Summer Fun

School has let out for the summer and we have had a blast so far! WOOO HOOO! I have been meaning to blog about what we have been up to each time we have done something fun, but somehow time is getting away from me and if I don't start blogging about something soon summer will be over!

Last day of kindergarten

So school let out just before Memorial day. I had a little bit of a hard time with it. Not because my boys will be home all the time now- I am really looking forward to spending time with them! I had mixed feelings because Kindergarten was over. They are no longer little kids. They grew up right before my eyes. I went from praying to make it through the day to praying that time will SLOW DOWN now. They are so much fun!! I really do cherish every moment with them.

OK, back to the last day of school- we decided to celebrate by going out to lunch with Matt and then we went to Build-A-Bear workshop. Alex had been begging to go for awhile and so I decided now was a good time as any to go. I had no idea how involved this process was. It wasn't just a pick a teddy bear and stuff him. It was much more involved.
They had to warm this little heart they stuffed inside the bear. They "bathed" them. They dressed them. We got birth certificates. I have to admit it was kind of cool. I would have totally been into this if I was their age!
Our summer was officially off to a great start!!

Another day I took the boys to paint pottery. Each kid chose something different to paint. Zach chose to paint a mug in stripes. Josh painted a rainbow scene on a plate. And Alex chose a car box to keep his special treasures in.
It was fun. I do have to admit I had a hard time keeping my mouth shut- telling them what colors to paint where, what would look best, etc. But I did. After all- it is their art not mine!

We have been judo weekly. They are LOVING it!! Especially now that they have their uniforms.
Look out everyone- they think they are professionals now! In the picture its Josh, Alex and Zach- just in case you were wondering.

This week they have been doing tennis. I love this tennis camp that we do. We did it last year too. The coaches do a really great job teaching the kids AND making it fun!! Everyone smiles and laughs the whole time. As do I- as I get to hang out with some of my friends too!!
Alex has another wiggly tooth (number 2) and every time I look at him lately- no matter what he is doing- he has his hand in his mouth wiggling it away! :)

They also started their art classes. Zach and Josh are doing a general art class. **BRAG ALERT** I was sitting out in the hall waiting for their class to finish up and their teacher came out and told me how GIFTED they are in art!! Not that I didn't know this- they are REALLY creative. Zach tells everyone he wants to be an artist when he grows up- but it is nice to hear from an art teacher that they are gifted!!

Alex, of course, wanted NOTHING to do with that type of art- so he is taking drum lessons. Not sure that was the wisest parenting decision but he LOVES it!! That's all that matters right?

Today we went bowling. I think everyone had fun. Josh and Zach got a tad jealous that Alex got a spare and they didn't but that's ok. It's not like they will never get one themselves! They have in the past they will do it again I am sure!
As you can see we are having a blast! And this doesn't include all the playing with the neighborhood kids (or other various play dates)! Have I mentioned lately how much I love our new neighborhood? I really do. The kids get along so great and have so much fun! It's heaven!! I think this may just be the best summer yet!

Music Program

Tuesday evening was the boys music program at their school. It was really cute. Then again a room full of kindergartners singing their hearts out, how could that NOT be cute!

The program lasted about a half hour with the kids singing about 20 songs. They were all nursery rhymes. You could tell that they all worked very hard!

My kids were completely different when they were performing. Alex seemed bored by it all. He yawned a lot throughout the program.

Zach took it all very seriously. He seemed to be concentrating on making sure hand motions were to perfection.

Josh seemed to enjoy it. Not that he was totally into it, but he seemed to like it a little bit.

After the program we got a picture with their awesome teachers.
Then continued to celebrate their awesome performance by going out for ice cream!
It was the perfect way to end the night!

The Reading Begins!!!

I love reading! That is clearly not a secret! I have my masters in Reading. So it does my heart good to see my boys learn to read....and enjoy it!!!

Reading comes easy to Josh and Zach. They are now teaching stuffed animals to read. It has been heartwarming and fun to watch!

