring the boys.  So, I thought I would help a man out and brainstorm with the boys.

Me:  Bodey, what do you want Santa to bring you this year?
Bodey:  An iPad, a motorcycle - a REAL one, a car, a dirt bike, a chihuahua...

Santa is gonna struggle with this kid.

Me:  Booker, how about you?
Booker:  Nothing.
Me:  Every kid wants something, what do you want?
Booker:  Nothing.

This went on for a long time.  Then finally he opened up and described the gift he wants.

Booker:  I want a remote control airplane with flames painted on the sides of it.  With little guys that ride inside it.  And they can open the door and parachute out.
Me (hoping for an easy answer):  Oh, that sounds awesome!  Have you seen it on a commercial?  What is it called?
Booker:  Nope, but Santa's elves can make anything.
Me:  I'm sure they can.
Booker:  And Santa's got enough money.  And if he doesn't, he can borrow some from Justin Bieber.  WHAT?  He's rich!!!
Me:  How about you tell me a few more things you want from Santa.  If you don't give him some options, he might bring you a Justin Bieber shirt!
Booker (after thinking for a while):  He can bring me a Justin Bieber poster, along with a shotgun so I can shoot it!

Santa is gonna struggle with this kid.

Last Bit of Baby

Well, I took the last bit of baby out of the house.  No more nursery color in Bodey's room.  It's not an exciting color, but it's neutral, so I guess it will go with anything.  And I finally knocked out the trim/crown molding in his room too.  I wish I would have never started this stupid trim project.  But I guess there's a light at the end of the tunnel.  I only have Booker's room, our room, and the master bathroom to complete.

Getting ready for Booker's arrival - February 2006

Bodey's room 2012

October 23rd, 2012

I am no longer the only one to tie shoes in the morning.  We made each of the boys grab one of Dusty's shoes, and we worked on it for about 20 minutes.  We started with the two bunny ear method.  It sucks.  I never could grab both those ears.  Neither could they.  So we switched to the way we do it, and BAM!  They both got it right away.  Thank God!

They crack me up how differently they learn.  Bodey will just keep trying.  Over and over and over and over and over again.  And never get frustrated.  And he's so happy to be trying and learning!  And over the moon that he mastered it.

Booker tries once, fails, gives up, pouts.  He's just like his daddy.  :)

Cliche?

I think not.  I honestly have the two best friends in the world.  Sorry, world, but it's true.  One is my leader, the other is my mentor.  And I'm lucky enough to have them both part of my life.

Jen, you are a born leader.  People want to be like you and do as you do.  You inspire me to be better.  And cleaner.  And more organized.  You laugh, because you think I'm making fun of you... but I'm not, I admire you!  You are a person blessed enough to have a natural knack for new ideas, organization, and crisp cleanliness with everything you touch.  I love craft days, because I get to come into your world, and learn from the best.  I also value your values.  How much you love your family and friends.  And I love learning frugality from the best of the best.  It's so nice to walk side by side with someone who I look up to, and share values with.  And inspiration?  I have to thank you for getting me where I am today.  A marathon would have never crossed my mind, much less two.  And without being a witness to your pure determination and will, I wouldn't have succeeded.  You amaze me every day.  You are also my 3rd leg in triathlons.  I can't even imagine the number of triathlons I would have given up, just thrown in the towel, if you weren't there along beside me.  You are my #1 cheerleader and motivator!

Cori, you are my mentor.  I look up to you more than you will ever know.  When I have parenting questions, I come to you.  When I have medical questions, I come to you.  But, most importantly, you started my journey to a relationship with Jesus.  I knew you had something I didn't, and I wanted a part of it.  Your model of spiritual wisdom, unending faith, and unfailing love for Jesus is the best gift I've received.  I constantly seek your advice, your common sense, and spiritual outlook.  And, like Jen, you are a girl of determination!  I have watched you go through tribulations in running that would have stopped me in my tracks, searching for a new hobby.  But not you!  It is honestly healthy for me to witness this.  I mean, you ran a half marathon with a fractured leg and pneumonia.  That's hardcore!  And it is always lurking in the back of my mind, making me dig deeper, be stronger, and accomplish more.  I am a better person because I've learned so much from you.

