End of the Year Recap

Whew - I am glad there is only one last week of school. We had an event every day or evening of the week.

On Wednesday, Wyatt's preschool had an end of the year picnic for all the children and their families. The weather turned out to be perfect - not too hot and a nice breeze.




The preschool provided lunch and there were games, a petting zoo, pony rides, balloons, a bounce house, and lots of room to run and play outside.




Wy and Chase's cousin Jackson was there which was an added bonus for both my boys.







We had a great time and Chase enjoyed being outside.



He is a people watcher like me!




On Thursday, I wanted to take a last day of school picture of the kids.

Here is the picture I took last August on the first day of school.




And here is the end of the year pic.




Wow - they have all changed but I think Morgan has changed the most!

Of course there is a story behind Wy's less than pleased expression. He had his Nintendo DS and Chase was throwing a fit for it. I told Wyatt to let Chase hold it. Well, Chase pressed some buttons and it made Wyatt's character in the game die. Hence the "I am so not happy with my little brother" look.

Then Thursday night was Wyatt's end of the year program.




They recited things they had learned during the year and sang songs. They did some cute skits as well which was so fun to watch. Wyatt was Percy Pig in Mrs. Leigh Ann's version of the 3 little pigs.



In her version, Wy lived in a condo and then the wolf knocked it down with a Bobcat. Very cute.

They also sang a song called "Who Let the Letters Out" which was sung to the tune of "Who Let the Dogs Out".



Those are dog hats they are wearing with the sunglasses. Loved this.

So my little one has completed Pre-Kindergarten and is now ready to begin Kindergarten in the fall.




We are looking forward to a summer of fun which will include NOT DRIVING to town everyday, lots of swimming, playing with cousins, and a trip to the beach! Hope your summer is just as fun!

Happy 16 Months Chase!

Sweet Chase -

What a week to turn 16 months! I can't believe I actually remembered to get some pictures of you today with all the end of the school year madness going on.




I have to do a quick flashback from 1 year ago when you were just 4 months old.



Back when you would stay still in your crib and we still had Sophie!


So I haven't done an update since you were 14 months old.




You weigh about 23 pounds and are about 30 inches in length.

You are wearing size 18 - 24 months in clothes and a size 4 diaper.

You actually gained your two top molars which brings your teeth total to 8. And the bottom ones are working on pushing through as well.




You are still doing well when it comes to eating. I always have little bags of snacks with me whenever I take you places because I know if all else fails, you will be happy to eat. You are interested in using a spoon and you can dip it into the yogurt container and get it in your mouth. I just have to hold the container for you. Sometimes I think you just want to hold a spoon no matter what it is you are eating. You also want to feed yourself so you are still getting plenty of baths.

I am trying to work with you on learning the parts of your face: eyes, ears, nose, etc. We are also working on learning names for things like tree, ball, juice, etc. You are at that stage where I can say "go get the ball" and you will do it. But when I tell you to say ball, you just look at me and say DONG. You kinda say DONG for everything.




Your little personality is really coming out. You definitely let it be known if you are unhappy about something. Recently you have been expressing your dislike for your car seat by screaming and arching your back when I try to put you in. I don't really blame you for that - I hate being in the car sometimes too.


You will give kisses if we ask for one. In fact, you will kiss just about anyone who does ask you. It is sweet to watch your big cousins get in line to get kisses from you. They do love to play with you and you are equally enthralled by them.


Your favorite indoor activity is to zoom around the house on your Toy Story 3 push car. And you love it even more when Wyatt gets on behind you and zooms you both around because he makes you go super fast!




Your favorite outdoor activity would be riding on the Gator with Wyatt. You like to hold the steering wheel while Wyatt pushes the "go pedal."




And of course I had to already share the big news that you FINALLY decided to walk! And you chose an otherwise unhappy day to do so. Such a sweet boy to give me a reason to smile that day. You had acually been walking as long as you held onto someone's finger. So we knew you could do it but you just didn't have the confidence until that day. I still do a double take when I see you walk by. You are getting steadier as each day goes by but you already have the bumps and bruises that come with a new walker.

Wow - the next update will be when you are 18 months old! You are growing up so fast little one. We love you.

Kid's Kingdom

Wyatt had his end of the year field trip at Kid's Kingdom.

