I really have a Kindergartner?

It's hard to believe that 5 short years ago I was in a little hospital in Leavenworth, KS and my life suddenly changed.  She had such cute chunky cheeks and TONS of hair.

Well, her cheeks may not be as chunky (thank goodness), but she still has lots of hair.  Mary has truly blossomed into a caring, loving, beautiful daughter and big sister.  And today, that daughter started kindergarten.   Where have the years gone?

A Quick Trip to NC

This weekend, we headed to the beautiful mountain country of Franklin, NC to visit my parents before school starts.  I am constantly amazed at how well the children travel.  It was an 8 hour drive and we made it in 1 pit stop and 1 lunch break.  Of course, stopping for lunch where they have a playground for the kids certainly helps relieve a case of the wiggles.  Another wise investment before this trip was a pair of headphones for each kid.  It made movie time much quieter for the adults.  Ahhhhhh.

We had a last minute surprise visit by my older brother, Carl.  Last time we saw him Mary was 9 or 10 months old!  That's over 4 years.  Carl got to meet Adam for the first time.  Last year was the first time I had seen my oldest brother, Bill, in around 8 years.  I can't remember the last time all 3 of us were in the same place at the same time.  Hmm, maybe one day.

Mom and Dad took us panning for gems.  I'll admit, I've always wanted to do this ever since I heard that Franklin is the gem capital of the world.  It was great fun.  I think the only downside is that we found so many, I never have a reason to go back and do it again.

Someone loved the muddy water.

We made out with about 10 lbs. of gems.  Garnets, rubies, an aquamarine, topaz, quartz, rose quartz, fool's gold, kyanite, amethysts and even an arrowhead!  The gem man called the arrowhead the "crackerjack prize".  I think all these gems were the prize.  Mom and Dad are going to get me an estimate on making the aquamarine into a pendant.  Mom picked out some stones for herself and Mary got a handful of the bigger ones to carry around in a bag to call her own.  

On Monday, we packed a picnic and headed out to a creek for some fun splish splashing fun.  The water was cold, the scenery beautiful and the rocks plentiful.  Adam was super happy with a bucket, a shovel and the rocks.  

My favorite picture of my parents.

*  My parents have 2 cats.  Mary told me, "Grandpa said they used to be boys, but now they're girls." Bahahaha!  

**Thanks again for a wonderful visit.

***Oh, the return trip wasn't so easy, but I won't bore you with the details.  Doug thinks I'm a terrible driver and Mary can successfully vomit into a Ziploc bag as we're driving on curvy mountains and Adam cannot. The good thing is we made it back.  Now, time to go shampoo the inside of the car...

Tax Free, Stress Free, Oodles of Fun!

Whew!  This was a busy weekend.  We started off with a birthday party on Saturday for a friend from Mary's class.  It was crazy chaos at Fire Station #3 with about 15 5 yr olds and younger.  One of my favorite parts of the tour was when Firefighter Jeff asked the kids what 3 special numbers do you call when there's an emergency and a little boy yelled, "666!"  LOL!  Then Firefighter Jeff told the kids to call 911 whenever there is an emergency like "something wrong with your mommy or daddy or you fall down..."  I immediately looked at Mary and said, "Don't you dare call 911 if you fall down."  Thank goodness Adam stayed home with Doug.  If he had heard that, he would be calling 2-3 times a day!

Mommy fail:  Accidentally snapping the rubber band that holds the hat in place.  Little girl was NOT happy with me.  Luckily I snapped this picture first...and her second.



Today, I took the kids to the mall for their annual Tax Free kids weekend.  They offered 5 different bouncers, face painting, balloon animals and of course, presents galore. The kids walked away with free t-shirts, a pack of bracelets, a new backpack (for Adam), a toy car and a plastic fish. I know it's a way to get the parents to the mall to spend money, but since I don't like being too stressed, I did my school shopping early.  I thought it was worth the few bucks I would have saved if I had waited for the tax free weekend.  Besides, we got to relax and play and not worry about trying on shoes.

Little man was a sweaty mess within minutes.

Both kids LOVED the gymnastics area.  The staff member showed Adam how to do a somersault down the wedge and he was hooked.  So was Mary.

Yes, we signed Mary up for gymnastics this week.  She'll start in September and she's so excited.

And is there a better end to all the excitement than face painting and balloons?  No, I thought not!

For the first time, she was excited about getting a big design on her face and wasn't scared at all.

 Oh wait!  There is a better end to this fun filled weekend...the kids going to bed at 7:45pm!  Ahhhhhh......