Hurray For Friday!!!!!

I haven't appreciated Friday for quite awhile. All of us had a week of adjustments:

Noah: First grade is a lot more work than kindergarten was. Getting up to alarm, eating breakfast fast enough to be to school on time, trying VERY HARD to be cheerful when he is half asleep in the morning, and learning ALL the rules of his new class.

Aaron: First days of preschool. Learning to stand in a line with a class, follow all directions from a teacher for three hours every day, using the bathroom completely unattended, staying out of big brother's way in the morning when he is grumpy from waking up too early.

Me: Oh, where to start...Getting up at 6:45, getting two boys fed and out the door, juggling two take home folders every day, lunches made, clothes washed, and most importantly, learning what it is like to have the house EMPTY for three full hours most of the days of the week.

Steve: Having to deal with three other people in his way in the mornings while he is getting ready for work...probably the biggest adjustment of the week.

So, needless to say, we all are looking forward to the weekend. It will not be stress free...the hand bells first performance is this Sunday. I will hopefully post the performance on my site on Monday. but it is a much needed break for everyone before the rat race starts again on Monday. I wish everyone a safe and relaxing weekend.

They Were Ready...

But I'm not sure I was. We decided to have a little Back to School party for the boys last night as a send off to school this morning. Noah made a cake and I got them each a little "buddy" to keep in their bags for the first day of school.














As most people who read my blog last year know, we struggled a little with behavior with Noah in Kindergarten. But also as I have mentioned so many times, he grew up SO MUCH this summer and I knew he was ready to go back. I, however, not so much. I'm not ready for him to be gone every day, all day as a big first grader. I console myself knowing that I can be the lunch mom on Fridays this year. I tried it once last year and Noah was so poorly behaved that i was not able to be in the classroom for the rest of the year. I am hoping for better things this year. I guess we'll see this Friday.

Well, he walked right into school and found his locker.



















He was very excited that the locker next to his belonged to his "girlfriend" from last year, assuring him that she would be back this year. We were a little worried that she would change schools.

He then proceeded to walk into his classroom and sit quietly at a desk














and was still sitting there when I left. I am confident that it is going to be a great year for him.

And then there was Aaron. There was never a kid more needing to go to school. He has been wanting to ever since Noah went to preschool two years ago. So this morning was his turn.




















When we got to school, his teacher had a little scavenger hunt for him to do with me to acquaint himself with the classroom, which included finding his name tag



















building a tower with blocks














coloring a bag for show and tell















eating breakfast














and learning to stand in line through the halls (notice who the line leader is)














Now, I have to go pick up my big preschooler and bring him home to pretend that he's my little boy again, at least until tomorrow morning when we do it again.

Thursday Thirteen: A Summer of Learning

12 Days until school starts. I am so sad. It has been such as awesome summer. Noah has blossomed into this amazing kid right before my eyes. Everyone told me that the summer between kindergarten and first grade was HUGE, but I really didn't believe it. Noah will be starting first grade and be gone EVERY DAY ALL DAY. Aaron will be going to preschool 4 mornings a week. Even though we struggle financially with me not working full time, this summer really taught me how blessed I am am that I can teach in the evenings and be home with the kids during the day. Here are 13 of the things that I was blessed to witness this summer:

13. Noah went from sounding out 3 letter words in June, to being an independent reader

12. Aaron learned to love going to library every week as much as the rest of us. Both boys completed the reading club and got bags of prizes for the success

11. Noah pulled out his first tooth during a story together at bedtime

10. Aaron, at 3 years old, learned to jump into the deep end of a pool and turn around and swim to the side without help.

9. Noah learned to jump off the diving board and swim to the far end of the shallow end with the backstroke, elementary backstroke, and front crawl

8. Aaron learned to write his name (he FINALLY did the "R" last week)

7. Noah learned how to ride his bike without training wheels

6. Aaron got to participate in REAL school at VBS and loved being part of a "class"

5. Noah started piano lessons and is doing better than I expected

4. Aaron is finally starting to match pitch when we sing with him

3. Noah can recite the entire Lord's Prayer without help

2. Aaron learned to pump his legs on a swing all by himself

1. I learned to appreciate every day with my kids for what it is and know that these days are going WAY too quickly.

So if you tune in to this blog in 12 days, September 2, it probably won't be a pretty site/sight. I miss them already.

