walk a mile {and skin your knees}

March 30, 2011- After a postponement due to rain and cold, the Harper school Walk-a-Thon fundraiser happened!  Pecos was excited and eager to spend the school day racing around the track with his friends.  And chowing down on concession stand junk!  

The kids were soooooooooo very excited when they first got on the track.  So excited that most of them took off running for their first lap.  I was getting my things all sorted and in a spot for the day and getting my camera out to take pics of my little racer when he came around the track.  But before I could get set one of the girls in Pecos' class ran up to tell me that Pecos fell and was hurt really bad.  OH NO! I just knew he'd skinned up his knees.  Oh yeah, he did.  And not just a scuff, this was full scale oozing and redness that can only be brought on when skin hits pavement- at a full run.  He had also managed to scrape both elbows, his nose and an ear.  If you know me well, then you know he has acquired this lack of grace naturally.

At hearing the news of his stunt work I tried to find him because I was certain he'd be upset and I wasn't quite sure how bad the damage was.  I had a bit of trouble locating him because not only did this happen on the far side of the track from where I was, there happened to be 200 kids all wearing the same white t-shirt.  So I started walking upstream to the traffic of walkers and finally found him coming toward me- in tears.  When I saw the knees I was so saddened because I knew his excitement for the day had fizzled.  AND I knew he'd be upset with me because I had talked him into wearing shorts.  He wanted to wear his jeans and told me precisely- "Mom, if I wear my jeans then I won't hurt my knees if I trip and fall."  Such wisdom for such a young age.

I took my teary-eyed walker to get some first aid, but I couldn't locate anyone with a first aid kit and mine was too far away in the parking lot to carry Pecos to it- he was done walking at this point. We got to the bathroom and I tried to wash his knees when a teacher friend of mine saw us and promptly escorted us to the field house so Coach White could patch him up.  Pecos didn't want a picture getting fixed up in the locker room and since he had such wounded pride over the whole ordeal I didn't force it.  Here's what the knees looked like for the rest of the walk-a-thon.

Here's what they looked like later in the day when we took off the band-aids.  Ouch!

In addition to the band-aids, a trip to the concession stand for candy and Gatorade seemed to cheer him up a bit.  And he was ready to hit the track again- but not with his knees.  And not at a full run.  While he walked I worked my shift at the concession stand.  Pecos walked for a while and made a couple visits to see me and load up on junk.  I'm pretty sure he helped himself to a Dr. Pepper {or two, or three}.  Later, I went out on the track to see if he wanted to eat lunch and I found him strolling along.

We walked together for a lap or two, then took a break.  

inspecting his lap card

After lunch I worked a shift at the bead table where walkers collect beads for the laps they walk and put them on a necklace.  Pecos was eager to earn his beads which kept him motivated to walk for a little while longer.

He found his sweet friend Kinsey and walked with her for a while.  

On their approach to the bead table I got this picture.  I asked Pecos why he wasn't on the track.  His reply: "Because I wanted to run to the table but didn't want to scrape my knees again!"  

So that's our re-cap of the infamous Harper Walk-a-Thon.  Thanks to everyone who sponsored Pecos and supported the school and PTO.  Pecos walked 4 miles despite his 45-minute injury time out.  Here he is at the awards ceremony with some of his prizes.

kindergarten {stick horse} rodeo

March 29, 2012- The Harper kindergarten kids finished up their 2 week lessons learning about the great state of Texas with their very own stick horse rodeo.  

Even Brownie came out of retirement just for the occasion.

Pecos supplied several ropes and a few roping dummies.

Our buckets got a fresh touch up of paint.

Pecos was geared up and ready with his chaps that are not quite long enough anymore to be chaps but not quite chinks yet either.

He had to give an explanation of this to his classmates.

But I'm not quite sure what was going on here.  

 And I'm equally as puzzled why Pecos decided to go gangster with his boots and jeans with one leg in and one leg out.  Not to mention the spurs that just wouldn't stay put!

The National Anthem

 Ready to go!

First up was the flag race where he seems to have lost the reins.

A little pole bending action.

A tight turn in the barrel race.

Some roping.

His official saddle picture of the day.

And finally, the bull riding. 

Where everyone decided to see if they could buck him off.  Didn't happen.

Me and my cowboy.

a tough job

March 2012- Sometimes it can be tough being a big brother to Brazos.  And by the end of the day you think you've had enough.  

