May Memories

These are a kind of random group of pictures from May.

Luke and Eli after a BIG time at Kyle and Kristin's birthday party. Nathan was asleep in the next seat.

Eli was playing so intently with the trains, I wanted to get a picture. It looks like we'll get our moneys worth on the trains with another train lover coming up.

Playing outside. Eli loves balls of all kinds.

Nathan showing Eli his new mask.

Mommy and Eli at his 15 month check-up. One shot, a few tears and a good report from Uncle Jimmy. Eli finally made it over the 20lb mark and is at 21 lbs (10%, which is a big improvement over the less than 3% of last time!). His height was in the 95% percentile at 33 1/4 inches but I think this is a little off and he's not that tall really. For HC, he's in the 50% so that's great news for any future helmet needs!

After school yesterday, playing with some end of the year presents from the sweet teachers at HG. I wish I could post some of the awesome books the teachers made with/for the boys. They are so sweet and filled with pictures and hand prints from all through the year. What treasures!

Nice one of Luke. The really funny thing is that he kept calling the golfball he got a goofball (you can see it in his hand) and then sat down with this bucket on his head. So so funny!

To Remember

The typical bedtime routine around our house (when Jeff and I are both home) is that around 7:45 I take Eli into his room, rock for a few minutes and then put him in bed. Meanwhile, Jeff watches a couple of episodes of Thomas with Luke and Nathan and then takes them to brush teeth and get into bed. Because the amount of books I read to Eli each day really varies and is sometimes none, I started reading to him each night when we go into his room. Usually the books are already there, next to the rocker. But, one night this week the books had been moved from his room at some point during the day (blonde, short, book loving culprit). So, before I headed into his room, I gathered some book from the basket. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my little bookworm eyeing me (Nathan if you don't know). I did not make eye contact with him and headed into Eli's room to do our usual thing. Of course, in a second or two I heard the door open and a little head peek in at me. He came over to the rocker and said, "Can I rock too Mommy?" So Eli and I moved over and Nathan sat very quietly while we read a few books. This is really different for Nathan because normally when I read to him he asks a million questions. When I asked Eli questions, Nathan would quietly help Eli by pointing to the answers. It was really, really sweet and something I wanted to remember. After we finished reading, Nathan got up and left the room and we all continued our routines. My sweet, sweet Nathan. To say he loves books is an understatement. If I ever sit down for longer than a second, he is asking me to read to him. When he gets up before everyone else, he gets some books to read (and a snack), and sometimes when I am getting ready in the morning, he gets some books and brings them into the bathroom to read. I can't wait to see what you'll become Nathan.

Slacker

So, I've been slacking on my posts this month. It's already May 19th and I've only posted a few times. May has been busy. My last class was May 7 and it took the entire week to get everything graded. Things just kept coming up and eating up all my time. On top of that, the final in one of my classes was a paper. It took forever to grade 20, 15+ page papers. That's what I get I guess! The other class also had papers due on the last night of class but there were only 10 of them. Anyway, it's over. I submitted my last grade Sunday night, after being held up by yet another plagiarizer. Can you imagine, plagiarizing in a doctoral class, and this was not the first occasion AND the students thought I would not notice? So out of my realm of thinking when I was in school. That's by far been the biggest adjustment for me this year, realizing that everyone is not the same kind of student I was and, sometimes, that's ok. But plagiarism, really? Since then I've been delving into the wonderful world of curriculum! My two courses this summer are in curriculum and instruction. And...since I have a degree in educational research NOT curriculum, it's been a real challenge to develop two courses that are way out of my comfort zone. The students I'm teaching are all administrators, principals, assist principals, district coordinators, assistant supers, pretty much all people with A LOT more curriculum experience than me. So, technically, I'm qualified to teach these courses, you know that masters degree in early childhood you got back in 1999, you had some curriculum courses, right? HA! Anyway, we're taking the higher ed spin on the courses so that hopefully they will learn something new. I've been developing new courses all year and what I've really needed is a good curriculum course to help me develop these courses, yeah, like the one I'm teaching in June! So, I'll be able to tell them all the things not to do and how to handle students who complain, plagiarize, and critique every little thing you do and say. Ok, venting over. Of course not all my students are like that. I have a core group of about 4 or 5 that are really dedicated and are a pleasure to teach. Ok, so I had to take some stuff out at this point. Did you hear about the teacher who complained about her students on her personal blog and lost her job? I've learned so much this year, about people, about myself. The balancing is the hardest part. How to find time to do it all? Can a mother really have it all? The jury is still out. I have this mental image of myself standing alone with about 20 things swirling above my head, trying not to get whacked or let any of them fall. Things seem out of control sometimes and I'm the type of person who craves structure and routines. If I can figure out a way to put everything in its little compartment and keep it from swirling over my head, I'll be good (and probably rich if I can figure that out). In no way am I complaining. I did not say I was not smiling while ducking the swirl.

