Jack starts Kindergarten (very late posting)

Mrs. Waddell, Jack's teacher. He was being very shy at the meet n' greet.
Jack's classroom

Jack on the first day, getting ready to head to the bus stop.

Waiting for the bus.

Here it comes...

Ms. Ruth is the bus driver's name. Here he is in the first row.

...and there he goes. First day.

Sick of Sickness

I haven't blogged for a while and it's mostly due to illness. Friday night after Jack's first week of Kindergarten, he had horrible nightmares, up four times. It was horrible. He was up two other times other than nightmares; once claiming he was hungry and the other time during a thunderstorm. It was a doozy-of-a-night to say the least. He wouldn't eat breakfast and I knew something was brewing. Around lunchtime, he started vomiting and didn't stop for 40 hours. It was super fabulous as most people who read/look at my blog know I have a complete and real vomit phobia. No joke. It's as real to me as anything that may be your worst fear. Thankfully, I have the most calm and laid back husband (about medical/sick issues at least). It was the weekend and he took care of all the sick stuff. I was able to keep Ben downstairs with me and Jack and Sam pretty much stayed upstairs.

On Sunday, we found out three of our neighbors' boys were sick, too, all with the same thing. To make a long story short, they all caught a bug at the neighborhood pool. It had been closed due to a report of a parasite a swimmer was diagnosed with after they "had an accident" in the pool? Lovely, I know. The vomiting stopped at 4 a.m. on Monday morning. He didn't eat solid foods until Tuesday afternoon. He lived on popscicles and gatorade. I kept him home from school through Wednesday and only sending him for a half day on Thursday. Friday, he went all day but continued to really not eat much of anything. Today, he ate his first normal-amount breakfast.

Although Sam was the "vomit keeper", I somehow ended up catching the bug this past weekend - a milder version, thank goodness. I'm really hoping that we can all stay healthy for the upcoming long Labor Day weekend. Is that too much to ask?

Love is in the air . . . for today

The boys have really been showing affection towards each other lately. Ben hugs Jack and goes in for kisses regularly. Jack is always commenting, "I love Ben." They are starting to be rough and tumbling boys as they wrestle in the living room while I cook dinner. Yesterday, Ben climbed in Jack's lap and the day before, he lay his head on Jack and thankfully I had my camera right next to me (he lifted his head up right when I was about to take the picture). Priceless.

Ben's head had been on Jack's chest. Clearly Jack likes the attention from his brother as you can see.

Visiting with Grandma Firsdon

Jack is big time into having his back scratched these days. He is always backing up and lifting his shirt without saying a word and I am to know what he wants. I have been telling him that no one scratches backs as good as Grandma Firsdon. So, as soon as he had the chance, he asked her for a back-scratch. She was more than happy to oblige. Here we all are enjoying Grandma and Don's porch.

Jennifer, Madison and Lauren. They are growing up so fast.

The boys exploring.

Kentucky summer visit #2

Jennifer, Madison and Lauren were in from Virginia.  Normally we meet in July, but it was August this year.  We celebrated Jack and Lauren's birthdays while there.  I realize after looking through the pictures that I have none of Lauren opening her cards and presents.  I'm a hideous aunt.  Here are the pictures from that day:

Ummm...don't you want to eat them up in this picture?  Me too.

Lauren and Memom made cupcakes.  Aren't they pretty?

Ben's first Haircut

Sam and my mom have both been after me for a while to cut Ben's "wings".  I have to admit, they were getting way too long, but I was putting it off as long as I could.  Finally, before leaving for Kentucky, I cut his hair.  It was more emotional than I expected but I saved his curls as I did Jack's. 

Gettin' comfy and brave with the foot on the table.

Swimming gear

I bought Ben new swimming trunks.  All he had were hand-me-downs that were too small.  I thought he looked extra cute in his swimming shirt and new trunks, but trying to get him to sit still was almost impossible.  Jack was more than willing to pose and tried to help me with Ben, but these were as good as I could get:

He knows he's cute

Jack was trying hard, but Ben is on the move.

Nothing Exciting

Ben figured out how to climb on the train table.  Sam rewarded him by taking his picture.  He has a bib on because he is a drool monster these days.  I get tired of changing his shirt 3 and 4 times a day.  I guess he's getting another molar.  Yeh!

Ben looks like the joker after eating his spaghetti sauce with penne

Sam is camera happy.  Taking a pic of Jack coming out of the bathroom after spaghetti night.

Jack's Step stool

Ben likes to get Jack's stool out of the half bath and practice standing on it.  It makes me nervous, but he is always so proud of himself.  Today, I saw that he can successfully get down properly so I'm feeling a little better about it.  Overprotective?  Probably.

Proud - just a little...

Giving it another go!

Gone Fishin'

Granny and Grandpa Eugene came in for Jack's birthday party. Grandpa Eugene made a fishing pole for Jack (who has been wanting to learn to fish for a while) and took him to the small lake in our neighborhood. Yes, I was thrilled to take a million pictures since this was Jack's first experience with fishing. He caught 10 fish on Friday night and 10 fish on Saturday morning. He even caught an 8 inch catfish. He absolutely LOVED it! Here are the thousands of pictures:


Walking to the lake with his fishin' pole.
Holding Grandpa Eugene's hand down the slope.

Our little neighborhood lake. Apparently it's filled with fish.

Puttin' on the worms.

Grandpa Eugene said he showed Jack how to cast the line once and he did it all by himself the rest of the time.

Fishy, fishy.

Handsome.

Concentrating; I think he had a bite here.

This is my absolute favorite fishing picture.

A video of Jack casting and then catching a fish. One day I'll get a new camera and have good video quality.

More Sleeping

Sam has been into taking pictures of the boys sleeping. I think it's because he's been getting home late and doesn't get as much time with them. Jack looks normal but Ben has his Lamb held hostage between his knees. Both are precious.

Swimming (sort of)

Mom was sweet and bought the boys a pool while we were in Kentucky. It was so hot and the pool was tiny, but the boys loved it. Give 'em some water and cups, ladles, a few plastic toys and they are good to go.


I LOVE this picture. Ben looks so tough and big boy. Jack looks so mature.
Ben and all his gorgeous glory. He kills me. So chunky, so lovey and sweet.

Jack is such the poser now. Loves to pose for the camera. This is totally posed. He cracks me up.

Hangin' out.

Too cute.

The toy truck is almost as big as the pool.

This is great of Jack. He's so grown up.