A Very Sad Day Indeed

If you know my girls at all, you know that they are EXTREMELY attached to their "bedtime friends". Many people call these sweet items, "Lovies". When Karson was learning to talk, all of her "l"s sounded like "y"s and her "v"s sounded like "b"s, so her "lovies" were "yubbies". Oh my goodness, Yubby is VERY special. She was given "White Yubby" when she was just 3 weeks old. It looked like a small white kitty cat face attached to a tiny floral blanket (about 1 square foot). We quickly realized how attached she had become and began to worry about losing "White Yubby". We set out in search of another yubby, and found one that was the same brand. It was a brown teddy bear head attached to a small blanket. Creative as we are, it became known as, "Brown Yubby".

Now, Brown Yubby was acceptable for taking to preschool and in the car, but it was definitely a second class citizen to the original, White Yubby. As time progressed and Karson was no longer taking naps at preschool or needing to take a yubby with her in the car, Brown Yubby found itself in the drawer and was no longer used at all. White Yubby was a prized possession and came out each night to help Kars go to sleep. She would take one of the ears between her first 2 fingers and rub it gently until she drifted off. It was truly precious to catch her in the act! By now, White Yubby has several holes and is extremely faded due to being washed so many times. We say it looks "well loved".

Before Campbell was born, we set out on a search for a Yubby. Nana found her a precious giraffe that we knew would be perfect. She was also given a super cute princess by my friend Lauren. Both of these yubbies were the same brand as Karson's and were attached to small silky blankets. Campbell attached herself instantly! We made sure to change them out frequently so that she wouldn't prefer one over the other (we had learned our lesson with Kars). It was so sweet to see Campbell with her yubbies! We even overheard Karson trying to teach her how to rub the ears properly! :)

Needless to say, yubbies are VERY special at our house.

For the past month, my parents have been adding on at their house. The latest in the project was that the floors were being sanded and stained, and so they had to spend several nights at a hotel. This past Friday night, I took the girls to stay with them at the hotel and go swimming (yes, we are "those people" - don't judge). Later in the evening, as we were winding down, I got out the girl's yubbies and handed them to them. They both drifted off to sleep and all was well. Around 1 AM, Rus arrived at the hotel (he had been in Stillwater for the Union game) to take the girls home. I was staying the night because I had to get up early and drive to Arkansas. forshadowing...

Saturday morning I called to check in on them, and Rus informed me that Karson had left White Yubby at the hotel. I quickly called Mom and Dad to let them know. I wanted to make sure they grabbed it before the cleaning ladies came in. I had a fear that it would get tangled up in the sheets/towels and taken to the laundry. more forshadowing...

On my way home from Arkansas, I called Mom and found out that Yubby was no where to be found. They had searched all over the room and all over the hotel. They had the entire hotel staff looking for it, and no one had seen it. Apparently during the transfer from the room to the car, Yubby was dropped and LOST. shudder. I quickly called Rus to see how Kars was taking the news. He said she wasn't handling it too well, and that quite a few tears had been shed.

After I arrived home, we talked about what had happened, and got Brown Yubby out of the drawer. Mr "Second Class Citizen" has now become her new best friend and is filling a much needed void. She still says his ears aren't good for rubbing, but that it's okay. We haven't had any tears at bedtime, so I guess that's a good sign.

I think my heart may be as broken as Karson's. This was a special item that symbolized her childhood. It was one of those that I hoped to keep forever and be able to give to her when she had a baby of her own. Ugh. It's been a sad few days here at the Zumwalt house, but I guess life goes on. It's all about perspective!

Here are a few pics of Yubby...

I took this picture last summer. I was going to write a post about Yubby (ironic, isn't it). That's White Yubby all tucked in by her chin. I laid Brown Yubby out beside her.

This picture of Campbell makes me laugh! I wonder what she was dreaming about? These are her 2 yubbies! Pink Yubby goes to school and church with her, while her White Yubby stays at home in her bed.

