Cherub Choir

This morning, we went to church to see Lil and some of her friends in the cherub choir's first performance. So cute!

Happy Birthday, James!

We spent yesterday afternoon celebrating the birthday of Reid's buddy, James, whose sister Gracie is one of Lil's self-proclaimed "bestest friends." Reid had been sleeping with the invitation for over a week so he was more than excited when it was actually time to party.

Reid will never have another friend over to play. EVER.

Well, at least not for a couple of weeks, which is how long it's going to take me to recover from today's play date. Reid had a friend over (sans parent) for the first time today. His "buddy" Howard - one of Reid's nearest and dearest - was over for a few hours since they don't have preschool on Wednesdays. It took them all of five minutes to completely trash Reid's room.

"Trash" doesn't really begin to describe the destruction. All of Reid's dresser drawers were emptied; every basket, bin, and shelf was bare - all contents were piled together in the middle of his room. Even the train table was bare. (A very elaborate track layout had been secured by me - I mean Santa - with a hot glue gun last Christmas; I/Santa will not be gluing it back together any time soon.) Who knows what else would've gone down had I not gotten suspicious when I heard loud bangs coming from that side of the house. (That was the train set being ripped apart and tossed across the room.)

What I DO know is that I am very, very grateful that we are back to one 3-year-old tonight. I also know there's no way their preschool teacher is fairly compensated for what she deals with four mornings a week.

Eyeshadow and mustera

Two children + sidewalk chalk left outside in the rain = two very, very dirty children


They kept telling us it was eyeshadow and "mustera."

Two lessons learned here:
- sidewalk chalk should not be left out in the rain.
- small children should not be unsupervised with wet sidewalk chalk.

Polar bears spotted in Raleigh bathtub

You know when you hear, "We're polar bears!" coming from the bathtub, there's most likely a mess in there. You also know it's your fault when you're the one who gave said polar bears a brand new can of shaving soap. (For those of you not familiar with this phenomenon, it's not really for shaving - just for play; I didn't hook my kids up with some Gillette or anything.)

School, cats, and a really, really tired Rooster.

What a week we've had! Lil is adjusting to kindergarten - we actually made it through our goodbyes this morning with no tears shed - and Reid is elated to be back at school again. He couldn't wait to go with his new Buzz Lightyear backpack, which is about as big as he is.



His nap is toast these days.... By the time he gets out of school and we get home, we have about an hour before we have to go get in the 45-minute carpool line at Lil's school. He usually takes a little catnap while we wait in line, but he's totally wiped out by the time 8:00 rolls around.


Lil has been telling us about this puppet at school that Mrs Olmsted makes come to life. She kept saying the puppet was Mexican and teaches them Spanish, which I thought was a wee bit odd. That's nice about the puppet teaching them Spanish and all, but the teacher calling the puppet a Mexican threw me a little. I realized tonight as Lil was talking about it again that the puppet's NAME is Mexican. It cleared up a lot of confusion, let me tell you.

Tonight, I went into Lil's room to make sure she was in bed, and - surprise, surprise - she was in fact NOT in bed. She was putting jewelry on Albert, who was sitting inside a bucket. How that cat fit comfortably in that bucket is beyond me, but he was in nobody's hurry to get out. He especially likes one of her Webkinz that looks almost just like him.

One Kindergartener and One Tractor Driver

Lil's first official day of school was yesterday. After a rocky start (and plenty of tears), she pulled herself together and had a great day - so great that she couldn't wait to go back this morning. She was so excited to show me the train hat she made (the theme of her class is "I Think I Can" kindergarten).

This morning, we walked (or rather, I walked and they rode) to school, and she really liked that. We ran into her friend Liza, who was also walking to school with her mom and her sister, which made it even more fun. As soon as we got to her classroom, she gave me a hug and a kiss and told me it was time for me to leave. It made for a much happier morning for all of us!

Reid and I went to Home Depot later this morning and visited the lawn mowers (also known as tractors around our house) as we were leaving. As you can see, it was a high point in old Rooster's day.

Lil and Albert

Tonight I went in to check on Lil (to make sure she was sleeping and not doing Webkinz activities on her computer), and I found this.... She was sound asleep with Albert keeping watch on her pillow.