School Days

Well, Tuesday officially started the 2008 school year for the Polk Family. AE was sleepy, but excited about her first day. Joseph was a-okay with everything...picture taking, backpack wearing, walking into the building...until we ventured into his classroom. He lost it!! There were tears, clinging, a lot of drawn out "Mama"s. We walked around the room, I got him seated at his spot at the table, showed him his snack and then tried to leave. He wasn't having it! The teacher's aid finally had to pull him from my arms as I walked out with tears in my eyes. I then snuck a peek at him through a window and I got busted! So, the tears and Mama-calling started all over again. I ventured down the hall aways and waited a few more minutes. One of the other mommies from the classroom rounded the corner and let me know things had quietened down in the classroom. Whew! I could now breathe normally and leave the building. I didn't realize how much having my youngest away from me for even a short amount of time would affect me, but it has. Bittersweet!

I somehow managed to skip getting a picture of Anna Elise in her classroom (probably because Joseph was all over the place and I was trying to keep him from disrupting her room!). Sorry, babe!

So, I pick them up Tuesday afternoon and AE has had a wonderful day. Great! Joseph, on the other hand, refused to take a nap (which he LOVES doing) and is somewhat sleepy. No problem, he'll just go to bed early and I'll remember to tell the teachers about his pacy in his backpack. YES...I forgot to mention that he needs his pacy when he sleeps! Am I horrible mom or what?! All in all, though, the teachers said he did great. He ate well, played well, no problems. Terrific!

Fast forward to this evening for a recap of today's events, and well, there's not much to report. AE had another terrific day and was in great spirits when I arrived to get her. Joseph had received his pacy for nap time and had actually slept some (an improvement), but still appeared a little sleepy when I picked him up. So, I guess this Mother's Day Out is treating him okay (and as a bonus, I have some free time to get things done that would have been extremely more difficult to do with children in tow).

Hope everyone is having a great week.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANNA ELISE!!!!

I can't believe my firstborn is now four years old! As of 5:33am, September 4, my baby turned 4! Here are a couple of pictures from her first few days with us!




We really had a family day, as Jason was home sick with the Flu (yes, Flu, in September...imagine that!). We started the day by singing Happy Birthday to AE, letting her open a couple of presents, and then doing whatever she wanted the rest of the day.

Except....

She and Joseph had Open House at their school, so we had to visit with their new teachers, see their classrooms, and talk to other classmates and their parents. It was a little stressful for Joseph, but he warmed up as the time passed. We then went to the library, where the birthday girl checked out a couple of books, but no movies since we had met our quota on DVDs. After that, we went to Kroger to purchase cakes for their upcoming combined birthday party (as Joseph will turn 2 on September 14th), but then realized the cakes I wanted to purchase (Ariel and Thomas) were at Wal-Mart. Ugh!!! So, I get to Wally World, have the two kiddos in the back of the buggy, and proceed to order 2 cakes. They are bouncing up and down in the buggy and screaming at the top of their lungs as I'm trying to tell the very patient lady behind the counter which cakes I wanted to purchase and when I needed them. She looked at me and said we have a 24-hour turnover on our cakes, maybe you want to come back next week, when it's quieter? She wasn't being a smart-aleck, she was actually throwing me a bone, and I thank her dearly. So, I will go back to Wal-Mart either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday of this next week, because as Jason has so eloquently said, time and time again..."the dream begins September 9th, 9am through 2pm, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday...you're living the dream stay-at-home mom." But, as he also says, "it has been a four year, 24/7, pledeship."


Had a nice visit with Pawpaw and Nenie. Came home and had some cake (that AE had picked out earlier at our visit to Kroger), sang Happy Birthday again, and played around the house. It was a good day!!

We did something small on AE's actual birthday, because we are going to have a combined birthday party for both of them a week later. Not sure how many more years we'll be able to do that, but it's kind of nice not having to worry about two different parties!

Hope everyone has had a good week and will have a great weekend!!

Geaux Tigers!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Well, it was overdue, but AE and I finally got our hair cut. And we are now "stylish," as she likes to say! Take a look...





Joseph has been enjoying all of the construction that is happening in our neighborhood right now. They are currently building a house on one side of us and are about to start on the opposite side next week. Right now, he has the best view from his sister's window. Check it out...






We just found out that some very good friends of ours will be building right next to us, so we are very excited about our future neighbors!!!!



Hope you all are having a great week!

So Much To Say...

here's a quick synopsis of what we've been up to since the last post...


*Splashing around in the backyard due to the extreme heat (notice that Joseph has placed a chair in the pool and is about to jump from it!)



*Anna Elise getting to see her first stage performance of the The Backyardigans (her awesome Daddy took her and they had sooo much fun!) Notice the title is 'Tale of the Mighty Knights' and AE keeps calling it, "The Tale of the Nighty Nights!" Too cute.













*Games of chase before winding down for the evening





*Getting ready for Pre-Season Football (Geaux Saints!), which means lots of Who Dat?! and Tiger Roars are ahead

*Sneaking onto the kitchen counters and creatively eating our snacks (that would be a soft potty seat topper that he is sitting and scooting around on!)















*Attending a birthday party at a local gymnastics facility (what a blast!!)





