Summertime

 

We are two weeks into our "summer" here and getting into the groove of our new routine with lots of warm weather fun.  Much like last summer, my goal is to have a special activity each day for the children.  Sometimes it's as simple as having a picnic outside, going to a playground, story time at the library, or meeting a friend for a play date.  And then there are the bigger surprise activities that result in cheers from the little ones at our house- like yesterday when I announced that we were going to the water park!  Leah was an absolute riot to watch.  She thought she was such a big kid, and scampered through the sprinklers, squealing with unadulterated joy:

 

Peanut shocked us when she stated that she wanted to go down the water slide "all by myself".  This is the same water slide that Mark or I rode with Luke in our laps until last year, when our son was 4.  But Miss Independent 2-year-old rejected the offer of a parent chaperon, and slid down this slide about 50 times, over and over again, pleased as punch with herself: 

 

Leah also wanted to swim in the zero-entry pool without any assistance, and proudly shouted, "I'M SWIMMING!" to anyone who was within a 100-foot radius.  We had to discreetly hang on to the back of her vest for safety, but each time she realized that Mark's hand was on the strap, she announced, "I DON'T WANT any help!".  Oh boy!    

Luke, an old pro at visits to Otter Creek, drove Mommy down the big tube slides in an inflatable raft built for two, did tricks on the Kiddie slide (including this fancy backwards move), and navigated the entire length of the big pool by himself:

We love watching our kiddos have so much fun at the water park each time we go, and it surely has become one of our cherished summer traditions!

 

 

Some of our other summertime favorites are: 

 

1. The return of our homemade weekly popsicles:

 

(Shh! Don't tell the children that their current favorite is made from kale!).

 

2.  Redeeming Grandpa's coupons for ice cream outings:

 

 

 

3.  And the grand opening of our pool this month!  We've been so busy swimming that I haven't taken any pictures of our little fish yet, but will be sure to post some splish splashing photos soon! 

 

Welcome, Summertime! 

All-American Fun

We had lots of great, all-American fun this Memorial Day weekend, which kicked off with camping in our backyard.  These two kiddos were very excited to bring their sleeping bags into the tent, and although no one slept outside overnight, it was a special treat to read books, play, and have picnics on our weekend camping adventure: 

 

 

Luke's t-ball season also concluded this week, and what's more patriotic than celebrating America's pastime with a baseball party?  Here's Luke receiving his trophy from Coach Jones: 

The 2013 Nationals pose for one last "silly" team picture.

The Winterhoff Boys' trophies.

Mommy baked cupcakes for the party and fulfilled her Little League dream of hosting a "cute" sports-themed event, which included coordinating paper products and team colors, of course:

Our all-American fun continued with a very special visitor, as Mommy's friend, Miss Nicole, came into town for the weekend: 

 

 

We took Nicole to Paris Mountain State Park and promised her that paddle-boating with a toddler and preschooler would be an adventure.  Notice who is "behind the wheel" and steering our boat!

Special Spider-Man and Little Mermaid life vests for our boaters!

 

We also hiked around the lake, and encountered several baby Canadian geese, which the kids loved:

Another highlight from our hike was the waterfall at the dam.  We had great weather this weekend and so far have been spared from the oppresive heat that often accompanies the arrival of summer in SC:

 

 

We concluded Memorial Day with a cook-out last night, patriotic attire, and swimming at the pool with Daddy.  What a fun all-American weekend we had! 

Celebrate!

 

One week ago, we celebrated Luke's preschool graduation at a darling evening ceremony honoring the "Class of 2013".  There were so many sweet moments that we will forever hold dear in our hearts.  Here are our favorites:

 

As Pomp and Circumstance played, the children processed down the aisle one by one, donning graduation caps:

 

The preschool graduates lined up on the altar and sang cute songs, including, "I am a Promise" (one of my VBS favorites!), and "Make a Joyful Noise".  They also played the handbells to Pachabels' Canon in D, and obliged their parents by posing for pictures:

 

 

 Each graduate drew a self portrait, which he/she held up as the head of the school talked a little about each child.  Information was gathered from a personal interview and included tidbits such as:

 

Luke Winterhoff is five-years-old.  In 20 years, he will be six-years-old.  Luke's favorite thing to do at home is to build with his legos.  Luke plans to marry Leah when he grows up.  He wants to have "like 10 children" and work in construction.  In his spare time, he will cut the grass: 

 

 

Ms. Ashley (Luke's teacher), presented the diplomas, and made it official with a handshake!

