First Day of Kindergarten and 4K

We're going to pretend for a minute that it hasn't been nearly a year since my last post. Ahh... that feels good.

 Today was a big day in our house. As we were going to bed last night, I really felt like it was the last night that we "owned" our kids. From here on out, they are regular old school kids. We are at the mercy of school schedules and regulations. I just can't believe I have kids that are old enough to be in school full-time already! We open enrolled the boys into the Edgerton School District this year. Sean is attending 4K at the Edgerton Children's Center. He goes to the preschool class in the morning, then he's in 4K in the afternoon. It's a 4 day/week program. Ian is attending Kindergarten at Edgerton Commmunity Elementary School. Our morning are even more hectic than they already were, and much earlier as well. We have to be out the door by 6:55am. First we drop Emmett off at the farm, then we drive into town and drop Ian off at the elementary school. Luckily the teachers stand at the door and usher the Kindergartners into the small gym where they get breakfast and line up for class. Then we head over to ECC where I drop off Sean. Then back track 45 minutes to work for me.

 I took the day off work today so I could be with them on their first days. First we dropped Emmett and Sean off at the farm (Sean was skipping morning preschool today) and took a few pictures of Ian. He was FREEZING which is ironic, because it's been so hot here the last couple weeks. I actually had to search high and low to find a short sleeve shirt that I liked for his first day since all of the stores are already selling fall/winter.

Then we headed off to school. While we were driving, I asked him if he was nervous about anything and he said he was nervous about taking the bus home. I assured him that I'd be there waiting for him today, and Lolo or Lola would be there every day. That seemed to calm his nerves. Parents of kindergartners can come in and drop the kids off in their classrooms on the first day, so we found a parking spot and went in. After last year's screaming fit at his first day of 4K, I was at least expecting a few tears. Not so much! Ian unpacked his backpack, found his name on the table, gave me a hug and a kiss and sat down and started coloring. I was so proud of him! 

Then I headed back to the farm to have breakfast with Sean and Emmett. We got Sean into his school clothes and I took him outside for pictures. He was a total ham as usual.

 Last year before Ian's first day of 4K, I took him out to lunch at Perkins so I had to continue the tradition with Sean and we went to Ray's Restaurant in Edgerton. He chose chicken strips with fries and white milk. I love having one-on-one time with each of the kids because they are just little characters and it really shines through. They talk to much and don't have to worry about getting your attention. After lunch we headed to school. I was pretty certain that Sean would cry. He woke up this morning and was already getting worked up about school. Once we got in, we hung up his bag and Ms. Cathe invited him into the classroom. He started to get upset so I went in with him. More kids were arriving so they all sat down on the carpet and Ms. Kim, his teacher, got the kids singing songs. I was able to leave after a few songs without any issues!

I went home and worked for a couple hours, then headed back to pick Sean up and raced back to the farm to catch Ian coming off the bus. The bus pulled up and the bus drive opened the doors. As soon as Hobbes (Raymond's black lab) saw this, he ran and jumped on the bus! I followed after him and Hobbes just made himself at home in the back of the bus. All the kids were petting him and loved it! I initially panicked because I didn't see Ian, then I saw him sound asleep in the second seat of the bus! I woke him up, called Hobbes, and we made the long trek down the driveway.

This is when we discovered Ian's only "bad" thing about his day. Apparently Charles forgot to pack a spoon for his applesauce. He asked his teacher for one, but she didn't make it back in time before lunch ended so he put the opened applesauce container back in his lunch bag, which of course spilled everywhere and leaked into his backpack. He was not happy with Charles over this! If this is the worst that could happen though, I'm considering the day a success! Below are a few more pictures I got of the boys after school.

Labor Day Weekend

It would only be appropriate that this year it would be 90 degrees+ on a weekend when we are normally in jeans and long sleeve shirts. But it was the boys' favorite holiday of the year (yes, even more than Christmas perhaps), so we spent a full day of our Labor Day weekend at the Rock River Thresheree.

Ian and Sean save up all their money for the entire year for this weekend. They earn their money by helping Grandma when she comes (she always gives them quarters), filling up their jars with warm fuzzies for good behavior, or digging through mom and dad's pockets. I also tend to put coins in their banks when I find them in Charles' pockets while doing laundry. The day before the Thresheree, I took them to the bank to cash their coins in. They were so excited to see who had saved more! They were very close (perhaps it was set-up a bit by mom?), and came in at just about $35 each. They picked up a little more when a man in line at the bank saw how long they had been saving their money and he gave them each $2.

