July 22, 2014...

Because I dated this "special event" with Nathan, I felt that I needed to do the same with Aaron, too! ;) The day Aaron decided he wanted to be a "big kid" as he wants us to call him, and started to use the potty, hooray!

I don't know...we went to a park date with friends that morning, and one of our friends was openly using her little potty so Aaron got to see...then we happened to be going to Target afterwards, and I asked him if he would like to pick out underwear to wear. He agreed, and picked out some socks too, so we went home and tried. Success!

He's not really using the potty any earlier than Nate did age wise, but wow already in the first week he is definately different than Nate was!

--Loves food rewards (Nate could have cared less, even if it was M & M's!) I'm happy that even with crackers Aaron finds motivation.

--Not to get extremely personal but does both types of potty business on the potty! Hooray for mommy's laundry detergent! Nate took an extra month.

--Trained before preschool starts! (that's what it took for Nate to finally get interested...I was afraid Aaron was going to be the same way)

--Waking up with dry diapers

--Isn't afraid to flush,wash hands, and will use public potty's! This is a definate huge difference, as Nate to this day still doesn't like to flush with the loud sounds. The public potty thing took quite a while, and for quite a while I had to carry around a little toilet. I'm happy to report that out in public, Aaron will use a seat on a bigger potty. Hooray, now mommy isn't obviously looking like there is a potty being carted!

Such a relief to me to have this going before preschool starts (in a few days!) The only little thing, however, is that I have been telling Aaron to use the potty, as opposed to him telling me he needs to use it. I worry about that with preschool because I'm not sure the teachers ask the kids to use it - I think they rely on the kids to tell them (or show obvious dancing signs!) So I'm worried about accidents. But, I guess those just go with the territory and are something to learn from....that or they learn to hold it I suppose!

I also haven't left Aaron (totally) by himself yet with people he doesn't know, so I'm afraid of the separation anxiety he may face first hand. Basically fingers crossed for the next week!

By the way, I don't mean to compare boys to say that one is better than the other - just so when I'm eighty years old and have a hard time remembering, this blog will be fun to go back to ;) So proud of my "big kid" !

Book exchange and a cupcake treat...deserving!

1st Day of 1st Grade

We just got done with our first week of school! Thankfully, no homework, as I found during the first few days especially Nate needed the time just to get back into the groove. This coming week, however, we'll probably get to see what first grade is all about !

To start the morning off, a back-to-school breakfast!

It wasn't too bad to prepare - I painted the placemats wth chalkboard paint a week or two ago and also made the banner then

Had to include littles even though he wasn't going to school (yet!)

Daddy took off that morning to come and Nana joined us for breakfast (bacon,fruit, scones and french toast!) and for school as well.

New lunchbag and box this year - I have an app now on my phone for Nate to use to plan his lunch. I love that the choices are pretty much all healthy! Though I included a treat for the 1st day as something to look forward to :)

Very own desk and supplies (his new teacher behind him)

I have to admit...even today I'm still a bit sad that we were not allowed into the classroom with Nate on the first day (usually a tradition, right?) Apparently I have discovered it is up to each teacher, but MOST of them do allow parents to come in for pictures and such the first day. Not ours. She literally stood at the door and told the kids to say goodbye to their parents. Boo. Not that Nate was upset, I suppose it's a tradition the parents enjoy. I was bummed for my husband and mom who came along, who, had I known that we wouldn't have been allowed  inside, would not have bothered to try and get them to come. I was excited to show off all the "big boy" things inside his desk. Most importantly, Nate seems to like his new teacher okay. He also has a student teacher. I guess I am just learning to get used to a different teacher with a very different style than Nate's last.

Anyway, the week has been good overall, I think Nate was ready for the weekend to be here. Here's to a good year!

FINAL week of Summer Break!

And there we have it! Pretty much all done with summer. We're spending the rest of the weekend just chilling out at home in preparation for the craziness that begins! It's going to be a busy week for me as well with PTO, trying to jump start everything. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we don't get homework yet this week, like last year.

So - Nate's first camp of the week took place at a children's museum,the program was called "Paris in the Springtime". They painted with watercolor, made clay from scratch and some sort of person with it :), they attempted to make the Eiffel Tower on cookies, etc. I liked that it was different. I took Aaron to a new play place and out to breakfast while Nate was gone that morning. We took a dip in the pool with friends that afternoon. It was a busy start to the week!

Nate had his last cooking class - and they saved the best for last! Nate loved his monster cookie - peanut butter with M &M cookies with ice cream in the middle!

The boys spent time with their Nana, who took them back to their favorite pool structure to play, we met up for lunch and shopped for school!

Nate's camp #2 - Gymnastics/water bouncy slide fun! I took Aaron to a summer movie. That evening, we met Nate's teacher! School is only two days away.

To end the work week - the kids swam and played with their cousin at Grandmother's house, then Nate went to straight to his last camp - another play camp at the same place the boys went to together before, but this time just for him. I took Aaron for some frozen yogurt and we played at home.

Today, Nate had swimming then went to a birthday party - his first time ice skating!

He held onto the wall at first, but eventually let go and held daddy's hand

Aaron and I got a smoothie, did a little art class at Michaels and went to the bookstore. Whew! It's no wonder I took a nap this afternoon ;) I hope the boys can look back and have enjoyed our break, despite no real summer vacation. Hopefully next summer! I'm looking forward to finding my house this week ;) 

Summer Break : Week 6

The weeks aren't going any slower, that is for sure!

