Good-bye 2nd grade...Hello summer!!

I can't believe this school year is already over! I am very thankful that summer is here! I think I have two boys that are pretty excited about it too! Below is a picture of Mason and his second grade teacher. We love her to pieces!! She was so great to Mason all year! We will definitely miss her.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture Alex's last day of school. I was busy being a teacher instead of a parent on the last day. He was sad to leave Pre-K and St. Paul's. He said he wishes he could be in Pre-K at St. Paul's for another 20 years!! We will definitely miss St. Paul's. We have both grown so much from our experiences there. We love the school and the teachers & staff are amazing!! In a few years we will be enrolling our third child!! Crazy!
I am excited about having both boys on the same campus next year! The good thing for Alex is that he has spent the last two years of my volunteering and PTO learning his way around Krause. He definitely has the campus down. Now to find out who his teacher will be and which friends from St. Paul's will be in his class! We have time to worry about all of that in August though. For now, we are going to enjoy our summer!! It will be the last summer with two kids. I need to make this one special!

Prego update

I promised myself I would do better about documenting this pregnancy since it will FOR SURE be the LAST! I haven't been great about fulfilling that promise. So far this pregnancy has been easier then the last two. I haven't been as sick to my stomach. I am still in the tired stage but I only have a few weeks until I move to the second trimester. Hopefully I will gain my energy back then. I was really worried about my weight when I found out I was pregnant. I weighed 8 lbs more then I did when I found out I was pregnant with Alex. However, by my first appointment I had lost the 8 lbs. I didn't realize I was drinking that much wine!! :) So I started this pregnancy at the same weight as my last one. Now I just hope I only gain 26 lbs like I did with Alex! I am trying to watch what I eat but only certain things sound good. Those certain things usually aren't healthy. When I was pregnant with Mason I gave up meat completely. The thought of eating it repulsed me. With Alex I was able to eat more meat, but I couldn't stomach chicken. This pregnancy is starting to follow that same path. Exercise isn't even a part of my day. Hopefully that will change when school is out for Mason and we start swimming everyday...and I have more energy. We haven't really thought about names. We have tossed around a few names but we can't agree on one. I hope we aren't still trying to decide in the hospital! The boys are still convinced we are having a girl. Alex drew our family picture in church Sunday. He had 5 people with initials over each person's head. One person had the initials "LS". I asked what that stood for and he said, "little sister". Cutie! I go back to the doctor on June 7th. Since I am considered "an elderly mother" it's recommended I get additional screenings. At least with the additional screenings I get additional ultrasounds! Not much else to add to this update. Until next time....

Football

Mason signed up to play football this year! It's the first organized team sport he has agreed to play. I hope he likes it. And I hope he finishes the season without injury!

A donkey in the window

The other morning I opened the kitchen window to find a donkey in our yard. By the time I got my camera and tried to take a picture of it through the dirty window it was walking down the street. You never know what you mind find in your yard living in the "kuntry"!

A few days later we looked at the window and it was in our neighbors yard. (A side note: We have a neighbor that lives right outside of our neighborhood that has donkeys. I guess they have an opening in their fence!) Mason decided to get his cowboy hat and rope and try to rope to donkey! It was pretty funny! I sent Alex out to take pictures. He hasn't learned how to use the zoom yet!

Bummer! No such luck on roping the donkey! But it was fun trying!

A boy and his dog

Alex is a huge animal lover. He told Andy and me the other day that when he grows up he wants to be a vegetarian...you know, an animal doctor! We told him it's actually called a veterinarian. Oh yeah, that's what he wants to be! :)

Playground conversation

Here is a recap of a playground conversation I had with several 5 year old girls in my class.

girl 1: Mrs. Dallmeyer, will you lift me up on these bars? (chin up bars)
me: I can't lift you anymore, sorry.
girl 1: Why? You used to lift me all the time?
me: I can't lift anything over 25 lbs now.
girl 1: Why?
me: Because my doctor said so
girl 1: Why?
me: Because I have a baby in my tummy.
girl 1: WHAT?! (in a very loud voice) YOU HAVE A BABY IN YOUR TUMMY???!!! (runs and gets 2 other girls)
girl 2: Mrs. Dallmeyer, you have a baby in your tummy?
me: Yes
girl 2: How did it get there?
me: God put it there
girl 2: Is your husband going to help you get it out? (I think to myself, no, he is the one that put it there!)
girl 3: How many babies are in your tummy?
me: One
girl 2: I thought you had two babies. Doesn't one go to Krause?
me:  Yes, I have two kids
girl 3: You have TWO babies in your tummy? (in a very loud voice)
me: No, I just have one baby in my tummy
girl 2: So after you have this baby you will have three babies?
me: Yes
girl 1: You have THREE babies in your tummy?
me: No, just one
girl 4: Mrs. Dallmeyer, you have a baby in your tummy?!
me: GO PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our gift

