To Preschool or Not To Preschool

The Man and I have thought long and hard about what we want for school for our kids.  Education is so important and we know it can and will have a lasting effect on their lives.  We are very, very thankful that our church has a grade school.  It didn't take much discussion to decide that we will be sending them there. The next part to decide was to when to send them.  In addition to the grade school, there is also a preschool, starting at age three. If we sent Munchkin it would be for two days a week, which I think it perfect for her age.  The teacher is great and I have no hesitation about Munchkin going.  Except....I don't want her too.  Three feels to little.

County Fair Fun 2015

The end of August means fair time where we live!  We decided to go when it was cheap, so that meant Friday morning before one cause we (the adults) could get in for a dollar.  We planned to get there when it opened and then leave in time for The Man to go to work.  The plan mostly worked, except we got there about a half hour after it opened.  I don't think that's too bad and we had time to do almost everything we wanted (I didn't get to visit the vendors but oh well.) I love it when a plan works out!

Soccer Camp 2015

Now that Munchkin is three, she's able to participate in a lot more things. Three seems to be the magic number for classes and activities.  I could have sent her to VBS (I found out too late) and she's started gymnastics (more on that later.)  It also means she gets to go to soccer camp at our church!

Lake Chelan

Back in April we went on a mini vacation to Lake Chelan.  It's east of us in WA but to be honest, most things are east of us.  The Man was going to present his thesis paper at the regional conference of the history honor society that he was (is?) apart of.  Since none of us had ever been we all wanted to tag along.

Potty Training Munchkin

Potty training was not something I was looking forward to at all especially with an infant.  My friends have been embarking on the potty training adventures and I knew it was time for us to start.  I’ve heard horror stories from friends about potty training.  Growing up I heard from my mom how easy it had been to potty train me.  Basically I wanted to wear big girl underwear so bad that I stopped going in my diaper.  I also had an iron bladder as a kid which helped. I was hoping it wouldn’t be as hard as I had heard and wasn’t too hopeful Munchkin would be as easy on me as I was on my mom.

The Potty Parade

This post from my friend Cat had me laughing. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I now have a 2-year-old who is mostly potty-trained (except nights), but it took some work to get there. We were doing great at home, but my daughter HATED public bathrooms! She mostly hated the noisy flush. Automatic, manual, didn't matter. She even cried about going into the bathroom with me when I needed to go. Luckily, she's a holder, so it was never a question of accidents. It was more just getting her comfortable with other toilets.

I knew we had to fix this, so I picked a nice day and we went on a Potty Parade.

Riverfront Park in Spokane, WA Part One

In August The Man, Munchkin and I traveled to our niece’s wedding in Helena, MT.  It was 520 miles and even though it’s doable in a day, we decided to break the trip into two days.  We spent the night (both ways) in Spokane, WA.  We got there in the late afternoon (driving with a pregnant lady= lots of potty breaks!) and wanted to get out and explore and let Munchkin burn off some energy.  We did some internet searching before heading out and I found out about Riverfront Park.  It sounded great, with a carousel and other things to explore.  Once we found our hotel we dropped off our bags and headed out.

One Second

It only takes a second for something to happen.  One moment Munchkin was standing next to Nana’s chair and in the next, she was on the floor, crying because she hit her head.  It’s not surprising as she was standing on some paper.  Munchkin loves standing on things, usually her books or her toys.  We’ve been telling her not to stand on her stuff but she often forgets.  We’re working on it.

Anyway, as Nana picked her up and was turning her around and I caught a glimpse of blood coming out of her nose.  I think I said “There’s blood!” as The Man, who was sitting next to me, saw the same thing and was already getting up to take her from Nana.  As the transfer from Nana to Daddy happened I saw blood drip on the floor.

The Man carried Munchkin into the bathroom, with her crying the whole way.  The Man was getting covered in blood, with it coming out of her nose and her mouth.  There were a few seconds were we couldn’t tell where it was coming from until we realized it was coming from both.  The Man tried calming her down while holding a cool, damp cloth to her mouth.  She would suck on it for a few seconds before crying again.  I know that head wounds bleed a lot but still, there as so much blood.  I did my best to keep from freaking out at all the blood.

It seemed like forever but it was only a few minutes before she calmed down enough for us to make sure that her teeth were ok.  She wanted me so I took her and she snuggled right in.  It wasn’t until I was holding her that she completely calmed down, with a few crying hiccups happening every few seconds. 

