Summertime

Wow, I haven't blogged in almost a month! Can you tell I got a part-time job? It's definitely making my summer go a little faster than usual since I'm not here 3-4 afternoons a week. We've definitely been keeping busy.

The kids and I have had a few slumber parties on the sofa bed. The first time we watched "Because of Winn Dixie" and the second time we watched "The Karate Kid" (the original one). I let them eat popcorn on the bed which they thought was pretty cool. One night we also made chocolate covered bananas. They were yummy!

One day, right before school was out, Jordis and I took our neighbor on a little tour of some of the finer points of south Columbus. She is from Michigan and we've been discussing a little field trip since last year, so we finally made our way out.
We started at Schiller Park.

Then we stopped for goodies at Pistacia Vera. How I love their macaroons. Jordis had a delightful lemon sugar cookie. I forget what Nancy sampled, but it looked equally as tasty.

Next was a trip up High Street to the North Market. We checked out all the booths, grabbed some lunch to go (yummy mashed potatoes and mac and cheese from a local eatery) and continued north. Oh, and Jordis always has to take her picture with this cow whenever we come to the market.

Our final stop was the Park of Roses. It was a few days before the annual festival so the roses should have been at their peak, but it had been so hot at the time that they were looking a little pekid. We enjoyed them anyway. It's always fun to take someone there that has never been. You'd never know that such beauty existed in that busy stretch of High Street without someone showing you. It's definitely off the beaten path.

We've also had some creepy summer storms....

...made homemade donuts....

....been to the park.....

...and discovered silly string.

There's still 35 days until school starts, so I'm sure we'll have some more summer fun in the weeks to come.

First Grade

Xander just completed his first full week of first grade. He started last Wednesday and I'm glad they ease into with just a few days because he was worn out.

A few days before school starts they have an open house where you can drop off your supplies, meet your teacher, check out your classroom and go to the cafeteria to have a treat and mingle with other people.

I loved Xander's teacher from the moment I walked into the room. She was welcoming, friendly and had a very clean and organized learning environment. She already had nametags on the kids' desks and mailboxes, her books were organized into categories, and she had fun lamps, rugs and pillows in the reading center. It looked like a fun place to come to every day and, compared to last year's teacher, I was very impressed. On top of that, he gets two teachers. The intervention teacher is also in his room most of the day as well, so I'm hoping that will be very helpful for him.

On the big day, Xander was super excited! He was up and dressed earlier than he's been in months. I bought the kids a special treat of chocolate donuts to celebrate and Xander ate his on the plate he made at the paint-your-own-pottery store.

We made chocolate chip cookies for his teachers.

He got to use his Transformers lunch box and fun food containers inside.

And best of all, we finally let him wear his new light-up Skechers. These aren't just any light-up shoes. You could wake the dead with these things. I could see him coming up the stairs from my bedroom with the door barely cracked open. God bless a good sale and Jason's mom's store discount, or this kid would not be wearing shoes that cost more than his parents' shoes.

Jason took Xander to buy his annual first-day-of-school outfit and he had to have a Toy Story t-shirt. He also picked out some new jeans.

We awaited the bus with great anticipation. I love that the bus stop is at the end of my driveway. I hope it continues to stay there as long as we live here.

Xander had no trouble getting on the bus this year, and I had no trouble saying goodbye.

(And in case you were wondering, I made sure he didn't get on the bus with a firearm.)

Bonfire

Every October the city where Jason works has a community bonfire. Last year we tried to take the kids and it didn't go so well, but I figured this year maybe we'd go early and things would be better if we didn't have to wait in long lines. The kids enjoyed meeting up with Daddy when we got there.

Okay, I'm not gonna' lie, I enjoyed meeting up with him too. He looks cute in his uniform.

The kids got the first train ride of the night so they were pretty excited to sit up front in the lead car.

They also got on the inflatable slide and rode the Whirlwind.

After the rides we waited in just a small line for hot dogs, donut holes and apple cider. It was the kids' first time having apple cider and they loved it. We went to the playground for a little bit and got a glow stick, too. Then we found a spot by the fire for a little bit before going home. It was really cold, but a great fall night.

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.

Christmas Carnival

Today was the annual Christmas Carnival at Xander's school. He was so excited to go. I was excited about the free coffee and Tim Horton's donuts because I didn't get a chance to eat before we left the house.

Cookie decorating had to be first.

Carnival games....


Face painting...




And Jordis' visit with Santa. She told me she wasn't going to pose for a picture, but I thought this would actually be funny when she's older so I had them take it anyway.

I also gave the kids money and BaDee took them to the Secret Santa shop to help them spend it to buy a gift for Jason and myself. I used to get my mom the most horrible things at my elementary school's Secret Santa, so I can't wait to see what she helped them buy.