A Day in the Life of Isaac

Let's start with the beginning of the day for Isaac. Yogurt is his breakfast of choice. I think because it's quick and light. School causes him anxiety (or at least I suspect it does with his "questionable" stomach aches at night and his chewed off fingernails) so I don't press him on breakfast. Plus, school lunch is at 11 a.m which is pretty early. In fact, if you remember reading one of my recent blog posts where Isaac wrote a theme song book, one of the lines was, I don't like food. Wish I had that problem!

Our school menu the second half of the school year has to be one of the worst. I'm sure the average kid enjoys it, but there are only a handful of things I even like on the menu which means I get to fix Isaac's lunch everyday. At the start of the school year, I decided to be FIRM mom and tell Isaac he could only take his lunch once a week to school (hey, it worked with Karson the past two years). I should've known better. After the first two weeks, I went to eat lunch with him at school. His aide Ms. King told me that lunch usually makes him nervous so they don't press him about eating. School was such an adjustment for Isaac, I hate that I put that kind of pressure on him too. I really thought he would try more things if he saw all his classmates eating school lunch--nope, he stood his ground. At one point he even told me, "Mom I can go for days without eating." Packing a daily lunch for him is now a part of my morning routine. The nice thing about Isaac is his IS NOT picky about taking the same lunch everday which is a pack of Famous Amos cookies, a sausage biscuit and a pack of Cheez-It's. Occasionally, I'll throw in some Goldfish or Cocoa Puffs, and he buys his milk at school. Can you imagine eating that daily? Yum.

One thing Isaac LOVES is chewing gum. I guess every kid loves gum, but it's the main thing the ol' Easter bunny brought him this year. He can go through gum quicker than Willie Wonka. I find wrappers all over the place. I'm not sure where he gets some of it. Occasionally he'll come home with a whole pack in his pants--grandparents I'm suspecting--but who knows if they gave it to him or he swiped it. Stinker. We'll have to get his molars sealed ASAP.


I don't know any other way to describe Isaac besides passionate. He is passionate about the things he enjoys. He can color all day long. We usually just buy a pack of computer paper and keep it on the kids drawing table. He colors, makes books, makes shirts, designs EVERYDAY.

He's resorted to hiding all of his creations under his bunk bed (they are untouchable there). I love his creations but simply cannot keep EVERYTHING. He writes a book DAILY people. I have tried to encourage him to go to some creative camps this summer, but he has ZERO interest. I would love to see him channel his talents with someone who knows a thing or two about art and illustration.

What I usually find on the drawing table: a new book, broken staples, scattered markers, a snack and his water (he's part camel as are ALL of our kids--they drink water like they are dehydrated all the time).

Isaac is also passionate about LEGO's. We don't have a LEGO area in our house so my dining room table looks like this MOST of the time:

Sorry we haven't had you over for dinner lately =(.

Messes don't exist in Isaac's world. I'm convinced no part of my OCD nature lives inside of him. He could careless if the house, car, his room is messy or not--the more mess, the better. He's been that way as long as I can remember. I don't think he does it to drive me crazy. I honestly, think it's completely inate (much like my need for cleanliness & order). Do I try to encourage him to clean up his mess? Absolutely. Do I have to ask him daily to put things in the trash or not to throw things down in the van? Yep. Do I constantly tell him to keep track of the things he takes to grandparents houses (or usually loses)? Sure. Can we ever find his shoes one they're off? Never. It might take an hour to find them. Do I care? Not really. Isaac is Isaac, and I wouldn't change him at all. But I do want to encourage him to clean up HIS messes.

He would have posters like these ALL over his walls if I didn't clean them out.

Miles also tries to participate in the wall decor but hasn't quite mastered his fine motor skills at this point.

Isaac was a little put out that his hammy Justin didn't last longer than a week and quickly wanted another rodent. I was more hesitant, not because I felt we mistreated Justin, I just wasn't ready to go out and purchase a replacement instantly. Glad I didn't because NOW, we have Green Jill the turtle. I came across her on Carter Sims Road a few weeks ago. I believe she is a red ear slider turtle. Isaac and I bought her an aquarium, got her some shrimp, and she is living the life. The lady at the pet store told us if we could keep her alive, we'd have her 50 years. Yahoo, I'll be 84 when she finally kicks the bucket. We also found a brown toad on our back porch last night and decided to put him in the aquarium too, but after researching, I decided we best let the toad go. Turtles apparently kill frogs. SO, the toad hung around our back porch for a bit but took off later that night.

