School Daze

The school year has begun! Summer flew by in a blur (with a big move and some fun trips) and I hardly feel ready to have the boys away at school. I miss them when they are gone!

Samuel is in 1st grade this year and I think that once he settles into the rigor and routines of his new school, that he will enjoy the extra challenge. Because it is a magnet school he will be receiving a lot additional (FUN!) classes, including Spanish, Science, Social Studies, Music and Art. In addition, there is time set aside each week for Computer Lab and visits to the library. His class will also have 10 field trips!

Here he is on the first day of school. He is sporting his school logo & mascot on his vest. He's excited that the mascot is a tiger since he loves kitties!

On the first day we left early so we could stop for breakfast at the Dunkin' Donuts near our house. I've found that donuts can be very motivational to help little boys get ready quickly in the morning. ;-)

Since it was the first day of class, Elijah and I were allowed to walk Samuel inside to his class.

Samuel came home from his first day excited to tell us all about his class and the school, but he was mostly excited to play with his new Playmobil classroom set. Elijah was happy to have his "best friend" back.

The following week Elijah started Preschool! He will be going M,W, F for 4 hours (including lunch) at a church school near our house. The idea of "school" isn't really new for him. He was in a MDO program for the past two years, one day for each year of his age, and last year he went twice a week. This year he will just be adding another day.

After we moved to Montgomery this summer, we drove to the church to show him his school so anytime we passed by Vaughn Forest Church he would yell out, "That's my school!" He was excited to finally start his class.

As excited as he has been to start preschool, I was surprised at his shyness once we arrived. It took a bit of coersion to get him into his classroom. After he set down his bag and lunch he ran down the hallway and tried to hide by the door. I think he was a little afraid to be in a new place, with so many new faces. If we had stayed in Bossier City he would have started preschool at our regular church, where he went to MDO..

He had a great time though, and when I arrive to pick him up he was happily playing with PlayDoh. Once he spotted me he ran right into my open arms just like he always does! Later in the afternoon he fell asleep on the way to pick up Samuel and took a snugly nap with me after I carried him in from the car. He doesn't nap often, so I know he must have had an exciting time at school!

Flashback Friday: Somebunny's Here!

Since I took a long break from blogging, I thought it would be fun to start a new type of post called Flashback Friday. Now on Friday's I can blog about a photo, event or memory from the past 4 years.

The first photo I will share is from Elijah's newborn photo session, April 2012. He was only about 6 days old. It was an easy session since he slept almost the entire time. We never had a newborn session done with Samuel, his first professional photos were taken at 6 weeks, so I definitely wanted to do one for Elijah. I found this adorable handmade knit bunny hat and diaper cover and knew it would be perfect for him because he was born just a few days before Easter!

Wordless Wednesday: Brotherly Love

Birthday Blues

I know that it may be unfair to admit this, but this is my blog so I can do what I want. Samuel's 6th birthday makes me sad. How is it possible that he's so grown up? I adore him. He's so smart and silly, but my favorite part of our relationship is how affectionate and loving he is with me. He never misses an opportunity to snuggle or give hugs and kisses. I can't help but think that each year he grows up that he will become less interested in his mommy's affection.

For the second year in a row the first day of school falls very close to his birthday, so I think that maybe I am experiencing emotional overload. Most moms have a little more time to process the passing of time. For me it's another grade year and another year older all crammed together. This year he is attending 1st grade at Forest Avenue Academic Magnet Elementary. It's a school for children that demonstrate the ability to handle an advanced academic curriculum, so he will be learning at a 2nd grade level. This jump is even more intense that the regular transition from Kindergarten to 1st. It's abundantly clear that he is expected to be big boy now. :tear:

Despite feeling a little melancholy, I still love to celebrate birthdays for my boys. It's the one day of the year that I can really spoil them and show them how special that they are to me, so it's not hard to get excited. I spent the prior evening decorating the breakfast area with streamers, balloons and a banner. This year, we weren't planning a party with his friends so I wanted to make the house look festive for him. Allen and I agreed that the boys should start taking turns each year having a large celebration. Samuel had a large party for his 5th birthday, so this year it was Elijah's turn. We would celebrate with Samuel at home and take him to do a fun activity on the weekend.

I woke up a little early so I could make him some confetti pancakes for breakfast. Defnitely a step up from Cheerios and yogurt.

He had school during the day so I provided cupcakes and juice for him to share with his class. While he was at school, Elijah and I did some more decorating.

His special birthday cake request was a birthday cake in the shape of the world with the Teen Titans on top. I did my best.... ha ha!

For dinner we had a "Pizza Party," which is a running theme on the boys' favorite cartoon Teen Titans GO!

Afterwards, he opened gifts from us, Elijah, Aunt JuJu and his grandparents. He has become really interested in Playmobil sets, so he received several that were purchased with the money from his birthday cards. The interest in Playmobil is actually a bit surprising and exciting. They are the first toys that he's wanted that encourage imaginative play. Most of his other favorites, like Legos, Snap Circuits and car/train tracks, are building and construction based.

We ended our family party by watching a few Teen Titans GO! episodes and playing with his new toys. Everyone had a really nice time. Thankfully, I still have 360 days to mentally prepare for birthday #7. I hope that's enough time.

