First Day of First Grade: Tues, Aug. 16th, 2011

Yesterday, Tuesday, August 16th, 2011 was Bayleigh's first day of the FIRST GRADE!!

It was a little different. We knew that a few changes were being made to the school system and that it might have kinks that needed to be worked out. We also knew that this would be Bayleigh's first year going to school all day everyday. What we didn't know is what kinks would need to be worked out--duh, or how Bayleigh would do being gone all day. I never took into consideration how I would do all day either. The BIGGEST change to the school system is that for the first time ever the kids right here in town have to ride the bus. I was very excited for this change because I went to school here my whole life and, I, like most, was raised by a working parent which meant that we walked to school. No big deal, but it was bad when the weather wasn't great.

So, Bayleigh gets on the bus and we hear her driver saying that they all need to pile in and sit on laps if they have to. UGH....NOOO! So, I ended up calling the school and talking to her principal--love her by the way--and she had called him and he said he was only joking. WHEW! That made me feel better. So then, I go out there when the kids get off the bus and every kid that got off looked SO mad. LOL! Come to find out....there really wasn't enough room on the bus. AND, Makayla informs me that Bayleigh even cried this morning. :'( So I get the scoop and it boiled down to the fact that she was just intimidated by the crowded bus, and it was hot, and it might have been a little overwhelming with all of the newness of everything too. I called her principal again and she didn't get the chance to call me back last night, so I just decided to call her driver and pull her off the route. NO, I am NOT THAT mom that when her child cries she gets her way. So please don't think that. You just have to understand HOW packed this bus was. The kids were miserable and the plan all along was for Bayleigh to only ride the bus for about 2 weeks just to learn how to get on and off in the morning and in the afternoon in case my best friend had to miss a day of work and was unable to take her to or from.

This was Monday night's open house where we meet the teacher and drop off school supplies. This also happened to be the first night of my duties as a PTO board member. It went well!

Bayleigh waiting for the bus! There are 11 kids on her stop alone! Bayleigh getting onto the bus. No, she is not posing. It was a big step for her and I asked her to turn around and smile and I just caught her at a bad moment. :)

Bayleigh getting off the bus. Yes, they don't look happy, but it's because they were not. LOL!

I guess there was another incident at lunch time too...my biggest nightmare--literally! One of the teachers thought Bayleigh was a Kindergartener and and was telling her to go to class and she started crying. Fortunatly, one of my best friends is now working up there and saw her upset and found out what happened. Luckily, she was able to eat and all was well. I think the rest of the day went without incident and she really had fun.

I found myself very upset last night and was comforted by a midnight call from my mom telling me all would be well and that Bayleigh will do wonderful and I would be OK too once we got into a routine. I've spent the last 6 1/2 years at home with Bayleigh. I worried how she would do in school, but never took into consideration the separation anxiety I myself would have. I miss her like crazy, especially during nap time when that was "our" time. Last night I think just knowing she struggled some during the day only added to my anxiety and I couldn't sleep. I am very unsettled again today, but luckily I have the kids to keep me busy. However, here it is nap time again and I am typing through the tears.

I did get a phone call from her principal this morning and the bus problem has already been taken care of. I think I am going to put her back on the bus again tomorrow and try to follow thru with the original plan of putting her on for a couple of weeks to learn the ropes of how it goes. :) Wish us luck.

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Let's Play Catch Up!

So, a lot has been happening since my last post, so I am going to start off by saying I am sorry for my absence again. :)

We are preparing for our summer 2011 to come to an end. We have been sqeezing in lots of swimming at our aunt's house and even hitting some night swims with a few of my girlfriends and their children. We have been school shopping for some clothes and some supplies and some shoes too of course. Bayleigh goes back and forth on if she is ready to go back to school or not. I know I sure am not ready for her to go back. First grade brings full days at school and this momma isn't ready for that. I have been having bad dreams for a few weeks now and a lot of them involve Bayleigh going back to school. They are so vivid, but so random! It's nuts. And that makes for restless nights for me and it's hard to catch up from that. They are the kind of dreams that you wake up from, but the problem is when I finally go back to sleep they pick up where they left off!!! What's up with that?!

