Beauty School Dropout

The children share a bathroom so inevitably Will witnesses Avery getting her hair done quite often.  Obviously a lot more goes into fixing Avery's hair than Will's, so I think it is natural for him to be curious about all that is going on.

The other day I was fixing her hair and he asked if he could put the bow in it. I wasn't quite done, but told him "sure" and that I would call him when she was ready for the bow.

He comes back wearing his Captain America mask, saying he needed to be protected in case anything sprayed into his face.

Now, exactly how many and what type of hair products does he think she uses at 3 years old??!?!?

DSW with the Diva

It has been a while since I have taken Avery to DSW with me.  I believe our last trip went something like this….she grabbing a pair of gold lame 4 inch high heels off the clearance rack and then SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER when I took them from her, all while wrestling to get out of her stroller. We were getting a lot of disapproving looks, especially since I was laughing my head off the whole time because I knew the (absurd) reason behind her temper tantrum.

But I decided to be brave last week. I had received a gift card for my birthday and had a few rewards certificates that were expiring soon.

I should insert here that just the day before our shopping trip, I was telling my teammates at work about her tantrum and the gold lame shoe.

So we waltz in the store, and the girl makes a bee line for the sparkle. I mean, we have been in the store all of 5 seconds and look what she has picked up! 

While I was texting the picture to a friend and Matt, I look over and she is trying on a pair!!

I was just dying a laughing. I was basically just following her around the store, picking up her discarded shoes!  Every, and I mean EVERY, pair she touched either sparkled or had bling.  She was so “grown up” with her comments too.  “Mommy, have you tried this beautiful pair on yet?”  “Ohhhhh, Mommy, look at how sparkly these are?”   “Oh, I HAVE to try these on, Mommy. Help me stand up in them.” 

She specifically asked me to send a picture of these to my friend “Miss Melissa”.

This last picture I sent to her godmother and said something like “Your goddaughter is having the time of her life in DSW.” To which I followed up with a statement about how hopefully her life didn’t include being a stripper!!

We left with just a boring pair of brown wedge sandals for me. I think the Diva was highly disappointed in our purchase.

And yes, those are Cajun Shrimp toes! Just like her momma!!

First Week Recap

Before we get the 2^nd week under our belts, I better hurry up and recap Will’s first week of kindergarten!

In a nutshell, he did great and he loves it!! As in jumps out the car in the mornings and runs into school. But not without this cute little excited wave good-bye that he remembers to do about halfway up the sidewalk.  I am beyond thrilled that he enjoys it.

He also loves the after-school program with the Y….probably even loves that more than school. Ha!

A few things to remember about his first week of school:

-He loves to be surprised by what I pack for his lunch and snacks. Doesn’t want me to tell him about them before hand.

-He is learning to spell and read every day and loves to show off his skills at night

-They made a special snack the first week….a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree. Yours truly provided the tree trunks (aka pretzel sticks!)

-He misses Avery a lot and is yelling hello to her in the afternoons as he runs to the car. He hops in and kisses her first. Sorry for the hold up, car pool lane!!  I may get a hello from him if I'm lucky!

-They use the green/yellow/red stop light system for behavior. Being the true Wolfpacker that he is, it took a little convincing that in this instance, we really DON’T want to be red!!!

His teacher has a great website that she updates frequently, which is just wonderful for someone like me who sits in front of a computer all day long.  I already know some topics to talk to him about in the afternoon instead of just the generic “how was school?” question.   I can sign up for things the class needs for special snacks, etc….

Surprisingly he is the only Will in his class. Between Sunday School and pre-school, there have always been multiple Will’s!

Me, I’m adjusting….I seem to finally be getting in a routine of getting lunch and snacks packed and getting all the nightly paperwork reviewed, initialed, etc….  He doesn’t have official homework yet, but his teacher, via her wonderful website, still lists some things to work on during the week at night. I’m still trying to figure out how to best squeeze those in at night but luckily so far he pretty much already knows how to do everything she has suggested. So I don’t feel so guilty about not doing it!!!!

