Jack: "Dad, this is the kind of dance boys do to impress girls." (Jack does a little twirl dance.)

 Byron: "Oh yeah? What kind of girls are you trying to impress?"

 Jack: "I don't know - maybe Mom?"

I guess I can finally admit that my boys are growing up when I'm able to call out to them, "Hey! Can someone bring me some toilet paper?" And they do...

October has come and gone. We had a great Halloween with lots of trick-or-treating and a fun bonfire at our house. My dad and brother Kyle and his girlfriend Amanda came to help us celebrate as well as the O'Neills and the Muntzes. The kids all trick-or-treated together and gots lots of loot. The boys were clone troopers this year - and for those of us who grew up with storm troopers as the bad guys, the clone troopers are very confusing. Clone troopers are good guys, before they have been corrupted by the bad guys, apparently.

Anyway - I miss fall already. November started off pretty mild but has quickly turned cold and rainy and yucky. Thanksgiving is next week - it snuck up on me!

This morning as the boys were playing video games, Nathan said to Jack, "We can't do Level 1. That's too easy! Come on, man, we're six years old!"

Well, we've been making it through the first few months of school. I think we have all adjusted just fine. Much more calm and able to handle the routine. The boys love their teachers and there isn't so much of the "why-do-we-have-to-go-school-everyday" nonsense now. Which is good. So now we are getting through October, with crazy cold wet weather (and a major sinus infection for me) and flu shots and preparing for Halloween. My favorite holiday!

P.S. In case you are wondering why I have a zillion videos of Daisy up here, I swear she is hilarious when playing outside but I can never seem to catch it on video! I keep trying...

...of Kindergarten that is. I may have mentioned a few times that the boys are now in all-day school. Have I mentioned that yet? HAVE I?? I admit it - I am EXHAUSTED. Nothing in the world could have prepared me for this new routine. It's relentless. And the boys are already starting each morning with "Why do we have to school today??!!!??" (I have to control myself SEVERELY to not just say, "Okay, let's all stay home!" because there is nothing more I would love to do at this point).

Their school is wonderful - I love their teachers - I love everything about it. It's just the never-ending-ness of it all. The papers that come home each afternoon. The papers that have to go back each morning. HOMEWORK every night (okay, so it's really just making "letter sounds" and takes about two minutes tops). Lunches that have to be made. FORCING them to eat breakfast. Packing up a week's worth of snacks every Sunday in each backpack. Making sure they have presentable clothes to wear (I feel like a crazy person admitting this, but I actually hang up COMPLETE OUTFITS for each day of the week on Sunday night for both of them). Glasses cases. Water bottles. Tennis shoes on PE days. Library books to return on library days. Practicing their cafeteria PINS (no more lunch tickets in the modern age!). Book order forms. The relentless PTA requests. Spirit Day Fridays! "Show and tell" days! This is just two weeks of school, people!

(Sigh.) I know it will all be fine. But I have a new found appreciation for ALL parents of school-age children, those who are doing it now and those who have lived to tell the tale. It's a full-time management job. We'll get used to it, I know. But for now, I'm making it through one day at a time. (And to Jessica and Ashley - I miss you both! A LOT!)

Today was Day 2 of Kindergarten. Yesterday was pretty good as far as the boys went. They both really like their teachers, so they were fine when we left them at their classes to start the day. For some crazy reason, I started bawling as soon as I went to leave - without them seeing, of course - which makes no sense at all, considering I've left them at home nearly every day all these years. The difference being, I guess, they were left at home with Miss Jessica or Miss Ashley versus being left at school all by themselves. (Sob!) When I picked them up from school, they were happy and excited and VERY VERY tired. No naps and lots of activity has made an interesting two evenings. The good news is that they pass out nearly as soon as their heads hit the pillow. The bad news is that they are INCREDIBLY GRUMPY and easy to set off into tantrums. Oh well - I'm sure we'll all adjust very soon.

Both of their teachers send email updates to let us know what they're working on in class, which I completely love! I cannot stop being totally proud of our school - we really have a great one!

Lunch is a bit of a struggle - mainly for me, who obsesses over how LITTLE THEY EAT. Yesterday, they both tried the hot lunch. Jack ate a little of the cheese pizza, green beans and pineapple slices; Nathan ate vanilla yogurt and pineapple (that's supposed to get him through until snack time?!). Today, both boys took their lunches in their new Sponge Bob (for Jack) and Mario Super Sluggers (for Nathan) lunchboxes (thanks Grandpa!). I "made" them each a PB sandwich and they then added baby carrots, applesauce, pretzels, and a cookie snack for dessert. Nathan had a bit of a mishap today when he tried to throw away his trash after lunch and leave with his cookies but they made him throw those away too (this is all coming from him, so we don't know too much about what really happened). I think he wanted to eat them later? Anyway, no food leaves the cafeteria - so we told him next time to just put everything back in his lunchbox. But I have an ulterior motive for that one - Brooks tipped me off that this way I'll know what they ate. Which is good thing, because today they each ate only pretzels, apparently. AWESOME. Very nutritious. Jack said he may or may not have eaten some of his applesauce - he just couldn't remember.

So all in all, school rocks. At least for now...