Thoughts from the Sick Bed

Karson has been sick for the past couple of days. She's finally fever free today, but I took her to the doctor just to make sure we were in the clear. There has been some nasty stuff circulating around Owasso. They did a flu test and a strep test. Thankfully both came back negative. If all goes well tonight, she should be able to go back to school tomorrow.

After we got home from the doctor's office, this is what she told me...

"Mama (in a very pitiful voice), can we go to a yummy roll place for dinner? That would make my cough feel lots better."

I told her that I would call Daddy and check, to which she replied...

"I love yummy rolls. Bread is my favorite thing to eat. Besides noodles. Oh, and butter. I love butter. And eggs. Bread, noodles, butter, and eggs. Yeah, those are my favorites."

As you can see, we're all about the food pyramid over here at the Zumwalt house. The perfect picture of healthy eating.

First Day of School...Round 2

Today was the first day of school for King's Kids, so Campbell and I were "back in action"! Did I take a single picture? NO! I'm the worst mother ever, and my poor second child is completely neglected...judge me.

The day went fairly well overall. We had a "few" criers, and I had to call 2 mommies to come pick up kiddos that just couldn't get themselves together, but for the most part it went as smoothly as first days can go. It always takes a few days to get back in the swing of things and for the kids to adjust to the routine. Hopefully in a few weeks everyone will be in the groove.

Campbell did GREAT! She didn't cry when I dropped her off, she played on the playground, ate her lunch, and TOOK HER NAP!!!! I was so proud of her. She has the same teachers that she had last year, and she was delighted to see them this morning. She adores them, and they are so sweet to her! It made the transition very easy.

I think we're all glad to be back in a routine. The past week and a half has been really strange with Karson going to school and Campbell and I staying at home. She has been a little confused about "where Sissy is", and she's been searching for her all over the house...

Is she under here???????

Nope. I don't know where she is...

When I'm feeling low from missing Sissy, Mom fixes spaghetti and everything is a-okay!

We found her! She was at Steven's wedding...performing her flower girl duties!!! (Like how I fit that in? But doesn't she look beautiful?! )

So there you have it...ALL of the Zumwalts have officially begun school year 2009-2010. Our prayer is that we follow wherever God leads! It's gonna be great!

The First Day of Kindergarten!!!

This morning was a little different. Karson ate breakfast a little earlier than usual.

Then she put on her new outfit, put her new clip in her hair, and grabbed her new backpack.

She hugged Campbell and posed for a few pictures.
We got in the car and drove to her new school. She held my hand as we made our way to the front door.
We found her class, and she showed Daddy where her locker was.

Then she walked right in, got her name tag on, and began her year as a KINDERGARTENER!!!!

There were no tears or looks of desperation. Just a thumbs up and a smile!

My house seems VERY quiet (especially while Campbell is napping). 3:10 seems like forever away. I miss her. I can't wait to see how her first day of school was.

Preparing

I feel as if I have spent much of the summer preparing for the fact that my child will be starting kindergarten. I started the summer worrying about the school where she will be going. Is it the right school? Will she have any friends? What will her teacher be like? I applied for an intra-district transfer to another elementary that would be closer to the church. I thought that would make it better on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday while I'm working and she would be so much closer to me. My transfer was denied. I called her school to request a certain teacher. I was told they don't take requests.

I was trying to do everything I could to make things the way I thought would be best. God had other plans.

I've spent much of the last few weeks praying for Karson's new teacher. Praying that I would let Him be in control. Praying for peace about the whole situation. I don't know why I was surprised when I began to feel better. I don't know why I was surprised that His way was better than what I was trying to work out. I don't know why I'm ever surprised that He always has a plan, and that "plan is good" (Jer. 29:11).

This past week we continued our preparation.

We bought new tennis shoes for school. When I asked Kars if they made her run fast, she informed me that it is the person wearing the shoes that makes you fast or not, not the shoes themselves. Wow. She did, however, pose to show me how fast she was going to be! :)

We also purchased a new flower clip to go with our first day of school outfit.

