My Sweet Boy

Every night (except Friday's) the boys go to bed at 8:00pm. So, last night Bryan put them to bed and then he and I watched some tv. About 9:30 or so I decided to go on up to bed. I always check on the boys before heading to bed. I stopped in Isaiah's room, repositioned and recovered him, kissed him on the cheek and out I went. Next, I went to Sam's room. Sam has bunk beds and depending how he feels on a particular night he sleeps on the top or bottom bed. This night he had decided to sleep on the top bunk. I stepped up onto the bottom bunk so I could reposition, recover, etc. Well, I couldn't see Sam. Right then, I heard a giggle. I threw back the covers and Sam rolled over to say, "Hey, what are you doin' in here (with a big grin on his face)?" I started laughing and said, "What are YOU still doing awake?" His response, "Silly, Mommy!" I got him situated and as I was kissing and hugging him (again) he smiled and said, "Mommy, we have a great family!" I melted! "Yes, we do Sam, yes we do!"

Then, today as I was putting on his tennis shoes he said, "Mommy, you're the greatest! I love you so much!" Man, I love this little guy!!!

WHAT???

I picked Isaiah up from school this afternoon. Here's our conversation:

Me: "Hey buddy, how was your day?"

Isaiah: "Good!"

Me: "What all did you do today?"

Isaiah: "Nothing."

Me: "Really? You did nothing for over 7 hours?"

Isaiah: "Well, we did some stuff but I can't remember it all."

Isaiah: "Guess what? Samantha asked me to kiss her and I said, "No!""

Me: "WHAT? Who is Samantha?"

Isaiah: "A girl in my class."

Me: "I'm glad you said, "No!" You tell Samantha your kisses are reserved for Mommy ONLY!"

Isaiah: "Okay, I'll tell her Mom."

I mean come on! He's in KINDERGARTEN. He continued that Samantha also asked Christopher if he would kiss her and he DID! I said, "on the cheek right?" No. ON THE LIPS! Samantha's mom and dad are in for a LONG next 12+ years I'm afraid!!!

My Kindergartener

I can't believe this day has come! My first born is now in school!!! I was nervous going into this day because I wasn't sure how I would be, emotionally. I've never really been that "emotional parent" so I didn't think I would be affected too much. I was partially correct!

Our morning started early - 6:15am. When I woke Isaiah up he said, "Why is it still dark if it's time for me to wake up?" Good question! Bryan stayed home this morning so that he could see Isaiah off and allow Sam to sleep in one more day. From now on, Sam will be along for the ride as we take Isaiah to school. So, Isaiah and I had a nice breakfast and then we got him dressed for school. He has a dress code at his new school so it's not going to be difficult to get him ready! He decided he would wear his red polo shirt, tan shorts, and belt. We left our house at 7:00am and arrived at the school at 7:35am. He has to be IN HIS CLASS by 7:50am or he will be tardy. We had to take all of his school supplies with us this morning too. Isaiah's teacher, Mrs. Beane, allowed Isaiah and I to go on into the room and drop off his supplies. I was able to capture this picture while no one else was in the room...

We then had to return to the commons area and that is when I got a little teary-eyed. The commons area was sectioned off and labeled by grades. The students were asked to sit in their designated areas until it was time to go to their classes. Isaiah sat down in the midst of all these other kids that he didn't know. He wasn't sad, but I could tell he was overwhelmed. I motioned for him to go sit by one of his little friends from Mother's Day Out but he just shook his head "no." I just watched him and began to think how small he looked among all these kids. When it's just he and Sam, Isaiah seems so much bigger. But, when he's among kids his own age and older, I'm reminded just how small he still is. Soon, another one of his friends from MDO came in and the three of them eventually ended up sitting and chatting a bit. Ironically, these other two kids he knows are both in the same Kindergarten class but NOT in Isaiah's class! I was worried about this too. Isaiah wasn't too worried about it though. He told me, "I'll just have to make some new friends!" I know he will. So, when it was time to go to class, I was able to walk him back. I snapped this pic just before saying good-bye (for good this time)...

Oh, I did NOT want to leave! But, I quietly slipped out and tried not to think about him in a new school, all alone, with a bunch of people he has never met before! It was definitely more difficult than I thought it would be. I managed to hold back the tears but that doesn't mean I didn't want too!

Fast forward 7 hours (and a few minutes) later...

Daddy, Sam and I all went to pick up Isaiah on his first day of school. We waited in the pick-up line until his class came out. He was adorable walking out in their little single file line with his backpack. He spotted us immediately and waved. One of the teachers walked him to the car and helped him inside. He was grinning from ear to ear. I asked how his first day went and he responded, "It was awesome, Mom!" YES! He went on to tell about all they did and the new friends he had already made. I think this is going to be a great first school year for my little man!

