Cold as ICE

Brody and I enjoyed ice skating with friends from his preschool. Today's destination was the local ice rink. I was a little nervous, not sure how he would do with the cold(hey, we are from sunny California) and on ice skates. He instantly put me at ease...kind of. He was all over the place. Once he figured out the bucket crutch, he was off and skating. He even mastered it without the bucket...just ended up on his backside a little more often. I loved being able to spend some one on one time with him and that smile made the cold temps totally worth it.

cute chicks

Brody and his preschool friends have been watching and waiting for these baby chicks to hatch. Each year, the preschool gets a few eggs. It is very exciting for the little ones. Brody would give us an update upon returning from school each day. It finally happened, the baby chicks hatched. I stopped by the school on Friday to take a peek. They sure are cute.

Finally...

It is FINALLY Brody's turn to head back to school. It has been a long 3 weeks for this little boy...and for me. Ever since the big brothers returned to school, we have had the same daily conversation about when it would be HIS turn. The day has FINALLY arrived and he was all smiles.
















Brody picked out a new pair of kicks, got a new haircut w/spikes, decorated his bucket(portable cubby/backpack) and dressed himself in one of his new outfits. He was ready to go.






















The only thing left to do was wait for the 2 hours until school started -LOL! He was thrilled to see his favorites friends from the 3 year old class return to the 4 year old class. This may be or not be the girl he mentions every night during our happy and sads around the dinner table(part of his happy report,of course).














And we can't forget about his best buddy,Sam - aka Sambo.














We are excited for Brody and the opportunity he will have to learn and to grow this year. We know he will have an amazing year with his teachers and friends. As he tells us on a daily basis, "one more year of preschool and then it's off to kindergarten." This Momma is hoping that the year doesn't fly by...I am not ready for him to grow up. I am off to fill my 3 hours w/out kiddos with all things productive...do you think a nap falls under productive category:-)?

clownin' around

I love picking this little boy up from preschool. It is always a treat to see what they have done during their time with Miss Christi and Miss Kirsten. Today they came out dressed like little clowns. They all looked adaorable.

it's official

I have 6 hours a week to myself...we have a pre-schooler in the house. I don't think Brody ever thought this day would get here. We have been counting the days down.
He was up bright and early, ready to go. New outfit,check. A new pair of Vans,check. His new bucket(don't forget to notice the $5.00 light up scrapbook stickers from Mom's stash :-), check. His lunch/snack packed and ready to go, check.























He was even more excited when we got to school and his best bud, Sam got out of his car. They are going to have a great year.




















The most commonly asked questions as of late are:
"Did you cry when you dropped Brody off"? and
"What are you going to do with your free time"?

I am happy to report that I did not cry when I dropped him off this morning. He was seriously over the top excited this morning that I couldn't be anything but happy & excited for him. He is the type of child who would say "Don't let the door hit you on the backside when you leave, Mom".

As for free time, I am sure those 6 hours will quickly be filled with helping in the boys classrooms(room Mom and Art Docent Mom again), a little scrapbooking, working down at GT and maybe a nap or two :-).

It's going to be a great year!

Two little pumpkins

We enjoyed a fun morning @ the pumpkin patch with Garrett's preschool pals. This patch/farm is one of our favorites.


I love all of the yummy colors that can be found @ the patch.
I can't even begin to tell you how many of our mornings, for the last three weeks have started with Garrett asking if it is time for his field trip. So when he woke up this morning, I said "Garrett, today is your field trip(before he could even ask the question)". His eyes got huge & he asked "today is my field trip"? The smile that followed was even BIGGER!

We enjoyed a train ride & a hayride out to the patch. We actually got to pick our pumpkins off the vine-I love that. Here is the pumpkin that Garrett ended up with.

Brody had so much fun running from pumpkin to pumpkin. He had to pat each one.

He then realized that they were like a ball. He then began to pick up the smaller ones & tried to throw them. He loved the patch so much. At one point, he was flat on his tummy & began to make dirt angels...NICE! No photos, I was trying to get him off the ground.

The boys were able to feed & pet some of the baby goats.
The huge jersey cow scared Brody. Kind of funny since it is one of the animals he walks around mimicking. I think the real life "MOO" scared him. He started to cry. In Brody's defense, the cow was HUGE!