Isaac and Pap are two peas in a pod. He wants to go to Pap's house every single day. He's started spending the night with him every Friday. Having grandparents is such a blessing, they love our kids and give them the "needed" attention we parents can't always give. I love this picture of the two of them from Monster Truck Jam when Isaac was 3. Isaac asked me the other day (completely serious) if Pap could spend the night with us. I, of course, said "yes." He said, "okay, give me the phone, I need to call him." When Pap picked up, Isaac said "Pap, my mom says it's okay if you spend the night with me." It's cute how he thinks of Pap just like he thinks of one of his buds at school.
We are lucky having such a snuggly, wonderful little boy who lights up our lives daily with his energy and passion. He's such a joy. We love watching him grow up and learn new things. I love how he always has tried to share those new things with his baby brother (like in this old picture--sniff, sniff--I think he trying to show Miles how to pick his nose like a pro.). Thanks for reading about our little 6 year old.

Hoppy Easter Everyone

With over 1,600 hidden Easter eggs, the kids at Community celebrated our 8th annual egg hunt at my parents house last Sunday. Originally the hunt was scheduled for (last) Saturday, but we had to change it with my Mamaw's birthday party which worked out really well because last Saturday was nasty outside but Sunday's weather was perfect.

A couple of years ago, my mom decided to do something different with the primary kids who still wanted to participate but were to old to hunt with the little ones. She put together a scavenger hunt with clues and prize eggs--600 eggs were hidden for the older kids. This year Isaac got to participate. Mom said he and Evan took off gathering as many Easter eggs as they could find not real sure about the whole scavenger hunt thing--until she explained it to them. She told them if they found everything on the list, the got to select a prize. They immediately got to work gathering all the things on their list.

Checking their list twice =).

Karson, Cassidy and Annabel. These young ladies have grown in to such lovely young ladies.

Karson and Elizabeth hard at work collecting clues. Karson had no interest in hunting for Easter eggs this year. She had her eyes on the prize--a Barbie doll which she won.

Miles having a big time hunting for eggs with the younger kids. He got LOADS of candy this year and enjoyed his loot. He also had an egg hunt at school on Thursday, but I'm never able to get pics. of him there since I teach and all. He came home with lots of Easter goodies from EEP.

The Easter, oops, I mean SPRING party at Plano was on Friday. Isaac had his egg hunt in the gym. His teachers sent a note home the day before requesting each child send in 12 eggs filled with candy. They said they were going to number each egg and give the kids a number to hunt for. One thing I can say is that the hunt didn't go quickly. Isaac was #13. It took forever to find all his numbered eggs, but he sure had fun looking for them. I missed the beginning of it because Karson also had her wax museum that afternoon so the events overlapped a bit.

#13, #13, where are you???

Isaac and his buddies Jaxon and Nathan.

Isaac has switched tables (I guess all the kids have been moved around) and is now close to the two women he adores. Rebeccah is right across from him and Crystal is right next him. Rebeccah has shot him down a couple of time and has made it clear that she is NOT interested in him. To his left is Crystal who has down syndrome. Crystal cannot communicate, but that doesn't stop Isaac from trying his best to get her to chat it up with him. He adores her. Matt said he leaned down to talk to Crystal at the party and Isaac said, "Dad she doesn't talk. All she says is bah, bah, bah." (while moving his hands in the air, I guess like she does). Isaac sure loves Rebeccah and Crystal =).

Getting ready to do some singing.

Getting three Easter baskets together is no easy task (and can become quite costly). I decided to get a picture of the kids baskets the night before Easter as I NEVER manage to get a good photo of the goods when the kids are tearing through them Easter morning--plus, I am half awake.

Karson's basket complete with Peeps, a baby bottle pop, nerds rope, Nestle Crunch bars, chocolate bunnies, rainblow gum and airhead extremes.

I had to get most of Isaac's goods at the gas station. The boy loves orange tic tacs and banana laffy taffy more than any kid I know. I also got him LOTS of gum--he can go through a couple of packs in one week EASY.

Miles is ALL about gummy candy of any sorts--his basket had sour worms and crabby patties. He also loves Reese's cups--is there anything better than a Reese's mini.??? YUM.

