I Don't Want To Go To School

Nolan is getting ready to start preschool at the TreeHouse so in order to get him used to going to school I've been taking him once a week for a couple of hours.  If you know Nolan you know he is pretty shy and new things are not always his favorite.  So this has been a big step for him.  Of course he cries when I drop him off, but once he's there he does fine.  Since he's been going he insists that I read Llama Llama Misses Mama.  In the book the little llama is shy and misses his mama.  Whenever I read the part about being shy Nolan says "I'm shy too".  I think he can really relate to the llama.  At the end of course the mama comes back and the llama loves school.  After we finish he always tells me "You always come back for me, Kitty".  He's doing really good at the TreeHouse and I know he's starting to feel more comfortable.  Luckily the people there are really great and have REALLY helped Nolan feel welcome.  I do love the TreeHouse!(I hope I can receive a promotional discount:))  But seriously, it has been a great experience for us.  

Happy Birthday Nolan

Nolan is now a 4 year old! This last year has been a really great one for Nolan. He has grown and changed so much and I'm so proud of him! He's a wonderful boy who remembers everything! He's a great brother to Eli and has been so much fun. We started the day by going swimming at Aunt Vivian's house. We had lots of fun and then headed to watch Ice Age 3-which he has been waiting to watch since he saw the cardboard cut out at the movies last year! After the movie we headed back for pizza and Ice Age cake. Nolan was so excited and had so much fun opening his presents. We then headed off to the fairgrounds to watch fireworks.  We happened to show up just as the demolition derby was starting which was very interesting.  Once the derby was finished they had some pretty good fireworks.  After all was said and done Nolan came over to me, gave me a big hug and said "Thanks for my birthday". What a good boy. I love you Nolan!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I love my boys!  They are so funny especially when they are together.  Nolan always tells me "I love my baby brother.  He's so gooey!".  Eli has really been getting into rough housing with Nolan.  It's so hilarious to see Eli tackle Nolan and if I tell Eli to stop Nolan always assures me that it's okay.  I love watching them become friends.

Bear Foot

The other day I asked Nolan to put on his shoes and the conversation went as follows:

Me: Nolan can you please put on your shoes?

N: No.  I want to keep my feet open.

Me:  Oh, you mean barefoot.

N:  I don't have bear feet!  I have boy feet!

All I could do was laugh:)

Time is Flying!

Eli loved watching the chickens.
Shadow the wolf
Madison and Eli

ready to go

Eli's ready too
Nolan's favorite
Before the rides
Had to get the hat!

It seems like time has been flying by!  I just can't believe it.  We went to Disneyland and it was one of the best trips ever!  We had a great time.  Danny and Kathy came with us which was great to have some extra help.  Nolan's mission the entire time was spend as much time with Goofy as possible.  We got to see him before we got into Disneyland at our hotel.  Nolan was so happy he could hardly contain himself.  It was so much fun to watch him!

We enjoyed lots of rides and Nolan even got to participate in the parade.  It was so cute!  One night Bobby and Danny went to ESPN Zone and the other night I forced Kathy to go on the "big kid" rides.  It was hilarious.  I laughed so hard I could hardly concentrate on the ride.  On the last day we were there we also had breakfast with Goofy.  It was so worth it.  Nolan had so much fun-but I don't think he ate very much.  Then we headed off to California adventure.  I had never been there before so that was a lot of fun.  The kids loved the Playhouse Disney play and my favorite was Monsters Inc.  So cute.  I was sad that we didn't make it over to Toy Story, but we did see the Brother Bear show so that was fun.  Nolan was so tired at that point he could hardly make his way back to the car.  Now every time someone says California he immediately responds by letting me know that he wants to go back to Goofy's house and see Mickey Mouse too.  We are definitely going back next year!

My sister Ashley came to visit with her little girl, Madison.  Nolan was so excited that his cousin got to sleep and play at our house!  He told me repeatedly how cute she is.  It was really funny.  Whenever I say goodbye to my family I always shed a tear or two-but as she drove away I felt a little homesick.  So the following day I packed up my kids and drove up to Snowflake.  This trip up was SO much better than the last time we went up, so I was grateful for that. When we got up there it was so fun to see my family's face.  They had no idea we were coming.  We had a great time just being with them.  I think it's a great place for my kids.  There are animals, fruit trees, vegetables growing, a pond where you can feed the fish and tons of space to run and play.  Not to mention a wolf lives there-also known as Shadow, my parents' Queensland heeler.  Nolan loved it up there.

Things were going great until Thursday when Eli started throwing up in the car on our way to feed some mini horses.  He didn't stop and I had to take him into the hospital.  When I told Nolan that we were going to have to take Eli to the doctor he said, "Oh no Kitty.  I'm so sad.  What can we do to make him better?".  This was my first time going to the emergency room.  It was a little scary at first but as the night wore on Eli started to get a little better.  Of course Nolan came with me and I was surprised at how determined he was to not fall asleep in the hospital.  He was pretty good while we waited.  Finally at 3:00 we were able to go home.  On Friday Eli didn't throw up anymore but he had a terrible fever.  Finally I was able to get it down, but that night Nolan told me he had a stomach ache too.  I had a hard time believing him at first because he often tells me that when he doesn't want to do something-like brush his teeth.  So I told him to come and get in bed with me.  10 minutes later he was throwing up.  I was pretty much up all night with both of the kids trying to get them through this terrible flu.  The next morning Nolan seemed to be through the worst of it, but Eli still looked a little under the weather.  I decided to drive home figuring that Eli would sleep the majority of the way and prayed his fever wouldn't come back.  So we made our journey home.  The kids are good travelers and did very well, until we got about an hour from home.  Eli had thrown up again.  I couldn't believe it.  After we got cleaned up we finished the drive home.

We were happy to get home, but that night Eli started again with a fever and throwing up.  He just couldn't get over the illness.  So on Sunday I took him back to Urgent Care.  The doctor opened his mouth and saw that his tonsils were swollen and his throat was also swollen and red.  He diagnosed him with a sinus, tonsil and nose infection.  So after getting some antibiotics Eli is finally on the mend.  Yeah!

So now we are on our way to some more great summer adventures.  Swimming lessons (hilarious), cooking class, going back to Snowflake, San Diego and Nolan's birthday...It should be lots of fun!

Gpa

Bobby's grandpa passed away last month.  We went to see him a week before he passed away and looked better than ever.  It was good because he got to see our kids one more time.  He was a funny guy with nine lives.  He lived through so many things and managed to keep going-it amazed me.  He lived through WWII and had some sort of bomb explode which required his stomach to be lined with sheep lining, several strokes, a broken neck (which he had to wear a halo) and an amputated leg.  He lived through a lot and was still able to keep a smile.  We have so many fun memories of Grandpa.  He will be missed.

A Little Behind

Well, I must say I'm a little behind on my posts....Maybe someday I'll be a little more on top of things.  It's been a crazy few weeks.  Bobby and I went up to Phoenix so he could run in a race.  It was the first time we had left town in almost a year.  I know-we're so sad.  Hopefully I can catch up in the next few posts...