School Scenes

Most of Seth's school stuff is going on my other blog, but some pictures are just too fun not to share here!

Seth hates writing, so we do a lot of creative methods to practice our letters.

This one involves writing in salt (I tried sugar at first, but he just kept eating it).

Catherine thought it was fantastic--I was sweeping up salt for two days.

(Don't mind Seth's expression--he pulled that face and commanded that I take a picture so he could see)

Practicing letters in shaving cream

If you look closely it says SETH!

He wanted a picture of the water coming out of the cup.

Done.

One of my all-time favorite Catherine pictures.

Big brother was a great help "cleaning" her hair.

Sometimes a little knowledge is a bad thing. 

Like when you teach your kid about money, rendering him capable of reading prices on candy:

"Look, Mom! It says $1.00!"

(Which, of course, happens to be the amount he'd earned doing his jobs that week): 

Curse you, Walgreens, and your gigantic, cheap suckers.

Suckers as big as our heads are AWESOME!

(Luckily after a few days they were broken and stealthily discarded after bedtime)

These ball and rod magnets have been a HUGE hit with the kids.

Sure, we've lost several pieces, but it's totally worth it for an hour of quiet entertainment!

One of my better ideas: practicing sight words by jumping on labelled foam blocks: 

Ready?

Go! 

Catherine's turn! 

As she always says, "Ready, steady...

GO!!!" 

Once again, forgive the pantslessness.

Some 4th of July firework art:

(the fewer clothes the better with this kind of potential mess)

Our firework collection

As a celebration for completing his first month of kindergarten, we took Seth to Rita's: 

So far things are going really well. Some parts he loves (anything I can turn into a game, plus listening to me read chapter books to him). Some parts he hates (writing, any reading he considers too long). But he still asks me every day if we're doing school, and still seems excited, so I'd call it a win so far!

Although the other day he was asking me what things were boring. I was explaining that different people think different things are boring. Some people think singing is boring, some people would think playing cars is boring (he was shocked by this revelation). I asked him what he thought was boring. His response?

"School."

Nothing like that to keep you humble as a teacher! Little boys and school just don't always mix well, and I don't see this changing anytime soon! I blame Jon--I was a dork and loved school (elementary school, anyway).

Catherineisms

I thought Catherine looked particularly cute this day and tried to snap some pictures of her:

This one turned out pretty well (other than the strange lighting).

But for some reason she looks much older in this picture.

I don't like it!

The rest of my attempts ended with things like this: 

Or this: 

Not exactly magazine-cover material, but VERY true to life.

Catherine has LOVED participating in Seth's kindergarten activities. She's actually much more willing and happy about the whole thing than Seth is (boys vs. girls, I assume). 

Sorting glass gems into ice trays

Playing ABC Bingo with Mom & Seth

(please don't mind the lack of pants--for some reason it's a frequent occurrence right now)

When I was prepping the nursery before Catherine was born, I was terrified by the piles of pink clothing and blankets. I had no idea what I was going to do with a little girl. Apparently I've learned to embrace the pink: 

Pink shirt, pink shorts, pink lollipop.

Can she get any cuter??

Some of our favorite Catherineisms right now:

*When she really likes something you just did/said/sang, she'll laugh her deep little laugh and then command, "Do dit a-gain!"

*Potty-training is still iffy. She rarely has a full-on accident, but she has trouble keeping her panties dry--they'll be a little damp before she actually heads to the bathroom (any tips would be greatly appreciated!). If her panties are dry, she gets a potty treat (currently a gummy bear), if not, no potty treat. But it's just so heartbreaking when you say, "Sorry, no potty treat," and she just looks at you and says, "Okay. No potty treat." 

*She has a very strange obsession with bars of soap. I have to keep them where she can't find them or else she'll climb almost anywhere to retrieve one. Then she walks around very softly rubbing it across her chin and lips. Weird, weird child.

Her favorite bar of laundry soap

*Other current obsession? American flags. It actually started as an obsession with our neighbor, who the kids call Mr. Matt. Any time she heard his truck backing into his spot, she would insist on running outside and yelling, "HI MR. MATT!" at the top of her lungs. Then things got a little creepy--we'd be driving somewhere or out shopping and she would randomly point and yell, "Mr. Matt!" We had no idea what was inspiring this and were a bit concerned with how often she was looking for Mr. Matt.

And then one day I realized what she was pointing at--an American flag. Matt had recently put up a flagpole in his front yard (and by that I mean he pounded a metal pipe into the ground and hoisted a flag on it. It's really very lovely), and apparently Catherine associated the flag with Mr. Matt. She's now progressed to referring to them as "Mr. Matt flags" and will still shout excitedly EVERY SINGLE TIME she sees one (and she sees them all, trust me). The 4th of July is going to be heaven for this girl.

