Sunday, August 10, 2008

ALL day school and BIRTHDAYS GALORE

Olivia's first day of 5th grade. So cute! We even took time to straighten her natural curly hair. I can't even believe how grown up she looks. She is such a darling, sweet and fun girl. I'm sure she will have an awesome and fun school year.
Ethan and Ella's first day of ALL day kindergarten...my best leverage to convince them of how much fun ALL day will be is that they get to take a lunch to school. After 3 days, the novelty has worn off and it's kind of tough going ALL day! Notice all the ALL day...it's a big deal. I'm adjusting better than they are. But they have an adorable teacher and lots of fun adventures ahead of them this year.  
Here they are on the second day of school...their 6th birthday! They were thrilled to take cupcakes to their class. I also delivered Happy Meals from McDonald's to school for lunch. They thought that was cool and it hopefully made the day more special for them.

As if the week was not crazy enough, we had a birthday party with lots of cousins and a few friends on Friday evening. We kept it simple with the slip-n-slide and water balloons, pinatas, hot dogs and cupcakes. Sadly for me it was an hour and a half of pure torture. I made sure the kids had fun but made a huge discovery..... it is time to have separate boy and girl birthday parties!! I'm not doing anyone any favors by trying to get away with combining the two. 20 kids running around they backyard while I'm trying to teach 3 year olds how to toss a water balloon to a partner is complete madness. My head has finally stopped spinning. Am I being a little melodramatic? Absolutely not! 

But I have to say, I will continue to torture myself endlessly because I just love to see my kids happy. They look forward to their birthdays all year long. I want them to look back and have special memories and know how much I love them. I may grumble and complain  but I will  voluntarily do it again and again. Part of motherhood is a little self-sacrifice, right? Did I mention 3 of my kids have birthdays in an 8 day span with my 4th child a month later? Then I can gear up for 11 months to do it again......stay tuned for another party this weekend.

Just an update for those interested in how Travis is doing: 

What else can I say but he is doing so remarkable! He is doing rigorous physical therapy twice a week and he is also hitting the gym on the other days. He worked a couple of times this past week. He is also able to get some work done from home. Each day gets a little better. His head looks unbelievably healed up. His hair has grown back and his scar is hardly noticeable. It hasn't even been 3 weeks since surgery!  Sometimes he still has some instability and dizziness when he walks. He also has some pressure and pain in his head from time to time. It's all about pacing himself and taking time for plenty of rest. I continue to chauffeur him around but think he will be back behind the wheel soon. He feels great and even made it to Church for the first time today. We meet with the radiation doctor next week for a consult. But our focus right now is getting him completely healed from surgery.

6 comments:

Amy G. said...

we're SO glad things are going well for you and travis. and the gym? wow, i'm impressed.

Angie said...

I can not believe how old and grown up your kids are looking! The good thing is that kids get older, we DON'T!! Ha Ha! Kids are screaming, gotta go! I am shocked that Trav is already going to the gym. I need to do that more!

jenreeder said...

The kids look so cute! I can't believe how much they have grown up just over the summer... The kids had a blast, so know that your stress at the party benefited my kids, too! Thanks!
And just does Travis make it to the gym... I haven't had brain surgery and still can't get there! So glad that things are going well.

kaleyq said...

Yay for ALL day kindergarten! I only wish--we have another week before we have a little structure and sanity! Cute, cute kids! And so happy Travis is doing so well! How about you?! We love you all!

Shawni said...

Andrea, I'm so glad to get caught up a little bit through the blog and hear that you guys are still plugging along. I was amazed to see Travis at church yesterday. I'm so glad he seems to be recovering so well, although I know it'll take a while. I'll be callign as soon as I get a spare second to see what we can do to help out.

You are an inspiration.

Anonymous said...

Cute pic of first day of school. It was so good to see you on Sunday, I know you are busy but we need to get together soon. I miss you!! Are you doing Gymnastics? We are on Tues and Wed 5 and 6.