Preschool Fun

I haven't been as regular as On the Loose would like with preschool these days, but we still manage to have some fun.

He is still greatly enjoying his bags we collected as part of our preschool bag swap with our Five in a Row friends!

This one uses foam shapes to organize by color and by shape:

This is one of his very favorites! You "fish" for the letter fish with a magnetic pole and place the letters on the card one at a time.

This is the one he and I made for the swap. It's another magnetic fishing pole. There are 10 magnetic items and 10 non-magnetic items. The goal is to classify them by what sticks and what doesn't.

Here's some play-doh fun with his brother. He's made a "circle shaped pizza with tomato sauce and cheese on top. ":-)

We've also read a wide variety of library books, played blocks, experimented with numbers, etc. I think we've been successful in spite of our not being regular. We'll see what next week holds!

Five Years

Can it really be five years? Some days it feels like it was yesterday. Some days it feels like a lifetime ago. Some days it feels like it was just a nightmare and that it never really happened.

Five years ago today, September 17, 2004, our family welcomed our beautiful Katherine into our lives. We went into that day thinking we were going to meet a perfectly healthy baby and that she would soon be home with us and fit into our fun. However, our world was turned upside down a few short hours after her birth. I will never forget my husband turning to me and saying, "We have a problem. It's her heart." Our world changed in that moment.

Our perfect little girl was broken on the inside and we had no power to fix things. A simple kiss from Mommy couldn't make things better. All of the skinned knees, bruises, etc. that I had spent nearly 12 years kissing away did not prepare me to be able to fix it this time. We had to completely and totally turn her over to the One who had knit her together.

And turn her over we did. We cried and begged and prayed for God to heal her broken little heart. I sat by her bedside and whispered into her ear all of the plans I had for her. I looked for God's goodness in her life every day.

In the end, He chose to take her home to be with Him. She lived exactly six weeks. In that time, my faith grew and I developed a new sense of what it is to hope in God. He has proven Himself over and over again over the past five years as He has held us and comforted us.

This day is always hard for me as I can imagine celebrating with her. I can imagine the cake and the ice-cream. The dolls. Her smile as we sing Happy Birthday. Instead of those things, the Lord has replaced them with hope. Hope in seeing her again someday as we feast with Him and sing His praises forever.

Happy Birthday Dear On the Loose...

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear On the Loose
Happy Birthday to you!!

Our little guy turned 4 years old today! I can't believe that I was holding a sweet smelling little newborn 4 years ago tonight. He's growing into such a funny little fellow. We are blessed by him for sure!

One of his new fascinations is music. His instrument of choice is....the drums. Don't laugh! I know you're laughing and saying, "Better her than me!" At any rate, I took him to Toys R Us today to buy him a bike. I also found this fun electronic drum set. Apparently, drumming is dangerous business.




Last Mother's Day we went to lunch at an outdoor shopping mall. This giant ferris wheel is a focal point. On that day, he wanted to ride the wheel but, well, I'm afraid of heights and did not want to ride an overgrown ferris wheel on my special day. So, he asked (on Mother's Day) if he could ride it on his birthday. Four months later, his birthday finally arrived and we made good on our promise.






He was very excited! :-)



When we got to the top (yes, I swallowed my fear and rode the darned thing!), he said, "Look, Mommy! You can see everything from up here!"



After riding the ferris wheel, we had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. He always orders a "circle shaped pizza with tomato sauce and cheese on top!" He got that from an episode of Blue's Clues. But, I don't like dealing with tomato sauce with a little guy, so when he places his order and the server just looks at him, I say, "He'll have the honey chicken pizza please." :-) When they ask if he'd like tomato sauce on it, I just inconspicuously shake my head. On the Loose doesn't even notice.



Nice and full, we headed for the carousel. He enjoyed his ride. On the way out the exit, a nice, big red button was just at his level. He couldn't resist and he pushed it before I could grab his hand. It instantly turned off all of the lights on the carousel and it was plenty dark outside. Red faced, I profusely apologized to the carousel operator and she said, "It's OK. It happens all the time." I'm not sure if that's true or if she was just trying to make me feel better. He still lives up to his moniker of Mr. Naughty Pants!



To top off a fun birthday celebration, we headed to a cupcake shop! Yum! Here you can decorate your own cupcake and they'll give you a candle and some matches to make your experience complete!



He chose blue frosting, M & M's and gummy bears.



We sang Happy Birthday and just enjoyed the moment.




I think he had a fun and fabulous day! :-)