First Day

Monday was the Little Mister's very first day of preschool.  He has been looking forward to this day for quite some time! 

Here he is with his dog that he decorated.  The previous Friday at Meet the Teacher we were given a homework assignment to take home the dogs and decorate them with things the kids love.  Since Mister really isn't into drawing we went for stickers.  He was all about the stickers and covered the whole thing in dinosaurs, zoo animals, trucks, boats, planes, and all things space related.  During school they got to tell the other kids about themselves and their dogs.



 One last hug....

I bought some flowers and wrote a quick thank-you note for his teachers for all the hard work they had doneto get ready for the year.  He wanted to carry them in, I thought it was so cute :)

His teachers loved the flowers, and I'm sure they love him too.  How could you not?

Literally forcing a smile here.  This was about the sixth attempt and he could not sit still.  I promise he was excited to be there.  What he was not excited about was having to get his picture taken instead of going to play with his soon to be new friends.

Day One Report:  They had Spanish and got to sit on the rug for story time.  He made a new friend named Ethan and had some kind of bar (not granola and not a cereal bar) and water for snack. He loved school and is excited to go back.

A visit from Grandma and Grandpa

Brad's parents came to visit us last week.

They took us to the acquarium.

And we took them to the zoo.

 

And Brad and I even got a date night while they were here.

We had so much fun spending time with them and enjoying the nice weather we were lucky enough to have while they were here.

 

We LOVE it when they come visit and miss them terribly when they leave.

 

Camping with my loves

Amazing Race!

On Saturday the Little Mister participated in the Splash n' Dash, a 25yd swim and 1/4 mile run.  I was a little worried for awhile because he really didn't seem that thrilled to be there at first.  I wasn't sure if he was nervous, or scared of all the people there or just tired of waiting for his turn since his age group went last.

But half way into our swim, after I got him to look up and see Dad and Baby Sister cheering for him, he perked right up and said "I'm winning!"  He was all smiles for the rest of the race.

After the swim we traded off and Brad took him to the transition area to get on his shirt, race number, and shoes and then they ran together.  He held Brad's hand for most of the race.  Baby Sister and I got there just in time to see them run the last bit and cross the finish line. 

Everyone got a medal at the end but Little Mister didn't seem to let that deter him from calling himself the winner.  The rest of the day it was "Mom, I can't believe I won my race!"

Poor Baby Sister, she wanted numbers drawn on her too, and she wanted to race but she was too young.  Maybe next year. This year her consolation price was playing in the locker room and checking out her  new kicks in the mirror :)

A couple of days later he had another chance for competition with his buddies at an Olympic playdate, thanks to my good friend Angela.  It was some fierce competition!!

Baby Sister even got a medal. Since she didn't participate in any of the events, I like to think it was for the cutest pig tails!

Two!

Baby Sister had a pool party this year for her birthday. Even though a couple of her friends were sick and couldn't make it, we still had a good time. Her party was much simpler. No handmade gifts for the guests, or games, but come on now, I've got two birthdays in six days people!

She definitely knows what a party is but I don't think she completely understood that it was her birthday or even what a birthday is. Her face just lit up though when we sang her Happy Birthday and she was more than excited to open her presents.

We are so lucky to have such good friends to celebrate with!

Some thoughts on being two:

"What's the best thing about birthdays?"
Answer:  "Cake!"  (I couldn't agree more)

"How old are you now?"
Answer:  "Two weeks!"  (almost right)

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Answer:  "Astronaut.  And maybe, I'll see you on the mooooon."

And that's about all I got out of her before she became distracted.

And now some of my thoughts:

It's true that Baby Sister is clingy.  She loves me more than anything,except maybe fruit snacks, and hates if there is a closed door or gate between us.  She likes to sit on my lap while I do almost everything and DOES NOT like me to hold other kids.  She is more shy than her big brother but she is so cute and just so sweet.  Her smile and her laugh can turn around even the worst day.

Some of the cute (and not so cute) things she says and does:

"Great job!"

"Awoven" (eleven)

"No sir, no sir!"

"Bad baby!" (she learned this from her brother who learned it from his Dad - telling the dogs they were bad)

"I'm going to go to a time-out".  And she does.  She will actually put herself in timeout.


She also likes to ask for permission to do things.  So all day long I hear "Mom, can I run/take off my pants/open this cabinet/pull everything out and make a huge mess and you can clean it up?"  Ok, so she doesn't actually say the last one but I know that's what she's thinking.