A highlight of the trip for him? Getting to ride on a school bus.




My MIL took care of Chase so I could go and spend some one on one time with Wyatt.

Well, as much one on one time you can have with an energetic 5 year old at a huge play area.

I don't think he stopped moving for the entire 90 minutes of play time.




Except when he needed to refuel.




I cornered him for some posed pics in exchange for leaving him alone!




I was pretty sure this was our first time at this park. Until I saw this horse.




And then I instantly remembered this pic.




Apparently we had taken him there before and on a cold day at that!


This is his sweet teacher Mrs. Leigh Ann.




This is his other sweet teacher Mrs. Jessica.



They love him and he loves them right back. He really has had a wonderful year in their class. He has learned so much and enjoys going to school.

This is his class with his teachers. See that little girl next to him?




That is Taylor. He talks about her. And he doesn't really talk about anyone. Ever. He tells me things about her like her last name. And that he had to tie her shoe. He sat by her during the chapel program. And here they are again. I think he has a little crush.

Today is the end of the year picnic. Tomorrow night is his end of the year program. Due to the tornados, some of these events had to be rescheduled so it turned this week into a very busy week. More pictures to come from the picnic and program!

Accomplishments!

Morgan tried out for the Middle School cheerleading squad and she made it! She had to have 6 teacher recommendations, learn the cheers on her own by watching YouTube videos, and try out in front of guest judges. We are super proud of her and are looking forward to going to her games this fall. She will start out cheering for the football team and then will cheer for basketball.

Today was her Awards Day ceremony at school and she was recognized for being a member of the math team.




Look at this little Missy!



www.simplicitybychristy.com

This is Morgan at Chase's photo shoot. I took her and Wyatt along hoping to get some of the 3 of them. Chase was NOT interested in having his picture taken so Christy took some of Wyatt and Morgan on their own. I can't wait to see the rest of the proofs.

Speaking of Mr. Wyatt, he has really taken to playing baseball. The first 3 pitches are coach pitch and then if they don't get a hit, they get 2 tries off the tee. He has been consistently hitting off the coach's pitch. It makes me so proud because this is his first year and he is one of the smallest on his team.

My favorite is when he gets to run home and he slides into home plate no matter where the ball is. And he straight looks over to see if we are watching before he does it. Ha!



At the end of each game, the coach gives one player the "game ball". Wyatt was given it on May 7th and he is so proud of that ball. He won't let anyone hold it because he wants to keep it clean. He took it to Show n Tell last week too. I am thinking I need to get him a little case for it so nothing happens to it.

Wyatt had an end of the year chapel program this morning. I loved seeing all the little kids perform and hearing them recite Bible verses.



And now for Mr. Chase.


Drum roll please...

Untitled from Emily Donaldson on Vimeo.

I have been on Cloud 9 since he finally decided to take the plunge on Monday. I am still surprised every time I see him walk. I didn't think he was EVER going to do it!

Our Story - Camp Donaldson Top 10

Top 10 Things I Learned From Hosting Camp Donaldson:

10. Don't start a Scrabble game with Aaron after 9 p.m. when you are already tired. He is not of the mind set to just throw out 3 or 4 letter words. He thinks. He ponders. He rearranges letters. He thinks some more. Then he debates on whether he should use all his letters on the double letter score or use just 6 of the letters on a triple word score which also opens up a new outlet for his next possible word. I mean I had no idea what I was signing up for. I just slap out words like 'book', 'salsa', or add an 's' to something already out there.

9. The basement was a GREAT idea. If you have to get stuck somewhere with lots of kids, get stuck at a place that has a basement. Any time it got just a little too loud upstairs, we would send the kids to the basement to play. It also was a great little place for the kids to camp out at night.

8. Always keep a good stock of basic medicines for all types of ailments. We had panic attacks, head aches, sore muscles, tummy issues - you name it, and I had just about something for everyone. The same can be said for paper products - bathroom tissue, paper towels, paper plates, etc.

7. A moderate amount of alcohol in these situations is appropriate. Be sure you have the proper mixers on hand as everyone's tastes vary.

6. Kids love a bon fire!



If you decide to have a one, you should have a supply of the regular size marshmallows on hand for S'mores. We only had the little baby ones and they were pretty pathetic. The kids had to work too hard just to get a little bit of gooey deliciousness.