Of course as soon as we arrived, the boys wanted to start looking at all the different toy tractors so they could decide which they wanted to get. They have both pretty much set their hearts on getting a tractor and some sort of implement. If you've ever bought toy tractors, you know these things are not cheap. Charles and I were pretty clear to them that while we would help them figure out what they could and could not afford, we were not going to give them money for any toys. We said we would pay for their train tickets (which ends up being a moot point as you read on) and their lunch, but any extras were on them today! After much debate, they found a box set of 2 Farmall tractors (a brand they do not have yet) that allowed them to split the cost and still have enough for Ian to get a plow and Sean a gravity box. Good gracious, that is just too much for this city mom to handle!

This year, Jim was the Treasurer of the Thresheree and it turns out when you are the child/grandchild of the treasurer, you get to each your lunch in an air conditioned building! This was a relief and blessing since it's difficult enough to try to manage a lunch in a festival-like setting with 3 little ones. After lunch, we walked around the grounds and took in all the usual attractions. A new one for the boys this year was the corn box (which I've only ever seen at the County Fair before), and the pedal tractor races. I personally enjoyed the corn box because it was shady and the corn felt nice and cool on the hot day! If you haven't sat with your bare feet in a corn box, you haven't lived.

Following a break from the sun in the corn box, Ian and Sean rode in what can only be explained as "oil barrels painted for different tractor brands and pulled in a train like formation behind a tractor." This is Ian's 3rd year riding them, Sean's 2nd. Last year we had to chase the train o' barrels down when Sean started crying during the ride. This year was all smiles! The guy who puts this on is just awesome. He doesn't charge anything and does these rides all day. It's not sponsored at all by the Thresheree, it's just his own tractor he brought to show that pulls the train.

 Finally it was time for one of the boys' favorite activities  the steam train! I can still remember the first time I rode the train at the Thresheree. I was pregnant with Ian and still confused about what this whole Thresheree event was even about (although sometimes I'm still unsure...) If you don't know how steam trains work, because I didn't, they are powered by coal. Dirty coal that spatters you when you sit in the train cars behind the engine. I am quite sure that my one 10 minute trip on this train each year will shorten by life by at least 5 years. Anyhow, I have come to realize that kids get dirty and I must just deal with this part of the day that brings them so much joy. When we were eating lunch with Jim earlier, he had mentioned to Charles that he had talked to the train conductor and asked him if his grandsons could ride up front. Cool, I thought! The boys will LOVE that! Well wouldn't you guess they were just thrilled to ride up front... IN THE COAL CAR. Yes, my children (well, 2 of them) sat in the coal box with my husband for the train ride. You bet they had a blast, but man were they ever dirty.  They had a THOROUGH wash down after this event and I declared that to be a once in a lifetime event, aka not happening again next year.

It wasn't long after the train ride that it was about time to go home. We caught a few more little things here and there, but then worked our way to the exit and caught the next tractor to the giant parking lot in the farm field. If you are in the Rock County area and have kids that are interested in tractors, I cannot suggest this event enough. Just walking around and looking at all the different tractor models is entertainment enough for my boys, but there is so much more to do!

Are you wondering where Emmett was through all of this? He was there just being his sweet old self. Sleeping. Waving. Sweating.

Why you should teach your child to wipe their own a$$...

Since my birthday was on Saturday and we were at a wedding, Ian and I went to the grocery store to buy me a cake tonight. Normally, I'd be all fancy and bake a cake from scratch, but I'm tired. So cake from Woodman's it was! It was so cute watching him pick out the cake. He made sure to pick something that was for Mommy. He couldn't decide between the chocolate cake with white frosting and pink flowers or the chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and pink, purple and green sprinkles. We ended up coming home with the chocolate cake.

After we were home, him and Sean went downstairs while I did some work on the computer and Charles rocked Emmett. After a while, Sean came upstairs and sat with us. I kept thinking I was hearing something so I muted the TV a few times. We had the dining room windows open, so it sounded like the little boy down the street playing outside since it was so distant. About 20 minutes after Sean came upstairs, I muted the TV again because I heard this distant sound. I decided to go check on Ian, although he will usually play with his trains downstairs for a long time or he'll get on his computer and go on PBSkids.org. I get to the top of the stairs and realize it's HIM screaming. I hear this tiny, muffled screaming and bolt down the stairs as fast as I can. In my head I'm trying to figure out WHY it's so distant sounding. Then I realize he's in the bathroom with the door closed!