I've had a shake up in my line up here and while I miss what I had, it is bringing me new opportunity and I am VERY excited for that!!! This newness starts on the first day of school. I am not going to go into detail, so sorry about that but it's all good. Next subject please!!!

So! I did it! I broke down and bought an iPhone 4! I LOVE it. I know, you're probably thinking...Really she's blogging about her phone??? YES! Because it pretty much does everything except cook us dinner! I love it. I will have to post pictures soon from some of the apps I have. They are awesome!

Not too much else has been happening other than wrapping up the summer and enjoying the sunny days!

We did go to a private pool party that was hosted by the Ross family on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun. Bayleigh got to jump off the diving board and go down the two slides into the deep water. They wouldn't let her go down the big slide by herself, where she could touch, because she was too short. Don't ask. I don't get it either. :) Below are some videos from that night.

Jumping Off the Diving Board! The dept on the side of the pool next to the board reads 12 feet 6 inches. :)


Drop Zone Slides!

Sunday, August 7th, 2011 we went up to Kim and Steve's house to have a cookout with them since Dane was home from overseas on leave. It is so nice to see him. It makes me feel old to see him so grown up into this respectful young man. I am very thankful to him for his service to our country. While we was there, we got some MUCH needed sprinkles. We have broken the record of 90 degree temperatures in a row this year and our rainfall totals have been nearly nothing. The sprinkles we did get didn't do anything for our dead flowers and grass, but they came with this gorgeous rainbow that I captured behind my beautiful Bayleigh!

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2nd Tooth Lost!

Bayleigh lost her second tooth tonight, July 28th, 2011!!! She pulled it out herself too!!!! After she got it out, the first thing she did was whistle...of course to make sure she still could!!! LOL! Too cute!

Here it is!!! The bag says, 2nd lost tooth. July 28th, 2011. Tooth on bottom front right when looking at her. :)

The big deal about her pulling it out is that, I pulled the first one. She said she was pulling the second and her daddy could pull the third. She remembered that rule too and stuck by it despite my begging to pull it out!
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King's Island: Fri. 7.15.11

Mid last week, I decided on a whim to plan a family trip to King's Island, over in Mason, OH for just the three of us. We have NEVER, with the exception of 1 Father's day trip to the local zoo gone anywhere with just the 3 of us since we've had Bayleigh. It was nice.

We had talked last summer of looking into going to Holiday World, but King's Island is closer and I found a coupon code online for tickets saving us $93 for our family. I was SOLD! Larry had taken Friday off and I had as well in anticipation of renting a cabin and boat with some friends of ours and then we learned that the cabin was unavailable, so we both decided to go ahead and take the day off to just be together. It was SO much FUN!

Once we got there we had Bayleigh measured so that she could get an armband and not have to worry about height requirements the rest of the time there. She measured in at exactly 42 inches! The day was gorgeous and the park was not busy at all. The longest we had to wait for a ride was 10 mins or so and that was at the end of the day. Most everything else we pretty much just got right on.

When I was a kid, the BIG rollercoaster on the kiddie side was called "The BEASTIE", now that same rollercoaster is called The Woodstock Express". Bayleigh, has been on a big rollercoaster in Disney World called Big Thunder Mountain, but this was her first BIG one for King's Island. SHE LOVED IT! She rode with me the first time and I said, put your arms up! She DID! And she NEVER put them down! It was so cute. I LOVED hearing her laugh the whole ride! The same thing happened on the carnival type ride called, The Scrambler. We rode both of those rides SO MANY TIMES! LOL! We didn't mind though, it was all about Bayleigh anyways. We had also caught the Snoopy Rocks On Ice Show as well. It was a pretty good show and it was air conditioned. Nice break at 6:30 before dinner. :)

Here is a view of The WoodStock Express from the Eiffel Tower.

We also met a few of the characters. I have pictures of Sally and Snoopy too, but how many character pictures does one blog need? ;D

We paid the extra money to do the Dinosaurs Alive thing too. IN MY OPINION: Not worth the extra $5 a person. We actually paid and extra $7 to see the 3D movie as well. I don't suggest it to others. You basically walk just under a mile in a circle, that goes UPHILL on the end of the walk to see dinosaurs like the one pictured above. Great Concept, but just include it in the price of the park and don't charge extra.

