Ring Master

Elliot:  "Mom, do you remember Aunt Sam's wedding?"

M: "Yes, I do"

Elliot "Do you remember that I was the ring master?  That means I'm like in charge of the whole thing"

Noah: "Elliot, you were the ring BEARER, not the master"

Elliot" Mom, was I the ring bear?"

Elliot's first field trip

I was so excited to chaperone Elliot's very first field trip! We got to ride the school bus and went to Deanna Rose Farmstead. Elliot was nervous about the bus, but of course he loved it. I had 4 three year olds, one of which was a bit of a flight risk. I think I was almost as tired as Elliot when the day was over, but it sure was a lot of fun. We teamed up with another mom and her four kids and stayed together as a group.

Elliot's first time on a school bus!

All of the students in Miss Susan's class 

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Following the leader as we attempt to keep the "runners" with us :)

Lunch 

A buffalo that was peeing.  For a long time.  These kids were CRACKING UP!

Cute, cute, cute!

Me and my boys

I read a blog that several of my friends posted on FB recently about how mom's never get in the pictures because they don't look good enough. And it really highlighted how ridiculous that is, and of course the boys will want to look back on pictures of their parents, not just themselves. So from now on, mom and dad are going to be in more pics. Here's a few of me and my sweet boys.

They are so fresh and handsome after haircuts and a bath

Cuddled and snug watching Noah's soccer game together trying to stay warm

Noah graded Elliot's workbook pages

The other day Elliot was doing pages in his workbook and Noah decided to grade it. He wrote on several pages the sweetest things. Here are a couple of my favorites.

That is wonderful

Awesome Job Elliot

Pogo Stick Record

Noah is an old pro on the pogo stick.  Within less than one week get jumped over 1000 jumps in a row.  He wanted to set the world record.  I googled and saw another 6 year old did 1,290 jumps in a row.  Guiness Book of World Records doesn't publish by age, so their record for an adult is over 200,000 jumps in a row.  We knew he could beat 1,290 and he likes pogo'ing on Grandma Lois & Grandpa Gene's back patio because it's totally flat without cracks and bumps.

Once he got to 1,290 I told him he broke it and he kept on going..... until he hit 1,449.

The funny thing is he had been playing hard all day.  And we walked from my  mom's house to my grandparents house and he pogo'd a lot of the way there (470 in a row before he fell on an acorn or something).

Noah's excited to be the unofficial 6 year old world record holder of most consecutive pogo stick jumps in a row.  Way to go, Noah!

Sporting KC with our soccer team!

I think it was almost two years ago that the major announcement was made that KC was having a new professional soccer team:  Sporting KC.  I remember the day because it was the same day that on my run I saw a couple of guys pushing a a GIANT soccer ball down Meyer to Ward Parkway to hype up this "big announcement" coming that day.  It is memorable, because it was the same day that Paul got attacked by an owl.  I thought the name was weird and not being a big sports person, never went to a game.  I've only heard good things about the games.  Everyone loves them, the team is actually really good and the stadium is beautiful.  So, when it was Brookside Soccer Club night, we jumped on it and went with 3 other families from Noah's soccer team.  Paul ended up going to San Antonio that weekend so he missed out, but we had a blast!

I've been to Royals and Cheifs games, but the energy doesn't even compare.  Not to mention, they WON!  The kids NEVER got bored and we stayed until the end.  Elliot was really tired though and asked to go home so he could go to bed several times, but he was easily distracted.

Paul & I are going to the last regular season home game in a couple of weeks.  It's on a school night, so I just bought the two of us tickets.  It took the boys a few days to recover from that late of a night.

Dinner at the Jazz

Kid's section

Instant fans (and aspiring Sporting players)

First goal of the night!

Elliot eye update

It's been a long time since I've updated the blog on Elliot's eyes.  The last few appointments have been good.  A couple weeks ago we went and we actually found out the crossing has improved somewhat!  I thought it was worse this summer, but it has really improved in the Fall.  We think it may  have been worse in the summer because he was just tired more often (swimming all day), as his eyes do cross when he's tired.  Dr. Olitsky did discover an astigmatism, but it's not that bad yet and he doesn't need glasses.  Woot woot!