Ugg, this spell check is not working so I have to copy and paste the text from Word. Please, make sure your children learn phonics. Whole language stenks (haha, that's a joke).

Pure Joy

This past Saturday Thomas came to Verizon Theater in Grand Prairie. We took Luke and Nathan to see him. The tickets and merchandise were overpriced and the food was outrageous and not very good. But, to watch Luke be totally and completely captivated was worth every penny. To say he loved it is an understatement. It felt so good to be able to give him that experience.

Here we are on the way in.

This is how Luke sat the entire time, except when he was clapping and singing and shouting. Funny side note, Nathan was not thrilled with the folding chairs. He wouldn't sit in his seat and wanted to sit in my lap the entire time. Nathan sat and watched the entire thing but was not that thrilled.

Thomas on stage. Percey, Diesel and Sir Topham Hat were there too.
We had so much fun and I'm so glad we took the boys. Eli stayed with Grammy and Papa. Luke and Nathan kept saying things like, "oh no! we forgot Eli," and "why does Eli want to stay with Papa and Grammy?" and," oh no Mommy, Eli is crying, he wants to go with us!" Sweet boys, they really do like each other.

2010-2011

A couple of weeks ago the boys had class pictures taken. Luke and Nathan each have two classes but I only bought a picture from one of each of their classes.

Nathan first: This is Nathan's T/TH class. It looks like everyone is there. Can you imagine, 12 two year olds...these teachers have an amazing gift. He has two teachers on T/TH but one of them was gone on a mission trip to China. The funniest thing happened the other day in his W/F class. His teacher stopped me at drop off time and asked me if Nathan was on some medication (I guess it was Friday of last week). I said no and why? She said, well he was so docile the other day. HAHAHA! I cracked up and I could tell she was a little uncomfortable, thinking I might be upset or something. I told her no, she just got lucky that day. Sweet Nathan, embracing the twos!

And Eli...I think there may be one more that was not there. Eli is the youngest, by about a week and has been the smallest. But, he seems to be catching up. Eli has the most amazing teachers. They have the unique ability to make me feel like Eli is the most special baby in their care. I'm sure they do this for all the parents and I'm so thankful for it. I know each time I drop him off, he will have a great day. And Luke...This is Luke's T/TH class. Several people were missing, most notably the redheaded object of Luke's affection :) There are about 14 in each of his classes. His teachers (T/TH) are Ms. Melanie and Ms. Susan and are both great!

School will be out at the end of May. I know I've said it before but we've had the best year at HGBC CLC. They boys have learned so much and, if we don't move, I'll be excited for them to return next year. Nathan is already talking about being a big boy and going to the Busy Bees class. Luke is already saying how he does not want to leave Mrs. Gina!

Easter

Easter was good this year. The current trend of better behavior from the boys is holding. Praise the Lord! Here are some quick pictures of the boys having a little Easter fun.

Blurry but a fun shot of Eli going all out with his loot!

Decorating Easter cookies. Or at least they were supposed to be Easter cookies. I goofed up the dough and they would not roll out. So, they are decorating regular sugar cookies with icing. Not that they noticed or cared. Sucking the frosting from the tube was way more fun anyway.

