First Day of School

Today was Brendan's first day of 1st grade. He has a great teacher and was so excited last night that he didn't fall asleep until 9:30. Getting him out the door this morning was a challenge since he was so excited/distracted/chatty. He waved goodbye to me at the school door and ran to find a friend he saw. Sigh. My baby.

Eva starts Preschool today. She will be going to the same school Brendan attended when we first moved here. She has been excited for months now. She insisted on a horse shirt and ponytail for school. We'll see how long that hairdo lasts. I had to ask for a goodbye and she didn't turn back as she held her teacher's hand and walked into school. She's so ready. Sigh. My baby.

Darby would not be left out. She cried and grabbed a backpack so she could be in the picture too. She even wore the backpack to the car to drop them off. When we got home she asked me, "Who is my teacher?" She is ready to be a big girl. But she's still my baby.

Newest Project

I've had my eye on an outside chalkboard for months now. It's been so rainy that we never took the plunge. Until last Saturday. Jason bought the plywood and painted it with chalkboard paint. Now I need to get some rags and spray bottles for erasing. Voila! Easy outdoor art.

Photo Ops

You might remember that our camera was stolen on our trip to DC. Jason got me a new one for my birthday. It is a step up from my old one and I have only a vague idea of how to use most of its features. It came with a second lens that I have no idea how to use yet. I haven't had time to read the manual or watch the tutorials but I like to play around with it. I got some shots like this:

And yes, Darby does smile, I just have to catch her off guard or its usually cheesy.

I really like my new Nikon. I am sure I will love it when I am more proficient at using it. I am also excited to use it with outdoor lighting, which has been hard to so with all the rain we've been getting.

Toys

A new craze has struck the McDaniel household. My Little Pony! The girls love them. We have watched all the episodes and have started to build a collection of the toys. All three older kids know the names of every character, including Brendan (though he will only play with the dragon and the pony who reads a lot). Eva has started to use the phrase, "What in tarnation . . ." after the cowboy horse character, Applejack. Hearing them play makes me laugh. These are the animal friends of some of the ponies. They are so small they get lost a lot so there is much rejoicing when one turns up.

I approve because the show a) doesn't annoy me, b) teaches lesson about how to treat people, and c) gives the girls something to play with that is not an immodestly dressed doll or bothersome electronic toy that requires no imagination.

There is another show that the kids are getting into as well. They bring the My Little Pony toys into the living room to watch it with them. The show is the 1984 carton version of Transformers.

Paige's favorite lately is the Sophie the giraffe teething toy. Poor thing is is drooling like a faucet and cutting a tooth.

This Morning's Robot Dance Party

Farm Fresh

For our FHE treat we went to a local farm that has an ice cream shop on the premises. The ice cream we got at Gillis Hill Farm was homemade from their cows' milk and their fruit trees. It was churned right there at the shop.

Sitting on the porch in a rocking chair enjoying yummy ice cream on a summer evening. . . Does it get any better? For Darby it did. There were chickens to chase too.

Helpful

Darby has developed this "helpful" habit of hooking together buckles. She will get out of her car seat and promptly turn around to buckle it, and then buckle Eva's. I cannot count the number of times I have gone to out Paige in her seat to find it buckled underneath her. So annoying. She even buckled her high chair at a restaurant before we left.

Well... That Was Short Lived.

Jason here. This has been a lousy week. Here is some backstory: I have had on my "bucket list" to graduate from the Army Combat Divers Course, otherwise known as SCUBA School. I tried to go while I was enlisted in the late 90's and I tried to go when I was an ROTC cadet in Arizona. Back in October I asked my chain of command if I could go. It took over 6 months of back and forth to get the final OK (really... what use is there to send a dentist to Dive School???). But since there are always unused slots I was given the begrudging OK from the unit.

Since October I have spent hundreds of hours preparing for the course. Hundreds, maybe thousands of miles run. Thousands of laps in the pool. After countless push ups, pull ups and core exercises, a team train up and a pre-SCUBA course I felt that I was prepared. I did not have to retest anything in the prep course and was recognized as one of the most fit guys in the water. I felt ready!

I went to Key West last weekend and in-processed for the course on Monday. Tuesday was the PT test, pull ups, and 500 meter swim. I did well on the PT test, scoring a 295 out of 300. After the 2 mile run, we moved to the pull up bar to do the 7 pull ups. I got on the pull up bar a little tired from the previous exercises but otherwise feeling fine. I had done many, many pull ups in preparation. When I got to five, the grader said I messed something up and didn't count it. I had to redo it. Same with 6. By now I was almost done. I had strength for one more, but it was going to be close. I struggled and pulled with everything I had and eeked out a pull up, barely putting my chin over the bar before I lowered myself to a hang, looking at the grader for the verdict. It was either going to be "dismount the bar", which meant I passed, or "six", meaning it didn't count and I would have to do another, which I knew I didn't have the strength for.