I asked Karson Easter-eve if she would like for me to do a clue game to lead her to her Easter basket. She, of course, said yes. Then, she got this confused look on her face and said, "well, will the Easter bunny know where to put it?" Now don't get me wrong, I love that my kids are completely gullible about believing just about anything Matt and I say, but come on, Karson is super SHARP. I assumed by now the Easter bunny wasn't something she REALLY believed in. I said, "Karson, honey, do you really believe there is a bunny who goes around and delivers baskets to kids on Easter?" My sweet, honest, innocent child looked like a deer in the headlights and didn't have a response. Does she still believe? I have no idea. I don't think she would say either way??? Love that kid.

Isaac was the first one up Easter morning. I had Miles's basket out for him to enjoy when he got up but had hidden Karson and Isaac's baskets for the clue game. Matt was also up when Isaac came into the den and asked where his basket was. Matt said, "buddy, I don't think you got one this year." Isaac starts blinking his eyes real heavy when he's about to cry--he started doing it and said, "but I wanted one." Matt told him about the clue game, and about that time, all of us were waking up. He and Karson got to work quickly and found all their clues and FINALLY their goodies. (Sorry for all the underwear shots, but this is how my boys roll)

Miles picked gummy worms as his first choice of sweet.

Karson was able to snag a great picture of Matt and I.

Our traditional family pics. around the fireplace.

Karson couldn't wait to get to church. She, Elizabeth and Abby Kate had the same Easter dresses on. My sweet sister bought Karson hers at Strausburg last year so they could all match. All three of our beauties in their yellow. What's that jump rope rhyme? Cinderella dressed in yella', went upstairs to meet her fella'....

The zoo crew at church in all their splendor. It truly was a glorious day. Our dear friend Haley Caffey was baptized by her dad Brad during service that morning. We're very excited for them! Hope everyone has a HOPPY holiday like we did!

Amelia

If there is one thing Karson LOVES, it's school, especially when a PROJECT is involved. She along with all the 2nd graders were assigned to a historical figure to present in a wax museum today at school. The project assignment came home last Wednesday and she was READY to get to work immediately. Her character was/is Amelia Earhart. I asked her about the character and why she chose her to which she responded that she didn't. All the characters were assigned to different kids, and the she proceeded to tell me EVERYONE'S character (even some in the other 2nd grade classes). Although I was tickled with her character, I wasn't sure how we'd pull off the costume. If I had known about the project a couple of weeks ago, I could've gotten some cheap aviator gear (helmet and goggles) off of Amazon. SO, I knew we'd have to improvise and figure something out. The first big thing on the "to do" list was the tri-fold poster. I told Karson I thought it would be a cool idea to spray paint it gray and make it look like an airplane since the kids were also supposed to have props. I got a can from Dollar General along with some cheap pinwheels to use as propellers. Karson did some painting and I did some--spray paint triggers aren't the easiest to use. Karson's penmanship could use some help--finger spaces and letter height aren't high on her perfectionist list. BUT, this project was/is hers so she did all the writing (sometimes in pencil first). All the kids were asked to answer five questions about their character: (1) What made your character important to American history (2) When was your character born (3) Did anything special happen to your character that affected what they did in life (4) If you could talk to your character, what question would you have for them (5) What was the most interesting thing you learned about your character?

Viola, our finished poster board. We worked on it almost nightly. Last Friday night when the boys were itching to spend the night with Pap and Nana and go see the movie RIO, guess who didn't want to go and said she had homework to do. You guessed it, my Karson. She has loved every minute of this project (secretly, I have too). She and I are so similar, it's scary. I'm glad my daughter is organized, pays attention to detail, wants to stay on task and complete it, perfectly. I think those are wonderful traits to inherit--who cares if we're both a bit neurotic =). At least we can admit it! The costume did present some problems. I knew we didn't have the helmet, goggles, bomber jacket or white scarf which meant we had to figure SOMETHING out. We had brown boots and tight fitting pants (which I believe Amelia often sported). We improvised with the helmet and goggles. I got the hood off her brown Columbia jacket and covered some old goggles with brown foam & hot glue. We still needed a jacket and scarf which meant a trip to Goodwill with my fingers crossed. We scored big and found a green bomber jacket (Candies brand which I believe is nice) and a white scarf of all things. Actually there were a couple of white scarves which surprised me.

The finished Amelia in all her glory.

