Go Texan Day and Pet Parade

When looking through pictures this morning, trying to decide what my first "welcome back to blogging" post was going to be about, I ran across these. There is one in particular that made me decide that "THIS" was the right thing to post.

About a month ago, "I" had Go Texan Day and a Pet Parade at school. The class had been looking forward to this day for weeks, if not longer. They got to bring small caged animals or fish to school in the morning to spend the day in class with them. And then the parents were to show up at 2:15 with dogs, cats and larger animals. He was so excited to take the dog to school that he could hardly sleep the night before. I on the other hand was not so sure how the "dog" would like being around other animals. I am not convinced that he knows that he is a dog. He has only been around other dogs a few times and he was not impressed. At all. He was a real wimp!

We drug out "H's" old cowboy hat from his old Go Texan days. We found boots too but "I" would have no part of it, he said they hurt his feet. Oh well, it was the thought that counted, right? We found the vest he wore last year to Go Texan day at pre-school and we were ready. Do you remember that day? Look how much he has changed.

Cutest little cowboy ever!



Look out! The sheriff is back!



The dog even followed the Texas day theme, sporting a red bandanna.



The idea of the "pet parade" was more like a pet show and tell. The kids got to stand in front of their class mates and tell the other students about their pet. That did not go over so well so the teacher started asking them questions about their pet. That did not go very well either. Remember these kids are in kindergarten and there were ANIMALS there!! 'Nough said. All they were concerned about was giggling, laughing, pointing, petting, squealing, and clapping. It was the funniest thing ever. It was so loud that there is no way the other children could have heard anything that was being said, but thats ok, they did not care anyway.



Our dog, "Link" or "Linky Dog" (although we do not really call him either of those, we call him "Dog") has never really been fond of walking on a leash. He loves hanging out in the back yard and if he leaves the yard with us, he is pretty good about staying close. He can be a little difficult to "walk" on a leash.



See?



It was THIS picture that made me decide what to post about today. I think it might just be the funniest thing that I have EVER seen. Like. EVER. I am not really sure what to say about this picture because honestly I am still laughing my crazy head off at it. I hope you all get as much of a giggle out of it as I have!



This is one of the little dogs Link met while at school. I was rather impressed that he actually sniffed the other dog and let the other dog sniff him. He not once laid down or acted like his normal wuss self. There were even 2 standard sized poodles and he checked them out as well. I was proud of him! This little dog was nice. There was another little dog with a bad attitude and Link did not care for him. I do not blame him, I didn't either, he peed on my stroller wheel! Not impressed!!!



The boss man "E" had to bring his dog too. He is all about dogs. He loves everything dog. I think he might just be a little obsessed.



"E" and his baby dog.



Someone does not understand "personal space" very well.



"E" and his friend "Ms.E" who loves him dearly. I think he kinda likes her too. She takes him by the hand and drags him everywhere and he just goes right along with her. It is so cute!



"E" holding "Ms. E's" cat, Jax. Poor cat. We went to their house a few days before the pet parade and he wanted to "hold it, cat" the whole time we were there. And by "hold it, cat" I mean around the neck. Poor cat has either lost too much oxygen to care or is just really laid back. The jury is still out! The cat is a really good sport either way. When the cat did manage to get away from him, he screeched like he was dying and all of the adults would go running. We asked him what happened and his answer each time was, "Cat got away!" When "E" found out that the pets were going to school, he wanted to know if the cat would be there. He asked about that cat for DAYS!!! Poor cat, I am sure it does not feel any of the same feelings!



The 2 cutest "E's" I know!

I'm in denial, I feel sick, but it's real...

Grab your Kleenexes people, this one is a tear jerker...

The first moment I learned you were on your way, I loved you. The entire time I waited for you to arrive, I loved you. The first time I ever laid eyes on you, I loved you. The first time I held you, I loved you. I love you more with each passing day.



