Zoo day

Today my sweet little Rebecca and I decided it was a zoo day. A zoo day was just what we needed. Preschool could wait, Mom & Rebecca needed to play!

I tried getting there a new way for me, and I missed the turn. I missed a MAJOR turn! So we ended up going into Illinois on the 80. We ended up taking old Highway 6 to get to Coal Valley. It was beautiful on the drive. The trees were so colorful, but Rebecca just wanted to get there!

We rode the train with a field trip of noisy kindergartners.


The snow leopard was very active walking around. Rebecca got an eye to eye encounter with it.

We walked by the lions right as the male lion started roaring. He walked right up to the glass by us. He fogged the glass up with his breath. Rebecca said she wasn't scared by the lion.

We made a quick stop to feed the goats before heading to the pond. The fish were cold so they weren't eating the food wildly like they usually do. Instead the swans and ducks were eating all the food. One swam walked up to us on the deck and started eating the food on the ground. Rebecca started dropping food for it to eat. She started feeding it from her hands after watching a boy do it. The swan really liked all the food Rebecca gave it.

I've been trying to play with manual settings on my camera. Rebecca was more then happy to jump on the rocks while I took pictures of her playing.

I'm not sure why she's got such a potty lip in this picture. Must have been because I said it was time to go home. The Zoo's an hour away and Simeon had a doctors appointment, so we had to get home.

These days of field trips are numbered and I want to take advantage of these days with Rebecca before their gone. I love spending  time with this sweet little girl of outs.

Fear for a stranger

Today I watched a man fall.
I wasn't sure he was going to be alright.
I keep seeing his body, chainsaw, ladder and branch all crashing to the ground together.
I ran.
I didn't feel any pain in my leg.
I was so scared.
His face was so pale.
He didn't want me to call an ambulance.
He wasn't getting up.
I still think I should have.
Seriously what was he thinking?
A flimsy ladder on the branch he was cutting.
He got up.
He looked bad.
I gave him some ice.
I wanted to do more.
They wouldn't let me.
The fence was dented.
I saw him again tonight.
I saw his cut leg.
It was deep.
It looked bad.
I was relieved to see him walking.
He was pretty banged up.
He was sore.
Very sore.
I wanted to yell at him.
I wanted to hug him.
I don't even know him.
I had so much fear for him.
Seriously what was he thinking?
Next time I hope he thinks twice.
He has to come back.
Maybe I'll hug him, then yell at him.
Put on my "mommy shoes."
Tell him a thing or two.
Then hug him again.
Nightmares for me tonight.
Fear for a stranger.

Today came

I've been looking forward to today for 6 weeks.
Yet I've also been dreading today for 6 weeks.
I wanted today to come fast.
And slow.
I wanted today to start.
And to end.
Today I had an appointment.
I was excited for it.
And scared.
I giggle when I'm nervous.
I giggled alot this morning.
I also cried.
Silent scared tears.
It was strange to hear.
Yet not feel.
I lost a part of me.
And I gained freedom.

It looked alienish.
That was in me.
So thankful to have it gone.

1 week later I got the results it was a benign cyst. Now I have a 2" scar on my left thigh as a reminder of what I went through.

Ramblings

I love writing on our blog.
But I stopped.
I wasn't planning on sharing Simeon's leukemia journey on Facebook everyday in September.
But I am.
It's almost the end of September.
Fall is here.
Fall seemed so far away.
Now it's here.
I'll get back to it.
I need to.
I miss reading other blogs.
I'll get back to that.
I'm not sure if I'll add the leukemia posts here.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Someone not on Facebook may benefit from them.
Maybe I will.
I'm finally not so lonely when the kids all leave for school.
It took a few weeks.
But it happened.
I was told it would.
They were right.
Maybe this will help prepare me for next year when the kids are all gone all day.
I haven't been on my own in over 12 years.
It's been an adjustment.
It's getting easier.
This morning I feel sluggish.
I feel down.
More then I have in a while.
I love fall.
It's winter that's hard for me.
I didn't sleep good last night.
Husband snored.
Too many thoughts.
Thinking about friendships.
Thinking about the past.
Trying to get past hurt feelings.
Trying to understand where I fit.
If I fit.
Sometimes I'm not sure.
I'm sure I do.
Maybe we all don't fit some.
So we push others.
It hurts to get pushed.
I'm tired of getting pushed.
It'd be nice if we all fit together better.
Ramblings.
That's all this is.
Ramblings on a quiet, feeling kind of down morning.

