Awesome Team!

I know you've heard me say it before, but I am so priveleged to not only serve with these people but to call them friends! We are anxiously awaiting our new year to begin in 2 weeks. As has become an annual tradition, we took over Mike and Kristen's home for the afternoon. Mike grilled, we all ate good food, some played badminton adn volleyball, some cooled off in the lake, some just took it all in and visited. With our largest turnout ever, we all had an amazing time. Lots of laughter, getting to know the newest members (who by the way are already fully initiated into our family!), and just enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon. Thanks Mike and Kristen for hosting us again! It was a highlight and a great way to bring us all together to get set for another year of serving the children of Atlantic Shores! For those of you not there, we missed ya'll!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

It's Official!!

His name is on the door, he has a backpack hook, a ladybug marks his table space, and of course their is a behavior chart, now on "greeen", with his name on it! And more than just that, our names were on a Parent handbook! We have joined "that crowd"...parents of a school-age child!!

We went to Open House at School tonight, and met Grayson's teacher and saw his new classroom. We are excited for Grayson for this new opportunity. He got a chance to talk to his teacher, and I'm glad to know her a little already. Grayson actually opened up and talked to her as she opened the bag of goodies that we had picked out to give to her. I heard her ask if he was excited about school, and his response was "Yes, but I'm a little nervous too". She smiled and told him everything was going to be great and that he would love it there.

Although I am excited about him being here and all the wonderful things he is going to learn and do, I am most anxious to see how he will react day after day. I see some resistance in my future, but praying that it will not come. My sensitive soul can be wounded very easily, and I am thankful to have seen a mild-mannered boy sitting beside him at his table. We have also seen this incredibly "perfectionist" side of Grayson coming out lately and I worry about meltdowns if something is not done as he feels like it should be. Before you say so, yes, I know where he gets that from. Mom, maybe you can give me some tips as to how you dealt with "perfectionist" children!! Please pray that Grayson will just flourish in this environment. He is going to love the academics, will be fine with the routine and structure, and is going to love all the "specials" of gym, music, art, etc. It is the socialization, shyness, and being so hard on himself that worries me most. Overall, we are all excited about this new adventure for Grayson and know that he is in a great place!! We're ready for Monday morning-no kleenexes necessary!!

Santa's List

Thanks to Craig and Heidi for their friendship, the playdates, the laughter, but mostly for this...

...this latest addition to his Santa's Wish List for Christmas this year!! We'll need a house with a garage first, please Santa!!

Is this a vision of 12 years down the road?! Two hands please, at 10 and 2!!

Jumpin' Jellybeans!!

My goal for this week was to squeeze some fun time in as I've been working and he heads off to 5-days a week of preschool next Monday. Monday his best friend Candace, our sitter, came over and played while I had my weekly meeting at church. He just loves Candace to pieces and is already asking when the next time is!! On Tuesday, I decided to try something new with Grayson. We love Kanagroo Jacs, but knew there were others in the area. Coupons were in the Tidewater Parent magazine for Jumpin' Jellybeans, so we decided to go and give it a try. I put the call out there for anyone who wanted to come and join us and so Heidi and Katy came with the kids and met us for the morning. Other than 1 family, we were the only ones there. Yes, it was a little more expensive, entrance fees and snacks, but we had an absolute blast!! Grayson has said that this one is now his new favorite. They just seemed to have more of a variety than Jacs. We lasted 3 hours plus and then it was time to head out as a bunch of much older children swarmed the place. What a fabulous time, even for me as I always don socks with Grayson for a few things!! Jumpin' Jellybeans for sure!!

Oh, those 2 boys tried everything to stick to that wall, but all the stickiness must be gone!!

What's Up Doc?!

Grayson is starting school, and that means a doctor physical/check-up. I got a fabulous recommendation from Natalie, but her wonderful pediatrician isn't accepting new patients. Katy gave hers a glowing recommendation so we booked him. All Grayson wanted to know if he was going to have to have a shot. The last time he had one, he was so sick with strept throat and it was a terrible experience. He hasn't had a "real" well-check in forever, so it was great to hear that he is perfect in every way! 42 inches (tall for his age), 37 pounds (a little on the skinny side, but okay), teeth that were pegged as a thumsucker's that a orthodontist is going to love one day, and 20-30 vision. I got a little giggle watching him do the vision test. One of the pictures he didn't know, not because he couldn't see, but he didn't know what to call it. He did better than me, some of the pics were blurry to me!! The hand looked like a strawberry!!



We weren't sure what was going to happen with this appointment as we opted to not complete all the regimen of vaccinations with him as an infant. We knew we wanted him to receive some of the shots now, as we felt they would be good to have going into a school environment, but not sure if we could opt out of 1/2 and have the other 1/2.

The pediatrician couldn't have been nicer, the office staff and nurses were all wonderful. I was very pleased with everything, other than the fact that we were there for 2 1/2 hours!!! After talking with the pediatrician about our concerns with the vaccines, and finding out we couldn't opt out of some and not others, we decided just to go ahead and get him caught up with the vaccines. Some of the vaccines weren't necessary anymore because of his age, and he actually didn't have to have that many to get caught up. Although he did need 5 shots, we were shocked when the nurse came back with the tray and she was preparing to administer all 5 at once!! I was like "5 shots, all right now...is that okay?" Grayson was a champ, and has only said that his arm hurt once the next day.

He was taken out for his favorite supper, his choice, when we finished seeing as he was such a trooper! And where did he choose..."The cheeseburger place with the peanuts on the floor!!" Known to us as Five Guys!! So he is all vaccinated up, doing great, and ready for Pre-School!!

Perfect Day!!

I'm working odd hours this week because there is no more summer camp for Grayson, so I'm taking the opportunity to do some fun things with Grayson before he starts school. I called up Heidi Tuesday morning to see if she and the kids were up for a last minute trip to the beach. She said it was absolutely what she needed, so we packed up and headed over to the quiet and close Chicks Beach. Thanks Sue for introducing this fabulous spot to us!!

What a great day! The weather was deceiving as the wind was a little cool, and so suncreen did not get lathered on as it should. Thankfully I was the only burnt one, as Grayson's sun blended in nicely by the evening. Couldn't hide it from Daddy though!! That, and Grayson tattled on me that I hadn't lotioned him up! Oooops!

The boys and I had a really good sand tunnel-moat system going! We had the water travelling under 2 bridges into a pool below! Obviously I had as much fun as the boys. Grayson was glad that the waves weren't as strong and high as at the Oceanfront, so he enjoyed going into the water himself and "jumping the waves". What a great day! Thanks Heidi for the great conversation and comraderie as always, and thanks Bradley adn Alayna for coming to play with Grayson!! We'll have to do it again!

A Beach Day

I have been telling Trevor that we have been so busy this summer that we have not gotten down to the Ocean for some sand fun at all!! Well, Saturday was the chosen day, although it wouldn't have been my choice. But seeing as I had been talking about it, we packed the house up and headed down. It was unusually slow and the weather was perfect.

Trevor sunned and rode waves while Grayson and I did our "sand thing". We always have the best time building a castle of sorts, roadways for the trucks, and a huge moat. We weren't able to make the moat work this time as we were too far away from the water, but we did something new. For his birthday he got 2 great digging shovels, so we tried to "dig to China!!" Well the hole got big enough for us to get in, although I had to do it first to show him that it was okay to be all covered up with sand!! Oh my sweet cautious boy! What a great day together, followed up by burgers on the grill!! Perfect summer day!