With Alex- he can do it, it just doesn't come as easy to him. He compares himself to his brothers and has the "I can't do it!" attitude. Lately, Alex started to say he doesn't like books and that he couldn't read. We even had a meltdown in a used bookstore about it and it broke my heart. I knew I needed to fix that IMMEDIATELY!! We went to Barnes and Nobel and bought a ton of books on his level and his attitude completely changed!! Whew! He is now telling EVERYONE "I can read now!" and is reading to anyone who will listen!! He has even made a few phone calls to let people know he can read. :) It's awesome!

Needless to say I am a proud mama!

100th Day of School

Today the boys celebrated the 100th day of school. It was quite exciting for all!

The boys had a homework assignment of putting 100 somethings on a t-shirt. After much discussion, Alex decided to do safety pins....

Josh did googlie eyes...

and so did Zach.

I think they turned out cute!

The boys said they did lots of fun things at school to celebrate....like having a parade through the school to show off their awesome T-shirts, doing the chicken dance for 100 seconds, making a necklace with 100 Fruit Loops, finger stamping 100 times and writing 100 words. It sounded like they had an AWESOME day!!

Holiday Program

Friday was the boys holiday program at their elementary school and I was happy to attend this awesome event!! Unfortunately, Zach was sick with a bad cough. Matt stayed home with him and I got to see Alex and Josh preform what they have been working so hard on. Grandma and Granddad were able to make it too!

Josh spotted me in the audience right away. He is in the red sweater.

Alex did not find us. That's ok though he knew we were coming. Top row- striped shirt.

They sang two songs and recited a poem. I am NOT good at filming these things. In fact, it took me a little bit to figure out how to record them at all. In my defense, I did get a new camera and just assumed I could figure it out. Which I did- just not fast enough. Anyway- enough excuses- their cuteness speaks for itself. Watch and enjoy! Oh and Alex is on the left and Josh is on the right.

Their snowman poem:

Jingle Bell Rock:

Halloween

So this post is a little overdue- but at least I am getting around to blogging about it right? :) My original plan was to blog a little bit for each event but since it's past Halloween and we are entering other blog worthy events I decided to just do one longish Halloween post.

Our Halloween celebration started Tuesday with trick or treating at Matt's work (MSI). We have done that every year since he started working there. It is great fun!! People there are SO GENEROUS!!

And the boys came home with overflowing bags of candy. We love it.

Later that week we had the school Halloween parties. Friday morning started out with my preschool class. I threw together a Halloween party using Ronna's helpful ideas. I think it went well. We had snacks, games and even did a little trick or treating. We all had fun and little kids are so cute when they dress up!!

Next came my kids parties.

Josh's class

I ended up volunteering to be Josh's lead parent to organize and throw their party. I didn't want to originally. I feel guilty about doing something like that for one kid and not the others. But Josh's class didn't have a volunteer and I didn't want him to not have a party so I volunteered. Whew. It came back to me VERY quickly why both Halloween and Valentine's day became my LEAST favorite holidays as a teacher. Too much chaos and sugar high kids for me!! WHEW! Needless to say at the end of that day I was exhausted!! Matt took pity on me and we went out to dinner and I may have had a margarita. Anyway back to Josh's party- over all I think things went well. With that said will I volunteer to do it again? Probably not. I felt like I was missing out on Zach and Alex's parties.

Before the actual class parties their school started out with an all school parade- which is always fun!! The kids all lined up to show off their costumes.

Alex was really excited because HIS class got to be the LEADER!! :)

I was really excited because the weather was SO AWESOME that it was awesome to watch the parade outside. Then came Josh's class....

And finally Zach's class....

After the parade, the kids ate snacks,

played games, and then it was time to go home.

Josh and his best friend

On Halloween night we had Eric, Karisa, Miranda and TJ over to trick or treat with us. It was laid back and awesome. We ordered pizza and let the kids play for a little bit before it was time to trick or treat. Eventually when it was dark enough the men took the kids out while us womenfolk hung out to chat and eat our weight in chocolate. Sounds like a perfect night to me!!

It was nice to hang out with them because we don't get to that often. The kids got tons more candy. So we decided to donate the majority of it to a dentist who ship the candy to the troops over seas. Win-win situation for all I think! Overall, I would say Halloween was a blast!!

So Proud!!

