Still cool?

 

Remote control…just in case?-check

Squeaker shoes?-check

Awesome hat bent way out of sorts?-check

Still coolest kid on the block?-check

Kiddie Tri in the ‘Hood 2012

Our ‘Hood just never disappoints when it comes to getting together for fun family oriented activities.  This year marked the 3rd year we participated in the Kiddie Tri our dear friends help organize and put on here in the neighborhood.   The kids just have the best time, and it is always a blast to watch them try their hardest to make it to the end.

Most of the crew getting ready at the starting point for the running portion of the race.

This year Ana designed the logo for the t-shirts.  Super cute!

Kaelan and Darian plotting something.

So, here is how it went down.  The week before the tri, Kaelan attended Camp Agape.  She spent her days there doing every physical activity known to man, and then came home and played, had horse-back riding lessons, swam some more, played, played, played…..By Wednesday, she started complaining about a pain in her abdomen.     She had no real symptoms of anything, so when she told me it had gone away and she felt fine, I let her go to camp on Thursday with a promise that she would take it easy.   Right…………

Well, guess what?   She didn’t, and when I picked her up from camp on Thursday, I saw her clutching her side as she headed into closing ceremonies for he day.   Long story short, we were in urgent care that night and the doctor was certain it was her appendix.    Not wanting to end  up in the situation we were in the day before Seth’s birth…..oh, the memories make me feel exhausted…….the doctor put her on overnight watch.   Any fever, nausea, changes in behavior, we were to bring her to the hospital immediately.   Otherwise, they would see her the next day for more tests and possible surgery.

She was fine that night.  Fine the next day, so she said, but I could see her favoring her side more and more.   Once I conveyed to her that there was no way she was going to camp no matter how hard she worked to convince me, she let the truth out that she was in real pain. 

I rushed  her to our pediatrician’s office prepared to be sent straight to the hospital.   However, good ol’ Dr. C gave us some good news.   Her appendix were swollen (as were most of her organs) because she was severally dehydrated.   Luckily, Dr. C remembered that most of those same symptoms were there last time (the day before Seth was born….did I mention that before?  I just want to make sure you know how awful and stressful having one kid in the hospital while the other is pushing their way out of your uterus can be).   Cut to later, after we pumped the gal up with fluids,  all was better.  

Word to the wise:   Kids do not stop and drink like they are supposed to.   I recommend an iv line during the  summer months.   They can just stay active and get their fluids all at once.   Okay, I am joking.   But seriously, I learned just sending the drinks and having camp counselors make the kids take mandatory drink breaks wasn’t enough.

So, back to the kid tri.   That is the title of this post.

I really felt it best for Kaelan to sit it out this year, but she begged and I caved.   The only condition was she had to be completely honest about her side pain.  If it came back, or she felt ill, we would stop.   I threatened her a bit and reminded her to be completely HONEST……you know, the whole “Jesus is listening” kind of honest.

About half way through the running portion of the race, Kaelan stumbled a bit and grabbed her side.   “Kaelan??????” I called to her with eyebrows raised.   “Are you in pain?  Remember be HONEST!!!”.   Before I could pull the Jesus card, she stopped dead in her tracks and told me she was done.  

She finished the running portion on my back, and we skipped out on the biking part.  We headed straight for the pool and drank some water and Gatorade while we cheered our friends coming into the pool for the final portion of the race, a lap around the pool.    It was just as fun as participating, if not more.

Kaelan felt better and was able to join her buddies in swimming.  Some of the kids thought she was THAT fast and made it to the pool so far ahead of them because she was a stud.  Really, she was a stud for making the right choice and being a good sport about sitting this one out. 

Plus, she got to swim AND got a chocolate medal and that beats being hooked up to iv or getting your guts ripped out by a surgeon any day.

Kiddie Tri 2012= Success!

