This birthday has been unreal for the kids, in my opinion. They had an awesome time at Chuck E. Cheese and then got some really great gifts on their actual birthday ( plus bought exactly what they wanted with "credit card money" from my mom), and for the last two nights have slept in their new bunk beds! I will have to take a picture of just how happy they are in "the most awesome beds ever" according to Tyler. I put a lot of it together by myself yesterday afternoon and last night with "help" from the kiddos before Lance got home, because the kids were so anxious to try them out, but Lance was a lifesaver helping me at the end to get them built just a little past their bedtime. They were way too excited to go to sleep, so Katie was quite grumpy today but they settled down a bit quicker this evening - maybe because they were obsessed with them when they got home and wanted to show the sitter every nook and cranny so it wasn't so intriguing. Tyler looks absolutely tiny in his full size bed (that the whole family really could lay on if the weight requirement didn't restrict), and Katie has claimed the top bunk (which is a good thing since she doesn't require middle of the night bathroom trips as often as Tyler and may be able to navigate the ladder a bit better - fingers crossed ). It is a really cheap unit and mattresses, but it serves the purpose and the kids are loving it. I picked up some sheets for them today and I just have to live with nothing coordinating in the room right now :)! Plus, their toddler beds are still in the room because they have to be dismantled before we can get them out and after putting the bed together yesterday and tennis tonight I am way too sore to tackle that immediately!
The kids also got another great gift from my dad that Lance is not nearly as excited about. The same day that the beds arrived, a swing set did too! I really think the kids will love having a swing set in the backyard and it will be a great fall and after school activity that doesn't require going anywhere. I am really excited, but Lance isn't since it requires assembly, taking up space in our already small yard, necessitates mowing around it, and safety concerns if we try to do it ourselves! Admittedly, I have no clue how we are going to get it together or make it level in our yard - but I want to try to work it out because some really great weather is around the corner and I can envision sitting out there with them as they play and I read and it finally being the way I imagined going to the park with kids would be until I actually had children. Katie is close to learning to swing on her own and I don't know that we will be able to get her off when that happens if there is one right in the backyard! I really wish I could put it together myself so I could just "surprise" Lance with it being up and not have to endure the misery that is us trying to assemble anything together (i.e. - tents, Christmas trees, or gifts for the kids with thousands of pieces, which are all almost a guaranteed "disagreement") - but I have read reviews and I just don't think I have the skills to do it on my own! This is coming from someone who had to re-do multiple steps trying to put together bunk beds that most reviewers said were "easy to assemble," compared to the swing set reviews that say up to 5 hours and 2 people trying to figure it out :)!
This weekend is a Vandy game tomorrow afternoon and evening, and trying to get the house back in order with the additional toys, beds and whatnot! I am so proud of the kiddos - Katie had her first "test" today and mastered her sight word list! She knew the only one that she missed, but said she "wasn't paying attention." Tyler was able to name all of the lowercase letters with the exception of mixing up p and b and is doing good with his numbers, but has a little trouble with the teens. They are working on 1-5 right now, though, so all is good. Katie is unbelievably proud of her sight word knowledge and writes the words on her new chalkboard (along with mom, dad, Ray-Ray and So-So and any other word that she can remember how to spell). It is pretty funny to watch her "play school" just like I did when I was little and it is great that she is getting some confidence back about how she can do in school. I do think it helps that they are in separate classes. Tyler, on the other-hand, seems to be underachieving now that he doesn't have Katie in class to try to show up. He halfheartedly does his homework, and answers the teacher incorrectly when I know that he knows everything she asks and has for a while, and says he "doesn't remember" anything. I am trying to help him learn that you give your best effort anytime you do something - and I think he will continue to settle in to the classroom and start learning again rather than concentrating so much on trying to figure out what this school thing is all about!
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