He’s a graduate! Hard to believe kindergarten is over for this guy.
The whole class sang for us with enthusiasm (which is more than I can say for previous graduates).
Cute, isn’t he?
Sam, unable to keep the smile off his face all morning, kept asking Dan and me, “Was my graduation good… or bad?” Of course, it was great!
After all the dads went back to work, some of us moms took our new first-graders out to lunch to celebrate. Then, after a short respite at home, Sam donned his graduation present – a pair of roller blades – and we walked/skated to pick the kids up from school.
Being one of the hottest days so far this year, the kids were begging for some water play. I acquiesced:
With all the activity, it’s no wonder that my new first grader finally lost it. I’m actually surprised he hung on as long as he did. But, with the return of his sister from volleyball camp and a little “push”, he was over the edge…
On Sunday morning, we woke the kids at an unGodly hour so we could attend mass before heading over to a local charity run. There was a 5K (3.1 miles for us Americans) and a 1-mile dash. Because all their friends were doing it (and I threatened encouraged them) Jack, Maria and Sam signed up for the 1-mile dash. Luke was in for the 5K. The only first-grader from his school.
Since Dan ran long on Saturday morning, I agreed to run with Luke to help him through the 5K.
While he’s done a couple before, he tends to sprint and walk and sprint and walk and get burned out. I thought if I could keep him steady, he’d be able to run the whole thing. He did GREAT! I was so, so proud of him! He kept on, even when he wanted to walk, and had an incredible burst of speed that got him over the finish line. He completed the race in 32:45, with his fastest mile his last. Incredible.
Following the 5K, was the 1-mile dash. I checked on Jack and Maria, who were at the front of the pack. Then, I went back to where the younger kids were staging and found Sam, ready to run. I told him I’d run with him. And, was thankful I did. Like the other thousand kids, he took off like a shot… and got trampled. Before ever crossing the start line, he went down hard, on his knee, with another kid on top of him. It was awful. BUT… he got back up, shook it off, and took off again. I was thrilled with Sam’s effort, and he managed to finish in 8:59. (I told him he could tell everyone he ran a sub-9 mile.) Wow – what a change from running club last summer!
After finishing, we grabbed some ice cream and found the rest of the crew. I was astonished, and again thrilled, when I was told that Jack finished his mile in 6:47!
Despite also getting trampled at the beginning of the race (kids!), Maria stayed in, put forth the effort ran the whole race, too. (Also very different from summer running club, where she tended to find a friend and just walk.)
When Luke’s teacher walked with him across the parking lot this afternoon, I was pretty sure she wasn’t coming to pet the dog or coo over the no-longer-a-baby. And, I was right.
“Lukie, Lukie, Lukie. What have you done,” I thought to myself as they approached.
(Oh, how I would HATE to be a teacher during these last few weeks of school!)
Well, it turns out that my sweet Luke and a friend thought it would be fun to have a milk drinking contest during lunch. While the teacher’s back was turned, they helped themselves to three more cartons of milk than they were alloted and started guzzling as fast as they could.
As Luke started on his fourth carton, the teacher became aware of what was happening and moved in to put a stop to it. Luke wasn’t feeling so well by then and began to get up from his seat. His teacher took one look at him and saw the future. She grabbed a trashcan and thankfully, Luke hit the provided target.
Lovely lunchtime entertainment for the classroom, wouldn’t you say? Thank goodness he didn’t cause a chain reaction!
Where does this kind of behavior come from?!? Certainly, not MY side of the family!
I guess I’ve finally gone off the deep end. After posting about the Lego shelf, my friend Katey sent me a message telling me about how she’d just sorted all their Lego. By color.
I asked for pictures, and she provided them. I drooled. And then I spent every spare moment of my next day sorting Lego. By color.
Awesome, isn’t it? The one bin on the top left that isn’t sorted by color holds all the Lego guys and girls, their weapons and accessories.
The boys are thrilled, as it makes it much easier for them to find the pieces they’re looking for. But… will they be able to keep it this way? Or, will the “baby” be able to resist dumping and mixing? I guess we’ll have to see…
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This morning was absolutely gorgeous. Really. It would have been tough to beat our weather no matter where you live. So, after walking the kids to school, I decided that Andrew and I would take Cheerio to the park across the street. After seeing our neighbor with one, I had recently bought a Chuckit! and was eager to try it out. I wasn’t sure how it would go, though, as Cheerio loves to chase balls, but isn’t that great about giving them back. Plus, she likes to run off.
I filled my pockets with treats, grabbed AP (who grabbed the new toy), and leashed up Cheerio.
