Danyn, the Award Winning Writer

I realized that in my flurry of blogging yesterday, I forgot to include Danyn's special moment. Her teacher, Ms. Pfeiffer, has been an incredible mentor and role model for Danyn, and we've been very grateful for her this year.

One of the things she did was have her kids work on their writing. Writing was a very big part of their classroom experience, which I personally put a lot of value on as a truly important life skill. In the course of their writing, the whole second grade at Newman entered the Cesar Chavez contest, and Danyn won 1st place in the entire Salt Lake City School District for Literary Arts, Grades 1-3!

A few of the other kids in her class placed as well, which goes to show how much Ms. Pfeiffer has worked with them. Danyn received a certificate, as well as a gift card for a free meal at Tucanos.

We're very proud of her, and how far she's come this past year. Way to go Dany!

Of Course it Was The Boy

So we've been parents for more than eleven years now, and we've managed to make it that long without a single broken bone or stitch. Until now.

Teag and I had just finished making all the ingredients for breakfast burritos when we heard the scream. Finn had been chasing Danyn around the house when he slipped on the hardwood floor and used his noggin to catch his fall against the door frame. I was trying to soothe him by giving him a hug, then looked down and saw a whole bunch of blood. Teag grabbed a rag and pressed it against his head, than took a look at it and said, "Yeah, he needs stitches."

So we walked away from our food, instructing Maisie to feed it to herself and the other girls, and hopped in the car with a broken Finny. I rode in the back, thinking I'd have to press the cloth against his head the whole time, but it did seem to ease up as long as he didn't move too much. We must have arrived at the Instacare at exactly the wrong time, because we ended up waiting over an hour. Finn was very patient, but he was getting really hungry, and he was tired of waiting. Finally they called us back, where they applied a numbing gel in preparation for the stitches. Teag said that getting the numbing injection was the worst part of his stitches, so having the gel made things run much more smoothly, other than the fact that you have to wait 20 minutes for it to take effect. When they called us back a second time, Finn started to get somewhat uncooperative, and when I mentioned to the nurse that he was just hungry, she produced some graham crackers, and Finn was happy as a clam. They irrigated the wound, and then sterilized it. Then they wrapped it in gauze while we waited for the doctor to come. Finn was pretty laid back about the whole thing.

The doctor arrived after only a few minutes, and they sort of burritoed Finn so that he couldn't wiggle or flail too much. I laid on the bed with him both for comfort, and to pin his body, though I probably didn't need to. He would ask if they were done yet, or if they could take off the green cloth they put over his face for sanitation, but he didn't wiggle, he didn't cry, and he held perfectly still while the doctor gave him four small stitches.

I think the doctor, nurse, and all the other medical staff just outside the curtain were pretty shocked at how well he handled everything. His good behavior earned him a sucker, a Popsicle and a sticker. He does look a little like a Franken-Finny, but we were so pleased with his behavior, and how tough he was with the whole thing.

I'd like to think this will be an isolated incident, but anyone that knows Finn can probably guess what a foolhardy idea that is.

Rory Graduates Kindergarten!

Rory had her Kindergarten graduation the same day as Finn's birthday. This meant we were scrambling a bit to get there on time, and get a good seat, but we made it with minimal fuss. I love that moment when you're child first spots you in the audience, and they're so excited and proud to have their parents there.

The kids sang a few songs together, and watching how precise Rory tried to be in her choreography was rather endearing.

After that came the fashion show. Rory had decided that she wanted to dress up like a veterinarian, because that's what she wants to be when she grows up. First we've heard of it.

We borrowed a lab coat, gave her a tidy little bun and a stethoscope, and she carried her little animatronic kitty. She looked pretty adorable.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Rory's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Robinson. She was absolutely perfect for Rory, and wouldn't put up with the crap that Rory would try to pull on her. At the same time, she was very encouraging of her good traits, and we were incredibly sad to learn that she had chosen to retire this year. I guess that means Finny is out of luck on that score.

Kindergarten was very good to Rory, and we can only pray 1st grade treats her so well!

Finny Birthday!

