One Kiss Day

First day of kindergarten was a huge success! When I asked about her teacher she said, "She's so nice!" I was so excited to hear that. She talked about the rules of what they can and can't do. She named some friends as well. But most importantly she couldn't stop talking about the cafeteria and her nap. HA. She goes all day so she gets to eat in the cafeteria and that was a huge experience for her. She ate pizza, corn, peaches and had strawberry milk. When comparing with her cousin Keely she found out that there is juice to choose from as well. She said she needed to find out where that is because the strawberry milk was nasty. Also it was huge that she took a nap. They have rest time and she fell asleep for a while I guess. She kept saying she was so tired.

All in all I think she had a great day!

I on the other hand was fighting back tears and wanted one more kiss which she decided she didn't need. So it was a one kiss day.

Oh my!! What a day!!

After a great morning at church we grabbed some lunch and came home to start our crazy afternoon of shoe shopping, haircuts and mowing the yard all before Cameron's 4:00 softball game. Busy enough huh?? Before we could even begin our "To Do List" we were faced with a little diversion.

Look at this picture and see if you can tell anything out of the ordinary with Cannon. Yes there is blood on his shirt. That is a clue!

Okay now onto the 2nd picture... Can you see our tragedy??

Yep Cannon knocked out his front tooth. It was traumatic and devastating to me more than him. It bled and bled and bled forever. Cameron got blood all over his favorite shirt and only one little spot on Cannon's. The towel looks like a massacre took place.

We were surprised at the length of the tooth. It took the root and all.

Now on to the story of how this happened and where to go from here! Cannon was standing at the table in a chair and it looked like he walked off the chair and hit his tooth on the edge of the table. The gash in the table leads us to believe it happened that way at least. Anyways after calming down (me mostly) we called the dentist that Cameron mows for and talked to him. He said there is nothing we can do because of his age and that when he is 3 1/2 we can talk about a replacement tooth but not before then!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!! So we go in to the doc. in 10 days to do x-rays to check for nerve damage and see if the other teeth were traumatized. If there is nerve damage his other teeth will turn black. Oh great! Anyways this was just awful and I hate it. I was taking the kids to get their picture made tomorrow and I will cancel first thing in the morning. I just can't do it so soon. I know that I have a year and a half to live with it before we can do anything but I just can't take pictures the day after it happened. I need to let the shock wear off.

On a much more upbeat note Gracelyn starts school tomorrow! WAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Teacher Talk

Gracelyn had a thing up at her school so you could meet the teacher and drop off supplies before the actual first day of school. After standing outside in the blistering heat we finally got to go in and see where the magic will happen. I know I have written before about how wonderful 5 was going to be for Gracelyn. I think it is working out for her so far but along with being 5 was starting school and although her view of what school is all about and my view of what I KNOW school is all about are a little different. I want so badly for Gracelyn to walk through that door on Monday and be the best 5-year-old she can be. I want her sweet personality to shine through and dazzle her teacher. I want her sweet spirit to be bold and impress her friends. I want so much. Mostly I want her to be happy and feel safe in her school. Physically safe yes but I am talking about emotionally safe. That she is in a place where she is loved and that the sole purpose of her being there is to learn and grow more each day. I am in charge of her education, spiritual education, moral and value system, making sure she has a belief system in place at a young age so that her walk with the Lord is straighter and more narrow than mine. I have a lot on my shoulders and now after 5 years I am suppose to share my job with others. I already do with our children's minister and ministry at church. They have contributed so much to her well being. AMEN! But now I am suppose to trust that from 8:00-3:10 her teacher has Gracelyn's best interest at heart. I need to work on that.

Our first impression was that her teacher was all business. That is not how I work but she was nice and friendly but very matter of fact. I did figure into the matter that she was a little frazzled because of the schedule of events for the night and she wasn't sure if we were suppose to be in there or outside and so forth. She is a new teacher to the district so I understand that those tiny things get overlooked when instructions are given out to teachers. I am officially giving her the benefit of the doubt. More because I refuse to think that she is really distant and not affectionate. Like I said not my style but I do understand.

