Itty Bitty Witte Family: August 2011

An unexpected benefit to Kindergarten

Even after one week I can tell we made the right decision to send Lucas to school.

He goes to a great school ranked 4.5/5 and 8/10 on both school scales.

Its walking distance from my house.

He has a great teacher, and is getting what he needs from school.

They put him in the advanced reading group, and he loves going to his specials.

He is learning a lot about himself, and how to manage his frustrations.

He comes home with a smile and lots to talk about and is becoming more independent, if that is even possible.

He reads the Ready Freddy books at home because I know Magic Tree House is what they read at school, and I wanted him to experience that with his friends.

He has become more responsible and understanding towards his younger sisters and it has been an awesome change.

But the one thing that has been the best benefit to Lucas going to school is watching Bridget dive into the role of oldest in the family. Although its only for 3.5 hours, she takes all she can get. She is loving and playful with Scarlett, extra helpful and her periods of unsavoryness have gone from once a day to maybe once a week.

Bridget is really turning a new leaf. She was never awful or bad, but she was so different than the others that it was difficult for me to "get" her. She loves all the individual time she is getting with me and the other girls and she is starting to really get interested in writing and reading and she is going to be excited when she starts PreSchool in September. With Nathan's new job comes many benefits, one is a "government" discount to a select number of preschools. We applied and got in and for $40 a month 3x a week she gets to go to preschool. It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.

Scarlett is also enjoying this new time. She gets to be the big sister and learn things without anyone interrupting. Lucas means well but a lot of times he blurts out the answer and the girls don't get a chance to try. Juliet loves being with her sisters and Lucas too, she doesn't really notice the difference.

This really seems to be an awesome time for everyone.

Lucas goes to a place he loves and is learning so much, beyond the books.
Bridget has a new found independence and a desire to help and learn.
Scarlett is in a new stage of discovery and loves to do anything I give her.
Juliet continues to be adorable and happy.

I feel so blessed to be taking part in their development and lives.

A Rocky Mountain Aloha!

Tonight we feasted on Hawaiian Kebabs, Hawaiian Coleslaw, and listened to Jack Johnson.

I love Jack Johnson, to me he seems so cool and calm like Hawaii must be.

I don't really have a desire to go to Hawaii, I know I am a small percentage of people in the world but I am lucky enough to have married someone who also shares my non desire to go.

His reasoning miiiiiiiiiiight have to do with his tendency to fry in the hot sun, I don't know just a guess. Hehehe.

Don't get me wrong if we won a trip or had a family get together there, we would go...
but its not our first choice.

But that doesn't stop us from enjoying that island flavor.

I mean I love Rumbi, and that is pretty hawaiian, no?

We had a low key Family Home Evening tonight because Nathan isn't home on Mondays.

We talked about the culture, the food, the music, the people, and explained to them that the cool thing about church...is that its the same no matter where you are. They thought that was pretty neat.

We found a hula You Tube video and the kids learned how to "hula"

After 5 looooooooong minutes they decided Hula Hooping is more fun.

and poor Juliet just watched with a solemn face...waiting for her turn.

Then we had Chewy Coconut Cookies for dessert, and watched Johnny Lingo for the family Movie.
Such a better choice than stupid Lilo and Stich...I HATE that movie.
Bridget cried and felt bad for the ugly girl...it was so sweet.
Scarlett managed to steal 2 more cookies when we weren't looking...that deserves a post all on its own.

It was a fun little cultural night for the family. :)

A hui kaua - Until we meet again!

A Beautiful Trade Off

Nathan has a schedule I always wanted my dad to have growing up.

Leave after breakfast, home by dinner time.

My dad always worked long hours which made seeing him such a treat.

Nathan's dad worked/schooled a lot too.

So when we got married we talked about the ideal schedule.

Leave at 7 home by 4ish.

That way there would be plenty of kid time before they went to bed,

then we would have plenty of us time after that.

For most of our marriage, minus the awful 2 years of constant travel we had just that.

Nathan's new job has been awesome because they are so flexible he can go in whenever he wants and leave whenever he wants...within reason.

Flash forward to Aug 22, 2011.

Nathan's 3 out of 5 semesters has begun.

Stomp, Stomp, Stomp.

Nathan has class from 6-9 which means...he comes home after the kids are in bed.

Its only 4 days a week but after the 3rd day of this I have realized I hate this semester.

Not so much for me, but for the kids who crave daddy time so much.

Nathan's Office has come up with a solution.

Nathan doesn't go in until 8:30-9:00.

Which means he gets to eat with us and most importantly...

Walk ALL the kids to school.

Walk them all home and he purposely takes the long way so I get 15-20 minutes of uninterrupted kid free time. It has been glorious. If I were a coffee drinker I could see how this would be relaxing and awesome, but since I am not, I choose my time to actually eat breakfast, because I normally don't.

I read from my current 3 or 4 books, and I can shower without interruption.

Its so nice for me to get the break and for the kids to get time with their Daddy.

When he gets home from the walk to school, he plays with the girls or does a few household items for me and then off he goes. I feel so blessed that his work understands that he needs time with us too.