Eli, hollering and watching the boys dye eggs.

We dyed real eggs for the first time this year. The boys did ok with it. Aside from a few cracked eggs and red fingers, it was fun.

Some help from Daddy.

I wish I had time to reflect on how things have changed over the past year. But, one boy has refused to take a nap and has succeeded in waking the boy who was napping...so, nap time is over along with my time to post. I guess some things have not changed.

Recap

I haven't posted many pictures of the boys over the last several weeks. Falling down on my job! I thought about typing a narrative and describing all we have done over the past month but that would probably be really boring. Instead, here are some pictures of some things we have been doing. It's certainly not everything but I must have thought these times were important because I felt the need to pull out my phone and take some pictures. I had been boycotting my phone camera but it's all I had at the moment! After I loaded all these pictures, I realized they are in reverse chronological order.

Playing at home Monday morning. I'm probably one of the few people who love Mondays!

For a bike ride on Saturday afternoon. Nathan can pedal now but is not really interested in his bike yet. He loves sticks though!
Playing in the backyard on Saturday afternoon.

We have a walker now for sure!

Love this face!

One night recently we had some hail.

Nathan is still getting up very early. His usual time is 6-6:30. If I don't hear him get up and intercept him, he heads straight for the pantry and helps himself. One morning I was in the shower when he got up. By the time I got in there, this is what I found. Poptarts and Cheetos for breakfast. I'm sure his teacher loved me that day! We do have a child-proof doorknob cover but as you can see, it's not Nathan proof.

Luke had Bible Day at school and had to dress up as a Bible character. He chose Joseph. Here he is with Ms. Melanie. All Luke's teachers are great and he's had the best year at school. He's only cried once or twice when I dropped him off, compared to everyday at his previous school. The next day he also had to dress up but this time he chose to be a king. Too bad I did not get a picture!

I found this one night after the boys had gone to bed. I just thought it was so funny and wished I could have seen it in action.

Getting brave!

On a Sunday drive in late March. Too funny!

Ice cream in the backyard. Eli must have been napping.

Recently I took Nathan in to get his hearing checked. He was having trouble hearing and it turns out he has fluid in (on?) his ears. It seems to have gotten better lately. On the way home we stopped at Braums and had lunch together.

Luke has mastered the rope climb, something he could not do alone last year.

More playing outside.

Back around mid-March. Eli's first time to sit in a forward facing car seat.

So, those are all the pictures I have to post. It's been a busy month with work, school, some traveling and life in general. My semester is winding down and will be complete May 7, aside from a mountain of grading I'll have to do. Summer school begins June 7 so I'll have some time to prepare while the boys will still be in school. From now on my contract will be 12 months so I'll work each summer, 2 classes. I'm also teaching an online course for UNT, good to get a little extra money! The boys will spend the summer in school at FUMC Plano. HGBC does not offer summer care. But, the good news is summer classes are just as flexible as fall and spring so I'll have plenty of time to spend with the boys. I guess the big project for the summer will be potty training Nathan. We've sort of been working on it but will have to get it mastered before September. As I mentioned in the pictures, Eli is walking more than he's crawling now. It's so fun to watch but of course a little sad. It is a great sight to see them chasing each other around the house, especially at pajama time. Eli's down to one bottle, only at night. He is probably ready to drop that too. He's been drinking less and less of it each night. I guess he's getting what he needs at mealtime now. Big sigh, it will be good to get the counter space back I guess. TX Wesleyan is closed TH and F for Easter so it will be good to have a weekend with the boys, without having to work Saturday. We seem to be entering an easier period with the boys. It was so hard for a while, with Eli being so little, Luke being 3 and Nathan 2. Not that the boys are that difficult independently but they tend to feed off each other and sometimes create the perfect storm. Lately though, things seem easier. Of course it could be I have developed an immunity along with selective hearing. It's probably a lot of things in combination, I'm sure! And, I probably just jinxed everything so never mind.