We then headed to Wal-Mart to purchase our school supplies. Oh my goodness, I think everyone else was there buying school supplies at the same time.

After all of our shopping, we headed to the nail salon to have our very first Mother/Daughter pedicure. Oh my goodness...this was fun! Kars loved it! She picked hot pink polish and had them add white polka dots to it. Too cute!

One of our final preparations was tonight. We got to go to the school for "Meet the Teacher". It was very crowded in the hallways, and we had to wander around to find the kindergarten rooms. We finally found them and entered Mrs. Plum's room. On our way to the school, Karson and I had discussed what we thought Mrs. Plum would look like. Karson was delighted to see that she had pictured her perfectly except for her hair color! We dropped off her school supplies and looked around the room a bit. We then made our way back through the crowded halls. We walked back to the front door and then retraced our steps back to the room so that Karson would feel comfortable finding it.

As we were walking to the car, I could tell Kars was getting quieter by the second and I asked her what was wrong. She took my hand and looked up at me with a trembling lip and tears in her eyes. She said, "How am I going to be able to find that room all by myself?"

With these words, my heart broke into a million pieces.

I guess with all of the preparation I was doing as far as worrying about the right school, the right teacher, the right outfit...I totally forgot to prepare myself for the fact that my baby girl is going to have to walk into that big school and find her room "all by herself". Ouch. That hurts my heart.

I assured her that I would be able to walk her in the first day or so and that there would be plenty of people there to help her, but it's the symbolism of it all. It's the letting go. It's the "all by herself".

God has it under control. I know that in my head. My heart is trying to catch up.

Wednesday is the first day of school. I'm planning to have precious pictures to post and a happy story to tell. It's all going to work out. His plans are good...the Bible tells me so.

Bathtub Talk

I'm not even going to comment on the fact that it's been over a month since I've blogged or that I still haven't blogged about our trip to the beach.

I guess by saying that, I did in fact comment on it. Ahem.

Karson has been running fever for the past 2 days, so it's been pretty low key around here. Today was a pajama day, which hasn't happened in way too long. I don't think she moved from the couch for more than a few minutes. Sweet Campbell was busy trying to make her feel better by giving her lots of pats and bringing her toys. Oh my goodness, the love between those two just makes me want to smother them with kisses...but I know that would not end on a positive note, so I try to restrain myself.

Last weekend, 6 of my preschool teachers and I went to OKC to the Church Weekday Education conference. We had a really good time and learned some great stuff. I'm now excited to begin the year and put some of our learning into practice! One of the break-out sessions was called "Sex Education Begins in the Bathtub". I did not attend this session but two of our teachers did. After the session was over both of them came out with eyes as wide as saucers. They were informed that "if you haven't talked to your child about sex before they enter kindergarten, then it's too late. They're going to hear it from someone else". ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? Sorry, but I'm not talking to my FIVE year old daughter about this yet. Especially when she hasn't even begun to ask me questions about it. There was one thing they came away with that I did feel like I needed to take care of: calling all body parts by their anatomically correct names...so, I forged ahead and tried to take care of that tonight in, you guessed it, the bathtub. WARNING!!!! If this kind of thing makes you uncomfortable, stop reading now. I'm simply recording this, because this was a biggie for me, and I want to have it written down!

Mommy - Hey Kars, did you know that boys and girls are different?

Karson - (implied, duh) Yes.

Mommy - Well, you know we have different parts on our bottoms (internal cringing in agony). We all have a bottom, but the front parts are different. Do you know what they're called?

Karson - No, what?

Mommy - Well a girl has a ________. Have you ever heard that word?

Karson - No, it's kind of a funny word. I know what a boy has, but I'm not saying it. (She has lots of boy cousins, and has heard what my sister's children call theirs).

Mommy - Yes, sometimes boys call it that, but the real name is a ________.

