When we were in Seattle, the kids watched Lego Ninjago for the first time. It’s definitely not a perfect show for littles…as there is a little attitude in it. But my favorite line I overheard was from one of the father’s, speaking to the bad guy… “Oh yeah, well my son knows spinjitzu!” So funny how he said it! Max, Truman, and Eliza like to zip around and they laugh about doing spinjitzu. This picture is of Max displaying his spinjitzu skills.
I love walking around about 4 o’clock to see what everyone is doing.
Tru – got in a tackle battle with the amazon paper packaging. I’m not sure who won – Tru or the paper. But it occupied him for a good 30 minutes. (p.s. the other day Tru said “I’m not Tru. I’m buddy.” This is huge! For most of the past two years he insisted that he wasn’t Tru or Tru-Tru or buddy or buster or anything other than Truman!)
Liza had just woken from her nap – a wee bit grouchy. Wanted to watch a movie. We put on the Jelly Bean Kina Grannis song. She loved it.
Hannah – homework. Fun, fun.
Max – dealing with yet another bloody nose. Sorry for the gross tissue, but he was quite proud of himself for getting both nostrils plugged.
Abe – slowly pulling out his 150 times table problems to work through.
And that people is our normal life.
p.s. Max’s quote was said after hopping off the Kindergarten bus. Another day we’ll work on grammar… today we’ll work on enthusiasm for learning! He learned this at school today – I’m in right outright upright downright Happy all the time
Cute Maxwell! He was so excited (and a little nervous!). This kid is going to love school. And they are going to love Max!
He woke at 6:27 and came into my room and told me every minute the clock changed time. I told him to go back to sleep until 7. Hannah made him “the best hot chocolate ever.” He had cinnamon toast for breakfast. He got dressed and put on his shoes and was ready by 8 a.m. We had 50 minutes for him to spare so he watched bubble guppies. I changed liza’s diaper and got dressed. And low & behold… we missed the bus. I guess the bus comes extra early, plus I had the time off by a few. So we drove Max to school (he beat the bus!) and he played on the playground until the bell rang. He excitedly got in line and was eager to get started. We picked him up at the bus stop. He said riding the bus was fun and wasn’t scary. He sat by Emalie & Chloe, our neighbors.
I asked him what they did and he said, “I just can’t remember.” I don’t know that he’ll be a huge talker about school. He came into the house, got a bag of school-lunch doritos, took off his shoes, and wanted to have quiet time. Alrighty then.
It was so weird to only have 2 kids at home. We ran a few errands to buy swim shampoo. Costco wasn’t open yet so we went to the library and checked out a few books. We visited with the neighbors and walked to the bus stop. School is less than 3 hours every day. But hopefully it will be enough time to do some basic preschool with Tru and Liza.
1st day = excellent!
I thought it would be fun to celebrate Max going to the Big-K by taking the 3 littles swimming. We’ve come so far this summer… from me not wanting to take 5 kids swimming to me going solo with the smallest 3.
Stearns Puddle Jumpers might be the best invention ever. Max, Truman, and even Liza can go solo in the water. Mind you I stay quite close… Today Miss Eliza insisted that she could go on the lazy river without me holding on. She screamed every time I touched her hand to guide her way. Oh, huh… she must be 2.
We had a fun time, plus the Legacy Center was practically empty. Swimming is a great activity for Tru. He is a little fish. He and Max did cannonballs into the water. Max is really excited (& a little nervous) to go on the bus and to K, but he is going to have a fantastic time!
p.s. I told them to laugh for the photo and this is what I got. Huge laughter!
Wow – it’s here. First day of school. I don’t know that we ever really got into a good summer groove. I despise schedules, but the kids thrive on schedules.
But – ready or not – here school comes. I think Hannah and Abe were excited. Good moods all over the place this morning. Abe has Mr. O. for 4th grade. Hannah has Mrs. Hill for 5th. Max starts the Big K next Tuesday with Mrs Mower.
update: after-school discussion over cookies… Abraham had a great day. His teacher told them a whole bunch of funny stories from his life. He took 7 tests. He didn’t have time for recess. Hannah was bored… going over rules, etc. She thinks her teacher is very similar to Mrs. O’Dell from last year. She was nervous… but was glad to have friends in her class.
p.s. picture of Jimmy? (he was leaving same time as the kids! Isn’t he handsome? and yes, those are a few handsome gray hairs!)
p.p.s. what to do with 3 littles at home. ended up mowing the lawn, watching transformers rescuebots, liza fell asleep at the bottom of our little indoor slide, ate peaches. yum!