There are few sights as sad as walking into the bathroom to see your child barely holding themselves up on the toilet SOBBING! The first thing he says to me, "I've been crying for HOURS!". If you know Ian, you know he's a tad dramatic. But in reality, poor kid has been sitting on the John for a good 20 minutes waiting for us to wipe his butt! I wiped him, gave him lots of hugs and apologized over and over. Then explained to him that he could have hopped off the toilet and came upstairs! He was so worried about getting wiped correctly that he wouldn't leave the toilet!

We went upstairs and he was telling us about it. I asked him what he was yelling and he said he yelled, "Mommy! Daddy! Sean!" he also said he yelled, "I'm going to miss the cake!". As the story unfolded, it turns out Ian actually told Sean to come upstairs and get one of us. Sean did come upstairs, but he apparently got distracted by something and ended up finding a candle and brought that up to show us, not mentioning anything about his poor brother stranded downstairs!

Lesson learned: Get an intercom system for the downstairs bathroom, or teach Ian to wipe his own ass.

Unrelated, how adorable is this picture of the three boys at the wedding on Saturday?!

Q & A with Ian and Sean!

At lunch today, I asked the big boys a bunch of questions, inspired by this Pinterest Pin. Some of these are pretty funny!

Q: What does Mommy always say to you?
I: "Stop! I mean, today you said come inside before the store comes."

Q: What makes Mommy happy?
S: "I can't talk anymore because I'm a statue."

Q: What makes Mommy happy?
I: "When I don't bother the baby."

Q: What does Mommy do that makes you laugh?
S: "Maybe you have to ask Ian."

Q: What does Mommy to that makes you laugh?
I: "tickle!"
S: "I tickle myself!"

Q: How old is Mommy?
S: "I think you're this (shows hand). One, two, free, four."

Q: What is Mommy really good at?
I: "Washing diapers." OMG. I'm a big fat loser.

Q: Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?
S: "Maybe Culvers?"

Q: What is Mommy's favorite food?
I: "Coffee"

Q: How do you know that Mommy loves you?
I: "When you hug me."

Q: What is Mommy not very good at doing?
I: "When you're holding the baby, you're not very good at bending down."

Q: What do you and Mommy do together?
S: "Clean up the house."

Q: What was Mommy like when she was a little girl?
I: "You holded Aunt Kristina."
Q: Did I do anything else?
I: "I don't know, I wasn't there."

Project 365 + 1: Day 11

Brotherly Love

Project 365 + 1: Day 6

Bedtime Story

Project 365 + 1: Day 2

Charles taught Sean this "Puppy Face".

Project 365 + 1: Day 1

Kristina and Brooklyn came down to visit for the weekend and we had all the cousins in their matching PJ's! Brooklyn LOVES holding Emmett (or Omlette as she calls him).

Well Visits x2!

I have yet to be by myself for more than a couple hours with all 3 boys (tomorrow will be my first FULL day) but today I braved something that can be stressful with even one child! There is something about hot, enclosed exam rooms at the pediatrician's office that makes my kids bonkers. Today I took Ian for his 4 year well visit and Emmett for his 2 week well visit. First though, we had to get out the door and get Sean to the farm.

I thought I had it all planned out. I was up with the bigger boys earlier while Emmett was still sleeping. They ate breakfast while I got ready and got all their clothes laid out. I had them fed, dressed, bags packed and ready to go 30 minutes before we had to leave. Then I woke up Emmett and had planned to feed him, then get him changed and dressed. Unfortunately, he wasn't hungry yet, so I changed and dressed him first. Mistake #1. With 5 minutes before we had to walk out the door, I was almost done nursing Emmett and it looked like we'd make a flawless exit. Then Sean walked over to me and I realized he took a duke and needed his diaper changed before we left. Mistake #2... never get a kid fully dressed in pants, shoes, sock who hasn't taken a #2. Emmett finished nursing, I sat him up to burp him and he proceeded to unload his entire meal all over myself and him. PANIC! Got everybody changed and we were out the door only 10 minutes late. This led to me pulling up to Raymonds, getting Sean out of his seat and taking him in and running out in order to get to their appointment on time, but we made it!

Now, for the stats! Ian is 39 pounds and 40 inches tall at 4 years. That puts him at about 70% for weight and45% for height. Emmett is 9 pounds 8 ounces and 20.5 inches tall. That puts him at almost the exact percentages. Emmett has gained more than 2 pounds since his discharge for the hospital on 11/24 (he was 7 pounds 4 ounces). Both boys are perfectly healthy! 

