Wordless Wednesday

Adventures in Babysitting

I watched my nieces on Sunday for a few hours. It was fun and kind of crazy.

Here are some snapshots of our fun!

Here is Elanor giving a sip of water to a kitty

Clare's a witch chasing little princesses

 First she had to catch Elanor to dress her as a princess.  That took a while.

 Corrina's a princess with a sword, that witch had better watch out

Elanor's having some pretend cookies.

The girls dressed Clare like this, they brought her each piece.  It's the first time Clare's ever been a viking.

Bad Shot!

We had to visit the doctor yesterday.  Thomas had been chewing the inside of his cheeks and freaked out about it.  He had a large welt on both sides of his mouth and combined with being very cranky, I was afraid he might have an infection.

Thankfully Thomas was just fine, but the doctor mentioned flu shots while we were there.

Gregory's head popped up:  "Ahhh Thomas, you've got to get a shot!"

Of course the doctor wasn't talking about just Thomas.  After we filled out the paper work and while we waited for the nurse to draw up the shots, I gently broke the news to Gregory.  It did not go well.

Here he is hiding, trying to be as small and still as possible, so the nurse won't find him.

We each received our shots and then each boy got a toy at Target for being so brave.

The boys like climbing on the fixtures outside the store.

All day Gregory talked about his shot, his arm, and his bandaid. 

I'm not sure if Clare was relieved or jealous that she missed out.  But her turn will come with Daddy soon enough...with the new baby coming everyone is getting one.

Grandparent Joy

Just wanted to post some pictures of how much the kids love visiting with their grandparents.

Thomas loves playing "There's a monster outside!" and snuggling up with grandma to hide.

  

 Grandpa taught Gregory and Clare how to play checkers and now they want to play with him whenever they head over.

It's also a great chance for Grandpa to teach Gregory some math.

Everything is more fun with them. :)

First Day Update

Gregory had a wonderful day!

He climbed into the van talking about everything he had done and what they were going to be doing.  He was talking so fast I'm not even sure what he was saying.  Something about playgrounds, snacks, scrubbing pink paint off his hands, and pajama parties.  Sounds good, doesn't it?

I do feel bad, I got the time wrong for pick up.  I was 15 minutes late and Gregory was the last kid in the school to be picked up.  He however did not seem upset.

Later John asked: Were you worried when you were the last kid?
Gregory: No.
John:  You knew mommy was coming for you, right?
Gregory:  I didn't miss her at all.

Bittersweet first day

Today is Gregory's first day of school.  He was so calm about it.  His mother, not so much!

 Best buds!  Thomas had to be in a school picture with his big brother.

 Here he is hugging and kissing Thomas good-bye.

We dropped him off in the car line instead of walking in, and watching him walk away holding a teacher's hand was a very poignant moment for me.  He glanced back once, but it was clear his mind is on what was ahead.  Which is how it should be.

He's getting so big, but to me, he's still so small.

Introverted Kids

The past 2 nights have been big nights for our little block.  I have happily gotten to know many more people, and am feeling very much part of a community.

First, the next door neighbor's daughter turned 12.  To celebrate she invited all of the little kids to hang out in our cul-de-sac, munching on pizza, snacks, and cake.  Her mother hosted at least 5 preteens, 20 little kids, and a gaggle of moms.  It was one of the most fun, easy to plan parties I've been to.

Clare ran around giggling with a bunch of girls.  Gregory conned some older boys that he couldn't ride his bike up the parking lot, and they were pushing him and playing games.  Thomas found a bucket of water, with apples and a pair of tongs.  This occupied him for over half an hour.

Suddenly, Clare and Gregory must have reached their introvert limit.  All of the other kids were still playing and they wanted to go home.  There had not been any upsets, they were just done.  Kids continued to play for 2 more hours, and no one in our household asked to go back outside.

Tonight was our block party.  All day the kids waited anxiously.  They ran outdoors and started to play with such gusto that I had difficulties reining them in to sample the delicious array of foods. 

This time, Thomas was the catalyst for the retreat.  There were large dogs at the party, one of whom jumped up and snatched a bun out of his fingers while John was holding him.  He was such a screaming mess, that John happily left the social interactions and took him home. (There may or may not have been a football game on at the time too.) 

In a short while they returned, but again Thomas freaked out.  Now Clare came up with an excuse about her stomach and how she should go home, get on her bed, and read.

Gregory lasted much longer, but stopped playing with the other boys and gradually came to stand near me, snack, and play with the large dogs.  This was a more solitary activity and when I asked him if he wanted to go home, he happily agreed.

It amuses me how strong the introvert gene must run in our family.  Each of us reaches our limit and must retreat to recharge by ourselves.  I feel sorry if Thomas (not likely) or the new baby is an extrovert, they will have a hard time of it.

Quick Takes - Rainy Week

 1)It's been a rainy rainy week, so we've just been hanging around the house. 

2)  I'm happy with this arrangement for the most part.  I've been keeping up with my cleaning schedule and am thrilled at how the house is looking.  It is so nice to come home to a clean house.

Have you ever heard that it takes 28 days to make a habit?

