On our way to kindergarten

Can you believe the kids will be starting kindergarten next year? I am so excited to enter this next phase with them. Parenting has become so much more enjoyable to me as they’ve gotten older. I see so many parents sad about their kids getting older and I just find myself relishing in the new changes and growth I will get to see in my children.

We had kindergarten orientation a couple weeks ago. There was a lot of information provided, and they did a lot of ‘selling the school’, which was confusing to us since we already chose to send our kids there (it’s the elementary school a few blocks from the house, but ranked very highly in the nation). I don’t think Chris and I have many concerns or worries about them starting kindergarten or going to a new school. We’ve learned that they adjust very quickly and they both absolutely love school.

When we got home and I told the kids what they would get to learn, I loved seeing which one got excited about what. I told them they would get to do science projects and learn about math, and Cooper started yelling/screaming and jumping up and down. When I mentioned that they would get to do art projects and play sports (they will get do this in the Kindergarten Enrichment Program, aka full day kindy) and Charlotte was the one to get excited.

There is a summer program the kids can participate in as well. This will help give Chris a mental break this summer, as well as let the kids get exposed to their new school and even take some fun field trips (like the tour of Mile High stadium and Coors Field).

We’ve decided to separate them into different classes, which all the teachers support. The kids are excited to have their own teacher and even make new friends. I think Charlotte may have a tougher time adjusting based on conversations with their current pre-school teacher. Charlotte will often follow Cooper around class or constantly look for where he is playing. Cooper seems to be the opposite and gets annoyed that Charlotte is always around.

We also spoke with the teachers about Charlotte’s medical history and possibility of delays. We don’t want to create an issue that isn’t there, but we also have found it’s important to address any issues immediately when they come up. Charlotte struggles to stay focused and the pediatrician says that is highly likely a direct result of the exposure.  The teachers were happy to have her history and they have a great program should she need additional assistance.

Medical Updates

I got new glasses! It’s been nearly 3 years since I’ve gotten new frames and the styles have changed so much! Although they ordered the wrong type of lenses for my astigmatism (spherical) so it sort of felt like I was looking through a fish bowl. I was off balance and dizzy, so I felt a bit nauseous by the end of the day. I had reorder the lenses, and I finally feel normal!

Cooper hit his chin on Charlotte’s head really hard and knocked a tooth loose. Besides it hurting very badly, he was pretty upset about the tooth being loose and possibly falling out. I told him he would be okay and soothed him. Then once he calmed down a bit I was in Chris’ office chatting with him. Cooper came in a little more upset and told Chris, ‘Daddy I hit my tooth and it’s loose!’. Chris very bluntly tells him ‘It’s okay, it’s just going to fall out in a few days.’ Cooper became hysterical about his tooth falling out and immediately ran to me. I told Chris that was what he was most scared of. Who knew that teeth falling out could be so scary to a 5 yr old!

So I helped calm him down again and explained about how everyone get big teeth because their little baby teeth fall out. And that the most amazing part is that the tooth fairy collects your teeth when they fall out and pays you money for them. Cooper then asked if he could pull his tooth out right now. Apparently it’s not so scary to have your teeth fall out once you know you get money. Hahaha!

We did take him to the dentist and they took x-rays.  His two lower adult teeth have already cut the roots off both teeth so they are close to falling out anyhow.  So now we just wait!

Sense if style

Cooper showing off his sense of style. Also how to make an umbrella a hunting rifle for 'hunting wabbits' in that one show with the bunny. Lol. 

 

Fitness updates

Chris has one more phase of New Rules of Lifting for Abs and can finally do sit-ups! That’s a huge accomplishment for him.

I have finished the first two levels of Basic Training in the New Rules of Lifting Supercharged program and LOVE the program. I also started taking ballet 3 weeks ago and absolutely LOVE it. It is so hard and I feel so great afterwards. The teacher is considering adding a second class during the week, which I would love. I am going to drop from lifting 3x/week to 2x/week and instead run 2x/week and take ballet 1x/week. I’m might just run once a week and find a kickboxing class also.

Chris and I have signed up for the Survivor Mud Run in July and the Warrior Dash in August. We are super excited to complete them!

Cooper got his first belt (white) in Karate! I don’t practice with him very often because he throat punched me.

Charlotte completed the first level of gymnastics and has decided to switch to karate with Cooper, but she really wants to do soccer. There is a soccer/t-ball camp this summer that we will probably sign them up for, before doing a true soccer season. They are both in swim lessons again, and Cooper has graduated to the next class. Charlotte still needs to master floating on her back before moving to the next class.

She did pick out her new bathing suit though.  We were shopping and she brought me the two items below.  I told her that it was a boys bathing suit and without missing a beat, Cooper told me, ‘No, mommy.  Charlotte can wear whatever she wants.  It’s not boy clothes or girl clothes.’  It made me so proud to hear that because it’s exactly what I tell them about everything – toys, clothes, superhero imaginative play, what they want to be when they grow up.  I think I might be raising a feminist!

Adult Birthdays

Chris and I have begun making time to celebrate our own birthdays in a bigger way than we used to. We usually just went to dinner with each other, exchanged gifts, maybe went out for cupcakes and called it good. Although it makes for a busy April, we’ve decided to make our birthdays more of a celebration.

This year I planned by birthday with my best friend, Raeann, because her birthday is only 9 days after mine. We invited a fairly big group out to meet for drinks before heading to a burlesque show. I love the atmosphere of the Corner Office, a bar located in downtown Denver, but their drinks are always just average. We had a great time catching up with everyone, and then a smaller group went to the burlesque show.

Both Raeann and I were underwhelmed by the show. There was a lot more comedy by the MC than theatrics/story telling with the burlesque. I’ve been to a great burlesque show in Los Angeles before, so I was probably more disappointed than Raeann. It was fun to hang out with all of our friends, but we won’t be going back.

For Chris’ birthday I planned a tour and tasting at the 303Vodka Distillery in Boulder, then he chose the restaurant for dinner with friends after the tour and tasting. After dinner we all went to Dave & Busters. Raeann was the only one to join us for the distillery tour and tasting, but the 3 of us took a limo up to Boulder so we could safely enjoy the distillery.

It was such a cool little place in a warehouse type of building. The distillery is tiny, but the vodka is fantastic. Chris is a bit of a vodka snob, so this was a lot of fun for him. We got to taste a ton of different flavor infused vodkas. The beef jerky flavor was probably the strangest – our taste buds were so confused. It tasted exactly like beef jerky, which is strange to then have a little bit of vodka burn after and to drink that flavor. We had some amazing drinks: Orange Dreamsicle (vanilla infused vodka and orange juice), Vootbeer (vanilla infused vodka, root beer, topped with whip cream), Pickle Bloody Mary (pickle infused vodka and traditional bloody mary), red bull + grape infused vodka, red bull + watermelon infused vodka. We ended up buying 4 bottles of vodka!

We met up with the rest of the group for dinner and drinks at Bull & Bush. Dinner was okay but the company was great. We had a great time being big kids at Dave and Busters afterwards.