Dear Ian,

Wow! I do not even know where to start. I sit here tonight writing this as you are upstairs sweetly sleeping. Tomorrow begins the first day of the rest of your life. You start kindergarten, a new chapter in your life. You are so super excited. I think you might be a bit nervous as well, but mostly excited. You had a hard time falling asleep, just like mommy. The night before a big event, I can never fall asleep easily. Mommy and Daddy love you so very much, more than you could ever know. You are such a special little boy. You are such a joy to be around, you are friendly, loving, caring and tenderhearted. You are the funniest guy I know. It both breaks my heart and fills me with pride to see the big boy that you are becoming. I am excited to see what you are growing into, yet sad for the little boy you are leaving behind. You bring such joy to our lives. Not just us, but everyone who knows you. I thought sending you to pre-school last year was going to be hard, it was but you had such a great time. You grew, you learned so much and you matured. You made so many friends and you had fun. Now it is time for us to take you for your first day of Kindergarten. I honestly do not know how Daddy and I are going to hold it together long enough to say goodbye to you. It is going to be the hardest thing I have ever had to do. We do not want you to see us upset so that will be tomorrow's challenge. I'm so glad that it is not on the agenda for tonight because I'm not doing such a great job. As soon as I put the pen to the paper, the tears began to freely flow. This time I did not try to hold them back. This week has been hard. Each time we have talked about school, it has gotten harder. Shopping for shoes was fun, you picked out Star Wars shoes and I handled that well. Clothes shopping was a bit harder for me. Seeing you in your little uniform nearly sent me into hysterics but I somehow held it together for you. Picking out a backpack and lunch kit made it seem more real. Meeting your teacher and seeing your name on things around the room solidified it for me. I knew it was real. I am still having trouble accepting it. I'm in denial, I feel sick, but it's real...What am I going to do for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week without my best friend? I love you more than you'll ever know! You're the BEST!

Here it comes again...

Yankee Doodle

This has nothing to do with the pictures...but they were funny.

Tonight while in the tub, Boog was humming the tune to Yankee Doodle. He could not think of the name of the song so he asked me what it was that he was humming. I told him it was Yankee Doodle, so he began singing.

Boog: "Yankee Doodle went to town, riding on a pony.
Stuck a feather in his pocket,
and called it Macaroni!"

Me: "Stuck a feather where?"

Boog: "In his pocket!"

Me: "(laugh) He stuck it in his hat and called it macaroni."

Boog: "Oh...(thought a second) No he didn't."

Me: "Yes he did."

Boog: "Sing it."

Me: "Yankee Doodle went to town, riding on a pony. Stuck a feather in his hat and called it Macaroni."

Boog: "Uh uh. It's Yankee Doodle went to town, riding on a pony. Stuck a feather in his pocket and called it Macaroni!"

Me: "Ok."

Silly boy.

Happy 5th Birthday...

to the most wonderful, funny, beautiful, animated and loving kid I know!

This time last year, I was sitting here in this same spot, contemplating how to begin...just like I am right this very second. Do you ever wonder where time really goes? I mean seriously wonder? Not like one day you did not have time for laundry or to sit down and take a break...I mean the weeks, months and years. They are flying by. It seems just like yesterday, I was sitting at home on the couch with my  husband and very much pregnant with this amazing little person. We were making plans for the future, wondering what he would be like, trying to imagine what his personality would be. We had no idea what to expect. Little did we know, this little guy would change our lives forever.

He is amazing. I mean really truly amazing. He has a heart of gold. He can be so serious, he is caring, and he is genuine. He is hilarious. He is smart. He is loving. He is honest. He is tender hearted. He cares about people, especially his people. He is a thinker.



Time is flying. He is 5. He starts kindergarten this year! That breaks my heart. I know...I sound crazy. Trust me, I know. I do not know how I am going to handle him being away all day every day. I have spent the last 5 years with this child, 24/7. He started pre-school last fall, he goes 3 days a week for 3 hours. So for the last 8 months I have missed 9 hours a week. I am going to go from 24/7 minus 9 to full time kindergarten. I am not sure I am ready for that. I am not sure that he is ready for that. He loves his mommy and daddy. We are his best friends. In a way, he is ours.



He is beautiful, inside and out. He has a heart for people.



He says he is going to live with us forever, or until he is 62.



I love him.



