Sunday Morning

I had to capture this image of my boys getting ready for church this morning.  I think it’s so cute that they are both in dress shirts and dark socks. 

And, yes, my hubbie is the best.  He IRONS.

Will You Be My Valentine?

Part of the fun of having a preschooler actually IN SCHOOL is experiencing all the neat holiday stuff.  Bean celebrated Valentine’s Day this week at his preschool and I got to take my kid to the store to pick out his very first box of Valentines.  The teacher said they could include a piece of candy or a sticker with their Valentine card.  The first thing I noticed was that most of the cards came with candy or sticker included.  Wow, that is SO 2010.  I’m sure it was also SO 2009 and SO 2008, but I have never done this before.  Those Hallmark people really make it easy for you. 

Bean picked out these cute “Toy Story” cards that included a Disney lollipop with the letter “D” on it.  (Get it?  “D” for Daniel. Cute, right?)  So we sat down over the weekend and picked out cards for the 12 kids in his class while he wrote his name on each one in red or pink crayon.  He only ate two lollipops, I think.   It was fun.

Well, today was the best day ever because Daniel brought home an entire bag of Valentines from school.  He was THRILLED.  Yep, it BLEW HIS MIND.

One friend gave him pretzels (Healthy!)  One friend gave him a long fruit roll-up tape dispenser (Interesting!) Lots of friends gave him candy and lollipops (Holy Grail!)  He even got a magnet photo frame from his teacher.  It was a blast to experience this all for the first time with my son.  

I remember when I was in fourth grade and I got my very first “secret” Valentine.  That’s when we decorated empty cereal boxes with construction paper, glue and glitter to create our Valentine’s mailbox.  Maybe it’s a LITTLE embarrassing, but I’ve actually kept that ”secret” Valentine card in a memory box all these years. 

I love the homemade pink construction paper heart.  I love that it actually says from “?”

I think I told him “Yes.”  Actually, I don’t remember.  But isn’t this the sweetest thing ever?  It still makes me smile.  The innocence of it all makes me smile.   It’s just a fun memory that makes me realize that my kiddies will have so many of these fun memories in their future.  And I get to experience it all again. 

Being a Mom is pretty fantastic.

Lefty

Annabel is left handed. 

I never really thought about it.  And I think about EVERYTHING when it comes to my kiddies.  Then, one day I found myself wondering, “Wait a minute.  Is that her LEFT hand she’s using to press those buttons on the really loud and obnoxious Elmo pop-up toy over and over and over again?  Why, YES IT IS!” 

Then, I would always put the fork in her RIGHT hand only to watch her switch it to her LEFT hand.  Hmmm.  When we visited my sister at Christmas (note: Sis is a lefty), she SCREAMED with delight when she saw Annabel use her left hand to pick up a crayon and color on a piece of paper.  I still was not 100% convinced. 

“I think she still uses BOTH hands,” I said.

“NOPE.” said Sis. “She is a lefty!  DEFINITLY.  WOO HOO!”

Now that it’s been almost a month later, I will concede.  My daughter is a lefty.  (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)  She joins an exclusive club filled with many other super cool left handed peeps including:  Her godmother (my sister), President Obama, President Bush, Oprah, Bill Gates, Bob Dylan, Sting, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie, Robert DeNiro, Jerry Seinfeld, Bruce Willis, Justin Bieber, Rocky, and Kermit the Frog.  

In other “unique trait” news, check out what my SON can do.  I’m so proud.

First Day of Preschool

My baby boy started school today. 

It was his very first day of a three-year-old preschool program. In other words, he left me to spend the morning with a woman I barely know.  I’ve been preparing for this day since September. Back then, I decided to wait a semester since he is a “late” three (August birthday) and I wanted him to be completely comfortable with the potty training. I don’t think I give my kid enough credit.  He was probably ready to go to school back in September.  But, let’s face it, I wasn’t.  His official first day was supposed to be last Tuesday.  But he woke up with a nasty cold, so we delayed a week. 

Today was the BIG DAY.

He woke up a little earlier than usual today.  He was excited.  He had banana bread (his favorite) with a side of bananas (one slice, maybe) and blueberries (three) and a big glass of milk.  He got dressed and watched me put his lunchbox into his backpack and then I think his nerves started to set in.  The difference with Bean now, compared to when he started the Sports Class in the summer,  is that he can really express his feelings so much better.  He can say that he’s nervous.  He told me he might cry, but “just a little bit.”  He wanted to go, but he might want me to stay too. He needed a sip of water so he would feel better. 

We arrived at school a little early so I could show him where to hang his brand new fire truck backpack. He loved when he saw his name above the small hook on the wall.  He saw some Thomas trains to play with so that was awesome.  He tried out the bathroom and hated the loud fan and the big boy seat (no kiddie insert like at home.)  That made ME nervous, but it was time for Mama to leave.  I kissed his cheek, said I loved him, and he sat down at a tiny table.  The teacher tried to distract him with crayons so I could scoot out, but I could hear his small cry and call for me as I turned the corner.  I didn’t cry. I just listened to make sure he stopped crying.  He did.   I peeked one more time  to see him coloring and smiling, so I left.  My baby boy was now at school.  Okay, maybe I cried a little just then.

When I picked him up FOUR HOURS LATER, I got the biggest hug and peanut butter faced smile. Yes, he ate his sandwich.  But nothing else.  He wanted to eat the rest at home.  The teacher said he did GREAT.  Sure, there were some nerves here and there, but overall, just great.  Now Bean is giving up the monumental first day of school information in frustrating bits and pieces.  There’s some fun clean-up song he’s been trying to sing.   He told us he said “Amen” at chapel time.   He sat on big letters on the floor.  There was some type of guitar in music class.  He forgot the name of a friend he made. 

The hardest part is not knowing exactly what he was doing all day at school.  It’s hard knowing that my son was doing things, learning things, seeing things, experiencing things and I wasn’t there.  I may never really know what he loved best, what made him nervous, what made him laugh.  He’s letting go of my hand, one finger at a time.  I hate it.  I love it.   This is what it’s all about.  The first independent step out into the big world.  He did it.   I’m so proud of my little man.

Christmas Cookies

My amazing husband is the chef of the family.  I wrote all about it HERE and HERE.  He loves to cook and is really, really good at it.  Everything he makes is super yummy.  But now he has ventured into my territory: Baking. 

I’ve been perfecting my baking skills all this year by rolling out tons of blueberry muffins, banana bread, pumpkin bread, brownies, cupcakes and cookies.  I was going to make Christmas cookies for Santa, but my husband decided HE wanted to do it instead. 

Here is the video of the hubbie and Bean having a blast making cookies for Santa.  Happy Holidays!  Enjoy! 

PS: They are DELICIOUS!

Karate Kid

Daniel started Karate lessons this week.  It was difficult to find a location that allowed 3-year-olds to participate. The class he’s in now has a nice mix of younger kids and older kids.  The older kids act as mentors, which is awesome.  We wanted Daniel to start Karate because it’s great exercise and the goal is to work on his confidence and focus. 

So far, so good.  But I do have to laugh when I watch the warm up session.  It was the first time I realized that we never taught Daniel to do jumping jacks.  Cutest. Thing. Ever.