*She's finally tall enough to open doorknobs. Most of them anyway. Not the bathroom door (which would be helpful), but she can get out the front door if we leave it unlocked...

*She loves picking things from the garden, even if they're not ripe. We've lost several strawberries and at least one grape tomato this way.

*The other night she had a bit of a hysterical meltdown. It started with her yelling at me for some offense that I was completely ignorant of. After much questioning, I realized she didn't actually know why she was mad either. From there it escalated into tears, and her running up the stairs to sob in her bed. Jon & I just sat there wondering how we had missed her the transition from age 2 to 14...

There is never, ever a dull day with Catherine around. Wouldn't trade it for the world.

Happy Birthday To Us!

It took a few years, but I've finally come to terms with the fact that birthdays just aren't a big deal for Jon. Which is fine for him, since presents and cake don't appeal to him, but sometimes it's nice to have your birthday acknowledged! 

So it was so nice this year to get to spend a birthday lunch with Marley & Melissa--two of my best friends. And we spent it at Broom's Bloom, which has THE BEST crab soup in the universe. I can never, ever leave Maryland because I would miss that soup too much.

Catherine also loves the soup.

As much as it kills me to share, I'm glad to support good taste in my children!

Jon & I counted the iPad as our birthday gift to each other, but I wanted the kids to get in the habit of giving birthday gifts. So I took them to the store, picked out some dark chocolate raspberry truffles for myself, and had Seth "buy" them. Best part? After realizing that I knew what my present was, Seth asked, "Mommy, when I wrap this will you forget what it is?" I promised that I would completely forget, and apparently did a passing job of acting surprised when I opened it. The chocolates didn't end up being that good, but seeing how excited Seth was to give them to me made it fantastic. 

Also, the lemon cheesecake I bought myself from Wegmans was pretty darn good. Happy birthday to me!

Jon celebrated his birthday by flying to San Diego for a work trip, so we did his party a few days later. Chicken Parmesan for dinner and a cake made of stacked no-bake cookies with a candle or two on top. His gift from the kids was a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. 

One year older and wiser, too, right?

Yay For Family!

Another benefit of having our birthdays so close to Memorial Day--makes it a lot easier for people to come visit and celebrate with us! So maybe that's not actually why Stephen, Claudia & Brianna came, but it was a happy coincidence anyway!

We love having their family here--the kids play so well together, and the adults get to stay up until all hours playing Dominion, Acquire, and Ticket to Ride. 

Saturday we took the kids to Annie's Playground (a new adventure for us--somehow we've never made it there in our almost-five-years of kids). Stephen & Jonny took the kids around while Claudia and I chatted. It's SO nice to not be the one chasing the kids around, especially when you're tired and pregnant (Claudia's due a month after me--another little girl for them!). 

We managed to find a babysitter willing to take three little monkeys that night, and off we (grown-ups) went to Famous Dave's for Jon's & my birthday dinner. We ordered the All-American Feast and stuffed our faces. I think I ate more meat in that one meal than I usually do in a week or two. AMAZING ribs, and the corn-on-the-cob was actually pretty good for being out of season. We ate until they had to roll us out of the building, then headed home to put our babies to bed.

Sunday Claudia snapped some cute picture of our babies while I was running around trying to get singing time stuff ready (a weekly occurrence). 

Three cute cousins, all ready for church

Two princesas (Brianna found one of Catherine's headbands and helped herself)

My handsome boy

Brianna is such a hoot--she LOVES modeling for the camera.

The kids also had a great time investigating a tree next to the church while they waited for me to clean up all my stuff after Primary: 

Half the time he gets stuck up here and whines until we get him down

Ring around the tree 

Brianna tries out the tree-climbing thing

And, finally, photographic evidence that Jon DOES actually cook. Once or twice a year: 

Memorial Day we were up and ready early-ish for the Memorial Day breakfast. 

Brianna & Catherine enjoying some milk before the breakfast

I finally got Catherine in pigtails, and I'm in love! 

Did I mention how much I love her pigtails?

Too bad she only cooperates once every six months or so...

I really, really hate pictures of myself while I'm pregnant.

Maybe I'll crop this one just below our heads.

Jon decided to take the entertainment portion of the breakfast into his own hands. Most important thing we brought that day? His water rocket launcher. 

After we ate our fill and he played some basketball, Jon assembled the launcher and shot a bottle off. It was like a mating call for Scout-aged boys: by the next launch he was surrounded: 

After lunch we had to say goodbye to Stephen, Claudia & Brianna. This no-family-close-by thing gets really old sometimes! Luckily we'll get to see them again as soon as Jon's work figures out when he's going to be traveling.  Thanks for coming! Please come again ANYTIME!

