Finishing 2017 and the start of 2nd grade

Summer of 2017 was the best summer, ever!! I made a book for Carson of all of our summer memories.  We had tons of boat days, we went to St. Augustine, Palm Coast, Kennedy Space Center, Camp at Nova.  Then we went on a cruise to the Bahamas.  Came home and went to Ft Myers to see our family, more boat days and then the start of 2^nd grade.  It was so much fun and we focused on a memory making summer.

Carson is now 8 years old.  8. Carson celebrated his 8^th birthday at Off the Wall Gaming Center with 10 of his friends.  It was a DodgeBall Birthday party and he had a blast. 

Carson has lost quite a few teeth and still a great checkup at the Dentist, no cavities.

September 9, 10 and 11 provided for Carson’s first hurricane to hit South Florida.  Hurricane Irma.  What a mess, a disaster in some parts.  The kids were out of school for a week. We had trees to pick up, our fencing came down.  So many tornado alerts. We lost power, briefly.  At night, we slept on the floor in Sydney’s room because I felt that was the safest room.  Carson made a nook in Sydney’s closet with her crib mattress and that was our safe room for the tornado warnings.  After the hurricane, Carson was a huge help.  He helped to walk the dogs since we didn’t have the fence, he helped picking up the yard.  If we don’t have another hurricane for another 10 years, I will be thanking my lucky stars.

A few weeks later, we met Carson’s best buddy, Will Paskievich in Orlando and we spent a few days with them at our hotel and spent a lot of time at the pool.  We went to Disney’s Not so Spooky Halloween with them and had a great time.  Weather was perfect and the company was even better.  Will is Carson’s best bud from preschool and we love his parents.

Christmas was fun for Carson this year and he got a new bike from Santa.

During the winter, Carson played Soccer for Town of Davie with a bunch of friends.  It was so fun to watch him play and he said he had a great time. 

2^nd Grade has been going great for Carson with Mrs. Kabana.  We just recently had his conference and she said he is doing excellent and is well on his way for 3^rd grade, testing above average in reading! Way to go, my boy! He loves to read and has been reading the Magic Tree House series. 

Carson has proved to be a little difficult when it comes to attention with Sydney.  They are both demanding of our attention and we have had some trying times.  I find myself saying all the time, Carson you’re 8, she is 2. But it doesn’t make a difference.  We’ve given Carson some more leeway this year and he rides his bike to the neighborhood park to play wiffle ball with his friends.  This is the boy who doesn’t like to go in his dark room. Ha!

Baseball has been so much fun this year.  Carson is killing it on the field and it has been such a pleasure watching him.  Our season ends in May/June. 

I’ll catch back up in a few months and fill in any spots I have missed. But man oh man, Carson. You are my angel, I love you dearly.  My favorite boy.

Done with 1st Grade, just like that

1^st Grade was wonderful this year.  Mrs. Almonte was great, just like Mrs. Rego said she would be. Carson literally glided through 1^st grade.

Carson’s anxiety in my opinion and how he handled himself this year went from a 10 to a 3.  Huge improvement and I think a lot of that had to do with maturity and comfort in his surroundings. 

Carson made a lot of fun friends this year and was in the top reading group of his class throughout the year.

This was his first Student of the Month which he earned for Respect.  He was presented with the Student of the Month award in front of the lower classes and we all got to go watch.  We were so proud of him and he was so excited. 

Carson also received the Silver Award for Reading Across Broward and read 25 chapter books this school year. 

During 1^st grade he also turned 7 and Hurricane Matthew disrupted any plans we had for his birthday, however, he did have a fun celebration at school where Geoff, Sydney and I went to bring him and his class cookies.

The end of 1^st grade also means the beginning of a new car line.  Carson started using the new car line at the end of the year.  He says he is very excited for the new car line for pickup and drop off. Ha! 

Mom Fail.. Easter Bunny...

I woke up, said to myself I have a little more time I can go back to sleep.  Carson won't be up for another hour, I'll hide the eggs in a little.  Next thing I know, in walks Carson and the Easter eggs are still in the fridge.  He looks outside and no eggs.  He goes in the fridge and they are still there.

I am sure I could have found a way to play it off and lied another year, but I really really would have had to pull out every trick in the book.  I knew my time was coming because last year he told me the bunny foot prints smelled like baby powder.  It really was just a matter of time.

So I sat him down and told him.  I told him what a great responsibility it is now that he knows.  He can't tell his friends and he definitely can't tell his sister. He said he understood and he won't tell anyone.

So then I said, don't look outside.  I am going to go hide the eggs and you and Sydney can go find them. And just like that it was Easter again.

Today, a very small chapter in his life closed and a new one opened.  I wasn't ready to close that chapter yet, but it really is a fact of life.  It had to happen.

At least we still have Santa and the Tooth Fairy :)

First Grade

And just like that, summer is over and the hustle of school, starts again. 1st grade, here we come, with a few tears and lots of smiles! 

About that Easter Bunny

March 25, 2016, he woke up Easter Morning, loved his basket and hunted for eggs.

For Easter, I've always taken the baby powder and made foot prints and then taken cotton balls and put them around the house. Carson has always loved it and followed the foot prints around, etc.

Later that morning, Carson, Sydney, Geoff and I were playing in Sydney's room. Carson decided to smell the "foot print" and says, the foot print smells like baby powder.  The Easter Bunny is a fake. I seriously could have cried and Geoff was laughing.  Carson starts walking around the house asking all these questions and then saying the Easter Bunny is a fake. I told him if he believes in his heart, anything can be real.

I quickly vacuumed everything up hoping to divert any more questions.  He starts talking about the baby powder again, talks to my mom on the phone about the fake Easter Bunny and I told him no more questions for the day. lol.

I said please, give me one more year of your innocence, just believe in your heart he is real. Geoff laughing in the background.

Oh, what a day!!