smash balls

i have been running the boys all over this week so this afternoon i wanted to let them do something fun. so we made "smash balls". they are just cotton balls dipped in equal parts flour and water with some food coloring. then you bake them at a low temperature (325) for 45 minutes.

the boys dipping their cotton balls. mason liked it more than maddux but both boys didn't really like that it was messy.

our finished "smash balls"

once they were done we took them down stairs to smash. the boys were super excited but a little too gentle at first. once they got the hang of it they thought it was really fun.

mason was so cute because after smashing a few he said that we should save some for madelyn. and we did. she really enjoyed them too.

i highly recommend this activity. super easy and it was great for keeping them busy (and stationary) while i swept and cleaned up the patio. we will do these again and will definitely make them on days when we need to do yard work. love.

big week for manning too

madelyn might have started kindergarten, but manning has had a pretty big week too! besides sleeping through the night (he has for the past three nights), he has figured out how to settle down without a pacifier, suddenly likes swinging (before it would just make him mad to turn the swing on - this has been a HUGE help during dinner prep) and tonight he started sucking his thumb (he has been working on that fist trying to get it free for at least two weeks) and he just did his first giggling! love.

 

 

morning at the park

a chill was in the air as we were getting ready to take madelyn to school so everyone wore either pants or long sleeves.  it gets me excited to think about fall!  we dropped madelyn off at school (read: we unloaded everyone from the car and walked her into the lobby every day this week) and then i took the boys to the park for a walk and some playing while it was nice a cool out.

while i miss having madelyn with us all day, it is nice to hear what the boys think and notice when we walk around.  they are so used to madelyn taking the lead that they happily go along - most of the time.  maddux has been in a phase of always wanting to hold my hand and mason will usually hold madelyn's (like when we walk into school) but without her he was feeling a little lost.  after getting upset that he couldn't hold my hand (my other hand was pushing the stroller), he told me (sadly) that madelyn holds his hand.  after some thought he told me that "you only have two hands, not four".  and somehow that made it okay with him that i couldn't hold his hand.  he really is a big sweety and so understanding when things aren't fair or aren't as he would like them to be.  such a blessing. love.

kindergarten: post-game

we (she) did it! she is now an o-fish-al kindergartener!  the boys and i ran errands all morning and went to the 'playland' in the afternoon until we had to go pick her back up from school. what was the first thing out of her mouth about the day? (aside from "hi, mom") "i got my school supplies today!  i got scissors and a glue stick and crayons!"

so i told her to get into her seat so that other kids could get picked up (we were in the car line since i had three sleeping boys in the van)!  once she got all settled and buckled, she told me about her day.  it sounds like it was a great one too.  besides the school supplies (the school provides them instead of everyone buying their own you have to write them a check), she had music class, recess twice, lunch, book time and did some coloring and gluing.

she is already looking forward to music class next week when she can actually play and instrument (or so she was told).  she said that recess was fun.  i asked if she played with other kids and she said, "yes, but they didn't know that i was playing with them". 

she didn't get to eat most of her lunch at school so she had it for snack when we got home.  it sounds like lunch was pretty exciting too and she was already telling me how to make her lunch better for tomorrow  (she didn't like that her frozen yogurt stick had melted and was "just yogurt").

after reading a friend's blog saying that her daughter was tired of talking about her day by the time her dad got home, i decided that we should try to call matt while she was still excited.  that worked out well and he got to hear some of the stories she had told me.  and then we called nana who she was able to talk with quite a while.  i asked if she would talk to grandma now but she was starting to get tired of talking about it and asked if she could just tell her a few things.  it worked out that grandma didn't answer.

to complete her 'special day', i made one of her favorite dinners - "snack dinner".  i basically make a bunch of finger foods and lay it out on the table so that they can help themselves.  i like it because it is easy and requires little prep or clean-up.  they like it because it is "fun".

just to milk her 'special day' a little more, madelyn asked if she could have a donut "since it is my special day".  we agreed that she could.

i don't think she could have had a more perfect first day of school.  can't wait to see what tomorrow holds!  love.

