Friendship Feast 2008

Once again, the preschool had it's annual "friendship feast", which is sort of a mock Thanksgiving with entertainment. Each class got up on stage and did a performance - Jack's class sang a "turkey dinner" song, Annabelle's class sang a very similar "turkey dinner" song... both to the tune of Frere Jaqua! Funny, that.

During the performance Jack looked a little nervous, a touch of stage fright if you will, but he did a great job just the same. He sang a bit, but mostly he just stood there and looked cute.

Annabelle, as usual, was in her element... The girl is a born performer. She knew every word to her "turkey dinner" song (and Jack's), and sang with gusto. She just loves being up on that stage!

After the songfest was the feast: Turkey, stuffing, corn, cranberry sauce, rolls, apple juice, cookies, and brownies... Lots of food for little people.

Before they sat down to eat Annabelle warned me that NO ONE better try to put stuffing on her plate. I was curious to see what would happen if they did, but having to divide myself between her table and Jack's, I missed out on the actual doling out of the food. I didn't notice any stuffing on her plate though. Jack, on the other hand, didn't say a word about what he was willing to accept on his plate. Instead he just discarded the items he didn't like, putting them onto his classmate's plate when he wasn't looking!

In the end the kids had a great time. We got to keep the lovely flower centerpiece that Jack made, and also a cutom laminated placemat with his hand prints on it. Annabelle MacGyver-ed a turkey centerpiece out of a pumpkin, pipecleaner, and some feathers, which we also got to take home. Although, Turkey Pumpkin has since lost it's head...

Girls Have Cooties

When I picked Jack up from school yesterday he ran out of his classroom with a huge smile on his face and gave me a giant hug. Two seconds later, he handed me one [of the two] cars he had brought to school with him that morning, then asked me to smell it... And then he came out with, "I don't want this one- it smells like Molly."

Further prying revealed that his classmate, Molly, had handled the car at some point during the day, and now it was, "in need of a wash."

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween morning the kids had a performance and costume parade at school. Jack wore his pirate costume, Annabelle opted to wear her fairy costume for this event, a last minute decision. It was funny to see Jack up on stage for the first time... He looks like he has stage fright (and bed head)!

Annabelle's class sang, "five little pumpkins" and Jack's did two songs, neither of which I could understand a word of. I know one of the songs Jack's class did was about little goblins because he had been singing it at home, only substituting "Annabelle" or "baby" for the word goblin. I was waiting to see if he would do that at the performance... but I don't think he actually sang at all!

In the evening we went out trick-or-treating with the kids on the street, then went back to the neighbors for cocktails and pizza. As expected, the kids pretty much just loaded up on sugar...

School Field Trip

Jack's first school field trip... Awwww.

Both Jack and Annabelle's classes took a field trip to a local farm, which has a petting zoo, hay ride, pony ride, pumpkin patch and corn maze. It was very cute, and a lot of fun for them, but it was a little tricky for me-

First off, it was freezing! But aside from that, both kids wanted to stay with their own classes and I was torn as to who to stay with! At first, I was trying to keep the kids together but their classes were doing different activities at different times; Annabelle's class was on the hay ride while Jack's was petting animals, Annabelle's class was doing pony rides while Jack's was in the corn maze, etc... Jack wanted to stay with his class and Annabelle wanted to stay with hers- Ack!

I was running back and forth for a while but in the end, I just stayed with Jack's class for the day. He seemed to be the one that actually wanted me there with him. Annabelle just latched on to her friends and their moms, and every once in a while some mother would hand me one of Annabelle's mittens or something. She is always so busy, I don't think she even noticed I wasn't with her class.

Apart from my initial stress of needing to split myself in two, we had a nice day!

Above is a picture of Jack and his class (minus two) and to the left are a few of Annabelle's friends, all of whom have siblings in Jack's class!

Trick-Or-Treat- Round One

Last friday was the annual trick-or-treat in the square. When I have driven through on this day in the past, I've thought that it all seemed a bit crazy; chaotic, crowded, and just plain old MADNESS.

This being our first year in attendance, my suspicions were confirmed. It was all I had imagined and more... And the kids loved every minute of it!

Super Slide

Those Monkeys were up and down this slide so many times, they slept for hours when they got home!

