Playtime is a Happy Time

Here they all are. Five of the six cousins on the Hastings side.

They played non stop all weekend, and were happy. I don't recall a fight or cry happening. maybe for a brief moment. It was a wonderful weekend together.

Alyssa and Alex were best friends all weekend and enjoyed dress up and pretend play. Brandon and Izzy were happy doing whatever they do, and Hayden kind of floated back and forth and by himself doing his own thing.

This was a moment of tears a few seconds later when Isabel had her foot stepped on.

At least I captured the happy moment. The castle park.... This park is huge! They have so much fun, but get wore out really fast because there is so much to do.

Love these kids!! :)

We went to Monkey Joe's for some bouncy fun times and pizza.

SUPER SLIDE

??? Being Hayden

Backyard playtime

Uncle Matt and Justin put the trampoline back together for the season.

Those are some happy kids!

farm animals....

Last Thursday, Alyssa, Hayden and I had a fun filled day with activities. We started out going to the high school for PAT to see some baby farm animals.

Alyssa loved holding the soft bunny, until it scratched her.

Hayden was a little unsure of it. A fuzzy picture of a fuzzy baby chick.

He loved this big pig for some reason. He was excited he could touch it. I think he more scared of touching the smaller animals than the big ones.

piglets

We missed pictures of the cows, goats and horse. When Hayden pet the horse he was so excited and kept saying... "I touched it!"

Tracy our PAT teacher, the kids a freshly layed hens egg.

Alyssa posing. When she looked at this picture she said.. "I sure am cute. That's my cute pose." I am glad she has good self esteem already. Hopefully it doesn't go to her head.

Just had to throw this one in....

They all three dress up all the time.

all afternoon Hayden was a firefighter, that black string was all he could find for a hose.

Later that day we went to the kids old school for a DR. Seuss on the Loose activity. I did not get pictures even though I had a camera. Alyssa saw her teacher and said she didn't want to let go of her. Brandon saw his teacher and he assured her that he didn't miss that school.

We did drawings of feet and where our feet go.

made cat in the hat snacks with peach rings, Ritz crackers and frosting.

bean bag toss into the cat in the hats' hat.

played with green goop. & a few other fun activities.

The kids were sure worn out and fell asleep fast early that night.

Breaking the News....

After we moved we kept the kids in the the same school. After talking with the superintendent and realizing we will not be back in the school district before the year is over we had to pull the kids out. I broke the news to the kids Thursday after school.

This is how Alyssa took it when I told her she would not be able to go to preschool any more.

She was devastated.

She cried.....

And cried....... And cried... after about 20 minutes or more of crying and hugs and talking about everything and naming everyone she was going to miss, I was able to distract her. Look at that face! Brandon was a lot easier to break it to, as you can see..... He's excited to make new friends, and have new toys to play on, new teachers, new bus. Everything. Then he had a small moment of feeling sad to miss everything he already had..... but, it did not last long at all. I think he will do great with the change. (I hope)

Alyssa's teachers Mrs. Sarah and Mrs. Tawnya

They are both absolutely wonderful! Alyssa loved being a part of the class and asked everyday if it was time to go to school. It was so good for her. Hopefully I can help make up for what she will be missing in the classroom setting. We will need lots of friends for play dates and creativity on my part to match her creative mind.

We were getting ready to leave from school and Brandon latched onto his teacher with a great big hug. She was a wonderful teacher and Brandon really enjoyed being in her class.

I think it all sunk in with him at the end of the day.

We are excited with how well he is doing with everything in school. They tested him out of a reading class he had been in and he is a grade level ahead on reading right now! It is so fun to see how and what your kids will excel in.

Alyssa got a wonderful going away present from her teachers.

A Kiss Goodbye

by: Audrey Penn

It is a sequel to The Kissing Hand It's about a family of raccoons who have to move and go to a new tree, new school, make new friends etc.... and how it all works out.

It was so good to read with the kids and talk about the feelings they are having.

These little kids are tougher than we realize I think. It's hard! I know! I went to 12 different schools from 1st grade to 12th. I moved 10X in those 12 years! wow. And the sad part was most of it was when I was younger, up til Junior high. I may understand but that does not make it easier for them. It actually makes me feel their pain more.

I know it will come together somehow in the end. The good parts about it are... I get to spend more time with my little girl before she grows up even more. My days won't be so full of driving everywhere. We will have a little more free time to do whatever and more flexibility. I have thought of lots of other things but not right now.

Saturday morning Brandon woke up and got dressed, including shoes, ate, did his hair, brushed teeth and got his backpack on and came in and told us he's ready to go to his new school!

It was cute. Too bad it wasn't the day. Hopefully Monday he will have the same enthusiasm.

Snow Days

A few weeks ago we had 3 days off of school for ice and snow.

It was fun to have some extra time to play.

Alyssa throwing a snowball into the river

2 Adult Bald Eagles and 1 Juvenile

the day we played at the river in the snow

Looking out across the cove we live on.

Building a snow man with chunks of ice and snow she found.

(kind of cheating)

Another view of the frozen lake from our deck, looking through the screen.

Hangin' out eating suckers. Fun blue tongues.

Lil' snow angel

Looooves the snow!

Is that a happy face or what?

It's fun to watch the kids play in snow and see their creativity.

Happy 7th Birthday Brandon!

Wow. The years are just going way to fast now.

Here is my big 7 year old.

I think it is safe to say Brandon had a wonderful Birthday.

We took him to Denny's for Breakfast like he's been wanting for a very long time.

He might have out eaten all of us! He ate all of his food and more.

putting together his new Star Wars Lego set. He loves it!

He and the others ran errands while I made his cake for him. He wanted a Transformers cake, then he asked for a Bakugan cake. (Many of you probably don't even know what that is unless you have older boys, I wouldn't) Here was my best attempt. I was lacking some tools ie.. my frosting tips that are in storage. Excited about new Bakugan's

The wonderful 65 degrees took us outside a lot today.

Brandon found a quiet place alone on the deck to play with his fun new toys.

A thought has come to me in a different way recently, as I have thought of the kids getting older, I wonder if I am doing all I can to prepare my children for when they are away from me and on their own to make their own decisions. I know there is always room for improvement.

But I also know that we as parents just need to make sure we are doing our parts and do our best and the rest is up to them.

Brandon has such a sweet heart and looks at things in ways I would never dream of. He has a fun imaginative mind. He loves people and making new friends. He is very accepting of people.

My favorite thing about him lately is how he has been so wonderful at giving hugs and I love you's much more freely than he used to. It was a good feeling when a few days ago, coming down a hallway at school, I saw him come out of a doorway at the opposite end, he saw me, and ran down the hall to me, gave me a big hug and smile, then without a word was off to catch up with his class. That said so much without a word being spoken.

It's always such a good feeling to see your children so happy.

We love you Brandon!