Kindergarten

So Ty is off in the big world now and I have to let go and trust that God will take care of my baby! This is a hard transition for every mom but I am trying to trust in a FAITHFUL God that He knows the plans He has for Ty and I need to step back and watch Him work. Tyler has been very excited for school to start (Until last night, ha ha!) so that has helped. The kindergarten teachers sent home a special packet of "Ready Confetti" for each of the kindergarteners. It has a sweet little poem about putting this confetti under your pillow the night before school and it will help you be rested and ready for your first day of school, etc..Really cute! So Ty usually loves this kind of stuff..so we put it under his pillow before bed. About an hour and 15 minutes later I hear him banging around upstairs. I go up to check and he is mad and throwing his confetti away. I ask what the problem is and I can tell he is on the verge of tears. He says " This stuff is stupid and I am not rested or ready for kindergarten!" I can tell it is more than that so I probe further......He says he is afraid and nervous and doesn't want to go to school and meet new friends. We talked for awhile and I let him cry. (Luckily I was able to hold my crying for later!) And he finally fell asleep 2 hours after I wanted him to : ) So I was feeling terrible and trying to think of a way to get us out of this kindergarten mess. Ha ha! Is it too late to home school? I miss my baby already!!!! We took him in this morning and as you can see he smiled for his pictures and perked up a little from last night...Tough little guy. When it was time for us to leave I could tell he was trying to be strong but he put his head down, I am not sure but he may have cried a little. I know in my heart he is fine though..he is smart and friendly and helpful and who could not love this kid!!! As for the home schooling...If this doesn't get easier I am looking into this quickly...ha ha!

Big changes for a big boy!

So this next week is a big week in the Hembree household.....Ty starts school! To be honest, I thought I was going to be really sad. But Ty is so excited it is hard to be anything but excited for him! We meet his new teacher in 2 days and then he starts school on Monday. Another big thing is Ty starting soccer. He really wanted to do football but he is too young, BUMMER :) So we got his shin guards and ball and it should start in a couple weeks. I woke up at 7am this morning to a strange, velcro type noise. See pictures....I guess he is pretty excited about soccer too..LOL...Oh to be 5 again! Nice touch leaving the jammies on buddy!

Catching Up

Six Flags for Jake's b-day

Incredible Pizza for Jake's b-day

Zoo with Nonnie and Papa

Outside last night eating Spiderman treats from the Ice Cream Man

So I have a couple cute pictures to catch you up on what we have been up to....Less than 2 weeks till Ty starts kindergarten and a month till Jake starts Moms Day Out. (My babies are getting BIG!) Jay just left for Tucson, AZ for the night to fix a plane and then he will be back. We are taking advantage of any water we can find while the pools are still open and before things get crazy with schools and sports stuff this fall. We miss our family still but are beginning to settle in and meet some friends. Keep praying in that area for us...it has been slow going! Can't think of anything funny that has happened...I will keep you updated though!

VBS...the nightmare I have sent my children to..LOL

Well the title pretty much says it all. I signed the boys up for VBS with all these great ideas of them making friends and loving Jesus and singing songs for several hours a day (ok and mommy getting a little time on her own).

Day 1: Dropping boys off to the gym of screaming, dancing, singing children. Jake will not leave my side so I sit for awhile with him. Everytime I get up to leave he follows crying his head off. Put him back repeat...you get the picture. So the sweet teacher says "Go ahead and go honey I'll hold him for you." Ok I quickly and happily walk to the exit door. Turn to check and Jake is now in full-out panic screamming and kicking and hitting the sweet teacher. She is holding on to him for dear life while he physically assults her. I watch this for what seems like an hour (2-3 minutes) She puts him down (probably checking for bruising and bleeding) and he bolts for the door, where I stop him. I put him back....sit for awhile longer with him, realizing my dream of a completely silent morning is quickly vanishing. I look in Ty's direction and see 3 teachers all huddled around him ("Oh no is he hurt?") Ah... no, he is crying his head off now for no apparent reason. He wants to go home and hates it here. It is too loud and none of his friends (St Louis friends, that is) are here. So I talk to (threaten) both of them off to the side about how this is supposed to be fun and to get back to their classes. Ty decides he will give it a chance once they leave the noisy gym and start making crafts and having snacks. I take Jake to his room and he throws himself on the ground and kicks and screams. Ok...I have had all I can take out of him so I kiss Ty goodbye and put Jake in the car to go home.

