Before Spring Break...



The week leading up to Spring Break was a whirlwind in our house.  In addition to packing and getting ready for our special trip, there were about 782 events and activities on our calendar, including Spirit Week at school (which requires a different theme each day).  Monday was Character Day, and my little Wild Kratt and Harry Potter were ready!  

(Luke even had me draw a lightning bolt "scar" on his forehead, which is mostly covered by his hair, but was his favorite detail...)

Tuesday was Hat/Team Day.  Go Deacs!

Wednesday was Luke's Spring Party/Class Egg Hunt, and that evening was Leah's Kindergarten Music Performance:

These third graders were READY for Spring Break!

The kindergarten performed "Welcome to the Jungle", which is our family's favorite mini-musical.  Luke's grade did the same show a couple of years ago, and we've been singing the songs ever since.  Leah had a speaking part, and had a few jitters leading up to performance night, but did a great job, and exclaimed afterward, "I CRUSHED IT!".

Thursday was Career Day.  Someone wore his Mommy's scrubs and lab coat, and was very excited to take a "real" stethoscope to school!  

This was also Leah's Spring Party day, so we got some more mileage out of her adorable bunny outfit...

I was so busy corralling kindergartners during the party that the only pictures I have are of the "carrots" that I made for their snack.  They were the perfect accompaniment to the Bunny Juice Boxes that were featured on my previous blog post!

Friday was Oak Ridge Spirit Day, and I completely forgot to take a photo of the kids in their Spirit Wear... Oh well!

In the midst of all this, we had soccer games and team pictures.  I've posted soccer photos before, but it's so cute to watch Coach Mark with his soccer players.  He's Leah's coach for the 4th season in a row, and has filled in as Luke's coach for several games this spring, too.  We love soccer, and it's such a big part of our fall/spring weekly routine.  We've lucked out again with the kids having practice on the same weekday night/time (that's the advantage to having Daddy coach!), and we're at the soccer fields every Friday night and Saturday for games (along with almost everyone else in Oak Ridge!).   

There were some fun treats leading up to Spring Break, too, like the first ice cream cones of the season:

The boys had a special outing as they had tickets to see the Harlem Globetrotters.  This was the PERFECT age to take Luke, and Mark said that it was an awesome afternoon!

Leah and I went to see Beauty and the Beast that same afternoon, and it was Peanut's first non-animated movie.  It was beautiful, and we both absolutely loved it.  

Since we had such success with a "big kid" movie, we had family movie night and watched Annie.  Even Winnie seemed captivated by the songs, and now whenever I ask the kids to do a chore, they sing "It's a Hard Knock Life" and respond, "Yes, Miss Hannigan!"

One of the things that I asked the kids to do before Spring Break was for each of them to pack a bag to entertain them on our drive to Legoland (our Spring Break destination).  Luke had his bag packed a week ahead of time, and filled it with all 11 books from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, along with most of his Harry Potter tomes.  #lightreading.    He also asked for a Sudoku book, as he has a new obsession with these number puzzles.  I got away with printing off free Sudoku worksheets off the internet for a few weeks, but eventually found this at Target, and Luke added it to his travel bag immediately:   

Our little Sudoku lover.

 Here's a snapshot of the school papers that came home the week before Spring Break.  This one of Leah's made me laugh out loud:   

"My mom is 'nice', My dad is 'tall'.  Luke is good and bad."

Here's Captain Literal's latest, which demonstrates his knowledge of area and perimeter:

 Not sure who "Beaver" is, but I appreciate Luke's honesty here... I think.

Maybe this is the Beaver character that he was talking about.  I was very impressed with Luke's self-awareness here on this personality checklist.  It's almost spot on... and then I realized that he didn't circle the first statement in the Otter section, which may be the #1 descriptor of our little man.

