Since the blog has been pretty Charlie-heavy (and rightly so), I thought I would do some documenting of the elders. They have been busy in their own right.
Jack's first real "class picture." I love this kid's smile. It makes my heart happy. He was pumped about picture day all week. Which may sound weird but this is Jack. Jack is the kid that would get picked to be in a studio audience for any show b/c of his enthusiasm. He's the guy infomercials were made for ("you mean to tell me this gadget would make it easier to open milk cartons for the rest of my life?! Awesome!") And I adore his positive attitude and enthusiasm. I asked him what he wanted to wear and he said, "A Daddy Shirt." Hence the fancy polo. And then that morning I asked what he wanted to eat for breakfast. He said doughnuts. Hence the weird white stain on his shirt. #momfail
The following week I was sitting at the table eating lunch with Charlie when I got my 4th phone call from the school nurse this semester. It's not good when the nurse can greet you by your first name b/c she's talked to you so frequently. And she half agreed with me when I joked about sending Jack to school in a helmet. Turns out Jack was playing at recess and ran into one of his friends. He busted his lips wide open and knocked his tooth loose (it has since tightened back up.) But this lip was pretty gross and caused him to (dramatically) drink from the side of his mouth for the next four days.
Eventually it started to go down. But he did have some nice Angelina Jolie lips for awhile.
Side note - Lucy continues to steal my phone and take her own pictures. I love this one b/c it has my foot, her precious painted toes, and some adorable dinosaur feet just hanging out :)
I really love FPS. One of the many reasons Jack's school is awesome is because they offer these enrichment classes for an 8 week period after school. I signed Jack up for something called Artrageous Extravaganza. His art class is one of his favorite Encore classes so when his art teacher offered an after school class that allowed them to do more experimental art projects I thought he'd get a kick out of it. HE LOVES IT. I mean, he's only had two classes but in one class he has made this art slime that entertained him and his sister for the next three days. That is money well spent people. And he's asked every day if he has his art class again - so I'm hoping this enthusiasm lasts.
His school also does fun little celebrations. Tuesday was 50s day and Jack was supposed to dress up as a person from the 1950s (I'm not convinced he quite understands what the 1950s are but we can fix that later.)
I struggled on how to dress him b/c A) he doesn't own leather and B) there is no "greasing" back his hair. We sort of spiked it and it was funny. The best part of that day was when Jack came home and had all this fun stuff to tell me about Elvis Presley. He requested we download Hound Dog and Jailhouse Rock on my phone and have been listening to that in the car every day since. When he told me about how Elvis's legs would go crazy and old people thought it was inappropriate and filmed him from the waist up, my history teacher heart swelled with pride.
He has been working pretty hard on his letters. Jack told me the other day that he wants to learn how to read so that he can read Harry Potter to me. This makes my heart VERY happy. His teacher is certainly not homework intensive so mostly what he does at night is practice his sight words and writing his letters. So far we are up to 32 sight words.
I got the distinct pleasure last Thursday to help "chaperone" Jack's very first field trip to Deep Well Farms! Seeing him in a class setting was so fun b/c I love watching him interact with the other kids, be a kid, and just be silly. And I was a little hesitant about this whole thing b/c I was going with Charlie - Mr. 3 Weeks Old. Which was kind of terrifying but worked out perfectly.
Melissa went on the trip too which was awesome! But sadly I don't have documentation of her - instead I have documentation of her taking a picture of me. I had all these plans of us hanging out all day but we were in separate groups :( But I will say this - being around some of the other moms at this field trip made me grateful (for the umpteenth time) to have Melissa. Let's just say there are interesting people out there in the realm of motherhood & I enjoy my down to earth, normal friend :)
He got to pick out his own pumpkin once we got to the patch.
I think the most exciting part for him was that he got to ride a school bus. He was so pumped about this I honestly think if all they did was ride up and down Campbell Station Rd a couple times he would have deemed that a worthwhile field trip.
On the day of the trip, he had to wear his class shirt to help separate all the different classes that were there. How cute is this idea? The kids draw a self-portrait and write their name under it and it's turned into a fun t-shirt.
What else is happening with the elders?... Oh, well, Lucy continues to be a 2 year old. In all of its glory. She is hilarious, funny, sweet, cuddly, and a toddler. Toddler = stubborn, selectively deaf, able to throw monster tantrums, inconsolable about ridiculous things, and just plain exhausting. We love Lucy's personality b/c she is smart, clever, and fiercely independent. But that independence comes at a price. Lately a lot of things have been fights. From getting dressed in the morning to getting a bath at night to going to bed. Everything is a fight and teeters on the brink of an epic meltdown. This is slightly uncharted territory b/c Jack was a fairly easy going toddler (with the exception of a random tantrum now and then.) And our biggest struggle is giving in to some of the fights. Andy and I are both control freaks and Lucy's insistence on wanting to do EVERYTHING herself (favorite phrase right now is: "No I Do It!") is difficult for us too. It's hard to draw the line and decide what to give in to and what to insist on doing for her. For example - letting Lucy fill her water cup at the fridge ---that's ok. Letting Lucy climb on top of the counter to get her vitamins out of the cabinet ---not ok. The above picture is one I took on a Friday afternoon that lasted over an hour. And shows the contrasts in Lucy's personality. That afternoon she got her flu shot, took it like a champ, and didn't even shed a tear. Meanwhile I had to physically pin her screaming brother down on the table to get this shot. Girls v. Boys people. Yet later that afternoon, I took off her Strawberry Shortcake bandaid b/c it was getting wet and threw it out. SHE FLIPPED OUT. And followed me around the house hyperventilating about wanting her bandaid back. At one point Andy came home from work and the tantrum never lost steam. You can't fault this girl for not committing to a tantrum. 70% of the time Lucy is funny, sweet, a great big sister. It's that 30% of toddlerhood that exhausts all of us and makes me love/loathe this age.
On Saturday, we had an action packed day. We attended the FPS festival which had games, food, and our favorite - bounce houses! Andy and I had our first experience of handling all three in a large crowd and I have to pat us on the back here. We survived. And everyone had fun :)
Then that afternoon we were a house divided as the Tide played the Vols. I'm doing my best to make sure my kids know they can root for either team. But I do lean to one side as we know :)
Not to be outdone, Lucy insisted on holding Charlie as well. I love how loving she is. She always wants to soothe him or snuggle him or squeeze his head. This is my favorite part of this sibling dynamic. Jack loves Charlie and is tickled with him and finds his little baby noises funny. But Lucy's obsession is the best. Not an ounce of jealousy, just full blown adoration. For now ;)
And lastly, we wrapped up the day by celebrating Widdi's 31st birthday! I made her favorite dinner - roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas - along with a birthday cake that she graciously let the elders help her blow the candles out on. It was a crazy busy but super fun weekend :)
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