The Evolution of An Inventor

Have I mentioned that I think my kid is a genius. Doesn't EVERY parent think so?

Noah has always liked doing crafts and always concentrated for a very long time on them.














Then he received his first legos and preferred to make his own creations, rather than the book ones.



This one impressed me immensely. He said it was a dragon










And every time he sees other building type toys, he is engulfed in them.



He spent 45 minutes playing with this at the Children's Museum a few weeks ago















Even at the garage sale last week, he zeroed in on a bag of toys in Deb's sale stuff and sneaked away to his room to play with them. Abby and Hannah even enjoyed playing with them at our house when Deb said they never touched them at their own.














A few weeks ago in church, I gave him some paper (there is no Sunday school for him so we have to sit in the library during the entire service) and some markers. I was planning VBS lessons with the woman that I was working with and Noah sat happily coloring. Then, he showed me his "plans". Sure enough, he had made an entire blueprint of what he wanted to build with legos, each block drawn individually to match what he wanted to make. My friend was as impressed as I was. Since then, he is constantly making "plans" for his inventions and has started INSISTING that we need to go buy him some supplies.

Trying to humor him, I told him if he makes me a list, we would see what we could do. He came back to me with a list; metal, nails, bolts, and nails. And pushed the idea for several days. Then he went back to just drawing plans so I figured he was content.

Until this past Tuesday. Noah's imagination has taken him to new heights. He found a roll of scotch tape somewhere and when I sent him upstairs for quiet time, he was quiet for over an hour.

When he came down, he showed me this:



His first "invention"










He was SO proud of himself. Then, when I came home from teaching last night, he had then made 6 more.

"A drum" (There were legos taped inside)




















































"Spiderman with a jet pack"













I LOVE this one...Noah said that he needed Superman to give it support to stand up.






























I have required him to write a sentence every day and draw a picture to match it as a way to keep him ready for school in a few weeks. His story for yesterday was:


Noah is playing with his noo (new) invechn (invention)










Followed by the plan


Notice the arrow...which ALL of his plans have











and a few minutes later, the invention itself.


Not the most impressive, but still flollowing his plan










He even included his brother. At one point today, he sent Aaron to go get "more stuff" for his inventions...which Aaron was only too pleased to comply














And here is the inventor at work



















To the naked eye, these may look like random toys stuck together with tape. But to my 6 year old child wonder, each has a purpose and is special. I can't wait to see how his mind continues to grow. I can pretty much guarantee that he will continue to amaze me.


But for now, I think I need to hit the dollar store for more tape.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Finally...

After six weeks, the first one is out...




See the adult tooth completely through behind the blood (lots of orthodontia some day)












Rinsing out the blood














"Here's my hole"














I wonder what will be in this pillow in the morning?

Stop Growing Up!

Remember this?

I launched into quite the stern lecture against all of those parents who force their kids to take off the training wheels before they were ready.

Guess who was ready?


















And here he is sharing the big news with Daddy.















Now see here, Mr. Noah!





I know you're proud, but would you slow down and stay a kid for a little longer PLEASE?

Thursday Thirteen #5 Noah's Turning Six

Noah will be six tomorrow. It is only fitting that the T13 pictures should be his first five birthday celebrations. It is very likely that next week's will be about this years' festivities.

He came into the world at 4:33 AM, 14 days early and thrilling mommy that he was born on the 4th of July. Notice the shirt Daddy is wearing. He had it on to go to the July 3rd fireworks when we were diverted to the hospital instead.














He looked so cute in his red white and blue hat that was knitted for him by hospital volunteers

















He had the usual mess with this first birthday cake



















His 2nd birthday part stayed pretty low key with a kiddie pool and a kiddie slide keeping the kiddies amused for a long time.