 

The End of May

Yes, these are random pictures depicting the end of May.   Just a few snapshots from a busy couple of weeks.   Kaelan ran a few races around this time.  She did a super good job at the Deutschen Pfest.   Darian tagged along to do  the Kid K.   Kaelan promised him a medal if he would do it with her.   They both got trophies which was just as pleasing!   I trained with a  few gals for this race, so I stayed with them and then turned back at the finish line to go back and run to the end with the last few.   They did such an awesome job.   I just love seeing people get turned on to running.

 

Lots of field trips and events during May as well.  

Of course, the big celebration took place near the end of the May.   Kaelan graduated from the BIG K.   Private school ceremonies are a little different from public.   It was a bit more formal.  Kaelan received several awards that day.  She made us especially proud when she was awarded the Honorary Rachel’s Challenge for Outstanding Compassion and Care for Others Award.   Basically, the school signed on to do Rachel’s Challenge this year, and Kaelan was the only recipient for the award out of all students at BCS.   Really huge!   All the academic accolades she received made us beam, but this type of recognition is what parents pray for when they hope to heavens they aren’t screwing up on parenting.  

There were some sad goodbyes in May.   Kaelan had to say goodbye to friends and teachers not just for summer this year.   More on that later.  Seth had to hug his favorite buddy, Kylie for the last time.  Kylie and Seth are in the “younger siblings club” at BCS.  Basically, their club would meet every morning at drop off and every afternoon at pick up.   He is going to miss that gal.

One of my dear friends from high school lives here in Austin, so we do our best to get together from time to time.  We spent some time with their family and Kaelan did some catching up with her old pal, Daniel.  Man, time flies. 

And that was a quick recap of the last few weeks of May for you folks. 

I had the pictures and I had to do something with them.

A Dose of Cute

 

Just because they are so cute……..

….I make them wear ridiculous matching outfits and pose for pictures.

I’m so mean.

Rebirth of a Soccer Player

Kaelan finished off another soccer season.  This time around, there was such a vast difference over seasons past.   My girl was a competitive and skilled little ball player. She really played soccer.

I am sure this sounds just terrible, but the last several seasons she played were enjoyable for her….she spent time with her friends, goofed off with her teammates, picked flowers and spent a great deal of time making sad pouty faces every time the other team scored a goal. 

She loved soccer.  We loved watching her play soccer, but after a certain amount of time it became somewhat boring to sit and watch our kid get hammered by opposing teams who were out there to win.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love watching kids have fun.  I love kiddie sports where there is no score keeping and everyone gets a medal.   I think that kind of stuff is important for emergent athletes.   However, after 3 years of that, it was getting harder and harder to smile and say, “Good try!   That’s okay if you got the ball stolen from you for the 18th time!   You’ll get it next time!”, with a believable face.

The truth is, Kaelan got bored with it, too.   She didn’t want to play last season.  She told us it wasn’t fun anymore.   We obliged and encouraged her to try other extra curricular activities.  She took ice skating, dance, horseback riding, cooking, art, volleyball……eventually she asked about soccer again.   We agreed that if she wanted to give it a go again, we were fine with that, but the agreement was she had to finish the season.  NO quitting.

We gritted our teeth and hoped for the best.   This would be a fresh start.  No friends on the team.   No friend’s dad for a coach.   She had always played on older teams (to be with friends), but now she would be with her age group in a competitive league.   Would she be able to hack it, or would she get hit in the head with a ball while picking flowers?

She did it, folks.   She not only played, she wowed us.   The stifling of my competitive nature all these years nearly killed me, so that first game when she got out there and kicked some tail, I found myself jumping out of my soccer mom chair and screaming with delight!

Oh, Happy Day!  Oh, Happy Day!  Praise the Lord!   My girl knows how to play DEFENSE!!

We all found ourselves loving the game.  Loving the season.  Loving the coach.   It was a fabulous season.   I think she will want to continue her soccer career.  I hope she does, but I can suppress   that strong  urge to push her towards sports and support her in whatever endeavor she chooses.   I really can.  It is awesome to see your kids succeed in whatever makes them happy.  