Below are pictures of Sean and Emmett at just about the same age. Sean is on the left and Emmett is on the right. I think they look very similar! You can tell Emmett is still a bit jaundice, but other than that, they share a receding hairline, round nose and pouty lips! I wonder if he'll look more like Ian or Sean as he gets bigger?

Fall!

The leaves are now all on the ground (and at the curb), and the brisk wind is reminding me that winter is just around the corner. However, just a few short weeks ago, we were in the prime of fall! I think fall is my favorite season. There is something so nice about leaving the dog days of summer behind and being able to layer on the hooded sweatshirts and comfy pants :)

All of these pictures of the boys were taken at the farm. We went outside to play in the leave and take a walk in the woods and I knew the scenery would be beautiful. We're still deciding if we'll use the picture of the two boys sitting in the woods on our Christmas card. It's nearly impossible to get a picture of both of them smiling at the same time so we may not get another picture before then!

Halloween

Trying to catch up (in every aspect of life!). We carved pumpkins a few days before Halloween. Sean was very much into reaching into the pumpkin and pulling the guts out. In fact, he was very much into trying to eat the pumpkin guts. Ian thought it was interesting in there but preferred that I do it for him. I think both pumpkins turned out pretty cute and the boys loved seeing them lit up!

This Halloween Ian really wanted to be a tractor, John Deere, of course! I looked up a few different costumes online and decided several months ago that I could make it pretty inexpensively. I had a box from work 2 or 3 months before Halloween. I even spray painted the box a month or so before! Well, life got in the way and Halloween morning I started the long project of finishing it before Trick or Treat started at 5pm!

With the help of a lot of duct tape, his costume was finished in time to Trick or Treat at Charles' cousins' houses (Kay & Todd and Audry & Dale) before making it back to Janesville at 6:30pm. Mind you, ToT ended at 7pm! Sean was appropriately enough a cow. It was pretty cold so we only went to a few houses in our neighborhood. Ian's costume was fairly heavy and it was difficult for him to walk with so I ended up carrying it between houses. It was nice to have the real working headlights on it to light our way!

Sean's vocab at 16 months...

For my own reference (and because I'm sure I'll forget someday!), these are the words Sean can say at 16 months:

• mama
• dada
• EEE (for Ian)
• Penny (sounds like baby)
• book
• Papa
• gama (for Grandma)
• LoLo (sounds like waa waa)
• hot
• up
• down
• on
• off
• bug
• nose
• eye
• hair
• hand
• bonk (when he bumps something)
• elmo
• Go Pack Go!
• uh oh!
• woah!
• roll
• dada work (for Daddy's at work)
• bye
• hi
• pease (please)
• tank coo (thank you)
• no
• yes
• ball
• what's dat
• milk
• nack (snack)
• teat (treat for Penny)
• tractor
• Percy (the train)
• I'm the map
• truck
• bus
• mess
• clean
• all done
• eat
• yucky
• dance
• rock
• apple
• animal
• meat
• banana
• hotdog (refers both to the food and Micky Mouse)
• animal sounds-
• moo
• baa
• oink
• meow
• woof
• bawk bawk
• rar
• quack

Thresheree Weekend

Every Labor Day Weekend we make a point to go to the Rock River Thresheree. Now for me, this is a new thing. I mean, never as a child did I attend a single event with so many adults wearing overalls. Charles has been going to the Thresheree as long as he can remember! He has many memories of camping there and using his own money he saved up to buy the perfect toy tractor. Now that the boys are a little older, they could really enjoy looking at all the tractors and machines.

The day before we went as a family, Ian rode on Lolo's tractor to bring some logs down there to be cut into boards. It was pretty cold but he loved being on the tractor for the long ride!

At the Thersheree, Ian and Sean were each able to pick out one toy. Ian picked a skid loader and Sean picked a John Deere tractor. It always amazes me how much they love these tiny little toys and just how much they play with them! Sean gets down on the carpeting in the living room and pushes them around, making tractor noises.

We rode the steam train that is fueled with coal. It's a little bit of a stinky ride in my opinion, but the boys love waving at everyone and hear the train whistle blow!

While riding the train, Ian saw this little kiddie train pulled by a tractor and begged to go on it! The guy who owns it just waits till kids come and sit in the cars and then drives it around, no charge! What a nice guy! Ian, of course, picked the John Deere car.

It was a long and enjoyable day and we look forward to taking them to it next year when I think they will love it even more!

Sean's 1st Year in Pictures

It has been brought to my attention that I never posted all of Sean's monthly pictures together. So without further ado... Sean's 1st Year!