His new laser finger beamer entertained him in the dark parking garage traffic jam 

Such a good boy was a great patient and talked Dr. Olitsky's ear off

Kindergarten Stuff

Noah's portrait "My Family" (The yellow guy up top is Grandpa Rick)

"What My Family Does Together" - Go to the beach; Dad buried in the sand
I was concerned why I had a sad face.  It was because there wasn't room for me and I was falling off a cliff

This was in the Kindergarten Singles Ad 

I met Noah for lunch 

I went on their first field trip of the year, the Discovery Center 

We learned about nature and trees

This is Noah's whole Kindergarten class.  His teacher, Mrs. Pease is standing by the tree.  Mrs. Malone is the teacher assistant and on the left side.

Making their "tree" 

Noah's tree art project

Ringing in Winter?

Fall appeared to be short, as we awoke to very cold temperatures on Saturday. Only a few weeks ago we were still enduring hot temperatures, but on this morning the thermostat read 60 degrees.  Inside the house.

It was low 30's outside, so I finally acquiesced and turned the heat on in the house.  We sleep fine - we are probably the best-equipped family for enduring sub-freezing temperatures in the winter, with fleece sheets and blankets for the kids, and a down comforter for us - but actually walking around when we wake up is another matter.

Noah had been on his best behavior the past few days, so I told him we could go out for breakfast someplace in Brookside (so long as the place included hot coffee).  I tried to convince him to come with me in the car, but not surprisingly, he wanted to ride his bike.  Did I mention it was near freezing?

He told me "he didn't care that it was cold,"he didn't want gloves or a hat.  Ok, no problem. I can live with that if he can.  His intended plan was to play at the playground at Border Star Elementary first, then go to breakfast, but two blocks later we were discussing maybe going straight to Panera and getting some hot chocolate.

A few minutes later, Mandy and Elliot joined us and we finished up breakfast together.  Afterward, we went across the street to the playground to play for a little while.

A couple hours later we were at Noah's soccer game, where even he thought it was ok to wear sweats, but only after convincing him that the other kids were going to wear sweats too, and he wouldn't get made fun of.

After the game, we went to Grandma's house for lunch, and invited cousin Charlie back for a campout in the backyard.  I've been aching for a campout this year with the kids again, but we haven't been able to pin down a date.  For a temporary fix, I suggested we do it in the backyard, hoping the kids would enjoy it.  It was more successful than I imagined - the boys were overjoyed to go camping.

All the boys helped me put up the tent, and then Noah and Elliot wrestled inside while I got the fire ready.  We  cooked hot dogs over the coals, then roasted marshmallows as the temperatures dropped.  Elliot couldn't hang, and around eight o' clock decided he wanted to go to bed.  His own bed, not the tent.  Mandy took him upstairs and put him to sleep, while Noah, Charlie and I settled into our nice warm sleeping bags and went to "sleep".

Both boys corked off pretty quickly, but it was Saturday night in Kansas City, so instead of the coyotes we typically hear yelping and howling, it was instead apparently prime time for police and fire sirens and train whistles.  I actually slept well, but Noah woke up around 6:00 AM and told me he "hasn't slept the entire night."  I heard him snoring, so I know that's not technically true, but he may be getting used to tent-camping still.

We were all comfortable temperature-wise, even though it dipped somewhere between 31 and 34 degrees during the night.  The next morning, we all came inside for hot chocolate ala Mandy - milk, chocolate and a little raw sugar.

Great weekend.

Riding to breakfast in freezing weather

Swinging with Mom

Spinning at the playground

Mom and E cuddling at the soccer game.

Lots of little helpers

Brothers wrestling in the tent

Paul Bunyon?

Charlie making some kindling.

Roaring fire.

Eating popcorn, trying to stay warm.

Roasting hot dogs over the open fire

Cooking marshmallows

Frost on the tent in the morning (or "frosting" as E calls it)

Home sweet home