Apple Tree

John told us today, "We need to get an apple. And then get the seeds out of it and then plant the seeds. So we can have an apple tree. Then we can build a treehouse in the apple tree." I asked him what was wrong with the trees I have already. He said "Cause you can't climb them." Daddy said "Why do we need to build a treehouse in the apple tree?" John said "Because then we can go in the treehouse and have a snack!" Well that makes perfect sense. 

Dear John: First Grade

Dear John,

Like I told you tonight when I tucked you in, be strong, be brave, be you.  You are an amazing boy.  You are funny, silly, big-hearted and smart.  Listen to your teachers and you will have a great day.  If you see Mommy cry tomorrow, don't be scared.  I know you are ready for this transition, Mommy just can't believe that her little boy is ready for First Grade.  I feel like the past six years have gone by in a blink.  Remember that Gillian, Daddy and I love you super big much and we can't wait to hear all about your first day.

Love,
Mommy

Gillian and Baby

On Tuesday night, I went to check on Gillian and John before I went to bed.  I found Gillian sleeping like this.

Gillian and Baby were both tucked in and snuggly in her bed.

Last night, I went to check on the kids and again I found Gillian and Baby in Gillian's bed. 

Notice where Baby got stuck sleeping, at the end of the bed.  When I woke Gillian up this morning, I asked her why Baby was so far away.  Gillian said "Baby hit me! She hit me here (Gillian pointed at the bridge of her nose) and here (Gillian pointed at her top lip)."  I guess Baby was so bad that she had to be moved away from Gillian so she couldn't hurt anyone else. 

Meet and Greet

Today we got to take John to his new school (Mahala F. Atchinson Elementary) to meet his first grade teacher. When we arrived the parking lot was full of kids and parents. In the car, John said "I'm scared." Daddy said "Me too." We bravely walked in the main door and found John's classroom on a map. John's classroom was on the other end of the building. Which was a good thing, because we were able to see majority of the school. We got to his classroom and met his teacher, Mrs. Belena, along with a classmate, Maya. John introduced himself. He answered Mrs. Belena's questions. We learned about the daily special classes like art, health and Spanish. John took a little tour of the classroom with the student teacher too. Daddy and I got a big packet of information about the PTA and school lunches and the 100 book challenge. It was basically a big pile of homework for us. John is super excited about his new school.  I think it helps that he knows his teacher now. 

At dinner tonight, I was telling John that there may be some different kids at his school. Some that may talk different than us or look different than us. I told him that we need to be nice to all of his new classmates and that we should always ask them to play. He looked at me and said "Why wouldn't I?" And I realized that no matter what I worry about (I worry a lot about him starting first grade), I should not worry about him making friends. He has a big heart and it won't take long for his classmates to see that. 

All in a days's work

John starts first grade on Friday. His summer camp program ended last Thursday. Since I am now working at the family car dealership, I decided to bring him to work with me today. We headed to the office early. It's a good thing we did too because Aunt Missy was calling us on our way to let me know there was a problem with the accounting system. We went right upstairs to help Aunt Missy. John immediately went to his desk (we have an extra desk in the office that John uses on his visits) and dropped his book bag. Since I was in the office, Aunt Missy and John headed to over to our service building. It seemed like he was only over there for 15 minutes before Aunt Missy called to let me now he was on his way back. He came into the office, said "Good morning" to the girls and sat down at his desk. He played a few games on his DS until Mimi arrived. Mimi had a few school supplies for him. He was super excited about getting some new colored pencils especially when he needed them sharpened and he got to use the electric pencil sharpener. 

Around 11:30, he came over to me and said "I'm really hungry. Can I eat my lunch?" I told he of course. He hesitantly looked at me and the girls and said "I'm not sure they would like it." I told him it was fine. He sat at his desk and ate his lunch. Sometime after lunch he came over to me and asked "Is it time to go home now?" My poor boy was bored. I showed him how to run envelopes through the postage machine. He loved that job, but the envelopes kept getting jammed (which meant more work for mommy). He also saw me stamp a deal when I entered it into the system. He thought this was great. So he watched me and waited until I entered a deal. He got frustrated when it took me longer than two minutes to enter a deal. He gave up and walked away from me. I finally caved in the late afternoon and let him watch cartoons in the break room. 

