Drew is 5!

The day before Drew's 5th birthday he woke up and asked, "Can we celebrate the last day of me being 4?" Sure, I said. This was followed up with, "And the day after my birthday can we celebrate me being 5 and one day?" Course we can.

...and that is what life with Drew seems to be like these days. He is the funniest kid I know or have ever known for that matter (and I've known quite a few). He is quick with one liners (just like his daddy) and scary smart (again like his daddy), yet he can also be the most loving, sensitive little boy (like his mommy).

So on Sunday night (the day before Drew's birthday) we had dinner at the Mahnen's and sang to Drew the ever popular "Happy Last Day of Being 4" song.



And then he got to open this super cool Stormtrooper helmet!



Today he requested a cinnamon roll for his birthday breakfast...on the special plate of course.


I love to watch him make a wish, and then blow...






I also asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner and he replied "a cookie dough ice cream cake". I asked if those are even made and he replied, "guess we'll find out!"

Drew headed out to school wearing his 5th birthday shirt. So Drew!



I love that Pete tries his darnedest to make the kids birthday celebrations at school. I am fortunate that I am in both kids classrooms quite often so to see me is no big deal. But when Pete shows up in a classroom the kids get way excited! Here we are celebrating in Drew's classroom this morning.

Drew realizing that Daddy had come along to celebrate his special day at school...


We were early so we got to see Drew in action as the class leader.




He chose to bring in a cookie cake as his special treat.


Posing with a mouthful of chocolate chips :)




Drew will celebrate his birthday with a friends party after we get back from Disney in October, so for today we took him and his best bud Jack to Blackbeard's Cove. It is amazing how much fun can be had in one hour with $20 worth of tokens. The boys played game after game after game. And took in a game of mini-golf (1.5 holes for Drew and 3 holes for Jack).










Once Izzy got out of school Drew was able to open his presents from us. Izzy was so cute and made him a treasure map to find where she hid all the gifts. It was such a hit that Drew has already requested a treasure hunt to find his gifts next year.







He got all sorts of loot: Smurf figurines, Batman characters, Lego Watch and a 3DS! Mom scored by heading to a garage sale early the day before his birthday to get ds games for $5-$10. This was quite a find since the games he wanted were $30 used at Gamestop.

For dinner he requested dinosaur nuggets and mac-n-cheese. Pete and I both prefer Izzy's dinner requests of steak :)


And for dinner - a cookie dough ice cream cake made by me! Once I realized how hard it would be to find one, and then how expensive it would be, I decided to whip one up on my own. I even added the crunchy fudge layer!








It was so good that he has already requested that I make one for his next birthday!

Phone Dump

Have you seen how other blogs do "Friday Phone Dumps" or something along those lines? Well this isn't exactly that, but it is a dump of some pictures I had on my phone.

As not to forget any fun moments, here they are :)

Last weekend we went to Blackbeard's Cove - a favorite of the kids. We had a "living social" coupon that was going to expire so we needed to use it. I will always think of Blackbeard's Cove as the location we went to shortly after moving to Mt. Pleasant to have some fun family time when the kids were missing their G'boro friends. To this day it is still a family fun top pick!

Go-Karts


Rockwall






Arcade Games



I have found a new online love called Pinterest. If you aren't familiar with it then you need to check it out...AMAZING! A fun, easy, Halloween craft that I found (and might do with Drew's class) was this...not quite finished yet but you get the idea.


I have been very pleasantly surprised by the interest Drew is taking in school/academics this year. One evening he asked to write his own "ABC" book. Soon after he began, Izzy also started one. On each page Drew wrote a letter from the alphabet and then a picture to go with it. On each page he also drew himself a smiley face...except on the letter "f" page because that page had a picture of "fail".


A couple days later Drew asked me to print up a book off pbskids.org that he "wrote" so he could color the pictures. I got a kick out of it when he decided to add a picture of himself to each page in a "where's Waldo" fashion. His coloring has gotten so much better as has his ability to draw a person. Drew was very late to take an interest in doodling and it is only recently that he has started drawing people. What I love most is that his people always have huge smiles (and big bubble hands).


Izzy had a playmate one day last week and this is what I discovered shortly after her friend left. Pete joked that while he is happy she is able to spell, he hadn't budgeted for a shotgun quite so early :)


And finally, I love that Izzy gets to spend some quality time with her daddy playing sports. Statistics "tell us" that a strong father/daughter relationship is invaluable...

...that Pete is something awesome and a great example for both his kiddos.

And there you have it. Recent photos from my phone.