He is growing up so fast. I'm not sure I like it. I see adults with their adult children. I see relationships they have. It scares me. I cannot imagine that when their children were younger that they would have felt any differently than I do about my own children. That scares me. What changes? When your children are young, they are your world, they are your everything, everything you do is for them. Why does it change? Because they are older? Does it always change? I always hear from women that their moms are their best friends. I hear from men that they hardly ever talk to their parents. That scares me. I have 3 boys. I love this child so much that sometimes it hurts. What if our relationship changes? I cannot imagine him growing up, moving out, moving on...



He's only 5. He is already 5. He is my baby. He will always be my baby.



He smiles with his whole face. You can see it in his eyes. He is a happy child.



He is an awesome big brother. He loves his baby. He looks out for his baby. He plays with his baby. He protects his baby. He wants his baby to do everything he does...most of the time. He is an awesome little brother. He looks up to his older siblings, he wants to do what they do. He thinks he is their age. He is so grown up. He is so smart.



He is awesome.



He LOVES his daddy. He wants to do everything his daddy does.



He made this birthday card for daddy last week. I cried.



Where has the time gone? My baby is growing up. I am not ready for this. I am not ready for everything to change.

Happy Birthday to the most amazing little boy I know. I love you Boog. You're the BEST!

Birthday party

Today was a great day. It did not start out a great day, but it ended up being a great day. For the last week, I have been spazing out over the weather forcast. Each and every day, I checked the forcast for Sunday, each and every day, it said there would be rain, not just rain, thunderstorms! The forcast called for rain on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, not Saturday but back on Sunday. Each and every day, the weather forcast had been wrong. I held my breath, hoping that it was wrong for Sunday too. No such luck...we get up this morning and it is raining. It rained off and on all morning. Finally we got up and started getting ready to leave for the party. I was getting phone calls, text messages, facebook messages, you name it...people wanted to know if the party was still on. My answer was, "Yes! Rain or shine, we are partying!"

On the way to the party, I posted this on my facebook status..."Sing with me, Rain rain go away because we are havin' a party today!" Well, guess what? There must have been some serious singing going on because our party was from 3-5 and it stopped raining at 2:58 and started back up at 6pm! Now that is what I call a great day. I am sure it did not hurt that I prayed for my little boy to have a perfect, fun, not raining party today too. He deserved a perfect party and a perfect party is what he got!



Thanks to everyone who was able to make it, we missed those of you who could not. We hope those of you are feeling under the weather are feeling well again soon!



Here are a few shots from the party. I had quite a few more from my camera, but they all were of other people's children and I did not feel comfortable posting those. I had a friend shoot some too so when I get those, I can see if any of those will be able to be posted.



The kids had a great time. Yesterday, I went to Target and picked up lots of things that we could do under the pavillion in case of rain. We had connect 4, we had hungry hippos, giraffe limbo, ring toss, bean bag toss, tattoos, and the all time favorite...a bubble machine!



I will venture to say it was probably one of the best parties we have ever had!









I cannot believe my baby boy will be 5 on Wednesday...someone asked him at the party today how old he was. He replied, "4." They said, "No, you are 5 now," to which he said, "nope, not yet! Today is just my party." I love that kid.

Apparently he can say "bubbles..."

and it's his favorite new word.



All day, every day, he walks around the house saying, "bubbles," but it is more like, "bubbles?" As in, find them and blow them, or just give them to me and I will pour them on myself!



And honestly, who could say no to that face? I know I cannot!



These were actually taken a few weeks ago, I know...bad blogger lately.



They have a water table out in the back yard and someone, not mentioning any names *cough Boog cough* dumped some bubble solution in with the water. It was like a huge sink full of bubbles and dishes, you know...minus the dishes and the sink. Someone decided to stick his head into the water table and get himself a funky new do! :)



And someone else had a great time wrecking himself and getting wet. Boy did he have fun though.



All the way up to his elbows kind of fun!



Hey, maybe he really was washing something.



Digging for more bubble buried treasure.



Ooooh, soap!



I have bubbles on my hand!



Using mommy's dish towel to dry himself! I think that was daddy's idea! Silly daddy!











Someone was not fond of being all wet...