Kindergarten Here We Come!

Well it's official, Ryleigh started kindergarten today, and somehow we all survived. She has been looking forward to this for weeks, and I am happy to report she came home just as excited (if not more so) than when she left. I went with Andrea to drop off Ryleigh at school. The first day the parents could come in the classroom and be apart of the first storytime - a book about a boy named Owen, but tomorrow you must drop them off at the door.

I thought I was going to lend my support to Ryleigh and help reassure her that everything would be ok. However the transition seemed to be harder on Andrea who starting tearing up when she took the first picture. Of course we were both proud to see our daughter start her first day of school, but we rememer when she was just a baby. She's just growing up so fast. The day she was born her grammy and poppa were so excited to have another grand-DAUGHTER that they rushed out and bought 3 or 4 brand new pink outfits for her to wear. We've probably been through several hundred pink outfits since then, but you can see what color dress she chose to wear to school the first day.

The last thing I said to her before we left was for her to have a GREAT first day of kindergarten. "I WILL Daddy!". Oh such fun. When I came home she was hopping and skipping and singing and dancing to some of the new songs she learned today. She also informed us at the dinner table that she is no longer Ryleigh, but Ryleigh H. She then proceeded to call me Daddy H. and her mother Mommy H. She's such a goof ball.

Ryleigh's first day of kindergarten is in the books, and I will call it a success. She told me tonight that it wasn't as hard as she thought it was going to be, and she went to sleep looking forward to another day. Thank you Mrs. Stephens for a job well done!

Shaping Things with Floam

The other night I was sitting in our home with my lovely wife and children. The kids had finished playing Reader Rabbit, and I wanted to check my sales on the computer one more time before getting the kids ready for bed. "Man, I sure have sold a lot of Floam today," I announce for all to hear. "Floam?" Ryleigh says "I know what that is. And if you call now or log in you get a free tub of green." After I dabbed the tears of pride that had formed in my eyes I turned to my daughter and ask how she knew that. Of course she had seen it on tv in an infomercial, probably on Nickelodeon. She also knows about Floam because we actualy have a few tubs of Floam - a micro-bead modeling material sorta like Play Doh but lighter and softer. Ryleigh loves to squish it her hands and shape it into all sorts of creative things.

Andrea and I went on to explain that Floam is an example of some the fun "As Seen on TV" stuff that Daddy helps sell on the computer. Needless to say she was excited and is looking forward to taking over the family business some day. (Okay maybe I embellished that last part a bit). However, she was excited to know that her dad sells FLOAM, and that in 4 - 6 weeks some kids will be having the same fun with it that she has thanks to their parents buying it from her daddy's web site.

Today is information day for Ryleigh's school and in 6 days she will start kindergarten. I know it's time - she's 5 years old and graduated from preschool. She is ready - she is smart, loves books, and she is eager to learn. So why am I so nervous for her? She went to preschool at our church last year and Sonshine School before that - all at our church building. That seems safe: Christian teachers, classmates most of whom attend our church, learning Bible stories, singing Bible songs and prayers throughout the day. Next Wednesday she enters the world. My sweet, innocent, shy, angel of a daughter will be set free to face new teachers, new classmates, and a new school whose curriculum does revolve around the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Will she quickly and easily make new friends, or will she shyly keep to herself and not get involved? How will she respond the first time that a bigger kid picks on her? How will she feel when she's told that the answer she gave is incorrect? How many times will she be asked about the gap between her front 2 teeth? How long until she is called horse instead of Horst? You just don't know what is going to happen until she gets there.

Andrea and I have done our best to prepare her. We've tried to teach her right from wrong and to stand up for what she believes. She knows that she should make wise choices. We've taught her to respect her teachers and the school leaders. If I could impress one thing upon her at this time as she starts this new journey in her life I think it would be this: Don't let this world shape you Ryleigh, you go out and shape the world!

Go Out Da Doh, Daddy

Our children are set in their ways in the way they want to be put to bed. Ever since Clark was born, I have been responsible for putting Ryleigh to bed at night and Andrea has put Clark to bed, with few exceptions.

With Ryleigh we brush teeth, read books, say a prayer, tell some stories, sing some songs and I lay down with her until she is asleep or close to it. This time is special. Lately she has begged me to tell her stories from when I was a child. One of her favorites is the story of tell her of when Jeff was thrown from his horse, and he came over to our house for Julie to doctor all of the cuts and scrapes on his back. I always finish the story with "and that's how they knew they were made for one another because Julie took such loving care of him in his time of need" or something mushy like that. The trouble with telling stories is that it always leads to questions and discussions and her 8:30 bedtime quickly turns into 9:30, and I have to insist that she goes to sleep. So I limit the stories and sings songs to which she can fall asleep.

Last night was one of those rare ocassions that I put Clark to bed because Andrea was out running errands. Putting him to bed also starts with teeth-brushing (which often times becomes a wrestling match) and then book reading. Just like Ryleigh he loves reading books. Next he has 2 or 3 bedtime procedures based on who is putting him to sleep and how tired he is. 1) "Mommy (or Daddy) rock Clark." This is self-explanatory. Laying down with Ryleigh is great but there is just something about rocking your child to sleep. The oneness, and peacefulness that you share with a baby asleep on your shoulder is priceless. 2) "Lay down on Pooh." Beside Clark's bed is a large Winnie-the-Pooh pillow. If he is ready to get in bed he will climb in and tell you to lay down on Pooh until he falls asleep or until your spouse comes in and wakes you up several hours later. 3) "Go out da doh Daddy". I'm pretty sure he reserves this one just for me. I tried to rock him, he fusses. I try to lay down on Pooh and he sits up in his bed, points to the door, and instructs me to go out. Of course I fall for it everytime. Hah, I think to myself, I am so skilled at settling down my son that I don't even have to rock him or lie down, just put him in his bed and he will sleep.

