My sweet little angel.

Will Tonight

So tonight was one of those nights where we had so much to do.  I have my last nut show of the year this weekend and I'm leaving tomorrow.  Unfortunately these evenings often lead to frustration. For example the downstairs was a mess so I had the boys clean up toys. It was one excuse after a tattle after a distraction and took forever.  So frustrating.  After that I went upstairs to sift the cat litter which is also super fun. I'm right in the middle when Will starts calling for me.  I knew it was going to be "Dane ...fill in the blank...". (We are working on tattling right now.)  But instead he said "after you're finished doing that do you want to go out on the back deck and look at the beautiful stars?"  Oh talk about changing the tone. What a sweet boy. So we all went out and were looking at the moon- the stars were mostly covered by clouds. At one point we saw a few stars and then this boy says: "God's just starting to get out the stars."  No words I could write would do this sweetness justice. Love him so much!!

Choo Choo

My cousin Carol had a wooden train made for me by Glen Gadrim when I was a baby.  My mom kept it and handed it down to my boys.  I have it on the plant shelf, but recently took it down for them to play with.  Talk about good craftsmanship!  It's still in great condition and the boys had a great time playing with it.  All the cars come apart, "logs" come off, etc. 

Toenail

My poor toenail.  Just when I thought it had healed (about a week and a half after the first injury), I kicked it back up again and the whole toenail lifted up.  I had to go to a podiatrist who removed it completely.  My goodness that was a sickening injury.  This has been my latest in my toe fashions.  Thank goodness flip flop season is almost over!  Turns out it takes a year for it to grow all the way back in.  That was about a month ago and no sign of one yet...

Zoo Trip

We took a trip to the zoo late this summer with my friend Paula and her daughter Avah and their new baby Macy.  Will and Avah have been going to the same babysitter 2 days a week since Will was 9 months old.  And for a couple of years it was just the two of them.  So he and Avah are pretty tight.   

They have a new display, a bird "room", where you can go in, purchase bird food and feed the birds.  It's really neat - they are sticks with bird food stuck to the end so the birds sit on the stick to eat the food.  People had birds landing on them, looking for food, nibbling on their ears, etc.  Fortunately we made it out with no poop and nobody scarred for life by the possibilities of what could have happened in there.  It was really fun!  

 Avah switched to a full time preschool, so she doesn't go to Chas' anymore, but they're still great friends. Now it's just Will, Dane and Macy (Avah's little sister) at Chas'.

I received some thoughtful and great gifts for my birthday but I think my favorite is this card from Will. He wrote this himself- with a little help from my mom. Its hard to beat your child learning to write... especially writing "mommy" and "love Will".  Plus the fact that he apparently carried it for hours, so excited to give it to me.  And he's told me 5 times that octopus is me, because it's carrying a present.  
Oh. Sweet boy.

 

The other day we were in the car and I looked back and saw this. 

My sweet baby.. having a picnic. 

 Before Luke's and my wedding my mom and I talked with Luke and his dad about the possibility of a branch in this massive tree falling during the ceremony.  There was a very large dead branch stuck up in the top of it.  Haha they had said, it's been there for years! No worries.  Well, there were no worries that day, thank goodness.  But a branch in our beloved tree has fallen.  It must have happened since we've had some rain after the long drought this summer.  It just snapped and is still connected to the tree, but also lying on the ground now.  Not sure what's going to happen with it.  :( 

Pinterest Project - Easel

Luke had this art easel from his childhood that we had intended to make into a painting station for the boys but it just wasn't set up well for that.  So after it sat around for a year, we finally decided to get some chalkboard paint and make it into a chalkboard.  They absolutely love it!

 

Pre-Kindergarten

Will was so excited to get back to school.  His teacher from pre-school moved away over the summer, and the assistant teacher has moved into the main teaching position.  We liked his old teacher, but we are so excited about this change - we LOVE the new teacher.  Mrs. Lester has a sweet spot for Will and a passion for teaching preschoolers.  He picked out his new backpack and got some brand new (tie!) "fast shoes" for this new school year.

Of course brother wanted to take his backpack along as well...so he packed his blankie and sippy cup for the day at Chas'.  Each year brings along new schedule changes.  This year they go to their babysitter's house on Mondays and Wednesdays while I work (I drop off Dane there, Will at school, then head to work)  Chas picks him up - which has been a difficult adjustment for me since I feel like I'm really a "stay-at-home mom" and should do those things myself. I miss seeing him run to me, excited about his day.  Hearing what he did, even though it's usually "nothing" or "I can't remember". :)  We have Tuesdays "off" and usually do a play date for lunch.  Thursdays I work in the afternoon, so Presli comes to watch the boys at our house.  Then on Fridays I take Will to school and pick him up.  Next year will change again...and a big change it will be....

Sweet Bedtime

I haven't been posting like I usually do and I even took a whole week off of the computer last week.  Didn't even get on it when I was home - plus we've been really busy lately getting into our new school/work routine.  I decided to set aside last night to do a few posts and catch up a little.  Of course I fought with our computer all night and then our internet.  Things seem to be working now so I'll  try again.

I worked another show this past weekend.  I think the hardest part of doing them is being away from all my boys.  If I work all weekend, I don't see Luke for more than a couple of hours over a week and a half.  Not easy.  But it was a good show, and it was worth it.  Last night was the first night I was back home to tuck in the boys for bed after missing 4 nights.  I missed it so much - they were so sweet.  Hearing this....
Will: "Night Dane, I love you buddy."
Dane: "Night bru-er, wove you!"
...and then this......

These boys absolutely fill my heart.