1st Day of Mother's Day Out

Zane and Zander started Mother's Day Out today! Part of me thought this day would NEVER come! 3 1/2 hours that I will be child-free! Guess I'm not supposed to be THAT excited about it...huh?

I've been talking to the boys about this for several weeks. The building is just down the street from our house, so everytime we pass it, we talk about how that is their "school." We picked out lunchboxes and backpacks. Rather than picking them out myself, I gave them a choice. Hoping they would take more ownership and help the transition away from mommy. They chose the same backpack (a train) but different lunchboxes. Zane's has a firetruck on it and Zander's has all different vehicles.

The day finally came. I had them pack their backpack with diapers.

And I showed them all the food I was putting into their lunchboxes....

I tried to do 1st day of school pictures with them like I did with Eli and Emma Kate. It was a bit challenging....

Because their "school" is so close to our house, we can drive our golf cart!

Getting ready to go inside....

all settled in. It went SO much easier than I thought it would!

Crossing my fingers that I don't get a phone call because one or both of them is crying for their mommy!

Eyes Shut Tight

Zander is quite the family entertainer.
He wanted to get his picture made with Eli and Emma Kate on their 1st day of school. Emma Kate's blue eyes are so sensitive to the sun, so when we were outside taking pictures, I would tell her to keep her eyes closed until I counted to 3. Then open them and I quickly snap the picture.

So as Zander made his way into the pictures, he heard me say to Emma Kate, "close your eyes" and this is what he did....
followed by this....

and this....

Fast forward 1 day. Its almost naptime for the boys. They are watching Elmo or Barney (can't remember which) before naptime. Zane is apparently REALLY tired because I look over to find him already sleeping while the TV show is still on!

Zander, the ham that he is, sees me taking a picture of Zane and says "what chu doing?" I tell him that Zaney is asleep on the couch. So he does his sleeping imitation....

And yes, it is almost 1:00pm and they are still in their pajamas!

1st Day of 2010-2011 School Year

Today began another school year for Eli and Emma Kate. Eli is entering 4th grade and his teacher is Mrs. Janicke. Emma Kate is in 2nd grade and her teacher is Mrs. Shell.

We started off the morning with a special request breakfast. They chose waffles with fruit and Redi-Whip on top.

After breakfast, they got dressed and then it was time for mom's annual back-to-school pictures. Before showing their individual pictures and comparisons from last year, look at the picture below to see who also wanted in the picture taking process....

Emma Kate's side-by-side:

2nd grade on the left, 1st grade on the right.

She is taller but what I really notice is how she looks SO much older. The bangs are gone and she just seems taller and longer and leaner to me.

Eli

4th grade on the left. 3rd grade on the right.

I can't tell too much difference from this year vs. last. What do you think?

Outside for one last pic before heading to school....

One of the super exciting things at school this year, is that we have a new HUGE building for K-5th grade! I believe its 50,000sq feet compared to a few thousand we had before. It has a playground with equipment (which we didn't have before), and it has a gymnasium that will be doubled as a lunchroom/multi-use room (which we've also never had). We are so thankful for this building that our school is renting!

Here are the big kids walking into the new spacious building. Notice the HUGE earth globe spinning in the top right corner....

We go upstairs where the 2nd-5th grade classrooms are. Several of Emma Kate's friends are already sitting down together and there isn't another chair by them, so Emma Kate sits down on the end....

Who needs friends when you've got baby brothers that want to sit by you?

Just before leaving her class, we spotted her friend Sara Beth coming into the room and she sat down by Emma Kate. I think these 2 girls look a lot alike. Do you think so too?

Next we head to the 4th grade class. As we walk in, its funny how the girls are sitting on one side and the boys on the other. Mrs. Janicke had not put them that way. They did it on their own....

Zander sitting by his oldest brother....

Eli with friends Phillip and Preston H....

Another school year has begun.

Big deep breath from momma as I clip another wing and let my babies fly a little farther away....

Week Before School

The week before school starts is a very busy week for us. The past 3 years, my parents have come to stay with us and help me during that week so that I can go to all the back-to-school parties and parent training and whatever else the week may hold. I'm so thankful and appreciative that they are able to do that!

This year, the week started off by going to Open House at Mother's Day Out where Zane and Zander will be going on Thursday mornings. We've been calling it their "school" everytime we drive by there. It is soooo close to our house which will be extremely nice!

They were very excited to go to their school. They never really "explored" the room though. They went from this wooden bead maze... to color pages. This entertained them the ENTIRE time we were there!

Before we left, we let them play on the playground which they said was a "slide park."

After we left Open House, we went home and played outside while we awaited the arrival of Grandma and Grandpa. Eli's bike has had a flat tire almost all summer, so he opted for this ride....

Mid-week it was time for the class parties for Eli and Emma Kate.

The 4th grade party was a swimming party with some other backyard fun included...

When all the boys heard that it was almost time for the party to be over, they scurried to the food table for one last mouth-stuffing....

Just before leaving, we did a class pic of everyone who was there.

The next day was the 2nd Grade party. It was a picnic at a local park.

Emma Kate enjoyed playing with her friends whom she hadn't seen all summer!

The week ended with Back-to-School night for the parents. Eli snapped this picture of me and Philip before we headed to our meeting.

This parent meeting is so good each year, and this year did not disappoint! I'm always challenged at what I need to be doing better as well as encouraged by the other parents and administration at our school. It is such a great feeling to be partnering with other families who want to raise their children to be "abnormal" from what the world tells us is "normal!"

Harper Mae, Sunshine & Patches

The kids just got back from spending several days at my parents. They enjoyed playing with their cousin Harper Mae. She is just a few weeks younger than Zane & Zander. They also really loved the adopt-a-kittens my mom got for Emma Kate. Seriously. She "borrows" these cats from a friend so that Emma Kate (whose Mom won't buy her a kitten) can have pets to play with when she's there.

This is Harper Mae. She is such a little doll!

I asked my mom why the boys didn't have pants on. She said it was just too hot.

I think Zaney's face and hair says it all....

Here are the cats that my boys toted around....
I don't know which is which. One is Sunshine. The other is Patches.

So they not only toted them around, but looks like they kissed them also....(as I make a scowling face while typing that)

Guess what else Emma Kate got while she was at Grandma & Grandpa's? An iPod Touch. For real. I was thinking that might possibly be a Christmas gift. Guess not.

One day they went to Harper Mae's to play. My boys loved her playhouse!

When they emailed this picture to me, I instantly noticed all those curls on Zander's head. Once again proving just how hot and humid it was.

They weren't one bit spoiled when they came back home.