Why I love Gilchrist

They have the BEST teachers! This is an email I received last week from Gavin's Kindergarten teacher. It was sent to my work email, so I had the pleasure of opening and reading this while sitting at my desk and missing my boys. Mrs. Zetrouer is the BEST!


"I so enjoy having your wonderful sons in my kindergarten classes :) Gavin is just as friendly and talkative as Logan! He has told me all about Nickelodeon Studios, Karate and now he is helping me keep tabs on who is not cleaning up their centers! I just adore your boys :)

My first Gavin Story of the Year: I was trying to help one of the little girls open a bottle of glue a few minutes ago and Gavin saw that I was struggling to open it, so he came over and said, “Mrs. Zetrouer I can help you open that because I have muscles and I can even do a straddle.” I gave him the bottle and he opened it with his muscles :)

I thought you would enjoy that this afternoon!"

love is in the air

This first week of school has been full of emotion, exhaustion, and change. The kids are like my little mice struggling to get used to who moved their cheese. Keegan is often torn between really enjoying school while he's there, but really wanting to be back home with me. Logan is trying to adjust to a new teacher with new rules that he may or may not agree with. And Gavin is just going with the flow -- holding his head up high and trying to make new friends at his new school.

To my delight, after several afternoons of tears, all three boys finally came home excited, talkative, and happy.

Afternoon conversation today:


GAVIN: (yelling with excitement) I have a secret, Logan!


LOGAN: (yelling as usual) Tell me! Tell me!!!!!


GAVIN: Ok, but no girls allowed!


AFTERSCHOOL PTO HELPER LADY: Oh no! I wanted to hear the secret.


GAVIN: You can't. No girls allowed. Hey mom! I have a secret! You wanna hear it?


AFTERSCHOOL PTO HELPER LADY: (looks at me as if to say, "you're not a girl?")


ME: (I look at the PTO lady and shrug to mean, "you don't know this, but i have a house full of boys, so apparently I don't count as a girl since we don't have any girls in my house". I'm sure she has no idea of the message I'm silently trying to convey with my shrug and with my eyes, but she knowingly nods nonetheless) YES! Tell me!


GAVIN: (grinning from ear to ear and touching his cheek with his hand) I have a girlfriend! And SHE KISSED ME!!!!!!!!!


ME: Oh my! Did you tell Mrs. Zetrouer?


GAVIN: No way! Cause she would be totally JEALOUS!


(This conversation continued throughout the evening, as he told anyone who would listen all about his new girlfriend. He doesn't know her name, but it "might be Kaylee or Hailey". She is blond like him, and he's going to marry her)

traditions: x's, o's, and 1's!

Traditions are important...for both children and adults. Last year, I started the tradition of drawing on the children's wrists as a reminder to them that I was thinking about them throughout the day (click on this post from last year). Well, this year drawing hearts on the inside of their wrists seemed somehow a little girly and babyish (even though they asked for it without even the slightest hint of embarrassment), so we decided to do little x's and o's (hugging and kissing you when you're at school and need a little love).

Although you can't see it in this picture, Keegan is trying to show the camera his x's and o's. This year I added a new tradition: a photo of them holding up their fingers symbolizing their new grade. Logan is holding up a one for first grade, and Gavin is showing you his zero for Kindergarten. Not sure what I'll do when we get to 11th and 12th grade...toes too maybe?

Back to School

Despite the heat and humidity, the calendar insists that fall is here, and with that comes another year of school.

LOGAN

Logan is a big first grader this year and is taking pride in showing his brother the ropes. He's rather bossy in these types of situations, saying things like, "Gavin, you can't just always have mom open your yogurt for you. You're in kindergarten now" and "You have to learn to tie your shoes. Only preschoolers get their shoes tied for them and Mrs. Zetrouer will only tie your shoes until January". He's the big man on campus (or so he thought until I dropped him off by himself in the media center yesterday). He puffed out his chest and hardly said goodbye to me, but I saw a flicker of hesitation behind his eyes. Somehow I thought my tears and worries would be reserved for my upcoming kindergartener, but I guess not. I realize now that every year is a new year -- filled with the unknown (Will his teacher like him? -- I hope so) and the unexpected (How did he get into a class where he only knows one kid from last year? And that boy has special needs and behavioral issues. Oh well, he'll be fine).

GAVIN

First day of kindergarten! A new school, new lunch box, new backpack, and (hopefully) new friends. Again, I thought it would be easier this time around, but I still found myself tearing up inside and out. We are more than thrilled to have Logan's teacher from last year, however, so I feel like we know what to expect. And Gavin will proudly tell anyone who will listen that he is sitting in his brother's kindergarten desk. I had the opportunity to speak at the Dragon's Den TaeKwonDo pep rally this past week. Though I had planned on discussing something else entirely (working hard, being a good learner, blah, blah, blah), Gavin said something to me that changed my mind about what I would say to this group of students. He said, "Mom, I'm really excited in my stomach about starting school, but I'm also really scared". And it occurred to me that we teach our children to be excited about the upcoming year, but we sometimes forget to acknowledge their other feelings...the ones the mothers and fathers try to hold onto themselves. The feeling of worry, of dread, of nervousness, of anxiety. So I chose to talk to this group about those feelings and (hopefully) teach them a little bit about how to cope with that. It worked with Gavin...sorta.