Karson - A ________! (giggle, giggle)

Mommy - Mommy just wants you to know these words in case you ever hear someone say them. That way you'll know what that is. Okay? Now, can you tell me what we call a girl's?

Karson - A venus?

Maybe that's why they said I should talk to her about this before kindergarten.

The quickest way to do this is with a list...

We leave for the beach in less than 48 hours, and I can hardly stand it. I am so excited!!!! We've been planning this trip for over a year, Karson has been counting down the days FOREVER, and it's finally here! I will be sure to take tons of pictures and post them when I get back.

In the meantime...here's what's been going on since May...

1. We said good-bye to some precious friends. The Ingrams moved to Virginia and we were so sad to see them go. They will be missed TREMENDOUSLY! We had a fun filled night with just grown-ups to say good-bye.

L-R: Dave, Kelli, Kendra, Mitch, Melissa, Pat, Rus, Jennifer - these are some of the most precious people on Earth! Thank you, God for friends!!!

2. Karson had her last day of Pre-K. How did she already finish 1 year of school? Oh my goodness, it's like I can physically see her growing right before my eyes. She had an AWESOME year. Her teachers were amazing and she grew so much socially and academically. We couldn't be more proud of her. God truly took control and put her exactly where she needed to be for her Pre-K year. Praise Him! Her last week was full of lots of fun activities including a birthday party for everyone! We took donuts that were super cute!

So yummy!!!

Karson's last day of school. That's Mrs. Pearson on the left and Mrs. Kendall on the right.

3. Karson and Rus took their first fishing trip of the summer. They came home tired and happy. Karson informed us that it's only fun to fish when you catch something. I couldn't agree more!

A self-portrait!

4. I went to Dallas (Rockwall) to teach officer camp. So great to see old friends and work with such fun people. We got to stay at a gorgeous Hilton on the lake. It was an exhausting 3 days, but such fun. I'm so thankful I am able to do this! The girls got to enjoy spending time with Nana and Ma, who were so precious to keep them while Rus was working! We couldn't make it without the best grandmothers EVER!

5. Karson had her 1st official dance recital. (This really should have it's own post, but if I don't do it here, I'm afraid I won't do it at all) Oh my goodness! As we walked into the PAC that Saturday morning for her rehearsal, I had one of my most special mommy moments. I was getting to help my little girl get ready for her dance recital. It is something I have pictured doing forever, and I finally got to do it!!!! I was speechless and on the edge of my seat the whole time she performed. I couldn't have been more proud - nor could the 11 other guests that came to watch her! Is this girl loved or what?! It was so worth getting in an argument with a very rude lady who wanted to take some of the seats I was saving before the show...GRRRRRR!!!

Rehearsal - look at that concentration!

Here's the star!

Two peas in a pod! Addi and Karson - are they not the cutest?

I could not have been more proud!

This was after the show...what a blessed little girl to have all 4 granparents there to see her!

6. This week has been the week for VBS at the church. I have been in Campbell's class, and Kars has been with all of her pals (this is her last year on the preschool side). It's been a great, but very tiring week. I've been amazed at how much Karson has been learning during her Bible story time. She has been able to tell me so much about the life of Peter and how Jesus changed him - amazing! Campbell has been a bit possessive of her mama. She's not so crazy about me picking up the other babies in her class, but it hasn't been too bad. Today, we were taking the babies on a wagon ride around the church. They LOVE to do this! As we were passing the 1st and 2nd grade rooms, we came upon a little boy on his knees praying with one of his teachers. I had to choke back tears as I realized that we were watching someone's life being changed forever. At that moment, as we were wheeling a wagon full of 7 babies down that hallway, angels were rejoicing in Heaven because of a new little brother in Christ! Praise GOD - this is what it's all about!!! It truly made my day. My week. My year!


Okay, that about wraps it up. It doesn't seem like much, but I feel like we've been going warp speed lately. Beach, here we come!