Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Just thought I'd throw out a few quick updates since we have made so many changes lately.

1. Ryan is doing fabulously at school! He was so ready and hasn't missed a beat. He HATES rest time and he'll tell you all about that.... but... other than rest time, he really likes school.

He's getting pretty good at writing his name. Sometimes he writes it backwards and sometimes he does it the right way.



2. Ryan is also getting active in sports and enjoying them too. He started ice skating lessons two weeks ago and seems to be enjoying them. I wouldn't know as Russ has taken him to every lesson. Apparently Ryan's teacher is very easy on the eyes :)
He's also playing soccer again. He just started last week so we'll see how this season goes. The picture below is from his game this weekend. The shirt they gave him is at least three sizes too big and he had his brother's shorts on... geesh ;)


3. Reid is doing well too. School is going pretty well. We're getting the same feedback we have for two years - he is very bright but sometimes needs a cattle prod to get him to get his work done. Reid is up for graduation to the next belt level in karate. He will test on Sept 14 and then on Sept 24th he will have a graduation to a gold belt. He is very excited for that.

4. Ross is a bit challenging right now. He's doing well AT school but drop offs and home time have not been a lot of fun lately. He's clingy, whiny, and opinionated. He does pretty well with Russ but if 'mom' is in charge, he's a mess. I remember going through this stage with Ryan and I know he's been through some big changes lately so I'm just trying to take it day by day and know that this too will pass.

5. We have a new hockey kid. His name is John Teets. He's from Alaska and VERY quiet. The boys are starting to break him in a bit. He seemed to perk up the other night when Russ mentioned Ryan's skating teacher and said that he thought he might need some skating lessons too. We miss hockey Ross terribly and speak of him a lot so the poor kid probably feels like the ugly stepchild :) I'm sure things will become more comfortable with time.

6. Russ finished a hockey season this week. His team won but missed playoffs by about the narrowest margin ever. His work has been insanely busy and stressful lately so he's not done much for "fun". He turns the big 4-0 this coming weekend and we have nothing planned.

7. I have 37 days until Chicago. My mileage has been getting quite high lately and my body is sure feeling it! I haven't ran today and I need to but I just haven't found the motivation. I did a hard, hilly half marathon on Sunday and I can still feel it in several spots. My schedule last week and over the weekend had me behind on sleep and that's all I want to do right now :) I'm hoping to get back on track this week!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Ross' first day/Big Change

While I am 100% confident that we've made the right decision for Ryan, I'm a little more hesitant on the change with Ross. We did move him a little before we wanted to (age wise) but it was the best decision for our family as a unit. Doing three separate drop off's with a big commute to one daycare just wasn't going to work in the mornings. When you add on my new job and different hours it was only logical that we made the change to bring all of the boys closer to our house and somewhere with later pick up hours.

With this new change I am going to be able to stay home in the mornings and make the boys breakfast and drop them off an hour later than I used to. With that, they will get picked up by Russ and my end of work routine is now "drive home". It's going to be such a load off for me and gives Russ that enjoyment of picking them up and talking to them about how their day went. Both Russ and I are excited about this change for those reasons.

Saying that, I still struggle with hoping that Ross feels secure in his new surroundings and isn't forced to "grow up" too much, too soon. He's still my baby. I did just call daycare and check on him and this is what she said:

'Ross is doing great. No more sad periods. They had snack at 9 and he had TWO cups of cinnamon applesauce and drank all of his milk - and stayed sitting at the table during snack (in a big boy chair). She said he sat during circle time, is listening really well and is just going with the flow of the class.'

Ross also got to go to McDonald's with all of us this morning for pancakes. He did pretty good at drop off. He went to check out a toy so we just slipped out. When he noticed we had left they said that he got a little sad and did not want them to pick him up. So they gave him space and he recovered and played well.

We'll see how drop off goes tomorrow...



Ryan's big day

It's been a HUGE debate at our house for over a year. Ryan has a summer birthday (July 3) so technically he could have went to kindergarten this year.... BUT... he's a young 5. He is smart... BUT... he lacks some of that emotional development (or so we believe). He still gets tired, melts down, whines, etc. We decided that we would do a year of Jr. Kindergarten at All Around Child. It's a day care center but this classroom will follow the Olathe and Blue Valley kindergarten curriculum standards. So, he'll just get a jump start on what he'll need for kindergarten next year. As for what Ryan knows, he started school today! He was SOO excited. When I woke him up (which I hardly ever have to do) at 7:10 and told him that it was time for school, he jumped up and gave me a bear hug around my neck.

Reid wanted McDonald's for breakfast and Ryan wanted french toast at home. I explained to Ryan that our tradition was important to Reid. I asked Ryan if it would be okay if I made french toast on Tuesday and Ryan said "just this once." We went to McDonald's for pancakes after pictures. After McDonald's we dropped off Reid and then went to Ryan and Ross' school. We took Ross to his classroom first and then took Ryan to his.

We found his hook and cubby with his name and put his stuff away. He was soaking it all in. I asked him if he'd take his picture with his teacher and he said that was fine too. He had a very agreeable morning. When Russ and I left we watched the monitor from his classroom video camera for a while and he was checking out the fish tank and hanging out.

Can't wait to hear how his day goes. Here are his pictures from the morning:

First day of Second Grade


Reid started second grade with a half day of school today. Seriously, SECOND grade?!?! Russ looked at him laying on our bed this morning and asked how that could even be possible. The kid is getting so big, mature, and tall!

We continued with our first day of school tradition this morning with McDonald's pancakes. All three boys went so Russ went along with us to help out. It was sprinkling/raining at the end of breakfast and we joked about how it was last year too. Russ told Reid that they were good luck raindrops :) I walked Reid into school to get one picture but not into his classroom - such a big guy already!

Here's a little photographic trip down memory lane...

Kindergarten:



First Grade:


Second Grade: