(not so) big man on campus

It's done!! K has been successfully dropped off at his first day of kindergarden! I imagine by now he's had snack, rest time, lunch, and all sorts of big fun. Too bad it's a rainy day - hopefully he still got some outside play time. I'm so anxious to hear how the day has gone. We had a pretty low key morning. All the bags were packed the night before - school supplies? check. lunch? check. snack? check. towel for rest time? check. K seemed a little excited, though very controlled. Just had a bit of a smirk on his face all morning. He was a little upset about the rain and the potential for storms, but he seemed pretty in control over that, too. Once he realized it was just a drizzle, he had no problem walking up the sidewalk to the building. We found the kindergarden hallway, signed him in, and off he went. That was it! No muss, no fuss. I had to call to him to get him to wave bye. He's always been good about going places - school, babysitters, playdates, Sunday school, drum class, etc. - activity is not something in short supply around here. So it should be no surprise that this was just one more new thing to try. No tears from the grown-ups, either. I'm excited to go on Friday night to meet the teacher and hopefully learn more about what his days will be like. So one day down ... oh, I can't do the math right now... many many many many more to go. :)

K's week

Last week I tried to plan some fun activities for us since it was K's last full week at home before starting school (which starts tomorrow!!!). The week did not start off the way I had planned as I woke up Monday morning very sick and pretty much had to lay on the couch all day. But I was so glad to be feeling better on Tuesday because our good friends the Roberts family came from Virginia to spend the day with us. The kids had so much fun. Maura and I hardly saw the big kids all day since they spent most of their time entertaining themselves upstairs in the kids' rooms. K&A have been asking for another play date with them soon.

Remember when Maura and I just had K & Katelyn? Now we have 7!!!

On Wednesday we had a very fun morning exploring the local arboretum. It was a bit warm, but there was lots of shade and we took lots of breaks and we managed to stay for several hours. I think I overdid it, though, because I felt sick again all afternoon and we had to have a pretty low key day after that.

don't you agree that she is too big for the stroller??? What a nice big brother, though.

On Thursday we went to the kids museum. We hadn't been all summer, so Thursday morning I loaded them into the car but wouldn't tell them where we were going. They kept guessing the whole way there, and K figured it out pretty quickly, but I wouldn't confirm until we were parked in the parking lot. They were so excited and K couldn't wait to check out the Olympic sports area. I could tell he was getting a little old for some of the permanent exhibits, but we found fun things for him, like getting to work with real tools, building a race car and racing it down a track, and of course, the indoor hockey rink was a hit.

trying out flippers on dry land

He loved doing the hurtles

and the hockey - maybe we should scrap the current plans and put one of these in the basement!

it took some patience, but he finally managed to saw off the end of the tube.

I think she makes a very cute pirate!

Thurs night we went out for pizza and then did the bunjee bounce at the mall. It was K's first time doing it, and he had so much fun! Now they are both trying to earn another trip back to do that again ! And of course, Friday I was home sick again! It was frustrating for me not to be feeling well when I really wanted to do as much with the kids as I could, but I powered through and we did as much as we could, and hopefully K had a very fun week!

vignettes

I've not been worrying too much this week about the state of the house. It's K's last full week at home before he starts school, so I wanted to try to do some extra special things to make it fun (more on that later). Today I was remembering how nice and clean and straight everything was last week when the kids were out of town, and I was getting discouraged at all the stuff that's piled up. Then I kind of took a different perspective. As I'm getting ready to send one off to school with another one not far behind him, my days of a household filled with the trappings of preschoolers is numbered. There will be a day when I clean the house and it stays that way for days and days. There MIGHT just be a day when I miss all the piles and colors and papers and other childhood detritus that sometimes drives me mad. So I grabbed the camera and started snapping pictures of some of it, thinking maybe one day I'd actually want to see it again. :)

I bet that when it's just me and G, our pile of dishes won't be nearly as colorful! And while I could fold laundry all day, I find it hard to believe I'll ever miss putting it away...

Better than anything we could ever find in a gallery

Sweeter than any prom dress

what's "cool" to him now

way better than any video game or ipod

only clothing for little ones comes on hangers like these

maybe you CAN have too much of a good thing...

why did i just discover?

Why in the world did I not know about the local arboretum? It figures I would discover this fun place during the last week of summer! I'm too lazy to upload pictures twice, so click the picture below for pictures.

Session anyone? ;)

So Says my Girl

Funny words from A's mouth:

- (back on the ear piercing thing) - She's still talking nonstop about what it would be like to get her "ears appeared." I LOVE IT!

- asking about when were were leaving for today's field trip to the arboretum - "Mom? when are we going to the importance?"

Fancy Princesses

Our dear friends, the Roberts family, spent the day with us today, and as usual, the kids picked up right where they left off and played together like best friends. Maura and I had our first babies together in Maryland, and then our second ones came along together, too, so they've been good buddies for a while. Maura now has 4 little ones (yes - SHE is the awesome mom who drove a van full of kids from VA all by herself just to spend the day with us! How great are you Maura!!), and they are such fun kids.

A came home from a week at grandparents' houses to find a new Little Mermaid costume waiting for her, and she's worn it every day since then. When Katelyn arrived she couldn't wait to show it to her, and within minutes this was the scene on the stairs:

A was so nice to share her new costume with Katelyn. I LOVE it when A dresses up, because she doesn't do it that often, and I think this is the most blinged out I have ever seen her! They switched dresses back and forth all day, playing so nicely all the while having epic battles with the boys - zapping them with their wands and hiding from them under the covers. They went from being pretty princesses to wicked stepsisters and back again. Just too funny! She didn't want Katelyn to leave so she could play princess all the time.


side note - A saw an older girl getting her ears pierced at Claire's tonight, and she went in and asked her if it hurt. Then she fingered a rack of earrings, picking out which ones she liked best. Is this something in her future? I would bet not, but with A you just NEVER know!

what i think

is that there should be a way for moms to call in sick sometimes - like today!  ugh, it is no fun feeling so horrible when the kids all feel fine and want to do everything business as usual.  hopefully tomorrow i will be feeling better.