kindergarten: pre-game

madelyn was the last to wake up this morning - around 7:30.  we hadn't told her that daddy was going to take her to school too so he said his good-byes and went to pick up some donuts for her special first day of school breakfast.  i thought picking them up would be easier than taking everyone to a restaurant before school.

madelyn was so excited that she wanted to dress up for breakfast and a hat was right next to her bed.  she had banana and yogurt before the donut - we didn't want to totally sugar her up and then send her to school!

now madelyn was very excited to get dressed.  she has been counting down the days until she could wear her peacock shirt we picked up while school shopping.  remember i mentioned that she had been hugging it in the store because she loved it so much?  what she loved was the beading!  she loves all of the colors and sparkles.  we even found this gemstone flower headband that matched with its blues and purples.  she did have some dark pink knee high socks to wear too but decided that another pair (that didn't match at all) "feel better" on her feet (although she didn't even try the knee highs on...).

so excited for the first day



one of many, many poses



loving the bead work on her shirt

last night madelyn told me that she wanted to have time to take a lot of pictures and i thought that we were taking a lot of pictures.  but apparently, it wasn't enough for madelyn so she took over for a while to photograph herself.

 when she had enough pictures (for now), she came to see what i was going to wear.  i was in the process of picking a shirt for my shorts and madelyn commented that she really preferred dresses and thought that my striped dress was very nice (not subtle at all).  so i put on a dress just for her.  and then she wanted pictures with her brothers who were going to miss their big kindergarten sister.





mason wasn't really in the mood for pictures but we got him in a few

and then madelyn thought that it would be nice to have a picture of the "big kindergartner" with her brothers and her mommy and daddy.  so we found a way to angle the camera from the mantle (it took a few trial and error shots to get to this one).  i am glad that she insisted.

now we were ready to go.  i loaded up her lunchbox, explained what was for snack and what was for lunch, double-checked that she had everything she needed and agreed that she could put her backpack on.

the ride to school

out front

love the 'i'm in charge' attitude in this picture

wearing her name tag that she has to wear for the first two weeks.  it has her name, color family and bus number on it.

this picture is a reenactment of daddy's palm kiss after mine which cracked up the staff standing nearby.  i said, "yes, i am that mother."  they assured me that i wasn't alone.

we could only take her as far as the front lobby.  a staff person checked to make sure she knew where she was going.

and then she was gone down the hallway... (the pink backback on the right) 

i did tear up on the ride over and almost full blown cried on the way back to the car.  it was mainly emotion about not being able to protect her any more.  but i am certain that she will do great!
i am so proud of her for having no fear on the first day.  she was so excited and we were all excited for her.  i am sure she is going to have a great day.  in fact, i got an email from the principal letting us know how the first day of kindergarten was going which i thought was really fantastic!  i am really looking forward to the school year.  we love our big girl.  love.

through the night

manning slept until 7am! it was so delightful to feel relatively rested when maddux stormed our room at 6:45am - which was late for him. this was the first night since at least manning being born that one (or more) of the boys hasn't woken up during the night.

it was a great way to start the day and i didn't want manning's milestone to get lost in my post about madelyn's first day of school. love.

last day before school

madelyn was super excited that today was her last day before kindergarten.  she wanted to go somewhere "super special" to celebrate but i was feeling like having more of a home day. 

madelyn put on her 'rock star' gear - sunglasses, a toy microphone and a paper guitar she made at vbs.  we had all been jamming to some "God music" around the house and madelyn felt inspired.

she and maddux are the camera kids - they generally love to have their picture taken and will ask me to go get the camera if there is something they are doing that they would like to see later.  madelyn will even request that i make a movie.

after lunch i took them up to the 'playland' at the church up the road.  madelyn thought that this qualified as "super special" and was thrilled.  the kids stayed together the whole time with madelyn acting as their leader, mother, support system inside the tunnels.  they played together for two hours and never split up.  the dynamic should be interesting when madelyn is gone so much of the week.

