First Day of Preschool

Yesterday was Carson's first day of Preschool. He was pretty excited to go back and see all his friends. The conversation when I picked him up went something like this...

Me: How was your first day of school buddy?

Carson: Mommy there was new friends in my class.

Me: Oh, what are their names?

Carson: I don't we had to wear nametags.

Me: Well that helps Mrs. Lunder remember your name but she probably knows your since you were in her class last year. What else did you do today?

And pretty much in one breath it went something like this...

Carson: I got to play on my playground and we didn't go to the gym and Mrs Lunder told us to use quiet voices inside and loud voices outside and we sang some new preschool songs and we ate cheese crackers and I still have some in my backback. Can you hand me my backpack so I can get them out? And I drew you a picture and we had water in these little cups and we had to be careful not to spill andI painted my hand and I got to play with Andrew and Rory and Chayden and Westin but Chayden and Rory are friends and there were some old girl preschool friends in there too.

Phew...I was wore out just listening to it all!

This year he'll be going 3 days a week and next year, although I'd like to not talk about it, he will start kindergarten. Hard to believe this little guy is 4.5.

Westin and Andrew and Carson playing at the train table.

Future Soccer Star

A few pregame stretches.

Learning to roll it off the bottom of his foot.

And Declan thought it was fun to wear my shoes while I watched Carson.

A cute video of Carson trying to figure out how to bounce it off his knee.

Goggles

Someone is having fun with their new swim goggles.

Spring Program

Carson has his spring program this morning. Based on our experience with the Christmas program I wasn't expecting much. You see he didn't sing, dance or move at Christmas mostly pouted. This morning at breakfast we told him he better sing loud so mommy and daddy could hear him. His response was for us to sit in the front row. Sneaky devil. We didn't quite make it to the first row. Some of those parents must show up at the crack-o-dawn to get their seat because we were there 25 minutes early and they were all gone. Ah, the pressure of being the front row parent. But we did get ourselves an end seat so that was a plus.

Mr. Carson some how scored himself the all important position of Line Leader as they all came in.

And he got to stand by his best friend Andrew so all was right in preschool world.

Watching 36 preschoolers sing and dance is hilarious and so entertaining. Some barely moved and were very stiff (like the boy in the tie on the bottom left) others were singing at the top of their lungs and dancing like a crazy child, one child when the teacher announced what song they would be singing shouted, "not again" (I think its been non-stop practice for a few days) and yet another child was jumping off every step of the bleacher. What a hoot! I can't wait for the next program.

Playing the hand bells (our camera batteries died on us so its a short clip).

Singing Whose the King of the Jungle.

My favorite song they sand...I Just Want To Be A Sheep.

Future Artist

Carson's last "real" day of preschool was yesterday. Tomorrow they have a school program and next Tuesday is a park/fun day. So yesterday was the big day that all the school supplies and every last paper came home in his backpack. He was so excited about it that it was the first thing out of his mouth when I picked him up and the whole car ride home (which included a trip through the car wash). When we got home he ran right upstairs with his backpack and insisted that I sit next to him so he could show me all his stuff.

He pulled out his supply box to show me all his markers, glue, scissors, crayons and pencils. I noticed that all (seriously ALL) the crayons looked like they were brand new, just like when I sent them to school back in September. I asked him if he even used his crayons and his reply was, "No, I like my mawkews bedda." Really? He has to be the only kid who comes home with perfect crayons after 9 months of school.

The teachers did put together a portfolio for each kid to let parents see their child's progress in name writing, cutting, tracing and my personal favorite, self portraits. I took some pictures so you could see just how far our budding artist has come, it's quite impressive.

This was his first attempt at a self portrait in Sept. No mouth, just some eyes and a nose.

October's version included some arms, legs, mouth and even some hair.

January is pretty close to October just a little bigger. But his arms are now coming out of his head.

And this my dear readers would be April's version. He's even got feet and ears!

A boy and his bike.

Instead of birthday cake on Carson's actual birthday I convinced them that DQ was way better. Carson tried to argue with me that he "needed a birthday cake" but my pregnancy determination was successful in convincing him he did not. This mama was "caked" out. So before presents we stopped at DQ for some chocolate dipped cone goodness.

Opening presents.

Trying on the new helmet.

Trying out the new bike.

He's pretty shaky on it but wants to get on there.....every 5 minutes. So we keep practicing.

And of course Declan can't get by without his turn.

Happy Birthday Carson

I can't believe my baby is 4. Four years ago today we became parents and I remember it as if it was yesterday. I remember laying there for what felt like minutes until they final announced, "It's a Boy!" And we were introduced to a 9lb 6oz healthy baby boy that would forever change our lives.

A baby that would turn into a little boy who every morning around 5am quietly enters our room and asks to sleep with his daddy. A baby who now asks for peanut butter and jelly every day for lunch. A baby who now says Please and Thank You after everything (including me wishing him a Happy Birthday this morning). A baby who tonight will be the proud owner of a 16 inch bike without training wheels. A baby who in just 17 months from now will enter Kindergarten. A baby who is so very much looking forward to the arrival of his new brother or sister (he would prefer a brother!).