When we got in the car all we talked about was Mrs. Dawson this and Mrs. Dawson that and how wonderful life will be on Monday when she gets to be in class. There again my poor Gracelyn was upset that we have been up to the school 3 times now with registration, school pictures, meet the teacher and still haven't started school. She wanted to know last night if we were going to leave her there so she could start! :giggle:

I love my sweet angel for that. She is a go getter and if you don't watch out she will tell you how the cow ate the cabbage in a heartbeat.

A new us!

Today Cameron went to the courthouses in both Potter and Randall counties and registered his new name for our business. We are no longer Prescott Lawn care. We bought the business in May of 2003 and didn't change the name so we have been someone else's last name for that entire time. When Cameron passed his irrigation test he knew we needed to do some changing to incorporate the sprinklers with the lawn care. So our new name is now....

PANHANDLE LAWN AND SPRINKLER

It is a done deal and after advertising in the phone book and a tweak in our logo we are official.

I am so proud of Cameron and his hard work. He has put so much sweat and heart into this business and it has grown tremendously.

Vacation for the Melbans!!

Saturday we left for Albuquerque, NM and got there about 2:00. It was HOTTER THAN BLUE BLAZES!!!! WOWZERS! We went straight to the zoo and although it was a pretty good zoo I am thankful it was so cheap because we were there maybe a hour. It was so hot and the kids were really miserable. The walk through the zoo went pretty much like this. "Hey kids look over there it's the giraffes. Look over there at the sea lions. Ohhhh the snakes..." All the while we kept walking. Now I did make the stop at the polar bears because I love those things! They were really hot and tired looking.

We were staying at a hotel with a pretty good pool so as soon as the kids (my nephew Tyler went with us) found out there was a pool they didn't want to do anything else besides swim. A funny story that happened is that when we all got to the pool Cameron went back into the lobby to get towels. Tyler was on Cannon watch and doing a great job I might add. I was holding Mason and Gracelyn had her kick board under her and paddling around the shallow part of the pool. She didn't realize she got in the deeper part but I was watching her and thought if I make a big deal about it she will get scared. Right that very second her board went out from under her and she screamed. Literally in 2 seconds I put Mason on the concrete by the flower bed and jumped in to get Gracelyn. She wasn't upset or anything and thought the story was exciting. As I am getting out of the pool to get Mason (SCREAMING HIS HEAD OFF) Cameron walks through the door. Of course the excitement is over and he shows up... Mommy to save the day. She calls it her drowning story or the day she drowned. I am not making light of the fact that she was in the deep part without a proper flotation device or that I didn't step in and make her turn back BUT the fact that of course while Cameron is getting towels and I have 4 kids to watch I have to jump in and get Gracelyn. Typical huh moms???

Sunday morning we got up and headed north to Durango and enjoyed the scenery change. We also watched the temperature drop and got really excited about being able to enjoy the cooler weather. The kids traveled well as you can see they were all asleep for the most part.

Monday and Tuesday we had fun hanging out at the village outside our lodge. It is called Purgatory village. There were about 5-6 gift shops and a few eating joints along with the fun activites. They had a bounce house, Alpine slide, ski lift, bungee tramp, rock wall and miniature golf course.

Gracelyn burned her arm on the slide and we heard her the ENTIRE way down screaming. I was prepared to take a picture of a happy little girl. No such luck.

On Tuesday night we were able to locate the indoor pool and have some fun swimming. Mason was asleep so we just took pictures of everyone else!!

Check out Cam's tan!! Sexy!

One day we went to a place called Honeyville. They have a tube that runs into the store and there are bees inside trying to get to the queen bee. It is really cool and the kids watched them for a long time. It was a cute store with very over priced stuff except for the honey. It was all made right there so it was cheap... I like cheap!On our way out of town yesterday we stopped at a roadside hot spring and took pictures. It was bubbling out the top and flowed down the side of the mountain. I wish we could have taken dip because it was so warm. The kids had a great time climbing on it and playing in the water.
As usual we have video of things I wish we had pictures of and we have pictures of things I wish we had video of. I have no scenery shots but lots of video of the mountains. THEY WERE GORGEOUS! I have pictures of Gracelyn on the bungee tramp but no video. Then of course it wouldn't be a mountain adventure without a bear sighting in there. On our last night Cameron was on the balcony with Mason and he looked down and saw a bear digging in the trash. No video or pictures taken. Bear stories are a lot like fish stories. The bear keeps getting bigger and bigger each time I tell the story...but no proof to show you just how humongous a bear he really was!