I'm blessed.  I have the privilege of seeing both of my best friends almost every day.  They push me beyond my limits.  We share so many values, and that gives us a bond that is hard to break.  I don't know what I did to deserve you two in my life, but obviously, God just knows what's best for me!

Dog vs. Bodey

Yesterday was a rough day for all of us.  Dusty was outside at the neighbor's house helping him on his boat.  The boys headed out there with him.  A few minutes later, Booker sprinted inside, clearly flustered, but I couldn't really understand what he was saying.  I heard "Bodey", "crying", "dog", "dad".  I ran outside just when Dusty was rushing Bodey inside.  All I saw was blood coming from Bodey's head.  I don't do well in these situations and started to freak.  Dusty gave me the stink eye so I had to check myself.  After about a 30 second examination, we decided he needed to go to the emergency room.  As we were heading out, our neighbor ran up to the car to give us his phone number and told us his dog was up to date on all his shots.  When we got to the hospital, the lady at the front desk asked if I already filed a police report.  AreyoukiddingmeIjustrushedmykidtothehospital!  That was all I was thinking about.  I wasn't making phone calls!  So I stepped outside to call the police department.  The dispatcher told me they already sent an officer out there, the dog owners had reported the accident.  Not two minutes later, our neighbor's wife came in with her dog's shot records.  She said they just couldn't stand the thought Bodey might have to get shots he didn't need.  A few minutes later, a Basehor police officer came to the hospital to get Dusty's statement, check out the injuries and take pictures of all of them.  The doctor looked at everything, said they don't stitch dog bites (traps germs and infection inside), ordered x-rays for Bodey's left shoulder and right elbow, got him some Ibuprofen, and gave us an Rx for an antibiotic.  Bodey finally started to relax and finally moved his arms and was showing us his muscles, so we cancelled the x-rays.  What helps a little boy more than a slushie?  So we headed to Quik Trip where the boys got 32 oz slushies including every flavor known to man mixed together, a hot dog, and some Rolos.  When we got home, we washed all the blood off Bodey.  The hospital didn't clean ANY of it off of him.  Oh well.  And then Bodey went out in the cul-de-sac to ride his bike.

Bodey's red hair he is now proud of.

Bite #1

Bites #2 & #3

Bite #4

Bite #5 and possibly #6

Guessing just a scratch from nails?

Raw elbow from his fall to the concrete.  This hurts him the worst.

You might be wondering about the dog.  Well, he is a 148 pound Bloodhound.  It is very unusual for this breed to be aggressive.  Dusty and the owner were within 10 feet of the attack.  The boys had been petting this dog the night before and the owner said he was watching them pet him just before he attacked and everything was just fine.  We don't really know if Bodey did something to trigger the dog.  Booker said the dog laid down and Bodey went over to pet it some more.  Dusty had to pull Bodey away from the dog, and it kept trying to attack.  The City of Basehor did not take the dog, initially because the kennels were full, but then later found that they didn't have to because the dog was up to date on it's rabies shot and not showing signs of being rabid.  The family has made the decision to give the dog back to the Humane Society where they got him, and he will be evaluated and either released to live out on a farm, or put down.

I just have to say how even though this was a very unfortunate accident, it has opened my eyes to how blessed we truly are.  God had his hand in all of this.  I'm so thankful that there were adults around to pull the dog off.  It could have been deadly if not.  I'm thankful that I didn't have to witness this, because these are the things I replay in my head for years.  I'm also thankful that I wasn't the adult there because I don't know if I would have been strong enough to pull off the dog.  I'm thankful that the dog hadn't gotten the 3 week old baby that lives in that house.  But mostly, I'm thankful for how helpful, and honestly concerned our neighbors have been.  In 8 years of living here, we've never really spoken to them.  And they have turned out to be truly great people.  Take note of all the bold sentences above.  Who does that?!?!  And to top it all off, they sent Bodey a bouquet of cookies today!  My heart goes out to them, because I think they are suffering more than we are.  We were scared and shocked, but we know Bodey is ok.  They feel so guilty.  And they have to deal with getting rid of a family pet.  UGH!

Bodey is just livin' life like nothing ever happened.  He doesn't seem to be scared of other dogs.  And, he bravely walked down to their house today to tell them thank you for the cookies.  The dog was still in their backyard, but he did so well!

He breaks my heart though.  Tonight he said two things that just made me melt.