KEEGAN

After several days of shadowing with mom and dad, Keegan's first day of preschool finally arrived. He's going to a little school next door to the elementary school and we are quite pleased so far. If you know me, you know that I'm a stickler when it comes to a good day care. They are few and far between and I have yet to find one in town that I like. Having years of experience either working in day cares and/or with day care employees, I am usually less than impressed by the facilities, directors, and ultimately the employees themselves. Keegan spent some time crying (which I would expect), but seemed to have a good day overall. And he (thankfully) did not refuse to go back again this morning. It's just going to take a little getting used to as we are all still missing having Ashley in our lives (Hi Ashley!). I told Jay that when I picked Keegan up yesterday and he saw me walking towards him, it was kind of the reaction I would expect if I had been in the military, stationed overseas, and was just getting off the plane to see my children again. He ran towards me crying, shaking and yelling my name, which of course opened my flood gates as well, and I was a blubbering mess as I attempted to sign him out for the day.

All in all, we had a great first day. I cried and lost sleep so no one else would have to. Looking forward to doing it again tomorrow (minus the crying -- I don't have waterproof mascara), but looking forward to the weekend even more.

April Activities

These are a few of my favorite April photos (yes, I am aware that it's August!). I just love these boys!

Potty Training!

Drunk Driver!

He's going to hate this picture one day. Note the position of the right hand!

Lego Building

Daddy time

Reading his favorite book, "Who Loves Keegan"

"No eat play dough, Mom!"

Hanging out with Gavin (who is in time out)

Well, this looks safe.

Space Mountain

I finally got around to sorting through the photos downloaded from our iphones. I think these pictures are so funny...one from my phone and one from Jay's. The boys rode Space Mountain for the first time and this is the photo they take while you're on the ride that you can buy at the end. I think it's hilarious that Jay and I are in separate cars with separate kids and we're both holding them in the exact same way. Holding onto them for dear life and trying to keep them from flying out of their seats! I think I was more afraid than they they were!

A very wet Disney trip

A little bit of rain (ok, SIX inches of rain is not a little bit!) can't stop the Allison's from visiting the Happiest Place on Earth!

Day 2 was so much nicer!

When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true!

Sponge Bob celebrates with Logan

A little late on this post, but I wanted to show you some pictures of our trip to Orlando for Logan's 6th birthday. Jay and I had the opportunity to participate in Disney's "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" program in which we volunteered for a couple of hours in our local community (in our case, it was at the homeless shelter) and received a free ticket to Disney World in return. My parents were able to volunteer as well, and also had a couple of free Disney tickets they had won (of course they did!). This allowed us to grant Logan's birthday wish on a dime, as is the Allison way. This gave us the opportunity to splurge a little and get a suite at one of our favorite Orlando hotels, the Nick Hotel, where you can celebrate your birthday with Sponge Bob, get slimed, and can even throw a pie in your grandmother's face! Of course, since we are Allison's, Jay and I spent one dreary, rainy morning while we were there to sit through a time share presentation and earn a free gift (and $80 food voucher to use at the hotel's mall). "No, we don't want to buy your time share" we must have said 1,000 times.

Getting slimed (it was COLD, but they insisted!)


Keegan loves Dora

Dessert at Cici's (where the buffet is Buy 1 Get 1 Free with coupon!)

Logan, Justin, and Gavin. We were so pleased to have the Lee family join us. The kids played nicely together and I was happy to have someone to hit the outlets with. Steph makes me look good -- I spent far less than her at the Coach outlet, which I pointed out to Jay as I handed him my receipt so I wouldn't be in quite as much trouble!

Birthday with Sponge Bob

Where the boys play...I mean, sleep.

If you have small children and haven't been to this hotel, you really should give it a try. I'm watching for a good deal this fall and we plan on launching "Operation Allison's and Friends Take Over The Sponge Bob Hotel". Maybe you'll be able to join us?????

Gilchrist, here come the Allison's!

Ready or not, here we come!

heartwarming moment of the day

While wacthing The Cat in the Hat (the movie):

BOY IN THE MOVIE: I wish I had a different mom!
LOGAN: Not me. I just want my mom. I just want you.
GAVIN: Yeah, I just want our mom too.
LOGAN: Cuz you're nice.
GAVIN: Yeah, we just want you....and NANA!

play ball!

Here are a few good shots of the Royals in action.

Papa served as the official "Keegan entertainer", which is not for the faint of heart. Position requires continuous energy, unwavering enthusiasm, and a high level of fitness. The successful candidate must be able to run up and down a hill repeatedly for the duration of the t-ball game while simultaneously keeping Baby Keegan safe and entertained.

Gavin Roy at the plate.

Logan strikes a pose before his hit.

The Royals

MVP's

The Three Stooges