Bayleigh kept saying she wanted to wait to go up in the Eiffle Tower until very last thing. She kept saying, save the best for last. I have to agree with her thinking. When we got up there, there, the breeze was terrific and the sunset view was beautiful! You're about to see how out of order my photos are here. LOL! Sorry.

At the end of the day, before the Eiffle Tower, Bayleigh wanted to ride in the front car of the BIG rollercoaster. SHE LOVED IT!

Here she is on the Kite Flying Ride. I told her to show me her scared face! The girl wasn't scared at all!

These pictures are from our wait in line to see the 3D Dinosaur Movie.

HILARIOUS!

My loves after coming down from the Eiffle Tower. We anticipated sitting there watching the fireworks, but the guy at the top said the best spot to watch was the parking lot and we thought it'd be a great idea to already be in the car so that we wouldn't get caught in the traffic. He was right, the view was perfect!

Probably the best ride of the day was on her daddy's back on our way to the car. I couldn't help, but capture the moment on my cell. Sorry for the poor quality.

We had SO much fun on this trip and I hated when it ended. I can't wait to go back again and make more memories!

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First Tooth Lost: FINALLY!

Tonight, Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 is a HUGE night in the Rutherford home! Anyone and Everyone that knows Little Miss Bayleigh LizMarie, knows that her teeth are her obsession! She has waited...probably since she was an infant for the dang things to fall out! For Halloween she was the tooth fairy. Her career of choice when she gets older is to be a dentist too. It was always major girl drama when one of her friends would lose their teeth. She couldn't understand WHY she wasn't losing hers. I said, be happy your not. Your teeth are pretty and the longer they are in there the stronger your adult teeth will be. Holy COW! It just really sank in, at THIS very moment, that I can see the tip of her ADULT tooth! :'( My baby IS growing up! Dang it!
Tonight, the tooth I mentioned in a previous post that had started to wiggle, was VERY loose! She was showing it off to Grammy and the neighbors and when we got to the house I asked her if she wanted the tooth fairy to come tonight. She of course said yes, so I said come here. She said, "Don't pull it! Thumb swear, (a pinky promise, but with your thumbs instead), you won't pull it". I didn't technically thumb swear, but I did pull her by her thumb closer and told her to open her mouth. I used her towel and grabbed a hold of it. She jerked away and said I had the wrong tooth....I DIDN'T. So I ask her to come back over and I pulled it out. She takes in a deep breath and says, Is it out?! I handed it to her and she was beaming with joy. I said, give me the tooth your mouth is bleeding and she kinda got worried and then laughed and said, It didn't even hurt! LOL! Then she had to go back to the neighbors house and show off that she lost it. :)

I LOVE her so much!

This bag says, 1st Lost Tooth. July 13th, 2011, Tooth on the bottom left if your looking at her!

This adorable little pillow came from her Aunt Rachel...literally when she was an infant. I had it stored away in my night stand waiting for nights like this. All's I heard about was, Don't forget my pillow from Aunt Rachel. I kept saying, I KNOW Bayleigh! I got this! LOL! Isn't it cute? That little star is a pocket!

Here she kept trying to get the baggie into the pocket. She kept trying so hard not to smile, but it didn't work!

As you can see, once she got it in...She was BEAMING!

So, Bayleigh, you lost your very first tooth. I hope all the hype is all it is cracked up to be. I love you so much! I think your smile and joy has melted my heart into a puddle of mush tonight! Love you sweet girl!

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End of Little League & Fashion Show Story!

Monday, July 11th, 2011 Bayleigh and her team played their last little league game of the season. We had a terrible record. We finished last (4th) in the league. We only won one game, but I must say, they played their hearts out! Below are pictures from the girls getting their participation trophies. We rarely had a game where every girl showed up and even almost had to forfeit because we needed 7 to play, but eventually someone came and we could play.