We got to celebrate Finn's 3rd birthday with him earlier this month! With the older kids at school, we decided to take Finny back to the zoo for a little one on one time.

It started out as a rather lackluster endeavor, with most of the animals towards the front not making much of an appearance. I must say, the super-expensive new African Safari enclosure continues to disappoint. Finn, however, loved the train ride, even if there wasn't much to see on it.

The zoo was also hosting some really cool life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, spaced in different areas of the park, that Finn loved to find.

We managed to catch the elephants while baby Zuri was having a pool party. It was fun to watch her submerge, and use her trunk as a snorkel.

It turned out to be a running theme for our visit, as we saw a couple of bears frolicking in the water together later. Except for one, who decided to take a morning snooze.

 

 

After the zoo, we hurried home for a nap; Finn actually decided to skip lunch, as all the walking and the heat of the day seemed to tire him out. 

That evening he got to open presents with his family and both sets of grandparents.

He got a cape, a scooter, a Dusty remote-control airplane, and three Rescue Bots. The Rescue Bots are his favorite TV show, and ended up being a serious hit.

He spent a lot of time testing out all his other gear too.

Last but not least came his birthday cake. Finn loves all things "struction", so I made him a construction cake.

He was very excited to see it, and when it came time to sing to him, he didn't want to wait to blow out his candles.

One of the things that stood out to both Teag and I was how many times Finn said thank you to everyone. Anyone who said Happy Birthday, or gave him a present, he always would respond with a thank you. And he seemed genuinely excited about everything he received. It was awesome to see how much he enjoyed his special day.

Finn is a kid who is game for anything. He always want to help out, whether it be working on the car with Dad;

Or holding Baby Wallace (whom Finn completely adores).

He even had his first trip to the "bentist", and they were amazed with how chill he was during the whole thing.

He's one funny kid too. We're constantly hearing stories from friends, family, nursery leaders, you name it about something funny Finn has done. This boy is a character.

He loves airplanes, and flying with Dad, which is not a small thing in Teag's mind. He loves to be able to share that with his boy.

One of our favorite things he does right now is refer to his sisters as his "girls", or the "kids". Like when he's waiting for them to get home from school, he'll say, "Are the kids home yet?", or when it's bedtime he'll say, "I need to say goodnight to my girls." Having this little boy in our family has truly been a blessing for all of us. Can't imagine our lives without a little Finny in it!

It's What Fun Is...

USANA had their annual Lagoon Day at the end of May, which was much better than it's been in the past. They usually schedule it the Saturday before Father's Day, which makes for a rather hectic weekend. The weather was fairly hot despite the earlier time frame, but the kids are all old enough now to really be able to enjoy the park. Teag and I split up, with me taking the older two, and him sticking with the young'uns.

Us girls headed straight for Wicked and Colossus, two rides of which Maisie had chickened out on last year. She was determined to master them this go around, and she and Danyn both did, successfully! I was proud of their bravery.

The lines for both of those rides tended to be a little on the long side, so we didn't have too much time before we had to meet up for lunch. We did ride Colossus a second time, and allow ourselves to be squished while giggling uncontrollably on the Music Express.

Meanwhile, Teag was taking the two littles on airplanes, spaceships and roadsters.

After lunch, Rory decided to come with us and do the big pirate ship, and the swings at Turn of the Century. She was incredibly hesitant at first, but I promised her we'd get a double swing so I could ride with her.

She handled it very well, and ended up wanting to go a second time. This go around, she wanted her own swing.

We took another little break to head to the USANA pavilion for ice cream and the drawing.

While kids munched on fudgecicles, Teag actually heard his name called. What was the prize? Four tickets to Lagoon! Not exactly what we'd been hoping for, but better than winning nothing, which is usually the case. After that, we tried to find some rides we could all go on as a family. It seemed like a lot more fun to be together, and we were able to find several things that allowed us to do so, like the dragon roller coaster, and the teacups.

The last few years I've stayed home with Finn, as he was too small to do much, and wouldn't have had the patience for the lines anyway. I was glad for the opportunity to go all together, and to be able to enjoy the kids delight with all the new rides they wanted to try.