My baby boy is 2!

Cannon turned two last night at 10:30 pm. We didn't do anything special or exciting unless you count 9 hours in the car coming home from vacation as special. He had his b-day party last week so at least he got to experience that excitement. But we sang Happy Birthday to him numerous amounts of times told everyone when we stopped along the way it was his birthday. Something magical happened to him yesterday. I can't quite put my finger on it. Is it that when I tell people his age now I don't have to think of months I can just say 2. Is it that he will be in the toddler class at school in a few weeks where they work on potty training? (Cannon is afraid of the potty so if they can get him to sit on a potty they are true miracle workers~I have no expectations for this to happen!) Is it that his speech although still slow to come is getting better? He said about 3-4 new things yesterday that he had never said before. The most favorite was "Hold me!" which sounded like "old ma!" But we knew what he meant. He signed Thank you and please consistently yesterday without prompting. So yeah I guess turning two is a huge deal in our house.

Gracelyn and her new brother Cannon in the hospital August 2005

5 months old

Cannon's first birthday. He loved his cupcake and icing. He would dip his thumb in the icing and then put it in his mouth. It made sucking his thumb all the more cute.

January 2007 while getting the nursery ready for Mason, Cannon loved helping. He played in that box for days!!! He finally started walking at 15-16 months!!! YAHOOOO!!!!

My big 2 year old! He was such a dare devil at times while swimming. He would actually go on the 2nd step and get really giddy like he has just conquered the world.

I love you Cannon more today than yesterday. You are so special and make my heart melt when you look at me with your beautiful blue eyes. Don't grow up too fast okay buddy. You may not remember but you promised me in the hospital on the day you were born that you would be my little boy forever.

birthday party, company and vacation

First off I have to brag on my wonderful baby boy for sleeping all night for 2 nights now. We have done every trick in the book to get him to sleep all night and finally he did it. YEAH!!! I feel like a new woman with that much continuous sleep. I am just keeping my fingers crossed it is a permanent thing!!!

Second we had Cannon and Gracelyn's birthday party on Tuesday night. It was so fun!! I hope that Gracelyn counts it as one of her favorites because it was mine. We bought a Little Tikes water slide that airs up so they had a water party. I really enjoy party time and can't wait until Mason gets to have one as well. His will be in the house I'm sure because of it being cold so we will get to do winter things. Any way it was fun. The kids were so blessed with a good mix of toys and clothes. YEAH!!! That is wonderful to get school clothes. Boy that helps for sure. Gracelyn just needs shoes now and she will be set!

Party Central

Singing the birthday song.

3 5-year-olds sitting a row.

Cameron helping Cannon open his presents...lots of trucks and cars

Gracelyn and Macy just hanging out

Gracelyn and I opening her presents

Maggie and her cup cake

Marlee and her cupcake. Don't mind the bruise on her forehead. She fell down the steps (concrete) while on my watch! Sorry baby girl!

Next we had company for a few days. The Jones crew minus Harvin came up from Keller for the kid's party and it was so much fun!! I went down there in June with all 3 kids by myself and D'Sha` came up here with all 3 kids by herself. I am so proud of us!!! We even got out of the house and didn't loose a child! Cameron had Cannon so I wasn't responsible for all 3 of mine but still that is huge folks!

Justin and Mason They are 2 months apart with Justin being older.

Olivia, Kelly and Gracelyn. We couldn't get Cannon to join us.

Olivia ready for the party

Kelly and his gorgeous blue eyes!

Justin is all smiles

Finally we are going on vacation. Since this is on the internet and I don't want to share with everyone when we are leaving and how long we will be gone I am just going to say that I am beyond excited that we are going on a family vacation. It will be our first vacation as a family that is more than 1-2 hours away and we aren't staying at friend's houses. A tried and true vacation! WAHOO... Of course I will be posting about it when we return.