Lily, Madison, Sophie (bat girl), Bayleigh, McKayla, Dan (pitcher), Madalyn, Maliah, Madeline, Aliyah, Scott (coach)

Before I close this blog I have to share a funny story. Tonight, I turned the TV to That 70's Show and Eric and Donna, the main characters, were getting married so it was the night of the bachelor and bachelorette parties. Of course they hit the strip club. Bayleigh walked in and asked if that was a fashion show. I said, no, she is a stripper and you better never become a stripper. She then said, Well, a fashion show is kinda like that only they take their clothes off and slide down poles! LOL! I thought Larry and I were going to lose it! I immediately turned the channel. We usually just down play stuff like that and go on so that she isn't too curious, but she was on it tonight. I also didn't realize they were going to play it so much. I thought they'd show a tiny clip and that would be the end of it...WRONG! LOL!

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Waldron Celebrations! 7.9.11

Some of the finer things in life are simple gatherings around the grill with family and friends. Yesterday, July 9th, 2011, we did just that. We live in a very small, one stop light--caution light to be exact--town. For years as I was growin up here, the July 4th Celebrations were the place to be. Several years ago, due to the county fair creating unsuccessful turnouts, the town stopped. Boy, did everyone around here miss the activities! Then, the community club decided it was time to bring it back! I am SO thankful they did. :)

Town events included, Flea Market Boothes at the school, Games and consessions there too, a parade at 2, car show, helicopters, and good ole family BBQ's! Waldron Little League is big around here too and the different teams consist of much of the parade. Last year, Bayleigh's coach didn't put her team in it, but her coach this year did. :)

Scott, her coach, and his wife Lori came over the night before and we put the banners on the trailer for the team. Then yesterday morning he came back and we attached the balloons that had each of the girl's names and numbers. Lori and Scott put the flag on the back end as well. I think our float is pretty cool, if I do say so myself. :)

Looks like the team thinks it's pretty fun too! Since I was a kid, water balloon and squirt guns were the thing for the kids to do while in the parade. This year, it was no water balloons. Some on the board tried saying no water ANYthing and when I told Melanie--head of the little league--she said too bad! She said we would abide by the no balloon policy, but squirt guns are allowed! OK, Game on! I bought Bayleigh a squirt gun at the beginning of summer so that she wouldn't have to get one picked over, but it ended up being too big and heavy for her so we got her a smaller one. She was happiest throwing out candy to the crowd instead. :)

Back at the house, we started our party at Noon. I wanted to make sure people ate before sitting in the heat of the parade. I had to leave at 1 to take Bayleigh up to the school, but it was fine. The whole day was very relaxed and was just come and go as you please anyways.

We even ended up with the cops being called on us! My "sweet, wonderful, old" neighbor decided that a car parked along her property might flatten her foot high grass that has not been mowed in weeks. Geeze! Below is the note that she stuck on my friends car! Let me tell you what she did...she wrote on a new envelope and then LICKED the envelope and stuck it to her windshield!!! Of course we didn't see it because we were in the back yard. So the sheriff's office sends someone out and he walks up and asks if the car was someone here. I said I didn't think so and then he said it's registered to my friend Bridget. I said, Yip she's here. So he asked her to move it and that was the end of it. NOW, the thing that makes me so mad is 1. we are neighbors--freakin' call us and ask us to move it. OR 2. Since you took the time to walk off your porch and stick a note on the car--that the sun baked the glue onto the windshield--walk over and ask us to move it. DON'T CALL THE COPS! Geeze! Maybe the next time I see her grandson in law cursing his 4 or 5 year old son out and slapping him up side the head...I might have to call the police too. Two can play....Yes, I'm stooping to her level. LOL! (I have a firery side in me).

Our kiddie pool, blow-up/bouncy room, and blow-up water slide was a HUGE hit with the kids. They all had so much fun. Even the neighbor's--ugh, the good/nice neighbor, had some of her family walk over so the kids could play too. Our friend surprised us from down south and brought his boys up too. I LOVED that surprise. I was sad his wife had to work because I would have enjoyed spending the day with her too.

At dusk, the town let off fireworks at the school. They were, once again, GREAT! Last year we walked up, but this year Larry's dad drove us up in the back of his truck. It was hot! Bayleigh sat on her baseball diamond and had front row seats. She was so cute sitting there. :) Below are a couple of videos I took of the show.

The BIG one is my favorite!!


Finale of the fireworks!

Thanks to all of our family and friends that came out for the day. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as we did!

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