*Quick family beach trip to Gulf Shores, AL. Joseph was so scared of the sand at first, but he got over his fears and was soon dumping buckets of it on his head and running straight to the ocean. AE fell in love with the beach last year and kept asking when we were going back this year...she got her way! We met a couple from Georgia (north of Atlanta, actually) who had two kids the same ages as ours and they all got along swimmingly. Their son, Preston is pictured with Anna Elise, but I don't have a really good picture of their, daughter Vivienne (please forgive my spelling!), who was adorable and so smart and well-behaved! The woman pictured with AE and Jobo was their nanny on the nights Jason and I went out to dinner. Her name is Glenda and she's the best!! She played with the kids and even bought them a little stuffed pelican and seal. Thank you, Ms. Glenda!! The last picture in this set is of all of the jellyfish that people kept catching. They were really bad this time of year and so many kids kept getting stung. Made you just want to stay in the pool, which was great because it was only 2 ft. deep (perfect for the young ones).

*Shopping for school supplies and being filmed on the local news (thank goodness there were no interviews done!) Okay, so my daughter and I are famous now, what can we say?! :)

http://arkansasmatters.com/media_player.php?media_id=86531


Thank goodness they didn't get us on camera once we had passed the school supplies section. AE had found a Bratz doll that she refused to let go of and had to be carried out of the store screaming. It was NOT pleasant!!

Later Tater!!

Saturday night and everything's all right!

After much persuading from my husband, and the fact that everyone is asleep, I have decided to sit down and recap the past week or so. AE attended her first Vacation Bible School (VBS) and had a blast! It was a long week, with her attending Mother's Day Out in the day and then going to VBS at night, but it was sooo worth it!

Jason and I met several friends downtown for a concert on Friday night...B.B. King and Willie Nelson. It was sooo HOT outside, but they were worth seeing. It was a lot of fun. Jason and I were meeting Abby and Damon and Michelle and Lindsey, but we also ran into Rod and Amy, so we had a good little group to sit with and enjoy the show.

It's been so hot lately, that the kids have been either inside enjoying the wonderful air conditioning or outside playing in the sprinklers/baby pools.

As you can see from the last picture, our living room was turned into a romper room (thanks, Daddy!). See what happens when I leave the room and leave Daddy in charge?! Ha!

For those of you who don't realize exactly how active my children are, especially the younger one, check out the video above. Enjoy!

Well, that's about all we've done lately. Hope you all have a great week ahead! Until the next posting...

These boots were made for walkin'

or playing dress up, playing outside in, you name it and my kiddos have done it. I have the proof, here it is...

We didn't do too much this past weekend...played outside, went to a birthday party at the JumpZone, Jason and I managed to go out to eat Saturday night without the kids, and then church on Sunday and a brief visit with my Dad in the afternoon. Joseph kept asking for "Pawpaw" after church, so we decided to pay him a visit. While the kids and I were inside my Dad's house playing, Jason and my Dad killed a copperhead snake that was curled up in a flower bed by the walkway leading to the pool. Glad I wasn't around for that!!! Eww!

Anna Elise had a playdate yesterday afternoon with one of her best friends, Rachel. They had a blast and are looking forward to the next one! She was supposed to attend Mother's Day Out today, but managed to put on the waterworks for me and I couldn't make her stay...I would have felt too bad. So, we headed on to the park for a Mommy & Me scheduled playdate. It was a lot of fun, but we managed to stay there for 3 hours!!! Am I crazy or what?! Joseph is still napping and Anna Elise is counting down the minutes until it's time to leave for swimming lessons.

Sorry it's taken me so long to post...I've found another addiction, Facebook. Jason has to pull me away from the computer sometimes....not healthy! :) I'll try to stay on top of my blogging, though. I haven't forgotten you all!

I have a much needed GNO (Girls' Night Out) planned for this Friday and I can't wait! We're going to eat at a restaurant I've been wanting to try and possibly go see a movie afterwards (Mamma Mia!, which I doubt my husband would agree to see, so it's great that my girlfriends are interested in it).

Hope everyone is having a great week. Good luck to my friend, LAH, who will be speaking before legislators tomorrow morning regarding her son's Autism story. Wish her luck. For those of you who aren't familiar with Leigh Ann, you should check out her webpage...

TTFN!

FEVER!

Anna Elise developed a fever virus last Sunday and continued to run fever until about Thursday. We (being myself, AE, Joseph and Jacq {my mother-in-law}) had planned to visit Eureka Springs for a couple of days, but had to postpone our trip until another time due to FEVER. It was the craziest thing...the only symptom was the fever and boy did it get high, almost 105 at one point. Nothing to do but give fluids, Tylenol or Motrin, and make sure she got plenty of rest. So, no trip to Eureka Springs, swimming lessons or Mother's Day Out.

But...we had already planned a trip to the Buffalo River for Thursday and Friday and since the fever had broken and she was up running around again, we decided to go. One of our dear friends, Mo, came to visit us and go canoeing. So, the kiddos hung out with Jacq at the cottage and playing along the riverbank, while Jason, Mo and I canoed for a few hours. We thought the canoe would have three seats, but it only had two, so I came away with wonderful bumps and bruises but worth it! I don't have any pictures to show you since we took a disposable camera with us on the river and I haven't gotten them developed yet. Sorry!

We returned home on Friday and spent some of the evening with some more good friends. It was the first year that Anna Elise was able to stay up for the fireworks and she seemed to enjoy them. She did fall fast asleep on the way home, though! Here are a couple of pictures of AE, Mo, Jason and me before we left for the evening....

We had the best intentions of going swimming on Saturday and Sunday, but about the time we were ready to go it started to rain. Bummer!

All of our company left on Sunday, so it's back to same ol' same ol' starting today. Now, if I just had the energy to clean up, all would be well.

Have a great week everyone!

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On a different note...

Friends of friends had a major accident occur to their son the night of the 4th. He was hit in the back of the neck by a Roman candle and is suffering from 3rd degree burns from his ear to his collar bone. He is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday and is expected to remain in the hospital for 10 days. Please join me in praying for him and his family during this difficult time. Thanks.