Avery is adjusting too. She actually has done better at school without him that I thought she would because they did see each other a lot during the day. She really wants all the new stuff though. Like the backpack and lunch bags, etc... 

We’re over a week into this already….before I know it he will be going to college!

Wordless Wednesday

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

I got the hare-brained scheme a few weeks ago to take a day off before Will started school and do something fun with him. Well, I should say it didn’t start out hare-brained….it started out simple, like a trip to the movies or something. Before too long it had morphed into a surprise day trip to Kings Dominion. Just the two of us.

I was so excited the night before I could barely sleep!  I got up really early and made us some breakfast, sandwiches and a cooler of drinks. When I couldn’t stand it anymore, I went and got him out of bed, put him in some clothes and loaded him in the car.  He was confused and sleepy but very pleasant. He knew I was taking some time off that week to be with him. And he also knew we had to run some errands one of those days. In fact, he told Matt that morning that he and I were going to the grocery store.

We headed north and about the time we crossed into Virginia, I was getting tired of the questions. So I finally spilled the beans. Thankfully a good friend had gone just a few weeks before and I was able to snag a park map/brochure from her to give him as a gift. This was key because he had no idea what Kings Dominion was but he could see all the coasters and rides on the brochure and was excited beyond belief.

He told me he had heard of Kings Dominion before but he thought it was a restaurant!!

Another funny tidbit of the day was him telling everyone that I had gotten him up way too early (3 mins earlier than normal, for the record) and that his brain didn't work well when he was woken up early and that he had to think really hard on those days. Ha!

Welcome love from Snoopy!

Telling Dad where we are....

Officially 48 inches! Big enough for a good portion of the rides!

We rode the Eiffel Tower first thing while we were waiting for the "real" rides to open.

We were very lucky in that the park wasn't crowded that day. As in we had 7 coaster rides under our belt in the first 35 minutes. Vomit. In fact, one of the coasters is called The Hurler.  This was my text to Matt:

After the 7 coaster rides, we rode a swing ride and after that I couldn't walk straight. Told Will we needed to sit down for a little bit!!!

We then hit the log flume and white water rapids ride (Will got SOAKED!)!!

A few rides in kiddie land....

Then it was off to his first inverted coaster ever. Man was I nervous about him falling out or hating it but he LOVED it! He wanted to ride it again but by this point it was close to 2PM and we hadn't eaten yet (b/c I didn't want anyone to hurl!!!) so it was time to eat. We did a few more tame rides after lunch and then hit the water park.

Needless to say, the water park made me extremely nervous. I never have been a huge water slide fan. Sure, the tame ones I like but not the crazy ones. The first one we rode was called the Tornado and involved me lugging a 6 ft, at least, tall intertube up the stairs by myself. Well, poor Will pushed it from behind best he could. By the time we got to the top, I was panting and I thought the muscles in my arm were going to burst. I hated that ride!!! And of course I went down in backwards!!  In fact, I saw it on some show on the Travel Channel last night called "Most Extreme Water Parks!"

We did a few more water slides...thankfully we stayed clear of the lazy river because there was a snake in it while we there!!!!  Not too lazy, huh?!?!?!

We headed home a little after 4 and made great time on the way home. Made it home in time to visit with Avery before bed time.

We had a great time but man, did Will miss Avery. He talked about her constantly and even cried once when  purple 18 wheeler passed us on the interstate because he knew Avery would love to see a purple truck.  Bless his heart!

Skool is Kool!

Well we did it. Will survived his first day of kindergarten. In even bigger news, I survived his first day of kindergarten!!! 

While I did have to wake him up that morning, he was up and dressed by 6:45, ready to go! I had taken a few hours of vacation that morning so I could go with Matt to drop him off. So we all got ready and posed for some pictures.  

Then we all took Sissy to school. Will was like a celebrity in the halls of HMCS that morning. All the teachers were coming out to give him high fives and hugs while wishing him the best of luck for a great first day.

