Growing Up.....

My precious firstborn goes off to Kindergarten tomorrow. His clothes are laid out, his school supplies are tucked safely in his locker at school, his lunch bag is waiting to have his peanut butter sandwich and pretzals tucked inside it tomorrow morning. Everything is ready....except Mom! Since I've worked outside the home since he was born, he's always been in daycare or preschool and spent last year in Alternative Kindergarten every morning. Why is this different? I'm not sure, but it is. I'm excited for him....for all of the adventures that are in store for him as he starts school. And I worry...I want him to keep that innocence with which he looks at the world. No matter what, he'll always be my baby.

Through the years....

Age 1 - love those carrots!

Age 2 - look at that smile!

Age 3 - GO PRAIRIE HAWKS!

Age 4 - handsome guy!

Age 5 - growing up!

and Age 6 - tonight as he got ready for bed before his 1st day of school

I love you Will!!!

Birthday, Birthday, Birthday!

Big Brother turned 6 in early August in grand style. We started with a wonderful, fun kids party at Pump It Up http://www.pumpitupparty.com/. What a cool place! The kids ran and jumped and slid for an hour and a half and then enjoyed pizza, cake & punch. They all had such a great time and Will was truly blessed by all of his friends and their generous gifts.

The next week for his actual birthday, I had a BIG surprise in store. Will and I headed off to Chicago! Our main purpose was to take in a Cubs game at Wrigley Field (they beat the Cards 3-2 in 11 innings - WHAT A GREAT GAME!!).

We also went to the Shedd aquarium, wandered Navy Pier, and took a boat ride on Lake Michigan. Will's already assumed that this will be an annual thing and is planning our trip next year.

This past week we headed to SuperMan's (http://www.i-love-naptime.blogspot.com/) house for HIS 6th birthday. Will and SuperMan are so lucky to be so close in age. We all hit the pool, relaxed and went to Chuck E Cheese for pizza & games. We had a great time visiting with SuperMan, C-Dawg & CocoPuff (and Laura & Buck!!) and we were all sad when we had to come home.

This week we've been getting ready for school. Will starts Kindgergarten on Thursday! We had "Meet the Teacher" night last night and got to take all of Will's supplies in to his room, find his locker, inspect the music & art rooms, and have ice cream! He's very ready for school and can't wait to have Dad as "his principal".

Baby Sis is doing well. She's pulling herself up and standing alone but hasn't walked on her own yet. She's got some crazy hair with the humidity we've had lately, but I can't bring myself to cut it! It reminds me of Aunt Laura's hair when she was younger with all the sweet curls.

We've had a good summer and it's hard to believe it's quickly coming to an end. But with school, football games, Homecoming, Halloween and so many more fun times to look foward to we can't wait for Fall as well!

Flood Pictures

The picture above shows the river that divides are town east and west. The bridge at the top of the picture is I-380 - the only means of crossing the river. If you look closely, you can see three of the main bridges completely submerged other than the tops of the railings. The buildings on the island are the Veterans' Memorial Building and the courthouse/jail.

While I was driving home from work yesterday and again on my way in today, I was able to get these incredible, heartbreaking pictures of the devastation.

Our favorite Dairy Queen

Looking towards town up 3rd Avenue SE

This image took my breath away today as I was driving north to work. I haven't been able to get it out of my head all day.


Looking south at the Quaker factory that is fixture on the west side of I-380.

The railroad bridge that comes out of Quaker. Officials put train cars on the tracks in an effort to keep the bridge from breaking free. There is a second bridge to the south that collapsed into the river yesterday. So far this one is still standing. There are houseboats that have broken free and are trapped against the bridge on the other side.
Looking west on 1st Ave from I-380 Look at the one-way sign....and the water covered that sign this morning before the crest.

Flood Update

500+ blocks under water

25% of the city is under water

$736 million in damage

$250 million of that is residential

24,000 people are displaced

The water receded 1/100th of an inch about 1pm today

The water will not be back in the banks of the Cedar River until at least June 24.

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-34707

The Flood

When the National Weather Service says "We are seeing a historic hydrological event taking place with unprecedented river levels occurring", I really don't want to be anywhere close. However, here we are. Cedar Rapids is under water. As I came (SLOWLY) over I-380 tonight on my way home, I was speechless at the devastation. The estimate is 100+ blocks under water and the river is expected to crest a full 10 feet above yesterday's prediction. The latest issue is water....strangely, even though we obviously have too much, it sounds as if we will lose water to homes somtime in the next few days. 3 of the 4 wells supplying Cedar Rapids water are gone and the 4th is being sandbagged at the moment. Will is so interested in all of the coverage and wants to go see the water, but he's going to have to settle for the videos on the news....he's not getting anywhere close. Keep praying.

http://www.gazetteonline.com/

Standing!

She still hasn't really figured this out...she'll stand but hasn't pulled herself up yet. That's ok with Mommy. I'm not ready for her to be running after her brother yet!

More Fun in the Sun

The kids and I had another great weekend enjoying the weather. It's been rainy so much that clear skies and warm temps meant that we were going to spend most of the weekend outside. We fit in trips to two parks, the duck pond, two splash pads, and lots of scooter riding up and down the street.

Here's a handsome guy at the duckpond....the ducks & geese still love the graham crackers.

Morgan cracked me up when I set her on the grass. She didn't cry but as you can tell by her expression she wasn't quite sure what to think!

Will swang and swang until MY arms were tired from pushing him.

Sissy was a sleepy girl at the end of the busy day yesterday but was happy and ready to go today!

We had a great weekend....hope you all did too.