So even though we don't get our normal daddy home at 5pm schedule 4 days a week...we seem to have made the best of it.

Even though its hard right now, in the end it will seem like a small insignificant bump in the road to getting where he needs to be.

Goose-a-rella

My poor Bridget has had such a crazy summer. It started when she was hit in the eyes by a frisbee.

She only complained of a headache and so I kept an eye on it and everything seemed fine.

I am not the type of mom to just run to the Dr office.

There was no marks or bruises the next day so I just shrugged it off as a typical 3 year old injury.

A few weeks later I noticed that her eyes were wonky.

More than they normally were. My friend from the Singles Ward is an ophthalmologist.

I had her look at this picture of Bridget.

Can you see it? The left eye (or right eye to her) seemed "off"

She said it is probably just how she was looking at the camera but that mommy instinct told me something else. I did a little Bridget research. I looked through a bunch of old pictures of her and noticed she has always had this eye thing. It wasn't until we had pics taken and the photographer said "I will fix her eyes when I get home" that I thought it was time to take her in.

I went to the place we were referred to through the pedi.

This eye doc said she had lazy eye, wanted to cut her open and then slap some glasses on her.

I left the office in shock.

How could someone be so quick to cut open my beautiful little girl?

I was VERY uneasy about this.

I talked to several people in my ward who have "eye" issues and have gone through the whole rig-a-maroll with eye doctors.

I decided to take her to Children's Hospital in their Eye Office.

The doctor there did several tests, dilated her eyes, checked her again. It was a 4 hour appointment.

TOTALLY WORTH IT.

Dr. Steele told me that she has Extropia Amblyopia.

Its the appearance of lazy eye, but its just an alignment issue.

She has excellent vision, and the best thing to do is eye patch it for 6 months, 4-6 hours a day.

I am so glad I followed my instincts and got a second opinion.

The best part is that Bridget doesn't have to wear boring old skin color eye patches.

My friend Desi gave me the name to a "designer" eye patch place and my "goose" can wear funky fun patterned ones. This is very exciting!

I feel like the weight has been lifted and we can press forward and fix the eye with the least evasive treatment!

First Day of KINDERGARTEN

Nathan's FIRST day of Kindergarten. Complete with Dukes of Hazard Lunch Box.

PS. Nathan's mom made that entire outfit!

Valerie's First Day of Kindergarten. Purple Cords and Turtleneck?!?!

And now - what you have been waiting for...

Lucas's First Day of Kindergarten. Wearing his new clothes, and making sure there was orange in it.

He only changed 3x, because he is my son.

He couldn't sleep because he was SO excited, again, my son.

AAAANNNNDDDD he was really worried about making new friends...Nathan's son.

Robert, Lucas's best bud is in his class! It MUST have something to do with their last names being W's but that's okay. Lucas was very excited to tell Mrs. Kelso that he has known Robert since they were babies.

We had our annual donuts outside for breakfast while we watched the kids walk to school.

Bridget remembered that we did this with Anna and Issac last year. :)

Then Lucas and I ditched the girls and Nathan and walked to school together.
I tried to avoid Bridget or Scarlett crying this time.
On the way Lucas was very nervous about there not being very many boys in his class because in church there are only 3 in his class and 5 girls.

We got there and Mrs. Kelso was out to greet!

I can't even begin to tell you how lucky we feel to have her as Lucas's teacher.

Lucas spotted Robert and told Mrs. Kelso that him and Robert are always together,
even without praying for it!

And then it happened...

The kids lined up and there were only boys. Like every new kid who came into the line was a boy!
It took some time before the first girl came and at pick up we counted and there were 11 boys and 6 girls.

Lucas was beaming with joy.

No one cried, and Lucas was confident that he could do it all himself. He walked away and turned back and looked at me and smiled and said "Don't worry I'll tell you all about it at lunch time."
Love.That.Kid.

Funny - Lucas's FIRST HW assignment and they had to bring 3 sentences about themselves.
His were: I like to ride my bike. I have 3 sisters. Golf is my favorite.

The teacher then said "Wow, you have 3 sisters?" Lucas: yes, girls are my anemones.

They all sat down and were asked what they did this summer.
Lucas said: I went to California for my birthday. I got real golf clubs for my birthday.
I got to go golfing at a real golf course.
The teacher said "Lucas did you do anything else?"
Lucas: I went swimming but it wasn't important enough to mention.

This kid is going to have a great year. HAHAHA.

We dropped off all the treats, and gave hugs to everyone and Lucas was so happy.
He even got to go to music today!

The night before Kindergarten

and all through the house...

mommy was making teacher treats,

I only made 18. One for each K teacher, one for all the Office Staff, One for his Art Teacher, PE Teacher, Music Teacher, Librarian/Technology Teacher, and one for him when he gets home!

They read:

An Apple for the teacher...

Its really nothing new.

Except when you remember...

Its my first time at school!

The back says :

Thanks for being here!

Lucas Witte - Kindergarten.