You Know It's Time To Start Using Your Kid's Real Names When...

You're trying to ask you daughter if she would like a banana and the conversation goes something exactly like this:

Banana?
What?
Banana?
What?
Banana?
What is it?
A Banana.
Banana?
What is it Mommy?
Do you want a banana?
Oh, no thanks.

*I sometimes call Annabelle, Anna-banana

Leaf Sleeper

Yesterday the kids and I we were raking up leaves and jumping in the pile. When it started to get dark, Annabelle decided that the leaf pile was as good a place as any to have a snooze. Shortly after this photo was taken, Annabelle ran inside and grabbed a blanket and a few stuffed friends. She was genuinely upset when I told her that she would not be allowed to spend the night there!

Crazy Soccer Boy

Last week at Annabelle's soccer game, Jack decided that he wanted to play too. This was the first time that he has shown any interest in playing so coach Daddy let him practice with the team before the game. He was so excited. He did fairly well too, for a 3 year old, but he must have thought that he would be able to play in the game too because when the official came around to check all of the equipment, Jack lined right up with the team. He wasn't wearing shin guards or cleats, which is a requirement, and the official called him on it... Jack had a complete heart-wrenching meltdown because he wasn't allowed to play.

So the next day, nice Mommy ran out and acquired the missing kit for Jack.

Flash forward to today's game...

Jack is thrilled to be at the field, in full kit, part of the team. At the pregame practice he is having fun, running around, kicking the ball, all is well... Until the team takes a water break.

When Jack grabbed his water bottle, opened it up, took a sip, and realized that it was actually filled with WATER, he lost it; Jack came running over to me demanding apple juice, claiming that water is "plecky" (his word for yucky), moaning that he was tired, and that he wanted to go home and play with his cars... And get some apple juice.

After about 10 minutes of the moaning, when I realized that he was not going to let up, I took him to the store and got him some apple juice. When we got back to the field he immediately wanted to rejoin the team but by this time the game had already started... And his apple juice was gone.

I wonder if he will actually play next week if I put apple juice in his water bottle?

Hahahahaha

Annabelle just put this on and said that she wants to be a spy for Halloween! So far she has gone from wanting to be a puppy, to a care bear, to a skeleton, to a skywalker (her friend is being Luke Skywalker- she has no idea who that is), to a pirate, back to a skeleton, a puppy, a pirate, and now, a SPY.

It's anybody's guess what she will actually be... Besides CRAZY.

Annabelle's First Goal!

Annabelle has been dying to score a goal. After every game she has been so disappointed... Not today; Annabelle has finally scored!!!

You can't actually see her, but Annabelle is in there.
"High fives" from coach Daddy.
Annabelle's teammate, Audrey, is very excited for her.

A proud moment!

Oh, Hello

I feel like I haven't updated the blog in ages! Not that I don't have anything to say, there is always something crazy going on, I just can't seem to find a chunk of time to sit down and actually think! So, right now the kids are napping and I should be unloading the dishwasher but instead, here I am.

I'll start by posting some pics of my favorite boy, taken yesterday:




I tried to get some snaps of his crazy sister but she was just way to busy running around with some kids at the park. She also kept running away from me.

Anyway, the kids are both in school three days a week and they are having a blast. It 's funny having Jack in school too; watching him interact with all of his new little friends suddenly makes him seem a little bit older. It has been good for him, doing something separate from Annabelle, being in a different class and having new friends. It always felt like everything was all about Annabelle, her being the oldest and all, but now that he is getting older we are starting to have more occasions where Jack is the main focus... The other day we got together with a group of his school friends and Annabelle was the odd man out, which she wasn't overly happy about that at first, but quickly got over. It was just nice to do something that was all about Jack, for once!

An interesting thing about Jack being in school; I get much more information from him than I ever did from Annabelle! Jack will tell me things like, he got a job at school today and the job was "cups", but then he will go on to explain that "cups" is when you pass out a cup for juice to each child at snack time. If I had asked Annabelle if she had a job at school she would have said, "oh I had cups" and nothing more. It is up to me to figure out what that means... Which is surprising for a child who loves to talk so much, you would think she would be a bit more forthcoming with the information. Nada.

