home alone...

So, Chase started kindergarten today.

There were no tears on either end - we can both appreciate the goodness that is associated with separation!

He could possibly be a little more broken hearted - right when we pulled into the school, he said "bye mom!" - I didn't even have the keys out of the ignition! I informed him that I would not only be walking him to the door, I would also be taking LOTS of pictures!

When we were headed up to the kindergarten area, he saw his BFF! She told him how cute he looked and how cute his backpack was (which was really cool, since she is in 1st grade!!).

He is so excited to be in school

(with his buddy!)

My baby is growing up :(

he takes after his mom...

Cameron received the climbing higher award at school yesterday!
He was excited to be the first one in his class to get the award this year.It reminded me of a time when Bill and I taught a youth class in church with the naughtiest 13 year olds I have ever met (I think my mom called it karma). We talked with the Bishop about how to get some control in the class - having the parents and Bishop attend class didn't work - and he suggested giving one of the leaders of the pack some responsibility. The "leader" was made class president and I think we had better behavior for at least two weeks! Cameron has an awesome teacher this year (who apparently knows the same tricks) and I hope Cameron will be able to live up to his call these next few weeks! He might have to quit sneaking out of his room to play x-box during the night to keep up his "outstanding energy" and I really hope I didn't ruin his "creativity" a couple days ago, when I informed him that he is not allowed to draw smiley faces all over his arms and legs during class!

On a more serious note - Cameron has been off to a much better start this year than last. He is the smartest thing and I am hoping this is the year that he applies himself and sees his potential! We are proud of you bug! Now will you bottle up some of that energy for when you get home so you can clean your room! xoxo mom

first for the last...

Today was the first day of preschool for sweet Chase! He was a little timid to start off, but was enjoying himself by the end!
He did have one minor meltdown when he wasn't able to use the pink marker.
The teacher nicely suggested the rainbow of other colors that were in his box,
but his one and only favorite color is pink and it took him a minute to be OK with the fact that crayola doesn't include precious pink in its box of 8 crayons!Lucky for all, there were plenty of pinks to go around when we went outside to draw the self portraits! His teacher, who has also been Reagan and Wesley's teacher, pointed out the difference in the self portraits over the years. She said the first year we didn't miss a detail
the second year wasn't quite so detailed, but carefully colored...
then she added, while looking at Chase's and my artwork, "and now look!"
Not quite sure what she was trying to say?
But who cares, cause now I have 4 hours a week ALONE! just me and my thoughts!That is 108 hours a year!I can feel the isles at Target calling my name!Some how, it isn't as exciting as I thought it would be!After preschool Chase and I headed downtown to pick up some yummy food to have a farewell lunch with my little sis before she flew back home! (don't worry - his hair will have a TRIM before his next day at school - we don't want to get him mistaken for a sheep dog - a really cute sheep dog!)

no peanuts roasting on the rainbow fire...

with yesterday being
National S'mores Day
I was reminded of these giant marshmallows I found while driving
around forever with a friend looking for some kind of grocery store
any kind of grocery store

anywhere
We finally stumbled across some sort of Mexican food store.
While in there, I spotted the biggest marshmallows I have ever seen
(and yet, they didn't have one peanut m&m in the whole store!!)

we roasted them that night!they were gross! and super sticky! another friend gave me a thing that you throw in your fire pit and it makes colors in the fire - the kids loved it!
All of this reminded me that I haven't posted much of the excitement that has been happening in our busy lives lately! Like, the first day of school a few weeks ago...the boys were excited (and tired) starting their first day!
I will do a whole "I miss Wesley" post when life calms down a bit!I hope these aren't a sign of what kind of school year we are going to have
(because they were the best ones I got - yikes).
They were SO excited to come home everyday!
why? you ask...the dogs were back!!!(and "Kristin", of course)but this is making me miss Wesley again - he is just so cute!
SO, that is about one-tenth of the catching up I need to do
(can you tell Chase is missing the boys when they are ALL gone all day - guess what he wants to do all day? not watch TV, that is for sure!)

3 week summer - HERE WE COME...

The last day of school is here and another year has flown by! I can't believe how young and cute they were going into 3rd and 5th grade!
They have grown up in so many ways!!He was so excited to start kindergarten and has loved every minute of it!
He is equally excited to be in first grade and get to stay at school ALL day (what am I going to do without my buddy in the afternoon - STOP - I am going to start crying before summer starts!)! Apparently I am more concerned about what they look like before they leave the house at the beginning of the year! Wesley's teacher even noticed that he is doing his hair all by himself - I told her not to judge by his last two weeks of school - it's SUMMER!!!!

smart vs. clever...