Home Sweet Home

The boys and I had the pleasure of going "home" for about a week. We traveled to Duncan, OK first to see my grandparents. It was my Papa's 84th birthday and my parents and aunt and uncle were also there to celebrate. It was so good to see my Papa and Mema. My Mema had a stroke last October and I (we all) continue to be amazed at her recovery. She is an amazing woman and I love her SO very much! We left there on Sunday to travel to Lubbock with my parents. We were in Lubbock from Sunday to Sunday and it was WONDERFUL! I love going home but it's always so very hard to leave, especially the longer we stay. Our family is so close and we just love spending time together. 500 miles is simply TOO FAR AWAY!!!

We got to see some very special friends while we were home. Monday and Tuesday we spent time with my good friend, Melisse, and her 2 sons, Caden and Cole. Melisse and I laughed because our boys are 5, 4, 3, & 2. Monday we went to the gym, swimming and then lunch. Tuesday we met at a park, had lunch and then went back to their house to swim. Here are a few pics of the boys at the park and then swimming.

Caden(4), Cole(2), Isaiah(5), Samuel(3)

Enjoying a snack atop the slide!

The mist button was REALLY hard to push. They thought if they ALL pushed they could do it!

Bumblebee (a.k.a. Isaiah) & Batman (a.k.a. Samuel)

Darth Superman (a.k.a. Cole)

"Oh no! Batman is in trouble!"

"No match for Bumblebee!" (Notice Cole has now switched to Spider Superman and his mask is upside down!)

I don't think anyone else could fit in the pool!!!

Enjoying a popsicle after their swim!

We had SO much fun with Melisse, Caden and Cole! We miss you all!!!

The night before Isaiah and I left my nephew, and the boys cousin, Big Zach (as we call him) came to spend the night at Papa and Nana's. The boys had a great time with Big Zach and it was great to spend that time with him! That night ALL the boys slept in the same room. Papa was going to sleep in his bed, in his room since Big Zach was sleeping in the room with the boys. However, when Isaiah learned of this, he became sad and said, "But Papa, it's my last night here!" Papa couldn't turn him down! So, Big Zach slept in the daybed and Papa, Samuel AND Isaiah slept on the air mattress. You should know that my dad ALWAYS sleeps on the air mattress with one or both of the boys. At our house, he sleeps with one or sometimes both on the FULL SIZE bed in Samuel's room! He really is a GREAT Papa!!! Here's a pic of the sleeping arrangements on the last night.

Papa, Sam and Isaiah (under the blanket with his arm wrapped around Sam's leg).

You might have noticed that I said the above sleeping arrangements were the night before ISAIAH and I left. That's because Samuel stayed...alone...for the first time ever! I was a little concerned at how this would play out but he did really well. The morning we had to leave we were loading the car and Sam brought his pillow and monkey that he sleeps with out to the car. I explained to him that Mommy didn't need his pillow and monkey because he was staying in Lubbock. He said, "No, I don't wanna stay in Lubbock. I wanna go with you and Bubba!" I asked him why he didn't want to stay and he said, "Because Papa doesn't like me!" I told my dad this and my dad said, "Sam, you know Papa loves you!" Sam said, "Oh yea, I forgot!" Silly Sam. He ended up being fine with staying but was VERY cute when we were saying good-bye. He hugged Isaiah about 4 times and told him he would miss him. He put his little arm around me, started patting my back and said, "I'm weally gonna miss you, Mommy!" I teared up. I told him I would miss him too but would see him in just a few days! It was harder than I thought to leave him. I called later that day to see how he was doing. Mom said he was doing just fine. She told me they had been outside while my dad and Big Zach mowed and edged the front yard. Mom was going in to get Dad some water and Sam said, "Nana, I'm gonna take a haircut and meet you in the kitchen okay?" Of course he meant shortcut!!! Oh Sam!!!

So, Isaiah and I left on Sunday and drove to Springtown, TX to stay the night with my aunt and uncle. It was a nice way to break up the trip and something for Isaiah to look forward to since he couldn't stay in Lubbock with Sam. My aunt and uncle live outside of town on some land and have a beautiful home with a swimming pool. Isaiah was in the pool within 15 minutes of arriving at their house! We had a relaxing evening swimming, eating and watching Spiderman 3. We left the next morning and arrived home to Cypress about 2:30 on Monday. We were VERY happy to see Daddy and he was equally excited to see us! As a surprise to me, Bryan had cleaned our carpets while we were gone so he racked up some brownie points there! Samuel will be home TOMORROW afternoon and we can't wait to see him!

I LOVE GOING HOME!!!