We cleaned off some of the blood and saw the damage.  Munchkin must have hit her nose, the upper bridge on down.  It looked like she might have bitten her lip as well as it was swollen and bloody.  It took a little time but Munchkin eventually fell asleep on me.  She slept for about an hour and half.  When she woke up she rubber her nose and some fresh blood came out and that freaked her out.  I think she tasted it on her lip too.  I calmed her down again and we snuggled some more. 

After getting some lunch in her she perked up a bit.  She continued to improve and was back to her old self in no time.  The swelling of her lip went down though she still looked like she got in a fight.  We decided that frozen yogurt for dinner was in order.  Munchkin agreed.  She’s doing fine now.  I think the whole ordeal was harder for me than it was for her. My mama heart hurt so much for her.  It’s hard when you can’t explain what has happened.  I know this is just the first of many bumps, bruises and blood.  I can only hope it gets a little easier with time…for both of us.

The WA State Fair

Happy Monday Friends.  I hope you had a marvelous weekend!  We had a great one.  Saturday was a great day.  We relaxed at home in the morning and in the early afternoon we watched the Oregon Ducks demolish Tennessee (we are NOT SEC fans in this house).  The game was looking a little iffy at the beginning when we were down by 7 but the boys showed up and played a great game.  Yes, we’re teaching Munchkin young to love football and the Ducks.  She loves watching the game on her daddy’s lap and she knows to put her arms up for a touchdown. 

We left at the end of the third quarter to head to the Washington State Fair.  Every year we talk about going and end up not going because something comes up.  This year we missed our county fair because of the cross country drive so I was determined to get to the fair.  We knew Munchkin would love the animals. 

First up once we arrived was fair food.  I mean, that’s one of the best parts of the fair, right? Nana share her funnel cake with Munchkin and it was her first time having it…she liked it (what’s not to like?!?)  The Man got fried apple slices.  They were super yummy!

After that it was on to the animals!  We were right, Munchkin LOVED them!  We saw bunnies, chicks, cows, horses, pigs and dogs.  She really liked the bunnies.  I think she might be asking for one in the future, especially after a visit to the fair!  She was intrigued by the piglets.  There were some sleeping and then there were several who were playing.  One was quite aggressive and was nipping at a sibling’s ear.  He was cute.  Munchkin liked the horses but was a little intimidated by their size.  She liked looking at them but when the horse looked at her she would bury her head in her Daddy’s shoulder.  It was adorable!

After that we headed to see the vendors and the quilts.  We were there on a Saturday night and the vendor hall was packed.  Nana was had the stroller and The Man was carrying Munchkin and we were not far behind her.  Out of nowhere there was this loud sound, kind of like a yoga ball popping.  No one knew what it was.  About 5 minutes later my mom complained about the stroller and that it was wheeling funny.  One of the wheels was flat.  That loud noise was our tire popping!  I was so glad I had brought the Ergo cause we couldn’t use the stroller for Munchkin anymore!  After that we found the quilts and enjoyed the amazing work that people can do.  It was inspiring!  Maybe I’ll start quilting again soon…

After that it was FINALLY time for rides!  We bought our tickets and found a spot for Nana and Munchkin to hang out.  The lines were long and The Man & I felt bad leaving them alone for a long time so we didn’t do too many rides.  We did ride the wooden roller coaster and it was awesome.  We didn’t make it to the free fall or the other coaster but we did make it to two other rides.  It was fun to go on them with The Man, even if we were surround by teenagers!  A lot them needed more clothes on though.  Or does thinking that just make me old?  We also wanted to take Munchkin on at least the carousel but you have to be two so that was a no go.  There’s always next year!

We still had some tickets left so we played some games.  We finally managed to win something at Ski Ball.  The Man and I each one a small stuffed animal.  We needed one more to trade up to a medium but we couldn’t win another one before running out of tickets.  Turns out it’s fine cause when we gave Munchkin the two we won she lit up.  She LOVES them!  She was so excited! We think it’s because she saw them up displayed and then when we produced them and gave them to her she thought we were the best parents ever! Or maybe that’s just what I hope she thought!

Over all we had a great time!  I’m already looking forward to next year.  I think we’ll go during the week when it will hopefully be a little less crowded.  Munchkin should be able to go on a few rides and enjoy the animals more.  I’m pretty sure we just found a new fall family tradition!

 

 

Linking up with:

Hurricane Munchkin

It amazes me that our living room can go from this:

to this:

in 20 minutes or less.  Then she’ll lose interest in her toys until I clean them up.  Once they are all put away she wants to take them all out again!

Also, one of her favorite toys is the table.  She loves to push it around.  I think she gets it from her daddy, who loves to rearrange our living room.

 

Do your kids have any favorite toys that aren’t really toys?