5. Don't let children age 5 and under hold their own hangers over the fire as they might pop themselves in the lip when trying to test to see if their marshmallow is melted.

4. If you tell YouYou that you will watch a movie with her, you better be prepared to watch it. No falling asleep as she will pry your eyeballs open to check to see if you are awake! She is just the best little snuggler though so I couldn't help but "rest my eyes" which was the excuse I gave her.

3. Who says you can't swim in May (or was it still April)? Even though the water was a chilly 80 degrees, the kids took advantage of being able to take a quick dip this early in the season.

2. These are the best campers a girl could ask for! We were actually sad to see them leave.



1. Parting gifts are a must. These campers were awarded a free baby as their parting gift!



No, seriously. Take him. TAKE. HIM.

It's all about the perks at Camp Donaldson!

Our Story - The Aftermath

So we knew that Madison County was without power and would be that way for a few days. Before we went to bed that Wednesday night, we talked about what we thought the next day might be like. Jeremy thought we may be busier than normal during breakfast since there might be some people out looking for something hot to eat. My brother volunteered to go down there the next morning to help out "just in case."

When I woke up the next morning I decided to go down to the store to see if they needed any help. When I came around the corner, my mouth literally dropped open. We have a small convenience store with just 4 pumps in a small town. And it looked like all of north Madison County was in line to get gas.

I so wish I would have taken the time to take pictures of the lines going up both sides of the highway. I did get a picture from my car when I first pulled in and it shows how congested it was on one end of the parking lot. There was another line coming in from the other end of the lot as well. People were pulling in line from all directions and it was a mess.



Jeremy usually opens at 5:30 a.m. but he had people banging on the door at 4:30 wanting to know if we had power and gas. From that point Thursday morning until that night, we had a line for the gas pumps that ranged from a 1 - 2 hour wait depending on what time you arrived. They had to cook breakfast 3 times and then just switched over to making lunch items.

The people basically fell into 2 categories: 1) people who were leaving town because they knew power would be out for an extended time and they needed gas to get out of town and 2) people who were riding out the power outage and needed gas for their generators, cars, and anything else they could think of.

People were very tense and worried about getting gas, especially that first morning. We had some issues with people cutting in line so I decided to go outside and do what I do best - boss people around.

Eventually we had 4 sheriff's deputies there directing the traffic on the highway so no one was blocking the main roads. Aaron and I took turns keeping the traffic in the parking lot flowing. I met so many people who were (thankfully) just without power and had minimal storm damage. But I also met people who had lost everything. One man apologized for being in the store without shoes on. Then he said it was because he wasn't wearing any when the storm hit and he lost everything.

Our location played a huge part in how busy we were. We are about 1 mile over the state line which borders Madison County. Word got out via the radio and other media outlets that we had power and gas and that is all it took. By the 3rd day we started recognizing those who had become regulars out of necessity. They weren't panicked about the gas so much anymore but they did need refills for their generators and also needed to eat. We told everyone we could that there wasn't a gas shortage. We were just running out before our supplier had a chance to bring us more due to the heavy volume of customers.

Just about everyone was thankful that we were open, that we didn't have a limit on the gas they could get, that we took debit cards which allowed them to get cash back, and that we tried to make a bad situation somewhat easier for them. I really hated that I was unable to take part in any official relief efforts but do feel like we had our own way of assisting families in need. So many people just wanted a cup of coffee and a place to charge their cell phone.

One sweet old man approached me about how he could pay thinking we were only taking cash. He didn't have much on him and was wanting to write a check. I told him he could use a credit card or a debit card if he had one and that he could get cash back that way. Then he asked what our limit was on how much gas he could get. I told him we weren't limiting anyone at that point. He looked at me with a total serious expression and said "I could kiss you right now if I didn't think it would make your husband mad." Bless his heart - when you are feeling down and overwhelmed, it is amazing what a little bit of good news can do to lift your spirits.

I don't know what we would have done if Aaron hadn't been available to help out at the store and also if Erica and my parents hadn't been at our house. It was all we could do to keep up that first day and Aaron and I weren't even supposed to be there. It was so nice to have that support at home which allowed us to be away during those very consuming few days. Erica and my parents took care of all the kids, fed them, kept them entertained, and kept the house in order. They made themselves at home and it was one less thing to worry about. In fact, we all think Chase behaved better when I wasn't there.