If you know me pretty well, you know my standard answer to, "Are you going to have anymore kids?" is always, "My factory is closed!" Don't get me wrong, for a couple of years we tossed around the idea of having a 3rd. But we both agreed our two boys were plenty. We sold everything. We were done. I didn't even get baby fever when I held my friends babies. Fast forward to Easter week. That week, along with the many weeks before that, was a hard week. I have been in anguish missing my dad. I cried alot. I didn't want to be around people. All I wanted to do was sleep. The day before Easter, also Andy's birthday, marked the two month anniversary of my dad's passing. All of these things were weighing heavily on my mind. Also on my mind was the fact that I was late for a certain monthly occurrence. However, it didn't occur to me at all that I would be pregnant, I just thought I was depressed. It wasn't until I opened a bottle of wine, took a sip, and found that it tasted nasty that I started to wonder! :) When Andy got home that night I let him in on my symptoms and asked him to go get a pregnancy test. Four tests later we were pretty convinced we were having a third! It was very shocking to us at first. I cried many times over the thought of starting over, of how it would impact the boys, of how it would impact my school and work, of what it would do to my sanity! Then on Good Friday I took a long walk by myself and just prayed and thought. I realized that we have been blessed with a precious gift. We didn't "plan" on having a third, but God thought it was in the best interest of our family to have three children. What an amazing time to find out we were expecting, Easter week, when we focus on new life..new beginnings. I can't wait to meet this child that God is adding to our family!
We waited to tell the boys until I went to the doctor yesterday. I was able to see the little gummy bear on an ultrasound. I could see the heart beating. It was so neat. Even though I have done this twice already, it was still so amazing! We told the boys last night and they were beyond excited!! They both shouted they wanted a sister! We told them the baby would be due on December 16th (after Alex's birthday). Alex said this year  his birthday wish is going to be to have a sister! The boys have asked lots of questions like, "how did the baby get in there?" Ummm, God put him there! Today they have asked me over and over when the baby will get here. Mason is already talking to my stomach and rubbing it. They are already figuring out what will need to change in our house, which toys they should keep for the baby, what it's name should be, etc. I love seeing their excitement! They are going to be the greatest big brothers!
So that's our news....our blessing...our life changing event! I plan on being a better blogger now because I really want to document this pregnancy and our events to come.

Picnic

Friday night Andy's company hosted it's annual picnic. It was at a ranch in Millican. His company always spoils the kids with individual gifts, lots of games, desserts, party favors, jumping things, candy, etc! This picture is terrible quality but you get the idea that they had a blast!

Butterfly

Alex's teacher gave each student a caterpillar for Easter. The caterpillar came with instructions on how to take care of it until it turns into a painted lady butterfly. We followed the directions and last week our caterpillar turned into a beautiful butterfly. We let it out after only hours of coming out of it's chrysalis. It wasn't sure what to do at first. Shelby tried to jump on it and have it for an afternoon snack. It finally figured out how to fly and flew away. It was a neat reminder of Easter and new life!

Maifest

Last Friday we went to watch the Junior Maifest parade. The boys weren't in it this year. It was just bad timing. But many of their friends were in it, so the boys had fun waving at them from the sidelines. We caught the back of most of their friends. Apparently we were on the wrong side of the street...or their friends were on the wrong side of the float! I picked our spot based on shade vs sun! We were able to get a picture of Kayci though because she was sitting on the front of her float. She was so embarrassed when we yelled her name and waved frantically at her! Noble was so sweet sitting with the boys and waiting patiently for people to throw candy!

May Day!

This morning I walked outside to put something in the recyling and I saw this!! Beautiful flowers hanging on the door knob! The giver didn't leave a note! I tracked her down though! Thank you so much Kristi! I love them! What a way to brighten my day/week! I put them in a vase in my kitchen! Kristi said they were for May Day! I can't believe it's already May! Come on summer!

