At Grammie's

My mom amazes me. She is patient (oh, SO patient!), creative, and loves anything and everything related to learning. I'm so, so thankful the boys are able to be with her. It's truly one of the biggest blessings of my life. The boys' day is full of new, fun things that have them begging to come back again. Her energy, in spite of how little I know she sleeps, leaves me in awe. She's superhuman, I tell you.

Thanks to the photography of our Miss Esther, who by the way is also more than I could have ever asked for, we have pictures of some recent fun at Grammie's.

Shaving cream!!

No doubt Mimi is talking about the physical properties/characteristics of shaving cream, asking Kyle to describe it with as many adjectives as he can. Just wait till you can write, Kyle, and you'll be asked to write a journal entry on the experience. :)

Pure delight. I love Kyle's true, joy-filled smiles.

Thanks, mom, for E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G you do! And thanks, Miss Esther, for capturing these memories!

Kyle's Auto Shop

A few months ago, Rudy's work schedule changed to a 4/10 and therefore every Tuesday while I'm at work, Ru stays home with the boys. It's been a good experience for all involved. Today, though, Gavin wasn't feeling well and in order to avoid an entire day cooped up in our place with Kyle wanting to get out when Gav needed to lay low, Rudy asked if he could join me on the drive up to work and take the boys over to Grammie's house just to make the day more interesting. (Thanks, Mimi!) It was fun to have my boys drop me off at work and come pick me up later. While at Grammie's Rudy and Kyle washed our cars and played pretend mechanic. Kyle is big on pretending. 

Kyle filled out the work order and wrote up an estimate. This car was overheating and Kyle said, "It's the radiator."

Then he got busy fixin' her.

Another car rolled in and they both got to work. Business was picking up!

Kyle loved jacking up the car and changing the oil. They passed tools back and forth while talking shop.Kyle also got a lesson on jump starting a dead battery by connecting the jumper cables from the yellow car to the stroller. Red to red, black to black.

Then, they discovered that Kyle's license plate fit exactly onto the back of his little, yellow car and gave "her" the name "Corona." 

They drilled holes and screwed that plate in.

Adorable, no?!

Gaining Confidence

I realize that these pics might be a repeat for some of you, but I want these memorialized here on the blog, too. So, Kyle had a fun little session the other day. He's gaining a lot of confidence and getting more and more brave each time he goes out. This time, he went out farther and rode in some fast little waves. At first, when the full speed of the wave took over, he was a bit scared. But that fear quickly turned to glee the closer he got to the shore. He really wants to stand, but of course there's a process to this and riding in on his belly is just the thing to do at his age. One bad spill could scare him off completely and though he's becoming more and more water safe, those waves are much too powerful to mess with. So of course for now we stay close by his side.

He proudly waxes his board "just like Daddy."

 The boys do some stretching and have a little talk.

Then off he goes...

...and rides in his biggest waves yet. This is the only shot I got of him dropping in since I was busy keeping Gavin from charging into the water! (Gavin's fearlessness/love of water makes beach-going a lot of work these days!)

 Perhaps it's hard to see, but he's got a super huge smile on his face!

 Daddy love. :)

We're so proud of you, Kyle. Most of all, for doing something that takes a lot of bravery. 

Creativity/Kid Entertainment

Or, in other words, thank you Rudy. When it comes to kid-friendly entertainment and high creativity... Rudy is your go-to guy. Seriously!  Here's an older pic from a birthday party we went to. Rudy was the "magic carpet" guy for about an hour. He's amazing like that.

So, it comes as no surprise that there are lots of gadgets and gizmos around the house. We currently have 2 very large boxes filling up our living space. They are hotels. GG hotels to be exact. Made with key-card door entry sliders, t.v.'s, remotes, pillows and blankets, you name it. All we need in there is a GG. :)

A fun idea Ru stole from Kyle's preschool was this pumpkin pin-cushion. Kyle loves hammering golf tees into his pumpkin over and over and over!