Carson you are the light of our world. You have brought your daddy and I so much joy. We are so proud of you and today we wish you a very Happy 4th Birthday! We love you Little Man!

Yesterday it was Carson's turn to bring birthday treats to school. Which also means he gets to be Line Leader, a position that is highly guarded in the preschool world. All his preschool friends sang Happy Birthday to him and he was enthroned with a sticker and a birthday hat!

We celebrated Carson's birthday last weekend. We headed to Space Aliens for dinner and some games.

Aunt Georgia and Declan being silly.


Carson wanted a Transformer Cake. We convinced him that doing a Decepticon symbol was the best (and easisest). It supposed to be purple but we didn't have the right food coloring so we convinced him that green would work.







Declan helping Carson open his presents.

A new Transformer.

Another new Transformer.

A baseball glove.

And a bat to go with.

Say What

Yesterday in the grocery store the boys and I turned down the aisle and there was a lady where shorts. Why she was wearing shorts I'm not sure but around here once it hits 50 then everyone breaks out the flip flops, shorts and capris and they don't get put away until next winter. Regardless of the fact that it was 21 degrees when we left for the store. Here is how our converstaion went at an audible level to the girl...

Carson: Hey mommy that girl's not wearing any pants.

Me: No, she has shorts on.

Carson: Nope she's not wearing any pants.



This morning in church as we were settling into the pew the pastor turned around and Carson looked at me and exclaimed...

"Mommy, that guy has a big belly like you have a big belly."

Pajama Day

Last week was Catholic Schools Week and to celebrate Carson got to wear PJs to school.

Mrs. South Dakota also came for a visit.

And everyone got to try on her crown. Doesn't he look thrilled?

Deer Hunting Weekend 2

In less then a week Trevor and I have spent $150 at the clinic and pharmacy. We now have a mini pharmacy in our bathroom.

Cough medicine for the boys, eyes drops for me and everything else goes to Trevor who is the proud owner of bronchitis and some pneumonia.

Needless to say the last few days/week have pretty much been a fog. Last Friday we had the day from H-E-double-hockey sticks. Here is a run down of how it went.

10am - Trying to get gas at a gas station when an old lady backs into me. $430 in damage to my bumper....basically a scratch.

12pm- At Target for lunch with daddy when I go to the bathroom and notice my eye is red. Don't think too much about it and just hope its a little irritated

1pm - Leaving Target when the boys lock themselves in the car with our only set of keys. Luckily Trevor was able to "teach" Declan how to use the unlock button on the keys. (Now, he wants to do it all the time.)

3pm - Notice my eye is getting redder and I begin to wonder if I may have pink eye. Contemplate for an hour if I should call the doctor.

4pm - Call the doctor to see if they can call in a prescription for me since we are headed to the farm and the nearest clinic is a ways away. The nurse informs me that she can't do that...I must come in. Lovely.

4:30 - Carson wakes up from his nap and complains of a stomach ache. For the next hour I wonder if he is sick and think about taking his temp but assume that he is fine. (Mother's Instinct people....listen to it!)

5pm - I'm in the bathroom and Carson is in the living room I hear him cough and know instantly this can't be good. I run to the living room where he starts puking and I carry him as fast as I can to the toilet. All the time he's puking over everything. And let's just say most of it DID NOT land in the toilet but instead on the walls and floor.

6pm - We try to figure out if we should even go out of town for the weekend but Carson seems fine. We eat dinner and load up the car.

8pm - Car is packed and we are out the door but not before a stop at Acute Care to get something for my pink eye

9pm - $50 later and I have some medicine for the pink eye that is now in BOTH eyes.

11pm - On the road. Kids STILL awake. We decide to make one last pit stop before they fall asleep. As we are pulling into the gas station Declan starts throwing up. Good News: I had a bucket in the car and managed to catch most of it. Bad News: He had been drinking milk.

1am - We reach our destination with two passed out kids and two very worn out parents.

So most of our deer hunting weekend was spent being lazy. The boys and I stayed in our pjs until dinner time Saturday. Some days that's the best medicine. They were pretty zoned out.




But now they seem to be back to their usual crazy selves.

Carson came home with 2 drawing the other day. When I asked him what they were he told me he couldn't remember. But then after some deep thoughts he thought this one was supposed to be him. (It's supposed to be Jesus)

It looks like the Tiger has some stripes and a few appendages. That's a start.

A 3yr olds attempt at watercolors.

He told me that some paint did get on the paper. I'm not so sure I believe that statement.

A Random Video

Just a little video I shot a few weeks ago. Declan was doing this crazy jump move into the splits. He does it best right at the beginning of the video. And Carson was enthralled with his stomach that was making some crazy noises, must have drank too much milk.