I had to make several trips to the Winchester/Tullahoma area for supplies to restock our shelves. Between the 2 hour wait for gas and the stress of the situation, people were smoking like chimney stacks and we kept running out! On one trip I basically "made" my 8 year old nephew Carter go with me because I knew he was a good conversationalist and it would help me stay awake. We talked about school, sports, his golf camp, movies, books, video games - whatever I could think of to keep me focused during that long 2 hour drive. I so appreciate him doing that because I know most 8 year olds would prefer being at home playing instead of talking to their aunt for 2 hours!

All in all, we sold about 25,000 gallons of gas and 1000 bags of ice during those few days. We lowered our price on the ice but couldn't do much about the gas - especially with prices these days. But no one complained - they were just thankful we had some for them to buy.

Fortunately, it wasn't all work. We did close down at night and were able to enjoy some time with our family. More stories and a few pictures from Camp Donaldson will be next.

Our Story - The Storms

I know that everyone who reads this blog has their own story about April 27th, 2011. Ours is a story of mercy and of thankfulness. One that I think I will always remember - not for the destruction, as we escaped mainly unscathed, but because of the memories we made as a family in the aftermath.

The weathermen had predicted that we would have storms that day. When I got up that morning, I watched the weather and decided to just keep the kids home from school that day. Schools were opening late, at 10:00, but most of the weathermen had predicted the worst storms to come in early afternoon. I knew the minute I took them and got home that I would be going back to get them. I am so thankful that I kept them home.

I kept the TV on throughout the day and anytime they put a warning out for our county, we would all go down to the basement. We have a "safe room" that has concrete walls that we use for storms although I have always felt safe just being in the basement.

We tried not to make it too scary for the kids but did have to make them go into the safe room several times that day. We brought down food, pillows, blankets, along with the weather radio and flashlights. We have satellite TV so the signal kept going out so we didn't have the TV to rely on.



Most of the day was spent texting with different family members, making sure everyone was home and taking cover. My parents lost power early on that day so I would text them every time they needed to take cover. When I was growing up, my mother would make us go in the closet under the stairs any time the sky got a funny look to it. We always gave her a hard time about it. But as a mother now, I understand exactly why she did it.

Morgan's mom Kymm was actually able to watch Channel 31's live coverage of the storms via their website at her home in Wilmington, NC. She was actually our main source of information once our TV signal went out. She would text me the latest info and I would pass it on to others. Technology played such a huge part in that day and in the recovery afterwards. Another piece of the puzzle to be thankful for.

At some point during that crazy day, Jeremy's phone fell off his clip and landed in water. He had heard that if you put it in a bag of rice, that the rice will absorb the water from the phone. Fortunately it worked. Unfortunately, we did not put the bag of rice out of Chase's reach which resulted in this.



Another reason I was thankful for power - so I could vacuum up this mess!

The storms continued until around 8:00 that night. I still can't believe that we did not ever lose power. It did not even flicker. We really couldn't believe our good fortune and soon found out my brother Aaron and his family were without power along with my parents.

The timeline is fuzzy to me now but at some point we found out that power would be out for Madison County for at least 4 - 5 days (it ended up taking 5 - 7). We invited my brother and his family to come up to stay with us until they got their power back on. None of us even thought about the fact that the large amounts of rain would make it dangerous for them to drive to our home.

I waited about 45 minutes before I started getting worried about them. It is typically a 20 minute drive so I was thinking maybe 30 minutes since it was raining. I kept trying their cell phones but it would go directly to voicemail or the lovely cell phone lady would announce that all circuits were busy. After an hour, I was really worried. I was trying to decide if Jeremy should go out looking for them when I finally reached them on their cell. They were in a state of panic as the roads were horrible and they were terrified they were going to be swept off of the roads. They finally made it to our home safe and sound but they definitely were traumatized by the event. We were so thankful that the Lord had mercy on them and delivered them safely to our house. They really do not know how in the world they made it.

At the end of that day, our house was standing, we had power, and all my family members were accounted for. I am still thankful for that and had wondered why we were shown such mercy. I know that for the majority of the people in neighboring counties, they could not say the same. It took us a couple of hours to calm down and get everyone settled down for the night. Little did we know how crazy and hectic our lives were about to be.

To be continued...