Gilchrist Olympic Games

An annual highlight of the school year is Gilchrist Olympic Games (basically, it's Field Day), complete with Opening Day Ceremonies. Parents take time off of work to come out and watch the annual Opening Day parade and ceremony. This is no joke. I was highly unprepared with my high heels and work clothes on. These parents lined up early with their lawn chairs and blankets to get a good seat. One guy even backed his truck in and sat in his lawn chair on the truck bed, tailgating-style. Kindergarten was "USA" and proudly displayed their red, white, and blue. The highlight of the event (and I'm not just biased) was the Kindergarten dance to "Boom Boom Pow". So stinkin' cute!

Boom Boom Pow

The Girlfriend

Chicken race

an outdoor adventure

10 months of Disney...& 10 dates for mommy and daddy!

The deal went something like this: we pay for the kids year-long Disney passes and my parents will take the kids to Disney one a month for 10 months (summer dates are blacked out). That equates to TEN kid-free weekends for us. What a nice ROI. :)

Wait in line for 6 hours and you MIGHT get to fight Darth Vader.

Super Six!

He constantly steals our iphones to check the weather. My little meteorologist. I don't really mind except for the fact that he returns my phone with peanut butter smudges on it. Enter, the ipod touch! As a side note, I cannot take credit for this gift. I think it's exorbitant, but his father had other plans. Jay wins the "best gift" award for this birthday.

Cupcakes and a birthday party at school!

Logan and Mrs. Zetrouer

Most popular kid for a day -- he has cupcakes and stickers!

A birthday ride on Ms. Chetta's back.

The coolest cake in Kindergarten!

BFF's

Lunch with Mom. Subway, of course.

Lunch with Nana too!

a lesson learned

THE SETTING: It's a beautiful fall day in Tallahassee. The windows are open and the kids are happily playing together outside in the sandbox. Jay and I are enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet inside the house (we can see and hear the kids through the open windows and we have a privacy fence in our backyard). It's just a perfect afternoon.

THE INCIDENT: We hear Logan and Gavin screaming at the top of their lungs. Loud, terrified, girly screams. Horror movie screams. We race outside to find the boys running out of the sandbox and towards us, leaving Keegan all alone in the sandbox shaking with fear. "SNAKE!!!!! SNAKE!!!!! IN THE SANDBOX!!!!!!" Everything is in slow motion. We can't seem get to Keegan fast enough and he's terrified. Jay wisks him out of the sandbox. When Keegan is calm enough to speak again, he insists it bit him. The boys agree, but when questioned they admit they did not actually see the snake bite Keegan with their own eyes. The only marks I can find on him are a couple of little leftover ant bites from the day before. Incidentally, if you ask him today (7 days later), he will still tell you he was bit by a snake in the sandbox.

Jay captures the snake in question (a creepy looking orange and black baby snake) and brings him inside to Google him. Though initially thought to be a Copperhead (!!!!!!!!), since we found one of those in the backyard earlier in the summer, it eventually turns out to be a harmless Corn snake. Relieved by the fact that we are not dealing with a poisonous snake that has taken up residence in our sandbox, this little baby snake actually starts to seem kinda cute. Gavin wants to keep him. I still want Jay to get him out of the house before we lose him.

Later, we debrief with the children.

THE DEBRIEFING

ME: So, what happened?

LOGAN: There was a snake! And not just any old snake, Mom, a POISON snake!

ME: How do you know it was poison?

LOGAN: BECAUSE!!!!!! t was ORANGE! And orange is a bad color on a snake (my thoughts exactly)

ME: Ok, well let's talk about what we did right and what we could have done better.

LOGAN/GAVIN: (yelling and at the same time) We shouldn't have done it that way. We shouldn't have screamed. Screaming is BAD and you don't like it when we scream.

ME: Well, screaming is ok in this case because when you need help and it's an emergency, sometimes you have to scream so you can get mommy and daddy's attention. But what else could you have done better or done differently.

(they look at me cluelessly)

LOGAN: (I can see the light bulb go off in his head) You should NEVER leave your baby brother behind and we left Keegan all alone!

BINGO!

courtrooms and coffee

I'm sick. Jay's sick. The kids have colds, school, and football practice tonight. So how is it that I've been selected for jury duty today???? It's going to be a loooonnnnnngggg day.

Go Noles!

a little bit of fairy dust goes a long way

Well, she did it. The paci fairy came to our house. It's one of those things that once you do it, you think, "Why didn't I do this earlier?" I mean, it was just so easy. But maybe the timing was just right. Who knows?


