Visit to the Dentist

Thursday the kids had appointments with the dentist for their 6 month checkups. Savannah has been to the dentist before but this was Xander's first time. He did really well, better than I expected. I really liked this dentist and, as you can probably tell from the pictures, she is really great with kids. Savannah only had to keep the fluoride stuff in her mouth for a minute...I remember it feeling like 20 minutes when I had to do it when I was younger.



I've included some recent pictures of Noah and Savannah. Savannah has been such a big help for me when it comes to Noah. She feeds him in the car or when I'm trying to get ready, she plays with him, she brings me things he needs...she's been so great. And boy, does he love her. She can always make him laugh and smile and his eyes just follow her whenever she's in the room.

Riding the Bus

Today was the really tough day...the day that Savannah got on the bus to kindergarten and spent the whole day there. Originally I was not going to let her ride the bus but she wanted to so badly. Plus, once I saw how well the bus system was handled, I figured it would be okay. The kindergarten children have to wear hats with their names and their teachers' name on it as well as a necklace that has a colored image on it signifying which classroom and teacher the child belongs to. They wear these things for the first two weeks until the children know exactly what they are supposed to do and where they are supposed to go. When they arrive at school the teachers meet the buses and grab the children that belong with them. We arrived at the bus stop with plenty of time to spare because I wasn't sure exactly what time the bus would arrive and I did NOT want to miss it on the first day. Savannah was so excited to ride the bus that when it did arrive she almost got on without even saying goodbye to us. As she got on the bus I had to really hold it together but Xander just started bawling (probably because he wanted to ride the bus too). I tried to keep us busy today running errands so that Xander (and I) would be too preoccupied to think about Savannah being gone. We picked her up at the bus stop at 4:00 and she filled us in on her first day. She absolutely loved it, as I knew she would. She told us about all the fun things she had done and who she had played with. I really love her teacher...she has really gone above and beyond her call as a teacher. At least I made it through this day and hopefully from here on out it will get a lot easier.

Kindergarten has arrived!

The day that Savannah has been waiting for and that I have been somewhat dreading has arrived...Savannah entered kindergarten today! It wasn't that bad because it was a gradual entrance day so I went with her to the school and we were only there an hour. We had met her teacher, Ms. Moretti, on Friday night at the Open House and I was impressed with her then. She sent Savannah a postcard about a week ago which I thought was wonderful...and she is wonderful. She loves Wizard of Oz, just like Savannah, and has Wizard of Oz pictures all over the room. While we were there she read to the kids, we played a math game, Savannah made a puppet, and we explored Savannah's classroom and visited the cafeteria. Tomorrow is the big day...Savannah will ride the bus and stay at school all day. I never thought I would feel this nervous about any of my kids going off to school but it has been really hard. I just worry about how the other kids are going to treat her and if she's going to be able to make friends. But I am also very excited for her because she honestly loves to learn new things.





We've decided to try a new thing for Family Home Evening. We always have our Family Home Evening on Sundays because it has always been the easiest night to do it. But holding it on Sunday sometimes limits what we can do. So I thought it would be fun to have our Family Home Evening lesson, songs, and all that stuff on Sunday and then on Monday nights do a Family Home Evening Activity. So, tonight our activity was heading to the nearest Baskin Robbins for some ice cream. While we sat there enjoying our treat, Savannah suggested that we take turns deciding what the Family Activity will be. I thought that was a great idea so we'll see what David picks to do next week.

David's 35th Birthday

The past couple of days have been very busy for us. It started with David's 35th birthday on Thursday. We got a special treat in having David work from home for the day. To keep it quiet for him for a couple of hours the kids and I headed off to Daniel's house. Daniel is a little boy that was in Savannah's preschool class this past year. For most of the year Savannah had a crush on him and I think he thought she was pretty cute too. He gave her a purple horse stuffed animal one day and it was so cute to witness the exchange. Anyway, Daniel's mom had invited all of the kids from the preschool class over for lunch so Savannah was so excited to see some of her old friends. And I was excited to see the moms! As we were driving over Savannah said, "Mom, you get to see your friends too. But you guys don't play games, do you?" We had a very close-knit preschool group last year and I was able to make many new friends. Throughout the summer we have gotten together for a bunch of activities and had a lot of fun together. I'm just hoping we can stay in touch.




Thursday evening Savannah had soccer practice which we all went to. Afterwards we came home for some dinner and then David opened presents. He got a book, a new movie, some pictures drawn by Savannah, a fry daddy (yummy tempura!), a traveling golf bag, money, and plenty of cards. It wasn't the most exciting birthday but I guess as we get older a birthday is almost like any other day.