Last night was back to school night at the boys' new school - although for us, it was go-to-school-for-the-first-time night. We found their rooms, met their teachers (separate classrooms!) and put away all of our school supplies. The boys are very excited and looking forward to starting on Monday, mostly because of recess, of course. They are very well prepared, if I do say so myself, but the socialization thing is going to be huge. Both boys have great teachers, and I'm excited to see how the boys do in this new environment.

 

The kindergarten classrooms each have a restroom in the room, and Nathan used theirs last night. He was in there FOREVER and finally Byron knocked on the door to make sure he was okay. He found Nathan standing at the sink, sort of freaking out, because the directions for washing his hands were confusing. The directions told him to turn on the water first, then put soap on and wash. Nathan was upset because he normally puts soap on first, then turns on the water. Apparently he was worried about doing it wrong. So we told him the directions were for all the kids who don't know how to wash their hands, and his way of doing it was fine. LOL. Ugh! They are just little perfectionists.

 

Today is the last day we have with Miss Jessica - and it is a sad day indeed. She's been nannying for the boys since they were six months old, so this is quite a change for us. I once again realized how much I relied on her when she called me yesterday to ask if the boys should put on nice shirts to go the school event, something I, of course, hadn't even thought of. What will I do without her?! Ugh...

My boys may be the first children in the history of the planet to be AFRAID OF THE TOOTH FAIRY. Nathan lost his first tooth yesterday - August 10, 2009! - and was excited about the prospect of getting a dime from the Tooth Fairy (kind of cheap, huh?). But when it came time to place said tooth under his pillow, he suddenly freaked out (helped along as usual by Jack) and decided he didn't want the creepy Tooth Fairy sneaking around his room at night. So I volunteered to keep the tooth out on the kitchen counter instead. Both boys were happy with the solution - and excited about the four quarters the Tooth Fairy left behind. Turns out the Tooth Fairy had deeper pockets than the boys anticipated. Now, Jack is working on his first loose tooth - the EXACT SAME TOOTH that Nathan lost yesterday, of course.

The girls and I just got back tonight from our Florida vacation, and I'm trying to get our videos posted. In the meantime, several people have asked about who made our fantastic Mario birthday cake - and although I WISH it was me - it was a very talented girl named Andrea Nolen. You can check out all of her cakes at her website: Celebration Cakes by Andie. I highly recommend her! The cake not only looked incredible and was more than I even imagined it could be, it tasted wonderful! Jack and Nathan were completely blown away by the cake.

Attachments:

Wow - what a day yesterday was. After the high of Saturday's birthday party, which was fantastic, Monday was an incredible let-down. On the drive into work, I realized the boys had their 6-year old check-up scheduled that afternoon, which included their dreaded kindgarten shots. The boys put on a brave face right up until the point when the nurse came in with the needles. It took another nurse and one parent to hold each boy, literally kicking and screaming, to administer the shots. It was really, really horrible. Nothing like forcing your kid to go through something you know is for their good but that they really don't want to do.

 

As soon as it was over, Nathan told me in his saddest, most disappointed voice, "Mommy, I don't ever want to do that again - not until I go to college."

 

I wish, buddy - I really do...

We survived another birthday! The boys had their 6th birthday party on Saturday with another waterslide party. A good time was had by all (at least I think!).  I'll put up photos later this evening. I did add a few videos already...

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Swings - July 2004

The boys loved to swing!

Eating Cheerios - July 2004

We have no idea how Jack got the Cheerios in his hair. But seriously, how cute are they??

Birthday - July 2004

Oh I miss these babies!!! Ugh. So cute...

Babies Eating - April 2004

For some reason I video'd these guys while they were drinking their bottles. Who knows why...

Jack's Dance Party - Oct 2009

The kids had so much fun doing the Cha-Cha (is that what that song is called??)...

Jack's Halloween Party - Oct 2009

Just before the dance party began...

Nathan's Halloween Party - Oct 2009

The kids all did a popcorn relay as one of the games.

Daisy Playing Outside

Daisy and the Ball 2

Daisy and the Ball

The Birthday Song

Birthday Gifts

At our 6th birthday party...

The Wiebers Olympics - PIG Event Final

Backyard Play...

...often ends in disaster. You never can tell!

You Can Find Me in da Club

Wow - really really loud...

Daisy Gets Muddy

Palm Beach 2

Parasailing

Palm Beach

Some Guy on the Beach Skimboarding

Lora and Nichole Parasailing 2

The Beach

Lora and Nichole Parasailing

Lissa and Jo Ellen Parasailing

Mike on the Waterslide

Wakeboard Slide

Opening Presents

Are You Gonna Be My Girl?

Floor Hockey

Rock Band

Wrestling

Preschool Graduation

Tball

Tball

Slip and Slide

July 2005

July 2005

The boys have always loved their water slides! In honor of summer, I thought I would put up these old videos. Seriously - how cute are they?

Nathan tubing at Table Rock

From our Table Rock vacation - June 2009

Lissa tubing

Jack tubing

Byron Skiing

J&N tubing

Daisy and the Big Red Ball

April 2009

Easter Morning 2009

Eye of the Tiger

Five year old boys getting a blast from the past... April 2009

Baby Daisy

September 2008

Playing with family - March 2008

New Bikes - March 2008

Gpa's House - March 2008

Playing Wii with the family