Wow! That Chuckit! can make the ball FLY and Cheerio was all about going after it. And, she brought it back! Andrew and I had a blast watching her run. After just 4 or 5 throws, she was done and we headed home.
Not wanting to go indoors, we all hung out in the backyard and I finally finished a project I had had in the works for a little bit.
I had seen this on Pinterest, and while I didn’t think I wanted to do all of that, I knew I could do the slide. Problem was, I didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on a slide (they’re not cheap). Then… lo and behold, some neighbors put TWO slides (and what was left of their play system) out on the curb for trash pick up. Whooo hooooo! What a score! I sent my boys down the street to collect the better looking of the two and then it sat in our garage (much to my husband’s annoyance) for several weeks.
I haven’t posted much lately because Pinterest is stealing all of my time. It’s ridiculous. Now, if I could just create some of the six billion things I’ve seen and liked, I wouldn’t feel like such a bum.
I did manage to make this the other day, and only for the cost of glue, as I had the other materials on hand:
Now Lukie can display his Lego creations securely.
When he saw his new shelf, he was THRILLED. Until he found out I cut up his base plates to make it. Then there were tears.
Our parish women’s council held it’s annual fashion show fund raising event this past Friday night. Because I helped with some of the print materials needed, Maria was invited to participate as a model. She was SO EXCITED!!!
I picked her up early from school so that she and a couple of friends could have their hair done up for the big night. I wish I could do her hair like this! (And that she’d sit as patiently for me – without screaming – as she did for the stylist.)
Back of hair
Top of hair
Ready to go!
We arrived at the venue in time to help with the set up. Maria did a great job with her assigned tasks, and I think she enjoyed being around just women and girls for a while. (Never once did she ask what the boys at home were doing without her there!)
While I sold raffle tickets, Maria was called to the stage for practice. She and the other kids worked on their catwalk moves until it was time to eat.
Practicing and playing
Once the kids finished their meals, they headed downstairs to change into the clothes that they’d be modeling. Then they just had to wait their turn while the rest of us enjoyed the show.
Here she comes!
Doing great!
So pretty!
After the show, we stuck around for the raffling of prizes (didn’t win that iPad, darn it!) and then headed home to the boys.
Jack entered the realm of the Double Digits last week, as he turned 10.
I had asked him a few weeks back what type of cake he’d like (when will I learn?!?) and he said he wanted a Captain Rex head. Terrific.
It wasn’t too hard to find 3-D (’cause it HAS to be 3-D) Captain Rex cakes, but almost all of them used fondant. No way am I going there. I dug a little deeper and managed to find someone who made one with butter cream frosting. It really looked pretty good, and not too hard, so I set out to copy it.
Jack, thankfully, was thrilled with my efforts:
He was equally thrilled with his gifts:
As were his siblings:
The fish’s name – a Betta – is aptly named… Captain Rex.
We celebrated Andrew’s two-ness with a rocket ship cake and some great presents. Then a few days later, Gran took him to Build-A-BearDog where he made “‘Night’Night” and dressed him in overalls. Once he got the hang of that animal-stuffing machine, it was hard to pull him away!
Andrew has been practicing his new age by throwing a couple of colossal fits, and he’s talking more and more. But mostly he’s still my sweet baby boy… for a little bit longer, anyway.
First day back from Spring Break. We didn’t quite have it together.
#4 couldn’t find a good pair of pants. And then couldn’t find the right socks. Sister and Gran tried to help. Not good enough.
#2 didn’t want to eat ANYthing
#1 put soap on #2′s toothbrush
#5 fed the dog his cereal (after eating all the marshmallows himself, of course)
#3 was obsessed with the human gastrointestinal tract
#1 couldn’t fit into his pants (which were the right pants and fit a week ago!!!)
Finally, on the verge of lateness, as I was buckling the baby into his car seat, the car alarm sounded. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I scrambled around, putting the key into the door (BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! ), putting the key into the ignition (BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! ), hitting the panic button on my key fob (BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! ). Nothing worked!!! The kids went crazy (what great fun to wake the neighborhood this way!)
It dawned on me, finally, that it was the OTHER car whose alarm was sounding. I hit the button and was rewarded with blessed silence (from the car, not the kids).
Down the street we sped. I couldn’t get the kids out of the van fast enough.
As I drove home, Andrew tried to tell me something. Louder and louder he got as he became more and more frustrated. “Buuuhhhh,” he said. “Buuuuhhhhh!!!” he wailed. As I pulled into the driveway and looked at him over my shoulder, I realized what he was trying to tell me. “Buckle.” I hadn’t finished buckling him! I guess I had snapped the chest strap but was interrupted by the car alarm before completing the buckling process. Thank goodness we only live a few blocks from school.