I'm glad I am able to bring John to work with me. But I'm not sure I will be in a big rush to do it again soon. Not sure who is more exhausted John or Mommy'

Gillian's Adventure

Gillian spent Friday night at Uncle T and Aunt Missy's house.  Aunt Missy came to pick her up.  Gillian was ready before Daddy could get her car seat into Aunt Missy's car.  "I go now?"  I buckled her in the car and gave her a kiss.  I tried to get another kiss, but she had enough.  She wanted to go. 

Aunt Missy told me that they had to stop at the food store to get something for dinner.  At the food store, Gillian conned Aunt Missy into buying donuts.  She hugged the bag saying "I goin to eat them all!"  Gillian also saw some My Little Pony fruit snacks that she had to have.  Next she told Aunt Missy "I need yogurt."  Missy picked up a package of yogurt, and Gillian told her "We don't need all of them.  Just one!"  Aunt Missy explained to her that you had to buy the whole package and you could buy just one. 

Aunt Missy sent me a picture of Gillian eating her ice cream after dinner.  Gillian truly enjoys ice cream and desserts and wants to make sure her whole face gets some too! 

     
In the morning, Uncle T went to check on Gillian.  She was awake in her bed.  Gillian told me "Uncle T wake me up!"  Then she got to watch cartoons and have breakfast with Aunt Missy. 

Gillian and Aunt Missy went to the beach after they had breakfast.  Gillian got to make some new friends and play in the sand.  They even saw some dolphins in the water.  Gillian told me "Them jump out of the water!" 

When I was tucking Gillian into bed on Saturday night, I asked Gillian if she would like to spend the night at Aunt Missy and Uncle T's house again.  She didn't say anything, she just gave me a big smile and a thumbs up. 

The Color Run



 

Back in March, we signed up John, Daddy and I to run in the Color Run in August.  Well Saturday was the big day.  Since Gillian was not running, we asked Aunt Missy and Uncle T to take her overnight on Friday.  Gillian had her own little adventure with Aunt Missy on Saturday! 

 

We told John all about the race, and he had lots of questions.  "Are there medals? Are there going to be a lot of people there? What kinds of colors?"  Saturday morning around 5 am he woke up and came into our room.  "I had a bad dream.  Can I sleep with you?"  How can you say no to that?  He climbed into our bed.  He snuggled for a little bit, but after awhile all he did was poke Daddy or I and kick us or talk to us.  I think he was just excited about the race.  We got up and got John dressed.  When we put on his shirt, it was longer than his shorts (we had to get an adult XS for him).  Daddy and I looked at the shirt and Daddy said "We could cut it."  I said "I was thinking about pinning it up."  John says "We could tuck it in."  Smarty pants.  We opted for John's plan and tucked in his shirt. 

 

In the car, he kept asking Daddy "Are we there yet?" "I think we are going to be late." We finally pulled into the lot and saw Aunt Betty and her friend Ali. We pinned on our numbers and headed to the starting line. John was not happy about taking pictures before the race. He was very anxious to start. 

The Color Run isn't timed and has a rolling start.  After waiting our turn, we were finally at the starting line.  Once they told us to go, John went running.  We weren't expecting him to go so fast, but we were right behind him.  He ran for awhile and then slowed down.  We ended up walking until the first color station.  The first color was pink.  John put on his shades and went thru.

 

 

He had the biggest grin when he was done.  He loved it.  We ran and walked thru the rest of the colors: Blue, Yellow and finally Orange.  John had a blast getting colorful, but wasn't so happy about how long the race was.  When I asked him if he would do it again next year, he said "No.  It was tooo long!"  I'm sure we can convince him to do it again.