Bad Idea

Last week, the boys went to their new school for the first time to have a kindergarten assessment. My dad had just arrived in town for a few days, and I thought it would be fun to ride our bikes to the school (it is in our neighborhood). The weather was "only" 100 degrees which is actually pretty cool for this time of year, and it was pretty overcast which is also rare.

We take off on our bikes, and Wes immediately crashes at the bottom of our driveway. He gets back on his bike, and starts riding again . . . very slowly. About halfway to the school, he crashes again. I realize that his training wheels are a little bent, and it is causing his bike to lean. I fix it as best I can, and we take off again. By now, I'm pretty nervous because Cal has to be at the school within a few minutes while Wes' appointment isn't for another 20 minutes.

Because of the two crashes, Wes is barely moving on his bike. I ask my dad to stay with Wes and slowly ride to the school, and Cal and I take off on our bikes fast so that we aren't late. Instead of that nice, leisurely ride, I keep telling Cal "faster, faster, keep moving". We get to the school with red faces and all sweaty. We ended up being about 2 minutes late. Whew. We made it though. Cal goes back for his assessment.

15 minutes later, Dad and Wes walk in. Wes' face is as beet red, almost purple, that you can imagine. His head is all sweaty. My dad asks for a bandaid because Wes had crashed again right in front of the school -- this time leaving a big gash in his leg. Blood is dripping down his leg. The teacher raids the nurses station, and she brings gauze, band-aids, and alcohol. Wes has never had alcohol on a cut, and so it was quite an awful surprise when my dad was cleaning Wes' leg. You have this poor kid who is all hot and sweaty, and injured, and now crying because of the alcohol. Once Wes gets cleaned up, they take him back for the assessment.

As we are sitting in the waiting room, Cal tells me "Hey mom, I don't think you had a good idea about riding bikes. I think taking the car would have been a good idea." I could only agree.

Memory Loss

The boys are very curious about Jesus and God ever since they started pre-school at Trinity Lutheran last January. They ask so much about things like "Mamma, why is God STILL making it rain?" OR "I know someone in Heaven --- grandma & grandpa's cat Ramsey" OR "Jesus loves kids, but he is too busy for big guys." They have also learned a lot about kindness, except they don't sound out the second "n" and just tell me how I am "being kindess". It is really cute.

This past Sunday, when we picked the boys up from their class at church, the teacher told me that Wes had a lot of stories to share in class about how he is a good helper. Wes is a big talker (by "big", I mean "non-stop, never takes a break" talker), so this isn't a surprise. On the way home, I asked Calvin what he learned in class today. I got a quick "Don't remember." Cal likes to give the "I don't remember" or "I don't know" answer lately. I then asked Cal if he learned about Jesus. "uh-huh" he said nodding his head. I then asked if he learned about God. He said, "Uh . . . who's God?" My dad and I couldn't help but to laugh.

Later, I asked Wes what stories he shared about helping. "I don't remember."

Questions about Daddy

This is a little late, but I never posted what the boys got Adam for Father's Day. They had made him a few things at school, and then we did another question/answer session about Daddy. Here it is:

1. What is something Daddy always says to you?
CAL: We don't do whatever we want to do
WES: We have to go into time-out sometimes

2. What makes your Dad sad?
CAL: When we do bad stuff
WES: When we fight

3. What does your Daddy do to make you laugh?
CAL: When he tickles me
WES: From he farts

4. What makes Daddy happy?
CAL: When I do funny things
WES: From "I love my boys"

5. How old is Daddy?
CAL: 50
WES: 30

6. How tall is Daddy?
CAL & WES: Tall as you (referring to me)

7. What is Daddy's favorite thing to do?
CAL: I don't know
WES: Go swimming with us

8. What does Daddy do at his work?
CAL & WES: works

9. Where is Daddy's favorite place to go?
CAL: Restaurant
WES: To the place we don't want to go to eat

10. I love my Daddy because . . .
CAL: He always lets me play Spiderman
WES: He's hairy

Hilton Head

We recently went to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina with Sabrina's parents, sister (Christina), and her two kids. We had a blast! Hilton Head has bike paths everywhere, and we rode for miles every day. The ocean was warm, the weather was great, and the fresh seafood was tasty! We can't wait to visit Hilton Head again!!

Grandma & Wes eating a snack at the pool

This alligator was right by our pool.

Cousins & Best Friends

Fishing for sharks

Our tiny, tiny plane from Charlotte to Hilton Head Island

We rode tandem adult/kid bikes. There was lots of racing.

My boys are 5!!

I cannot believe how quickly time flies. It seems like yesterday the boys were little toddlers, and now they are 5 years old!! While they are excited about the new age, mommy is not! This means that full-day kindergarten is right around the corner (1 month away), and I just don't know what I will do with myself. I love being able to stay home part-time and play with them. Sure, I can always clean the house, work more hours, spend time on hobbies -- but I honestly feel like I am losing part of my identity. I just don't know what I will do with myself between the time I drop them off for school, and the time I pick them up.

Each age has been better than the last, so I just have to trust that I will enjoy this new phase in our lives just as much. The boys make me laugh so hard everyday!

As for Calvin, his is still a very independent child. He gives the best hugs and loves to cuddle. He loves to play by himself, and his independence allows him to always dress himself, fix broken toys, etc. He is very patient. For the past 9 months, he has enjoyed dressing up in Halloween costumes every day. For his birthday, he received Batman, Darth Vader, Buzz Lightyear, and Knight in Shining Armor costumes. He wears these everyday, and he gets into character while he is in them. He still doesn't eat meat, but loves fruit and most vegetables. He weighs 45 pounds.