"Mom, since those nice people got us cookies, can we make them some tomorrow and take them to their house?"
AND
In the smallest, quietest, voice, "Mom, I really liked that dog."

Bullying or Life Skill?

I understand the bullying policies in today's schools and I like that they are in place. But, as a mom of boys, sometimes I think there is some value in standing up for yourself, even if that means punching someone back.

Today, when Booker got in the car, he told me that Little Brat Boy punched and kicked him in the bathroom. I asked him why, and he said he didn't know, he didn't do anything. Then I asked him what he did back. "Well, I told him 'ouch, that hurt', washed my hands and went to tell my teacher". He handled it perfectly according to 2012 rules. Good for him! I was proud of him and told him he did the right thing. But then I started second guessing my parenting skills. Am I going to encourage my son to be the victim and get picked on? So, I told Booker that if Little Brat Boy continues to pick on him, or punch or kick him, that he has Mom and Dad's permission to punch him back. I told him he will get in trouble at school, but to know that if it was defending himself, he would not be in trouble at home.

Then, the principal called me. She wanted to tell me there was an incident and that Booker handled it exactly how he was supposed to and she was very proud. She told me that Little Brat Boy was being disciplined, and that if Booker would to have hit back, both parties have to be disciplined. I told her I understand, but also think there is a certain life skill boys learn by sticking up for themselves. Of course she couldn't encourage this behavior, which I'm actually glad for, but I just wanted to get it out there.

Anyway, I told Booker that I got a call from his principal and that she was very proud of him for how he handled the situation. He was proud of himself too. For the most part, he's a lover, not a fighter. It's just hard knowing what the right thing is to do. For me and him. And I'm sure he's even more confused now, poor kid.

Overly Emotional Mom, Party of One

Booker lost his first tooth today. While the Superintendent was in their classroom speaking to them, he yanked it out! He is over the moon. I'm so excited for him, but at the same time feel like bursting into tears! Two best things about it are 1) I didn't have to pull it out, 'cause that grosses me out! And 2) he pulled it the day before school pictures so we get to capture this moment forever!

Free Olathe Women's Tri Pics!

The End to Tri Season

Today was my last triathlon of the season.  Jen and I did 4 this year, and hope to do 5 or 6 next year.  I love everything about triathlons.  I love the change in pace from swim to bike to run.

The first tri we did this year was the Kansas City Triathlon on May 20th.  Last year, the water temp was only 59 degrees, but this year we warmed up to 69 degrees, which is a huge difference, but still cold.  Gotta love the first tri of the season!  Our 2011 time was 3:29 and our 2012 time was 3:24.  We were SO please with this improvement.  However, we both had bike envy as we stared down our competition, and also realized how well we do on the swim and the run, but got our butts kicked on the bike.  And we are competitive, and didn't like that, so that was the last triathlon we did on our old road bikes.  By old I mean mine was an early 90s Trek and Jen's was an 80s Schwinn.

Enter the era of "The New Babies."  Jen got a brand new Felt tri bike and I got a used (but still a 2012) Cannondale tri bike.  Let me just say, we love them more than most humans we come in contact with on a daily basis.  And I wish I were exaggerating!  AND, they make a huge difference.  We give the same amount of effort and fly down the road at about 4mph faster, and don't feel like we are trying nearly as hard.  And uphill?  Wow!  Where we used to slow down to about 8-9 mph we are now going about 12mph.  Just love them.

So we tried out our new bikes at the Shawnee Mission Triathlon on July 8th.  We finished in 1:13 and floated on cloud 9 for days.  That is one heck of a hilly bike course!  And this was the first time we finished and saw our names on the first page of the results!

We had high hopes of really getting going on our bikes at the Midwest Meltdown Triathlon on August 26th.  However, it decided to rain for the first time all summer, and mixed with the 8 tons of brand new asphalt they put down on the bike course, we took it easy.  This was a great course.  The swim was 750m instead of 500m, but Jen and I locked in at a 1:50 pace, which was great!  This was the first triathlon I finally got into a swim groove.  I wasn't being "as" clobbered by other people, so that was a major factor.  We also had a great run!  Our 5k time was 25:59.  This will be a redo next year because the bike course was really flat, and hopefully the roads will be dry next year so we can fly!

