So Many Things...An Update

Well, my friends, it's been a big week at the Barber house.  Most notably, I am the proud mom of one smart first grader (and can I get an amen and a hallelujah on the end of Kindergarten?!).  I'll let the pictures do the talking on everything that's been going on around here.

The Kinders hosted a parent appreciation tea the week before school ended.  It was a very sweet program and they did a great job.  I've got more to say on this, but it belongs over on my other blog so stay tuned.  I'll just say that there was finally affirmation that all the hard work we've put in this year paid off.  (:

I spent a lovely, exhausting, crazy four days in Spokane earlier this week for our spring board meeting.  This is water coming off of the Spokane River Falls.  A little nerve-wracking standing on this bridge!  The meeting went very well and I'm so glad to be a free woman now!  I'm not supposed to travel again until the fall, but I may be nominated to attend the memorial service in Reno for a long-standing board member who recently passed away (and will be greatly missed).

Voila!  I'm finally planting flowers and loving every minute of it.  Morgan helped with these.

Oh. my. goodness.  So much to say about this young lad and all he's accomplished this year.  He's reading above grade level and scored an "outstanding" on his third trimester reading assessment.  Yay!  I was a weeping mess when it came time to say good-bye to his teacher and assistant teacher.  They took such good care of him this year and were so great to work with.

The last day of school community picnic

Last picture in front of his classroom.  The tee-shirts are hand-drawn faces of each Kinder and their names...so cute!

A new tradition we've started for Jacoby.  We'll do this for Morgan too, but will probably start with his Pre-K teachers, since they will have been with him for four years. 

We spent the morning at the Tree Farm tooling around in a golf cart looking at trees.  It was so fun and we found a great little tree for our front yard.

The boys had a great time

We had a really good tree helper who took us all over and gave us a good education on planting trees.

If you need a tree planted, Justin is your guy.  He did a great job.

So excited to watch this little thing grow!

We also came home with two blueberry bushes

Here's my weekend project.  (:  This, and I'm running a 10K race on Monday with some of my BFFs from work.  And did I mention that I talked these same BFFs into running a half marathon with me in the fall?  (:

And in case you need a little cheering up, this video is just for you.  I'm going to miss these guys!

Mother's Day & Other Updates

We've been a little too busy the past few weeks.  I'm hopeful that come May 23 (post-board meeting and the last day of school) we'll be fancy free and just slightly less busy.

The boys are doing well.  Jacoby is a reading machine right now.  He's reading chapter books on his own plus really anything he can get his hands on.  Morgan loves all of the reading Jacoby is doing and is content to sit with him and listen.

Justin is really busy.  The class he's teaching is sucking up huge amounts of time, especially on the weekends.  He took a lot of time today to make sure my Mother's Day was special.  He made us french toast for breakfast.  And I requested a family project this year instead of a gift or flowers.  So, we traipsed off to Lowes for a few supplies, came home and put together a container fountain for our patio.  I love it!  It's just perfect and is lovely to listen to.  We've been busy in the yard with some landscaping projects.  The seeds went into the garden today and we finally decided on a tree for the yard, so that and other flowers will be going in around Memorial weekend.

I'm so looking forward to having my meeting behind me.  I've been enjoyed long runs in the morning, getting ready for the BolderBoulder 10K on Memorial Day.  I'm trying to decide if I want to pursue a half-marathon in the fall but sort of on the fence about it.  We're going to participate in the neighborhood garage sale in June, so I've been sorting through our stuff looking for things we're ready to pass along.

We have a busy summer ahead.  Morgan will be joining his preschool friends for another round of soccer in Boulder.  Jacoby wanted to do gymnastics again, and both will be in swimming lessons.  We've already got a weekend of camping on the calendar.  And we're going to participate in the summer reading program at the library.

Here are a few pics.  Have a good week everyone!

The start of our new edging and flower bed.  I'm sure I had the neighbors worried when I started covering the grass in newspaper.  (:

That's better--now for some plants and flowers!

Morgan's teacher appreciation gifts (Jacoby gave these as well).  The boys loved putting them together--they chose the cups and the treats to go inside.  The teachers loved them.  And I heart Pinterest even more...

We got a ton of rain last week.  So we went puddle jumping (or worm hunting if you're Jacoby) one evening during a break in the showers.

Jacoby reading & Morgan listening

The boys working on our fountain

Ta-Da!  It's so lovely!

Getting reading to plant our seeds

Mother's Day 2013

A Weekend...

We're coming off of a beautiful weekend--70 degrees and all sunshine.  I love spring in Colorado...when it finally decides to be spring.  I hear we have snow coming again on Wednesday...sigh.  Anyways, we've spent a lot of time outside.  The boys really enjoy watering our plants and tulips and trees and anything else they feel needs to be hydrated.  We went to Lowes to gather material for our first major landscaping project and we also spent time out at the Tree Farm trying to decide how to best spend a generous house warming gift we received when we bought our house.

