Preparing and Coping With Kindergarten

A blog update from Avery's first day of Kindergarten that I never posted.

I have to preface by saying that this post is really more about my day than Avery's, since for one of the first times in her life, she and I were in different places and had separate experiences. That is such a weird concept for me. I can't tell you how her day was, because I actually wasn't there. Now there will be this huge portion of her life each day that I can only hear about second hand. Also, I left her with a woman I'd only met once before! Excluding the Ikea playroom for two separate  thirty-minute intervals, I've only ever left Avery with people that I've know for months or years - people that I knew I could trust, and that I knew loved her for the special little girl that she is.

Don't get me wrong, this is a good thing. Avery is a very independent girl with her own style, her own way of doing things, and her own developing set of problem-solving skills. We will both grow enormously through this experience. Fostering independence is SO IMPORTANT. 

It's just hard.

She is my life. My whole world revolves around her. So this was really difficult for me.

We seriously debated homeschooling, but came to the conclusion that I am too much of a hermit to be able to give Avery the social interaction that she needs in her stage of development, (plus the whole fostering independence train of thought I typed out earlier). So we made the decision a while ago to send her to public school, researched, and moved into the best district we could find. We have been trying our hardest to prepare her and keep her excited about school, and I really think it has paid off so far. Here are some of the things we've done to help get her ready:

We've talked with her a lot about what to expect at school, prayed with her (and ceaselessly for her) about it, read through and discussed the school and district handbooks with her, made an appointment to visit with the principal during registration, made a big deal about shopping for school clothes and supplies, and went to orientation where we visited her classroom, met with her teacher, toured the school, played on the playground, had her use the school bathrooms, etc. Erik gave her a father's blessing before bed the night before (which also turned out to be a great comfort to me). We discussed with her how she could react in different situations, how she could be a friend and an example to the people she meets, and some of the different ways she could cope if she had a hard time. On the day of we sent her with some little things that meant something special to her - I packed her a lunch with one of her favorite treats, Erik crocheted a special blanket for her to snuggle during nap time, she wore her ctr ring, and right before we left the house I drew a heart on her palm, kissed it, and told her to look at it if she missed me, and she would know that I was thinking about her and that I love her.

I had a harder time than she did. I got (almost) all my crying out the night before (ended up losing it after packing her lunch), so I was able to stay strong when we dropped her off. It was so hard to leave the classroom though! I just kept turning back around once I got to the door and waving goodbye (again), giving her teacher last-minute instructions (Erik finally said (very sweetly), "Honey, I think she's done this before ..." to which I responded a little helplessly, "I know she has, but ... but I haven't!") And the house was so quiet!! Erik took me out to lunch (which was super sweet and helped pass the time), but I still spedwalked the 4 1/2 blocks to her school when it was time to pick her up. (Seriously, I made the 15 minute walk in 7 haha).

Avery's Birthday Donation Drive Results!

So, it all started when we were teaching Avery about service, and how she can serve others, even at her young age. We gave her a few suggestions, and one of them was the idea of using her birthday party as a way to help collect donations for people in need. She caught hold of the idea, and decided she wanted to help children. "I want to help children in Africa. Or maybe I want to help children in China!" We told her that it was her decision, but mentioned the fact that there were even children in our town that need help. She replied with, "Really?! Okay, I'm going to help them!"

We researched on the internet and found the Safe Homes of Augusta, Inc. I contacted them about the idea, received a donation needs list, and we got to work. The theme of the party was, "Give a Hoot!" and Avery and I sewed toy owls that the kids stuffed and finished at the party.

We sent out the donations needs list with the invitations to the party,

through Facebook, and through Erik's work. We set up a bin on post, and people have been dropping off donations all month. The party was cute and fun, and the response we received has been MUCH more than we expected.

We ended up collecting 712 items in new or gently used condition for donation!

We made this sign to give to the Safe Homes as well. We had everyone who donated sign it. :)

When we dropped off the donation, the ladies up front all took the time to talk to Avery about what a wonderful thing she did. Then they brought out their executive director, Amiee Hall, to thank Avery.

They also put Avery up on their Facebook page. All in all it was an AMAZING EXPERIENCE. Avery says, "Thank you for donating things. It made me feel happy to have a birthday party and to make other people happy and help them."

Donation Drive for the Safe Homes of Augusta Inc.!

To celebrate Avery’s 5th birthday this month, we are hosting a donation drive for the Safe Homes of Augusta Inc., an organization that helps women and children who are victims of domestic violence. The list of needs is attached here. If you or someone you know live in the area and have any of these items in new or gently used condition that you would like to donate, please send me a message! I will reply with my address in Grovetown where you can drop off your donations anytime from now through March 27th. If you don't live in the area but would still like to help, the link above also includes an option for monetary contributions through Paypal, where you can specify that you’re donating for “Avery’s Birthday Donation Drive” under the “Add special instructions to the seller” option. Every little bit helps! For more information on the Safe Homes of Augusta Inc. please visit their website. Thank you!

Visits with Family and Friends and a VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!