***BRAG ALERT***

Yesterday was kind of cool. Not only did I give parent teacher conferences but I received them as well. That is right- yesterday morning I held my first parent teacher conferences in the past 6 years. I have to admit I was a tad nervous- which was just plan stupid- I have a GREAT group of students and didn't need to give "bad" news to parents. But still after being out of the game for 6 years I felt a little rusty. We did phone conferences and after 3 calls my head was five times bigger than normal. I got so many compliments to my teaching that I was all "I'M THE MAN!!!" :) And it continued through all the conferences. It was a great way to start my day!! The rest of the day I was busy chatting, preparing for next week, planning, chatting, cutting, copying, etc. In the midst of it all Matt brought my kids to see where I worked!! It was great. I got to give them the tour- which was a kids dream- room after room of toys and then a whole TOY ROOM where teachers can check out toys. Yeah, my kids think I work in heaven and I don't disagree. I LOVE MY JOB!!! I stayed an hour longer than I wanted to, but I felt good about leaving.

I got home in time to take Josh and Zach back to the eye doctor. Zach got the thumbs up. His eyes improved so we are going to get him new glasses. Josh's eyes are keeping our doctor on his toes. Still patching- but not both eyes anymore just the left one now. And we go back in 4 weeks to check again. Still unsure if we need to do yet another surgery.

After that it was dinner and then Matt and I were off to the boys parent teacher conferences. It is just so weird to be on the other side of the table. :) I am SO PROUD of each of my boys. They got so many compliments from behavior to academics. It was awesome!! In fact they are so awesome that they each got a reward for a free kids meal at Mimi's cafe!!

Zach was described as a THE star student and his teacher wishes that all kids were like him. He works hard and never complains. He also got Outstanding in art- which his teacher said she had never seen a kid get before!

Alex was described as a wonderful kid who is so kind and caring -a people pleaser. He is making wonderful strides in reading, writing and math. It's awesome. Alex has a rough class. There seem to be some behavior problem kidS -yes more than one. My impression (from Alex not the teacher) is that it is a rough year for the teacher. At the end of a particularly rough day, Alex asked his teacher what they were going to do the next day. She told us she was grumpy and didn't really know or feel like thinking much about it and she just told him lots of stuff. She said Alex looked at her with a big smile and said AWESOME!! and gave her a hug. Yep- that's my Alex!!

Josh was described as a great kid who follows directions and works hard. She said that he doesn't raise his hand a lot or participate in group discussions- he is more of a listener. He was also described as a perfectionist. He wants to spell words correctly and not sound them out. He gets along well with everyone. Just a nice kid to have in class.

None of these comments were really news to Matt or I- but they are still wonderful to hear. I am really proud of all three of my kids and I think that they have great teachers at a wonderful school. So far Kindergarten rocks!!

Zach ROCKS!!

Today I had the absolute pleasure of going to Zach's school and watching his presentation on- well- himself. He is the star student of the week. I couldn't be more proud or happy. It was the perfect way to end a lousyish week. I have felt lousy all week- not bad enough to stay home but I don't feel good either. I hate that limbo stage! Either get sick or don't!! ICK! So it's been a put on your big girl panties on and deal with it week for me. I am feeling much better today- but also this week the boys all have little colds, too. And now Matt has the bad cold. Did I mention ICK?! Anyway, last night the cold hit Alex pretty bad. He kept coughing and coughing and coughing. Matt and I took turns laying in the bathroom with a steamy hot shower with him to help. And it didn't do much for him. Finally, at 3am we gave him cough medicine. We weren't positive that was the right thing to do but desperate times call for desperate measures. We figured his sleep was more important than what he was going through. He was so miserable. And before anyone jumps all over me- I called the pediatrician this morning and got the "Yes it's ok they have cough medicine now." Whew- now I can rest easy that I didn't permanently harm Alex.

Anyway I called in "sick" this morning and my job is so cool! I haven't mentioned that much because I signed a paper saying I wouldn't blog about it or Facebook about it but when I called in they said no problem and I didn't feel like I was letting the school down by taking care of my sick kid. That doesn't happen everywhere I have worked. In fact, this is the first time it has been ok. I LOVE MY JOB!! I could write a blog about how much I love it but I don't want to get fired.

Anywhoo...back to Zach. Matt took a later lunch so I could go see Zach. And it totally made this lousyish week better!!

