not even the half of it

...and we continue with the craziness...  but, to put it simply, i am beyond grateful.  for the health of loved ones.  how family comes together to support, laugh and show their love.  for my hard-working, ever-patient husband.  i am oh-so proud of all you have accomplished; where we have been, and where we will be, i just need you and the kids to be happy.  ...and we are done with the mushiness.

end of last week was pretty uneventful and we had a pretty chill weekend.  i think.  it was eons ago.  i'm having trouble remembering...

some funny ella quotes:

i came home from a particularly hot run and was slightly sweaty.  

ella:  your air smells.

roger:  ella, would you ever like to live in a place where there is grass and green trees?

ella:  you mean, like a hotel?

monday was school for ella and swim for max.  but exhausting for max:

tuesday, roger left for boston.   jenny hosted a lunch playdate.  thank you jenny for lunch!  and dinner!!!!!

we picked up els from school then met up with charlotte, josie, alora and jack for frozen yogurt at kona beri!

wednesday - we had the final blood test for george and his kidneys are functioning normally.  yay george!!!!!

i think this was drop-off on thursday??  watching the sight words video on ms. steph's car before school started.

max was supposed to tell his class what he would bring to share with the class.

he said: ella.  awww!  and then roger came home!!!  both kids were pretty weepy this week without roger.

saturday, we ran a few errands, including stopping at a gardening center.  and they had eegees!!  oh, happy kids.

saturday afternoon, ella went to her friend, hailey's birthday party.  they had a "mad scientist" who did a bunch of experiements for the kids.

and the final "experiment" was making cotton candy.

ella literally inhaled it.  she had so much fun and just loved it.  

happy half birthday, max!!!

today was a cleaning/get stuff done day followed by dinner with some of my fave girls.  and now cuddling with my hubby.  

you're welcome

long and super emotional last few days.  last thursday, ella brought her lunch to school for the first time!  thanks, nana, for my awesome lunchbox!  (thanks, also, for max's minion lunchbox which he used for the first time today!).

the remainder of the week and the weekend were uneventful and very relaxing.  ...and the following 3 days are the universe's way of telling me i should never be that relaxed.  by the way, the blog of this week's events thus far only accounts for about half of the things that are consuming us emotionally.

monday morning, i dropped off els to school (she did great on her "all about me" sharing bag and she has been rocking her homework every night!) and mom and dad came over to watch max's swim lesson.  good so far...

but...we came home to find george had eaten about a fifth of quite a large bag of raisins (which are highly toxic for dogs and can shut their kidneys down).  thankful to my parents; my mom stayed home with max and my dad came with me to the vet.  after induced vomiting and a charcoal run (to hopefully absorb extra toxins), he was hooked up to an IV (and consequently fitted with a cone) - he would need to have a constant run of fluids to flush his kidneys for the next 48 hours...  ugh...

but our george is still happy and has the best disposition given the ordeal.  seriously, everytime we need to take him to the vet or boarder, everyone just falls love in with him.  we love you too, george!!

headed home for lunch, then my mom accompanied me to make the transfer to the ER facility that would monitor george for the next 2 days.  then off to pick up els, home for an early dinner and then we had max's "meet your teacher" night  at his new preschool!  he was very unsure about the whole thing, but once ella helped him into the classroom, he settled in and even gave his new teachers hugs. i love love the relationship between these two.  even though it was late, we made a stop at the ER for a quick visit with george.  

tuesday morning was going to be max's first day of 3's preschool!!!!!!  thanks to gigi and poppie for my outfit!

unfortunately, there was a huge monsoon.  i need a freaking boat to get to ella's school...  after a few detours, we made it (albeit slightly late), then turned right around to head to max's drop-off (seriously an hour and a half for 2 school drop-offs!!!).  after quick hugs for roger and me, he went into his classroom with mrs. thompson and mrs. hendrickson.  my friends were so sweet and checked on him for the first 10 minutes or so (i didn't want to linger and risk upsetting him).

mrs. thompson said he did awesome his first day!  go, max!!

back home for lunch - i promised him an eggees if he had a good day.