(Just goofin' off)

Errand Boy

Since Samuel started kindergarten I find myself using his school hours to run errands. That way we can focus on homework and play when he is home. He really needs that down time in the afternoons. Therefore, Elijah has become my little shopping buddy and every trip is an adventure with him along!

Elijah is such a spirited kid. He has boundless energy and curiosity. I used to try to bribe, force and coerce him into behaving how I wanted when we were out, but eventually I realized that I was frustrating myself and him needlessly. Now, we just operate on "Elijah Time." That just means that we take it slow. I only plan to accomplish one or two things and I make sure to really include him since he loves to help. His favorite errand is carrying packages at the post office. He also likes to go to the grocery store with the child-sized carts so he can push; here in Montgomery it's Winn-Dixie.

Now that we take it slow I find that we both have such a fun time together. I enjoy having him along to chat with and keep me company. He likes being able to help out and explore new places. I also try to make sure that I include a fun activity in our day; something that is especially fun for him like library story time, a trip to the playground or lunch at Chick-fil-a.

One of my favorite parts about running errands with him are the great conversations that we have in the car. He is talking well now, and just chats about any and everything that pops into his head.  Also, he has become very affectionate and loving. As we are driving along we blow each other kisses and he will randomly yell out, "I love you! I miss you!" as fast as he can. He also likes for me to carry him more often and we snuggle a little and share kisses. He told me yesterday that he loves to run errands with me. Now, so do I!

Here are a few photos from our errand adventures yesterday, which included a trip to the Maxwell AFB playground.

The Perfect Day

A while back I spent some time envisioning my perfect day. I can't really remember anymore what inspired these deep thoughts, but it wasn't hard for me to know what mine would include. My boys (big and little) and the beach. In my mind we were relaxing in the warm sun, playing in the sand, splashing in the water. I kept seeing a few very specific things that stuck with me: Allen chasing the boys through the surf and me and the boys building sandcastles.

When we realized we would be moving to Montgomery, AL this summer we weren't sure if a vacation would be possible. Moving is a time-consuming undertaking. Although, once we were here and settled in, Allen mentioned that we should try to get down to the beach. Some of the most beautiful beaches in Florida are along the Emerald Coast, which is only about 3 hours south.

We found out that there is an Air Force lodging area near Destin so I made the arrangements. We planned to spend 4 days and 3 nights in a 2-bedroom cabin. It wasn't right on the beach but just a short drive over the bridge, and for the price, it was the best option. I spent some time researching the area and so when we got there we were ready for beach fun!

On the drive down, our tour guide Elijah studied his "Vacation Book" (a.k.a. The Emerald Coast Visitor's Guide).

The cabin was in a great location, although the water in that part of the cove wasn't exactly emerald.

On our first evening we had oysters all-you-can-eat shrimp and oysters beach-side.

Elijah saw the beach for the first time. He was so thrilled that he kept laughing and squealing as the waves crashed on his feet. It took quite a bit of physical restraint (from his parents) to keep him from running right into the ocean!

The next morning we headed off to Henderson Beach State Park to play. We had so much fun! Samuel and Allen spent most of the time in the ocean. It took a little while for Samuel to feel confident, but then he loved the waves and would stand facing the sand so they could crash into his back. He even let me take him out pretty far! Elijah was enthralled by the giant sandbox and just wanted to dig and drive his sand trucks. I was the builder and he was the "wrecking crew."  I built the castles or molded sand vehicles and we would crash his bulldozers and dump trucks into them.

Lunch was at McGuire's, a well-known Irish Pub. It's most notable for the thousands of $1 bills that wallpaper the interior of the building.

Our next adventure was a dolphin cruise aboard The SeaBlaster, an XL speedboat. The boys thought it was fantastic! They saw several dolphins popping out of the water around the harbor. As the trip progressed, we went further out along the coast of Destin and began to go really fast! The best part of all is that they both had the chance to drive the boat!

Back in our room that evening we realized that thanks to some terribly ineffective spray sunscreen, we were all burned. Although, mine was worst of all since I was in a two-piece bikini. Sigh....

The next day we decided to save our beach-time for the evening when the sun was low. It worked out well since it was an overcast day with intermittent sprinkling. We spent our day at the Emerald Coast Science Center. It was small in comparison to many of the science museums that we have visited, but the boys have so much fun and didn't want to leave. They even made a new BFF: Coast Bot, a talking, remote-controlled interactive robot. Both of the boys were fascinated by her!

A stop for key lime pie was mandatory.

Our evening was spent back at Henderson with a picnic dinner on the beach. We stayed until sunset. We picked up a boogie board on the way there and I showed Samuel how to ride the waves!

The next morning we spent some more time at the beach. Although, we kept finding jellyfish in the water and along the shore so we had to exercise extra caution. Allen was scared. ;-) Most of our time was spent playing in the sand. We even buried each other!

Of course, a "Perfect Day" is impossible. Nothing is ever completely perfect. Every day in our lives is hectic and crazy, messy and loud, but there are always moments of perfection. This trip was full of them. So many wonderful memories were made. It was perfect.