Monday, August 25, 2008

Some Help Here PLEASE!!!

Well, all was well the first few days of school, until............NOW!

Im certain there just has to be some of my blog readers out there that can give me some advice on what to do when your child doesn't like school? I know most of you either just have a new kindergartener or else will be sending one off to school shortly, but for those of you who have already had a 1st grader or are going thru this same ordeal...please share your advice and wisdom on what to do when your child doesn't enjoy school.

For the past week Elijah has been crying every morning before school, and in fact cried all the way to school today, saying " I don't want to go, I don't have any friends, and its to long of a day". Of course Id love to just say "ok sweetie, you don't have to go anymore, lets go home and play all day". But thats not the case. School is a must. I have tried treats, kind words as in: you will get some friends soon, or school will get better each day, or mommy and caden will be glad when you come home from school happy that you went, or mommy and caden will pray for you, or you can do it son..keep up the good work. Its just that these words of affirmation aren't helping any right now. I was wondering if any of you mom's out there have any suggestions on how to make your son's experience in school a good one?? Id love to have some help here....PLEASE!!!!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Monday, August 18, 2008

Friends Weekend '08

It is that time of year again where several couples get together to have fun, eat, play games, and just chat on what's the latest in our lives. There are actually 8 couples plus Alex L. who usually come to this get together. This year all of us where there except Scott and Kate Levy. We had a great time and had wonderful weather.

The cute adorable little hostess this year:)
Joy and Jason Huber were the host's this year and chose to have it at the Gutwein Lake House on Lake Shafer in Monticello, IN. What worked out really nice this year is that fact that most of us are from the area and therefore we were able to leave the children with each of our parents. I unfortunently didn't take many pictures this weekend but here are the few that I have for your viewing pleasure:). If you care to see any more pictures you might want to check out Mindy's blog which you can link to her blog thru mine, just click on Mindy along the sidelines.
Several games of vollyball were enjoyed.

After volleyball it was time to hit the "VERY ROUGH" lake. Several people enjoyed tubing on these crazy waves. Here is Joy, Kayla and Mindy having fun.Briana and I opted out of the tubing. It looked a bit to much for us. Oh and as were were sitting here on the boat I realized how close Bri and I were sitting and this was SO VERY common in college when we roomed together. We would sit right next to each other and have the entire couch we could have spread out on, but never did.yeah Im not sure anyone realized I was taking this picture :)Mindy and I sat and chatted for quite awhile out here on the swing in the shade just watching boats go passing by. Thanks for the great talk mindy.My plans were to take an individual shot of each couple so I could post them all on here, but alas Briana and Troy were the only lucky couple:)I am hoping to get a group photo from my sister joy sometime as we used her camera to take our group picture. So when I get that I will add it on:) Thanks for a great time everyone!!! It was well worth our 7 hour trip to IN.

Monday, August 11, 2008

School Started Today

Well, its official....Elijah is now in 1st grade as his first day of school was today. He was so excited to go that he jumped out of the car this morning at 7:30am without even giving me a goodbye kiss which I am somewhat accustomed to since that is what he did every morning before Kindergarten. I guess maybe he thinks kisses are for little boys and he doesn't think of himself as a little boy (even though I sure do). Here are a few pictures from this morning before heading out the door.This picture makes me laugh....he looks so moncho and tough here.
Just for the record and for my peace of mind I asked Elijah if he thought he was to big to be giving me kisses every morning before school and his reply was " absolutely not mom". He even included a huge shake of the head in a NO fashion. WHEW....Im relieved:)

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Our Fifth Visitors!

Well, it was that time again for our fifth visitors to visit us this summer, and believe it or not, but we still have more scheduled to come this late summer/fall. We had the honor of hosting my sister Joy and her husband Jason from Sunday night to Thursday noon. What a blast we had!!! Joy and Jason were heading to Townsend TN for a weekend with Jason's family so it was nice they came early and spent several days with us. Sunday evening we enjoyed Brusters Ice Cream as usual whenever we have company. Monday nick was off to work for the day so Joy and I went to Goody's for a few items, and Hobby Lobby too. Jason hit the local Fitness center and then the boys and Jason played out in the sprinkler for awhile. Tuesday nick took off work and we went to the lake for 7.5 hours. Lots of skiing, wakeboarding, tubing(which is so Jason's sport as he is so good at it:)) , eating and swimming. Couldn't have asked for better weather.
Jason even got up on the ski's. Way to go Jason!!!! Keep it up and you will become a pro.After Jason took Elijah on the tube he was then brave enough to go himself without crying or wanting off. He just kept tubing all by himself finally!!!! It took him all summer long, but alas he is loving the tube....GO ELIJAH!
Wednesday we took the boat out once again for 4 hours. The waters were as smooth as glass which made for some wonderful skiing and tubing. Here is joy as she screams cause she is so excited to be on smooth water.
Jason and Elijah at the tube again but on smooth water this time. They just glided along. Thursday at noon our fifth visitors had to leave as they were heading to Townsend for Jason's family's vacation. What a wonderful fun filled time we had. Thanks so MUCH Joy and Jason for coming to visit us. Come anytime you feel like making that LONG trip:) We love you lots.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Atlanta's VBS Weekend

This past weekend we went to Ridge Haven in North Carolina for the Atlanta VBS weekend. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the speakers so much. Thanks to Kerwin and Sara Edelman and Rich and Sam Gramm for coming to speak to us on where our treasures are. It was an uplifting weekend and a much needed weekend. Here are some pictures.This is the building in which all the families stayed in. It was nice being all together at one building and having the lounges right there for our use.This was the dinning hall in which we ate our breakfast, lunch and dinner. Really great food!! As you can see we had matching t-shirts for the weekend. The swimming pool was a BIG hit for the kids and even the adults after a hot game of volleyball or basketball. Elijah being very brave here. He was swimming the whole weekend without his life vest. We even did a little hiking one afternoon. Here is Caden making his way down the steep gravel drive with a little help.Elijah and his really great friend Chloe. Such a cute little couple don't you think:) HEE HEEThe sunday school class (older children) sang a song and put on a skit for us on what they learned over the weekend. Good job kids.Us girls ( Lana, Sara, Sam, Chloe, and myself) standing around chatting. It was such a blessing to meet you Sara and Sam.Both above pictures are of the game Bid. Lots of fun.