Here's the final piece of school work that came home right before Spring Break.  Luke has been writing a series of "books" featuring Bubbles the Octopus & Friends.  These volumes are thoroughly entertaining and give us a glimpse into the way that Luke's extraordinary mind works.  Bubbles has gone on many adventures thanks to author/illustrator Luke, and this one made my heart melt... "Bubbles and Friends Go to LegoLand".  It was precious, and if Bubbles had even a fraction of the fun that we had on our Spring Break trip, this is a story worth treasuring forever!

Next stop:  Luke and Family go to Legoland: Spring Break 2017!

Easter Egg-citement!

We've gotten a jump start on Easter activities this year, as we are leaving soon for an egg-stremely special Spring Break adventure and won't be back until right before the holiday.  This week, we dyed Easter eggs after school, and you can imagine my egg-citement when I saw this Egg Decorating Kit at Target.  You know how much Mama loves a good theme, and our two little Pokemon fans were egg-static as well.  (Enough of the egg puns already?)

I say this each spring, but dying eggs is the #1 annual activity that is egg-sponentially easier every single year.  As a parent, it's one of those activities that I anticipated with great joy, and was a total disaster with very young children.  We've come such a long way, as proven by the ability to now wear a white shirt without spills or stains, and to take pictures of the children smiling without threats or bribes (most of the time)!

L&L were completely independent, and took their jobs very seriously!

It was a egg-celent afternoon that put us in a festive mood and ready for spring:

This morning, we attended a community-wide Easter Egg Hunt (how we love our little town!).  Both kids had fun at the craft tables, activity stations, and photo booth: 

Cutest Easter Bunny in Oak Ridge!

The kids divided into age groups for their respective Easter Egg Hunts and found lots of colorful eggs: 

While Leah paused to show me her eggs and smile for Mommy's camera, Luke could not be bothered with such frivolity and we got lots of great pictures of the back of his head: 

Next came the important task of checking out their loot.  Apparently there is a certain position that one assumes to complete this job... right knee up, chin resting on knee, and elbows out! 

Trading candy.

  
What an egg-straordinary beginning to what is sure to be a fun-filled Easter season!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Our two lucky charms wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Life with L&L

Here's the bad news: I haven't written a blog post in ages, and I've been terrible about taking pictures lately, so I have very few photos to post today.

But the good news is that life is full, and we're immersed in daily and weekly routines that include activities that we all enjoy.  The kids have sports, Chess Club, piano lessons for Luke, Daisies for Leah, church & Sunday School, birthday parties, and right now: March Madness!  Life is good.

Somehow, we blinked, and have transitioned from Luke's basketball season right into spring soccer. The kids had their first games last weekend, and it was COLD!  After a few weeks of unseasonably warm temperatures in February, opening weekend of soccer season brought a high of 41 degrees and wind for Leah's Friday night game.  Brrrr!  L&L are also participating in GoFAR (GoOutForARun) this spring at their school, which teaches children about active, healthy lifestyles and helps them train for a 5K (or 1 mile Fun Run).  We'll all be running in the Family Race in May, and we're looking forward to it.

Luke continues to thrive with his interest in music.  The third grade just took a field trip to see the Greensboro Symphony, and this little boy was over the moon, gushing about composers, movements, etc.  He wants to play every instrument known to man, and has recently taught himself how to play the recorder (which is NOT a quiet instrument!).  Luke continues to take piano lessons and I recently realized that I never posted videos from his first recital last May.  This seems like such a long time ago, and Luke looks so little to me, but these videos are priceless, and contain two of the four pieces that Luke played in his spring 2016 recital.

Click here to watch Luke playing How Great is Our God

Click here to watch Luke play Star Wars.

Our little Music Man.

L&L keep us on our toes with their questions and musings.  Luke's favorite phrase is: "I have one question..." which he utters about 725 times each day.  Sometimes we are humbled and astounded at how those little brains work.  For example, Luke was explaining something to us in the car the other day, and used the term, "pitch quiet".  Mark and I looked at each other quizzically, and it took us a moment to realize that Luke was using that phrase similarly to "pitch black"or "pitch dark"... You know, "extremely quiet".