Actually, it was the pumpkin that all of a sudden went missing from my October mantel ... but for all the entertainment it provided, the mantel happily did without!

Rudy also made Kyle this "telescope" with a little light inside to shine on the neighbor's walls or into the night sky. Fantastic use of a box or two.

The "men" set out to find a bit box or two and came back home with a set of boxes that filled the boys' backyard. Boxes are the coolest thing.

Yet another use of a box - Kyle's train.

And it wouldn't be a complete post without a shot of the boys carving a pumpkin. You know, just to get this in here before it's Christmas time. (I've been a very neglectful blogger lately. Sorry!!)

So, thanks Rudy, for being an awesome, creative dad who delights in anything and everything for "the boys." It's fun to raise kids with you.

Trick or Treat?

The boys had a lot of fun hitting up our neighborhood for candy. Gavin is an observant parrot...so he caught on quickly and would repeat what we'd say. Mostly, "Buh-bye" every time we turned away from a door.

We took them around in Rudy's home-made boxed wagon. It has two holes, one for each kid, and Gav would go down into the hole and disappear and then reappear over and over all while talking up a storm. He thought this was quite a deal... every door that opened gave him something!

And he really took his candy seriously. Sorry, Gav, you didn't realize you were just collecting 'em for the team.

Happy Halloween! 

It's Harvest Festival Time

Is there anything cuter than small children dressed up in costume? This weekend was the weekend of harvest festivals (Kyle went to 2 of them) and I've never seen so many adorably dressed preschool-aged kids all in one place. The costumes were so creative and unique. Our friends, the Hutchens invited us to their son's preschool for some genuine, home-made fun. 

Here are the boys dressed up as Batman and Robin! :)

 Robin Hood and Batman were very excited!

 While Nate was working on his arrows, Kyle and Gav were ready to save the day with their muscles!

The games were so fun, creative, and best of all...totally geared towards Kyle's age.

Little Robin stayed in the action to the best of his ability! :) He was so cute following us around. Don't feel too badly for him, he can hang well. He likes to walk around and tell us what he thinks about everything.

Gone Fishing

We're all about finding new spots and enjoying the pieces of quiet nature around us. This was a lovely park and lake and the boys enjoyed exploring and fishing with Daddy.

Kyle says, "My Daddy taught me this." Of course he did. :)

 Gavin loved the ducks, water, and airplanes going by overhead.

 Yay for nature. This kid is nuts about being outdoors!

Preschool Volunteering and Back to School Night

Last Friday, Kyle had his share day in school. That also meant it was his turn to bring snack for his classmates and Mommy got to volunteer "for the whole day!!" It was such a fun morning. With Gavin in the childcare program they have there, I got to spend a very productive 3 hours fully focused on my firstborn. I loved getting to volunteer and experience what all my parent-helpers experience or likely feel when they are in my classroom. It's such a different perspective. 

Kyle loved "helping" me decorate these little clementines pumpkins. 

He finished up his weekly homework.

Kyle got to share 3 clues about his mystery share item. 1.It has wheels, 2. It comes to my house, 3. It's stinky!! It was a trash truck! Oh, and here's his teacher, Miss Erika.

Kyle had special privileges all morning since it was "his" day. Here he's leading his class in a song before snack.

Then, tonight, we all (including Auntie Michelle) went to his Back to School Night. He was so happy and proud to show Daddy more things in his room and very excited about his Auntie coming to see his room.

They are learning about bones right now and this was his skeleton out of noodles. How'd we find his? It was the one with the biggest glob of glue still trying to dry. :)

We read his Bat story... :)

Then he showed us his self portrait.

So interesting to note the developmental mark he's at with his drawing. He's not so keen on sitting to draw or do crafts... :)

We closed out the night with a round or two on the playground equipment.

 We're so proud of you, Kyle. :)