Last Day of Preschool--Ever!

Grant's last day was Friday. It's strange to think we're completely done with preschool. This is how it's going to be with Grant. He's going to do everything last, and I will be marveling at the close of every stage and experience, I'm sure.

We are so glad we chose to keep him home another year and not put him in kindergarten last fall. He had a great second year of preschool, and he is ready for kindergarten now.

Grant and his good buddy, Tyson. They've been best buds for the last two years. They just clicked.

Moments of bliss

There are times when I feel so overwhelmingly blessed, so grateful that I have been able to stay at home with my kids. A couple weeks ago, on a sunny weekday, I experienced a time like that. We didn't have anywhere we needed to go, dinner was already prepped, and I felt pretty caught up on our household chores, so Grant and I headed out to the backyard. I sat in a chair with my feet up and read the last few chapters of my book while Grant played with some toys on a blanket beside me. Eventually, I joined him on the blanket in the shade, and we just sat there, enjoying the time outside. It was just such a peaceful, relaxing afternoon, both of us content and happy. Loved it.

Another day, we'd had a busy morning with lots of errands and cleaning, and it was time for a break. Grant chose to play the game, Headbands, basically a guessing game in which you're trying to deduce what is on your own forehead by asking yes and no questions. He loves it, and we laughed so much! It was another moment of bliss. This time with 5-year-old Grant is coming to a close, and I'm soaking it up.

Strawberry Picking

It was that time this last week--time to pick our yummy Oregon Hood strawberries. They were huge this year at the place we've been going the last couple years. I've never seen Hood berries that big! It made for quicker picking, for sure. Grandma M. came with us, and we picked about 50 lbs, between the three of us, in 1 hour!

Grant helped me wash and de-stem all 33 lbs of those berries and then helped squish some for jam, too. He's a good little helper. We all had strawberry shortcake for dessert that night. Yum!

Hamster Escape

Grant and I were doing the much-needed task of cleaning the hamster cage out in the garage, while "Fluffy" ran around downstairs in her exercise ball, and when we came back in with the clean cage, the ball was empty with the lid off. I panicked a little (or maybe a lot), and we frantically searched for the hamster. We looked everywhere we could think of. There was no sign of her. Right as we were beginning our search, the piano repair man showed up for our scheduled appointment. I warned him that we were looking for a brownish orange runaway hamster, and he went to work on the piano while we continued our search. He found it very entertaining. It was a little bit funny, I had to admit, but I was NOT happy about having a rodent on the loose in my house! Funny now our pet hamster, Fluffy, became " a rodent" as soon as she wasn't in her cage anymore, where she was supposed to be.

We'd been looking for half an hour when I heard a scratching noise from the wall in the dining room. I couldn't figure out how in the world the silly thing got in my wall! Turns out it wasn't in the wall, or the heating vent as I feared,; it was underneath our kitchen corner cabinet. We discovered the small space above the baseboard that she crawled through, but there was nothing I could do to get to her without completely tearing apart our flooring trim and baseboards. I tried coaxing her out with a carrot. She just nibbled on it, got her fill, and went back to gnawing on the wood underneath the cabinet. I tried pulling her out as she chomped on the carrot, but she let go as soon as I pulled.

I had posted my dilemma on Facebook, and my friend, Tera, saw it and texted, volunteering to pick up my kids from school so I could stay on hamster watch. Kind of funny having to tell the school secretary that someone else was picking up my kids at the last minute because I was trying to get a hamster out from under my kitchen cabinets. I'm sure they've heard it all.

Lying on the kitchen floor alerted me to the fact that I really needed to clean my baseboards. They were filthy! So I cleaned while I kept watch.

Three hours into Hamster Watch 2016, my friend, Tiffany, called and told me peanut butter works to lure hamsters out. Her years of teaching at the elementary level taught her all kinds of useful things! I had tried putting peanut butter on the carrot earlier (google search suggested it), but I had been sitting right there holding it, so I probably scared her away. I decided to give it another try. I put peanut butter on a cracker right outside the hole, perched myself on a chair on the other side of the kitchen, and waited. About 20 minutes later, Fluffy poked her nose out the hole, then her arms came out, and then her whole little body was visible. I jumped up, quickly ran over, and picked up that rodent with my bare hands...for the very first time. I screamed in excitement and relief, and the kids cheered and celebrated with me. I plopped her back in her cage triumphantly and then apologized to my poor husband who had been on the phone (Bluetooth) with me when Fluffy reappeared. I think I may have damaged his hearing in my state of excitement. Fluffy is safe and sound. In her cage. Where she belongs. Phew!

Track and Field

Kari was on her middle school track team this year. She tried a lot of events and found out what she liked and what she didn't like so much and did well. It was fun to see her getting to know some of the other kids better and enjoying the social part of track and field, too.

She ran the 1500m (once), the 800m, and the 200m hurdles. She also did the long-jump and the high jump. The races were not her favorite, she discovered--too nerve-wracking. We'll see what she decides to do next year. At the 6th grade district championship meet, she won 2nd place in high jump, 3rd place in the 800m, and 5th in 200m hurdles.

The girls competed against their friend, Katelin, at the district championship meet. 

Last preschool program

We attended our very last preschool music program last week. Grant was so excited to perform and did so enthusiastically, without appearing nervous. He waved and waved and waved, grinning the whole time. :) They sang a few songs and played two songs on the bells--so impressive that 4 and 5-year-olds are capable of doing that. This Star Wars song was the "surprise" song.

Great Grandma's with Jesus

Grant and I visited Great Grandma last Wednesday, not knowing it was to be the last time we'd see her this side of heaven. She went to the hospital with chest pain on Saturday and was gone by the following Friday afternoon. It was as if her body finally realized it was 99 and not 79. I'm thankful she didn't have to move to a new home, didn't have to suffer for long. I know she was ready to see Jesus and be reunited with Papa and so many others, and I'm happy for her, but I'm sad for us. I'm going to miss her!

Great Grandma Carrie was an amazing woman--kind, sweet, bright, spunky, spirited, stylish, generous, friendly, and so positive. I've said it before, I want to be like her when I'm a grandma. It was always a treat to get to visit her and Papa when I was a kid, and I have lots of fun memories of those visits--Nerds, fudge pops, trips to Bi-Mart, the house in Florence and seeing the sea lions, sprinkling Papa with the can of "love," watching her arrange flowers for church, going to church at Berean Baptist, helping her "set a pretty table," listening to her stories. I've felt the same way as I've gotten older--still a treat to visit Great Grandma. I've loved having her close by these last five years or so. The kids and I would visit her every other week or two and bring her a little something each time--flowers, a card, muffins, cookies, chocolate, etc. I wanted my kids to know her, and I'm so thankful they were able to! I'd bring all the kids every once in a while (and Grandma LOVED it when Greg came, too), but most of the time, I just brought the younger two, before Aubrey was in school all day. Then the last two years, it's mostly been just Grant and me. Grandma was always happy to see us, and she always exclaimed it had been "so long!" since she'd seen us. :) We were pretty careful to never come if someone was or had been sick. We didn't want to be the ones to make Great Grandma sick! She was always worried Grant was going to forget her, though, if it had been more than a couple weeks between visits. Not a chance! He won't forget you, Grandma, and neither will I. Looking forward to seeing you again in heaven someday.