So Proud

Jon and I were talking to Dominic about his up-coming party. Jon made the comment that he wished we could do without the presents part. So Dominic asked if he could give the presents to kids who didn't have anything. We talked about it and decided to ask for money to give to ADRA. 

Today, instead of presents, people brought money to put in Dominic's ADRA jar.

After the party we counted the money and then got online to pick out how he wanted to use his money. He very carefully looked through everything and chose to give school desks and chairs to kids in Gambia and food to kids in Honduras. He was most excited about the desks and chairs. I think it felt more personal because he knows he's starting school next week and he felt so sorry for the kids who had to sit on the floor.

I am so proud of my little man. He chose to forgo presents so he could give. That warms my heart so much! I can't begin to tell him how very proud we are of him.

Birthday Party

Today was filled full of sun, water, sugar, friends and fun.

Today was Dominic's birthday party.

I suggested that he choose five friends to come to his birthday party since he was going to be five. 

He was in agony. The poor little social butterfly just couldn't choose. 

So we decided to have a water park theme in the back yard. 

I didn't decorate, I didn't agonize over snacks, I didn't plan. 

There were bubbles for party favors and tons of water. 

The night before I made a ton of cupcakes and started a small cake.

Jon was in charge of making the bike chains for the cake.

This morning we set the tables up and finished the cake.

We hadn't used the spray gun before so we put down this huge tarp in case the over spray was bad. There wasn't ANY over spray. But at least we were prepared. =)

The finished product. Jon and I weren't super happy with several things about it, but it's only the 2nd fondant cake I've made and the 1st time either of us have sprayed anything. So it was pretty good considering. Dominic loved it and that is really what counts.

Dominic insisted on this number 5. I had the coolest candles picked out and he kept asking for the 5. It's his party so even if I didn't agree with him I let him ultimately choose.

If everyone who had been invited had been able to come we would have had approx. 55 people in our back yard. Since some people never rsp'd or waited until the day before/day of, I wasn't sure how many to plan for. But it worked out well. We had just the right amount of kids to make it a super fun afternoon. 

 This was the funnest attraction. I added a little bit of soap. =)

 The boys kept going further and further away to make a run for it.

Happy Birthday to a wonderful little guy!

This is actually the 2nd time he blew the candle out. 

I lit the first one and he blew it out before I could even pick up the camera.

 

At the end of the day Dominic said his feet hurt. I think he actually wore the skin right off playing so hard. It was a minimal fuss party, but one that the kids will remember for a very long time.

I'm so very, very proud of Dominic. But I've decided to write a separate post about it. Stay tuned.

CRAZY Busy!!!

We have been so busy that I haven't had a chance to blog. I've been writing them in my head as we dash around, but that isn't helping them get on the computer. So here is a quick summary of why we are so crazy busy and a couple of pictures to tide you over until life slows down.

It will slow down, right?

We've been traveling quite a bit. I guess we thought we needed to cram a lot in before Dominic started school. 

We STILL don't have our flooring. They keep telling us "it will be here next week". So we've been getting a few other projects done, but I think we are all ready to be back to normal and not have hallways crammed with furniture and uneven floors.

Dominic's birthday party, school starting, school work bee, book reviews, ect. have also added to the busyness of life. But we are also cramming in some fun. I just haven't taken very many pictures.

Last week in church the kids asked for their boxes and I realized I'd forgotten them. So we went into the office and got some paper and crayons. Caitlin sat and colored the color pages (that the church provides for forgetful moms like me) while Dominic worked on his "schoolwork". This kid is so excited to be going to school that he wanted to start early. Almost every day he tries to convince Caitlin to play school with him. I just hope this enthusiasm lasts.

Here is a picture of one of his math sheets.

Caitlin was taking an extra long nap the other day and I went in to wake her up. 

I love it when they sleep this way.

She was so tired that even the flash going off several times didn't wake her up. She just rolled over.

Dominic yelled for me to come look at Caitlin's art work. The tone of his voice sounded a bit off and when I came into her bedroom I could see why. Caitlin had left the paper and continued up the wall. When she ran out of room on the wall she moved to her closet doors. Dominic isn't supposed to tattle, so he called it "art work" in hopes that I would come in and see what had happened. =)

 

Dominic was so sweet and helped me clean it off, even though he hadn't even been in the room when Caitlin was drawing.

What a day!

Yesterday was just one of those days.

It began to go downhill right after breakfast. I was at the bedroom end of the house and Dominic was in the bathroom near the laundry room. He came running out yelling that it smelled like smoke. I had begun to smell something myself and went to investigate. I finally figured out that the smell was coming from the breaker box, but beyond that was clueless. I haven't seen anything like this breaker box since the 100 year old house we lived in when I was in grade school.

It smelled so bad and it seemed a bit hazy in the laundry room. (Turns out it was my contacts that needed changing. Sigh!)

So I ushered the kids outside to play on the swing and called Jon. Now I'm not a really panicky person. Give me a snake, busted pipe, rabid bear and I can handle myself. Or at least will call Jon with some sense of calmness. But anything relating to fire and I lose my calmness. 

So Jon told me to calm down - he was headed home.