Off we head to head to elementary school. I am feeling very overwhelmed at this point but I am happy to report that I never did actually break down and cry. That day. I did in the days leading up to it and I have a little today!!

On the first day, you actually get to walk the children to their classroom, so I was happy to oblige!! Will was being super cooperative posing for pictures!

These pics of him walking down the hallway were almost too much for me to handle. His NCSU backpack looks almost like it is too much for him to handle!  But he did absolutely great. Never had a moment of anxiety or anything. 

While we were hanging out in his classroom, our good friends/neighbors (who are first graders) walked by his window and said good morning to him.  What a great way to start the day!!

He was pretty tired when I picked him up that afternoon. This kid does love to sleep and adjusting to no nap is probably going to be his biggest issue at first.

Kindergarten Eve

Dear Will-

In less than 12 hours, your Dad and I will be walking you down the hallway of elementary school to your kindergarten classroom.  I keep asking myself how this is even possible. Where have the last 5 years, 10 months and 4 days (I think this is right) gone?

I remember what I had on to wear to work the day I decided, as I was walking into the garage, that something just didn't feel right and I would work from home that day. You were born about 15 hours later. I remember watching Boise State play football on their trademark blue field that night in the hospital. I remember that the "going home" outfit I had bought for you didn't fit and you had to wear just a NCSU onesie home from the hospital.  Ironically, it is the perfect match to your NCSU backpack and pencils you will be sporting tomorrow.

I am so immensely proud of you and at the same time, a little scared of just how freaky smart you are. You are way smarter than me. You are so loving, caring and gentle, especially around younger children. Your sheer and pure love for Avery warms my heart on a daily basis and makes me feel like I have done something right as a parent.

You are also full of energy and to quote your Sunday School teacher, "enthusiastic".   From the moment your eyes open in the morning until the moment they shut at night. No wonder you are such a deep, deep sleeper.

I am weepy tonight....have been all day. It has been an emotionally draining week on me at work and the thought of you growing up is more than I can stand. Truth be told, I feel like going up to your room, getting you out of bed and sitting on your head. You know, to make you stop growing.

So while you probably already know this on some level, some day you will be able to put a name to my "condition"....you know, total Type A, OCD control freak.  My coping mechanism to deal with you growing up is to obsess over packing your lunch. I've been searching the web for ideas on fun foods, buying all sorts of storage contraptions for your lunch box, I've got a list detailed out for tomorrow on what I need to do and pack, etc..... 

As with most things I obsess over, God will quickly remind me that he is the one in control and it will just be a matter of days before I forget to send your lunch or leave out some major component of it. All of this will happen before we get your lunch account set up at school, I'm sure, causing your teacher to have to pony up the $2 needed to feed you in the cafeteria.

Good luck tomorrow, Bubby. I know you will wow the teachers with your charisma in no time.  Or the opposite. Whatever, Mommy and Daddy are behind you.

PS-You going to kindergarten makes me feel old. Just sayin'.......

Last Day of Preschool

With kindergarten fast approaching, a week of Vacation Bible School and a week of “summer camp”, it was time for Will to say good-bye to pre-school. He has been at this school since he was just shy of 5 months old. While there have definitely been some “moments” overall we have been extremely pleased with our experience there.  It’s funny…I remember what he wore his very first day….my how he has changed.

Here he is with his Mrs. Michelle…..this is their 3^rd classroom together and they love each other!

We hosted a little “party” in his classroom on his last day. He didn’t want to do cupcakes but instead wanted to do yogurt popsicles. Boy, they were messy!!!

Of course Sissy came too! She doesn’t miss a good party!

I think he’ll have a few classmates at his elementary school but I don’t think any will be in his classroom.  I can’t wait to meet all his new friends!

Whoa, Nellie!

Whoa, Nellie!

The children went to a birthday party a few weeks ago with a pony ride. This was a first for both of them and neither were scared at all. In fact, the handler even had Will doing a “no hands” pose. 

Thankfully no one has asked for a pet horse yet!