Drew's Cavities

Poor Drew has awful teeth just like his mama. The dentist kindly coined him as having "groovy" teeth. His grooves are so deep that it would be virtually impossible for him not get cavities. Yesterday I took Drew to have those cavities filled. Initially I was most worried about what I would do with Drew between 6:30 am when I woke him up to get Izzy to school and his 9 am appointment. He wasn't allowed to eat/drink anything and this is a kid who wakes up and immediately eats.

All went smoothly until 9 am. You see, I wasn't aware that the "twilight sleep" meds Drew needed to drink were a "you got one chance to drink it and only only one chance". Drew hates anything fruity smelling or tasting - Izzy isn't even allowed to eat gummies or go-gurts around him - and the meds were both. I tried to use a syringe and get it in his mouth but he spit it out. It was at this time the hygienist told me that she couldn't make up another dose. Well oh crap! If I would have known these meds were liquid gold then I would have tried much harder to get him to take them! I would have held him down and sat on him for crying out loud!

The twilight meds were not only to make Drew woozy for the procedure, but to make him unaware of what happened hence having no recollection of the needles, drills, fillings. Well I knew I was in trouble cause the boy didn't even drink the pink drink!

Once we were home and he was in the tub (cleaning off all the sticky pink medicine) I asked him if he remembered what happened after the girl took him from me. I said, "Did you go sit in a chair?" He said, "I sat on a board. And then they strapped me to it. I didn't like being strapped to the board."

...do you think therapy will be in his future?

1st Grade Sass Rap

So 'lil Miss Thang is all full of her 1st grade self. In fact today she came home, called her bestie Averie on the phone and then disappeared into her room to talk. She only got off the phone when she heard that Rylie wanted to Skype. Where has my little girl gone??? And then after homework, dinner and her bath she needed to talk to Averie one last time to discuss outfits for school tomorrow. Ah, the life of a first grader...

This is what we've got going on in the house these days. She is as cute as a button, sassy as can be (in a good way most of the time), and rocking first grade!

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Adjusting to School - Drew

Jack W, is Drew's best bud. Jack wasn't at school today and I was fearful how Drew would handle the situation (he didn't know Jack wouldn't be there). I am happy to say that when I asked Drew how his day was, he said, "I had a great day even without Jack!" I said that I bet it gave him a chance to play with some of the other kids in the class and he said, "Yup, it did. And a boy name Rylan even wants to have a playdate with me. He wants to come to our house, but is allergic to dogs so we will have to put Chloe in her cage."

Also, in Drew's folder today was an invitation to Evan's birthday party. I asked Drew if he liked Evan and he said, "Not really. Well, I don't really know him so well. So I would like to go to his party to get to know him better." While this might sound a bit "mean" to read it was in no way stated by Drew in such a manner. In fact it made me smile. Drew has had SUCHa hard time adjusting to school. The first 3 weeks of this year have been SO much better than last year.

Today was a big step forward for Drew. He survived school for the first time without his best bud by his side. Big plus! AND he wants to go to the birthday party of a boy he barely knows. Bigger plus! The boy is stepping out of his comfort zone and while it makes me sad that he is willing parting from my side, I know that this is a huge step forward and major developmental milestone for my little man.

He is also special helper at school. This means he also got to hold the flag and lead the blessing.

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I'm Back and Ready to Roll!

I've got me a new phone, a new computer and a new attitude!

Getting ready to go on a posting frenzy with all the free time and updated fast techno gadgets I've got.

But first, a quick update on the 'lil Miss. This past Friday marked her getting her first "full dosage" of meds. Aside from more of the same old: restless sleep, stomach aches, head aches...she is doing well. In fact when I met with her teacher yesterday she told me she believes Izzy is actually more alert since beginning her medication. I'm hoping the sleep, stomach, and head issues will subside as the meds begin to work over the next couple weeks. Thanks for all the thoughts, prayers, concern! I am happy to report that I think we are going to be just fine :)

Med Update

We began Izzy's meds on Friday night.

For one week she gets 2.5 ml's twice a day. After the first week her dosage will increase to 3.5 ml's twice a day.

So far the side affects have been:
*she is tired, but can't sleep. I have a 6 year old insomniac on my hands!
*has an upset stomach
*says "the room just spun around me" a couple times
*will mutter an inaudible statement randomly

She has had a very low key weekend. We purposely didn't make any major plans because we didn't know how she would react to the meds.

I am happy to report that so far (and it has only been 3 days) she is still the happy go lucky girl I love! My fear was that I would lose that sweet Izzy girl personality, but it is still there in full force!