 

 

The mothers of the graduates were asked to stand, and the preschoolers sang "You are My Sunshine" to their mommies, handing them flowers.  The moms (those who weren't choked up with tears) sang the final verse back to their children as the graduates recessed out of the church.  Leah was the proud recipient of Bubba's bouquet, and was enthralled with the entire program: 

 

A reception followed, and served as the kick off party for Graduation Week:

The remainder of the week was filled with special events including Bike Day, Water Day, and the Class Picnic.  On Thursday, Class Awards were presented, and Luke was recognized by the letters of his name:  "L(ikes drawing now!), U(nbelieveable vocabulary), K(nowlege-filled), and E(xcellent reader!):   

The award-winning class proudly posed with their medals and received special gifts from their teachers:

Friday was the End-of-Year Program, and we were entertained with wiggly, squirmy preschoolers singing songs and waving to their parents.  Luke took it all in stride, relaxed and cool as a cucumber, with his hands in his pockets.  He casually mentioned to me in the car, "Mommy, I have a STRONG singing voice," and sure enough, we heard Luke's loud, clear, sweet voice singing every tune.  What a difference from his first program 1.5 years ago where he observed and didn't utter a word!

 

 

We have had a wonderful two years at St. Giles Presbyterian Preschool, and it has been a gift to our family.  I couldn't have imagined a better preschool experience for Luke, and he was blessed with teachers who nurtured and loved him, who helped him to mature and grow, and who recognized our son's love of learning and encouraged and fostered his development.  Preschool Graduation Week was a such a happy time for us to celebrate with these amazing teachers, families, and children who we have grown so close to over the past couple of years, and to congratulate our preschoolers on achieving such a big milestone!

Loose Tooth

 

Luke has his first loose tooth.  He was eating corn on the cob at dinner tonight and suddenly cried out, "Mommy, the corn holder poked my tooth!"

I looked in his mouth, and noticed that my baby's bottom center tooth was wobbly to the touch.  I tried to assure Luke that the metal prong of the corn holder was securely inside the corn cob, but he was obviously in discomfort and confused about this new sensation in his mouth. 

"I think I need something soft to eat, Mommy," he pleaded, and feeling the need to nurture and comfort my child, we broke out the Haagen Daas, and ice cream was transformed into dinner for both of us.

As if Mommy can deal with another milestone right now.

Have I mentioned that this is preschool graduation week and I am barely hanging on by a thread?!  Luke's preschool graduation ceremony on Monday night was absolutely darling and will receive a blog post of its own, but only after I am able to properly reflect and differentiate it from the class awards/class picnic/end of year program/end of year reception/preschool graduating class party that are also all occurring this week.  Seriously, it feels like God has sent us a giant, neon flashing billboard that reads, "YOUR CHILD IS GROWING UP!!". 

I praised Luke for being such a brave, big kid and enthusiastically told him about all about the Tooth Fairy.  I watched the wheels turning in my 5-year-old's head as he processed this new information, and I silently thanked and understood the parent who came up with this whole Tooth Fairy scheme in the first place.  If there is one thing that can distract Luke from the fear of the unknown, it's the promise of rewards.  Smart kid.

I showed Luke his special personalized tooth pillow that I just happened to order on etsy.com last week.  I remember thinking that I may be planning a bit far ahead by ordering this item now, but apparently the timing was exactly right:

(I came dangerously close to ordering a coordinating pink seersucker tooth pillow for Leah, but decided not to be too ridiculous since she is only 2).  As Luke examined his pillow, he confirmed,  "So the Tooth Fairy will bring me MONEY if I put my tooth in this little zippered pocket?"

We nodded in affirmation, and then Luke asked, "If I swallow my tooth, will I get MORE money?"

Mark quickly interjected that the Tooth Fairy gives the same pay out regardless of whether or not the tooth is swallowed, and that seemed to satisfy our curious little man.

We fielded several more questions this evening about the ol' Tooth Fairy, including what would happen if she were really loud in the middle of the night and how she knows when children lose their teeth ("because they hang their tooth pillows on their bedroom doors," of course).

After Luke went to bed, I googled lots of information about the timing of children's first loose teeth (average age is 6 and apparently we are "early"), how long we have before the loose tooth falls out (a few days to a couple of weeks- but I am holding on to one parent's story whose child took 6 months), etc.

And I was reminded that we're going through this adventure of growing up right beside our son.  The bittersweet emotions I have about saying good-bye to those precious baby teeth will dissolve into anticipation and excitement about what is ahead.  I felt the same way when infant Luke lost his gummy newborn smile, and these same baby teeth poked through his gums, altering his smile, and reminding us that time doesn't stand still.   

