Austin is 5

Playing with his new train set

My firstborn son is five years old. He has matured in so many ways over the years. Here are a few things I remember from his birthdays past:

Birthdate- September 23, 2006: Austin was so tiny (2 1/2 lbs), yet perfectly formed, at birth. We used to call him our little peanut. (Here's a pretty good synopsis of the week leading up to his delivery at 29 weeks gestation.)

First Birthday- 2007: We had a party outside at the seminary, and it was sooo hot outside. Both sets of grandparents came, and we invited two friends from church. Of course, the first birthday is mostly for the parents anyway. (old blog post here from Austin's 1st birthday, and here is a post I wrote right after we brought Austin home from the NICU.)

Second Birthday- 2008: We didn't have a party, but Joseph's parents came up to celebrate. (see old blog post here) It was at this time that we were able to stop "correcting" Austin's age. Up until this time, the doctors would subtract 2 1/2 months from his birth age when determining if he was meeting his developmental milestones. He seemed to be all caught up, which was a great blessing considering how early he was born.

Third Birthday- 2009: Austin had a party at a local park, and lots of kids from church and from our apartment came. (see blog post here) It was fun, but at the same time we had a lot of serious worries on our minds. Austin had been diagnosed with two neurological conditions- a tethered cord and chiari malformation. I was also 20 or so weeks pregnant and already starting to feel contractions. Praise be to God that he persevered us through the months that would follow as Austin had a successful spinal surgery  (see here) and as our second son David was carried to full term the following January.

Fourth Birthday- 2010: (see old blog post here)We had just a few friends over to our apartment for a playdate lunch out on the lawn. Austin got some Sonlight preschool curriculum from my mom, so we spent a great deal of time reading and learning at home last Fall. At that time I really expected to be homeschooling for kindergarten, but here we are....

Fifth Birthday- 2011: Austin got lots of great toys this year, and I think he is finally at an age to appreciate a good birthday party. Austin had three friends over along with their families (and his adoped "Uncle Adam" of course) for a Super Mario birthday party- pictures to follow in a separate post.

I'll close with this humorous picture of Austin biting his toenails. You may think I'm cruel for posting this, but hey, if he's silly enough to bite his toenails, he's got to face the consequences. Ha!

Austin has a nail biting habit, but he doesn't stop with his fingernails...

Field Trek

Last Friday, I helped at Austin's school during their Field Trek fundraiser. The kids asked for donations from family and friends, and then they each walked a mile on the day of the Trek. David and I helped at the track. We walked two miles :) I served as sort of a walking cheerleader, encouraging those who were falling behind and walking alongside those who were too tired to run with their classmates. Here are a few pictures from our day.

David is ready to do some walking.



Coach Mo from The Biggest Loser and a water bottle mascot

So, if you are a Biggest Loser fan, Coach Mo from season 8 (I think) showed up to cheer everyone on. It was really neat to see him in person. He didn't make it to the finale, but he was one of those contestants that everyone loved to cheer on.

Austin waiting with his class.

Austin tells about the first few weeks of school

Helpful JCPS Links

This post is for anyone in Louisville considering public schools. It can be a little complicated to enroll your child in school here, so I thought I would provide a few helpful links to get you started.

End of Year Resolutions

I've never been big on making New Years resolutions.

However,

I've missed my car

I love my car.

My fuel efficient, reliable, petite little Honda Civic. It's a good car, but it is starting to show its age. Nothing major, just little things that start to wear out over time. I can't complain, though. When I got the Civic, it was three years old and had about 30,000 miles on it. That was back in college. Now, it is over eleven years old and has nearly 150,000 miles!

Anyway, to the point-

My Princess

If you are looking for a new Netflix series to watch, here is a suggestion:

Summary taken from here:

An ordinary college student, Lee Seol, finds out she’s a princess. The grandson of Daehan Group, Park Hae Young, is put in charge of educating Seol on proper etiquette. However, Hae Young is put in a precarious situation when he finds himself drawn to Seol, the girl who will take away his inheritance if the monarchy is restored.

I really had no idea it was in Korean (with English subtitles) until it loaded up, so I wasn't sure if I would like it. However, it is a really well done 16 episode drama. I think I have learned a lot about Korean culture, too!

Once upon a time, Austin was little, too.

Austin playing golf at Papa Beckman's house

Austin- crashed out watching tv with his snack on his neck

Austin playing bubbles

Austin in the car before his Uncle Matt's wedding- 2009

Peek-a-boo, Remember me?

David sometime in 2010

Homeschool in 30-60 minutes- Really?

There's something that's been bothering me lately about homeschooling. Maybe some of my homeschool mom friends can clear this up for me. My question is this:

How much time does it take to homeschool a kindergartener?

Flashback to 2008 when Austin was the baby

 These are all pictures of Austin when he was David's age. Other than the hair color, I think they definitely look a lot alike.



A Week of Birthdays

Joseph and I are one year and two days apart, so we've always celebrated our birthdays together. (Joseph's the older one.) One fun thing about having birthdays two days apart is that we get to take advantage of free birthday meals at the same time. Today we went to Captain D's. Austin was in school, so we just had David. He just eats ketchup, so we didn't have to buy him anything. :) Just kidding.... sort of. I was going to share my fries and fish, but he really didn't want anything except my soft drink... and ketchup, of course.

Oats

Yesterday, Austin's teacher said something about Austin and "oats." It was loud, so I didn't catch all of what she said. I assumed she said he was sowing his oats. (I'd heard the expression but wasn't sure what it meant.) Upon googling around, I'm pretty sure she said Austin was starting to "feel his oats." (being playful and energetic) If he was sowing oats at this age, we would need to seriously reconsider this whole public school thing! Yikes!