Bye Bye Henderson

This morning we took the boys down to the river to throw rocks. As we stood there a barge passed and a train went over head, it was really a fabulous last moment in Henderson. Luke sat down on the river's edge with the water lapping over his legs, and I wish I could say I just took it in with a smile, but instead I was worried about his diaper puffing out, having to do extra laundry, and his shoes getting muddy, so of course I picked him up and moved him, causing the once peaceful and happy boy to scream and cry. I believe I redeemed myself when later he decided to walk through a mud pit so large he became stuck and couldn't get out. Instead of helping him, I just watched as he lost a shoe and fell on his stomach. Pete pulled him to safety then put him in the river to wash off the mud.

Earlier in the week we met a friend of mine and her daughter for a play date. Before we arrived Jack informed me that he would not play with her at all because she was a girl. (oh Jack). For the first half of the morning he stayed true to his word. His morning consisted of one-upping everyone. If the younger kids were going down the 'baby' slides and we heaped praise on them Jack informed us that he could go down them faster and better. If one kid climbed a ladder, ran, or looked into the river then Jack could climb it higher, run faster, and look the  furthest. There was a rock hill Jack wanted to climb. I let him climb about 3/4 of the way before I told him to stop since I couldn't see what was at the top, and I wasn't going to climb up to the top to find out. If Pete had been there it would have become a new adventure where roads at the tops of hills are not dangerous but totally awesome. Sadly, I am not Pete and instead of fun times Jack informed me that he hated me, I was no fun, and was ruining his life( I wanted to have only boys because I didn't want drama ). After his breakdown he and Luci played and played then he asked if we could play with her again. As we are leaving the country soon this is not feasible but then it was decided we could Skype with her and he was so excited. We walked them to their car and he kissed her(on the cheek) goodbye.

We have enjoyed our time in Henderson. Here are some pictures.

Our last week in Indiana

It is our last week in Indiana. We leave in a few days(for forever-?) and head to Kentucky to say goodbye to family. I am not a big goodbye person. I am sure there are some deep rooted psychological issues involved, but as I would rather not delve deep into my inner mind we will just leave it at that. I had wanted to slip out of town without saying goodbye, but I realized that over the last 5 years this has become home. Don't get me wrong I still call Kentucky home-I am a Kentucky girl and proud!!! Pete doesn't understand my love for Kentucky- a state with high poverty, obesity, rednecks, and schools that aren't great--but I just remind him to look out the window while we drive across the state. It is beautiful. However, Indiana has become home too. I had two babies here, Jack started school here, we made good friends, developed a support network, and started becoming a family here. We have found the beauty in Indiana.

 Here are some things we will miss: friends, aerobics(ok that is mine), Montessori, the Feast of the Hunter's Moon, Spring Fest, riding the Purdue Train, the fountains, walking around campus, going to Millennium Farms in the fall, walking at the botanical gardens, Ross Hills Park, the libraries with great kid activities, going to Indy whenever we want without having to live in a big ol' city :), walking across the pedestrian bridge, playing at all the parks in town, the Farmer's Market, watching the tractors plant and harvest corn/soy behind our house, always being amused when I see the college kids dressed up and drunk for Breakfast Club, always forgetting that Race Day in May refers to the Indy 500 and not Derby, going to Qdoba and having the manager really know us and stop by our table to chat with us for 10 minutes( the kids went to say bye to her), going to the store and knowing the cashiers(even though they do get a little too friendly when I am pregnant),visiting our fake little zoo, and hanging out at the pool in summer and going to swim lessons with friends. Yes, I know there is probably more but these were the first things that came to mind.

 I have pictures of my kids around the house, not of places of West Lafayette because we want to remember that we are the main reasons why a place becomes home. If we have each other and a sense of adventure anyplace can become home.

 

 

 

to end with a picture of our family( plus Jack's friend ,Maddix,  he said Maddix had to be in it)

Jack turned 5

Jack's birthday was this week and he turned 5! A whole hand! The whole hand is a big deal to kids. He has told many people he is 5. We went to a sit down lunch at McDonalds, this is compared to our eat it in the car lunches at McDonalds, and an older gentleman approached us to comment on the boys when Jack loudly proclaimed, "I am 5 today," and held out his whole hand to show him.

 He was able to celebrate his birthday at school today. We made a poster with pictures representing all the years of his life. In the picture where he is holding Luke we put age 3 because in just a few days he was going to be 3, but when he got in front of the class he said, "I am not 3 in this picture, I am 2. I don't know why they put 3- that is wrong." Later Ms. Heather asked him what he wanted to do the most this year and it could be anything at all. He responded quite quickly that he wanted to learn to read. He is starting to learn now, but it is the very early stages. We were reading the other night when he looked at the book and said, "Why does this page have the word NO on it?" So that was fun. He also told me the water heater said Burn Hot Water. I went to look and it did say Burn and Hot but not Water- there was just a picture of water- but he correctly pointed to the words Burn and Hot when I asked him to show me which one was which.

 He is really into Mario Brothers right now. So he got a Mario figurine pack for his birthday. We really wanted to get him a Mario DQ cake but after I kept trying to think of ways to do it the lady had to explain to me there were copyright issues involved. We settled for Dinosaurs and ended up having lots of fun with them because we realized after eating the cake and still having some left, that Dinosaurs get hungry too, and they ate a ton of cake!!

 Then today Jack's uncle/godfather drove into town to go to Chuck E Cheese with us. Jack and Pete came up with some story about how once the bell rang Danny pulled his motorcycle out from under his desk and drove like a crazy mad man out of his classroom through campus and on the street trying to get away from the police who ended up chasing him because he was so insane.

 Jack is a fantastic older brother and a huge help to me and Pete. He loves to cook, make up stories, be read to, cut paper, practice writing his letters, play Trouble, get into trouble, ride bikes, play hide-and-seek, play computer games with Pete, play cars, and just hang out with his family. He is an awesome kid.

Poster we made for Jack's class party

Dino Cake- we wanted Mario but there were copyright issues, according to DQ

Still Jack is super pumped

Dinos get hungry too

Showing you he is 5 in many different poses