But just look at the little cutie.  How could he possibly cause such angst?

Eventually you get over it and get on with it.

is there something on my face?

March 26, 2012- This is what happens when you stick your face in the tailpipe of your daddy's truck.  Please don't call CPS, the engine was not running.  For all of my friends that are expecting you'd better hope God broke the mold when he made this one.

cowboy class

March 26, 2012- The Kindergarten classes in Harper are spending two weeks studying the great state of Texas.  And they needed a cowboy to teach them about cattle and beef.  So Casey was the guest teacher!

He taught them about different breeds of cattle. 

He talked to them about the ultrasound machine he uses.

And used Pecos' toy squeeze chute to demonstrate how he works them.

His demo cow stood very still in the chute for him.

But the ultrasound transducer was too large for the demo cow so he showed the class how it works by ultrasounding Pecos and his heart beating on the screen.

The kids seemed to enjoy it all and had lots of questions.  Then they were very excited to eat STEAK FINGERS for lunch!

catalog shopping

March 2012- Paw Paw mailed Brazos some reading material to pass the time while we are in the car.  Brazos has never been much on looking at books but he LOVES "reading" these auction catalogs.  

He's just about got this one memorized.

pacifiers anonymous

March 2012- I never thought I'd see the day these things disappeared from our life.  I have a love-hate relationship with them.  I love the quasi-peace they brought us but hate the dependence my youngest child developed.

Brazos has used a pacifier far more than Pecos ever did.  And for so much longer.  I think we were able to wean Pecos at about 15 months.  I thought it would be 15 years for Brazos.  Since the beginning of this year I've tried to only let him have them at nap time, bed time and in the car.  But sometimes he would find one stashed away and didn't want to give it up.  So I would give him a cookie and he'd have to hand it over.  I know, go ahead and nominate me for Mom of the Year.

Sometimes {okay, all the time} it was easier to just let him have one rather than have him fuss all the time.  Yes, I was that mom.  He was known to have one in his mouth, one in his hand, and another within arm's reach.  Thankfully, he never really got to where he would say the word 'paci' otherwise I think getting rid of them would have been 10 times harder.

I've been stressed about how we'd ditch them before his 2nd birthday and avoid a scolding from the pediatrician.  Not to mention a slew of birthday party pics with the lovely blue dot stuck in his mouth.  The thought did cross my mind to just leave him at Oma's or send him to MiMi's for a week with instructions to not return home until he was fully weaned from them.  But I wasn't sure they would carry out my evil plan.

So on a random day early in March Brazos was in an unusually good mood at bed time.  And I thought I'd see what happened if I just put him in his crib with no paci and a small toy to distract him.  To my total surprise it worked.  I really didn't have a plan for the middle of the night when he woke up searching for it, but either he didn't wake up or I was too exhausted to hear him on the monitor.  Then came nap time the next day and I tried it again.  Once again I was in utter disbelief at the lack of wailing coming from the crib.  That night at bedtime we did the same as the night before and still no major meltdown.  The next day he went to Mother's Day Out; I told them we were trying to get rid of the paci and thanks to nice weather and time outdoors before rest time he was exhausted and fell asleep right away sans paci.  That night we were 48 hours in and things were still going well.

But day three of the withdrawal hit HARD.  I didn't think I would make it past lunch time without a total relapse or some sleep inducing medication- for both of us.  Did I mention Casey was out of town the week of the spontaneous cold turkey disappearance of the paci?   Yeah, it was rough.  But I stuck to it.  And 3 weeks later I think I can finally say WE MADE IT!  But I'm sure if he were to find one he'd pop it right in his mouth and suck away.

We did have a few setbacks.  Like when he was crawling into the car and found one under the seat.  Or dug one out of the toy box.  Where were all of these when we needed them in the middle of the night or in the midst of a monumental meltdown?  All of a sudden they were popping up everywhere.  I even discovered one in the bottom of my purse.  But I'm so happy to report one is in his keepsake box and all others are in the landfill.

my little leprechauns

March 17, 2012- Thought I'd share pics of my little leprechauns on St. Patrick's Day.  I took them to Junction to get haircuts from Oscar.  Pecos will only allow Oscar to cut his hair now and he was a little overdue for a trim.  Brazos refused to get his haircut and since I vowed to never take him again I certainly didn't force it.  After the haircut we went over to the park to play.  

Hope you had a LUCKY day!