And of course waiting for fireworks at night



















Noah's 3rd year was all about Thomas The Tank Engine















And again waiting for fireworks at night.


I have always loved this picture of the boys. I'm not sure why.










Noah's 4th year was all about superheroes, especially the Incredibles. I must say I outdid myself that year. Instead of goody bags, I made super capes and masks for all of the kids.



Noah is the "Nike" boy in the middle










Mr. Incredible even came to the parade that year.














Last year, we finally decided that we had outgrown our yard for the party. The kids were all getting bigger and our group growing larger so we did the party at a local park instead.














I filled water balloons for a toss contest



















And somehow we even ended up with an impromptu story time













And then a relaxing time at the fireworks with Abby and Hannah (and Aaron of course)



















This year will be the first year that we will do his party AFTER the 4th so I have fallen behind in the planning,. I still have three days to figure it out.

How Biking Has Changed

Christmas, 1981..An eight year old little girl gets her first bike ever...a pink huffy that she named Strawberry Shortcake. It is unusually warm for West Michigan in December and the girl and her older brother and sister head outside to learn how to ride. In her memory, about an hour later she is off and riding completely independently.

Fast forward 27 years. Now, a child gets his first tricycle at two years old.



















And then the very next year, he gets his first two wheeler, complete with helmet and training wheels. Now, they're not really "training" wheels as much as just ANOTHER SET of wheels. There is no intention of pulling them off to teach a three year old how to ride a bike.




















Aaron inherited the tricycle.

Last year, Noah got the next size bigger, again with "training" wheels.














And Aaron got his first "big boy bike" hand me down














It was last summer, when all of a sudden all of my friends started making declarations "My kids WILL learn to ride without training wheels this summer!"

Now, in my opinion, I was NOT going to push Noah into this milestone. I figure, when he's ready, he'll ask. Otherwise, it's just one more stress for him. So while everyone else is taking off the training wheels and teaching them, Noah has been perfectly happy riding along with his training wheels.



Evening pajama ride in 2006










For the past couple of weeks, I have noticed him relying less and less on the "training" wheels and wondered, "What would happen if I raised them?"


First bike ride of 2008











So this afternoon, I did. Up to the very highest. So high that the bike won't even sit straight. Noah was a little nervous, but willing to try and I ran along beside him. After passing a few houses, I decided, "I need to go with my original theory. He'll ask when he's ready" and asked him to stop so I could lower the trainers back down.



Noah and Neighbor Bradley in 2005 on their first tricycles









However, he didn't WANT to lower them back down. I took him over to the parking lot near our house, and started counting out loud how many seconds he could go without relying on the training wheels. He went EIGHTEEN seconds. He was so proud. I reminded him a few times to sit up straight and then he started reminding himself, which is unusual for him to take advice in the first place.

SO, am I going to take them off completely and be like every one else? No Way! After he finally had a couple of wipe outs and was ready to come home, we decided to go the store tomorrow and get knee and elbow pads but he is raring to go again tomorrow. He has a great attitude toward this step and I see no reason to force any more on him. Why do parents INSIST that a child MUST learn at a certain age? It's not like they will have their extra wheels forever. I have no intention of forcing it, but I will sit back and encourage the steps as we go.

How things have changed. When we were little, the kids with training wheels got made fun of and you learned to ride a bike by wiping out and getting injured over and over until you finally stopped wiping out. We NEVER had a helmet, and it's too bad because I suffered a pretty nasty head injury at nine years old when my bike got hit by a car. We were able to ride wherever and whenever without parents anywhere around.

I am proud of Noah and his first step today. At the same time, Aaron spent the time in the parking lot learning how to brake. That too, was a great milestone to have achieved today. Of course, ice cream celebrations were in order. (You don't have to search very hard to find a reason to celebrate with ice cream.)

What are your thoughts? Are you a parent that insists on taking the training wheels off and forcing the issue just because your child turned a certain age? Or are you like like me, wanting to wait until they're ready, however progressing in steps as your child seems ready?