Children's Hospital Field Trip

The entire first grade went on a field trip to Palmetto Children's Hospital last Tuesday.  I skipped out on my tennis clinic so that I could join them.  They had a great set-up:  7 stations for groups of children to rotate through, including a lab, the emergency room, x-ray and more.  McIver loved it!

They started off all together hearing about dental health.

First stop:  x-ray

Favorite stop:  the ambulance

T-Ball Game

McIver's first 'offical' t-ball game (the previous post about t-ball was the Baseball-a-rama):

Will helped the outfielders warm-up before the game and stay focused during the game (the balls rarely reach the outfield during the game so it's important to use the time wisely!).

Heading into the dugout to get ready for the game.

McIver kept tapping his bat on the ground when he was in the on-deck circle.  Must have remembered Blake Nethery (older brother of the twins in Houston who is a fantastic baseball player) doing that when we went to his games last summer.  McIver's batting helmet was way too big.  He missed the first two pitches before the coach realized the problem.  

Then, he hit a line drive and made the coach jump out of the way!

Olivia and Kate had a little picnic set up in the stands - fries, boiled peanuts and drinks.

McIver's 1st Day of Kindergarten

McIver popped right out of bed this morning just like he 'pinky swore' to me that he would last night.  He was so excited that it took him a while to fall asleep.  I was shocked that he woke up so easily.  We had to do some reminding for him to get through his 'morning list' (downstairs for breakfast, then back upstairs to brush teeth and hair, get dressed and make up the bed).

He was eager to have his picture made with his backpack on the front porch.  (That eagerness didn't last long, though, as you'll see in a picture with Olivia sporting her backpack.)

I started to get nervous a few times throughout the morning at home because McIver waffled back and forth between really excited about school and a little hesitant and anxious.  I drew a little heart on the inside of his hand and gave him a kiss there so he could hold his hand up to his cheek and get a kiss from Mom anytime he missed me during the day.  It totally worked!  Of course, once he got in the classroom, he was just fine.  He found his picture on the door, his new cubby and then the "feathered friends."

When I got to his classroom to pick him up at noon, the first thing his teacher said was, "Wow.  He IS a talker.  We're going to be working on that!"  McIver, unfazed, was busy working on this puzzle/pyramid and didn't even bother to get up when he saw me waiting for him.

I had a hard time locating Olivia in the 1st-day-after-school-pick-up confusion.  McIver was patient while I visited with some old and new friends and tried to hunt her down.  He had taken two of his favorite books to school and just sat down to read them until I found Olivia.

"Beach Names"

One day while we were in Myrtle Beach, I took the kids to the pool.  Olivia and MaryAnn, GranGran's neighbor, took off to play together.  McIver made friends with some 11 year old girls at the other end of the pool.  They were thoroughly entertaining each other so I didn't get involved.

About 30 minutes later, one of the girls came over to me...

Girl:  Umm, ma'am?  We've like made friends with your son and wondered if he can, like, come to the beach with us.  You don't have to come or anything because my mom's like right over there and she'll watch us.

The beach is 'like totally' a long way from the pool, so I told her that I would go to the beach and watch them, but stay a respectable distance so that they could have their fun.

Girl (turning to McIver):  Okay, Thomasl you're mom said we can go to the beach.

Me:  Excuse me?  His name is McIver.

Girl:  Well, he, like, told us that people make fun of his name, so we should, like, call him Thomas.

For those who don't know, McIver's first name is Thomas, so calling him that is not out of the question.  I can't believe that my 5 year old is already giving out a 'beach name.'

I packed up our beach bag and followed them to the beach.  McIver ATE UP all the attention of the older girls!  And they never once called him McIver.

McIver's Last Day of School

And so it begins...

McIver's last day of school was on Wednesday. It was sad to realize that we won't be going back to Westbury anymore. We just feel so blessed to have found such a great school in Houston - I signed the kids up for this school before we even knew where we would be living. It ended up being so perfect for both Olivia and McIver and I loved the 2 years that I taught the Rabbit Class. I had a hard time making eye contact with anyone when I walked McIver into school that morning. The tears just kept welling up, as I'm sure will continue to happen over the next six weeks.

McIver had such a great year in the Monkey Class with Mrs. Hunter and Mrs. Jean. They love those kids and it is so obvious every time I saw them interact. The Monkey Class was perfect for McIver... they were active and busy all year. The teachers put together a fabulous scrapbook of the entire year. It has been so fun to sit with McIver and flip through the pages. He tells me something new about his class every time we look through it. I can't believe how much he has grown since the beginning of the year.

Mrs. Jean, McIver & Mrs. Hunter (Mrs. Hunter's daughter is going to babysit for us the night of Will's graduation and we hope to see them at the pool a lot before we move!)

McIver with Ms. G, one of the music teachers. I subbed with her a lot this Spring. She's so sweet and has so much fun playing music for the children.

McIver with Ms. K, the other music teacher. Ms. G & Ms. K manned the carline each morning and always started McIver's day off on the right foot. He loved taking something special in his bag to 'surprise' them when they opened the car door (like a toy snake or bug!).

McIver's story for Amelia

Several weeks ago, McIver called me into his room and asked me to bring my new Flip video camera. He told me he wanted to read a story for Amelia. It's one of his favorite Bearnstein Bears stories - No Girls Allowed! (It's also where he got the idea to tell his teachers that my favorite food is honeycomb and salmon for my Mothers Day card.)

(Since it was his idea and he was in such a good mood, I decided against picking the battle of making him put on a shirt for the video. He was squeaky clean from a bath and on his way to bed and has decided that he likes to sleep 'just in boxers, like Daddy.')

Murphy Update

McIver was so well-behaved the morning we took Murphy to the hospital for surgery. I didn't know that it would take 2 hours to drop him off so I had not brought anything to help keep McIver entertained. We saw a few interesting x-rays in the waiting area, so when we made it back to the exam room, McIver decided to draw a picture of what we had seen.
This is McIver's rendition of an x-ray of a dog who has swallowed a spoon and some sort of coin. He just couldn't believe that a dog would swallow a spoon. Kudos to the vet who took the time to take a close look at the x-ray and tell McIver the story about the dog who swallowed the spoon. (His owner had offered him the last lick of her icecream and the dog just took the whole spoon!)

Murphy's doing fine. His symptoms are a bit better; he doesn't seem to have the urgency to go out in the middle of the night like he had been. I haven't been sleeping well, though, so I'm also letting him out in the middle of the night before he has a chance to become uncomfortable and bark to be let out. He'll go back in for radiation next week.