This past week, we have said "until next time" to Nate's good friend, Braedan. Like Lauren, they have known each other since they were babies. Their family is moving to Chicago for daddy's work. We will miss them greatly (we are used to seeing them on a daily basis), however we are pleased that we happened to have just booked a trip to Chicago in November, so we're looking forward to visiting them. But, it will be sad to return to school and not see our friends.

 

Now, onto our fun from Week 6!

Italian themed cooking class this past week : Italian soda,pesto chicken mozzarella grilled cheese, and pasta salad. Again, I'm just thrilled Nate tried it!

A fun Wednesday : first a puppet show with a bunch of giggles, followed by lunch out

Then in the afternoon, we went to Wildflower for a cookies,milk and craft event they have each week

Thursday morning the kids had their last play camp together

Immediately following, Nathan had a cupcake decorating class at a local cupcake shop!

Brother and I ate cake pops and colored

The boys again spent some time with their Nana and Grandmother. Yesterday, Nate started swim lessons back up again and then went with daddy to Lowe's to build Turbo. While Nate was gone, I took Aaron to an interactive animal class. (It turned out to be interactive for me, and sort of "duck and hide" for Aaron- note to self!) 

Brave mommy holding a snake- once I was reassured a thousand times the snake didn't have teeth and wouldn't bite!

Feeding the turtle - about as brave as Aaron got

So, for everything fun Nathan gets to do (that Aaron isn't old enough for or can't do yet) I try to do something fun with him. This next, LAST week of summer break Nate has three camps going on (lucky boy!) so it looks like Aaron and I will be off trying to find more fun to do. This just may be the shortest week week of summer yet with everything we have going on!

In other news, as school is about to get under way, I have both left and started new responsibilities. I am still part of my Mom's Club group that I began six years ago with Nate (and have pretty much been President of the last five years, give or take a few months). However, I am no longer President of the club OR on any board positions (I was Treasurer for the few months I wasn't President). I'm very happy to still be a part of the club, however very relieved to not have any responsibilities any longer with it. That is, because, I am now a part of Nathan's PTO at school.

Even though school has not started yet, PTO has already begun meeting (and that is because we do start next week, but teachers go back this week!) I am helping out with a PTO sponsored potluck breakfast they are doing for the teachers returning to school this week and also helping sell school gear when we have our Meet the Teacher event this week. I'm also relieved to be, FINALLY, meeting up with the woman whose position I am taking over for this year to find out what my job is all about! (sounds like a good time,right, the week before school starts?) I will be the Box Top Coordinator - the person who goes around to all the classrooms of the school to collect and count box tops. When classrooms reach a certain goal, I get to decide what kind of party they get and throw it. I'm so thrilled to have more of a "fun" job this time around! I have other women who are going to help me collect and count. Now I just need to figure out how to organize it all :)

So yes, everything is raring up to go. I think Nate is somewhat ready for school to begin (though if given the choice of course, he'd choose summer break over school anytime I'm sure!) Summer has seemed short but in some ways I'm ready for routine to begin again.

Summer Break : Week 5

We spent a good part of last week with our cousins from California. The boys got to meet my cousin's two boys (one almost twelve, the other around nine). They got along so well despite the age difference.

But first, before company arrived, I took the boys out bouncing again. This time the bouncing place was offering pizza for lunch, so as a nice little treat for the boys I ordered some for them.

Nate was such a good sport - holding Aaron's hand up and down all the different bounce houses.

Little did we know, we were the only ones who ordered pizza! We had ourselves our own, private pizza party. I was "Mom of the Year" that day :)

We also did a craft class, had a swimming party with friends, then started our cousin fun!

We headed to FlipSide- where Nate had his birthday party this year. Perfect fun for all ages of boys!

Cousins!

Lunch at Red Robin

So excited because he won a stuffed animal from a game machine!

They love air hockey!

So, we spent a large part of the week with family before they left Friday morning. We had a pretty low key Fourth - we spent a large part of the day swimming and playing with Josh's mom, then had a BBQ dinner. Aaron was so tired that he fell asleep on the couch early in the evening - no fireworks for him. Lucky Nate - we let him stay up and watch fireworks with daddy. He was thrilled.

The rest of the weekend was low key. It was nice not to have anything planned or going on for a change. Though we did have some excitement to end Week 5....

BUNK BED!

Hubby finished just in time for bed Sunday night

 We begin Week 6 with Nate spending a lot of time playing in his "new" bed! Speaking of playing, the boys continue to play well together. Hooray, maybe it's not a fluke! :) It's been fun to watch them come up with their own ideas to play. Truly the first summer they're actually, really, playing together. I think that has a lot to do with why this summer has seemed to whiz by! Only two weeks now until Nathan starts school again. Wow.

House Fixin'

So about what we were up to while the boys were away...house renovating! Hubby has spent the last month or so working on re-painting all of our cabinets in the house. They were getting dirty and frankly we were ready for a darker color!

Top cabinets is before color - bottom is after

We also re-did Nate's bedroom! He helped pick out new paint and we did the rest. I think it was fun that he was surprised.

Before picture - we haven't changed his room since he was born! Six years is long enough I think.

I created all of the canvas art/paintings

Loved the new lights, sheets

Now in addition to the bedroom makeover, hubby is working on another project for him - a single bunk bed! Over the last few months Nathan has been obsessed with the idea of wanting a bunk bed. We decided that we didn't want the boys to share a room with their different sleeping habits, so we're making just one for Nate once he proved some good behavior to earn it (there was a poster with circles he colored in for good behavior, doing chores, homework, etc). So hubby is in the process of making that for him right now.

It always seems like once we start one makeover of some sort, there's always more we find to do :) In due time...