K is for Kindergarten

I can't believe our little guy started kindergarten today. Monday night they had an ice cream social where the kids could come in to drop off their school supplies, see their room and meet their teacher.

Last night he signed the form saying he understands the rules in the student handbook.

This morning Jason got us a special Tim Horton's Back-to-School breakfast.

Xander was super-excited to go to school and loves his new Spidey shirt.

He did not love taking his picture with his mom.

Apparently he's had this attitude about posing for pictures with me for over five years now.

I have no idea what they were looking at while we waited for the bus, but I liked getting their profiles all at once.

Here's Xan getting on the bus.

Here's Xan getting off the bus.

I don't have pictures of Jason coming and carrying him to the seat and then running down the stairs so Miss Kelly could close the doors. He was screaming, "No, Daddy, no!" as the driver was trying to use her arm to hold him back. She even had to stop the bus a few houses down. It was so sad. The new neighbor across the street assured me he'd be okay, which I already knew, but I still felt sorry for him. My mom said they shut the bus doors on me, too, in kindergarten, so I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Jordis came outside with me again later to wait for his arrival. The bus ride home is only kindergarteners so that went fairly well.

He had Honeycomb cereal for snack, played on the kindergarten playground, didn't go potty, colored, and has an assigned seat at the yellow table. This apparently qualified as a good day and he says he's going to get on the bus tomorrow morning. We'll see.

Xander picked a wife

Lately Xander has been trying to understand familial relationships. This week he told me he didn't want kids because he's not changing diapers, but a wife would be okay. Except he calls it his "life." Ironic, since your wife should be your life, or maybe you want her out of your life. Either way, I found it kind of fitting.

First he decided I would be his wife. I was flattered. But I explained that I can't be his wife because I'm his mom. So he decided he would choose his cousin Carson, because they're the same age and like the same toys. Logical, and great that he's seeking some commonality with his mate, but had to tell him that

a) Carson is a boy and your wife should be a girl, and

b) your wife can't be someone you're already related to. At least not legally.

(Okay, so I skipped that part, didn't figure the discussion needed to be that deep).

He proceeds to choose Ba Dee (aka, my mom) and I remind him again that she's a relative but good job picking a girl this time.

So then he asks me, "Well how am I 'sposed to pick her if I don't know who she is?"

I thought this was a pretty good common sense question (I am all about common sense), because I suppose if you're five it wouldn't occur to you that you might spend the rest of your life with a stranger, as opposed to someone you already know and like.

I explained that your future spouse doesn't necessarily have to be someone you currently know, but that you could meet them later when you're older. He seemed pretty satisfied with this answer and the discussion ended as I took him to his pottery class where he refused to go in to the room that was full of a few boys and mostly....girls.

Maybe he was afraid he'd have to pick one of them?

The next day he greeted me upon waking with, "Hey Mom! I figured out who my life can be!"

"Who?," I asked.

"Taylor Swift!"

"Excellent choice!" I say, as we high-five.

It took a day, but now I know he gets it.

Summer's winding down

I can't believe that Xander starts kindergarten next week. Yikes! We've been keeping busy trying to fit in as much as we can. Here's Jordis at one of Jason's softball games. She's a combination of girlie and tomboy. Princess hat, but on backwards, shorts on backwards, shoes on the wrong feet, playing basketball. That's my girl.

The kids and I went to the zoo with my mom one evening for Family Night at the Zoo. We had free Bob Evans pulled pork over mashed potatoes with bbq sauce and cheddar cheese, along with some food we brought for a picnic. The kids also got to make a rain stick, get face painting and climb on various inflatables.

We finally got a couple veggies on our plants. The kids have to run out on the deck every morning to see if they're bigger.

Jordis did some shopping with me one afternoon at Trader Joe's while Xander was making snakes and spiders at pottery class.

This week Xander went to summer day camp at Recreation Unlimited. He got to go on a paddle boat, fish from a pontoon boat, go swimming, climb a giant tower, take his light sabre for Star Wars day and I think his favorite thing was that they had free-flowing lemonade from a pop machine at lunch time. He also made a few friends. Here he is with his counselor, Miss Kim, wearing a tye-died shirt he made while he was there.

While Xan was at camp I had quite a bit of alone time with Jordis. She helped me wash my car...

...rode the horse at the grocery store...

...ate Steak n' Shake with me at the park...

...and met up with Jason at the playground...

Can't wait to see what this week holds!

A day at the fair

Last Sunday my mom and step-dad took the kids to the Ohio State Fair. The original plan was to start taking them when they were four, but last year after watching poor Jordis run to the door with her shoes and then get left behind they couldn't bear to do that to her again. So this year she got to go too, even though she's just three. I can't really elaborate since I wasn't there, so I'll just post some of my favorite pictures.

The kids can't stop talking about it and are already anticipating next year.

Let's go fly a kite!

Xander has a Diego kite he got a few years ago, and we feel bad that he always asks to fly it at inopportune times. But the other day he asked and it was perfect outside....a nice constant breeze, but not too windy.

Jason got it started for him and he was so excited. Aren't my boys so cute? It warms my heart to watch them have fun together.

He tried to guide the kite himself, but it didn't go so well. Thankfully he had a good attitude about it.

The little guy next door came to play on our swing set and he liked the kite, too.

Even Jordis took a turn.

Such a nice night at home, just enjoying the evening as a family.

Randomness

August kind of snuck in here, didn't it? Here are some random things that went on around here to round out July.

A blimp paid us a visit.

I got some gorgeous "just because" flowers from Jason one night when he went grocery shopping.

I found three new amazing snacks at Trader Joe's. Notice they all have a common theme.

We made pineapple-orange sorbet. It was Xander's idea but then he told me it was taking too long to zest a lemon, so he left and Jordis took his spot.

Our kids have a relationship that involves either hating each other or being best friends. There's no middle ground. Here, not only are they getting along within each other's personal space, but they're reading the bible together.

If only they could be this innocent all the time.

Sarcasm for today

I know what you're thinking. Heather only has ONE sarcasm to report?

Sarcasm is one of my gifts, for those of you who don't know. However no one would read my blog if that's all it was about, so sometimes I hold back. A little. I'm only posting this one because it's really good. Or bad. Guess it depends on how you look at it.

New MySpace 2.0 Layouts

Yesterday we were at the Children's Urgent Care. Ironically, the situation wasn't urgent.

(Are you feeling the sarcasm already?)

Xander needed blood work for some random things...

...DON'T WORRY - HE'S NOT SICK...

...and the pediatrician we go to only refers to Children's for blood work. You can't even take the orders anywhere else because they're emblazoned with the Children's logo on them. So we get there and check in and are seated in this brightly-colored child-friendly waiting area when Jordis brings me a book.

Thankfully she can't read. I'm sure to her it looked like a nice book...a smiling little girl holding a picture of her grandpa, enjoying some quality time with her parents. That little girl probably doesn't even know her grandpa died, or she wouldn't have that happy look on her face.

I was trying to picture whose bright idea it was to put this book in the CHILDREN'S urgent care. Since kids are already happy to be there when they arrive, this book is sure to cheer them up before they get poked, prodded, stitched-up, etc. If they already have a dead grandpa this is guaranteed to brighten their mood, and if they don't have a dead grandpa it will just make them paranoid.

Happily our kids have all living grandpas, and I'm happy to keep it that way as long as we can.