1st haircut

Rebecca got her 1st haircut today. She's been talking about getting her hair cut for weeks, and today we had time to get it done. She's been wanting to get it cut because it gets so full of tangles, hurts to get brushed and she cries almost EVERY TIME we brush it.

She sat so patiently and quiet while her hair was getting cut.

We had about 4" cut off, which pretty much got off her baby hair which had turned light and was always tangled. It looks so much bouncier and more even.

Having Fun @ Lemme

We had a great time playing at Lemme tonight. Corrine & Ammon were busy building a fort in the forest, while Rebecca was exploring the playgrounds.

Rebecca noticed that I was sitting under a tree while they played. When she saw me she ran to me with open arms to give me a giant hug. This sweet girl loves her mom. She brought me presents-grass, a special stick and pine needle "flowers".

 Rebecca and I went to play at the kindergarten playground. She mastered the rainbow arch years ago and goes up it so confidently. She was going down the twisty slide, so I decided to climb up on it and capture her bright smile as she came down. She kept asking me to take her picture as she came down. She has such a love of life.

The Fort they built has 3 rooms in 1 house for each of the kids. They found sap to help hold it together.

The many faces of Ammon.

I'm so glad we live so near to the school so we can go play. 

These sweet kids of ours can find so many ways to have fun.

A Royal Birthday Party

"A Princess Party" was the party idea Rebecca stuck with for her 4th birthday. She 1st wanted a water party, then a water party with princesses, then she decided a princess party without water would be best. Today was so hot and humid that some water might have actually felt really good.

We planned some fun games for the party.

Pin the crown on Rapunzel. 

I free hand drew this after looking at a cd cover. 

The crowns were just cut out card stock that I decorated.

 The Princess and the Pea 

I started out by telling the kids the story of the Princess and the Pea. We had 4 pillows and a green bouncy ball "pea" for the game. I hid the "pea" under a pillow and the kids would sit on each pillow and try to feel the pea. The "pea" we used was too small to feel in the grass, so we changed it out for a baseball. All the kids were able to find the "pea" this way.

Poison Apple

This game is like hot potato, but with a poison apple instead. The kids passed the poison apple around until Corrine stopped the music. Whoever had the apple pretended to fall asleep. They were then awoken by a kiss-a Hershey kiss. After all the kids got a turn to get the poison apple and get awoken by a kiss the kids ate their very messy melted Hershey kisses.

Treasure Hunt

We hid wands and pirate eye patches in the strawberry patch, rings and bouncy balls in the sand box, necklaces on the fence, stick on earring in the flower box in the clubhouse and bracelets in the playhouse on the deck. The kids had so much fun going around finding the treasures.

Princess Cake

If you have a princess party-you need a princess cake. 

This princess was struggling to not melt in the heat of the day. She stayed nice and cool in the fridge until it was time to cut into her fluffy dress.

Presents

I love the looks on all the kids faces as Rebecca opened her presents. They were all admiring the fun gifts the other kids gave her. She was so sweet and gentle, yet excited opening them.

A couple other fun pictures I got at the party.

A grumpy princess not wanting her picture taken.

A Happy Princess playing with her friends.

A totally engrossed in her new wand from the treasure hung princess.

A sad princess.

 A tongue sticking out prince.

Rebecca and her friends had such a fun time playing prince and princess today! I'm glad she has such sweet friends that were able to come celebrate her special golden birthday with her.