About a month ago Wesley started having spelling tests.
His teacher let me know that the purpose was to practice for 1st grade and to help them recognize all of their sight words AND that the tests wouldn't be part of their report card. I wanted to use these tests to help him build confidence, so we have worked really hard!
He sailed through the sight words and did awesome with all the colors (thanks to the color songs) and then we got to the numbers.
This week he needed to learn the numbers 5,6,7,8,9,10 and 0!
He couldn't get it!
We tried making up songs, chants, stretching the words - it just wasn't' sticking!
Before he went into class yesterday, I warned the teacher that he might get 6 right - as in the number, not that many! I also warned her that when he stretched it he usually spelled s-e-x instead!
When I picked him up I asked him how he did. He looked a little disappointed and handed me his paper...I almost fainted!
"You remembered them?" I asked.
His (classic Wesley) response, "I couldn't find zero on the wall."!
(thank goodness for a teacher who leaves the answers on the wall and for a boy who is clever enough to look!)

w.t.

today is wacky tacky day at the boys school!
It is the perfect day for our family. I just told the boys they could pick out their own clothes, do their own hair and be themselves! They should be set! I could have been the parent that made up such a day - their are so many reasons it's great...
*finally a chance to use the 2 right-foot rain boots we bought and never got around to returning
*holes in your pants - perfect
*don't have to worry about misbehaved children (they are just being wacky)
*wearing the same shirt as yesterday (trying out tacky)
*it is much easier to find to separate shoes than a matching pair
*no need to wash your jacket, just wear it inside out

I think wacky tacky day should be every Friday!
(Cameron thinks it should be on Thursday - like yesterday, when he thought it was WT {interesting initials} day and came to school dressed appropriately, miss-matched shoes and all - sadly, no one even noticed!)

ain't no mountain high enough...

Reagan received the climbing higher award at school for
best manners & quality thinking!
When living in a house with 5 boys (this is one of the many instances that Bill is categorized with the children), "best manners" isn't a phrase that I hear very often (many of you would be disgusted, as I often am, to sit at our dinner table)! I am grateful that Reagan tries really hard to be polite and for a teacher that appreciates his efforts! His teacher has been teaching for many years and is self-proclaimed "old school". She rewards the class (with fake money) for their good behavior, nice penmanship and many other things. During the 2nd week of school Reagan told us that they weren't aloud to yawn in class - that it was rude and that they had to pay her (again, with fake money) if they yawned while she was talking. I love that the kids in her class are expected to behave the way I was expected to behave at that age! Reagan loves it too - which is one of the many reasons they are a perfect pair!

re-flec-tion: a fixing of the thoughts on something; careful consideration

I mentioned awhile back (here) that Cameron was one of the winners, in his category, in the reflections program. We went to the award ceremony for the next level (15 schools) - Cameron was excited and nervous! He kept saying things like...
some people cry when they don't win
look how many kids are here
& I hope there are still prizes left when I go up It turns out, he didn't go on to the next level, but he did get a participation certificate and chose a little penguin as his prize AND he knows that I am proud of him!! Since it was just the two of us, we decided to get some ice cream on the way home. We were having fun UNTIL he forgot some things about THIS conversation and needed some refreshing! (he now knows about periods too - why doesn't he just ask about Santa - I am prepared for that!!)

i'd like to second that...

Some of you have been leaving some awesome comments like...

"You are the most fun mom ever!" &
"you are too funny!!" &
"Looks like you get to be the favorite mommy too!" &
"you are at the top of my favorite people in my world list."
I know someone who doesn't agree...

meet Cameron. Cameron (and the other boys) have been off track since last Friday (FOR 30 DAYS!!!!). Today I decided to go through his backpack with him.
We found a few unfinished projects.Cameron gets to now do all the work that he could of done in class. He also gets to flatten them out so they will look presentable when he hands them in. If he chooses to sit at the kitchen table and not do anything but talk to himself (like he is doing right now) he doesn't get to have any of his Christmas presents. He is aloud to open them on Christmas and look at them, but he will not get to play with one thing until ALL of this homework is done! I might even throw in an extra book report for good measure! I wonder what kinda comment he would leave right now? I bet it wouldn't be pretty!

last one, I swear...

I realize I have been a little Cameron post crazy - but I have one more
(he has been busy!!). Yesterday we went to the Reflections assembly at the boys school where Cameron was presented with a trophy for winning in the Photography category. (note to self ... help Cameron pick out his clothes next time he is being
presented with an award in front of many people!)
He was really surprised and excited to have won. He didn't really care about entering anything into Reflections to begin with (but I made him, because it gets him one step closer to getting the Distinguished Cub Award at the end of the year - where's the thank you now? huh?)!
His brothers were in the audience cheering for him...Reagan and his buddy "J"
he really was happy for him - really!

Wesley and his friend "C"
he was happy until he saw Cameron walk away with a trophy and realized he wasn't getting one - this was a learning experience for Wes!
(Wesley, along with everyone else - like 450 entries - received a certificate, a few coupons and a zipper pull thing that he thinks is really cool!). This is the picture that Cameron entered. The theme this year is "WOW" - he titled his collage "things that spell out WOW on my way to school"!

never too old to learn...

You can learn a few things by attending "bring your family to school lunch day"
here is what I discovered...

