Pre-K!!!

Where does the time go?  Drew started Pre-K last week.  He is growing up SO fast!  He is very proud to be in Pre-K.  I had a much harder time with it than him.  All I could think about was how he would be in kindergarten next year.  I will be a wreck! 

We went to dinner Saturday night and a 5 year old boy was waiting with his dad next to us.  The boy heard Kayley and I talking about how she is going to be 4 next year and the boy jumped in and told me he was 5.  I asked if he was in kindergarten and he said yes.  I asked if he rode the bus to school and he proudly told me yes.  Drew was hanging on every word.  The next day, Drew told me he was 5 and going to go to kindergarten now with his new friend.  Ha!

Drew on his first day of Pre-K

Does Andy have to pitch to him in the house?

Kayley is not as excited to be in the 3s room.  The second day she told me that she was going to go back to Ms. Pam's room.  I told her that Ms. Pam has a new class this year and Kayley is a big girl now and gets to be in the 3s room.  She wasn't buying it.  She just shook her head and told me she was going to Ms. Pam's room!  Even this week she is still talking about going back to Ms. Pam's room! 

Kayley's first day in the 3s

Kayley had another big change - she has grown out of the "buddy and me" class (where I go around with her) at gymnastics and now goes with the 3 year olds!  She had her first class on her own tonight and after a very brief cry (during which I may have promised her ice cream if she was a big girl), she went with the teacher and had a great time.  I think she waved to me 50 times during the 45 minute class - she loved it!  And she may have enjoyed ice cream when she got home...

Ready for gymnastics!!

Okoboji

I love Lake Okoboji!  We have been going there since I was a little girl and I still love it.  We met my family up at the lake this weekend.  The kids didn't have school on Thursday and Friday so Mom came Wednesday night and took them back to Iowa on Thursday morning.  Andy and I golfed in a tournament on Friday afternoon.  (We ended up 9 under, but I should have stayed at work.  I was that bad.  My new clubs are clearly the problem.)  We didn't leave for my parents' house until close to 8:30pm so it ended up being a late night of driving.  We left for the lake Saturday morning and drove home on Tuesday morning so it was a quick trip, but lots of fun. 

The kids absolutely loved Arnolds Park.  They rode tke kiddie roller coaster, the boats, the fish, the dragon, the train, the log ride and the ferris wheel (good thing Grandma had several cocktails before she got on there with us...she is a little afraid of heights!).  I took Kayley on her first waverunner ride and Andy took Drew on his first ride.  I think I was a little more cautious with Kayley than Andy was with Drew.  They came back soaked and Drew had a huge smile on his face.  The biggest disappointment for Drew was the go karts.  He was very disappointed when he realized he didn't get to drive.  He rode with Andy and acted bored as could be.  Matt and I were bored in our karts because we had to go slow (Andy and Drew's kart was MUCH slower than our single karts) so that Drew could win.  The sacrifices we make for our kids!  Kayley was not happy that she was too small to go. 

Our view from the deck

20th time or so on the roller coaster

Kayley the gymnast

Mini golf

Searching for lost balls (he found 2)

Drew's turn

Taking a quick break at the turn

Kayley's "ride" on a go kart.  She was not impressed.

Her first ice cream cone!

Drew's first ice cream cone

On our way home, we stopped in Cedar Falls so Andy and I could quickly relive our college days.  We ate lunch at Peppers and went to the bookstore for some UNI apparel.  Maybe its just me, but the college kids seem to be getting younger and younger!

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Andy and I took Kayley to the pediatric ENT this morning.  We really liked the doctor and feel very comfortable with him.  Of course, it helps that he went to medical school at Iowa!  We went through her symptoms with the doctor - snoring or loud mouth breathing when she sleeps, restless sleep, apnea episodes, waking during the night - all are consistent with obstructive sleep apnea in a child her age.  Then we talked about some other issues.  One is that she chews her food for a REALLY long time.  On more than one occasion, I have noticed that when I had her in the bath she was still chewing on a piece of steak or pork chop from dinner!  The doctor explained that this is not uncommon with someone that has very large tonsils. 

After we discussed all the symptoms, he examined Kayley.  First, he checked her ears.  She has a lot of wax build-up (she always has), but he didn't see any concerns with her ear drums.  Then he looked in her nose.  Then he asked her to open her mouth.  When he looked in her mouth his eyes got big and he said, "Whoa, those are big!"  And this is a specialist who sees kids like this all the time!  He had Andy and I look in her mouth to see them.  Then he showed us a chart and explained how they grade tosils by their size.  A grade of 4 means the tonsils take up more than 75% of the "space" (clearly not the clinical term) in the back of the throat.  Basically, to be a grade 4, the tonsils touch each other or almost touch.  He then said Kayley is clearly a Grade 4.  Based on his reaction to seeing them and her pediatrician's reaction when he saw them, we weren't surprised by this. 

So, Kayley will be having her tonsils and adenoids removed on October 3rd.  I realize this is a minor surgery in the grand scheme of things, but I am already worried about it.  She had two endoscopies when she was an infant due to her feeding issues so she has already been put under general anesthesia, but I'm still worried.  On the other hand, Kayley is very proud of her large tonsils and willingly shows them to anyone and everyone!  She knows she is going to have them out and that she will get to eat ice cream and popsicles so she is pretty excited at this point!