I also asked Luke to find a pair of socks in the laundry basket, which contained a load of clean, unfolded laundry.  He came out of the laundry room a moment later and was agitated and upset.  "Mommy, there are only HALF PAIRS in the basket!!".   I was confused until I heard Mark mutter, "You've got to be kidding me.." and explain to Luke that he needed to look for two "half pairs" that matched and put them together to make a full pair.  Captain Literal strikes again (and we have now added matching/folding socks to his weekly chore list so that he understands that socks don't magically pair themselves before they end up in his drawer)...

Lastly, Luke recently asked me what a "prepostion" was (pronounced "prep-posh-tion").  I racked my brain for derivatives of "preposterous", and started rambling about how it must be a noun that is synonym for absurd, ridiculous, etc.  I glanced at the word that he was talking about: "preposition", and was perplexed that it was unfamiliar, as I was mentally pronouncing it the way that Luke had.  It wasn't until later that I realized that Luke pronounced the word wrong, and that we were talking about "prep-o-si-tion", as in grammar, a part of speech, "on, in, about, over", etc.  Oops. It was not my proudest parenting moment, and I am going to blame that one on all the brain cells that I have lost in the past 9 years due to sleep deprivation.

Luke is currently obsessed with Harry Potter.  He began reading the books in January, and has devoured the entire series.  He's currently reading the last one (Book 7), and he and I watch each movie together after he finishes the corresponding book.  This is such a fun stage of parenting for me.  I LOVED reading the Harry Potter series, and now Luke and I can chat about characters, have inside jokes about spells and all-things Hogwarts, and I'm having a blast planning a Harry Potter themed family birthday party for one soon-to-be 9 year-old.

Leah's class keeps me very busy with weekly volunteering, tutoring, and Room Mom responsibilities.  Last month's Valentine's Party was especially fun to plan, and the kindergartners appreciate any reason to celebrate:

A funny party-planning story:Leah saw me working on a craft for her Spring Party this past week (which will be held in the first week of April), and she asked, "Mommy, why are you already planning THAT party, when you should be preparing for our Leprechaun party this week?"  I had to break the news to her that St. Patrick's Day didn't require a class-wide celebration/official party, and she was devastated.  Then that smart girl made me laugh out loud when she saw the bunny juice boxes for the Spring Party and commented, "Um, Mommy, those are cute, but how are we supposed to get the straws out?".  Yep, I was outsmarted by a 6 year-old, and wished she had shared her helpful insight before I had wrapped 19 out of the 20 juice boxes (with straws still attached) in cardstock.  And that, my friends, is a Pinterest fail... but with a cute cotton tail to make up for it.   

Leah loves all of the themed weeks at school this year.  Read Across America Week last week contained Mustache Monday (for the Lorax), Wacky Wednesday, and Cat in the Hat Thursday, to celebrate Dr. Suess' birthday.  

It's a fun time with these cuties, and full of new adventures each week!

Winter Update

We went ice skating while we were in Pennsylvania over winter break.  It's been a couple of years since Luke has been on the ice, and he decided that he was ready for hockey skates (vs. figure skating skates) this time.  Our brave boy didn't want any help, and took off with a safety cone for support.  Luke did so well skating, and I couldn't believe how confident he was!  

This was Leah's first time ice skating, so Beanie and I held on to her at first.  This was just right for Mommy... I wasn't worried about that precious little chin splitting open (again!) when we each had a hand for support:

But soon enough, Leah decided that she wanted to let go and use a cone, just like her brother:

I tried to stay close to that fearless baby, and she shouted at me, "Mommy, I don't NEED help!".  I tried to explain to her that it is a "rule" to have someone with you the first time you go ice skating, and she retorted, "I DO have someone with me.  GOD is with me, so I DON'T NEED YOU!".  Speechless.

