It’s been a while since I’ve been on Xanga to catch up. Life has been super busy it seems. Maybe it’s just that life is changing. We wanted to move to Andrews, but it seems we are going to stay here for now.

The biggest change is that my boy is now in Kindergarten. His first day of school was something else. He didn’t care for me walking him into the school. He insisted that he could go by himself. We finally reached an agreement that if he would just let me walk him in that day that I wouldn’t walk him in again. I took several pictures which irritated him to no end. Walking into his school, I felt nervous and shaky…but my Caden was in total control. He was so excited and happy. As soon as we reached his room, he was kicking me out the door. And as soon as I turned around, I had tears welling up in my eyes and was short of breath. I held onto Mattie’s hand as we took the long walk down the hall and out of the doors. One teacher was waiting at her door to greet kids and parents with a warm smile, she was about to speak to me but when I made eye contact with her I simultaneously choked back a sob and the tears just flowed. I did my best not to make contact with anyone else. I get all emotional just thinking about it now! Mattie was so excited to take Caden. She even got one of her bags that is used to carry a stuffed dog and put it on her shoulders and called it her “pack pack.” I let her dress herself.

I’m so thankful to God and his perfect planning because Caden’s teacher is a perfect Kindergarten teacher for him. She had two boys and is no stranger to a little boy like mine. I can’t imagine how he would do with a teacher that had no kids or only had girls. So his teacher, Mrs.Tittle, seems to get a kick out of Caden. He comes home with a calendar. On the calendar he has to color each day with colors that correspond to his behavior. White/Green means he did great, Yellow means he got a warning, Red means the behavior must stop, and Blue means he has been sent to the principal. He came home with several yellows in the beginning. He had a time learning when it’s appropriate to talk and when to be quiet. He has had a few reds, one for flushing all of the toilets in the restroom. One for fighting with another child who was trying to take a toy from him. *sigh* I so appreciate that his teacher gets him. The other day she said, “Caden is a good kid. He really is. He is just all boy. I enjoy him, I had two boys.” I’m so very grateful for her. We attended his open house last night. Caden was thrilled to show us every detail in his room and then took us all over the entire school, including the library, music room, cafeteria, playground, and computer room. I got the biggest kick out of it. His teacher said that he did very good yesterday, that he was the leader and he LOVES being the leader.

Caden is very much into sports and physical activity. He won a “hoop-a-looping” contest in PE. We also have him signed up for PiP which stands for Players in Progress. It’s a basketball organization that focuses on ball handling skills only and character development. He loves it. We went up to Ruidoso the weekend before school started and Caden fell in love with the mountains. He has talked several times about going back to the mountains. Wesley loves the mountains, too. I guess he gets it from Wes.

Miss Mattie is really growing up. She loves taking Caden to school and identifying bus numbers. She has a love for all things girly. However, she has really taken to horses…and loves to wear her cowgirl boots. We go to ballet/tap once a week and she shines. It is the greatest gift to see her gorgeous smile as she dances along. She has also laid claim to one of the instructors and becomes a little territorial if other little girls try to sit or stand next to Miss Hope. Mattie is still very bashful in new social situations. At home, though, she is a chatterbox. If she is trying to talk while someone else is talking, she throws her little arm and hand out in front of her almost in the person’s face and says “Uh, Uh, wed-light, I’m talking.” She does this with such attitude. We watched Dolphin Tale the other day. True to her mermaid form, she said “I want a wimming-pool in our backyard with gol-pins in it.”

Both kids are attending Awanas at the Baptist church here on Wednesday nights. They do a great job of learning their memory verses. They LOVE it and are always excited to put their Cubby & Sparks vests on and get to church.

Wesley went to work for an off shore oilfield company that has purchased several on-shore fields. He is loving the work. It’s a really great company with excellent benefits and we are beyond blessed. The oilfield is booming here and there are jobs everywhere…Domino’s pizza was hiring delivery drivers for $21 an hour! This may be the only place in the country with no shortage of jobs.

I’m still working part-time at the nursing home. After Cody & Katie had Allison, I was reminded how much I love OB nursing though. Let me first just say that my new niece is so perfect and precious! I love her! I would so love to work L&D and then eventually teach nursing. At this point though, my kids are doing so much and I can’t stand the thought of missing anything! I’m taking classes online to work towards my RN. I think I’m just going to do a self-paced program because my family needs a full-time mom. I’m not sure we can handle a campus-based curriculum again. I’ve also been making cakes here and there. I decided to create a website www.whitneyhicecakes.com 

All in all, life is good. I have so much more that I need to share. This is good for now, though. I must have forgotten how to work Xanga because my pictures are small. Oh well, I’ve got to get busy! Love to all!