So I go check on Ryleigh, read her a story, and pause. I hear noises from the other room. Clark has climbed out of his bed, turned on the light, and is sitting in his rocking chair 'reading' books out loud. Clark, I say, you need to get back in your bed. "Otay daddy" and he carefully places his books back in the basket and climbs back in bed. I try to lie down next to him but I hear "no daddy, go out da do". So I go out, and stand outside the door and carefully watch him. He sits up a few times and stares at the door to see if I'm watching, and when he thinks the coast is clear, he starts to climb out. I tell him again to get back in his bed and he does. I go sing some songs to Ryleigh, and again when I come back he is reading in the chair. We do this a few more times, and finally I decide it is just too late so I try to rock him, "no daddy lay down on Pooh". So I lay down next to him, and Andrea wakes me up a few hours later.

Our Trip to Kentucky

As many of you know I had to travel last weekend to Central City, Kentucky for a funeral. I just want to take a moment to thank MapQuest and Expedia Maps for their amazing service. I had never driven myself to Central City, Kentucky before, especially not in the wee hours of the morning, but I just followed the directions I printed off my computer, and, 11 1/2 hours after leaving home we reached our destination. We arrived in time for breakfast. And even though our room at the Country Hearth Inn was not yet ready, they allowed us to eat the complimentary breakfast which consisted of homemade biscuits and sausage gravy, bagels, danishs, delicious waffles, and of course coffee and juice. Our experience at that hotel was wonderful.

You just can't duplicate in a big city the kind of service and friendliness you receive from a small, country town. Prime example - we got to our room and discovered that we only had 2 sets of towels and wash cloths. I spotted the cleaning lady at the end of the hall, so I stopped to ask her for more. She was a little gray-haired old lady, maybe in her 70's, undoubtedly someone's grandmother happily doing her job. I politely asked her for 2 towels and wash cloths. Her response gave me a smile - "here you go hun, these aren't folded real nice but they're clean I promise (handing me 3 or 4 wash cloths). Now how many towels did you want? You'd better take a few extra just in case (3 or 4 towels). Now I like to have one of these on the floor when I get out of the shower (handing me a bath mat). Do you need any soap, shampoo - here take a couple. How 'bout coffee, hun, do you need any coffee?" I thanked her and carried my fresh stack of towels down to our room just smiling and thinking - now that's customer service. I have stayed at hotels before where I had to speak to a manager, show my room key, 2 forms of i.d. and scan a credit card just to get an extral towel. This was refreshing.

We left Oklahoma City Thursday at 8:45 pm and arrived in Central City, Kentucky at 8:00 am the next morning. We decided to try something different for this trip and depart at the childrens' bedtime so that they would sleep the whole time. It worked out pretty well except that Clark woke up every 2 hours screaming. It was probably alarming for the other 2, but it helped keep me awake. For those keeping score at home, I consumed about 66 oz of coffee (little over 1/2 gallon), 3 or 4 cans of coke, several large handfuls of sunflower seeds, and countless other snacks. It was tough for a while but once the sun started coming up it was smooth sailing into Central City, KY.

For the ride home we decided to do some sight-seeing. We left Central City around 10:45 am, headed west through Paduccah, KY and into Metropolis, Illinois - home of Superman. Andrea had fond memories of Metropolis as a child so we wanted to share it with our kids. It was a true parenting moment. We had to wake up Clark and I found myself saying to Ryleigh "you are going to get out of this car, get your picture taken with Superman, and you're going to like it!" So we had our picture taken with Superman, visited the museum, mailed some post cards and headed down the road.

Our next stop was Dairy Queen for lunch, and aside from Clark stealing everyone's french fries, it was a delightful stop. Andrea frequented Dairy Queen as a kid, but I don't think they succeeded in Oklahoma due to the presence of Braum's. We ordered our meals and they gave us our cups to fill up at the drink station. I filled my cup with Coca-Cola and was thrilled to see 2 pump dispensers filled with your choice of Cherry or Vanilla syrup. I was quite happy to make my own Cherry Coke. The A-1 Steak Sauce flame grilled burger was outstanding, and we topped it off with a Key Lime Pie Blizzard for me and a French Silk Pie Blizzard for Andrea and the kids to share - perfect for a 100 degree day.

We stopped in St. Louis next hoping to visit the River Boat McDonald's that Andrea had visited as a child, but it had been replaced with a casino or some other tourist attraction. We walked around the arch and visited the museum beneath it. There was a gift shop where we bought a children's book about St. Louis and some View Finder slides of local attractions. We loaded up in the car, stopped 1 more time for dinner and strolled into our garage around 1:00 am - a full 14 hours after we left Kentucky and about 1,600 miles since we left home. A long trip, but one we had to make. More about the funeral next time.