On a lighter note, it has been noted that some kids' behavior problems improve after their tonsils are removed because they get more restful sleep and don't act out as much.  This is an added bonus of surgery in our opinion!  Ha!  Any behavior problems Kayley have are likely due to her personality more than lack of restful sleep, but we can dream!  :-)

Wanna see my big tonsils?

Seven Years!

We actually stayed home this past weekend!  Andy's dad and his uncles, Shorty and Buck, came to visit.  They arrived on Friday and left Monday morning.  We had a great time with them and the kids kept them entertained.  They are probably enjoying some peace and quiet back in Iowa right about now!

Andy and I had our 7th wedding anniversary on Sunday.  Where does the time go?!  I still remember our wedding day like it was yesterday.  And I remember our first date back in 1999 at the Broom Factory in Cedar Falls.  1999...that makes me feel old!  I don't think the Broom Factory is even there anymore.  That makes me feel old too.

I didn't take many pictures this weekend, but I did get some video of Kayley golfing.  :-)

Drew, Grandpa and Kayley

Drew showing off his "handsome" shirt

Kayley wearing her shirt from our good friend,
Cyndy. So fitting for Kayley!  Lets hope
she doesn't need an attorney anytime soon.

Sweetcorn Reunion

We were out of town again this weekend.  Go figure!  This time we went to central Iowa for my family reunion on my Mom's side.  We jokingly called it the Sweetcorn Reunion because it was planned for the time when the sweetcorn would be ready. 

We left Wednesday after work.  Driving at night used to work out really well for us because the kids would fall asleep relatively early and we would have a nice drive.  Drew finally fell asleep at about 9:30pm and Kayley was still awake at 10pm I think.  And she wasn't happy.

I bought new golf clubs on Tuesday night and tested them out for the first time on Thursday and Friday when we went golfing.  I came to the realization that the problem may be in my golf swing and not my old clubs like I thought/hoped!  Ha!  I am golfing in a tournament with Andy next week.  I will be heading to the driving range very soon! 

Andy drove up to Le Mars on Friday after golf for his cousin's wedding.  It sounded like he had a great time.    I saw a few of the pictures on Facebook and Katie was a beautiful bride!

Drew and Kayley had a great time playing with my cousins' kids.  I had a great time catching up with my aunts, uncles and cousins.  I wish we didn't live so far apart! 

Some of the kids by the corn

and in the corn

Kayley crying for no apparent reason.

She is a pro!

Liam likes his sweetcorn!

Drew faking like he is eating his sweetcorn

He was much happier when we cut it off the cob for him. 
He is definitely a city kid!

Sweetcorn every night!

Each kid had a tractor to drive!

The kids had the most fun getting rides from Jan

Farmer Drew

Kayley likes to sing while she works

Drew settling for Kallie's chair after Liam refused to give
Drew his chair even though Drew tried hard to get it.  "Blue is
my favorite color.  You can have the pink one.  Do you want
Kallie's chair, Liam?"  Liam: "No."  :-)

Drew loved playing bags.  Please excuse the Cyclone board
 and the Husker board.  Neither are really welcome at our
farm, but they came anyway!  Just kiding, Julie! 
Kind of.

Kayley making sure she gets someone to watch
her before she takes her turn

Liam and Drew riding with Grandpa Mark

Kallie and Kayley taking their turn

Chicago Trip

We planned to leave for Chicago between 9am and 9:30am Saturday morning.  We got out the door at 10:15am.  We only have two kids and we have turned into one of those families that is always running late!  Why were we going to Chicago?  Because we had tickets to see the Chicago White Sox play the Boston Red Sox of course! 
Kayley finally warmed up to the idea of going to Chicago and we took some pictures while we waited for Andy to get back from dropping Sox off at her "babysitter" as the kids call it.

Considering we stopped twice on the way, we made great time and arrived in downtown Chicago in just over 2 1/2 hours.  We checked in to the hotel and then headed to the train. 

We stopped at a Chipotle so Andy could have lunch (was there any doubt that he would want Chipotle?) and then got back on the train and headed over to the river.  Drew pointed out everything he saw.  Every boat on the river, every person on every boat, every piece of garbage floating in the river, etc! 

Then we went back to the hotel to get ready for the game.  We took the train to the ballpark and so did a lot of other people!  When we got on the train, Kayley said, very loudly, "Mommy, I want to sit down.  Why aren't we sitting down?  I want to sit down now, Mommy."  It was very much standing room only and I was holding her because she got scared standing down at my feet.  She got a few laughs out of the people around us and an elderly couple offered their seats.  I thought it was very nice of them, but I certainly wasn't going to take their seats.  Now, the two young guys in Red Sox shirts sitting right next to us could have offered...ha! 

We met Mel and Todd at the ballpark and were excited to see them.  They live in Barrington and are huge White Sox fans so it works out perfectly for us!  The White Sox did not win and it really wasn't a pretty game, but the kids had a great time.  Drew had on a Gordon Beckham shirt with #15 on it.  Whenever #15 was up to bat (whether it was Beckham or Dustin Pedroia from the Red Sox), Drew got really excited!  The Red Sox fans sitting next to us thought he was cute and we tried to help Drew understand why we only wanted one of the guys wearing #15 to get a hit.

Kayley proudly showing off her Quentin shirt

Drew, Kayley and Todd checking out
the field before the game

Drew and Kayley eating Dippin' Dots for
the first time.  Kayley was excited,
Drew wasn't so sure at first!

Kayley's favorite part of the night?  Fireworks!