The Puddles

I had the privilege of taking Ainsley to her field day yesterday. I got to “man” the bubbles station. I was covered in bubbles. It was a lot of fun! Then she and I went for lunch then came home and worked together. She has a mini desk set up in my office, so she and I can spend time together while I work! Really trying to make the small moments count!

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The Puddles have donated a new weather station to their elementary school. Chris asked the school last week if we could donate a weather station to the school.  They said yes and Chris had the thing ordered before the answer completely left the principal’s mouth.  Even cooler is that Chris added this point to the weather underground website.  Everyone can tell what the weather stats are!    I pray that this all works out ok.

Wilkinson Weather Station    The good news is that there shouldn’t be any more questions about whether or not Ben can go outside and play!

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Ben went to the hypertensive clinic on Monday.  This was the first big appointment for Ben without Mom.  Mom had to work, so Dad took Ben on his own.  Besides the one phone call detailing the scenery from the 24th floor (ughh! I hate heights.), the rest of the visit went well.  Ben’s blood pressure continues to be an issue.  But the doctor assures us that as long as Ben’s resting heart rate is in the 90%, they are ok with it.  There is some concern that his blood pressure is higher in one arm than the other, but that is it.  The doctor is going to call the cardiologist and talk to her.  We are suppose to see the cardiologist in August. Three more months until D day. Until then . . . Ben is great and all boy!!

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“Mom, I don’t want to grow up,” says Madie.

“Oh honey, why?”

“I’ve seen how mean teenage girls can be.  I don’t want to be like that.”

Thank goodness that she recognizes that.   This is the beginning of a difficult time in her life.  I only pray that her teenage years are more like a Disney movie and less like a horror flick.

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So I missed putting up a picture from yesterday’s gift. They were adorable! But this is today’s. I have seen all of these cute ideas online of things to do for the teachers. My mom told me last night that tomorrow is also school nurse day. So I will have to figure out what to do for that one. I am a little stumped but I will come up with something!

Here is the link to the present that I did yesterday.  The kids loved taking them.

Candy Bar

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“DON’T MESS WITH MY BROTHER!”  These are the words that I hear being screamed across the campground from Ainsley.  I go over to find out what’s going on and I see Ainsley standing on the picnic table with her hands on her hips yelling at two very large boys (about 14 or 15 years old). I asked her if everything is ok.

She says, “Yes. Why do you ask?”

I say, ” I heard you screaming from the other side of the campground.”

She smiles and says, ” Oh. These boys were saying mean things about Ben.  But don’t worry . . . I got this.”  The boys next to her start apologizing saying that they didn’t realize that he was her brother and that they didn’t mean anything by it.  I step back, realizing that Ainsley has everything under control, and smile because I am a proud mama!

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Well . . . we made it!  Ben got over Dad leaving. Ainsley dealt with her upset tummy by sleeping on me during the night (and I mean ON ME! Eyeball to eyeball.).  And Madie’s anxiety was elevated, so she comforted herself by keeping one leg or arm on me all night.  I stared at the night sky from the inside of my tent (I love that feature.).  It was fun.  The kids and I even managed to pack up the entire tent and all of our gear by ourselves!  We rock!  And to top it off, we unloaded the truck and put everything away when we got home!!  The kids weren’t fond of that idea, but I knew that as soon as we sat down we were not going to want to get up again!

Camping was great.  The kids all had a great time. The girls all made new friends.  Ben got to hang out with his friends.  The kids had a great time.  Dad got to judge the cookoff!  He felt like he won the lottery.  I took tons of pictures.  I ended up being the only mom to spend the night.  Unfortunately mom will be making that trip often since Dad works on Sunday mornings!

The weekend wasn’t overly structured but it was very relaxed and fun.  I am so glad we got to go!  Ben’s smile told the entire story.

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Ben and I made Monkey bread for our contest entry. It was totally awesome. We will certainly make it again.

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