Day2: Jake has been threatened if he beats his teacher he will get a beating from daddy so off we go for some more fun and learning about Jesus. Ha ha! Ty goes off to his class and sits on the ground ignoring all of the songs and dancing going on around him but he isn't crying so I will take it. Jake sits down with me in the vacinity of his class and has a death grip on my hand. I remind him lovingly how he will be getting a spanking if he throws a fit or hits his teacher. I get up to leave and he stands up and starts with the tears again. No screaming and assulting, just a broken hearted why are you doing this to me again cry so I'll take that too...Off mommy goes for her first morning of silence. I go home feeling guilty...why again am I doing this to them and why are we not in St. Louis? It was a long three hours spent sad and worrying...not what I had envisioned at all. So I go to pick them up and Ty is looking sad, I ask him how his day went and if he had any fun today. Ty: "No not at all and that boy over there is so mean, I don't like him at all." Oh great so you are learning to hate at VBS? LOL. So come to find out this boy told Ty he has big ears and looks like a monkey. Nice huh? I was hoping this bullying wasn't going to come for a few more years and especially not at a church thing. Well, what can you do huh? Now I am feeling extra guilty and convinced I am not sending my children back to this horrible place, it is making all of us miserable. Jay and I talk to Ty about it and Jay thinks we shouldn't run away from it (bullying is going to happen to all kids at some point and we can't protect him forever). He is right, even though the mama bear in me wants to find the kid and tell him what I think he looks like..lol!

Day 3: Ty has ready to give VBS one more try and if it doesn't go better we will talk about skipping the rest of the week. I prayed for him and Jake all morning and when we got there. Ty ran over to his class and began dancing with our neighbor friend Kaden. I talked to his teacher and told her what happened and just asked if she could look out for him. She said she had another complaint about the same kid so she already had her eye on him today. I decided that I would stay with Jake until the music was over and they were going to the classroom. I walked him to the class and he ran off with the teacher to help start the Veggie Tales movie....HELLO! No kiss goodbye, no see ya later...just gone...I look around...Can it really be? No tears? I am free? Why am I still standing here? RUN NOW!

So that is my week so far.
Lesson? God answers prayers and my kids will survive without me for 3 hours.

A blog??? Oh yeah I have one of those!

The boys at Sea World!!

Fourth of July Party

Jake's 3rd Birthday

Jake's New Police Costume

Ok I have gotten as bad as Amber with my blog. Jay got home...back to back guests and here we are in July already! So today I took Ty shopping for some school clothes...sigh..he is getting so big! He looks like a little man in his new clothes and I hope I make it through the first couple days of kindergarten without crying. We started a new care group and it seems like it will be a good fit for us all. Ty already has a little girl who he gets along with great. 2 of the men are Aggies and one is a pilot..so Jay is getting along great too! Ha ha! Jake is turning 3 in a few days but we had his party early while Uncle Adam and Aunt Jenny were in town. We had a great visit with them and are already wishing they could come back!! Jake keeps asking me every day if he is still 3 years old. I dont know if he is happy about it or not, but we will probably go to Six Flags with him on Monday so that should be fun...Jay took the day off from work. After that I will be doing some more back to school shopping..they say things sell out if you wait till August so I am getting on it early this year. Then the boys have VBS the following week and then Mom and Dad come in town. I will try to update pictures when I can....The boys are getting so big!

Hondo

Hondo is taking over!!! As you can see she is getting very comfy and fitting in well! The boys are having a good time with her and Pebbles is tolerating her. Now if we can just get her potty trained I will like her more. We had a great time in Rockwall visiting Justin, Angie and the boys. Ty and Jake are still recovering from all the excitement and fun. They got to go to a coupe of Nate's ballgames and ride Jet Skiis at Uncle Roger and Aunt Pam's. Jake was a daredevil going 40 mph while Ty kept daddy under 20 most of the time. We are so glad Jay is home and able to spend a couple weeks at home. Now if he can just get his puppy under control!

Summer time!!

It is BEAUTIFUL outside...Jay is out of Iraq and on his way back to us! Things could not be better....I thank God he is safe and the boys and I made it thru...(with alot of help from family and friends!) Here are a couple pictures from today. Please ignore the underware and pretend we are not ghetto enough to swim outside in them...LOL....Ty doesnt have any swimming trunks that fit. Maybe mommy needs to make a trip to the store before the neighborhood pool opens on Sat. I dont think the neighbors will appreciate a half naked kid in the pool!!! Thank you all for your prayers and extra love!!!