Let's start with a sibling super hero video :)
We went to Memere's house for several days in April because it overlapped with the Masters (see a previous blog post) and Grace/Aunt Cindy's birthdays. One of the days we went to explore the new kids area at Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens...it was a BLAST!
Tadpole Pond: kids get to hop around on the different rocks and look at the tadpoles. So cool! I was SURE Grace was going to miss a rock and land in the water taking the life of innocent tadpoles...but we were good!
Last year my mom let Grace do the rock climbing wall and now Grace is really into climbing. She was able to do the wall again.
Digging area...it wasn't sand, it was some other digging material...I can't remember now. It was awesome, though!
Who doesn't want to live there??
Grace and Wesley began sharing a room this month. Yeah. I was kind of nervous about it but they have done better in the same room than when they were in separate rooms. My mom and aunt Cindy helped with the decor, as always which really got the kids excited about a shared space. Then, one evening I just decided to go for it. I asked if they were ready and they seemed excited, so we laid the ground rules. I was kind of strict about it...very firm when talking about sharing a room for the fear factor, right? haha. I talked about some rules like staying in bed when their moon night light was on and that they could get out when the sun timer came on (you can set the time for the timer). We also talked about scenarios such as one waking up before the other and how to be respectful of their sleep time. Each child got to choose a few books and one toy to have at the end of the bed for times when they are waiting for their sun to turn on. And just like that...it was magic! The kids had a great first several nights and then one morning they were both in the living room playing with toys at 5:30 a.m.....yikes! I made them go back to bed and honestly we haven't had an issue since...I think they were just confused or something...who knows. I am grateful they have done so well!! After that one early morning, I did bring out the magnet reward chart. The rule is, if you stay in bed until the sun light comes on, you get to put a magnet on the chart. When you fill up a row, we celebrate! That could be letting them have ice cream for their snack at home, or a tv show...nothing big. Wesley came out of his room one morning before the sun came on and he did not get a magnet...you would have thought I took his favorite toy! He was so sad, and that's how I knew the magnet system would continue to work for us because he's been staying in his room each morning since.
Our little lady isn't so little anymore...this is Grace at kindergarten orientation! She was nervous at first, but made friends right away like we knew she would. The kids got to go meet the teachers and do an activity in one of the classrooms while the parents had a Q and A session with the administration. I currently work part-time where she will be going to school next year and am grateful to know the staff. She will be in great hands!
After the session with all the teachers, the kids got to learn about bus safety and ride a school bus around the parking lot. I thought that was SUCH a cool idea and the kids loved it!
Skippy's hot dogs is a local restaurant in downtown Winston-Salem. The owner has been diagnosed with cancer and announced he would have to shut down his restaurant to undergo chemotherapy and other treatments. Other local business owners heard about this and all teamed up together to do a fundraiser. Over 10 days, different restaurants staffed Skippy's hot dogs (the owner is in the hospital now) and made hot dogs for people to come and eat. The fundraiser raised over $100,000! We were happy to play a small part in supporting the restaurant and owner, Mike.
Wesley's class picture...haha, you just can't help but smile!
Grace's 4 year old class picture...I guess we raised some hams for a camera!
Since the kids have been sharing rooms, I do make Wesley nap in the other room during nap time. I have been waking him up after a two hour nap so that he will go to bed on time...but the struggle to wake up is REAL, y'all! :)
A boy and his dog.
"I have some gobbles, pease?" Wesley knows sissy has some goggles, but he asked for some when we were at Target and I figured, sure. I mean, look at that cute face!
Shaving cream sight word time! (You)
Watch out, folks!
Watch out for real now...Wesley's first time!
Not only do you get no privacy in the bathroom as a mom..but you DO get some kicks and giggles out of what big sisters will do to little brothers. Haha.
Morning walk with the dogs
Wesley, Hannah, Grace, and Maddie having a PJ Masks TV break. Rachel (their mom) is a good friend of mine and sometimes picks the kids up from pre-school if I have an all day training session or something going on at work. Wesley and Grace love her so much! One day Wesley was confused about Rachel picking them up and when I showed up, the tear works started. "I go home with Rachel!!!" Bless.
Jimmy took Grace to a golf lesson one morning, so Wesley and I met Kate and Blake at the Children's Home strawberry patch.
Homeboy looked like he was leaving a murder scene...guess I should have thought about that when I dressed him! The selection of strawberries was awesome!!!
I love getting pictures of Wesley from school :)
Daddy story time
Visiting daddy at work...this was a few days before he left for Ghana.
We had a super fun gender reveal party with our church fellowship group. Mary Ross offered to do a fun reveal for us and look at that! She created mini volcanoes and made a game out of it...we were to pour vinegar into the volcano and either pink or blue would come overflowing out. The color that overflowed the biggest number of times (3), would reveal our gender. We were surprised to find out that...
It's a girl!
Family photo!
Mary Ross (pictured on left) is the genius gender reveal planner! I had asked her weeks ago for an idea about a healthy option for the gender reveal instead of the traditional cupcakes and donuts and she said she would think of something, but it had to be a surprise to everyone. SO, we waited and found out with everyone at church group! Thank you so much!
Family Update
Wesley: This boy is such a sweetheart, but I think I've said that before. He loves his sister and can't wait to have a baby of his own in the house. Anytime we visit someone with a baby, he wants to sit and hold the baby...forever!! Wesley loves pizza, playing monsters with daddy and sissy, and will soon be a big brother! I can't believe he won't be the baby anymore.
Grace: Now that our lady is 5, she believes she is invincible. All of sudden she can do things she couldn't before, "because I'm 5, mommy". She will finish her 4 year old pre-school class in May and begin kindergarten in August!
Kristen: I graduate this month from graduate school!! I just began my last internship (8 weeks) block and will finish that in June. I can't believe it's almost over...so glad, though. I will not plan to pursue a full-time position in the school system next year; I'll table that for a bit. It doesn't make much sense for me to take a full-time position, have a newborn and go on maternity leave, and then to return...especially since Grace starts kindergarten...just a busy season of life and we will wait for the right timing. I will continue to work part-time in the school system and enjoy having work.
Jimmy: Jimmy just finished an OB rotation i.e.: making pregnant women love him, haha. He give epidurals to pregnant women who would like them when he's on OB to ease their pain. He even ended up delivering a baby. He has actually delivered some babies before...sometimes the babies have their own agenda! Pray for Jimmy as he will be going to Ghana for a work trip through the hospital. He'll be working with a hospital in Ghana to teach nurses and other medical staff about providing anesthesia and probably helping out in the operating rooms in general. Jimmy went in to medicine because of his interest in medical mission work. This isn't technically a mission trip, but I believe he will be spreading the gospel through the talents God has blessed him with. Pray for all of us while he is gone...it's going to be a long time, but we trust this trip will be good experience for Jimmy and that he will be so helpful while across the Atlantic!
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