Summertime! (Almost)

We got a little preview of summer during a May heatwave here in Maryland. Suddenly I remember why I don't go outside during the summer. It may not be 100+ degrees like Arizona, but the humidity is more than enough to make up for it. And being pregnant will make this summer extra toasty.

But apparently my kids don't care about things like heat and humidity, so outside we went to enjoy the sunshine (read: get sunburned (me & Seth) or a nice tan (Catherine)). 

Seth outgrew his old helmet, so we let him pick a new one:

Jon regrets letting Seth choose for himself every time he sees this Bad Piggies helmet.

Seth thinks he's the coolest thing on the block.

Also, in what may prove to be a bad move on my part, I bought a tupperware, threw it outside on the deck and filled it with sand. Instant sandbox (with a lid)! Seth loves it--his first move was to turn on the hose and flood the entire thing. It's been weeks and it's finally starting to dry out: 

(someone--Catherine--messed with the color settings. I didn't notice until it was too late)

We also dug out our bikes and trailer and went for a ride. It's a good thing Catherine likes Mater and "Lining McGeen" since she inherited Seth's old helmet. She's going to love getting the Bad Piggy helmet here in a few years!

And the best part of summer weather? Swimming at the pool! 

Catherine loves going "swim and swim" more than anyone else at our house: 

Between swimming, biking, sandboxing and homeschooling, here's hoping for a fantastic (and mild-weathered) summer!

Big Days For Seth

Can whoever pushed the 'fast-forward' button please stop? I would like some more time with my little boy, but apparently he's determined to keep growing up. I love it and I hate it.

May 23rd was a big day for Seth--preschool graduation. I'm not super keen on the whole 'graduation' at the end of every school year fad, but the transition from 'preschool' to 'school' is worth celebrating! 

Our original plan was for a lovely day at the park followed by a picnic lunch, but we had a nice rainstorm that changed our minds. Much to Seth's delight, Plan B was a morning at "the pumps": one of his favorite places in the whole world.

Cheesy smile, eyes closed, shirt (and possibly shorts) on backwards.

This is a great summary photo of Seth's preschool year.

Someone else was pretty thrilled about this graduation party venue:

This was actually a pretty relaxing trip for me. Usually I'm following Catherine around, defending her from being trampled or helping her climb, but this time she was Miss Independent. 

I love that my kids actually like playing together (most of the time).

After our 90 minutes of jump time was over, we had a small ceremony for all of Miss Katie's students (she had a class of 3-year-olds and a class of 4-year-olds). 

Seth is on the ground next to Angelina, who he still claims he's going to marry.

I missed Seth receiving his 'diploma' because I was messing with my camera (get your priorities right, Megan!), but I did get a nice picture of him with Miss Katie after it was all over. 

(She looks like she could be Seth's mother)

Seth ADORED Miss Katie, and so did I. If I could guarantee that all his teachers would be as awesome as Katie, I would send him to school in a heartbeat. 

Seth graduated with quite a few accomplishments that I'm proud of. He's a very smart boy and loves learning new things. He's also made a lot of progress with his over-stimulation issues--I haven't seen him cover his ears during Primary in months! He's also a very sweet boy--he always tells Miss Katie how much he loves her and that she's the best teacher ever. He also made it through the entire preschool year without getting sent to time-out (at school, that is. Home is a different story). He loved school, he loved his teacher, and he loved his friends--that's what preschool is all about!

Seth, now officially a kindergartner!

Due to the impending birth of his little brother in September (you know, right at the beginning of the school year?), Seth got a head start on kindergarten beginning the first week of June.

Since we're homeschooling, there was no big transition to mark the beginning of kindergarten--no school bus ride, no new backpack or school supplies. So we celebrated by making chocolate chip pancakes that morning!

Official first day of kindergarten photo:

Official first day of kindergarten for Catherine, too: 

She participates just as much as Seth does, so might as well get her in the picture, too!

(For my reasons for homeschooling Seth, you can read my post here: http://megansworksofgenius.blogspot.com/2013/06/why-im-homeschooling-my-son.html. And for a little picture of how school went our first day, go here: http://keepingitclosetohome.blogspot.com/2013/06/first-day-of-kindergarten.html).

I can't believe we're already in "big kid" territory. I'm constantly surprised by what Seth figures out and the things he can do. I would love to take credit for it all, but I can't! I just feel lucky to be his mom and to help him figure out his world.

Just for fun--here's Seth with his good friend who'll be homeschooling with us in the fall! So glad he'll still be able to learn with his friend (and to make new ones)!