Next we watched the chicken show that Mother Goose narrated
& the pig races. According to Garrett, pig #4 won. Not sure if pig #4 really won or that he just thinks the #4 is a big deal because he is 4 years old. A few us us Moms enjoyed some lunch while the boys ran in & out of a retired train, played in the sand & went on the slides. IT was a great morning. I love to watch my little pumpkins run around & have a great time!

Today was the day! Garrett headed back to preschool with a new outfit on & his bucket in tow. He wore the new orange basketball shirt that he picked out earlier this week. Dad saved him & had a new pair of shoes for him to wear today. John found these pair of Nike's in a sale bin a few weeks back @ a local sports store. Take a good, long hard look @ them.. they won't EVER be this clean again - HA! This is our yearly foot shot. There is just something about a new pair of shoes.

John worked from home this morning so he could see Garrett off to school on his first day. We got there & Garrett went right in. I think he is happy to be back in the swing of things. He does well with schedules & routines. There are never any tears. He is happy to do his own thing. He needs school & I need him to be there. It is a nice break for the both of us. It is just long enough (ok, maybe not long enough on some days) that I miss him. I am happy that he loves school. He loves his friends & his wonderful teachers, Miss Jenn & Miss Christi.

We have been with this preschool for 6 years now. Brody is even on the wait list. We put him on as soon as we knew he existed (3 months in the womb). Garrett came home with all sorts of papers that he had worked on & even had a cute Garrett poster. They had worked on his name with foam letters, beans & other fun materials.We asked him what his favorite part of the day was & he said "playing with my friends". He has really missed all of them. He constantly talked about them all summer. YAY for a new school year. I am so thankful for a wonderful school environment for Garrett. You can just see & feel all of the fun the children have while attending this preschool. Have a wonderful year Garrett!

Teacher Gifts

So what do you give your kids school teachers @ the end of the year? I have always struggled with this! I think the world of teachers, specifically the ones my children have been lucky enough to get so far. They are amazing, patient, talented, kind & funny. I always want to give them something that will be considered nice, practical & fun. At the same time, I can't break the bank while doing so. Garrett has a total of 4 teachers (& an aide) between preschool & his speech classes. Tanner & Carter each have a teacher too. It can get pretty pricey. I always hope the gift we give will be something that they will LOVE & USE. This year, Garrett's speech teachers received a beach towel (purchased on sale), sunscreen & fun magazine. I tied them up with cute ribbon & made a tag to match. It screamed fun & summer.
Please,please,please share your ideas for teachers gifts so I can add them to my file for future years.

Yesterday was Garrett's last day with Miss Erin. Miss Erin is his cute, fun, young speech teacher. He has enjoyed one on one time with her each week. She has really helped Garrett this past year. He has loved his Tuesdays with Miss Erin. She let him decide what he wanted to do/play with for his last day. He chose was to play some games on the computer.

It was also his last official day of Preschool with Miss Christy & Miss Jenn. We have a party @ the park tomorrow to officially end the school year. They had a little promotion ceremony. After the parents were all seated, the children came in & sang two songs. Most of them just giggled & made funny faces instead of singing. It was very sweet. Then they received their certificates. Miss Christy put together a DVD with all of the pictures from the school year. You could hear the kids saying "Hey, that's me". It was very entertaining to watch. As if that wasn't enough, they sent him home with a little nap sack(that Garrett painted) with his ABC binder, the DVD, a homework packet for the summer& a goodie bag. WOW!

Miss Christy & Garrett

Garrett & friends from preschool.

Garrett showing off his nap sack-so cute!

Today was Garrett's last day of speech with Miss Lori. She is fabulous! Garrett has come such a long way. We can actually understand what he is saying & now he just doesn't stop talking-LOL! They had a party this morning. They made ice cream cone art projects, had cookies & enjoyed the morning with their friends. Garrett's friend Aaron brought bubbles for everyone. Garrett is going to miss his Mondays & Wednesdays with Miss Lori.

He has enjoyed a couple of days filled with back to back parties. I am so grateful for the wonderful teachers he has been blessed with. I appreciate all of the time, love, & energy that they put into their jobs on a daily basis. They sure so make a difference in these little peoples lives. Hats off to all of the wonderful teachers out there!