Week 2

First full week of full-day school for Ethan and he did great.  I think it might have even wore him out a bit.  Last week he only attended 2 days of school and then we took my mom back to Utah so this was his first full week of school and already has learned so many new things.  Each day he comes home to tell me all kinds of fun things they did and learned, including the Pledge of Allegiance in sign language.  Ethan and Daddy seem to be adjusting well to their morning routine, with Daddy even taking Riley to work with him one day as Ethan told him that Riley would be lonely at home all by himself. 

Each day at school the kids start out with a green card and as long as they have good behavior they get to keep the green card all day, however, there are other card colors as well and there is also a time-out chair.  Wednesday of last week and Monday of this week Ethan got a couple other color cards and had to sit on the time-out chair for being too loud and talking too much (big surprise there..haha).  When I picked him up on Monday I asked him how his day went and noticed that he hadn't eaten all of his lunch.  He proceeded to tell me that he wasn't able to eat all of his lunch because he was talking and then lunch was over.  I suggested that maybe he could talk less and that way he would be able to eat all of his lunch and he probably would get to keep his green card all day.  He said, "that's a good idea mom, I think I will try that."  Silly kid.  On Tuesday when I picked him up he came running out saying, "Mom, you were right, I didn't have to sit in time-out today and I got to keep my green card all day."  And he did the same the rest of the week.  I think he is on to something there...heehee.  They have also started learning to read and he and I have been reading several books each night having him read certain words in the story to me and adding a new word each night. 



Last weekend when we took my mom home, we stopped in SLC to drop Jeff off to hang out with his brothers and help with a bike race for his brother Steven, hang out with my brother, Doug, pick up Jeff's sister, Lori, to ride down to Hurricane with us, got to finally meet our newest niece and nephew, Falon and Corban (I don't have a picture of Falon), and we also had breakfast with my Grandma.  It was the fastest trip to Utah we have ever made and Ethan did awesome.  We have made that trek many times with Ethan and it is an awfully long (18 hours) ride but he made the best out of it and only got a little restless just before we were getting ready to get out of the car for the day.  It was fun to see our family, even if it was for only the day.  We made the most of our time and took Ethan and cousin Avery up to Zion National Park to ride my dad's shuttle bus as I only got to see him for a few hours.  We also played at Hurricane's new splash pad and then Ethan and I had to run through the Las Vegas airport to make it to our plane (new experience, haven't ever had to run before).

 

My Grandma Caldwell and Ethan

 Ethan and Avery riding Papa Steve's shuttle

 Aunt Lori, Grammie Hadley and Taylee

 Ethan laughing as he moons the waterpark every time the bucket of water falls on him.

   Taylee cuddling with Papa.

We dropped Jeff off in SLC and he, along with his brothers, George and Brian, and their wives, Brittney and Lexie, surprised his brother Steven, coming to be his race support for his 5th LATOJA bike race, Logan, Utah to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  They were the Angry Birds crew handing him food and drink supplies while he rode his race with a personal best time of 9 hrs 24 mins.   

And finally...Our lifesaver friends, Kit, Melinda and Thomas, have helped us out once again with Ethan getting a new bike.  He now has a 16" lightening McQueen bike, which he tells me is the "fastest bike ever."

He's a kindergartener!

First day of school and what a handsome boy we have...and his backpack is as big as he is. 

Monday we also made a trip to Canby for the the Dahlia Festival.  One of my favorite flowers and such beautiful variety but, in my opinion, I do like the Tulip festival better. 

Ethan

He amazes me!  In just 3 more days our baby will be starting full day, every day kindergarten.  These past 5years have flown by a lot faster than I was planning them to and while I am so excited for him to start this adventure, I am also tearing up as I type this knowing that my little boy will not be little for much longer. 

I am forever thankful that I was able to be a stay-at-home mom for almost all of his first 5 years and having the privilege of watching him learn and grow.  He is one smart cookie, as well as one stubborn one.  His imagination is awesome, his talking is nonstop, and he makes us continually laugh like no other.  Each year with him has been both a joy and a frustration at times and I think 5 may be the hardest yet. 

This past Thursday night we went to "Back to School night" and met his teacher, Mrs. Brocka.  She is going to be a strict one and both Jeff and I were excited as we listened to her talk her expectations.  She is very proactive in the kids learning to be independent responsible individuals, which we strive for at home with Ethan as well so I look forward to working with her this school year.  His best buddy, Peyton, as well as many of the kids from his preschool class will also be in his class this year. 

Just over 5 months ago my mom graciously put her life on hold and left my dad at home to care for himself to come live with us and take care of Ethan, as an opportunity came up for me to return to the out-of-the-house workforce.  I was hoping that I could have put it off until now and apply for something as the summer was ending, however, my transcription workload was decreasing severely and the new opportunity came much faster than I was expecting.  I have enjoyed working at OHSU in the Perinatology (high risk OB) office for the last 5+ months.  When I started they needed additional help in the fertility clinic medical records so I was working there in the afternoons getting full-time hours.  They were recently able to hire someone for that position and this past week was my first week of working only the part-time hours I was hired for.  In addition, I was also approached to take on an additional 8 hours a week doing administrative work for childbirth education. Though I do start my day extremely early, getting up at 4:30 to be there by 6 am, it is awesome to be off at 1 pm.  I am disappointed that I won't be able to take Ethan to school, but Daddy will do a great job of that and I look forward to getting to pick him up from school.  While I do miss being at home with Ethan, I am a people-person and do enjoy being back working with them. 

Next weekend we will be making the extremely long drive back to Utah to take my mom home.  We appreciate her more than she knows for her willingness to help us out this summer with Ethan so that we didn't have to put him in daycare.  He has had an awesome summer with Gram filled with many fun activities and a 2-week vacation to Utah with her, and we will really miss having her here with us, as I am sure she feels the same...well, except for her missing our dogs, especially Charlie. 

 
Funny stuff with Ethan:

Earlier this week we were talking about Ethan needing a bigger bike.  My mom got a bike for Ethan at DI for $6 when they were in Utah a few weeks ago and she thought it was bigger than his current bike so we were thinking that we may be able to box it up and bring it back on the airplane with us next weekend.  As we were telling E about that, he says, "You know Dad, I have been riding that bike since I was 5, and I do it pretty good!" 

Ethan has finally grown tall enough that we were able to take our makeshift blocks off of the pedals of his tag-a-long bike, and we also have Papa Steve to thank for finally getting Ethan to tie his shoes.  Both my mom and I have tried for several months to get him try it and his stubbornness prevailed.  He spends 30 minutes with Papa when they were in Utah a few weeks ago and does it with no problems.