Preschool Graduate

 Irene had her last day of preschool on Friday. They had a little graduation ceremony. Each child had a cap and received a diploma from the teacher and a flower from the principal. After the ceremony they had a party in their room with cupcakes and juice.

 This was our first year doing preschool in Lowell and it was our first time using the public school preschool. I was very impressed with the teacher and the curriculum. I feel like Irene learned a lot. Of course, I do miss Mrs. Wagner from our old school in Manistee. As a family we spent two years with her and loved her and her devotion to the kids. She was a huge support to us. Still, we had a good experience with the preschool program here.

 Irene is now ready for Kindergarten. We don't know who her teacher will be next fall. I am hoping it will not be the teacher Henry has since it was not a good experience. Henry will be in 1st grade and will be going to the same school. That means I'll drop them both off in the morning. I look forward to it and at the same time I am shocked by how old they have gotten! It seems to me like they are both my little babies.

 Henry still has two more weeks of school. Then we will have summer break. I am trying to find some summer activities or groups for them to join. It will be nice to have a break from running to the school every day.

Here is a picture of Irene with her teacher Ms. Rhonda. Ms. Rhonda was a great teacher and loved by Irene.

Lego Excitement

On Wednesday night Mark had made a quick run to the store. I was in the midst of a bad headache and was waiting for the kids to fall asleep so I could get some rest. Just as Mark was pulling into the driveway, Gavin started crying and came to me saying that his nose hurt. I asked if he had hit it on something. Nope. Was there a boogie that needed to come out? Nope. What could be wrong with it?

Lego.

Lego?

Yup, Lego.

Turns out the little guy decided to shove a small, round lego up his nose. We tried getting it out with tweezers but it was so far in there that it couldn't be reached. That meant we were in for a trip to the E.R.

Grandma was called. Aunt Beth came over to wait until Grandma arrived so that we could leave. The drive to the hospital is 20-25 minutes if there is no traffic or delays. We got there at 9:30pm. Thankfully, the children's hospital offers free valet parking.

The waiting room was rather busy for a Wednesday night. We finally got into a room after 10pm. Very nice doctor and nurse. The lego was easily extracted with no tears from Gavin. Lots of laughs were had by all. We made it home by 11:30pm

Gavin passed out in our bed after all that Lego fun.

Legos are not my favorite toy. They are a pain whether you are stepping on them or sticking them in your nose. Still, they do make for a funny story. 

Bicycles!

The section of town that Mark's parents live in have a weekend yard sale once a year. Everyone in the area knows about it and they get a lot of traffic through there. This year, since we are living down here, we added some of our stuff to the sale. We decided that any money we made would go toward buying the children bicycles.

Thankfully, we made $250 at the sale!! Henry and Irene each picked out the bike they wanted from Meijer. The bikes each cost $54. Not bad! We had a harder time finding a tricycle for Gavin. Meijer had some plastic fold-up ones but they cost almost as much as the bikes and I was not willing to spend that much on a crappy trike. We finally found a metal one at another Meijer store in a different town.

All the kids got helmets and Irene got a basket and bell for her bike. They've been doing really well on them. Henry is a speed demon and Irene is very careful. Gavin can peddle and does it well, but he gets mad because he can't keep up with the other two.

They've been having a lot of fun with the bikes and I am happy that we were able to get them. Thank goodness for yard sales and cleaning out unwanted stuff!  

The Wonder of Wilf

There is a blog that I read every day. I can't remember when I started reading it, but it has been for quite some time. I can't explain why I love this blog so much. I just do.

Yesterday, the wonderful Wilf passed away.

I shall miss that fluffy little polar bear. He brought me a daily dose of wonder. Sometimes funny, sometimes sweet, sometimes sad, but always with love.

Wilf the PON discovers France