School Days, Weekend Get-A-Ways, Firefighters Play

The beginning of October, we joined my mom and Bill at Utah Lake (JT had to work). The boys loved my parent's new Camper. Here is Logan enjoying the plush bed.

Levi spent a long time loading and unloading rocks from his toy trucks.
We waded in the lake and here is a pic of me and Levi.
One of my all time favorite moments: My mom and Logan, holding hands, running toward a flock of Seagulls.
We played card games.
Levi with a big smile!
Me and Levi sitting in the camper.
Mom and Bill cooked steak shish-kabobs for dinner, YUMMO!
The boys asked for grilled hot dogs. :P
On October 6th, after we picked Logan up from school, we went to the local Fire Station Open House & Exhibits. The boys enjoyed Cotton Candy and popcorn made by the firefighters. They each received a firehat, too.

Logan finishing off his cotton candy.
JT, Levi, and Logan in front of a fire truck.
Levi, Logan, and Me. It drizzled rain the entire time we were there, but we had fun anyway!
A firefighter let Logan hold the hose.
Levi and JT met Smokey the Bear!
There were several demonstrations, like this one.
The kids learned to safely exit a burning house by crawling through this trailer, filled with smoke. The firefighter was explaining what to do during a fire.
Logan found the exit! Levi decided not to crawl through, however, he later went through with JT at his side.
One of the neatest demonstrations was this propane fire. The firefighters extinguished the fire with the hose and then with the ladder hose.
Logan had a perfect report card and received a $5.00 reward which he spent on the school book fair.
Mrs. Harris asked me to make Halloween decorations for the classroom. This was a bat that was leftover. Logan and I made it from an egg carton. It was fun!
We also made this cloudy-bat mobile.
We made a lot of different decorations, but I'm only posting a few pictures. Like this pumpkin spider.
And a pumpkin cat.
Little Jack-O-Lantern's.
A Witch.
A spider egg sack.
This one was the funnest for me. I made this out of 3 boxes, painted them and glued them together. I made the ghosts from Felt paper, created trees with sticks from our backyard, glued a spiderweb across the top corners, glued a plastic spider on top, a few plastic pumpkins, and wooden fences. The windows and door were made from construction paper.

I'm amazed at the things Logan is learning in school, already! They are counting money and dealing with fractions. He's understanding it all and I'm so proud of him! The following is a snipit of this week's newsletter from Mrs. Harris:

Curriculum:

This week, the habit that we focused on was “Synergize”. We learned that to Synergize is to work together. We also reviewed Habit 1, Be Proactive. In math this week, we learned about telling time to the nearest half hour as well as how to tell temperature to the nearest ten degrees. In Science, we have been learning about seeds and how plants grow in preparation for Tuesday’s field trip. Thank you for all of the support you give at home, reinforcing the important things we learn in first grade!

First Field Trip:

Our first grade field trip to Hee-Haw pumpkin farm will be held on Tuesday, the 12^th of October.

JT and I will be volunteers at the field trip. We're stoked!

I LOVE October!! It's the best month of the entire year!! More adventures to come...

Am I To Blame?

Several things have added up to the realization that my six year old suffers from Sleep Apnea. I am feeling like this is all my fault, as if I could've done something differently while pregnant with him. I'm feeling especially guilty about this because his brother, my two year old, suffers from several allergies, including; egg, nut, dogs, grass, etc. I feel like I've brought these boys into the world and because I wasn't well prepared while carrying them in the womb, they both suffer from things which are out of my control, now.

For years, my husband and I have allowed Logan to sleep with us at night. I've never before spoken to anyone about him sleeping with us because I've felt as if others would think I am not doing my parenting job. Their opinions would further my concerns that I am failing, already, as a parent.

When he started Kindergarten last year, we had him begin sleeping in his bed in his own room. We weren't successful with this because Logan was so used to sleeping with someone and would become scared when he'd awake in the night to find himself alone. This resulted in little sleep, for everyone. After a few weeks of giving this a try, we decided to move his little brother into the same room with him. Well, that didn't work because Levi would wake one to two times a night, which would wake Logan. It seemed like neither of them would sleep at the same time, each taking turns waking the other. So, JT and I allowed Logan to begin sleeping with us again during the summer break, after Kindergarten. When First grade was approaching, we began having Logan sleep in his bed again, thinking that Levi and Logan would be able to sleep in the same room, now, since Levi stopped waking during the night. I would lay next to Logan in his bed to help him fall asleep. Logan's INTENSE, unusual snoring, gasping and choking would wake Levi. Therefore, we moved Logan into his own room, again. I've been sleeping with him ever since because his breathing scares me at night. His chest rises and falls so deeply in an odd way, he stops breathing for several seconds at a time (sometimes I wake him so he'll start breathing again), he snores so heavily which often causes gasping and choking, he wets the bed - even when he doesn't drink 2 hours before bedtime, he sleeps in the oddest positions, restless sleep, and his mouth doesn't open much at all for him to breathe through causing spit buildup between his lips, obstructing what little mouth breathing he gets. He is extremely underweight for his age and height, has trouble concentrating, and he's having trouble in school.

A woman discovers she is pregnant, attempts to do all she can to take care of the fetus growing inside of her by eating right, taking vitamins, exercising appropriately...etc. Your sole wish is that your child will be healthy and strong and you know you are responsible for providing the beginning nourishment and a healthy atmosphere for him to grow in. I didn't succeed in this. For either of my boys. I let them both down and now they both suffer with so much. How could I have failed so badly when I had such good intentions. They deserve better than me.

Is It Really September?!

My dad arrived on Friday, all the way from Oklahoma! Here, Logan is greeting him with a hug.

Back inside, Dad unloaded gifts that he brought for Logan and Levi. He brought one of Levi's favorite things; matchbox cars and he also brought wooden flutes for him!
Knowing that Logan enjoys collecting rocks, my dad brought him his very own rock box filled with crystals and rocks from my dad's rock hounding.
Decorated, courtesy of Kelly. Thanks, Kelly!
On Saturday, we had dinner at my sister's house. I love this picture of my sister and my dad.
On Sunday, we went to the mountains to rock hound. Me and the boys were in the backseat and it was really windy back there, as you can see. :P
Logan likes to exercise his bravery.
JT and Levi crossed the water.
Logan
Dad
Dad telling JT about rocks.
Scenery of where we rock hounded.

All the guys searching for some unique rocks.
Logan helping his grandpa bring his things to his car, the night he left.
My boys, me, and their grandpa.
Hugs! This was so hard for me to say goodbye.
Logan getting hugs.
Levi's turn for hugs! I think he was concerned about me because I was crying, so we managed a sandwich hug.
You can see Logan and JT in the background as my dad pulls away. Bye, Dad!

Logan and a teammate

Logan is in the middle there.
Logan's friend, Hayden is on the left and Logan is next to him.
He did SO good!
Here he is kicking the ball.
Logan is #2.
Logan's big kick!
In between plays, taking a mini break from running.
Ben, #9, checking out Logan's haircut.
Go, Logan!
No matter how old he is, he's still my baby. He fell asleep on the couch and I had to capture this moment. My favorite ultrasound picture of Logan is similar to this one, his feet were crossed in the womb.
So peacefully sleeping!
Kicking the soccer ball.
Logan
Logan
Logan has his own room, now...


The playroom/Levi's room, AFTER Logan and Kevin explored every nook 'n cranny.
Logan and Kevin playing a game of "Hungry, Hungry Hippo's" while Levi watches a t.v. show called "Wow, Wow, Wubzzy".