Our second big event last week (after Justin's dissertation proposal defense) was Morgan's upper endoscopy and pH probe.  He did so well and we were just amazed at how composed and mature he was about the whole thing.  Jacoby had been coaching him the week prior about what to expect, so he was well-prepared.  He didn't complain about anything and came out of the anesthesia very calm.  The initial views down his esophagus show furrowing and areas of white, which likely indicate eosinophilic esophagitis.  We'll know more later this coming week once the biopsies are back.  I'm not sure Justin and I felt any emotion about this--we sort of knew this would be the news based on the symptoms Morgan's been having at home. Our hope and prayer is that he responds as well to the medication as Jacoby has.  The second procedure, which was a new one for us, was a 24-hour pH probe to check for reflux.  Out of all the tests we've been through, this was one of my least favorite.  He had a probe placed through his nose and down his throat, attached to a monitor that we had to use to record when he ate, when he laid down, etc.  It was a royal pain in the rear end, but Morgan was a super trooper about the whole thing.  Justin and Morgan had to go all the way back down to Children's on Friday to have the thing removed.  We'll get those results this week as well.

I think the week ahead will be less exciting and stressful--just work, school, soccer, and swimming lessons.

Hope you all have a good week!

Here's my little buddy after his ordeal.  He's got no-no restraints on his arms--we only had him wear those on the way home and at night.  He did a great job keeping the probe in his nose, despite how uncomfortable it must have been.

Our brave boy.  He could tell you all about the wires, and the "pipe" in his nose, as he called it.  He also got very proficient at pushing the buttons on the monitor when needed.

 Nothing but quiet activities when we got home.  He didn't really smile or laugh at all that day.  ):  Boy those are things I sure missed!

 Having a great time at the children's museum during a birthday party

 Riding in the car together...they used to be itty bitty in this thing!

We're re-doing the edging around our yard and will be creating a new flower bed area.  Sheesh--based on this picture, our lawn really needs some TLC this year!

I broke out a power tool today (and had my own "I am woman, hear me roar" moment) and turned my very favorite porch chairs into planters.  Nothing planted yet until the stinkin' snow takes a hike for good.  (:

Defended.

Big news:  Justin defended his dissertation proposal today.  The committee accepted the proposal and he is now free to write his dissertation.  The hope is to write one page a day and have a draft done by January.  You can guess who will be first in line to help move this along toward that goal.  (:  The end is in sight, my friends.

Other news, winter continues here in Colorado despite it being spring.  We really can't complain about the moisture.  I've got a bunch of landscaping projects brewing in my head and can't wait to get outside. 

The boys are doing well.  Our next hurdle this week is Morgan's GI procedures at Children's on Thursday.  We're looking forward to having that behind us.  Jacoby is doing great in school and is working on a book report to present on Wednesday.  Work is really busy for me as we head toward our spring board meeting.

Hope you all have a great week!

 Spring in Colorado

 Morgan at soccer

  Running!

Our Winter-Spring

It seems that winter has finally decided to arrive in Colorado.  Last week school was canceled one day due to snow, wind, and cold, so the boys and I had a snow day at home together.  We made donuts and enjoyed being inside together.  We've gotten around seven inches of snow today and more is on the way this evening.  I've been riding the bus to work for the past few months (it's made a huge difference with our gas bill).  It's a 10 minute walk to my office from the stop, and by the time I got in this morning I was covered head-to-toe in a thick layer of snow!  It's so pretty and we desparately need the moisture.  Morgan keeps saying that it must be Christmas time since it's snowing. (:

In other news, Morgan started soccer last week.  He really seems to like it and has a good time running around with the other little guys in his class.  The boys started another session of swimming lessons.  They're both doing great and love being in the water.  Jacoby goes underwater like a pro now and was diving for rings last week.  Morgan goes to Children's Hospital next week for an upper endoscopy and Ph probe.  Sigh.  ):

Justin is super busy with work, teaching his graduate class, and getting ready for the dissertation proposal defense.  He works all the time, except when the youngest child decides he really needs a "Daddy fix"...and then I find Justin reading Dr. Seuss to Morgan in the middle of all of his piles and papers.

I am itching to get outside in our yard and begin a few landscaping projects.  But this crazy snow has that on hold, so I'm working on stuff inside.  I did manage to sell the fence we took down last fall on Craig's list!  It went to a really nice couple in Fort Collins.  I meet the nicest people on Craig's List!  I was asked to join the PTO Board at school, but I quietly declined the very nice offer.  I don't think it's my scene, and I just really like being at the classroom level.  Jacoby is doing really well in school.  His teacher had very nice things to say about the changes in his behavior when I was there on Friday.  I think we have finally made it through the rough patch, both at home and at school.  Jacoby is finishing up a research project on South America -- yes, you did read that right, a research project in Kindergarten. 

 Morgan practicing stopping the ball with his foot

I don't know exactly what's happening here, but I love that Justin got him in mid-air

Running, running, running...just what little boys need!

Morgan made the goal!

Two boys swinging at the park

Jacoby's project on South America.  He can tell you about the poncho his doll is wearing and what animal provides the wool for this apparel.  He has to present this and the information he collected to his class this week.  And yes, I am the mean mom who requires him to write his answers in complete sentences.   (: