Wordless Wednesday - Boy and his Dog

Random Post and Updates

I forgot wordless Wednesday so I am going to start my post with a picture I took this week while out on a walk. The girls are big enough for the wagon and they are super cute riding in the wagon together, talking, playing, laughing, giggling. Purely magical.

The Wagon:

I actually have had the wagon since my mother-in-law bought it for the dude's first birthday. It got used a lot when he was younger then sat outside for the last few years until this year when I started using it again. The only thing I had to do was order new straps from Radio Flyer and it is as good as new. Love when toys and stuff can be passed down. I think it will get a lot of use this Fall and next Spring/Summer for little walks around the neighborhood and if I get real ambitious to the pool next summer, but that is a long walk.

The dude is doing good and is actually turning 8 this week. Pretty big deal! I still can't believe how big he is getting. This was the first year that he has realized he is younger than most/all of the kids in his class. He got mad when I put 8th Birthday Party on the invite. Said, "why'd you have to write that?" Um, I think because that is what you are turning. But, he is very excited about his upcoming party. Wondering if he will get presents on his actual birthday and for his party. I think we will do a small dinner/cake/presents on the actual day.

Baby D was sick this week and I took her to doctor only to realize that she had ruptured her ear drums and had a sinus infection. Her only symptoms were she was a little cranky Sunday night and Monday she had stuff oozing from her ear. She is a real trooper and never really complained. The doctor even pointed out that she is cutting her molars. I am surprised she is not complaining much because she really let us know when her first few teeth were coming in. Screeched, cried, gnawed non-stop. Of course, when you start teething at 3 1/2 months, I am sure it is pretty uncomfortable.

In big news for Miss M, she is wearing underwear (or panties as she calls them) starting this week. I am pretty impressed with how well she has done, too. On Monday she had one accident at lunch, I am sure she thought someone would steal her food at daycare if she left the table. Tuesday it was during outside time, she couldn't be bothered to finish peeing on the potty when she could be outside playing. Wednesday was at snack time and right after the picture above was taken. No accidents on Thursday or Friday. Still in diaper at nap and bed time, but I am getting closer to only have one in diapers vs. two. Her quote of the week "Mama, I big girl, go pee pee potty!"

Wordless Wednesday Dude's Dream House

Third Grade

The dude started third grade this week. We had meet the teacher on Thursday and his teacher seems really nice. She engaged him in conversation and he shook her hand, so I got a good feeling. I then got good reports from the other three teachers I know at the school really well. I think it will be a good school year. He is not very eager to be back in school, told her he'd rather be at home. I see all these parents posting how excited their kids are and he's just not. But, he does excitedly tell me about his new friends and a little about his day, so I think it will be alright.
He looks so much older this year.

Third Grade:




Second Grade




First Grade




Kindergarten

Vote for my CuteKid

I submitted a picture of the Dude for the CuteKid contest. Vote for him.

http://www.thecutekid.com/ckgallery/votemypic/email/1638

My Baby is 5

My little Dude turned 5 yesterday. Here are a few pictures of my guy on his 5th birthday.

Profile Shot:


Me and C:


The family:


Christopher and his cousin Savannah:


Three shots of my absolutely cool and handsome dude!






He had a good birthday and I cannot believe he is 5 already. He is getting so big!

What I sent in C's Pocket Today

Last night our conversation was this:
C: "Mom, do you think you could write down our phone number?"
Chris: "Why do you need the phone number written down?"
C: "Kierston wants our phone number so she can call and tell us that she can come to my party."

Oh my, it is starting already and we are only in Kindergarten, girls want his phone number. I am sure he will be asking girls for theirs, too. Ahhhhhh!

This is the same Kierston who he he was crying because he said the principal would not allow him to invite her to his party. We managed to work something out and I sent an invite to Kierston. He says she is coming, but I haven't heard. If her mom is anything like me, she lost the invite and this is how the phone number conversation started. She needed it so her mom could call. At least that is how it would have happened in our house.

So this morning, I sent him with the phone number in his pocket so he can give it to Kierston.

Bye, Bye Summer

Just had to share a shot from our September Beach trip to Wrightsville Beach. Got a picture of the twinkies, Gabby and Derrick, and the dude at the end of the summer after they spent hours in the pool and on the beach. Despite using tons, i.e. several bottles, of sunscreen, they tanned. They tanned a LOT! Christopher went to the Beach with the Twinkies three times and we went to the pool even more, then the camping trip that had a pool. He is so lucky to have such great friends to make such great memories with! So Gabby was okay with the shot, C was trying hard to be modest (for once) and Derrick was trying to show it all!
This is cute!

Football and Cheerleaders

When I wrote about the football game, I totally forgot about the cheerleaders. One of C’s favorite parts of the football game was the CHEERLEADERS. It was really cute.
Mom, look at the cheerleaders.
Mom, where is that cheerleader going.
Can I go watch the cheerleaders do flips?
That cheerleader just hugged her boyfriend.
That cheerleader just kissed her boyfriend.
I am going to cheer with them, Go Hawks Go, Let’s Go Hawks, Way to go Hawks, etc….
That cheerleader has a sweatshirt on, why does she have a sweatshirt on.
Does the other team have cheerleaders?
The other team has a boy cheerleader.
Why is the cheerleader so high up?
I was telling my mom about the football game and how enamored he was with the cheerleaders and we just laughed. It is so the dude. He loves girls.

Soccer Game

C is playing Fall soccer now and seems to be enjoying it much more than T-Ball. I also enjoy watching it more than I did T-Ball. He had a really good game this past Saturday. He seems to have learned to take the ball and turn it around with his foot. He is the tallest and has the longest skinniest legs of any of the kids. His coach is pretty impressed with how well he is picking up the game (but he may be telling that to all the parents, heehee). He scored two goals on Saturday! He did make a mistake though that was pretty funny. He was kicking the ball along the sideline and doing really well and was getting close to bringing it in toward the goal, when he reached down and tried to nudge the ball with his hand to keep it straight. It was so cute! He has two games this weekend, so I am looking forward to those.
We are also going to an NC State Football game! I am super excited about that. It will be so much fun. We went to our first local high school football game this past weekend with C. Chris and I had gone to see a few when I was pregnant, but we hadn’t been to see another one since. C was so excited and really got into the game. He was rooting for the team and picked a player to cheer for (even when said player was not even in the game). I am sure the kid was like who is that kid cheering for me? He fell asleep during the last few minutes of the game and we went home. I still can’t believe he fell asleep in all that loud noise of the stadium. I carried him back to the car and by the time we got to the car my arms felt like jello. I guess the 3 pounds he gained to bring him to a whopping 40 even makes a difference.
Here is the video of the soccer goal:

Funnies of the Day

There were two really funny things C said yesterday.

1. I was brushing his hair getting ready for school. He had a few knots and it hurt him. So he says, “Mom, why are you so hard headed?” I was laughing so hard. He totally didn't get how it came out.

2. Last night at bedtime the master manipulator says as I am putting him to bed. “I don’t get it, how can you leave your child all alone in their room every night?” Seriously! He really doesn’t like to sleep alone, but even more so hates that I may get to watch TV after he goes to bed. He is back into the routine of sneaking into my bed almost every night. Oh well, maybe he will stop by the time he goes to college.

Dude Started School - Kindergarten

Dude had his first day of staggered entry that our local schools do for Kindergarteners. It is a school day during the week and the kids come in just one day for assessments. Then the teachers call you that Friday and you find out who your kid’s teacher will be. C started on Wednesday, August 27th. I was so nervous. I took him to school with my mom and we sent him off. They didn’t let the parents past the hallway that leads to the Kindergarten hallway. He looked a little nervous walking back holding the teacher’s hand. But, he was pretty excited to be starting K.
Mom and I spent the day having coffee, shopping, eating lunch, and picking out school supplies for C. Then we headed back to the school at 2:40 to get him. He was exhausted. He then proceeded to say that he had the “worstest day ever in his life because I picked him up”. Apparently he had been looking forward all day to riding the bus home. Unfortunately I was a bit over-protective and didn’t let him ride the bus on the first day of school.
Since a picture is worth a lot, here is C before school and after, you can really tell how tired he was.

Cooking Class - Last Session

Well, cooking class session #3 was not as big of a hit as the previous two. The first item made was pickles in a blanket. It consisted of a piece of turkey, cream cheese, and a pickle rolled and then sliced and served with a toothpick. He informed his teacher (and everyone else) he did not like pickles or cream cheese. The next item was stuffed celery. This was a mixture of cream cheese (yeah the stuff he does not like), crushed pineapple, and minced maraschino cherries spread onto celery. He apparently does not like cherries either. Sigh.
The last item was the only hit for him. It was Peanut Cheerio Pretzel Mix. Not sure what all was in it but it did have peanut butter, peanuts, honey, vanilla, pretzel snaps, peanuts, and cheerios. All things he liked, yay! Success, third time's a charm for him. All the kids loved this last item. No pics of the cooking class items since the first two we did not bring home and the last was quickly devoured by us and unfortunately, the dog ate some too after we went to bed. Darn Calvin! At least he saved me some calories.
He has told his teachers at school he is allergic to cheese. He does not want anything that has cheese, is remotely cheesy, has a texture of cheese, smells like cheese, etc. I thought it was pretty funny that he was able to grasp that other kids did not have to eat something if they were allergic to it, so he would claim an allergy to cheese, seems pretty smart to me. Hubs did not think it was very funny.

Homework: Homemade Paint

For the dude's homework last night , we made homemade starch finger paint. (See below on directions how). It was a lot of fun for both of us. He loved painting with his hand. He said, "Ms. Jessica says if you mix these colors it makes purple!" It did make purple. If you look at the finished piece, it is mostly purple. I got my hands in it, too. It felt pretty cool.

Of course I procrastinated (was due today). I had to go to three stores to get the soap flakes (or powder laundry detergent) because I was too cheap to pay $6.99 at Target just to use it to make paint. Then the Family Dollar did not take credit. Next had to run home to get one more quarter so I could pay for it at the Dollar Tree. It was all worth it and I am glad we did it, since it was so much fun. Oh and I used my camera time for the first time and set it on the counter to take the one of the two of us holding the paint.

We made 4 different colors of the paint.

Calvin wanted to be part of the art project.

Look at my Goopy Hand! My finished Masterpiece!

What you need?
1 cup of cornstarch, 1 cup of water, 4 cups of boiling water, 1 cup of soap flakes, and paper to paint on
What you do?
Dissolve cornstarch in one cup of water. Add remaining water and cook until thick and glossy. (Cook on medium initially and then low). Next, add one cup of soap flakes. Cool and add tempera paint if a specific color is desired. Explore new finger paint with your child.
Variation
Have your child create a picture using the new finger paint created. Take pictures documenting you and your child making the paint and then exploring the finger paint. Have your child bring in the photos and/or painting to share with the class.
Value
Appreciation, Discovery, Mixing, Following Directions, Color Recognition, Creativity, Pride, Textures

Circus

This morning we saw a commercial for a circus and dude talked about how we went to the circus. The Ringling Brothers Circus was in town earlier this month. We went last year and were pretty excited to go again. He loved it! It was very cool. My favorite part is the elephants and the dude agreed with me. Hubs thought the Lion Tamer part was probably the coolest. We managed to score some discount tickets but they are still $costly$. We talked with some friends and discussed the costs and between admission, parking ($10), snacks ($9.50 for a drink and popcorn), and tickets, you're talking $100 for an afternoon out. Yikes! If you decide to get a little souvenir or picture on the toy elephant, both of those will run you an extra $20 each. We opted out of those.

The theme song was "You're so Beautiful" by James Blunt. This is one of the dude's favorite songs, he used to sing this song all the time before we expanded our kid's music collection to have more of a selection of songs, his faves now are Kids Bop CD's. He had not forgotten the words to the "Beautiful Song" as he calls it. He was singing right along. Just like children's TV shows and movies, there is a bit of an adult theme I guess to keep the parents entertained while the kids may or may not be oblivious to it. This year one clown was in love with one of the acrobat girls. I don't think he got it, per se. There was one funny where the girl climbed on this very tall pole and was swaying on this pole practically right above us and he said, "Mom, look at her bum bum!".

A few pics from the circus:

Super Heroes

I think most little boys love to dress up as super heroes. The dude loves them all! He had a little buddy Eamon over last night and they dressed up as Buzz Lightyear and Spiderman. They were so cute running around in their costumes. The dude has a buzz lightyear room, he has a nice wall mural with a moon, Little Green Men (LGMs), space ship, stars, Buzz, and Zurg. He has some glow in the dark stars, too. I took the opportunity to take some pictures in front of his wall mural.