There must have been some foreshadowing that loose teeth were in our near future, as the preschool pictures that were taken of Luke last month are some of my favorite shots of him ever.  The photographer is a friend of ours, and I told her that I was going to have trouble choosing which poses to print, as there were so many that I loved. 

"You should probably order the entire CD," she joked.  "These may be the last professional pictures taken with all of those pearly white baby teeth". 

Hmm, remember that giant, flashing billboard?

Hope you enjoy a few of our favorite poses tonight as our sweet boy dreams about the magical Tooth Fairy from the Land of Lost Baby Teeth:

 

 

 

 

 

Week in Review

It's the time of year where we have many things on our calendar, and each day seems to be filled with a fun activity as we transition from spring to summer schedules.  Here are some of the highlights of our week:

 

Sunday: 

We took a day trip to Atlanta to visit the Georgia Aquarium and spent a great day there. We met our Atlanta friends at the aquarium, and all four children had fun checking out the exhibits, petting animals in the touch tanks, watching the 3D movie, and seeing the dolphin show:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday: 

 

 

I walked Luke into preschool and happened to glance at the new bulletin board outside his classroom.  And I promptly burst into tears.  These weren’t discreet, wipe-your-eye-and-move-on kind of tears, but the blubbering, ugly cry kind.  Luke’s teacher looked momentarily horrified, and I managed to squeak out: “You should have WARNED us!”  There was a photo of my baby wearing a cap and gown for goodness sake, and suddenly his upcoming preschool graduation became a very big deal.  It took me a full 20 minutes in the car and a sobbing phone call to Mark at work to calm me down.  I’m not sure what exactly I was even sad/happy about, but it was just an emotional moment which caught me off guard.  I suppose I am glad that I got it out of my system (or at least we can hope…) before the actual graduation ceremony next week.

 Luke also wrapped up his last Soccer Shots program on Monday.  This cute 30 minute weekly program introduces preschoolers to soccer and has been one of Luke's favorite activities over the past two years.

Tuesday:

Leah attended her next-to-last Kindermusik class, we met our preschool mom and toddler group for coffee for the last time this semester, and we brought snack into Luke's class for the final time... all before 10:30 a.m.  (This is why I need everything to be written down on my calendar- Otherwise, we'd be taking snack to Kindermusik, meeting for coffee on the wrong day, or showing up places late!).


Wednesday:

Leah and I went to a Zoo Explorers Toddler class at the zoo, and it was adorable.  I remember taking about 20 pictures of Luke when he and I attended a similar zoo class 3 years ago, frantically redirecting and chasing my active toddler boy around while battling nausea and newly pregnant with Leah.  I brought my camera this time, too, in order to have a record of my poor second child's toddlerhood experience, but Leah and I were contently engaged in each activity and I didn't even pull it out of my purse.  She sat quietly for the entire class, listening to the zoo keeper and taking it all in, smiling and sharing with the other children.  I am consistently baffled as to how my children come from the same DNA.  

We then raced to the Teacher Appreciation Luncheon at Luke's school where I volunteered to help with Jump Bunch so that the teachers could enjoy their special day.  Jump Bunch is another weekly program that Luke has enjoyed this year, which introduces a different game or sport to the preschoolers each week.  Leah usually watches from the bleachers, but this week was invited to participate, and had a ball completing the obstacle course with the "big kids":

After Jump Bunch, I joined a few other overwhelmed moms in watching the Late Stay preschoolers while the teachers finished lunch.  We counted 26 children (which is half the preschool!), and after a couple of hours on the playground (where someone was always crying, having trouble sharing, needing a band-aid, potty break, shoe tied, toy rescued, pushed on the swing, or spider smashed), we all had the collective thought: "Teachers, oh how we appreciate you for doing this EVERY day!!"

Thursday: 

After a great visit with one of our good friends on Wednesday night who was in town for work, we had our final spring morning with Cressie, the nanny who comes to play with Leah on Thursday mornings.  She has become one of Leah's best friends, and this 3 hour break for me a couple of times each month has allowed me to go to MD and dentist appointments, get my hair cut, have the luxury of going to the grocery store child-free, or see patients for work.  Cressie has been an important part of our routine, and we will miss the help this summer! 


Friday:  It was "Celebrate Reading Day" at preschool, and families were invited to attend a special performance of each child reading a book of his/her choice.  No detail was spared, from the stage and microphone to the paint-penned shirts with hand prints.  Check out the kids' grand total of books read this spring on the back of their shirts:

 

 

 

Leah was excited to use the microphone, too!



Posing with our little reader!

 

We went out to lunch as a family after Celebrate Reading Day (Luke's choice = PIZZA!) and are gearing up for Mother's Day weekend and a momentous week ahead with preschool graduation and End-of-Year festivities!