while we were eating, we found out that els and max have a brand new cousin.  welcome to the world evan roger wagner!!!!!  he's just adorable - congrats to justin and amy and can't wait to meet my new nephew!  off to pick up els, quick stop to say hi to george, then max's swim lesson.  he's continuing to do great and even getting a bit brazen by swimming away from ms. michelle.  

he asked if he could baby-sit all of her rubber duckies until his next lesson:

this morning (oh, god.  it's only wednesday...), max was all set to go to school!

after 2 days, he's already singing the "welcome" and "days of the week" songs!!  i took him to my room parents meeting at ella's school (because i totally have time for that...), then we finally picked up george.  he will still need 2 blood panels over the course of the next week to measure his kidney levels, but he seems to be doing great and we are so so so thankful to have him back home with us.  

we missed you, buddy.  welcome home.

kindergarten chop

wow.  emotional 2 days.  a few months ago, ella wanted to cut her hair back into a bob.  the stylist measured and she needed a little more than an inch to donate, so she said she wanted to wait (so proud!).  tuesday morning we went in for the big hair cut!

she cut off about 9 inches and it looks absolutely adorable!!!  plus, no more tangles!!

this is the pic she took to send to daddy to show off her new haircut

we met her teacher in the afternoon - she will be in Mrs. Shannon's kindergarten room at Tanque Verde Elementary School.  she loved her new classroom and teacher and gave mrs. shannon her first hug of the year.  :-)  we spent the rest of the afternoon running errands - i had to get new epi pens to provide to the school (one source of relief: she does not have to sit at an allergy-free table!  so so happy she can sit with her friends.  just need to remind her that she can never share food with her friends).  then we had a special dinner with poppie and gigi - ella picked the menu: cheeseburgers, waffle fries, fruit, and chocolate ice cream for dessert!

bright and early this morning (i had to wake poor els up), we got ready for our very first day of kindergarten!!!

i think she could fit INSIDE her own backpack!

all of the kindergarteners were supposed to wear yellow.  thanks for the fun outfit, gigi and poppie!

making friends right away on the playground before school started.

ms. steph and charlotte made their way from the 1st grade wing to the kindergarten playground to wish ella a great first day.

when the kids started lining up, els ran straight in!  no goodbye hugs or kisses.  [tear].  man, this kid is so super independent.

once she settled in, she waved goodbye to us.

she also had the option of me parking, then picking her up from the cafeteria vs. me getting in a drive-thru pick-up line and her getting in the car and buckling herself.  yeah.  of course she chose the latter.

she said she had an awesome day and she loved her teachers and new friends.  tomorrow will be the first full day and i have no idea what to do with myself (and max).  ella, i'm so so so proud of you!!!!!  i can't wait to see all you learn and do and accomplish!  (you may not, however, achieve your current career aspirations...to be a princess....but i believe you can do just about anything else!).  you're so smart, sweet, caring, funny, loving...couldn't love you more!  congrats on a great first day of kinder.  

everything it's chalked up to be

busy, but fun couple of days!

saturday, we attended another kids' workshop at the home depot.  this month's project was a chalkboard sign.

they even had otter pops for when the kids finished up!

we spent the rest of the day getting stuff around the house and then hosted roger's co-worker and her family for swimming and dinner.  okay, so we spent about 4 minutes in the pool before lightening and thunder threatened, so it was back to our house for burgers, hot dogs, and many, many beverages of the alcoholic variety...  (not the smartest thing before a 9 mile run).

they were so sweet to bring a cake to celebrate roger's recent promotion!

sunday - 9 mile run, mass, my first official RCIA class and then a much-needed nap!!

today we started off at the pool with ms. michelle.  max made it across the ENTIRE pool by himself!!!!!  here's the video.  i'm oh-so proud!!!

and very very proud of himself for his accomplishment!

when we got home, his preschool letter was there for him.

he will be in the "stars" class with mrs. thompson (just like ella, 2 years ago!).

we spent a delightful day with mom and dad - happy 60th birthday gigi!!!!  we went to blanco for lunch, shopped a bit, followed by gelato at frost.  the afternoon was way chill then we met up with roger at zona for a delicious dinner.