I'm hoping to keep up the cleaning until it's a habit - so I have to keep it up for 4 weeks or so.  2 more to go!

3)Unfortunately, for these 2, they are stuck inside with a cleaning mom.  Usually they are good with it, we fit in walks and playing outside.  By today they are watching videos while I clean.  And they jump all over John whenever they get the chance.

They've also been begging to go outside in the pouring rain - whether for a walk with Dad, or pleading to play on a swingset at another family's house.

4) I can't believe how much rain we've gotten, many roads are closed and while Clare's school is open the other counties around here are closed.

Sadly a 12 year old boy drowned near my in-laws neighborhood.  I'm praying for all those affected by floods and rain.  It seems like I know tons of folks who have flooded yards, basements, and other water related damages.

5)On a lighter note, Gregory got to visit his preschool yesterday and meet his teacher.  He seems very excited about school, and his teacher seems great.  I'm excited that he's going to be writing every day.

She asked if he could write his name, and he said yes (I thought...um no, then he did better than I expected).

 When she pulled out the paper he began and laboriously made a "semi-G" and then did a wobbly "r", and then said about the "e"  "this is the hard one"  

6)We go to the library about once every 1-2 weeks.  I'm always surprised at what the children pick to read.

Clare loves fiction and great quantities of it, even if it isn't the best quality

Gregory likes fiction but prefers non-fiction especially about animals or bugs.

Thomas loves non fiction books about his favorite things, trains, motorcycles, cowboys, and then there's the Backyardigans. 

(even better if they are on a train, or pretending to be a cowboy)

7)All of the pictures on here are old, from the summer when I wasn't posting.  Enjoy!

Here's a couple more that I don't think I ever posted on the blog, but someone was really proud of.

Take care this weekend, and I hope the wet places start to dry, and all of the dry droughty places get rain.

Getaway Pics

We had a very nice relaxing weekend.

Apple picking at Carter Mountain Orchard

We ate too much, including some amazing ice cream from the Moo Thru on 29, and hopefully relaxed just enough.  This included a movie and several hours just meandering around a Barnes and Noble. I love book stores.  And I should definitely include that John got to watch a little football.

We noticed this on the odometer after we made it to Roanoke. Hmmmm.

 It's funny how you notice things that your kids would really love when they're not with you, like this train that went right by the car while we were parked down there, thinking of what to do next.

 And lastly and probably most sweetly (or loudly depending on how you look at it), what we returned to.

The kids had a great weekend with grandma and grandpa, and Gregory cried when we got back...it meant he had to go home.  After a leisurely visit, it was time for us to go home.

 John's got his boys back, and they all love it!

Boys being cute

Just because everyone should get to enjoy smiles and snuggliness.

First Week Down

The triumphant one had nothing but praise for her new school.

When asked what she learned she replied...."uh nothing, it was mostly all fun."

Now she can just relax all weekend long.

Quick Takes - Labor Day Weekend

 1) It's definitely the end of the summer.  I was cleaning out our pool bag this week and found Gregory's pool shoes.  Before I throw them away I wanted to show how much he loved them.

I'm not sure how many more trips to the pool these could have handled, but I'm glad it's the shoes and not his feet.

2) We made it through the first week of school.  John and I are tired, and the kids are a little too.  We're all waking up over an hour earlier than usual.  It's nice to get up and get going, but it's still kind of hard to feel this tired at 9pm.

3)I'm excited about finally getting to know the neighbors and all of the kids in the neighborhood.  Waiting for the school bus is a great way to get to know them, and we've even made it outside to play 3 nights this week.  The older kids are so sweet to Clare, Gregory, and Thomas.  They play soccer, kick ball, and baseball all on our quiet little parking lot. 

I'm glad to finally start feeling a sense of community with my neighbors.  I guess I could have had this all along if we had simply sent Clare to the public school last year.  Oh well, live and learn.

4)The kids are really excited about this weekend, they are going to spend it with their grandparents.  You would think summer vacation is starting again with the amount of energy there is in the house today.

5)John and I are getting away for a little baby moon.  We're not going anywhere really exciting, just Charlottesville and Roanoke.  It's all about relaxing and not trying to do anything all weekend.  We know where the best bakeries and food are in C'ville, and there's an awesome apple orchard we're thinking about visiting.

It's the first time we've left the kids for a weekend since almost a year before Thomas' birth.  It should be nice.



6)Tomorrow is the feast of St. Gregory the Great.

I'm kind of sad that we won't be here with Gregory, but I can't think of anything that would make him happier, then spending the day with his favorite person - "Cramp-pa"

7)I think Clare has done more planning for this weekend than we have.  She has a schedule and agenda for everything that she and each of the other kids are going to be doing with each grandparent all weekend.

The child needs to be an event planner or something.


I hope you have a great labor day weekend no matter what you are doing, and safe travels to all who are traveling.

Apologies

I apologize if you've been getting pop up ads when you open my blog.  I think I've solved the problem by removing all external things from my sidebar.  This means that for the next few days or so things are going to look a bit different while I figure out what was causing it, and try to reinsert/rework some of those things.

I have no idea if it was a ticker, my counter or the Catholic mom's group, but when I removed it all the ads disappeared.

Thanks for your patience.