A fun, last-day-of-school activity!

Well, that year sure flew by! Another year come and gone! We now have a 4th grader and a 2nd grader. Yesterday, we did the obligatory before-school photos and told them we had a surprise activity for them after they got out (early dismissal).

 Look how much they've grown!

After they got home, we ate some quick lunch and headed to City Island for our first-ever ride on the Pride of the Susquehanna. It was SUCH a gorgeous day...like 70 degrees, dreary at first but then turned beautifully sunny when we boarded, and breezy. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!

Of course there was a snack shop on board, so you KNOW my kids were excited about that. They each got some candy, which really made the trip even more special for them (EASY TO PLEASE!).

Here's to a fun summer!

Spring school pictures

Fall school pictures

First grade and third grade. I just love this year's pictures -- and these sweet kiddos!

Bacterial pneumonia for Carter

We had a health scare with Carter last week. Thankfully, we are on the upswing and he's doing great. He had been complaining of belly/chest (sort of in between) pain, back pain, and being tired for a few days. We actually took him to urgent care on Labor Day when he came down with a fever while at my parent's house for the day. He was so miserable and lethargic that day and kept falling asleep everywhere. Urgent care called it viral (in other words, they did nothing and gave us that as a diagnosis to send us on our way.) He missed school on Tuesday but went back on Wednesday. He seemed okay on Wednesday except still that occasional back pain comment. Then, on Thursday, I got a call from his after-school program that he was in severe pain and was laying on the floor, complaining about belly and back pain. Seth got there as fast as he could and I left work immediately.

As soon as I saw him, I knew he was sick. I took his temperature and it was only 99.5. But he was really crying and in pain. I called his pediatrician who clearly didn't feel the need to squeeze us in that night. They suggested that with the back pain, we "put a heat pad on it." I was livid at their lack of concern because, by that time, his fever was up to 101. Within 1.5 hours of getting home, his fever was 103.5 and I told Seth I was heading to the emergency room. He COULD NOT stay awake -- he fell asleep on the 10 minute drive to the hospital, and was out cold in the lobby of the ER. Thankfully, because he was pediatric and looked so pitiful they moved us through the registration and triage quickly. 

We pretty quickly got put into a room and the doctor came in within just a few minutes. I was immediately glad I decided to bring him to the ER because the doctor began ordering fluids, meds, tests, etc. We had actually suspected it was his appendix, but she requested chest x-rays and an abdominal ultrasound as well. He fell asleep so quickly when he got into the bed and got tons of blankets to keep warm. He was even so brave when they took blood and placed a pic line. But the poor boy was so miserable! 

We were there for about four hours, and for a section of about 1.5 hours, we did not see anyone or hear any results. He fell sound asleep once the meds kicked in and the fluid was pumping into him. But waking him up for a urine sample was interesting. He was in a full, deep sleep and he was hard to rouse. When I was able to rouse him, he flipped out and tried to rip out his IV and was screaming and delirious. The nurses were looking a little panicked and were discussing admitting us but I was able to convince them that this is just what happens with him when you try and wake him!! 

Welllll, once I got him awake, he got the FULL sillies. He was deliriously happy and out of it. He farted and laughed with tears running down his face for like 30 minutes (which then had me rolling with laughter, too). He said he was starving so I went and found a vending machine and got him a few snacks. It was so hilarious to watch him laugh at things. The doctor came in and said he had a clear case of bacterial pneumonia but his appendix was totally fine. So....I guess the good news is no surgery! Bad news is a brief break from soccer and some meds to take care of it. As of today, he is doing so much better already. 

First day of school

Wow, summer went FAST! Today was the first day of school for my babies (I can always call them that, right??). Addison is off to first grade and Carter is off to third...and in the SAME elementary school for the one single year. 

Praying they have a wonderful year!

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!

Wow, that year went FAST! Carter completed his second year of second grade, and Addison completed kindergarten. Both had awesome years! Carter is excelling at math and science, but also had great grades in reading, too. Addison learned to read, and is doing amazing at writing and math.

Because I love a good comparison shot, here are the kids on the first days and last days of this year. 

Memorial Day flashback!

2018 // 2015

Happy 8th, Carter!

8. years. old. It's hard to believe because I'm pretty sure it was just yesterday I was arguing with a resident about whether or not I was "actually" in labor. This little boy brings immense joy to our family and I am so thankful that the Lord entrusted him to us. His love language is cinnamon rolls so we started off the day appropriately. He opened his gifts, which included a new Catan game (much! excitement!).

His choice of activity for the day was bowling, which was fun for our family to do. We also gave him the option to pick the dinner location and he picked....where else?!? ISAAC'S! His fav! (This cracks me up so much...he's like an old man there, getting pickles and salad.)

Then the next Saturday, we headed out for his "birthday party" which was a day out at Hersheypark with three friends. Boy did we have fun (and boy were we tired!). Five kids 8 and under sure keeps you on your toes. The day was mostly nice but we got hit with some serious downpours throughout the afternoon. That just made it more fun according to the guys. :) We had pizza, played lots of games, rode many rides with NO lines due to the aforementioned rain, and closed out the park. 

We love you so much, Carter! You are growing up to be such an empathetic, kind, happy son and friend. You bring so much joy to everyone you meet.

Carter's school open house

Carter has been loving second grade, and recently, we had a chance to go to his classroom open house to see some of the projects he's been working on. Each day, students get an hour to do research and work on a project with a topic of their choosing. They are working on sentence structure, how to research, handwriting, etc. during this time. Carter LOVES these projects -- he's done one on bears, too. This one was on alligators (sweetly spelled "alligaters" throughout).

Since it was during the Olympics, they were also each assigned a country to research. He was assigned Norway.

I thought his whole research paper on Norway was so cute. He did a great job! I also loved his self-portrait, complete with mint chocolate chip ice cream. YEP -- sounds about right. So proud of my sweet boy! 

Trail Life Pine Car Derby race

One of the favorite events of Trail Life is the Pine Car Derby race, which is in January each year. It's always a little chaotic for us, prepping the car for this race in the post-holiday madness. But this year, Seth and Carter took some time to really work on the car together whenever they were able. We opted for a mouse trap theme this year, thanks to cousin Logan's inspiration from his race last year.

Carter's car did ok speed-wise, but wasn't in the top of the pack to continue on. Thankfully, he is pretty chill about stuff like this. He had a lot of fun with his troop mates!

BUT - when it came time for two of the awards for best look, Carter's car won! He was definitely very excited for this. Who knows what we'll come up with next year to top this one!? :)