After that, the kids wrote notes to Nathan as tomorrow is his first day of the worst semester of my his life.

I read

We traced Lucas's hand and laminated it.

I attached it to a free ring.

We worked on Lucas's Kindergarten Notebook, which we will work on all year. Its basically an interview with a picture he drew and one I will take tomorrow.

And then Lucas got his father's blessing, we packed it up for the night and Nathan and I looked at each other and realized things are about to change.

It was an eye opener for sure!

Witte end of the Summer Picnic

We did this 2 years ago when Liz and Cory were in town and it was time to have it a go again. :)

So I picked the location...one that was more central for everyone and we met there for dinner.

We went to the Peter Pan Pirate Park. That is what I call it. It probably has an official name.

Everyone brings fried chicken and a side and then we let the kids play and eat all together. I couldn't find fried chicken in our limited time frame so we bought a Rotissire chicken and broke it up. Haha.

I didn't take as many pictures as I normally do because I brought my old camera and because the kids were wild and crazy the entire time. In a good-I-missed-my-cousins sort of way. I love my new camera and was afraid to bring it somewhere where I knew there would be lots of splashing and water. yikes!

We are excited about going to Utah for Uncle Jared's wedding and realized we don't get together as much as we should. Tomorrow is a big day of prep work for me, Lucas and Nathan.

Halloween Craft Swap

Halloween/Fall/Harvest is my FAVORITE time of year. I love fall colors, I love the smells and tastes that are associated with fall, etc.

Which is funny, because growing up no matter where I lived there was no "real" fall. Like leaves falling, cooler temps, excessive baking, haha.

So I have friends all over the country and I have started a mini craft swap. 2 little handmade items (an hour or two of time and not very expensive) Including an edible is optional.

I realized I never included my out of state blogger friends. So if you want to be in my second swap...Leave a comment and I will email you the information. You only mail to one person and then you get one box of something. The mail date is Sept 26th so you have 6 weeks to get 'er done! Its a low key craft swap. I promise!

Looking Above

I guess my babies are just like me and Nathan...mouths open and all! Hahaha.

I have always thought Lucas and Scarlett looked alike. Now I think Scarlett and Juliet look alike.

Love my babies...too bad they grow up.

: /

Six Months. (for the 4th time)

Our Little Juliet is finally 6 months old!

She is such a sweetheart. She almost never cries. She is always happy and loves to be with her siblings. She is a great sleeper going to bed at 8:45 and waking up at 6:45 with the rest of us. :) She doesn't really like fruit but loves her veggies.

She is my skinniest baby. Here is BRIDGET at 6 months,

SCARLETT at 6 months, and LUCAS at 6 months..

Minus those blue eyes she is a GREAT blend of the other 3 kids. She loves to cuddle, the first of the 4 to love this and you have to work for a laugh from her but she ALWAYS has a smile. She is crawling a lot more now and her favorite thing to do is be upside down.

I believe that she is my best baby so far and I am so glad she is ours.

Thoughts

I have be criticized that I expect too much.

I expect too much from my friends, my family, my children.

My answer is always of course I do - because I know everyone can do great things.

Today I saw this and realized I need to print this and frame it because it is me 100%

I whole heartily agree with this statement. Call me stubborn, but honestly I believe that everyone should always act and think and do to their full potential. And if you can't just walk away. Its like that saying "If you can't say something nice..."

Okay. Off of the rant. :)

Mellowing Out

The Summer is coming to an end.

There have been several night time trips to the park.

Bug and Rock Collecting.

Hundreds of Popsicles consumed.

Too many flies in the house from the backyard fun.

Random water hosings.

Loads of fruit cut and devoured.

Random nap taking.

Lightening Storms.

After dinner walks.

Crack the Whip Challenges.

And of course a whole lotta Golf.

And even though there are 2 more things left on our 50 Summer Fun List and only 12 official days of Summer Left... the one thing we learned about ourselves is that now matter what we do - the most important thing is that we are all together. My kids thrive on having both parents at home and luckily, we can provide just that. They truly benefit from quality time - not from doing 100 things, or going to amusement parks, or anything outrageous and over the top.

I am happy with the job we are doing with the raising of these little people.

They truly are growing up to be aware and kind and thoughtful.

Now - really? 12 days till school starts?!?! aaah!

A Funnie

Juliet is a VERY scheduled baby. Which works for me.

She is up at 6:30 eats, burps, gets changed all when Nathan wakes up. Its lovely because I don't have to get up until 7 with everyone else.

At 7:45 she usually drifts back to sleep so I can get my stuff done before she eats again at 10:30.

Its glorious, and I know that I am lucky, and for that I am grateful.

But today at 8ish she tooted so loud it woke her up because it scared her and she started to cry. It was the saddest cry ever. I couldn't help but laugh because it was funny and she was so panicked about it. Hahaha.

She didn't get a very good nap in because of this but she sure woke up happy. She is sitting up and crawling a bit, and I learned last week she hates the church carpet which is good for me because she won't do it. :)

Anyway here is this sweet little baby. Gosh I just love her! :)