It was, "Six."

I let go and right there my hopes and ambitions came to abrupt end. I still had to do the 500 meter open ocean swim, which I finished 3rd out of 40, but that didn't matter; there would be no retest and that was that.

A few hours later I packed my bags and flew back home to North Carolina. The reception at work has been about as expected, that being a range from bemused sympathy to abject humiliation. Its been one of the supreme disappointments of my life.

I am sure there is a silver lining in this cloud somewhere but this is going to sting for a bit. I have taken some consolation however from Christine and the kids, who are always enough to brighten my day and from this famous quote from Teddy Roosevelt:

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.

I tried and I failed miserably but I truly gave it everything I had. I made a critical error in preparation and am paying a heavy price for it. But I am moving on with my chin up and my chest out to the next challenge. Triathlon anyone?

Growing up

This cute girl will be going to preschool in two weeks. She's pretty excited. When did my chubby baby become so grown up?

P6

Paige turned 6 months old on Friday. She is a very happy baby and so social, even more so than our others. She has a frequent, easy, squeaky laugh. She is absolutely content as long as she is being held. Its adorable and I love her cuddles but it is very taxing to snuggle all the time, especially when I have to do things like feed the other kids, shower, go to the bathroom . . . She is a star at church and is passed around from person to person, which I don't mind, and she enjoys. She knows her family members by sight and loves her siblings. They love her back.

Her night sleep is still pretty good but day sleep is horrible. Now that she is 6 months I will begin sleep training. I'm not very excited about it but I know its best for her to not get overtired every day. She eats like a champ and is almost 18 lbs (by bathroom scale). She is over 95 percentile in height too and has long since been in 9 month onesies. I just have big babies.

Paige can roll both ways and quickly makes her way across the living room. She is beginning to sniper crawl but barely. She has discovered her hands and can use them quite well to grab toys (and noses, and toes, and hair). She can sit unsupported for a few seconds but eventually topples over. The exersaucer is her favorite these days as she loves to stand up and to jump in it.

Don't you want to pick her up and kiss her chubby cheeks? I bet she'd let you.

Seven!!!

On Wednesday my baby boy turned seven years old. I still remember waiting at home for the hospital to call and say that we could come in for the induction, knowing that in less than a day I would be a mother. It seems not that long ago.Brendan requested Red Robin for his birthday dinner. He got a birthday sundae and a song from the servers. We gave him his present from the family (a kid camcorder) but didn't do too much more celebrating today because the party was last weekend.

Even with all the challenges, I am lucky that Heavenly Father sent such a unique spirit to our home. I have much to learn from this amazing 7 year old. We love you Bubba!

Brendan's Birthday Party

Brendan decided months ago that he wanted a Lego party when he turned 7. I said okay because I figured I could find lots of ideas online and I knew I could make a rectangular cake. We had to have his party the weekend before his actual birthday so Daddy Jason would be home. He invited his Primary class and a few other friends.

We started with Lego Pictionary which turned out to be kind of hard for some of the kids. Brendan was great at it. Two Legos together and he guessed, "Rocket!" and was correct. So he had fun at that game but others, not so much.

Then on to the Lego relay which was over way too fast. Hyper kids. :)

The next game was "Pin the Stud on the Lego", which was a hit mostly because Jason did crazy spinning to get them dizzy.

The last party game was the Lego pinata and that was the most fun.

My pinata was apparently too well built because it would not break. It fell down whole two times before the daddies at the party opened it and tossed the candy out on the lawn. Pandemonium ensued.

Then the kids came inside to get their party favor bags and watch Brendan open presents.

Man, these friends know how to make him happy. His face lit up at each present and couldn't wait to play with them (and he said "Thank you", which made his mama happy). His primary teacher made him the cutest robot shirt which he wore the remainder of the party.

Then came the cake. I didn't really like the cakes I saw online except the ones made with fondant (and I was not about to attempt that) so I got silicone molds of Legos and minifigures and made chocolate candies to decorate the cake with. The partygoers loved that they could eat the Legos.

The remainder of the party was spent up in Brendan's room playing with the new toys. His room was a crazy mess but the kiddos had fun. And I didn't see him for more than meals for the next 2 days since he was in "new toy-dom".

Thank you to all those who attended and made my boy feel special. What great friends you are. Happy Birthday Bubba!