Star of the Week & Ants on a Log

Drue Kathleen is Mrs. Hildreth's Star of the Week!  Sounds a little more exciting than it really is...but to a kindergartner...it's BIG STUFF!  What does being the Star Student entail you ask?  Well...your Mom gets to scrounge through a humongous box of pictures that need to be but in photo albums and pick 12 out to be put on the Star bulletin board.  Mrs. Hildreth moves the big, huge hand with a finger pointing down to above your chair, it reads Special Person! (or something like that) and the most exciting thing is that on Wednesday, the Star Student gets to pick a friend to eat in the classroom with her (instead of in the cafeteria) and to set the mood, Mrs. Hildreth dims the lights and plays background music...the music of choice this week was Math Tunes...they're always learning!  DD chose her spunky friend, Kassidy. They ate chicken fajitas and visited with their teacher.  Special times, indeed! 

I took this picture at her conference this week.  I had to go by myself because Ryan was home with the stomach flu.  We received a wonderful report.  I was happy to learn DD is a caring helper to her fellow students and is meeting or exceeding all of the goals for kindergartners at ENP.  She loves to read, writes beautifully and is an all around great student.  Her journaling is amazing.  I am so anxious to see her monthly journal, her drawing, story-telling and writings are so stinkin' cute!  We're talking kindergarten here...but hey...a mom can brag!  She's doing so great! Her teacher had nothing but positive things to say and we are so truly proud of her.

As for Digga Dean, he is anxiously awaiting the arrival of our Wii.  We were told it would be in last Friday....it wasn't.  We're hoping for tomorrow.  He is so sporty, it's almost crazy.  He's obviously got it in his blood, because trust me, I do not spend my days teaching him tennis, kick-soccer-baseball, basketball or soccer...he just gets it.  He loves it like I've never seen a little guy love anything before.  He begs to play some sort of sport all day.  I don't think I've done any household chores for 3 days now.  I've played a lot of tennis and 'H.O.R.S.E.' though...which is way better than laundry and dusting that's for sure!  Some day, I won't be asked to play those things, so I'm taking advantage and never turn down an offer.  Here's the last picture I took of him...I went to check on an unusually quiet Dig in the kitchen and found him making his own "Ants on a Log."  He had been reminded of the snack on a commercial during Sponge Bob ( a show the kids sneak to watch, knowing I dislike it) and knew he could make it himself.  He did a great job!  He even shared...and they were yumm-o!  (no he didn't cut the celery, I had it pre-cut for snacking)

oh yeah...he has a buzz! 

 Reminder to self:  Do not use 1/4" blade on trimmer in March

But, what a cutie, huh!?

He looked in the mirror and said, " I feel like Diggy, but I don't look like Diggy!" 

You will bud...in about a month!  :)

School Mittens

Last Monday morning DD couldn't find her mittens.  I couldn't either.  I went to check the car and on my way back in the house, I see what used to be a mitten on the garage floor.  Cash the Dog was obviously bored and decided to destroy little DD's little mitten.  She was not happy, which is not a good way to start a Monday morning in this house because if DD ain't happy, ain't no one happy!  She panicked thinking she wouldn't get to play outside for recess because she didn't have an extra pair of water-proof mittens.  She had gloves she could wear to school but I told her I'd check at the stores in town to see if they had any, but I knew our options would be limited this late in the winter...and Pamida doesn't open until 9 which is about the time Drue has her first outdoor recess.  So, I thought I would run up to the nurses office, ask if Drue could borrow a pair of mittens until I got to Waterloo that Thursday.  Roads were bad Monday and Tuesday and school got out early Thursday, I figured that would be a good day to go.  I didn't tell DD that I was going to the nurses office.  I knew she wouldn't want to wear the nurse's mittens.  I don't know why, but she wouldn't.  For T.T.T. we donated over 40 pairs of mittens, I didn't feel guilty asking at all, especially knowing they'd be returned.  So...after dropping DD off at school on the East side, I drove around to the West side and in to the nurses office without her knowing.  The nurse only had one pair of water-proof mittens left!  They were a little small, but they'd work for a few days.  I walked down and met DD at her locker.  I didn't tell her where I got them, as far as she knew they were from a store...she tried them on, "yes, they're a little small, but they'll work."  Done deal.  Not really.  When I picked her up she was wearing her own gloves, I said, "did you just leave the waterproof ones at school?"  "No, I took them back to the nurse."  "Why!? There aren't any waterproof mittens to be found in this town! And how'd you know they were the nurse's?!"  She said she just knew... (ok, she probably did the math and knew I couldn't possibly have got anywhere to buy mittens.)  "But that's ok mom! Mrs. Hildreth has a pair of class mittens that I can wear for recesses I just have to give them back to her after every recess."  Fine.  Then the next day, she came home with "THE" mittens on.  "Mrs. Hildreth said I can keep them until we get to Waterloo."  I cracked up!  She'd rather wear bright red mittens that have "SCHOOL MITTENS" written in permanent marker on them, than borrow a pair from the nurse!  That's not embarrassing?!?   Anyhoo...Scheels had ONE pair of waterproof mittens left, luckily they were a girl style and DD's size. 

