Thursday, April 21, 2011

byebye blonde

I knew it was time.
I didn't have the heart to have his Daddy's buzz cut- just yet.
So a friend graciously gave Nathan his first real hair cut.
These will be the last photos of that baby blonde with hair long enough for a pony tail or a
bath time mohawk.
He does look "all grown up" but he's still as cute as can be.
At least that's what I think.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Emma's turn

Luckily for me, Emma chose a fairly easy project for her turn. We patiently waited for Nathan to take his nap and Peter to go for his Cub Scout trip. She chose to make potato stamps. Although we worked diligently, we still weren't finished when Nathan awoke. Since I was in the 'yes' mood, I thought, "he'll enjoy painting; it can't be that bad".Emma had a lot fun teaching Nathan how to use the stamps. It didn't take him long to catch on to the process.
He looks like a little professional doesn't he? Oh and yes he is wearing his pjs and yes it is around 2 in the afternoon. He did have on clothes but after discovering his fishy pjs in the pile of clean clothes he really wanted them on. After listening to him cry, say change- fishy, and follow me around for a good 15 minutes, I gave in to his desire!

yes

I awoke Saturday morning with a clearly overcast and obviously rainy day ahead of us. Soccer practice was canceled; baseball practice was canceled and even I wasn't going to send the kids outside. Something within in me was prompting me that I needed to say, "yes" today. I must admit that I am not great at saying "yes" to things that will probably make a mess, cause a disruption, require me to help or well you get the picture.
So when Peter asked me before he had even had breakfast, "Can I build a castle out of cardboard?" I was prepared.
"Yes."
I didn't even tell him to eat breakfast! When he acquired all the cardboard he could find from the recycling, I could tell that it was either him or I that was going to have to be using the utility knife all morning. In the spirit of "yes", I found myself teaching Peter how to use the knife and then praying that that wasn't a mistake and wondering do other moms let their 8 year olds use these things?Not long after he had quickly mastered the knife, I realized that Elmer's school glue just wasn't going to cut it. If this project was going to be successful, I would have to supply the hot glue. I was busy enough keeping my other 3 kids at bay from this very interesting and large kitchen table project that I didn't want to be the one hot gluing all afternoon. So before I thought too much about it, I taught Peter how to use the hot glue and then thought, again, do other 3rd graders use hot glue guns.I'm really glad I said, "yes" this morning because I was truly amazed by what he created.
He has grand plans of painting the castle. Well he may let his sister do that for him! As the teacher in me, I was thrilled to see the attention to detail he paid. I loved that he had out Ms. Frizzle's Medieval Castle book out the entire time. I was pleased to hear the vocabulary words stumble out of his mouth like portcullis.
Stayed tuned.....I said yes to other children in the house too. I even gave Emma our Great Big book of Art book to browse through for ideas. I did declare that it was a one project per person at a time and that did make it much more manageable!




Thursday, April 14, 2011

Field trips

Thanks again to a good friend who is still creative, ambitious and organized after having two kids, Amy, we had a fun morning with Mr. Fuller. Mr. Fuller owns one of the Taekowndo schools in town. He spent an hour with the kids teaching them about "stranger danger", respect, how to love your parents and then finally some self-protection moves.This would be the beginning "STOP" position!
This would be when you jump to avoid a kick while yelling STOP at the same time. Needless to say this group of all boys but Emma were really good at yelling stop.
This would be Nathan who spent the majority of the time hanging out or trying to play the part of the "attacker"!Although Mr. Fuller, clearly explained that the moves he taught should only be used in his classroom or if you are in danger, they have been reenacted in my living room. It was decided that the moves could be practiced outside as long as they didn't come crying to me if they got hurt!!!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Alligator

We haven't been our usual faithful story time participants this year. Unfortunately, it just hasn't worked out. However, the last few weeks we made it a point to go. At the end of the stories, Ms. Christy and the kids sing this song. Apparently, Nathan had been listening!
They sing the song through twice and then do a "big ending"! That would be Nathan's favorite part.

Oh- Nathan is fairly good at saying alligator but has yet to say "Peter".

Just a little Shout out...

I just wanted to give a little shout out to the best wife ever. She is my best friend, and I thought this picture really portrayed her well. She is fun and energetic. She does such an awesome job keeping up with the blog. I could not make it with out her. We make a good team!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

First born

The house is relatively quiet and I'm resisting the urge to take a nap. I have been thinking for some time that I haven't actually recorded any of my thoughts about the kids or life lately. My time and mind has been on other things. Peter has been growing and maturing this winter like no other. Practically speaking he weighed in at his allergy check up at 4'5 and 70.2lbs. It's no wonder that I can hardly keep this boy full! His hopes and dreams right now are to play basketball for Duke and become an archeologist. I don't mind so much that he dreams of going to Duke because he knows full well that he has to make some amazing grades to get there! When he's not talking about basketball, his conversations usually fall to some other sport or perhaps a book he's read recently. I am thrilled that he has learned to wash dishes. His love for his baby brother has yet to wane. I love to see the care and interest he show Nathan. Admittingly, there are times when I have to declare Nathan "off limits" in order to keep him focused or to just give Nathan some space! He is bright, loving and respectful and I'm thankful that he's ours.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Beach trip

We stole away to the coast while Philip was with the youth group. The air was crisp; the wind was brisk but it was still the beach.



Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Flight of Honor

My grandfather had the opportunity to participate in the Flight of Honor. He actually was interviewed by WRAL- TV5.