The wax museum was interesting. I met many different characters from history. Here are a couple of our closest pals (from other 2nd grade classes) with their projects:

Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton and Laura Ingalls Wilder (aka Kaylee, Emma and Elizabeth Ann).
And my sweet Amelia with her class--Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Helen Keller, Abraham Lincoln, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Albert Einstein and Pocahontas.

A Birthday to Remember

HAPPY 80th MAMAW POGUE

I'm sure I've mentioned before that my dad comes from a large family. He was the first of six kids. Growing up with 13 FIRST cousins, I thought my family was HUGE. And, I guess in a lot of ways it was, until I met Matt. His family is even HUGE-ER. His mom is the first of five and his dad is the third of six children. He has even more cousins than I do. Plus, he's one of five children in his own family. I can't wait for the day that the Deaton brothers (and wives) expand our family even more, and my children have loads of first cousins like I did. Funny side note, Matt's youngest FIRST cousin is Miles's age. His Mamaw has a great grandchild and grandchild the same age.

At any rate, large families are awesome, PERIOD. I love being with my extended family (and Matt's). Most of my family, however, lives in Louisville so I don't get to see them as often as I would like. And, we're not kids anymore. Most of them are married and many of them have children of their own. This makes our gatherings even more exciting. The picture above is all of us Pogue cousins (missing is my cousin Brittany who lives in Germany, my cousin Brad and my cousin, Michael, who passed a couple of years ago). The picture below is all of us with our spouses (some are missing there as well).

On Saturday, we went to Louisville to celebrate my Mamaw's 80th birthday which was a surprise party. My aunts organized a party extravaganza at the church they all attend, Okolona Church. Wanna know how they got Mamaw there? They told her that she and my uncle David were playing in a corn hole tournament. If there is ONE thing my family loves to do, it's COMPETE. You name it...skiing, fishing, cards (rook, hand & foot, shanghai rummy, etc.), washers, softball, and now CORN HOLE. Mamaw is a pro. at corn hole and could probably beat just about anyone. I have a cousin-in-law who actually competes in tournaments--didn't know such a thing even existed. She's was up for the challenge and didn't suspect a thing when she saw so many cars in the church parking lot. She was so CUTE walking into the party (unsuspectingly) with her corn hole bags. Everyone yelled "surprise" and started singing to her. She was completely caught off guard. EVERYONE was there including old friends and neighbors. It was such a wonderful party.

My aunt Sharon also organized a family photo scrapbook. I have never done a scrapbook page in my life but enjoyed putting my page together SO MUCH. I can see how people get addicted to scrapbooking. I must admit though that I'm a computer person and prefer to do all my designing on the ol' desktop. But, this book was A-mazing. I loved looking through it and know Mamaw will cherish it.

Mamaw and Papaw and all their stinkers =).

Me and Kenton. My nephew Evan took the first picture. I must admit, I like being cut off from the double chin on down. Kenton is the life of the party. I seriously doubt he's ever had a bad day in his life. I laugh and have the best time cutting up with him. Sure wish he would move back to BG (he lived here while he was at WKU).

Me and my beautiful cousin Kim. She also blogs (check out her link sometime).

Me and Memaw. Bless her heart, she was trying her best to learn who belonged with who and who's kids were who's and all that good stuff. Like I said, my extended family is large and expanding by the minute with marriages, babies, etc.

Mike, Miles and Matt or the three MMM's.

My Mamaw is one of the kindest people I know. I had the opportunity to live with her and Papaw one summer during my junior year at Western. I took an internship at the Courier Journal. My grandparents took such great care of me. We went to church together. She was always wanting to feed me. We'd go down and visit my uncle Mark (who was pretty ill with cancer at the time) together. We'd entertain the other cousins with movies (everyone lives really close). It was a special summer. Mamaw and I like to write each other too. I love getting letters from her and love sending them. I'm thankful that she raised such a wonderful son LINDLE who has been a great father to me. I can see her gentle spirit in him when he wants to help those in need and expects nothing back. He is not materialistic and would give anyone anything they needed. He's loud (all of us Pogue's are) and has the best sense of humor JUST like HER. I'm very lucky having all my grandparents and so very thankful for their influence in my life. I wrote this scripture on my scrapbook page "He had made everything beautiful in its time." Eccles. 3:11 My Mamaw is one beautiful person inside and out.