Family hike

On Saturday we went on a family hike at Casper's Park with our playgroup and Jodi from Earthroots Field School. She takes children and thier families on nature hikes, teaching them about wild, edible, and medicinal plants along the way, showing animal tracks along the trail, teaching about the animals that live there, and just having a great time outdoors. The kids loved it. We didn't call it a "hike" because for some reason that turns them off. We termed it an "explore" and they were very excited, asking Jodi questions, collecting rocks and sticks, and helping some new friends to build a fort out of fallen tree bark and branches in the clearing where we stopped to eat lunch. Normally a picky eater, Will even sampled some of the prickly pear that we picked on the trail. We hope to make this a monthly family activity.

Camping fun!

We just got back from a weekend camping trip to O'Neil park today. We decided to try a little overnight trip and it was great! I had reservations about such a short trip, thinking that maybe it would be more trouble than it was worth, but we condensed our camping gear and were able to pack and unpack in record time. We went with a huge group of friends from one of my playgroups. There were 15 parents and 14 kids ranging in age from 7 to 22 months! We had 4 or 5 sites, so there were 2 families per site. The kids all got along great and had a blast! I was a little worried about how it would all work out with that many kids, but it was so awesome that we were all talking about doing it again sometime. Brian had a really good time with the dads too.

If anyone would like to schedule a trip just let us know because this place is about 15 min. from our house and really nice. They have bathrooms and showers, hiking trails, and a playground for the kids. It's also very close to civilization in case you need to run to the store. It's also very easy to get reservations and a nice little weekend trip. We're thinking of going from Friday night after work to Sunday morning sometime since it's so close.

I wish I had taken more pictures and I *really* wish we had gotton a group shot, but as you can imagine it was pretty much chaos with 14 kids running in different directions. Lining them all up for a picture was just not going to happen. I did manage to snap a shot of Will with the baby lizard he caught and one of Sam and a friend.

Ben has a loose tooth!

Yesterday, Ben got an apple out of the refridgerator, bit into it, and told me that I must not be brushing his teeth very well because one of them was hurting. I asked which one and he said it was a bottom tooth. I wondered if maybe it was loose, and sure enough, it was! Now I know why he has been asking that I brush his teeth lately. He was saying that he thought he wasn't doing a very good job by himself. Turns out that tooth was just bothering him because it was loose. I'm going to have another little toothless grin pretty soon!

I actually did it!

In my seemingly never ending quest to shed the last 30 baby pounds (can you still call them baby pounds when your "baby" is almost three?) I have taken up jogging. I have never, ever in my life been a runner. Even when I was a skinny little high schooler, I would get winded trying to run more than about a minute. So I had my doubts as to whether I could actually do this or not. I found a running plan on the internet called the "couch to 5K running plan" where you work up to jogging for 30 min. straight over a period of 9 weeks. I am currently on week 5 and have just completed a 20 min. jog with no walking in between! I'm now pretty sure that I will be able to do 30 minutes in another 3 weeks or so.

p.s. In case anyone is wondering where the pictures are over the last couple of posts, unfortunatly, Ben spilled orange juice on my camera cable and it isn't working anymore. I will try to get out to get another one a.s.a.p. so that you can all share in the kid cuteness.

September 11, 2007

Today was Sam's first real day of preschool. I got a little teary in the car driving away after dropping him off. My last baby is a preschooler. How did that happen? When did that happen? The time has gone by even faster with my last baby than it did with my first, if that is possible. I'm still blown away by the fact that I'm the mother of a 7 year old 2nd grader!

I am so grateful that I have been able to be at home with the kids all of this time. Today I went to volunteer in Ben's Kindergarten class. He was thrilled to see me and ran up and gave me a big hug. He absolutely *loves* Kindergarten. He is already making new friends and was talking to some other boys in his class during snack and playing with them on the playground.

Now a moment of remembrance. Every year on Sept. 11, I, along with every other American, I am sure, think about what happened on this day in 2001 and how the world will never be the same. Everyone has a story to tell about that day. Everyone remembers where they were when they heard of the horrible events. I was sitting at home alone with Will, who was 15 months old at the time, having breakfast. We hadn't turned on the t.v. or the computer, so we had no idea what was going on. Brian called and I asked him what time his flight was going to be coming in since he was scheduled to fly home from Houstan that day. He said that he wasn't going to be coming home today and to turn on the t.v. What I saw on the t.v. looked like some scene out of an action movie. People running and screaming on the streets of New York. The footage of the twin towers being hit by the plane. It was very surreal. I can't remember how our conversation went after that, but I remember walking around in a daze for the next few days. The playgroup that I had when Will was a baby got together at a park on a day that we didn't normally meet, just so that we wouldn't have to be alone. For the first time ever, I really felt like I had a shared history with every person I saw. We all had this tragedy in common. We will never forget.

More back to school pictures!

