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Aloha Friday #11

Posted on August 29, 2008 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

Aloha and TGIF everyone!

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.

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My question this week is inspired by Labor Day weekend and the unofficial end of summer.

With the summer coming to an end soon, what are you going to miss the most?

I am going to miss being able to take the boys outside and watch them explore and have fun without worrying about coats, hats, boots – you get the picture! This summer I have enjoyed watching my three guys play, laugh, smile and get dirty outside. Whether playing soccer, riding a scooter, playing with chalk, using a toy car or just being silly on the grass we have so many wonderful memories. I know we hope to be able to have many more before the crisp fall air turns to snow and ice.

Categories:
Aloha Friday fun jl jsl my boys nhl photos

Kindergarten kid reality check

Posted on August 26, 2008 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

Denial is a fabulous thing, but it does not last. It seemed like it was just yesterday that NHL was born and now in just over a week he will start kindergarten. After last year’s fiasco with the start of the school year I have been quite nervous. NHL has been having a nightmare each and every evening. None of the dreams seem to be about school in particular, but I believe they may be caused from the anxiety NHL is experiencing.

Last night NHL was up several times. At one point he was calling for help. When JL went into the room to check on him he was covered in sweat and close to tears. He pleaded with his daddy to let us keep his little brother. He explained to JL that someone in his dream that was a stranger and looked like Uncle I said he was coming to get JSL because he could not be a part of our family anymore. Very strange if you ask me.

This morning I e-mailed NHL’s kindergarten teacher with a question about the possibility of busing and also about suggestions on the nightmares. She volunteered to meet us at school this week to ease his fears. She said she would see him and show him the classroom and around the school. In addition to this she also gave me news that sent me WAY off the deep end. Nothing that should impact NHL, but brings back someone who was H-E Double Hockey Sticks from last year back into our lives.

So I asked NHL if he was interested in going to the school (he has never been there before) to meet his teacher. His face lit up and he got so excited. I knew that I had my answer. I called his teacher up and told her what NHL’s reaction was. To my surprise she asked if we could meet her there in an hour.

Thankfully my grandmother watched JSL so I could take NHL alone. NHL was nervous to meet his teacher, but I reassured him that that was perfectly fine and I would be there with him. Once we got inside he eased up. Mrs (I shall call her that) showed NHL the office, the library, gym, cafetorium, art/music room, nurses office, where the attendance goes, and the kindergarten room he will be in. When we went in he found his cubby, looked around the room and fell in love with what was in one corner.

Mrs. took him over to the four computers (all new) and set him up to play online. This allowed us some time to talk. She was so sweet and wonderful. It really made me so happy to see the school and know that NHL would not have to wait until the afternoon before his first day. The funny part, he did not want to leave when it was time to go. I so hope that is the worst problem that we encounter in the days to come.

All afternoon he has been telling everyone about his new school, Mrs. and all of the fun things in his classroom. In addition to this he has told everyone that now that he is five he is no longer afraid of auto-flushing toilets (perhaps like the tuna?). Now I just hope to make these last few days of his summer before school memorable. Mommy is still having a hard time believing that her baby is really going to school.

*sigh* They just grow up too quickly.

Categories:
jl jsl my boys nhl photos school

Summer sunflower success

Posted on August 25, 2008 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

For the last two years the boys (NHL and JL) have tried to grow sunflowers. Each year something has happened to squash my little guy’s dreams of planting a seed to watch it bloom into a flower. First it was bunnies that ate them as they came out of the ground. Last year horrible hail storms crushed the poor plants. This year when we knew a storm was coming we pulled the sunflowers into our porch out of danger. Eventually they grew big enough that we thought they would be safe in the elements.

Just before NHL’s birthday our first sunflower finally started to come out. We were all quite excited and had to take photos of the baby sunflower.

If you looked down at the plants growing you could even see many others that were getting close to blooming, like this one.

Up close they looked like this:

Growing up I was always fascinated with sunflowers. My best friend/neighbor growing up had monster sunflower plants in her yard. I remember her father planting them, caring for them and securing them because of their size. I think this is partially why I always wanted NHL to grow some for us. Although these are nothing like the ones Mr. D had grown, they still remind me of sweet summers of my child years.

This is a close up of the flower that is now fully out from the other day.

Saturday we noticed that two or three more were almost opening up. You could already see the yellow starting to play peek-a-boo with us. The picture below is now quite dated. I hope to get a few photos of the new flowers soon before the rain threatens them.

With any luck the birds that are attacking our roses and already claimed our gorgeous new lily plant will stay away from the sunflowers that are doing so nicely. Perhaps we need to make a scarecrow for a project this week!

Categories:
house jl nhl photos summer

A Fishy First

Posted on August 23, 2008 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

When NHL was little he would eat almost anything that you gave him. The only exception to the rule was tuna fish. He has never liked it and would always refuse it. Of course his tastes have changed over the last year. Now he is much more opinionated about what he will put in his mouth.

NHL turned five on Sunday. While at my parents house getting ready for his party he walked over to JL and I with the following announcement:

"Now that I am five, I will eat tuna!"

JL and I looked at each other and asked NHL what he was talking about. He continued to tell us that he now liked tuna since he was five and a big boy.

Did we believe this? NO WAY! JL and I just figured it was all talk and would test it eventually.

Last night JL and I had salad with tuna on it. We figured the boys could have left over whole wheat pasta and life would be good. NHL heard what I was making and attacked me for some tuna. Yes, he was right in the kitchen waiting to try it out of the can. Sure enough he declared it yummy and asked for a sandwich for dinner.

Who are we to deny our child the tuna that he was now big enough to enjoy? Since we knew nobody in our family would believe this we documented the event. I present you with NHL eating his tuna sandwich and a close up to show the tuna as well.

Of course now I wonder what else we can try to get him to eat or do since he is five and a big boy. Hmmmm. . . must make a list of items to test out.

Categories:
interesting milestone nhl photos

Aloha Friday #10

Posted on August 22, 2008 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

Aloha and TGIF everyone!

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.

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My question this week is inspired by memories from my childhood.

Was there a toy that you always wanted as a child that you never received for one reason or another? If so what was it and did you purchase it for your children?

Growing up the kids in our neighborhood were always outside in the summer. We were a very close group of kids. We would play on swing sets, ride bikes, sit outside and sing, walk to the park, write newspapers for our block, and do anything we could to be together and enjoy the freedom of the summer.

Even with all of this I recall always wishing that I had a toy outside. For some strange reason I always wished that my parents had bought my brother and me the Little Tykes Cozy Coupe. I thought it would be so fun for imagine play. As an adult babysitting for children I secretly hoped that some day I would be able to get one for my children.

We never did buy a Cozy Coupe when NHL was younger. I think we always wanted activities that would keep him on his feet to work on his low muscle tone. Still he loved them when he had the chance to use them here and there.

Fast forward to Saturday. My parents came home from buying some bagels to take to the lake. There was a big garage sale set up across the street from their house. They went over and saw some toys. They are always looking for things to keep at their house for the grand kids. They bought a few items including . . . you guessed it a Cozy Coupe for a few dollars.

NHL was thrilled, but JSL was in his glory. He was able to play with it and be outside on his own. Here he is playing on it Thursday afternoon.