On another note -
Dominic realized what was going on and realized that if there was a fire he should probably hurry outside. But he was still in his pjs and didn't want to go outside like that. He had a moment of indecision and I told him it was okay to change first. I could hear him in his room. "Hurry, hurry. No time to match clothes. We don't want to die." And then Caitlin's little voice gleefully copying him "Hurry, hurry, we goin ta die."

Jon found this in the water heater box. So he replaced it, laughed at me and headed back to work. So glad I could provide some entertainment. But at least I know what to do when it happens again. Because it WILL happen again.

Next we head to Sam's to get the tires checked out. Our tires were down to the wear indicators. They had a little less than 40K and a warranty of 70K. They really needed to be replaced.

I ended up making 3 trips totaling over 3 hours to Sam's club with my kids before everything was straightened out. 

It was a stressful, crazy day with incompetence at both Sam's clubs (NC & TN). But I now have new tires on my car for quite a bit less than we'd budgeted. So in the end it worked out.

Other than spending portions of my entire day in a boring (for the kids) store, it was a good day! =)

Please help me!

I'm going to start off by saying that I have no idea who reads my blog. Most people don't "follow" so this leaves me a bit clueless unless someone makes a comment on the blog or in person.

That being said - I have no idea who might be interested, but I had to post this per Dominic's instructions.

(His idea of a "begging face".)

"These are the best cards. They help my school. Can you please buy one"

(This is what he says when he's trying to sell them to our neighbors.
These are Smart Cards for Putnam county and are $15 a piece for anyone interested.)

Just a few things

Here are just a few pictures to show what we've been doing lately.

We've been working on the house most evenings and the kids love to help. It's so precious to see the little drill beside Jon's or the tool belt "just like Daddy's".

They get in the way and mess with things they shouldn't, but it's all in the spirit of helping.

 

Dominic has been reading too many Cakewreck blogs with me.

He called me into his room to share his "cake" with me.

Caitlin found her play dresses and came in to show my how "pwetty" they looked.

Dominic didn't want to feel left out so he put on some wings. He told Jon that he was a boy fairy.

 

 Silly girl.

Dr. Visit

Today was Dominic's two week check-up on his arm.

For some reason they scheduled our visit on a Monday. I've never worked at an office or heard of one that isn't crazy busy on Mondays. This office was no exception. We waited over an hour before being shown to a room. After two doctors talked with us and more x-rays were taken we finally left two hours later.

I was so impressed with how well the kids behaved. We read books, watched tv and looked at magazines. They were quiet and still for almost the entire time, even when we ran into lunch time.

But all the waiting aside, Dominic's arm is healing really well. In fact, the doctor said he is actually a week ahead of schedule as far as healing goes. He still has to wear the cast, but has permission to take it off for his water birthday party.

We return in three more weeks for another visit and x-rays.

The doctor said that we are looking at approx. 8 weeks before the cast comes off. 

So Dominic is very likely going to start his first day of school with a cast. 

I keep reminding myself that he's a typical boy and it could have been a TON worse.

(Only click on that link if you have a strong stomach!)

Our 4th of July trip

Jon had two extra days off from work and so we decided to go and see his family in Kansas. We made plans to stop at my Aunt's house on the way there and back to break up the trip.

It was a fun trip as far as seeing our family, but I'll admit that it will be a while before you can convince any of us to get in the car for that long again. It was a LONG trip.

We stayed with Aunt Gail (Gee Gee). Dominic was so confused all weekend because Aunt Gail's grandchildren Jessica and Jake were there and they call her Gee Gee. I think for a long time he thought it was two separate people.

Walking out to see the garden

Caitlin found some treasures

Jessica and Jennifer (Jon's cousin)

I was playing around with the settings on my camera

There is this tiny little hill (remember this is Kansas) beside the house.

It has a playground and scenic overlook on top.

We took the kids up there early in the morning before it got too hot so they could play.

His doctor probably shouldn't see this picture.

Crazy boy forgets his arm is broken.

Caitlin has to copy everything her big brother does.

I was standing by just in case, but she did great.

Seesaw

Goofy kids.

Visiting grandma.

Aunt Gail (Gee Gee) cooking yummy breakfast.

Jon's parents came up at the same time and 

Jennifer and her kids ate with us quite a few times as well.

Visiting grandpa

Family picture - aren't we a great looking bunch?!  =)

Aunt Gail with her grandchildren, Jacob and Jessica

We left Kansas the morning of the 4th and stopped in Missouri for the evening at my Aunt's house.

We played in the pool and visited before we headed out the next morning.

Because Uncle David is a doctor we felt safe letting Dominic have a cast free moment so he could enjoy the pool.

 

Silly girl!

My adorable grandparents.

I grew up watching my grandpa set off fireworks every year.

Apparently he still enjoys them, because he purchased a huge bag of them to set off for Dominic.

The colored smoke bombs were Dominic's favorites.

On Tuesday morning we left my Aunt's and headed home.

I have always wanted to see the Arch up close and so we decided to stop and see if we could get a ticket to ride up. They are limited and it's first come, first serve.

We walked down to the base.

When we saw the long line we decided to wait until we return in the fall and try again.

It wasn't worth the 2 hour wait in the sun with the kids.

Jon took this picture. I love it!

Dominic wanted me to take a picture of this stump. 

So I had him sit on it with the city behind him.

It was great to visit with our family. But we are very glad to be back home again.