Kindergarten Lesson Learned #67 Buy more than one pair of waterproof mittens yearly!

Silly...but I guess not shocking since we're talking about the same little girl who is embarrassed as all get out to pack a lunch even on days she knows she hates and will not eat what is for lunch, like hot dog & mac & cheese days. Those are the only days she would take her own lunch, but...

That's another story...we tried making things she liked and would eat...even butter/cinnamon/sugar sandwiches.  She'd act all scared when I picked her up from school and would try explaining herself while crying, "I just wasn't hungry mom."  I explained I didn't care what she ate, I just didn't want her to be hungry.  "I just feel funny when I take a lunch because no one else does on the days I do."   Um, that's because you don't eat 'kid' food darling.  :)  So, I tried to make it seem a little more fun and packed her a Subway kids meal a couple of times.  It worked once.  The second time she ran to her room after school and tried hiding the leftovers under her bed! We had a discussion and decided that she would prefer to no longer pack lunches, she'd just eat what she liked off the tray and on hot dog & mac & cheese days she may be asked to take a bite, but it won't kill her...at least not right away...then, I taught her the 'stir-it-up-a-little-bit-to-make-it-look-like-you-tried-it' trick... just in case...'cause that's what mom's do.

Home Sweet Home

I do it every time.  When I become mentally exhausted, physically tired and ready for a little break...I can't wait to take a little 'mommy vacation.'  BUT...whenever I do, I miss the kiddos like crazy.  The past two weekends I have been in four different states and away from Drue and Lane.  It's funny how a mom wishes she could have a little time away and when she does all she can think about are her kids and how she misses them and how she can't wait to be back with them. 

Valentine's weekend Ryan and I were able to go to Galena, IL and Wisconsin with friends...ok...We made an accidental detour on our way, crossed the wrong bridge over the river and visited Wisconsin for about three minutes!  But hey. The girls traveled together and when we got to the house the boys were just getting there too.  How could that be?  We beat them AND went to Wisconsin?!  :)   We and three other couples rented a beautiful house in the Galena Territories.  We arrived on Friday evening and the girls wasted no time jumping into the hot tub while the guys fixed our dinner.  Saturday we headed into Galena for shopping and lunch with the boys...they got bored and when we girls arrived home a few hours later we found the boys had claimed their spots in the hot tub.  We had late reservations at Vinny Vinuchhi's where the girls were surprised by chocolates and roses from our hubbies.  What great food! I crave it still.  It was a great weekend that allowed everyone to relax and enjoy our company.

yeah...this was not taken while we were there but a hot tub seemed more of a treat in the midst of winter!

We thought we needed to make some snow angels after heating our bodies in the hot tub...only 2 of the 8 didn't do it *cough*Ryan&Brent*cough*

with Teresa, Sara & Maggie

The next weekend my newly-engaged sister-in-law, Trudi invited us Luiken girls to her house in Kansas City, MO to do some wedding dress shopping!  Once again, the weather was supposed to be nasty but he made the trek anyway.  The trip took longer than it normally would have but we're all glad we got to go!  Trudi picked out the perfect dress.  She looked beautiful and I can't wait to see her in it again in October!  Styles were much different than 8 years ago...we married girls had fun remembering things we had at our own weddings and laughing about things we thought were so important or so neat...only to look back now and think we were ridiculous! 

We spent all of Saturday in KC, Kansas at dress shops, site seeing places like the Plaza and the Station and making pit stops at several Targets looking for a Wii.  Ryan had hoped to find one before I left giving the kids something special to do at home while I was gone, but there were none to be found.  (I did get on a reserve list and will have ours by Friday)  We had planned to stay another night in KC but the weather was to be bad again and we decided to head home yet that evening but not before meeting up with the groom-to-be at the Cheesecake Factory.  It was a quick trip but Trudi accomplished her goal of finding a dress and we're all getting very excited for her!

I arrived back in Eldora about 11:45 Saturday night to a dark house.  I went to kiss everyone goodnight and found all three of them in our bed piled full of stuffed animals.  I didn't get a picture of them sleeping but here is the picture after everyone woke up.  I even found about a dozen cozy animals at the foot of the bed under the covers!  I'm easily replaced!  :)

 

Soles for Souls

After the terrible earthquake that devasted Haiti, the E-NP Elementary students took part in the Soles 4 Souls campaign to collect shoes to send to Haiti.  Drue came home from school and excitedly handed me a paper while explaining the purpose and describing what she knew about the natural disaster.  She had been watching coverage of the earthquake with me all week.  We spoke about how those people now had lost what little they did have.  How babies and children died.  How children no longer had parents or care takers, left alone to fend for themselves.  Drue was so excited to know she was going to be helping some of these people, even some her own age.  She ran straight to her shoe basket in her closet and grabbed her favorite cowgirl boots and her favorite pair of Sketcher tennis shoes!  I couldn't believe it. But, Drue didn't care!  She wanted to help. Her boots were like prized possessions to her.  She wants to be a cowgirl, she has to buy a new pair of boots every September for the rodeo.  She wears jeans everyday and they have to be long.  Like, not-a-smidge-above-the-bottom-of-her-ankle-bone-or-she-won't-wear-them, long because that is what cowgirls do.  She loved her boots...only problem was they still fit.  So I suggested we wait until they no longer fit before we donate them, but she proceeded to pick out 4 other pairs of shoes, plus her rainbow, sparkly Sketchers and put them in a grocery sack.  She also got Lane excited to share and he found 2 pairs of shoes he was able to donate.  Then Nanny found 3 brand-new pairs of flip-flops that DD took to school also.  I was so proud that the kids were excited to help and didn't think twice about giving something they knew other children could use.  The next day, I ran the bag into DD's classroom and explained how she chose her favorite shoes to give and Mrs. Hildreth ended up sharing the story with the school Principal who thanked Drue for her caring and sharing. 