Friday morning I walked into the kids' room to find them both awake but still in bed. Savannah complained of a sore throat so I went to feel her forehead. She was burning hot and so was Xander. They both had temperatures of over 101...so Friday was a "watch movies and stay in bed" day. The hardest part was keeping them down because once the medicine would kick in Xander would exclaim, "I feel better!" and want to run around and play. We fought fevers all day long as well as tried to keep both kids away from Noah so he wouldn't get whatever they had. Savannah's elementary school had an Open House Friday night where one gets to go meet the teacher and see the classroom. Savannah wanted to go so badly so we went for a couple of minutes. Her teacher seems very nice and Savannah's room looks so cute. Saturday morning the kids were still fighting fevers so, although it was Opening Day for Savannah's soccer, I only took her to the picture part. She had a scrimmage but I didn't let her play. It turned out to probably be a good thing anyway because it was so incredibly hot and humid! The mothers were starting to complain at the picture-taking that the soccer league was allowing the kids to play games in this kind of weather. The poor little girls were even sweating as they waited for their pictures to be taken. Savannah's first game is September 8 and I can't wait...she has the same jersey number as I always had...#4. And her team name is the Grasshoppers. (All of us moms were pushing for The Kiwis but the girls wanted The Grasshoppers.)

Stranger Danger

Wednesday I took the kids to an activity entitled "Stranger Danger" that a local moms club had arranged with the police department. The policemen talked to the kids about strangers and what to do if strangers were to approach them. They also told them about good strangers. One of the policemen dressed up as a fireman to show them that, although he might look and sound scary, he was there to help them and it was okay to go to this kind of a stranger. The highlight for the kids was definitely the police dog named Maco. He is a drug dog and put on quite a show for the kids. A scary thing happened during the presentation - the policemens' walkie-talkies went off, announcing a possible child abduction. Thank goodness it turned out to be a false alarm and the policemen handled it really well when they explained to the kids what had just happened. Quite fitting for this particular activity. They handed out goodie bags to the kids that contained stickers and little badges which Savannah and Xander immediately put on.

12 Years!

Tuesday David and I celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary. We will do our "going out" thing this weekend but we did exchange cards and gifts Tuesday night. About 6-7 years ago David lost his wedding ring which we did replace. But in July, while my parents were staying with us, my Mom was searching for something that we had lost and happened to find David's original wedding ring in our couch. Obviously I do clean my couch so this wasn't a simple matter of lifting the cushions. My mom dug deep inside the couch and came out with his ring on her finger. This ring has been hidden in our couch for all this time, even making the move cross country. I was so excited when she found it and knew that I would give it to David for our anniversary. It has been hard to keep this gift secret and I couldn't wait for him to open his gift. When he opened it he said, "This looks just like my ring. Wait...this is my ring!" So I told him the amazing story. I think he was in shock most of the night.

August

This past week we spent several days at the pool, trying to get our fill of the water before summer ends. The kids also completed their summer reading program at the library and received their certificates as well as a free book. Savannah had her first soccer practice with her new team. She was extremely excited to get her new cleats, shin guards, and ball and can't wait to see what color her team uniform will be. David went on a overnight campout with the scouts which he really enjoyed. He hasn't done any camping since we moved to Maryland over 2 years ago so it was great for him to get back out there.

The Kids

After enduring a week of hot, sticky, MISERABLE weather, we finally received cooler weather this weekend. I wish the cooler trend would continue but this week's forecast looks hot once again. We try to get to the pool most mornings and then stay in the house during the afternoons when the temperature is at its' hottest. We are counting down the days until Savannah starts kindergarten...just 2 more weeks. She is very excited and she and I headed out Saturday to purchase a new backpack, school supplies, and a new outfit. It was a "girl field trip", as Savannah refers to them, and it included a trip to Friendly's for ice cream sundaes as well. We are all excited for Savannah to start school and I thought that I would have no problem with her heading off to elementary school, especially considering she has attended preschool for the past 2 years. But in Maryland kindergarten is all day plus she'll be riding the bus. I'm starting to get sad thinking that my little Savannah will be gone most of the day. The person who will probably miss Savannah more than me is Xander. Xander and Savannah are buds, spending all day playing together. I think it will take a little bit of time for him to adjust but thank goodness he'll be starting preschool just a couple of weeks after Savannah. Although he's upset about not being able to ride the bus to preschool(according to Xander one of the greatest thrills in life is riding a bus), I think he'll really enjoy preschool. Noah turns 4 months at the end of this next week and already weighs 20 pounds and has cut 2 teeth. But regardless of the teething pain and swollen gums he is still our happy little baby. I never dreamed that perfect babies existed anywhere but I actually have one. He's getting so big and we all just adore him.

Summer Swimming Fun

We love to go to the pool to cool off from the sticky summer heat. Xander is quite the little fish and loves to say, "I wanna go under" and "I wanna jump." Savannah has learned to float on her back and is practicing the backstroke....although she struggles with direction and looks astonished every time she bumps into someone! We enjoy time together at the club and in the pool!