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school for all three of the kids- big day! Will is officially a 2nd grader, Ben is a Kindergartener, and Sammy is in preschool. I can't believe how big my babies are getting! Sam's first day was actually an orientation, so we have not left him there alone yet, but he absolutely loves his school. He cried when it was time to leave. I don't anticipate him having separation issues. Ben was excited, but very nervous, which is reflected in the pictures that daddy took. This is all old hat for Will now and he marched off into the classroom without so much as a backwards glance at us *sniff*. He was excited to see his friends, and happy that a few of them were in his class.

Muddy Mudpit!

Yesterday a friend was telling me about a neighborhood park that has a big waterslide and a mudpit for kids to play in. I thought the boys would love that, and it would be a nice family outing so we made plans to go today. The place was pretty cool. They have several play structures with ropes, fireman poles and lots of ladders and rock walls to climb, an area that is open during the school year for kids to come and use wood and tools to build forts and play structures of their own, and then in the summer they have the waterslide and mud pit. The boys were a little nervous about going down the waterslide, but they did brave the mudpit. We all got in and had some good, dirty fun!

Camping trip to Leo Carrillo

We are back from our annual camping trip to Leo Carrillo! Okay, well technically we got back two weeks ago, but who's counting? We had a blast as always. We had a really big group for the first two nights which was a lot of fun. It was me, Brian, our three boys, Tim and Wendy and thier two, Zukie, Laura, Lisa and David and thier four kids, Kathe, Lauren, and Aunt Mary. The kids loved getting to play with all of thier cousins and Sam was quite smitten with Brianna, Lisa and David's daughter who I think is 9. What can I say? At two, he is already a little ladies man. He had a great time playing with Izzy as well.

One of the big highlights of the trip for the boys was getting buried up to thier necks in sand by daddy and another big favorite was roasting marshmellows at the campfire. There is just nothing quite like sitting around the campfire with family on a cool summer night. These are the memories that our kids will hold onto and treasure for life. I still remember camping trips that I took with my parents when I was thier age. It just goes to show that kids do not need fancy, expensive vacations to be happy. Give them some dirt, a tree for climbing, and a beach and they are in heaven.

Houseboat Trip 2007

We just got back from our annual vacation to my parents houseboat on Lake Mohave on Friday. Fortunatly we got the camera working before the trip so I have plenty of pictures to share! We all had a blast, as usual. This time, no stitches for Will, which was definatly a plus! Also no major storms to report, which thrilled me, but Brian was a bit dissappointed. His hope was to capture the perfect storm on his camcorder and send it in to the local news stations. Oh, well, maybe next time.

The weather cooperated with us for the most part. The first couple of days were a bit windy so we didn't do much boating out on the lake, but the kids got to play on the shore in the cove that the houseboat was in. The next two days were calmer and we made it all the way to the marina at Katherine's Landing one day, and to Willow Beach, which is right near the Hoover Dam, the next day. Both were full days of boating and swimming and we were all exhausted by the end of the day. The kids slept great and the adults relaxed under the stars on top of the boat.

It was another wonderful vacation and our time there just flew by! We're now counting down to our camping trip at Leo Carrillo.

Some cute kid speak

The kids were in full form yesterday so I just wanted to share a few gems.

We were going to do some watercolor painting yesterday, but Ben's preference was to go shoe shopping. I told him that we'd be waiting for dad to come home before we went out and he said, "When I'm a grown up and I am an artist, and I have a phone, and it's a reading phone (he means a phone will caller id, where you can see the person's name who is calling you) and it says "mom", I'm not going to answer it.

Later on, Ben, still thinking about what shoes he was going to get said, "I want those shoes. You know, the ones I cried and cried for when you bought Sam's Crocs but YOU wouldn't buy them for me". Those would be the $70 Geox shoes from Nordstroms. For the record, he did NOT get the $70 pair yesterday either, he settled on a "jazzy, snazzy" pair of Vans with flames on the sides.

Will, on the other hand, was more enthusiastic about the watercolor painting. He piped up with, "This is even better than getting into trouble!". Indeed.

Moving up the ranks!

Will is now officially a Wolf in cub scouts. We had a bridging ceremony at a local campground and some families camped out for the weekend while others (us included) just went out there for the evening festivities and then came back again the next day for more activities. The kids had a great time. Roasting marshmellows was the biggest hit of the evening, of course!

Last week, Will spend Mon.- Friday at Boyscout day camp. It was a really neat experience for him and he is eager to do it again next year. He got to do archery, push carts, make a tool box in woodworking and a wallet in leather crafts, have relay races where they did silly things like walk on stilts, they had water play, tug of war, and did just about everything that a group of 6-11 year old boys would want to do! He came home filthy every day so I know we got our money's worth!

This might be my last update for awhile, as sadly enough, our camera has given out on us. We are going to try to get a new one this summer so that we are able to take pictures of our upcoming vacations.

Will's 7th birthday!

