Monday, October 19, 2015

August

Benton County Fair!  It.Was.Hot.




Jaxon loved the rides.  He wanted to go on every single one.



Sierra went down the slide and carousel and that was pretty much it.
 

These kids love the garden!

It's full this year!  But our well is low because of lack of rain, so I really haven't been able to water it enough.


Sierra lost her first tooth just a few weeks after she turned 6....

And lost her second one at the end of the month
It's been a hot one!  And I've loved it.  We did miss out on some fair time this year because of the heat.  I usually take the kids almost every day but this year it was just too hot so we only went only went twice.  Jaxon loved the rides and we bought wrist bands on one day for both of the kids.  Jaxon got his money's worth.  He went on the roller coaster with his hands thrown up in the air and a giddy smile on his face, and went on as many rides as fast as he could after that.  Sierra went on one ride with him that went up and down and she ended up in tears after she got off.  After that she refused to try anything else besides the slide and carousel.  Jesse always works a lot during fair week, which is why we get in for free, but it's always a very long week.

Sierra continues to struggle with separation.  I signed her up for a 3 day dance class put on by the high school dance team that she was very excited about.  But when we got there she froze and started to cry when they tried to get her involved in a game she came in late on.  It's like she's a totally different child from last year.  It breaks my heart.  She ended up really enjoying the class but I had to sit there the whole 3 days and watch her for 2 hours, so she had enough confidence to stay.  I'm starting to worry more and more about school starting.  But I was worried last year, and she went to Kindergarten without any problems, so hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised.  She's supposed to do a dance that she learned for the first home football game during halftime.  She seems excited about that.  So despite her need for me to be close, she is still not paralyzed by fear the way I was/am about being in front of people.

She did discover about a week into this month that 1st grade will not be half day, and she freaked out.  She apparently thought I was always going to come pick her up at lunch, and when she realized that wasn't the case we had some very rough and emotional days.  Finally Jesse was able to get her to calm down by explaining that it's not much longer than Kindergarten (to me 3 hours seems like a long time).  But she's started waking up at night with bad dreams as school is nearing.  Poor kiddo.  It's so rough growing up.

Jaxon and Sierra play so much together I wonder what his reaction will be to having her gone all day.  He's more independent than she is, so it might not be an issue, but a big change in schedule always takes some time to get used to.  I'm hoping once we get settled in to the fall schedule that him and I can do some fun things like swimming lessons or tumbling, especially once the rains start in.  We spend so much time outside it's always really rough when it starts raining and we are stuck indoors all day.  

Right now Jaxon loves playing with cars and monster trucks, riding his tricycle which he still wants to push with his feet instead of pedal because he can go faster, play with Sugar the dog, and swing and slide.  He eats almost all fruits and veggies (except tomatoes and broccoli) loves yogurt, lentil soup, bacon, and pancakes.  He doesn't eat much meat so I make a lot of meals that involve bacon.  He still will not touch noodles.  We worked hard and he got over his aversion to berries and now he eats blackberries and raspberries like nobodies business.  But he never got past his aversion to pasta.  I still work hard to try to get him to eat more things and he is finally starting to try things but still won't each much of anything new.  I'm hoping he'll be like Sierra someday and try anything he sees.

Well, school is here, ready or not.  Wish us luck!

July

Such a helper :)

Sierra recited a memory verse with two of her friends in front of about 200 at VBS

Working on her car....

Trying to finish up the garage so we can get final inspection.

This is how Jaxon felt about sparklers

The first year Sierra actually held them and didn't run too :)

Jaxon practicing tball with Sierra.  He wants to be able to do everything she does!

Warm July evenings.  I LOVE summer.

First tomato.  This girl loves her garden tomatoes.

Tball!  Ready position.

Isn't she just the cutest?!

She made it!



Sierra and Sugar have became good friends but she still misses Zoey an awful lot!



Nothing sexier than a big tattooed man frosting pink kitty cupcakes for his baby girl!
Sierra's 6th birthday party.  Such a sweet group!

The girl still loves kitties, and her cupcakes turned out great.
We sure have been enjoying summer!  It's been nice to take it easy and have nowhere that we have to be.  The kids are getting used to being around each other all day every day again and get along most of the time.  There are also days when they can't be in the same room without glaring at each other or saying something rude.  We've been trying to do two fun things a week.  Library, park, swimming, play dates, etc.  The other days we mostly stay home.  We spend a lot of time outside which all 3 of us enjoy.

It's also been nice to be healthy!  It's the first full month of health since last November.  Seriously.  That's a reason to be joyful.  Sierra went to bible school again this year.  It's a week long and from 9 to noon.  Some of her friends from school were there and she loved it just like last year.  There is a lot of music which is her favorite part.  She's also done really well at memorizing her bible verses this year and ended up reciting one of them in front of all of the families at the end of the week.  She spoke last year in front of everyone too, but it wasn't a memory verse, she just spoke about crafts. 

Sierra has been very clingy this summer and hasn't wanted to be away from me at all.  She's always been a mommy's girl, but it's been pretty extreme and I sure am hoping she'll do ok when school starts again (she did do well at bible school).  She's tried a couple of sleepovers at her grandparents, but usually ends up being brought home in tears before bed.  Jaxon on the other hand, LOVES to spend the night with his Grammies and Pop Pop's and would probably do so every single night if he could.

Sierra May turned 6 this month.  I'm having a hard time thinking about her going to first grade.  That means she's gone ALL day.  Last year just seemed to work so perfectly, but we'll make it work.  The good news is that she is finally sleeping all night and doesn't have any apnea problems anymore, so hopefully that will help her have the energy to make it all day at school. 

We had a nice little party at home for her with her friends for her birthday.  It was one of the few days so far this summer that it rained, so we had to ditch all of our plans for an outside party.  But the girls enjoyed their time together and we loved having them over.  It's a very sweet group of girls.

It's hard to believe that school will start in four short weeks.  Here's to a happy and healthy August :)