In any case, the paci fairy finally made it to our house last night. She brought one toy, but once Jay took a look at it and realized how much Keegan would love it, he had to go out and buy three more to go with it (clearly I am not the one who is the pack rat in this family). So he headed out to Walmart at 9:30pm on a Sunday night to get the matching Lightening McQueen car to go with the Lightening McQueen Mack Truck. Now what are the chances that another family would be in the "Cars" aisle at Walmart enlisting the help of the Walmart employee looking for the very same car at 9:30pm on a Sunday? I mean, "Cars" is like three years old! But there they were, looking for the same car we needed to make our little paci-lover happy. Of course, intelligent people (like us) know not to ask the Walmart employees for anything. The only response you'll ever get is, "Um, yeah. We're out of that." (which might be true since Walmart is always out of everything, or they might just be saying that because they're poorly paid and don't feel like walking all the way to the back of the store to look for more). So Jay knew not to ask for help as it would just be a waste of time. Miraculously though, a little bit of fairy dust must have been sprinkled on him and he found the very last one...misplaced and just sitting there all by itself.





So, I braced myself for a sleepless night. Surprisingly, however, I only once heard through the baby monitor, "Mama, where'd Keegsie paci go? White paci and orange paci and blue paci and pink paci?". Followed by, "MAMA!!!!!! TRUCKS!!!! BIG TRUCKS AND CARS!!!!!!" When I went in to get him this morning, he had all the cars and trucks in his bed. The blue car (which is apparently a stand-in for "blue paci") went to school today and they said he didn't ask for his paci once. Until tonight. When he asked for every color of paci over and over and over again. And he cried. A lot. But with a quivering lip, "blue car" and Gramma's blankie in hand, he finally hit the pillow hard. It's exhausting to be two!

First thing in the morning.

"Keegsie all done school. No go school today. Stay home and play with BIG TRUCKS! I go

school 'morrow."

Still doesn't want to go to school.

12 hours later.

love is...

I came across this Logan original dated 2/14/2010. Other kids probably wrote about how much they love their mothers and stuff like that. This about sums it up.

an early birthday

Summer birthdays are the worst. If you grew up having a summer birthday, then you know what I'm talking about. You don't get cupcakes at school. No one is in town to come to your party. And it's crazy hot outside.


This year, I decided I was tired of Gavin getting screwed on his birthday (as opposed to Logan who has an April birthday -- well into the school year, so he has lots of friends to invite and the weather is always beautiful). Gavin is transitioning from a private pre-kindergarten program to a public school, and we only know one other boy in his class that will be attending Gilchrist next year. Hence Gavin's very, merry un-birthday party at the Fun Station. In fact, I had been planning on doing this for Gavin for months and months. Well, ever since I got carried away bidding on the Fun Station party package at Gilchrist's silent auction!

Mining for treasures

Flinstones

Daddy providing mandatory adult supervision to children under six (which was all of them except Logan) on the bumper boats. In his shirt and tie.

too cool for this un-birthday party

the ladies man with Jada and Frankie

but still Mama's boy

the paci fairy is coming

I took all three kids to the dentist simultaneously this week...solo. Last time, Ashley was there to reprimand, hand hold, and soothe, but you know.....graduation...blah blah...gotta get a real job...blah blah. (Love you, Ashley!). So, I went alone. It was far less difficult than I thought it would be. Which means my babies are growing up!

Logan and Gavin were thrilled about the whole thing. Gavin thought he was something special since he was the only one due for x-rays ("I get to see my BONES, Mom!"). Logan got into the back area where you sit and get your teeth cleaned and promptly announced (repeatedly) to the dentist that the whole experience was "soooooo boring!". That's my boy.

And then there was Keegan. Let's just say he's not really at a good age for having his teeth examiner by a stranger. Even if she gives him toys. Even if she has big brother role play what's about to happen. Even if she lets you hold Elmo. Essentially, she did all the "right" things, but Keegan was just not into it.

We got a good report on all kids. Which is fortunate considering the fact that we're driving a 12 year old car that seems to be on the verge of kicking the bucket. We're going to "just get one more thing fixed on it" and then we're gonna get a new one. As Jay says, it's like we have a car payment with all the repairs we've had to do each month, but it's cheaper than buying a new car.

But I digress....so, everyone's teeth look great....except Keegan's. His teeth look like he has a permanent, invisible paci in his mouth. So the paci fairy is on her way. He's excited about the toy she's bringing and the cake she's leaving (not sure where he came up with that one), but I don't think he actually gets the concept in its entirety. I guess he'll be searching for his secret hidden stash of pacis soon. We're hoping we got them all "to give to the little babies that don't have any pacis", but I'm not holding my breath. I guess I'm in for a sleepless weekend.

Hello, we're the Allison's

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.