We're Three For Three!

Don't forget, tomorrow is the last day to enter the Pay It Forward contest. If you haven't entered already, you have until 8pm CST.

*********************

Today was the last day of summer school for Mister Man. So sad... no more getting picked up by the bus at 8:30 and being dropped off around noon five days a week. On the plus side, since he still naps (at least some days and needs down time on others), we'll be able to do more playdates with his friends.

Today was a special day at his preschool though. It was the official Fourth of July Parade for them. All the parents are invited to watch them come walk around the outside of the school near the end of the day and then have a picnic and eat popsicles.

As the PTO president for next year (yeah, I'm a sucker), it was my job to get the 150 popsicles to the school before the parade. I busted my rear to ensure they were there since I found out that this was needed on Tuesday and was working on Wednesday in the office.

What's fun about that? Apparently with our massive storms last night (I drove home from work at times going 15-20 mph knowing there was a street in front of me but not always sure where it was), the power to the school went out. Guess what happened to the popsicles that were in her freezer. The school sent someone out this morning to buy more popsicles from Jewel, but I still felt bad that this happened -- and that they didn't call me to help fix it.

On the positive side, the hat decorations they made this year were pretty cool, weren't they?


And yes, Daddy dressed him. That's why he's in his birthday party Thomas shirt instead of something more patriotic. At least it's blue, right? He was so happy to see us along the route. And his USA necklace is now a treasured possession at home. As is his patriotic maraca!

Little Miss really enjoyed her popsicle. Mister Man also had a popsicle, but he ate his so fast that I couldn't even find him to take a picture before it was gone. And yes, she is wearing a sweater on July 3. Granted, it wasn't the warmest day here today, but my mom is a freak. She's always cold, and I have pictures of me as an infant in Hawaii with a hat with earflaps on. And once Little Miss got it on, it was not coming off, much like the raincoat incident from last weekend. Oh yeah, and she got bit by mosquitoes on her eye, back and right arm again earlier this week when Daddy let her play in the backyard late in the day with no bug spray. Poor kid!

Then we got back to normal for us at a preschool type event where children are invited. They ran around and played and had a great old time. Little Miss spent most of her time on the playground equipment. It makes a big circle up high, connected to various apparatus, and she had fun running around and around the circle.

Mister Man spent more of his time on the "big kids" playground, which include this tire swing. He asked the little girl who was playing on it first so very nicely if he could also get on and swing, and she let him. He had a ton of fun going around and around -- probably because he made her do all the work!

It all looks fun, right?

Let me review the history, however.

At Back to School Night for Little Miss's preschool, they had an ice cream social that we all went to. As the kids were running around and playing, I suddenly heard a scream (Daddy was on duty for watching at the moment) and recognized Little Miss's voice.

As I ran over to the girl who never is bothered by falling down and appears to not feel pain frequently, I could see blood streaming down her fact. Not exactly a good sign. Some friends grabbed napkins for me so I could staunch the bleeding and see where it was coming from. We needed an ice pack from the school to finally stop the bleeding. Apparently in all their running, some of the bigger kids had gotten a bit overexuberant and managed to run into her hard enough to split her lip open.

At the next preschool event, Little Miss was running again at the Valentine's Day fundraiser. Actually, all the kids were running; I can't single her out. And again she somehow managed to bite through her lip and bleed all over the place, necessitating an ice pack.

So while I have some lovely pictures of the wee ones playing at the picnic, let me reassure you that there was crying involved.

Right after the picture of Little Miss was taken, she managed to run headfirst into a boy who was running the same circle in the opposite direction. They bounced off each other, and each landed flat on the back. He got up with no problems, but she screamed! Fortunately, there was no blood this time, but she did get a nasty bump and bruise on her nose. Poor girl.

After she was happy again, I put Daddy in charge of her and went off to find Mister Man. He was on the tire swing, which is where that picture was taken. When he decided he was finished, he climbed off the swing backwards. And misjudged the size of the hole under the swing. He fell flat on his back and burst into tears. Sweet, two wee ones crying within a span of three minutes.

As a side note, when a child falls into older mulch, it's VERY dirty. And when they try to crawl into your lap when you comfort them, you the filth is immediately transferred to you. Fortunately, it brushes off fairly well. And yes, he's fine, as well. He ended up with a red mark from the bump on his side but was soon off playing again.

Anyway -- Happy Fourth of July to you all. Here's hoping you have a happy and safe one! And enjoy the parades. I'll share the story of our parade last year one day soon, I promise.