So in his classroom there is this board that focuses on a star student. It has family, hobbies, favorite food, favorite sports, what they want to be when they grow up and favorite book. Earlier in the week Zach and I went through pictures and things to collect for this board for him to present to his friends.

He talked about his family and his brothers. I found it fascinating that when he asked what was special about his brothers -meaning they were triplets- he said Alex is taller and Josh and I look alike. Again his teacher hinted around, he said "Oh, we are all 6." Then she hinted around again and he caught on that he was a triplet. It was no big deal to him. Fascinating I tell you. In the family pictures he wanted to bring a picture of Andi, a really good friend of ours daughter. He said he "needed a picture of her because she is important to him." Such a great kid.

Zach said his favorite hobby was playing on his ipod. I thought HEY that seems to be mine TOO! :) He brought a picture of his ipod and himself.

Zach said his favorite food was macaroni and cheese. He drew a cute picture of a bowl of macaroni and cheese and a spoon next to it for the board.

For his favorite sports he said it was a tie between golf and tennis. We googled pictures of that and printed out some of his favorite ones.

Zach said he wanted to be an artist when he grew up. We again googled pictures of that and printed out some of his favorite ones.

He brought his favorite book of "Psssst! It's me! The boogeyman!" by Barbara Parks. It was surprising to me that it was his favorite book but it is a good one. I love the humor and voice in it. And I was lucky enough to read it to the class. One of my most favorite things to do is read to kids!! Totally in my element. It was like the cherry on top for me!

When he was done presenting, his teacher opened it up for discussion...aka kindergartners get to ask Zach questions about himself. It was a RIOT!! Love what this age is wondering about each other.

What I found hilarious was that his classmates would ask Zach something like "Do you have a favorite color?" And Zach would say yes and move on without saying what it was. Ahhh that's my Zach. Next question...Do you have a favorite animal? Yes. Next question. Do you have a favorite toy? Yes. Next question. Eventually he would answer it after his teacher would say "what is it?" (red for color, zebra for animal and star wars for toys) and then the class would chime in "Hey that is my favorite thing too!!!" Super cute! Like I said this totally made my week! I have got a really great kid if I do say so myself!!

Zach with his prizes for being a star student

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for all of us....well, all of us except Matt that is. This morning was a little rough for me. The boys were excited but I was all weepy and sad. They are not my little boys or babies anymore. We are starting the next phase in our lives! After I cried a little bit, I pulled myself together and made it to work with no problems.

Here I am starting to teach again after 6 years!! My day was AWESOME!! I have a great group of kids. They are SO CUTE!! It was a ton of fun!! And Karen stopped by to give me a happy first day of school present. Karen is a really good family friend and was also my cooperating teacher. She taught me how to be a great teacher- I learned from the best!! It was so good to see her and it completely made my day!!

But before I left for work I took some pictures of the boys. Here they are on their first day of Kindergarten:

Alex Zach and Josh

Then Josh asked me if I would take a picture of his back pack. Looks like a little bit of a scene from cops...but that is ok you get the idea. :)

They are so excited for their batman and star wars back packs. And of course I took individual pictures too.

Zach

Alex

Josh

And Josh's backpack. :) Like I said, he is really into his back pack because he is all about Star Wars right now.

Matt took the boys to school and I begged him to take pictures so I wouldn't feel like I was missing out on anything. He said the drop off was chaotic!!


But they made it just fine. Had a little trouble finding Josh's locker but all in all it was ok.

I was lonely without the boys this afternoon. When the time came to pick them up I was really excited to see them and hear all about their first day. I had to laugh because when the bell rang all these kindergartners s-l-o-w-l-y walked out of the door, dragging their feet with their eyes half closed. It was funny. All of my boys were VERY tired....and still are. We have had quite a few melt downs so I think bed time is going to be early tonight!! They all seemed to have a really great day and LOVE school and kindergarten! So that makes me very happy.

Josh said his favorite part of the day was rest time. He got to close his eyes for a few minutes.

Zach said the whole day was "totally awesome!"

Alex said his part of the day was meeting new friends. Then he went on and on about this naughty boy in his class who got in trouble a lot.

So I would say we are all off to a good start! What more could I ask for?