The Haiti incident also had us talking about adoptions at our house.  We aren't adopting...but we 'play' adoption.  The kids didn't really have a concept of what adoption was until the earthquake and are realizing what a gift adoption is.  My first Cabbage Patch Kid was an African-American (ok, I don't know that exactly, but she was black) and her name was Gloria.  My Grandma Larson would also make me home-made Cabbage Patch type babies, one of them was a little black boy.  Now Drue and Lane play that they adopted these babies from Haiti and explain to Ryan and I what happened where they lived, etc... 

My heart swells knowing Drue and Lane have it in their hearts to give and to care. I'm one proud Momma.

Wordless Wednesday

Party Girl!

Littlest Pet Shop cake

Waiting for chili

time to open gifts

KK made her a cozy blanket

Uncle Steve knows his girl!  When DD blew out the candles on her cake she wished for a horse!

Drue received so many cute clothes! No Spring shopping needed!

Uncle Shawn holding Dig down so cousin Cali can tickle him!

She's SIX!

I can't believe it, but Drue Kathleen is six.  Like every mom, I remember the hours leading up to, during and after her birth like it was yesterday.  We were in the midst of an ice & snow storm.  I had a regularly scheduled appointment set for Monday, February 2, 2004.  Ryan and I stayed home and watched the Super Bowl.  I had been on bed rest the week before.  We played a lot of cribbage, watched too much t.v. and mom brought us dinner every night.  That Sunday night the weather and roads got so bad Ryan told me I was going to have to cancel my appointment for the morning.  I was so mad at him.  Didn't he know I was starting to feel pretty miserable just sitting on the couch all day?  I wanted to see who was in my belly!  I was hoping the doctor would just say it was time to have him or her! So I went to bed without a bath knowing I had no where to go the next day.  In the middle of the night I heard a loud pop! It was so loud that it woke me up.  I stayed in bed trying to figure out what that sound could have been.  We didn't have any balloons in the house, no one cracked a bottle of champagne...hmm.  I remember the time on the clock said 4:17 am.  I decided that since I was awake I might as well go to the bathroom.  So I got out of bed and Guuushh! That loud pop was my water breaking!  Oh my goodness!  I looked at Ryan, who was peacefully sleeping, and didn't want to wake him...but knew I had to!  I remember thinking, "he's going to be so mad at me! He said there's no way I'm going to the dr. tommorrow because of the weather!"  yikes!  So I calmly turned on the little light on our dresser and tried waking Ryan.  "ryan.  Ryan.  RYAN. R-Y-A-N!!"  "what?!?" "My water just broke?"  "Seriously?"  "yeah."  And he was GONE!  He didn't say another word to me.  He ran downstairs while I tried to figure out how I was going to get down there without making a huge mess.  My calm, level headed husband I grabbed my suitcase and changed my clothes.  By the time I got downstairs, like 4 minutes later...Ryan had already called his parents to have them come help get us out of the driveway (remember the ton of snow that had just fallen and our quarter of a mile driveway were no fun!) He also had scooped the side walk and had the car warming up.  He was speedy!  He didn't talk much at all the way to Waterloo.  He even got so nervous that he decided to be a rebel and turn left on a red light!  I was not feeling any signs of labor so was able to fully enjoy the humor in watching him become a wreck.   At 4:24 that afternoon, our firstborn, our daughter, Drue Kathleen Luiken was born.  I didn't think I was going to make it through those first 3 months.  I was the one who was a wreck then.  But we made it! 

Tuesday, February 2, 2010 She had her first friend party.  She invited 3 friends she has had her entire life, and 3 from her kindergarten class.  They had fun in DD's make-up vanity and singing to Hannah Montana while jumping on Lane's bed.  The girls also played school in the toyroom while Lane showed off his basketball skills...with no shirt on, I may add.  He was in hog heaven with that many girls around!

Each girl ordered her own mini-pizza and we enjoyed butterfly cupcakes.  Drue received so many cute gifts from her friends.  She was so excited to give them goody bags full of Bubble Tape gum, Littlest Pet Shop magnets and stickers and a lip-gloss. 

We are so blessed that God chose Ryan and I to be Drue's parents.  I love her more everyday, if that's possible.  I am amazed at the things she has learned in these 6 years and am so looking forward to the woman she will become.  But for now...I'm lovin on my SIX year old!!  Happy Birthday, DD!  Ubba!!