Little Liza is 2! Can you believe it?! Wasn’t she just born? She had a mellow birthday. Grandma & Jane came for snow cones and brought some cheer. Baby Cinderella Doll from Grandparents was a big hit! She loves her. The Cinderella singing card – oh – so cute.
We gave Liza a Minnnie Mouse nightgown. We made cupcakes and Tru made sure that we taught Liza to blow out the candles. Hannah delighted in decorating the cupcakes with cute frosting and sprinkles.
A bit about Liza:
Weighs 27 lbs.
Is starting to talk more. She can put 2 words together occasionally.
Loves warm chocolate milk (tradition every morning)
Wants to do whatever the other 4 are doing.
Loves to play with Hannah.
Still has glorious curls.
Has dark hazel eyes with a dark ring on the outside.
Still sucks her thumb through her blankie.
Sleeps in Max & Truman’s room
(but won’t go to bed at the same time… she insists on 10 minutes of alone time with mom or dad).
Likes to swing and slide.
Does well at catching balls.
Has a hearty laugh.
Sticks to mom’s side during the day.
Takes a long nap every day.
Likes to eat cheese, mandarin oranges, juice boxes, raman noodles.
Here’s the latest with Miss Hannah. She lost 2 molars recently. They were all of a sudden loose and were pulled out the same day. She also has been taking art classes from Rebecka Fore in the neighborhood. She had to draw a self-portrait in the mirror. She enjoys drawing in cartoon style.
Last week Julie let Hannah help her paint and mod-podge some little plaques for her work gifts. Using her new skills, Hannah created this gift for me while I took a snooze. She is the best daughter ever! So thoughtful. I love that she reminded me that even in the winter we can have sunshine in our soul.
Hannah has been a super help this summer. I am able to leave a few kids with her for an hour or so. She will be a great babysitter! She can get the dishwasher started and the counters wiped. Her favorite chore is helping in the kitchen. I like when she makes treats for us (and cleans up after herself – hint, hint!). We sure love Hannah. She is starting 5th grade and is so anxious to know who her teacher will be. She will find out on Friday evening!!!
Liza is funny about movies. She used to only love Barbie movies. Then she liked Wreck it Ralph (what?!) This week her favorite is Annie. Too funny.
She tries to sing the songs. She reinacts the intro song ‘Maybe” and says “Annie, Annie” with Molly during her bad dream.
Just a funny movie for a tot to like.
p.s. Liza turns 2 next week! aaaak!
Miss Hannah shared her room with Grandma Smith & Julie for 2 weeks while they visited. Once they left, she wanted to rearrange and tidy up her space. Julie gave Hannah her headboard that she made. Hannah said her room was much more official now! She has managed to snuggle into those covers keeping the stuffed animals and pillows in place.
We cleaned off her dresser and relocated it. Hannah wasn’t sure how to handle so much empty space on the dresser. Embrace the space hannah – serenity now. Less is more. Zen – flow… peace. We are all working on this in our home.
Wow – July flew by. There is not much blogging going on here. It’s better to be out DOING than only blogging… but still. My energy level lately is zilch. I’ve been taking naps. Weird. I’ve been trying to drink tons of water. The littles always swipe and contaminate my cup. It’s hot and slightly humid. But we have sunshine! And blue skies! and Clouds!
Tru has lots of smiles in the summertime. He gets to play with sticks and rocks. Exploring is his love.
We’re attempting to have some type of schedule for Abe’s sake. Teaching the kids to work… and enjoy their labors is a tricky business.
Max loves getting dressed tidy for church. He’s holding up his pants so they won’t get wet on the morning dew grass.
JuJu is staying with us until she moves to Virginia. She is so good at braiding. I MUST LEARN… TODAY! She is a darling friend for Hannah.
Last favorite picture from July – GREEN! GARDEN! FLOWERS! FOOD! LOVE!
