day 1

The backpack has been ready for more than a week and John has been looking forward to this day for even longer. Thankfully he slept well last night, but woke up a little nervous this morning. His first words were "Mom, I can't spell words". (This evidently just occurred to him). Laurel reassured him that they would teach him that at school and that it is all part of the plan. Other kids in his class will be facing the same hurdle.

After a big breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon (John got to use the "celebrate" plate of course), we loaded up into the car and all made our way to Northwest Elementary School for the first day of kindergarten.

Inside the classroom, he found his "cubbie" and hung up his backpack and jacket (since it was just barely 50 degrees this morning).

He was greeted by his teacher, Mrs. Cocklin and began settling in for all of the experiences that day 1 will offer.

We're looking forward to a full report this evening...

All you can eat fish buffet

This evening we were cleaning the house and getting ready for some out of town guests to arrive. We were upstairs working on some things when all of the sudden I realized that Rose was back downstairs by herself. Since she is 2 years old and was being quiet (not usually a good combination) I thought I should go check.

I got to the bottom of the stairs and saw Rose standing by the fish aquarium. When I got closer I discovered that she had climbed up on a chair, gotten out the bottle of fish food, and dumped the entire container into the aquarium. Obviously not very happy with this discovery, I said "Rose Derry, why did you do that?" Her reply, "they were hungry, Daddy".

Through the eyes of a child

It's funny sometimes to realize how children think about or see things. Reality in their world is not always the same as it is in our adult world (and I think that's often a good thing).

A few nights ago, I was putting Rose to bed while Laurel was doing the same with John. After going through the other bedtime rituals that are the standard at our house, it was time to pray. Rose now likes to add bits and pieces of thoughts to the prayer. For example, she likes to say things like "tanks for da milk, an for my plate". Another thing she likes to request prayer for also is "for grampa, cause he feels sick". This night was no exception. She asked prayer for grandpa and then I added "and we pray for Grandma as she helps take care of Grandpa". To which Rose, in a voice most sweet added "yeah....he's heavy".

It took me a few seconds to try and figure out what she meant by her comment, but then I realized that all she has ever known about being sick, is that we carry her around in our arms, while she hugs our neck and snuggles close. I guess that must have been the picture she had in her mind of Grandma taking care of Grandpa.