Catching up...

little ballerina using the back of the couch as a barre

Two "sassy kitties" at the Greek Festival (Lainey and Morgan). Lainey had originally thought they were going to a "Break Festival" where there would be break dancing. :) Ha!

They ran into another friend - Madison - at the Greek Festival. :)

This is Walker's "haunted house" that we made for his trains...notice the lovely sculpture Lainey created using straws and tape and a tupperware container. I am not sure what it is.

Funny Walker story:

We're shopping for wine at Wal-Mart (I know, I know, there are better selections elsewhere) when Walker spotted these bottles of Barefoot. 

Our conversation went like this:

Walker: "Mommy, you know what that drink says?"

Me: "What does it say, Walker?"

Walker: "It says 'this drink tastes like a foot.'" 

HA! :)

A Little Balloon Festival

 

four cuties: Walker, Brayden, Kaitlyn, and Lainey

I think this is the first time that Walker has ever gone down a "big" bounce house slide. 

SO proud of him for not crying! :)

And here's a very, very blurry picture of Lainey. :)

School Update

First: Walker. Other than the crying, screaming, and kicking at drop-off in the morning, Walker seems to be enjoying his actual school day. He always tells me what they learn, what they did, if they read books (one was about someone who ate a lot of things or "fangs" as Walker says), what you are supposed to do when you make food (you smell it) and how to keep quiet (you don't let those words come out of your mouth). He remembers the letter that he learned about that day and the sound that the letter makes. I cracked up when he told me about the letter "f" and the "fffffffffffffpphhhhh" sound that the letter "f" makes. :) He has a darling class and I love his teachers, Mrs. Rogers and Mrs. Lammes. They are involving us parents a lot; we are helping the kids with simple "homework" tasks but I love it because I know exactly what they are doing and Walker and I have fun doing it together. All in all, if you can take away the giant fit he throws when we drop him off in his classroom, I am so happy with how Walker's school year has started. :)

Walker H. (there is also a Walker M. in his class), when asked "What do you like to do with your family?" answered that he "likes to play trains with mommy." No surprise there. :)

And his self portrait! I think it's pretty good! :)

This is a picture Walker's teachers forwarded onto me. It was taken at 9:38 a.m., and drop-off was at 9:00 a.m. He was a bawling, screaming mess at that time, and I'm so grateful that he was like this 30 minutes later. It just shows that he can pitch a really, really good fit. :)

***

And onto Lainey...she is LOVING Kindergarten. She's having a ball, loving everything and everyone, and her teacher is just amazing. And whatever her teacher says goes. Whenever I tell her something about school, she'll ask, "Did Mrs. Molnar say to do that?" or "Is that okay with Mrs. Molnar?" So Mrs. Molnar rocks. Plain and simple! 

More Kindergarten funnies:

• "You can’t say anything to me or come over to my table." (Lainey, Sept 18, the day I was coming to volunteer in the cafeteria.)
• Her school has a "Watch Dogs" program to involve the fathers in the everyday happenings at the school. The teachers talked to the kids about it, so Lainey came home all excited about taking her dad to this meeting so that they could "watch dogs." I told her that her dad had a city council thing and couldn’t go to the Watch Dogs meeting, and Lainey got so upset and frustrated because she wanted to go up to school and watch the dogs with her dad. Makes me almost cry thinking about it. I sometimes forget how innocent she still is!
• "Kids with dark skin have cool names." - Lainey
• Favorite friends in class: Faith
• Plays with Ainsley, Berkley, Faith, Hannah, Mrs. Molnar's son Jacob, Philip, Gage, Simona, and sometimes Suraj at recess. And some other kids. She seems to play with a variety of people. They play a lot of hide-and-go-seek and chase. 
• She has been doing “inventive” spelling – trying to spell words – and it's hilarious. She's also constantly coloring and drawing. She's eager to do the "optional" homework for Kindergarten, and she likes to play school with her dollies. For some reason, she’s much more agreeable and pleasant to be around…she's quick to do the right thing, rarely argues with me or talks back to me, and has started doing things the first time I ask. I think Kindergarten is agreeing with her. :) She's this sweet little friend whom I MISS during the day.
• She talks often about science and math. She got to taste bitter, sweet, salty, and sour things at school, and she thought that was neat.
• One afternoon, she told me that she and Faith played on the floor in the bathroom and crawled under the stalls during specials. Her friend Chloe’s "friend" was doing it, so she and Faith did it…so I went on to explain that Lainey didn’t always need to do what other friends were doing and that she should still do the right thing. To that, she responded, “But she’s not my friend, she’s Chloe’s.” Well, same thing, girlie. :)  So the next day, I guess the girls did it again, and Lainey didn’t participate. She said that her mommy told her not to. Good girl! :) 
• One day I forgot to pack a snack for Lainey and even took one up to her…but she refused it. She wanted the one that Mrs. Molnar was going to give her. :)

And she's been working on this move for dance. It's hard! I think that she thinks that all the older girls at the studio are celebrities. She'll say things like, "Mom. Olivia is in there [a studio]. And she knows Kaylin." She is just in awe of these older girls and their abilities. Her favorites are JJ, Olivia, Kaylin, and Maggie. Thankfully, these girls are sweet and will give her a hug if she stands next to them long enough. :) Ha!

A few of other funny Lainey-isms:

• She says words clearly with lots of syllables (well, most words) like but-tons, fam-i-ly, hurt-ed and she's very good with her ballet terminology. Thankfully she teaches me different moves and terms because I have no idea what she's talking about most of the time. ;)
• She also says "in the night" instead of "during the night." So, when her nose is stuffy, she uses a lot of tissues "in the night."
• She does NOT like "ouchy rubber bands" but sadly those are the ones that hold her hair best. So...we don't use them all the time, but I have to use them sometimes. 

LOVE these sweet kids. They are growing by the minute. I'm glad that school has gotten off to a good start for both of them (well, besides drop-off for Walker) and that they have wonderful teachers. I'm so grateful!

Sunday Fun

Walker played Marbles with Bud...

...while Lainey and I went to see my former student, Caroline, in Tarzan performed by the Plano Children's Theater. We were so happy that we ran into one of Lainey's good preschool buddies, Emerson, and her mom Meredith. We loved watching Caroline perform and even got a backstage tour after the play was all done! It was so fun for the girls! :) The funniest part of the play was when Tarzan went in to "kiss" Jane...Emerson said, quite loudly, "What is he doing to her!?" That made quite a few of us giggle! :)

Saturday Fun

This is Lainey jumping into the pool at Keegan's 6th birthday party! Can't believe that little bug is 6 years old. We had so much fun celebrating with y'all!

And this is Walker at about 6:45 p.m. He fell asleep on the couch at about 6:15 or 6:30...and would NOT wake up (I tried everything...lights on, TV on, lights off, TV off, fan on, fan off, water on his face/legs/arms, the Thomas and Friends theme song in his ear, my exercise video blaring in the background, transfer from couch to bed...this boy was OUT. And you can see he grabbed Lainey's shorts from the clean laundry pile to snuggle with...I'm pretty sure he was thinking it was a blankie. ;) So, after a very sleepy trip to the potty with unbrushed teeth, no dinner, and traces of sunscreen still on his face, I tucked him in bed and he slept till 8:30 a.m. Seriously. Kinda a miracle. It was a very pleasant 14 hours!! :)

Coal Dust and Misunderstood Lyrics

These two boys - Evan and Walker - spend a lot of time at the dance studio. They are there 3.5 hours a week with their sisters. Evan's mom, Candice, and I worked all last year trying to contain them, keep them from arguing, encourage them to share, corral their toys so no one gets hurt, and keep them quiet and content. Well, this year, the boys have discovered the "sand box" (i.e. flower bed) at the studio. And, while I tried to fight it for two weeks, I came to the realization that I just don't care. The boys are SO happy playing in the "coal dust" and they run their trains and cars and construction vehicles back and forth, back and forth. They play happily the entire time (well, almost the entire time, until the wind blows the coal dust into someone's eyes) and they are out of everyone's way and no one is tripping over  their toys. And, for once, I can actually take little breaks to go watch Lainey dance. We bring a broom to clean up the mess when it's time to leave, the area is shaded due to the time of day that we're there, so all in all...besides the fact that the boys get FILTHY, and that they literally have dirt coming out of their eyes, and I may have heard rumors that one of the instructor's dogs pees in there...it's a good deal. Boys being boys. 

And, funny sidebar...see that fire department connection on the wall behind them? I remember once, when Lainey was younger, she asked what that was. I didn't really know what to call it so I didn't exactly know how to explain it to her. She said it looked like "pants." Well, I agree... it kinda does. :)

And lastly, this is just a funny Lainey story. As I've mentioned, Lainey dances all the time...constantly performing in our dining room, practicing moves and combinations she's seen on the studio's recital videos, trying to imitate and do what the big girls do. In one of the performances from the recital, the girls dance to a song called "All for the Best" from the musical Godspell.

Here are the lyrics to one part of the song:

"...All of this and we get the rest... 
But who is the land for? 
The sun and the sand for? 
You guessed! It's all for the BEST!"

Know how Lainey sings it? 