She will interrupt the song I am a Child of God to specifically request that you sing the "walk beside me" part.

She will say the prayer now, with help, but she does add her own parts as well.  She whispers most of it so softly you can hardly hear it until the end where she yells "amen" and throws up her arms.

In the cutest, sweetest voice you've ever heard she says "Mom, do you want to put me to bed?" 

She adds an "y" to several words...juicy, coldy, hotty, bibby, snacksy.  And sometimes she adds and "ing".  So, instead of saying "it's getting dark", she says "it's darking".  It's actually quite effcient.

And when she is really sad she says, "I want to cuddle".  Who could say no to that?

Calling All Superheroes!

For his 4th birthday, we gave the Little Mister a superhero birthday party. This is my favorite party that I have thrown to date, probably because it's the one I put the most effort into. I guess up until now, although I wanted my kids to have a party with friends and feel special all their birthdays, I've had a hard time putting a lot of thought and time into a birthday theme that they really weren't old enough to appreciate yet. But, four was the year. The Little Mister was all about his birthday party and helped me plan and make the invitations.

It was small, we only invited four friends. It was pretty much his regular playdate buddies, plus his super sweet friend Myah, because really what is a superhero party without a Wonder Woman?

I made capes and masks for each of the kids, loosely based on several of the Justice League characters. When they arrived I gave them their capes and they got to decorate their masks (or crowns/headbands for the girls) and color their superhero pictures. I also had them tell me what they wanted their superpower to be - but only Benjamin seemed to be really interested in that. Oh well...

Next we had some superhero practice...flying (running) and jumping over tall buildings (jumping from the ottoman to the couch) and then they got a break to play while I got lunch ready. Just as we were getting ready for the cake we realized someone had come and hidden it! The newest little superheroes had to follow the clues to find the cake. They were so cute during that part, running around the house finding clues. After the cake was found a couple of them were really concerned about who took our cake. I think they wanted to find that bad guy and fight him :)

Then it was time to open presents. They were all genuinely happy to give a gift and watch the birthday boy open it - definite progress from previous years!



And now some thoughts on being four:

"What is your favorite thing about being four?"
Answer:  "Playing with my friends, and being four". 
He has frequently said things like "this is the first time I've been to the pool/church/gym being four, right mom?"  And he tells everyone he sees that he is four now.  I guess he's pretty excited about it:)

"What's your favorite color?"
Answer:  "All the colors"

"Who is your best friend?"
Answer:  "All my friends are my best friends"

"But do you have anyone you like to play with the most?"
Answer:  "Benjamin, because he has spy toys"

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Answer:  "I told you, I haven't choosed yet!"

"What's your favorite toy"
Answer:  "My silly car"

And some of my thoughts on him being four:

I really can't believe how big he has gotten and grown up.  He asked for, and got, a telescope this year.  Yes, an actual telescope!  And he asked me for weeks if he could get one and was sooo excited when he opened it.  Of course, it hasn't gotten much use yet because it needs to be dark and Brad or I have to help him, but he is so excited to learn about space and can name most of the planets and several nebulae thanks to a calendar from my parents.

And, he's over me.  I mean, not completely.  But, for instance, I thought he would be excited the time that I subbed in his Sunbeam class.  Not so much.  In fact, the second time he told me I couldn't do it  until I convinced him to let me "just one more time" he said.  And when he gave the prayer or read a scripture in Primary for the first time, I thought he would be nervous and want me to be there to help him.  Nope.  He wanted his teachers. 

He asks questions ALL.THE.TIME.  I'm so excited (and a little sad) for him to go to pre-school but I know he will love it.  He loves to learn new things and gets so animated about it.  And he is so good at making new friends.  I'm glad I don't have to worry about that with him.  He makes friends almost everywhere we go - and it's adorable to watch.

He is getting better at expressing emotion.  I'm not sure if he is just copying things he has heard or if he genuinely understands what he is saying but yesterday he told me a) that he didn't want to go to a concert ever because he was "nervous of all the kids in a line" and b) he was "frustrated at Lucy".  Also, sometimes when he doesn't like my answer, he will say "Mom, you are lying to me about that".  Ouch!  But at least he realizes lying is bad.

My favorite part about his birthday was overhearing him say to his friends "guys, I really love all my birthday presents"  BEFORE he even opened them!  So sweet.