In other news: I think Jack has his first crush, possibly his first girlfriend! He frequently talks about Sophia, a little girl in his class, and apparently there is a lot of "Jack talk" at Sophia's house too. Jack claims that Sophia, along with his neighbor and fellow classmate, Connor, are his best friends. It is very cute seeing them all together... I just hope the boys don't end up battling over Sophia!

*and now Miss Annabelle has woken from her mini slumber and I must go and tend to her every need...

Shocking Events

Jack willingly took a dose of Motrin this evening! The boy NEVER takes medicine. Ever. He actually asked for it too, after he saw Annabelle take hers... But still!

Second shocker- Jack put on his coat without a fight! Twice.

Third shocking thing- Jack ate carrots. Sure they were only tiny slivers in his soup, but still, Jack ate them... AND he said he liked them.

He MUST be sick.

Davis Farmland

Last week, we all piled into my friend Donna's minivan and drove out to Davis Farmland. It was a small trek, about 50 miles, but well worth it; the kids had a blast! (They especially enjoyed getting to ride in the same car with their friends, Grace and Jackson.)

At the farm, they made a bunch of new friends:

They even got to brush a bunny and some of the goats; including a couple of day old babies, (but not including the flying goat.) Jack really enjoyed chasing petting the goats. At one point, he actually picked up one of the babies and tossed gently placed it back into its house.

Jackson, Jack, Annabelle, and Grace, all waited patiently for a ride on the pony. Until they got to the front of the line... and argued about who would go first, second, third, and fourth. Luckily, everyone got a chance to be first in line!

This was Jack's first pony ride!

Before heading home, we stopped across the way at the apple orchard and did some apple picking. It was late in the day, about an hour before closing, and the orchard was completely empty!

"Say, APPLE!"

On The Farm

The Sheep Whisperer

First Day Of School

Today was Jack's first day, ever... And he absolutely loved it!!

Here he is with his teacher.

Below, I'm trying to get a decent shot of both of them-HA!

I can't tell if Annabelle was trying to hug Jack, or strangle him.

One last try?

Nah, we're not even going to look at you.

Back To School

Today was the unofficial first day of school. The kids met their teachers and other classmates while the parents hung out and drank bad coffee. All in all, I think it was a success... Except for the coffee.

Jack jumped right in there and made himself at home, quickly finding a bin of cars and dumping it all over the floor. He seemed pretty comfortable- he's used to going to the school from last year when we took Annabelle, he also already knows the teacher and a handful of the kids in his class. So no separation anxiety there... He didn't even notice when Nick and I left the room! His teacher said that he did great- she told us that he built an impressive block tower, which Jack claims was knocked over by "a fresh boy called, Chris." I don't remember a Chris in his class, but I will be sure to pay attention next time. As we were leaving, Jack grabbed my hand and said, "I had a good time at school."

Annabelle, of course, walked in like she owned the place. Nick brought her to her classroom and was supposed to stay with her for a bit, but he appeared in Jack's classroom after only two minutes. I guess Annabelle waved him off... She was so very busy catching up with her friends and just too cool for parents!

The real first day is on Wednesday... Maybe I can get a better picture of the two of them together then.

A Beachy Day

As summer is drawing to a close here in the North East we are making the most of what little sunshine we have left; the warm days are few and far between. Today was a perfect day at the beach!

Early in the AM I loaded the Monkeys, armed with shovels and pails, into the car and we headed off to Cape Cod to meet our friends, Grace and Jackson (and their mum too). We made it there in record time (1 hr. 10 minutes), as there was no traffic whatsoever. I'm guessing that after Labor Day the majority of the population has gone back to work/school, which is great for me because my preschoolers don't start back for another week.

As an added bonus, the beach was pretty much empty for most of the day. It wasn't until late afternoon when it started to get slightly crowded, filling up with the after school crowd and early work ditchers. But, by then it was time to head home...

*there are more beachy photos over there in the side bar--->

Annabelle's Sunflower

On her last day of school, back in May, Annabelle brought home a tiny sunflower plant in a paper cup. Not expecting it to survive at all, I transplanted it into a small pot and stuck it on the window sill by the kitchen sink. Within a few weeks the stem had grown to be about 8 inches tall, definitely too big for the small pot, so we planted it outside.

A couple of months later...

VOILA!!!