Bittersweet!

Connor finished his last day of the 3's class at preschool last week. It's a bittersweet moment. It's exciting to see him moving forward and growing, but it's sad knowing he's moving forward and growing. LOL At least with Emily and Jared, I knew I had one or two more kids to put through preschool so it didn't seem so bad, but this is my BABY moving on. I panicked slightly at one of the board meetings recently when I saw my BABY'S name on the 4's class roster. aughh!!!



We only have one more year with this amazing lady as one of our children's teachers. I may seriously have to consider bribing/threatening (whatever it takes!) her to move into teaching at the elementary school my children attend so they can have her again. LOL It's been five straight years with her teaching one or the other of our children. One more year to go and it's going to be STRANGE once it's over.

Connor, you've come a long way since we plopped you into the 2's class midway through the year, and you came even further after a full year of the 3's class under your belt. I look forward to seeing what the 4's class brings for you. Congrats on a year well done! XOXO

Happy Birthday Jared!

6 years ago, this adorable Little Man came into my life (Little Man is what I called him until we FINALLY agreed on his name 30 minutes after he was born, after MONTHS of debate...LOL):


Jared has been such an amazing little person in my life. It's hard to believe enough time has gone by that he's already SIX!! It seems just yesterday he was that tiny baby in my arms, whom I'd nicknamed Jare-bear, though I'm no longer allowed to call him that. Thankfully, he's very forgiving when I forget; old habits die hard! It seems like just yesterday he was 11-ish months old and saying "uh oh!"--his first word. And wasn't it just yesterday he was cruising through the house, pushing any moveable piece of furniture he could along in front him (he wouldn't walk otherwise, until he was 14.5 months old!)? And wasn't it just yesterday that he was speaking to me in sentences by 20 months old? And being the most obnoxious backseat driver you ever met by age 2.25? ("Watch out for that house, mom!" "Don't drive into that water, mom!" "Mom, see that truck? Don't crash it!" ETC!!!!!). Wasn't it just yesterday he was wearing straw hats, beads, tutus, and plastic high heel dress-up shoes, because his sister paid more attention to him when he did? And wasn't it just yesterday that he was having his first day of preschool? Riding a two-wheel bike? Starting Kindergarten? Everytime I blink, he's off on a new adventure. I hope age 6 brings him more "firsts", good friends, and fun adventures. I hope I can learn to blink a little more slowly because this is all going WAYYYY too fast!

Happy Birthday, Little Man! I ♥ you more than you could possibly imagine. XOXO

VROOM VROOM!

Last summer, Dan bought the kids a mini bike, instead of the agreed upon quad, because it was cheaper and he thought they'd have more fun with it. What ended up happening was that Jared wasn't quite tall enough to really ride it and be in control (and was scared of it anyway), and even though Emily was big enough, she was TERRIFIED of it. Dan spent the summer threatening to just give it away to some other kids who might enjoy it, which my kids happily agreed would be fine (minus Connor, who spent countless miserable hours over the fact that he just wasn't big enough to ride it by himself yet).

Fast forward to this year, and Jared is now big enough to ride it, but still quite fearful. Connor still isn't big enough, and is still MAD about that fact, and Emily wasn't home the day we had it out, so I'll have to get back you on what SHE thinks!!

Jared grudgingly got on and took it for a few spins around the yard (what you can't see in this picture is that Dan is RIGHT THERE making sure J's okay as he goes aroun the yard); he actually looked like he was having a good time! He leaned into the turns like a pro:


Notice his "riding" gloves he insisted on wearing?? LOL!! And yes, I realize that's a BIKE helmet on his head, not a motorized vehicle helmet, but he's going really slow and has gone faster on his bike, so I think he's okay (I do intend to get the proper helmets sooner than later, though).

Dan by himself exceeds the weight limit on the mini bike and Connor REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted a ride, so I took him for a few laps around the yard. HE LOVED IT!

Happy 1st Birthday

Charlie turned 1 year old yesterday. I never saw myself as a little dog person, but I LOVE CHARLIE. The kids LOVE Charlie. Dan seems to like him a lot, too. *grin* He's been such a good little addition to our family.

America's Got Talent

I SOOOOO enjoy this show! I enjoy laughing at the people who get up and make total fools of themselves, I enjoy seeing the judges react to the contestants (and try to figure out what to say to some of them!), I enjoy Piers Morgan ripping the terrible acts to shreds (sometimes he's a little over the top, but mostly, I think he says what we're all thinking!! LOL), I enjoy seeing people's emotional reactions to having fulfilled a dream in at least performing on stage in front of an audience, and hearing some of their personal stories... I enjoy the further rounds where EVERYONE is good and it's a matter of upping the efforts, and I am constantly amazed at just how far they can push their acts and their abilities.

There's not much about this show I don't enjoy, and I think I'm going to start letting my kids stay up to watch it with me next week!! At least the first hour.

My current favorite is the guy who was raised by his grandparents, who lost everything after Hurricane Katrina came through. Not only was it awesome to hear how hard he was working to support his grandparents, who gave so much to him as he grew up, but then to hear him SING. OH MY WORD. It was awesome. Great singer, great sounding guy; he's got my vote for now!!

Anyone else watching this show???

Shrek 4

Thumbs up from us! We took the kids last night, and all five of us enjoyed it. I heard Dan laugh out loud a few times, and I know I definately chuckled my way through it. The kids giggled quite a lot! The 3-D of it was pretty neat, though there were some scenes where I felt like everything was still pretty blurry and I don't know if I got a bum pair of glasses, or if it was not a very well done scene, or if that's just sort of what happens with 3-D movies (it was always the outer edges of a scene when I felt like parts were blurry). Nothing major, just something I noticed from time to time. But it didn't affect my overall "viewing pleasure". LOL.

I was happy it held the attention of all three kids. We've been finding lately that there's stuff the boys are more drawn to than Emily, or stuff the older two are more drawn to than Connor, etc, and it's gotten tougher to find movies we can all agree on and enjoy. Shrek 4 fit the bill!

And here's my round-about claim to fame. Connor attends preschool with a little boy who's dad help make the movie. Pretty cool, huh?