Preschool Open House

On Monday we went to Camden's preschool open house to meet his teacher and see his new room.  He was a tiny bit apprehensive when we first got there but warmed up really fast.  He played with all the toys, did a scavenger hunt and talked with Mrs. McClintock.  Here are some pictures of him checking out his new school.

checking out the tool bench

playing at the doll house

standing by his coat hook

meeting Mrs. McClintock

his new cubby

enjoying the snack of goldfish and lemonade

First day of Kindergarten

He made it past the first day!  When I picked him up he said he had tons of fun and talked about the day a lot!  More than he ever has about any day in preschool.  He talked about the book they read, the songs they sang, the rules of the class, what he had for lunch, how they got to play on both playgrounds, and that he met a new friend.  It was good news to hear after leaving him that morning.  He was excited but when the teacher told the kids to wave bye to the parents, his eyes welled up with tears and so did mine.  I just prayed that his jitters would go away and that he would have a good day.  And he did!  I am so glad the first day is past and we can get used to the new school schedule.

ready for kindergarten

Although I am excited to write this post, I am also a little sad and nostalgic.  My baby, my first born, is going off to kindergarten.  It is two days away and I think I am more nervous for him than he is.  The last two weeks have been a little bitter sweet for me because I know that things are going to change and he will be swallowed into the vortex of *school*.  For the next 18 years it will be his life for 9 months out of the year.  I have spent the last 5 years with him almost every day and I can't imagine how much the dynamic is going to change around the house without him here all day.  I am going to miss the time we got to spend together but I feel good knowing that he will be in school learning things that he can't learn at home.  Things he needs a classroom for.  We hope he gains more confidence and establishes a love for learning.  Luckily he has an amazing teacher and already knows several kids in his class.  On Thursday night we got to go see the brand new school and find his classroom, desk, coat hook and where he will eat lunch.  We got to see the art room, media room and the new gym as well.  Walking into the school Carter said "wow mom, this school is really big" and seeing the room was a little overwhelming for him but I think now he is even more excited to go since he can now picture where he will be going.  We also got to meet his teacher (who happens to be our across the street neighbor, that we really like).  The first day of school is on Tuesday August 14th.  The whole first week they get out an hour early to ease into the school year.  Carter got his new back pack and lunch box that he is really excited about.  He is going to take hot lunch the first few days to get used to it and then he might take cold lunch when he wants to.

with is new camo back pack and batman lunch box

Thursday night was fun and I am glad we were able to see the new school. It looked really nice, and it is pretty darn close to our house.  It will work out great to take him at 8:10 and then get Camden to preschool by 8:30, but Camden doesn't start until the 22nd.  Here are some pictures of Carter in his class room.

with his teacher Mrs. Kennedy

he found his desk supplies at his desk

where he has his coat and bag

sitting at his desk

with his friend Emma

Callan and Carter found a reading spot

in the lunch room

outside of Kloefkorn Elementary school

Good luck Carter on your first day.  We know you will do a great job and have a lot of fun.  We will miss you being around but hope you find more fun being at school.  We are so proud of you!

Kids update

I thought I would do a quick update on the kids and show a few pictures of what has been going on around the house when we have been cooped up because of the heat.
Callan is proving to be our most challenging child.  He is fearless and into everything.  Just this morning he opened the fridge and got out an egg and carried it around until his brother told on him.  He has fallen off almost every piece of furniture we open and recently cut his lip when he fell down the garage stairs.  He really is a tiny tornado. He is not happy about going down for naps and gets even more upset when the older two leave (like to swimming lessons) and he doesn't get to go with.  He loves his brothers, but is starting to pester them quite a bit.  He is growing up right before our eyes and has started to go pee on the potty every night before bed.  There are some nights he doesn't go but he has been doing pretty well.  He is showing some interest so when he asks we do it.  He is talking non stop but we still have trouble understanding all the things he is trying to tell us.  He will now repeat anything we ask him to say and it is pretty darn cute to hear his version of words.  I think he is going to take Carter being in school the hardest.  They have a special bond and Callan looks to him to help him with his shoes or just to play with.  He will often walk around the house when Carter is gone saying his name over and over.
Camden is all geared up for preschool. He can't wait to start and is ready to meet his teacher and see his room.  He doesn't start for another week or so, which is going to be hard to explain to him when Carter is going to be starting.  We have also officially stopped his naps as well.  A sad day for mom.  He still takes great naps, the problem is he doesn't fall asleep until late (9 or 10).  So much to my dismay I have been letting him have quiet time instead and it is working out pretty well.  We have a learning curve of what "quiet time" consists of but hopefully with school starting things will all work out.  He does get a little more crabby in the evenings but has actually handled it better than I thought.  We are still dealing with his unwillingness to clean up or do simple chores we ask him to do, but we hope that being consisted will make things better in the long run.  The two oldest are in charge of making their beds and clearing the dishes off the table after meals.  They even got a lesson in washing dishes with Chad this morning.  I think it will be a rude awakening for Camden when Carter is gone and he has to pick up most of the toys because Carter always did more than his fair share.  Camden is doing well in swimming and was a lot more adventurous when we were at Linda's pool.  He has been really into books lately and loves having one on one reading time where he can ask as many questions as he wants.
I will update Carter in the next post about kindergarten.

enjoying corn on the cob

underwear super heros

nase wanted to join camden in bed

carter didn't want to be left out

callan *loving* on Nase

dressing up in super hero gear, or so they say

have i ever told you how much he loves wearing other peoples shoes

The dog days of summer

As I sit down to write this post we are officially 3 days away from having a school aged child. Yikes! So over the last few weeks we have been trying to enjoy the last few days of this hot summer by doing some fun things. Besides all the birthday fun we have been having, we made a few trips to our favorite places.  We went to the children's museum 2 weeks ago with our neighbors. They had some new exhibits that the kids loved.  The first one was a harvesting area where the kids could collect the apples from the trees and when the harvest was over all the apples fell off.  You could also do a similar thing with eggs.  They also had a construction site in the basement that everyone enjoyed as well

the new construction site

little bat man in the dress up/stage area

We also used our free kids meals at Applebees from the kids summer reading program on Carter's birthday. The kids enjoyed going out to eat and Carter had his first experience with people singing happy birthday to you.  He was a little overwhelmed, but had fun.  The best part was that we went to Goodrich afterwards for ice cream.  Carter got chocolate and the other two boys shared superman ice cream. Before we grabbed dinner the kids asked if they could play on the swing set at swimming.  They ask me every week, and we never do, so since it was Carter's birthday, they got to play.

Carter's birthday dinner

We also got to spend a few hours at a friends pool which was a lot of fun. We went with the triplets and my mom and kids had a blast.  Carter couldn't touch in the pool but he was jumping in and swimming to the other side to keep up with his cousins.  He was also diving for toys and doing somersaults in the water.  It was a great place for him to practice his swimming.  Thanks Linda for letting us play in your pool!  (unfortunately I was having a lot of fun too, and didn't take any pictures)  Then later this week we met up with the triplets again and ate lunch at Culver's and then went to the free splash park.  

look at these little monkeys

eating at Culver's before the splash park

Then on Friday we had our official last day of summer.  We went to the park by the YMCA and played in the beautiful weather for a few hours and had a picnic lunch.  It was a nice end to the summer.  On Monday we are having a pajama day where we are going to veg out at home and enjoy our last day of all three kids at home and the kids can't wait.  This weekend will hopefully be a stress-free relaxing one since a big change is going to hit the house in a few days.