100th Day of School

A giant roll of blue paper was sent home with Ben with the instructions that we were to make a hat and glue 100 items to it in celebration of the one hundredth day of kindergarten. Ben had the idea of what he wanted the hat to look like, so that was easy enough. We decided on colored paper clips, because, well I can't remember why, but we only had to glue 20 of them to the hat. The rest we could clip on. It was a good lesson on patience and fine motor skills but it was fairly quick.

This morning Ben said to me, "Mom, this is the hundredth day of school, but it seems like it just started, like, five days ago." I looked at him and thought that's exactly what I think every time I notice how much you boys have grown.  At this pace in five more days, I'll be sending these guys off to college.



Loves to Read

 My friend Joe let me borrow the first book of the Game of Thrones series about a year ago. It sat on the desk waiting to be read and I kept putting it off. Jeremy had DVRd the HBO series based on the book and I told him that I really wanted to read the book first, so that was looming over me too.  On January 1, I picked up the book and couldn't put it down.  Ben was worried wondering why I would read a book SO big. As I kept the pages turning, he could see my progress and was impressed. One of the reasons that I waited to read the book is that I knew it was a series and I have a hard time putting books down. I'm now on the fourth book and have enjoyed getting lost into them.

I really hope that the boys pick up the love of reading. Ben is learning fast and has started his first chapter book. He looks forward to reading it to us before bed.  His school sent a request for a picture of the kids reading to a dog, real or stuffed, to decorate the school and promote their read-a-thon which is themed "Everyone and their dog loves to read". Here is a series of pictures of Ben reading to Layla.

I can tell she is really engaged in the story.

She is mesmerized by the world of Jack and Annie and their magic tree house.

She is already begging for the next chapter.

It's not all about Ben all the time. Here is Owen giving himself bunny ears. Sweet and silly boy.



Resolutions

I only made one resolution this year and that was to take more pictures. I really slacked off this year. I made a decision to enjoy the moment instead of fussing and fighting to capture it. I was afraid that I was becoming the lady I saw during our vacation last year. She was with her son at a water park and was hell bent on trying to get a picture of him as the big barrel of water was coming down on him. She kept this up for what seemed like forever to me, an adult, when she could have been watching him run around laughing and playing. I don't want pictures that interfere with what is meant to be a fun family outing. Now here I am several months later at the other extreme, I don't have any pictures! Without pictures, I don't have anything to blog. It's a vicious cycle and I am going to try to find a place somewhere in the middle of crazy water park mom and taking a picture with a camera phone every once in a while.

With this in mind, I took my camera with me to Ben's first basketball game last week. Oh it was funny, but fortunately they play across the court instead of the lengthwise since a lot of them, Ben included,  are still learning how to dribble.  We had his second game yesterday and we could already see the improvement.



Still Catching Up

We celebrated Christmas a week early with the Uebingers. Ben skipped school on Friday so we would arrive at a decent hour and on the way we stopped and saw Santa. It was perfect timing. There wasn't a line and they let me take my own pictures. Ben asked for drums and Owen asked for a guitar. When we walked off, Ben asked us if it was the real Santa. I gave him the standard , "what do you think", as a reply. He said, "Well, his beard looked kind of fake". Owen chimed in with, "And if felt fake when it rubbed on my face". There is no doubt, Owen is an expert on real vs. fake facial hair. Then Ben said, "I know what I should have asked him! If he knows an elf named Shelfie! (our elf on the Shelf)".   Jeremy and I just gave each other that now we're in trouble look.  Kid logic kills me. They will believe that a little toy elf can fly to the north pole and talk to Santa every night, but not that a real live person could be Santa.

Jeremy and I had strep the week before Christmas but the kids ended up not catching it from us. We weren't much fun to be around, but my parents came Friday to spend the holiday with us. The weather was fantastic, but Owen was upset that he couldn't build a snowman with them. He settled on a walk around the lake with Ben and Grandpa. Ben read them bedtime stories and turned his bedroom into a superhero toy museum by sorting every action figure and putting it on display. My mom spoiled us rotten by cooking several meals for us. That was a treat! Christmas morning the boys waited until 7 to wake us up.

Considering that there was not a set of drums to be found Christmas morning I was surprised that the Ben wasn't disappointed. That was all he wanted this year.  It was Owen who mentioned that they didn't get them. When he told Grandma Guthrie over the phone he said, "I think Santa must have just given all of the guitars to other little boys". I loved her response, "Well, then you just have to keep it on your list for next year!".  I'm hoping that something a little quieter catches their interest before then.



It's a New Year! Let's Rewind

I'm going to back this blog up a bit and start back where I left off last time. It looks like in early December I was talking a bit about Ben being a little punk. Wouldn't you know it, that kid went and turned six on me right after. He was really excited about this birthday. I sent invitations to his friends at school for a pool party at the community center and he was excited when almost all twenty (yes- I am crazy) kids said they were coming.

For the day of his birthday I had ordered cookies from the cafeteria to be taken to his classroom as the afternoon treat. I thought that would be enough since I am there every other week and didn't really think it was that big of a deal. I was wrong, once again. The day before he asked me if I was coming in to help pass out the cookies. When I said that I hadn't planned on it, the look on his face nearly broke my heart. He didn't cry, in fact he tried to be tough and hide the fact that he was disappointed. When I asked him if he wanted me there, he just said that some of the moms do it, with his brave face still on. As soon as he was on the bus I sent Mrs. Bryant an email asking if Owen and I could stop by the next day to help out. This is just how incredible she is with 20 some odd kids having birthdays year in year out;

 "Birthdays only happen once a year and for a 5/6 year old, birthdays are sooo important!! Let me ask Ben when he wants to celebrate and I'll email you to let you know when to come in. Little brother coming is fine!!
Thank you! "

He is so lucky to have a teacher who really gets kids. I know that I don't always!  We surprised Ben by bringing Jeremy along. He had not been in to the school yet and Ben loved showing off his Dad.

When Ben got home from school we took him out to eat at a Mexican place then he wanted to drive through the park to look at the Christmas light display. He is so my kid!

Saturday was his party and he had a great time with his friends. It was nice not having it at the house for a change and the boys loved getting back in the water. Turning six was so much cooler than being five.