waving to mommy

 i was trying to take their picture on the colorful "bumpy slide" but they were having too much fun to hold still - at least mason was.

his shorts got pulled up while sliding down.

action shot

and madelyn wanted me to take a video to share with daddy later.

we had a fun, relaxing day.  not sure why i rarely think to take the kids to 'playland' since it is free and about a mile from the house, but was glad i did today.  i am sure we will see much more of it this winter.  love.

so excited, can't sleep

this little girl is so excited that she can't seem to go to sleep!  she is so cute.  she keeps coming out to tell me how excited she is and that she loves us.  she also told me to make sure that we aren't late so that we can take lots and lots of pictures.

i made her lunch and had to control myself with putting too many 'treats' in for the first day ('treats' mean strawberry milk, dried fruit, yogurt - her favorites).  i need to pace myself...  but i did cut her sandwich her current favorite way - finger sandwiches.  she was playing tea a few weeks ago and i told her that we could make 'finger sandwiches' for lunch.  i was thinking cucumbers and cream cheese (something she enjoys as a snack), but this is what we ended up with and it has been her preference ever since.

hopefully, i will sleep tonight!  i think i am just as excited as she is!  i am emotional too.  it is less about "my baby growing up" because i haven't considered her a 'baby' since she first started walking, but more about me not being able to protect her any more.  i can't filter the kinds of people she is around or what she is exposed to on a daily basis.  i told matt that this is when the real parenting begins (or maybe it is really a test of how our early parenting is going to pan out...).  i know that she will be fine (i was a girl in school once myself) but i feel that kids (especially girls) have to grow up so much faster than they used to (don't i sound like i am a hundred?).

i know that she is going to be fine and that she is going to love going to school.  i can't wait to see what she likes and where her interests develop!  tomorrow is the start.  i can't wait! love.

easier with four

someone asked me if having four was easier than three. i wouldn't say "easier" but the transition was easier. so here is my theory why...

the first one is the first time your sleep is interrupted. but you can generally sneak in a nap or two when you need to.

with two there isn't always napping at the same time so you are much more tired.

by three you are used to being tired.

and at four you have forgotten what being well rested even feels like. tired is the new normal. i don't even consider it 'tired' anymore.

and with that - i should be getting to bed! love.

moving up - literally

we weren't sure when madely would move up to the kindergarten class at church - apparently today was the day! when we printed out the name badges, hers had a different room number. matt went to drop off mason and maddux and i took madelyn to find her new room. and it was upstairs!

madelyn was so excited and kept saying "i really always wanted to go upstairs!" when she wants to share news with those around her, she will repeat it over and over again in a sugary, happy tone. and that is what she did the whole way through the church and would say "i can't believe i am five and get to go with the big kids upstairs! i always wanted to go upstairs!" so silly.

the kindergarten 'class' is really like a church service with k, 1st and 2nd graders. she had a great time, or at least she did until it was time to get a 'thankful' notebook to take home and write what she was thankful for in it. she wanted a pink glitter one and all they had left were purple ones. I don't think it helped that the little girl helping to pass them out was flaunting the pink one in her hand as "the last one and you can't have it" over and over. so madelyn started to cry because she "doesn't like purple".

we had a nice chat about contentment on the way to the car. love.

 

fall soccer

and our soccer girl is at it again! she is playing on the same field, but now she is in the kindergarten league.  she was a little whiny about playing ("i get tired from all that running", etc.) but did really great once she remembered what to do. 

heading to the field

today was just a practice and the coach's wife actually worked with the kids because he couldn't make it.  she did a great job with them and they ended up doing a half-field scrimmage with the other team (the kids were pretty confused by this and there was lots of 'out of bounds' play.

cheer leading pyramid - quite by accident

maddux wanted more pictures

 

getting the teams ready to scrimmage

madelyn was looking pretty good out there.  she hustled.  she got up when she fell down. and she even scored a goal!  she was pretty happy about that.  it looks like we are in for a pretty fun season this fall and can't wait to see how she improves (or moves on to her next interest...).  love.