Cameron - he was super excited to get out of class early - he doesn't really care about food - when we got to the line there was a tray of different fruits, a tray with vegetables, a tray with jello and a tray with pizza - I asked him (the very same him who was the cafeteria worker ALL last week) if you were aloud to take something off each tray or just one?? - he didn't know (which means he has had hot lunch for 5 years now and doesn't know what his options are in line - hmmm) - he can eat REALLY fast at school (which is why he isn't in any of the pictures) - and finally, his friends are WAY more important than his mom or brothers (btw - that wasn't a shocker)!
Reagan - the days he has hot lunch are a total waste of money - he can have only ONE item on his tray and still be the last one done - he still likes having his mom there - he really likes showing off his baby brother!
Wesley - will be a good eater next year when he gets to eat at school (finished everything but the cauliflower) - he can carry a tray without spilling - he is starting to make some friends (he asked me about 4 times if he could go say "hi" to people he knew) - he is growing up so fast!
Chase - is a good lunch partner if you are super hungry (he only ate his carrots) - he is starting to enjoy being mauled by 3rd graders who think he is cute - he likes being at school - he is darn cute (well, I guess that wasn't a new discovery, but should be mentioned anyway!).
Me - it isn't easy fitting my legs under cafeteria tables any more - the square, greasy things they use to call pizza 30 years ago were just wrong - it is still fun talking to your friends during school lunch - orange jello with a dab of cool whip is yummy when you are hungry - it isn't easy getting your legs out from under cafeteria tables either!

climbing higher and higher...

Today Wesley was presented with the "climbing higher" award at school. He brought a note home from school on Monday, to invite us to his award ceremony, and has been excited ever since. When I woke him up this morning (the 2nd time), I reminded him of his award - he sat right up and said "today is the day I get to go to the office and climb the wall". I had to explain to him (again) that he doesn't actually get to climb anything but he would get some kind of award - then the questions began - all morning long - about what kind of award? what is an award? etc. etc.
He was so "cute and excited" when he received this award!
Are you wondering why cute and excited are in quotes?
not because I am Joey (one of my favorite Friends episodes)
but, because that is what my neighbor told me
why did my neighbor tell me that?
because I wasn't there!!
WHY???
because I made a mental note about what time it started
my mental note said it started at 9:40
at 8:50 I decided to look at the paper (just to be sure) and realized it really began at 8:40!!!! By the time I arrived they had just finished with the awards and were starting to tape the segment (which airs on Friday) for the morning school news (where they all get to wave to the camera when the principal says their name and why they got their award - it's really cute!)
I FELT HORRIBLE!
It was his first school award and I didn't even know what he did to deserve it (although, I later figured out it was for "working hard and working on his letters")! He didn't really notice that I was late (and probably behaved better because of it) but that didn't stop me from feeling guilty all afternoon (I am over it now, but it was a rough few hours)! To make myself feel better, I went strait to the office afterwards to let them know of their error! They spelt his name wrong - HELLO!!! Westley is the annoying guy on Princess Bride, not my sweet hard worker! The office ladies were bugged nice enough to print me a new one.
One thing that really helped me out of my slump, was when my friend (who shall remain anonymous) called, and I asked her if her child was sick (since he wasn't there to receive his/her award) and she said, what award? (and better yet, the child wasn't even sick - just playing hooky with some out of state family!!) Thanks Kim anonymous friend!

can you say WOW...

This years PTA Reflections Theme is WOW. Reflections is a program that offers students the opportunity to express themselves and receive positive recognition for their artistic efforts. Wesley (my aspiring photographer and camera thief) LOVES to take pictures, so I thought it would be appropriate for him to enter one of the many photos that he has taken. The problem is trying to decide which one. When we were at the fair he had my camera most of the time (and took 100's of pictures). With the zoom lens on (the camera almost out weighed him) I think people thought he was part of the fair entertainment - many were watching him rather than looking at the millions of pigeons (maybe because the all look exactly the same?)!One of his favorite pictures is of this chicken - who looks like he doesn't have any eyes - I kinda think it is more of a WHAT? than a WOW!!this however (the "snapping turtle" - as far as Cameron's memory goes) has a little more WOW factor! YIKES - I mean, WOW! (just wanted to let you know that I have many many many blurry pictures of this same turtle - Wesley takes about 5 pictures a second - odds are one of them is bound to turn out good!)I love this picture (the "alligator snapping turtle" - again, according to Cameron's memory - feel free to correct if you are a turtle expert)! I wish I could teach Wesley photoshop really quick - cropped and a little extra color would say double WOW! But, we will stick to the rules, which means I can't help!This here is the picture he took of the zebra at the zoo today BUT I cropped it so it doesn't count - just thought I would show it to you - you know, the world how Wesley see's it! This is the picture he is taking while I am taking his picture - again, cropped (and a little blurry) so doesn't count! So basically it is down to
1. snapping turtle
2. snapping turtle (yikes)
3. alligator snapping turtle
I am vetoing the weird looking chicken - what says WOW to you???