Substitute the word "whore" for "for." So she's singing about whores. I heard her doing this the other day...just singing along, playing with her Play-Doh...you know, just a happy five-year-old girl singing about whores. The teacher in me is terrified that this has happened at school. Songs get stuck in everyone's head, and sometimes you just start singing them at the most random times. I just don't know if I need Lainey to sing about whores to her kindergarten class. :-/

Reagan and Lainey

This photo says it all. Lainey, kissing Reagan on the head...while Reagan plans her escape.

Lainey will hold Reagan on the couch and then hold her up every once in a while and say, in a very high-pitched little sing-song voice, "Reagan? You wanna see Mama? Ok, Girl. There she is. There's Mama. It's okay, Girl." (And I have to hurry over to say hi to Reagan before she gets taken hostage again.)

Bath Time with Thomas

Silly, cute boy in the bathtub. Before Walker gets in the tub, I always ask him, "Walker? Do you need to go potty?" And his answer is (almost) always "no." Then I'll say, "Are you sure?" And he'll reply with "no" again...clearly having no idea what I mean by those words. :) Now, if his sister needs to go potty before getting in the bathtub, he'll argue with her about who gets to go first because suddenly he needs to go "so so bad." :)

And of course, we have Thomas with us. As I've mentioned before, he's very particular about the Thomases he likes. He always refers to his favorites as "other Thomas" - either "big" or "small" - they are the Thomases that are the most loved. The one he has in this picture is actually the "other Thomas" that his friend Brayden let him borrow (for keeps). It's the only "big Thomas" that he plays with now. This "big Thomas" doesn't have any stickers on his sides anymore and doesn't run on batteries because he's been in the water too often and, well, he's just been loved. A lot. Walker's "small Thomas" has lost almost all of his black paint and lots of his blue paint and his plain wooden body is visible in many, many places. That train has stuck with Walker for a long, long time. So, while the boy has about ten "small Thomas" trains and two "big Thomas" trains, he specifically requests "other Thomas" - either "big" or "small" - and thankfully I know exactly which one he wants. 

Ever since Brayden let Walker "borrow" Thomas, Walker has requested to "buy" (he means "borrow") things from other friends' houses. This doesn't go over so well with other kids, and it's hard trying to explain that my son is throwing a fit because he can't take a toy from someone's house. :-/

At one point I let out some of the water in the tub, and Walker cupped his hand to his ear and said, "Who burpin'?" :)

My favorite picture of the cutie pie. He's a stinker; don't let that smile fool you. :) He tried to convince me at the store the other day that the wording on the front of a Hot Wheels package said, "Take this toy home to your house today." Um, I don't think so. Good try, Buddy. He said that the cars go "super duper super duper super super super duper super duper super duper super super super duper fast." (And yes, about halfway through I start to wonder how many "supers" and "dupers" he's gonna throw in there. It's always a lot!)

First Day for Walker

Walker's first day of preschool was today. And, while I think he had a good day overall, he certainly went in there kicking and screaming. Literally. He was a bit under the weather on Wednesday, so we didn't go to school that day, so Friday became his first day. :) I hope that you learn to love going to school, Walker! You have the sweetest teachers and the BEST class. Truly! All of them are great kids!!

He insisted on sitting on his tricycle while I snapped a few photos. :)

Walker's Pictures

Walker is really getting into "coloring" on blank pieces of paper and then telling me what he colors or what the picture "says." Oftentimes it says, "I love you playing choo-choos with me" and "I love Thomas videos" or "I love Emmy and Tuck."  And no, he doesn't draw pictures or write words...he just kinda scribbles, but he scribbles with a purpose. Not surprisingly, he's very specific about what he colors and what I color and what color markers we use and how we draw on the paper. For example, I drew an elephant on his paper and he got upset. I am supposed to draw "normal things" (i.e. lines and scribbles) not "other things" (i.e. the elephant) and only he can draw "dots" and he doesn't want to have his name on the paper. (He has ZERO interest in trying to write his name. He can spell it, but ask him to try to write it or trace it...no way.) Anyway, as in all things, he's particular about the way he colors. And apparently he's "great at putting on tops" but I am not. I need to work on capping my markers and putting them away. ;)

See? Scribbling with a purpose. There were specific instructions given to me about how to color this piece of paper and what colors I needed to use.

And an example about what his picture "says."