As for Wes, he is a very passionate kid, and he loves to "be first" at everything. He is a very good rule follower (and enforcer). He loves to play with his toys, but his passion is everything Mario Brothers. He is very quick witted, and he loves to learn about anything and everything. He counts to 100 at least once a day. Wes loves to play games. One of the funniest things he does is say "Holy Spirit!" when he is surprised about something. He weighs 53 pounds.

I asked the boys a few questions, and I've posted their responses below:

1. What is your favorite food?

Cal: Big Roni (shells & cheese)

Wes: Cheeseburger

2. What is your favorite color?

Cal: Red

Wes: "Purple, cause I like my momma" (my favorite color is purple)

3. What is your favorite character?

Cal: Luigi & Toad

Wes: Scooby Doo & Mario

4. Where do you want to work?

Cal: At my daddy's work

Wes: At the McDonald's close by my house

5. What is your favorite toy?

Cal: My new Toy Story toys

Wes: Scooby guys

6. What makes you happy?

Cal: When mommy makes me big roni

Wes: Cuddling with my momma

7. What is your favorite animal?

Cal: Giraffe

Wes: Zebra and my big Elmo

How Far Am I . . .

Every once in a while, the boys have a day where they just pick at each other nonstop. Monday was one of those days. For example, Cal wanted to talk to Wes and Wes was listening to Cal, but he didn't say the specific word "What". He was looking at Cal and willing to listen, but Cal wanted to hear that special word. So instead of saying what he needed to say, Cal just kept whining "Wes! Wes! Wes! Wes! Wes!" I finally stopped him and explained that you don't always have to say "what" and that Wes is still listening. All that did was let the boys know that they could now ignore the other person altogether. And they did. Hmm, bad plan.

A few hours later, Wes got mad at Cal because Cal passed him in the hallway. I explained that it doesn't matter who is first and who gets passed. (Wes likes to walk slow and then tell on Cal for passing.) The boys rounded the corner, and Cal got to the stairs first -- and Wes ran by, cut him off, and passed on the stairs. Ugh -- I have just now taught the boys that they can cut each other off.

It was just one of those days. I told them that if they didn't start treating each other nicely that they weren't going to be able to play Mario (a dreadful punishment for them). I'm not a strict disciplinarian, and so I gave them a few warnings. By the end, I was pinching my fingers close together and showing them that they were "this close" to not playing Mario. After a while, their attitudes changes and they became happy boys again.

Two days later, we were in the car, and the boys were in great moods. Out of the blue Wes asked "Hey mom, how far am I from not being able to play Mario?" I told him that he was very far away because he was being such a good boy. He wanted to know exactly how far. I just told him far. He opened his arms up real wide and asked if he was "that far". I realized that he just wanted to know how much wiggle room he had. I made it clear that while he was super far away, that gap can close very quickly -- all the while trying not to laugh at his very smart observation.

Sneaky Wes

I have been so lucky that my boys are just shy of 5, and they haven't gotten to that "lying" stage that most young kids do around 3 and 4. However, we caught Wes telling a big lie the other day.

I was cleaning the playroom, and I noticed that there were a pair of shoes under their table. If you haven't seen our playroom, it is really large. In addition to toys, we have a table, full size couch, and a big tv in there. So once or twice a week (and most lunches), we let the boys eat upstairs in their playroom and watch a movie. If they eat all of their dinner, they can play Mario Brothers on the Wii.

Wes is such a passionate little guy. Right now, his passion is anything and everything Mario Brothers. He can't wait to play in the evening. The rule has been in place for about 4 months, but he'll still ask me several times a day if he can play Mario (during the day). My answer is always no, but he just gets so excited to play. If we have a guest come over (even the social worker), Wes wants to teach him/her how to play Mario.

Anyway, back to cleaning the playroom. . . . I crawled under the table to pull out the pair of shoes, and a water bottle sipper cup full of milk caught my eye. It was just sitting behind the couch. My initial thought was "well this is going to be gross". I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was milk from the previous night's dinner, and it hadn't rotted yet. Whew . . . dodged a stinky, nasty bullet. Until a portion of a dried old corndog caught my eye. I pulled the couch away from the wall, and sure enough there were about 10 different type of food items hidden behind the couch. Just a piece or two of each item. They were all dried and hard . . . and just plain gross.

Adam and the boys happened to walk in the playroom at this time. My mind was racing about how disgusting it was, and why would the boys be throwing food? And then it clicked -- they aren't throwing food, Wes is hiding food. It is easy to pinpoint Wes because Calvin doesn't eat meat, and Wes is just adamant that he sits in the seat closest to the couch. Wes was being sneaky -- for quite some time.

I asked the boys how the food got behind the couch. Wes just kept saying "I don't know how it got there." Cal just said, "I didn't do it, he did." I told Wes it was gross and that bugs would get into our house (he hates bugs). I also told him that he had been lying to me, and so he was going to be grounded from playing Mario. Upon hearing this, he immediately perked up and said "Wait! I know how the food got there! . . . it got legs and walked over there." Uh no, still grounded.

Later that day, he asked Sherree what kind of bugs eat human food. She made it clear that all bugs eat human food. The next morning, I was putting his tennis shoes on (the ones that were under the table), and Wes complained that something was in one of his shoes. I took it back off, and looked inside to find about 5 ritz crackers inside his shoe.

What worries me is that after I found the ritz crackers in his shoe, Wes asked if I had seen any pasta behind the couch. I told him no, and he just said "Okay." I don't know if that means he never hid the pasta, or if I'm going to come across the pasta on another unexpecting day.