Will standing in front of the decorated car
The kids on Will's actual birthday eating some homemade cupcakes (decorated by them)
Will's Patrick cupcake cake, made by Grandma Zukie
Pineapple house Sponge Bob cake, made by Aunt Laura
Will with his friends at Chuck E. Cheese

My oldest "baby" is 7 years old! I can't believe it. Having older school aged kids is really starting to make ME feel old! Am I really old enough to have a kid going into second grade? He's just such a happy, good natured kid (most of the time anyway!) and it seems like 7 is going to be a good age. Right now, for the first time in many months, I am happy to report, none of the kids are going through especially difficult stages. We are on pretty even keel around here lately. Will had a great birthday. On the day of his actual birthday, I surprised him by painting the van with window paint that said, "Happy birthday Will" along with other messages, on all of the windows. His teacher made him a crown at school. The next weekend was his Chuck E. Cheese party with all of his friends from school and cousins. Pizza and video games. What more could a 7 year old ask for?

Ben's a preschool Graduate!

Ben with teacher Nick, taking a little bit about Ben's experiences in preschool.
Ben with a few of his buddies from school
This picture is a picture of the picture that they gave us at the graduation. They asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up and Ben said he wanted to be a chef. The expression on his face is so funny!

Ben has officially graduated from preschool! He is so excited to be going on to Kindergarten in the fall. He will most likely have the same teacher that Will had, which we are really happy about. He looked like such a big boy standing up there while his preschool teacher talked a little bit about each child. They also sang a couple of songs, which was really cute. Benny was very antimated to say the least! I wish I could show video of it on here, pictures just don't do justice to his "performance". He is our little ham! We are all going to miss his preschool teachers very much. Sam is on the waiting list for preschool, but this time around we are going to send him to a closer school. The preschool Will and Ben both went to is a good 20 minute drive from where we live and next year we will have 3 different pick up times for preschool, Kindergarten, and 2nd grade, so we wanted to simplify as much as possible.

Self Portrait of a two year old

Well, I have solved the mystery of which boy had my camera today. I found it on the coffee table, out of its case, after I had gotton out of the shower this morning. I asked who did it and both Will and Ben blamed it on Sammy. I admit, I didn't quite believe them until I uploaded these pictures this afternoon. Not bad for a 2 yr old, eh?

About the pictures

Will and Ben have started baseball season. They are both enjoying it and have improved so much over last year. Brian is having fun playing with them and has decided he wants to coach next season.

A breif explanation of the picture of Ben in the tiger suit on the next post- he had drawn those stripes on himself at school with marker, complete with stripes on the tummy. As soon as we got home, he wanted to put the costume on. I thought it was hilarious and wanted to take a picture of him. He didn't want me to, so I had to bribe him with a dollar.

The Sponge Bob invitation is the invite we are using for Will's birthday party. I ordered it custom from someone on ebay.

Pictures

Updates on the kids

It's been so long since I've posted anything new that I thought I'd do a general kid update.

Sam is talking up a blue streak. The speech therapist is now coming to our house once a week for an hour to work with him and he's made incredible progress. Talking in four word sentences and learning new words everyday. He's very much your typical, into everything, 2 year old! When you ask him a question, he pauses, says, "ummmm", thinks about it, then answers you. Very cute. His newest saying is, "awww maaan" with perfect inflection in his voice. He is also learning his colors. He asked me for pink paint the other day and would not be tricked when I gave him orange. I had to go back into the closet and drag out the red and white and mix it up for him. He will be starting at Country Village preschool in the fall. It's closer to our house than the older boys preschool is so it will be more convienent for us. It's a great place with several huge playgrounds, a science room with lots of birds, reptiles, and even a chinchilla, and a "barn" area with a pig and chickens. It looks like a fun place to be if you are a 3 year old!

Ben is graduating from preschool next week. *sniff sniff* I can't believe my baby is going to Kindergarten! He's so excited to be going to the same school as his big brother. I have requested that he be put in Mrs. Shields class, the teacher that Will had for K. He introduced himself to her on Friday at the school carnival. He has been really interested in letters, numbers, and writing lately. He has workbooks that he will sit and do for over an hour. He asks me to spell out words for him and he writes them down and is even starting to sound out a few. He's really going to be ready for Kindergarten! There are several siblings of Will's friends from Kindergarten that will be in his class too, which will be fun.

Will is almost done with first grade. He can read just about anything now and has learned to tell time and add and subtract. We have been working on his very first science report, about Triceritops. He was instructed to write a couple of paragraphs on it and one of the sentences was supposed to be his favorite thing about the Triceritops. He said that his favorite thing was that if he lived in the time of the dinosaurs, he would be able to catch a Triceritops because they don't run very fast. We also made a paper mache model of it and he painted it and glued on wiggly eyes. Will has lost his two bottom teeth and the top ones are loose. It would be cute if they waited until December to come out but it will probably happen this summer.