Our Weekend in Kingwood

Ben went hunting this past weekend, so I decided to be brave and load up the kids and take them to see my cousin Kate and her husband Stefo in Kingwood! Go me! It took forever to get out of Dallas. We had traffic, an emergency potty situation that resulted in taking a bathroom break after just 45 minutes on the road, and I was already starting to answer the dreaded "Are we there yet?" question about the time we passed the exit for Dallas Love Field Airport. Really, kids? :) And then we stopped to eat in Centerville, TX, along with some cheerleaders and a ton of high school football fans. :) I had forgotten that! So dinner took about an hour...at Subway.... :) To be fair, it was a Subway/Hamburger place just off the highway, so there were two restaurants in one, but they were both equally busy and equally understaffed! Walker took a good nap on the road and Lainey fell asleep at about 8:45 p.m. when we were about 20 minutes away from Kate and Stefo's house. And I thought she would have passed out much earlier on in the trip because I know that first week of Kindergarten was exhausting. Oh well. Anyway, we left Plano at 3:30 p.m. and arrived in Kingwood at 9:00 p.m. So that was a drive. The drive home took only four hours. Much better! :)

Now onto the fun stuff...

Kate and Stefo's daughter, Lucie! (She is also Lainey and Walker's second cousin. Lucie will be 2 years old in November.)

Lucie likes using this strap as a seatbelt. :)

My kids LOVE Baby Lucie. Walker says that she says "no" a lot. And "go." When she says "no," you better listen...and when she says "go" you better run so she can chase you. :) 

Walker packed lots of choo-choos for Lucie to play with. He was certain that she "loves choo-choos" and even saw a "choo-choo train in Colorado." This was news to her mom and dad. :)

Just singin' some songs...on her little piano. Lucie has actually picked up quite a few songs. Her favorite seems to be "Skidamarink" (-a dink a dink, Skidamarink a doo...). 

She was quite intent on playing the piano. She would pound the keys and "sing" along. :)

This cutie is Lainey and Walker's other second cousin, Charli (3yrs.). Charli and Andi (her sister) came over for dinner on Saturday night. It was SO great to see them and catch up with their parents - my cousin Nate and his wife, Sara. 

Lainey and her second cousin Andi, who is 7 years old. And these two were fast friends. They both love dolls and dancing. Win-win!

Blurry dinner picture...but look at Lainey. She insisted on striking this pose.

The three girls are watching Lainey's dance recital video. Lainey and Charli are wearing matching dresses...and their dolls are wearing the same dresses, too. Gotta love American Girl! And we definitely do!

Outside time! The following night, we spent some time outside enjoying Kate and Stefo's gloriously shaded and beautiful backyard. 

Beautiful, tall trees shade their backyard that backs up onto a greenbelt. Seriously, perfect!

Lainey's leg hold. (Ouch!)

(And these pictures are about to get crummy. The light was going and I had the wrong lens on my camera...just FYI!)

Walker's face is cute. These pictures probably would have been even cuter had Walker decided to keep his shorts on. As I've mentioned before, he always seems to lose them late in the afternoon, and I never seem to force him to put them back on. Good thing Kate and Stefo are family! :)

I saved this because of Lainey's pose. She must think she looks very graceful and poised when she poses like this - looking down at the ground - because she does it often! Cracks me up. :)

She has a cute belly. :)

leaping over the ball

Blurry picture, funny face.

Walker is attempting to leap. 

He did not quite make it over the ball.

cartwheeling fool

Walker is so funny. He is obsessed right now with a new train named "Stephen" but he calls him "Steve-us." He's also gotten very into pretending to "read" his (familiar) books by making up words to match the pictures, and he always wants me to count the items on the inside covers of the books. Whenever I open a book, and there's a picture of something - like a pumpkin, a car, a train, whatever - I have to count them for him. :) A little nuts, I tell you. But I'm using it as a teaching opportunity!

You can kinda see how blue Lucie's eyes are. They are BEAUTIFUL. Just like her mama's. Crystal clear blue eyes. And did I mention that my cousin Kate is having another baby!? I'm so excited. I can't wait to meet him or her!

A series of blurry leaps... Seriously, her flexibility and height amaze me.

Lainey dances around the house to her music whenever she has free time. She creates her own dances or she tries to copy the performances she sees on her dance recital videos. She watches her dance recital videos constantly (when given the choice) and she seems particularly drawn to the older girls' ballet performances. She then memorizes the choreography and "practices" it repeatedly. It's a sight, for sure. And it's definitely a daily occurrence...it's like she can't go to bed without having spent some time dancing. :) She loves the area in front of our front door. It's spacious and she can do anything there except tap. Those tap shoes don't do well on hardwood floors. :)

Overall, our weekend in Kingwood was perfect. It was relaxing, there was no schedule, and we did a lot of eating. After lunch on both Saturday and Sunday, the kids and I climbed into bed and while they watched a show (and eventually fell asleep), I took a nap. It was so nice. It was a relaxing, lazy weekend and we just spent the time enjoying one another's company. Thank you for being such wonderful hostesses, Kate and Stefo!! We love you!