Luckily, we made it without any injuries, bumps, or bruises, and the day was a huge success (except for my blood pressure at times!)...

And speaking of injuries, Luke had a doozie last month.  School called me to say that he tripped outside at recess and caught the corner of the metal bleachers with his face.  It's never a good sign when you can tell that your child's teacher is crying on the phone.  I raced to school (so thankful that I was home and we live only a mile away) and found Luke in the office with all of the school's first responders, who were attending to a nasty gash across his nose.  (I am not posting pictures due to gore factor).  We immediately drove to our wonderful pediatrician (again, only one mile away), who actually answered the phone as I called on our way and was standing at the door of the office waiting for us.  We were referred to the ER at Children's Hospital due to the location and large size of Luke's cut, and one plastic surgery referral, 5 hours, and 12 stitches later, we took our first deep breath.  In typical Luke fashion, as the MD was preparing to do the stitches, our inquisitive boy had to know every detail about exactly what was going to happen next, why each step was necessary, and if there were other options.  At one point, I wasn't sure that Luke was going to be able to sustain the local anesthesia (he was terrified of the thought of a needle), but the plastic surgeon was brilliant and told Luke that he could decide:  a small needle to numb the skin on his face, or a giant needle ("ten times as large!")in his arm to put him to sleep.  It wasn't pretty, but our brave boy did it, and Leah's biggest disappointment was that she and Mark left the room while Luke was being stitched... "I want to watch, Mommy!"  (I am writing this because I am pretty sure that girl has a future in medicine some day...).

  Luke received lots of attention the next day at school, is already calling it his "battle scar", and we were surrounded by love from our friends and school staff.  He had to take it easy for 2 weeks until our follow up with the doctor, and was sad when he found out that he had activity restrictions:  He couldn't go to recess or P.E., and had to take it easy while the stitches were in.  The worst part was his absolute devastation that he couldn't play in his basketball game against his best friend's team the next weekend.  However, we invited Aiden to come with us to a Wake Forest basketball game while Luke was healing, and this seemed to make up for the fact that these best buds couldn't play each other on the court.  Such cuteness!

 Luckily, Luke is back on the court now (after minor setbacks of slamming his thumb in the car door two weeks ago and being down for the count with a fever virus most of last week... The poor kid had a rough month!).  Daddy's helping to coach this year, and basketball season is our very favorite!    

Here's a video of Luke scoring for his team! 

And what would winter be without snowmen?  Olaf recently visited Leah's classroom to congratulate the students on their wonderful reading.  I sent these pictures to Mark with the title, "Day in the Life of a Room Mom".  Our friend loves Halloween (even more than we do, if you can imagine!), and her family dressed up as characters from "Frozen" last year, which means that they have an Olaf costume lying around, perfect for a kindergarten Room Mom to borrow and surprise her child's class!  In the interest of full disclosure, I drew the lucky straw and got to be photographer for Olaf's visit, while my Co-Room Mom donned the Olaf costume.  (She did ask me what mascot we were going to borrow next month when it's my turn to dress up...):

Another recent highlight is Daddy and Leah's first Father-Daughter Dance.  This first date included dinner out at Chick Fil A (Leah's choice) and a fun-filled evening of dancing at a wonderful event sponsored by the school's PTO.  I can not capture how cute this moment was, when Mark surprised Leah with flowers:  

They had a blast, and Leah declared, "This was one of the best nights of my life!".  How I love these two so much!

Meanwhile, Luke and I had a great evening together (pizza and a Harry Potter movie were his choices for our Date Night), and we enjoyed record high temperatures this past weekend (it reached 81 yesterday!).  We had a picnic on our porch, rode bikes, walked to the park, and played several games of family football, which reminded us how much we love "winter" in the south.  Here's to hoping the groundhog continues to be wrong and that spring is right around the corner!