Field Trip x 3...

One of the perks of being a stay-at-home mom is that I get the chance to help out at school whenever I can.  The past couple of weeks I've been able to go on a field trip with each of my little munchkins!  We rode the bus, it was weird to be back on a school bus after so many years.  They still smell the same, the vinyl seats still stick to your skin, the loud kids still sit in the very back, and the windows are still just as fun to click down.  We all had a great time.  I love being around all these kiddos, they keep me young!

Olivia went to the community garden center.

 They LOVED getting to 'pet' the fish. 

 A lesson on flowers.

 My cutie pie!

 Here's Olivia's cute little preschool class. 

Keaton went on a trip to the CSU farms.  

Here is KJ's class!

They got to watch a sheep get sheared.  They all kept a little baggie of wool. 

 Loved petting the horses. 

This wasn't at the field trip...but I wanted to add it because if you can tell, KJ's teacher shaved his head in a checkerboard pattern because the kids all earned enough good behavior points.  KJ is loving having a male teacher that is so much fun. 

Jack went to an Old farm that was donated to the Parks and Rec program here in the city. 

Jack's class!

The hay ride.

This is little Lucy.  Jack has a little crush on her.  She's so cute!

Each kid got to pick a pumpkin.

Even Liv got a pumpkin!

Jack loved playing on the old tractors the most.

A plea for all moms...

As of 45 minutes ago, my heart is aching.  My heart hurts for my little Jack.  When I take the boys to school every morning, I make sure and walk Jack to his classroom door to make sure he makes it there with his lunch and his backpack.  But this morning wasn't as smooth going as our typical days.  This morning slapped me in to reality and made me very aware of the mean that can happen in this world.  I know all little kids can be mean at times, but it always hurts when someone is mean toward your own child.  A helpless little kid.  A little boy in his class was behind him in line to go to class and kept taunting Jack and finally said, "I'll NEVER be your friend, Jack, because you are so weird.  You make other people feel weird."  And then proceeded to cut him in line. I SO wanted to run up and slap that little boy.  I just went up to him and quietly said, "Do you know how much you just hurt Jack's feelings?  That was a very mean thing you said to Jack."  Then I looked back at Jack, his big puppy dog eyes welling up with tears.  There was nothing I could do or say to take that sadness away from him.  I felt a little bit helpless.  Jack is already starting to realize that he is 'different'.  He wonders why it's not so easy for him to make friends on the playground when it is second nature to his older brother and younger sister.  I just hugged him, told him to have a Fantastic Friday and try to play with kids that are nice to him.  He said there is only one boy that is nice to him, Marcus.  I was so thankful for Marcus and his parents at that moment for teaching their son to be kind to everyone.  I wanted to break down and cry, but I saved that 'til I got in the car to come home.   I had to send Jack in to the world with sad eyes and it broke my heart.  I called and told his teacher to be extra kind to Jack today because he was a bit sensitive this morning, she said she would make sure to.  So my plea to all the mother's that read my blog, teach your kids to be kind.  Teach them that just because someone may act or think differently than your kid, that they still have feelings, that they can still feel hurt and alone.  Teach them to love one another.  Teach them to respect other's feelings.  Teach them to be patient.  Teach them to be aware of differences.  Teach them to try to include everyone.  Teach them to say Hello to someone who may be all alone.  I hate that I had to leave Jack this morning.  I just wanted to scoop him up, hold him, and take him on a special date.  Take him to McDonalds for his favorite treat, a yogurt parfait.  But instead, I sent him to school, because he must learn the hard lessons in life.  He must learn that life can be hard at times.  He must learn to be independent.  I will plan on going to lunch to see how he's doing in a couple of hours.  Until then, I will be worried and sad.  I know that this is just a part of life, but it still just doesn't seem fair.  

Dust yourself off and try again...

I wasn't planning on posting about this most recent child bike wreck, but KJ was looking thru our old blog book and found the pictures of his stitches from his fall a couple of years ago.  He told me he was glad I wrote about it and took pictures so that he could remember what had happened.  How quickly we tend to forget our 'owies'.  So, KJ, this is for you, so that one day you will remember that when you fall, you ALWAYS get up and try, try again.  :)

So, Dan and KJ went on their typical Friday after school run/bike ride.  (Dan runs while KJ rides)  Their plan was to ride over the the dirt bike track where Dan would run around the field while KJ rode.  KJ has tackled this track many, many times and he really loves to jump and race his new bike. 

Here's the track he loves.  

 Anyway, I started dinner and got a call from an unknown number.  I almost didn't answer, but did, and it was from a lady's cell phone at the track telling me to come and pick up KJ NOW, he wrecked his bike!  As a mother, I instantly went in to panic mode and thought the worst.  Gathered the kids, hopped in the car and drove over to the track.  (I did leave dinner cooking on the stove...oops!)  When I got there, KJ's handle bars were bent/turned around backwards, and he was sitting on the dirt ground with blood pouring off his chin (the face bleeds a LOT).  Poor guy.  He was really shaken up and was in shock.  We brought him home, checked him out (no broken bones or busted teeth) and had him sit in a warm bath.  After he was cleaned up he looked MUCH better, like a tough macho man!  He had a smoothie for dinner, and relaxed to Nacho Libre.  He was pretty bruised up, sore wrists, split/swollen lips, headache and sore/swollen nose, but 2 weeks later he's all back to normal.  His scabs just fell off a couple of days ago.  Just in time for our family pictures this weekend (which I had to postpone)!  

One quick and cute/sad story...later that night KJ told me that when he flipped over his handle bars he kind of blacked out and he could taste the blood that he was swallowing.  He said, "You know when people die, blood comes out of their mouths...When I was swallowing all that blood, I thought that meant I was dying."  Poor guy.  

Here is his face after being cleaned up.  It actually looked worse the next day.

He's one tough cookie.  He didn't complain once, except to tell me it hurt when his lip kept re-cracking during the week.  

After pictures this weekend, we plan to take him back.
"Cowboy Up".  Get back on the horse and keep riding.