Enjoy

Sometimes they make you laugh so hard you cry or cry so hard you laugh

The chocolate chip cookies were a hit. At least according to Carson they were. And he got to be Leader for the day. Except for a moment when his friend tried to take his spot. I image there was some sort of preschool take down match between the two of them. OK, maybe not, but Carson was pretty clear that he got the Leader spot back.

It's barely after noon and the boys are already in bed. This may be due to the fact that BOTH of them woke up WAY to early (read 6AM) this morning. Seriously, nothing good can come of a day when they are up at that ungodly hour. No wonder I drink Coke. Its the only thing that gets me through days like this. Hopefully a long nap will clear up any crabbiness left in their wee little bodies.

I had my first night of Religious Education last night. Let's just summarize and say the kids were awful. 12 first graders, 9 boys and 3 girls. I'm not really sure what I am going to do, if I'll even continue teaching. I thought younger aged kids would be "easier" but if last night is a sign of anything, I was WAY wrong. It's frustrating because I was looking forward to doing this. But we'll see, I haven't given up hope just yet.

We've been weaning Declan off his plug for awhile now. He's done pretty well with it. He gets it only at nap time and bedtime and he knows that he can only have it when he is in his crib. I used to keep them on my tall dresser so he couldn't see them but I could easily get to them. Well the other day I started making him set them on his dresser after nap and after a few days I had 3 or 4 gathered there. I was cooking dinner on Monday night while Trevor was at work. When dinner was ready Carson came running in and sat at the table but there was no Declan and that's when I noticed it was pretty quite around here. S0 I went looking for him and found him in his room. He had pushed our big stool over to his dresser, climbed on top of the stool and was sucking on the plugs one at a time....completely enjoying himself. Stinker! Needless to say, they are back in my room now.

We have an area behind our chair that is open and when you are walking down our stairs you can reach that area through the banister. Makes a great place to store junk, just ask my husband! It is also a place where our kitties often curl up and sleep. When the boys are on the stairs they like to reach over and give them a pet. Yesterday I ran out to the car to get some cars for Carson that he left in there. As I was walking back through the garage I heard a loud thump and then screaming. When I opened the door I found Carson laying on the floor screaming and holding his head. I picked him and gave him some loves. When he calmed down I asked him what had happened. He said he fell down the stairs. I said well how did you fall. His reposnse between sobs was....
"I was coming down the stairs and I stopped to talk to Jenna (our kitty) and I tripped."
I wonder if Jenna talked back?

Usually when I tuck Carson into bed we review how our day has been. Today as I ducked into his bed to say goodnight (or is it goodnap?) he said to me (before I even started talking)...
"I wuv you all da time mommy and I wuv daddy all da time too."

Oh, it's moments like that that make this the BEST job in the world.

And lastly, a little video of the crazy boys in the tub the other night.

Ramblings

Carson was requested a "samwich" everday for lunch for at least the past 2 weeks. And he's gotten it every time he asks. For a moment I feel guilty but then I realize just how easy it is to make PB&J and I succumb to the pressure of coming up with something else. Today I wanted to stop and grab something for lunch but he insisted on having a "samwich."

At school the kids take turns bringing snacks. Thursday is Carson's turn. And for some reason I have snack anxiety. You see snack time seems to be the thrill of the day for all 3 year olds. Every parent has the same conversation with their child as they walk out the school door, "What did you do in school today?" and you can hear every child answer the same thing, "We had ____ for snack today." It's quite comical actually and makes me want to provide the best snack ever so I can hear the comments from all the little people when school is over! Oh the pressure!

So I've kept track of what's been served. I mean we don't want to have any repeats. No ma'am, not in this house where we eat PB&J for lunch everyday. I've also asked Carson a few times what he would like to bring. His answers have varied, Samwiches, apples, crackers, cake, little cookies. It seems his answers go along with whatever it was they had for snack that day. Today it was a little cookies so he insisted I make little cookies for him. I said how about big cookies? And he gleefully agreed. So I guess I'll be making a batch of chocolate chip cookies for him.

Now, what to bring for show-n-tell??

We started swim lessons last night. Declan is in his last session of parent-tot. And he's the biggest and oldest kid in his class. He's probably a little past being in that class but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be able to stand up because he is so short. So last night he sang along with all the songs, screamed hello to his daddy in the balcony and insisted on squirting me with his frog toy the whole time. The other babies (and they were babies, most under a year) sucked their thumbs and giggled. It was pretty comical to see the difference in them. Carson loved his lessons too. No fear in going to his teacher and he hopped right in!

This weekend it was time to bust out our door to the garage. It was only a 30 inch wide door so if you were carrying anything it required entering sideways. Plus it was very poorly insualted. So my father-in-law and Trevor decided to install a 36 inch door. By LATE Sunday afternoon my entry way looked like this.

Luckily (for my husband's sake!) the door was installed on Sunday. However, there is still black tape over the deadbolt and a 12 inch whole at the top that needs sheetrock or insulation or both. I have no idea, that is NOT my department. At any rate, the door is awesome and I can't wait to get it all done, get the rest of those weird mirrors off my entryway wall and paint!