Today we did the Olathe Medical Center Women's Triathlon.  We found out earlier this week that we were in different swim heats.  This doesn't work for us.  Jen and I do triathlons TOGETHER!  And our heats were 30 minutes apart.  And they said if we miss our heat, we can't participate.  So we had to regroup and plan to go solo.  Not cool.  Jen started at 7:35 and I got to watch her entire swim, which was fun.  I started at 8:05, and she was completely done by the time I got off the bike.  Have I ever mentioned I hate to run by myself?  Well, I do.  And Jen and I have a system.  My watch tracks our entire tri time and our splits.  But it doesn't show my pace.  Jen's watch paces our run.  We both have speedometers on our bikes, and neither one of them were working today, so we had NO idea where we were on the bike.  And without Jen, I had no idea where I was on the run.  On both, I just decided to push til it hurts, and then I knew I was giving it my best effort.  My swim was 10:15 for 500m, my bike was 38 minutes for 10.6 miles and my run was 25:29 for 3 miles.  I placed 7th in my age group and 39th of 307 overall.  Jen did fantastic too, and our times were only a couple minutes apart.  However, it just wasn't the same without her.  I'm bummed we aren't the same age.  We are 7 years apart, so this heat division problem is going to definitely come into play again in the future.

In the off season, we both plan on getting more miles on our bikes.  I can't wait until May 2013 rolls around so we can do it all again!

How Is My Baby FIVE?

In honor of Chief's Friday, here's my happy lil Chief's fan!

And the big FIVE year old!

Bodey, I'm not quite sure how you did it, but you woke up five years old this morning.  I told you I wasn't going to let you, but you did it anyways.  Secretly, I'm really happy.  So happy to have such a healthy boy that is growing overnight.  

When I woke up to sing happy birthday to you, in true Bodey fashion, this is how it went.

          Me (singing):  Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you....

          You interrupt:  Um, mom?  I had a wet fart!

And that was how your fifth birthday started!

You are the most fun-loving, crazy, redneck, tough, lovable, ornery, sweet, funny, and smiley 5-year old I know!  We love you!

Not All It's Cracked Up to Be

Conversation tonight while tucking in Bodey:

Me:  This is my last night hugging you as a 4-year old.  Did you know when you wake up in the morning you'll be five??

Bodey, extremely excited:  Yeah, and I probably won't fit into any of my clothes!!!

Me:  Do you think you'll be a lot bigger in the morning, too?

Bodey:  Well, ya, I'll be five.  Booker's six and he's a lot bigger!!!

Poor kid, what a let down!!

Thunder and Major

We said good-bye to Thunder and Major tonight.  I went to feed the frogs their crickets, which is normally really entertaining to watch because Booker's frog, Thunder, attacks the crickets, and Bodey's frog, Major, is sooooo lazy you have to move the crickets right to it's mouth.  Major was lucky enough to have a cricket basically jump in his mouth tonight, but I noticed Booker's wasn't attacking.  I knew right away that he was dead.  And I was scared.  I've been dreading a pet passing away for a while now because the kids get so attached... even to frogs.  I have to admit I was a tad attached to them too.  My heart just dropped.  I told Booker and he immediately burst into tears.  I just went and loved on him, telling him sorry, and gave him the speech that pets are only here for a short period of time and we are so lucky to get to enjoy them for that short time.  While Booker was crying Bodey said he could share his frog with him.  Then we gave in to Booker's request to bury him in the front yard (not the back yard because he didn't want Avery to dig him up).  While I was outside digging a hole in our landscaping, Dusty somehow talked Bodey into letting his frog free, so he wouldn't die too.  Bodey thought that was a good idea.  What a strong little boy.  So we buried one, let the other go, and then celebrated with ice cream that Thunder was partying it up in Heaven!

Booker's a 1st Grader!

Day one of 1st grade - success!!  I was relieved that Booker wasn't nervous, anxious, scared or sad to march right in to school this morning.  Makes it a little easier on mom, who is nervous, anxious, scared and sad.  After school he had a great report, with a few details, which is different from last year.  Almost every day last year his response on how his day went was "good."  Today he told me about recess, jitter juice (they got to drink to help them get rid of any first day jitters), what he found outside, who he played with, who got to move their card to purple, etc.  He loves his teacher and is ready for day two!