On Tuesday night we had dinner with Erik's brother David, his wife, Jami, and his daughter, Kelsey. Mmm, ranch burgers. We played board games and watched Tangled. Avery would run over to the table when it was her turn to roll the dice in Farkle. She had the cutest look of concentration on her face when she picked up all 6 dice and threw her arms out to drop them on the table. :) She was also super cute dancing along with the movie and running in circles around the coffee table and jumping over the computer cord. Yeah, I'm one of those moms who thinks everything her child does is cute. Don't judge me. :) Erik tried to brag with subtlety (and didn't pull it off) when he won Farkle, and David and Jami took turns kicking our butts in Scrabble Slam. Jami won The Logo Game, much to David's chagrin, and Erik made up for lost time by teasing Kelsey mercilessly. One of the funnest nights so far this year. :)

On Wednesday we drove down to the valley to visit some of our friends and family before heading to Georgia. The drive down was fun and mostly uneventful, except for the bit between Payson and Mesa where Avery said she was going to throw up and I cut off a white truck going 70+ MPH to get to the side of the road. Whoops. She was much better after a little fresh air and we were on our way again. We spent the afternoon at Arizona Mills, buying clothes at the outlets there. Avery was thrilled that she finally got a pair of pants with a BELT. She also chose sneakers in pink and brown over the ones in purple and silver. It may not be super interesting to anyone who reads this, but I love watching her develop her own sense of style. We spent the evening visiting our friends, Christian and Denise Olson and their kids. It was just like old times. Avery had a BALL running around screaming and playing with her Hawaii friends, and Erik and I had a delightful time catching up and joking around with Christian and Denise. I love traveling and living in new places, but I'm really starting to look forward to settling down in Arizona again so we can see all our loved ones more than just once or twice a year. We left Christian and Denise's well past their kids' bedtime (sorry guys!), and made our way over to Nick and Brittany's apartment (my older brother and his incredible wife, for those of you who don't know), where we stayed the night. Brittany made this super yummy lemon-lime chicken, and we stayed up talking into the not-so-wee hours of the morning. (I am just not as spry as I used to be. I'm still recuperating from only getting 5 hours of sleep. I'm such a lightweight.) It was worth it though. The next day we studied scriptures together, ate lunch at the Oriental Buffet (mmm), and spent a few fun-filled hours browsing Deseret Book, where Uncle Nick bought Avery her first CTR ring (it's pink). She was thrilled, and absolutely REFUSES to take it off. (Not that anyone is trying to make her.) It is going to be a keepsake forever.

Next we visited Erik's sister, Misty, her husband, Todd, and their two girls. We had such a good time catching up with them again and Avery just LOVES playing with her cousins. After that we dropped Nick off and headed over to my sister, Jami's house where we talked and had dinner with her, her husband, Adam, and their baby boy. Jami made these amazing (and apparently super easy) enchiladas that were to die for. I loved getting to see my sister and left her place with a determination to keep in better contact with her. She is such an awesome lady. We spent the night again with Nick and B, but only stayed up until 12:30 that night, since I kept nodding off while Nick showed us a fun computer game. (Like I said: lightweight.)

The next morning we received some VERY IMPORTANT AND EXCITING NEWS! Erik got promoted to E4! He is now a Senior Airman! He earned this thing called Below The Zone (BTZ), which is an accelerated promotion schedule that is awarded for Airman Excellence, based on Military Volunteer Work, Community Service, and Personal Improvement (like continuing education). Very few people qualify for it, but Erik did! I am so proud of my husband and I am so glad that his hard work is paying off! Congratulations, Baby!

After celebrating the good news we hung out with Nick, transferred a bunch of his music collection over for us (thanks again, Nick!), ate at Souper Salad, (OhmyGOODness it was good. It always goes back to food with me.) and were on our way back up the mountain. We drove on Bush Highway until it met up with the 87 and it was gorgeous! We took a little detour so Erik could show me Strawberry, which is a cute little town where Erik says he wants to settle down, since the mountains and valleys around there are so pretty. We got back to my parents' house and Joey was having a sleepover with a friend. They invited Avery to join in, and they all had a ball playing Toy Story Mania and sleeping on Nana and Papa's floor in their sleeping bags. (Well, Avery decided to come back into our room in the middle of the night, but that's okay.) :)

And now, today. Today is a day for packing and preparing to leave. We're going to the temple one more time tonight and going to church tomorrow with my parents before we're off on our journey across the country. I'm thinking my next update will be when I'm in our new house in Georgia, and then I can write about all of our shenanigans from the trip. :) Wish us luck!
Amy

Well ... It's been a while, to say the least. So much has happened since I last posted. It has been nearly two years and we have moved *counting...* three times since then. Crap. We move around a lot. We went from Hawaii to Monterey, California where we were reunited with Erik and I got a lot less depressing. :)We met some wonderful people (including one of Erik's old mission companions, his lovely wife, and their adorable sons.) Life got even better once the awesomest of my non-relatives on earth, Jenni Denney, got to Monterey too. We were there until September of 2011, then it was off to San Angelo, Texas for three months. The ward and all the people we got to know were amazing. We were sad to leave them so soon, but also excited to get Erik a well-deserved break! 22 months of training and he's finally operational in the US Air Force! Congratulations, Baby! We are also VERY excited to get to our first permanent duty station and put down some semi-permanent roots. We will be in Augusta, Georgia for 2-4 years, and are looking forward to some exciting new changes that are coming our way. I will try to keep you posted more often.

Avery's update: i am avery. i am 4 years old. i have lots of toys. i like the zoo.



She's growing up so fast!

Until next time!

Amy