So, whether it be on the soccer field next year, or a tuba recital.  I will be the crazy lady knocking over her chair to jump up and yell for my kid.  

You might want to avoid sitting next to me.

Coach B and the team huddle.

 

Dumping Gatorade on Coach B after the last game.

Post game ice cream and awards.

Sidekicks Rock!!!!

Bonks and Bananas

There is a definite routine in the life of the Boy.  It goes a little something like this:

1.  Wake up (With a great big smile)

2. Chow on Breakfast (Bananas being the first course)

3. Attend morning activities such as play group/music/gym/Spanish class

4.  Fall down on tile/pavement/cement or stairs at least 5 times by this point in the day.

5.  Lunch (Banana/peanut butter sandwiches being the top choice)

6.  At least 2 big head bonks on the dining room table before nap.

7.  NAP

8.  After nap play with Sister or friends where at least 3-4 head bonks or tumbles take place.

9.  Snack  (dehydrated bananas in the mix)

10.  Water play either in the pool/splash park/sprinkler and a couple of body or head bonks along the way.

11.   Dinner (Banana pudding for dessert)

12.  Family play (which usually means a little daddy wrestling and someone ending up getting their head bonked)

13.  Bath  (no bonks here.   we still strap him into the bath seat……this, after his last big head bonking incident when he stood up and fell in the tub.)

14.   Books/Bed- We have only had a few accidents where books were thrown in the air and left a nice mark on his forehead.

15.  Sleep-The only time my boy is not in danger of a head injury.

 

The boy is all smiles, but notice the nice set of bumps on his forehead.  Never push a tricycle  down the driveway while looking up at airplanes.

 

These bruises were the result of chasing a girl in the parking lot.   It came with  cuts over his eye and a busted lip.

He didn’t even get the girls number.

This bruise is a little hard to see, but it is right in the middle of his head.   He literally ran right into a glass door at 67 MPH. 

The good news?  There were no cops with radar guns in the area that day, meaning no ticket for speeding.

The Bad news?  He is terrified of the building this incident took place, and may possibly never enter a library again.

His sister thinks we should have him wear a helmet at all times.  WE laughed this off the first time she mentioned it, but as time passes, it is starting to seem like a viable option.

Or, to provide the ultimate level of safety, we could strap him in the high chair, WITH a helmet, and feed him bananas all day……..hmmmmm……bananas are cheaper than emergency room hospital  visits.

Oh How Sweet The Berries!

We are repeat offenders at Sweet Berry Farm.  Every year, we make our way out there to enjoy the picking, the petting, the popsicles, and the pie.  In fact, it is such an important part of our lives (the quality time together, not the pie), Dad took the day off work, and Kaelan played “hooker” from school so we could keep the tradition alive.

And don’t worry.  I made sure we cleared up that whole hooker/hooky slip-up.

 

This boy never met a strawberry he didn’t like.  He is ready to attack those fields.

Since it was a school day, many of our usual crowd could not make it.  However, we did meet some of our friends there, and enjoyed getting to spend the day with them.

 

Kaelan and Bryce pick away.

Kaelan with some of her loot.

Daddy and Seth went off into the fields to pick, and when they came back, there was evidence of foul play. 

We probably should have weighed the kid instead of our basket.

 

After picking, we enjoyed a wonderful picnic lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around farm feeding and petting the animals and eating a fresh strawberry popsicle or five (just me). 

We couldn’t leave Marble Falls without making the traditional stop at the Bluebonnet Café and eating some amazing pie. 

  

The drive is breathtaking at times.  All those wonderful wildflowers, streaming a rainbow along the highway. 

Here’s to you, Sweet Berry Farms!  

A place where families can grow traditions, and grown men and school-aged children can live like truants!