Golf & Jungle Gyms

Andy played in a golf tournament yesterday benefiting "Here I Am Orphan Ministries". My good friend Missy is a Director on their board. This ministry is very near and dear to her heart because of her adopted cutie boy, Owen! We were glad to be able to be a part of it. Andy and the guys had fun playing golf. The moms and kids had fun visiting and playing.

Skating

Mason had a field trip on Friday that he had been looking forward to for weeks! Why? Because it involved SKATING! He is still really into skating. Andy was able to attend the skating portion of the field trip which was a huge treat for Mason. Most of the pictures didn't turn out, but here are a few that did. Oh yeah, and I win the Mother of the Year award again for forgetting to put him in his field trip shirt! Oops! It didn't bother Mason though!

Kayci going to request a song. Don't you love your her new glasses?!

That is alot of second graders on skates! I'm glad Andy attended this one! He said everyone had a great time! Can you believe school is almost out? Three more weeks for Alex and me. Four more weeks for Mason. I can't wait!

Easter

We celebrated Easter at our house again this year. My mom, Andy's parents & sister, and my Aunt Nancy & Uncle Buckie celebrated with us. My mom gave the boys some model cars that my dad had ordered. She found a whole box of them in his office. He had given the boys some of the cars over the years. So it was a neat gift to give them this year for Easter.

 

Andy's parents & Amy bought confetti eggs this year. Amy and I hid them along with the candy filled eggs. The boys weren't sure what they were when they first found them. We had to show them how they worked by breaking it on someone's head! Once they saw that it was fun and games! Alex is trying his out on Andy's head!

Mason is checking out the confetti sticking to his hands!

And the hunt is on!! (Sorry, my pictures are a little out of order!)

Before the hunt...Mason has a whistle in his mouth ready to start the race!

It was hard not having my dad there this year. Last year he helped us hide eggs. He was so funny because he wanted to challenge the boys. So he buried eggs, hid eggs way up in trees, inside flower beds, etc. We found eggs all throughout the year! He loved to have fun!

Andy's Birthday

Andy turned the big 3-5 this year. He is finally as old as me (for a couple of months, anyway). Poor guy has had his 3rd year in a row of a mediocre birthday. Three years ago we spent his birthday moving from our house to an apartment. Last year we spent it driving to Del Rio (listening to be whine and complain the whole way, probably). This year we spent it shopping for shoes the boys could wear to church the following day. I felt so bad for him. Maybe we need to have a half birthday celebration for him this year! At least he had his favorite desserts, dewberry cobbler and white cake w/cream cheese icing. Yum! Happy Birthday, honey! We love you!

Ali-boy

Uncle Casey came to visit a few weeks ago, so Alex insisted Casey read him books before bed. Casey isn't a huge fan of reading outloud but he did it with a smile. Alex has been reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series since that is what brother is reading. He is growing up way to fast!

I'm not sure if we should start getting concerned, but Alex has a huge addiction to tattoos lately! The day after I took this picture he added a skull and crossbones tattoo above the butterfly one on his chest. We actually had to get our photographer to reorder pictures for us because a tattoo on Alex's arm was showing in several of the pictures! He puts the tattoos on himself. He says he is "the best tattoo putter oner in the family"! I would say he is right!

Early Mother's Day Present

Alex loves giving gifts. His are always homeade and from the heart. When he found out Mother's Day was coming up he couldn't wait to give me a present. He wanted me to open this one right away. He has another one that is already wrapped, but I have to wait until the big day to open it.

He wrote Mama on the outside of a box.

Inside was a "special rock" that he found and a flower he picked. So sweet!

Mason and Me

It's rare to find a picture of just Mason and me. It's usually Andy and Mason and Alex and me. When I was asked to submit a picture of Mason and myself for the Krause yearbook (they wanted a picture of the PTO board members with their kids) we had to take one outside on the porch real quick. So before school one morning Andy snapped this picture and I emailed it to the rep. I need to do a better job of getting more pictures of my oldest and me! I love him to pieces!!

To be a kid

Some days when I am having a rough day, or feeling sad. I look at these kids. They can invent happiness and fun in a matter of minutes. And they make me smile in return!