Happy birthday Noah!

Our little Noah turned 4! He was so excited for his birthday this year. And about being 4.

The boys were very excited to open a present in the morning - Noah picked out the art box I made him - I filled a tackle box with some of his favorite art supplies, and it was a big hit.

Here's Noah with his art box.

And here he is with his first creation. He loves pom poms, glitter glue and googly eyes.

We plan on celebrating both of the boys birthdays at Grandmas house next week, but you can't not celebrate on your birthday. Noah took cupcakes to preschool with him, and we had cake and sang to him that night.

Here's singing happy birthday this year. Remember last year? He really wanted to make sure he blew out all the candles on his own this year, so he got an early start.

This was my attempt at some monster cupcakes - unfortunately the airheads I used for tounges melted, and the m&m's fell off of the marshmallows, and so they didn't turn out like I wanted, but the kids in Noah's preschool class didn't seem to mind.

The boys also created some spider cupcakes using licorice and black sugar. Olivia seemed to think that tasted good as well.

Noah is a very sweet boy, always wanting to give cuddles and hugs, and loves spending time with people. He's our little social butterfly, and makes a friend in an instant. He loves running and jumping, and doing arts and crafts. We can't wait to spend another year with this guy. We love you Noah!

Olivia's walking!

Remember how yesterday I was saying she's only taking a few steps and not quite walking yet? Well, today she decided she's ready to walk a whole lot more. She's also taken to cheering for herself as she does so. Listen for the little "Yay!" here and there. Can you tell we've been trying to encourage this new skill in our almost 14 month old?

Just some things...

I wanted to remember. Yesterday, after hearing Olivia cheerfully awake in her bed since 6 AM, I entered her room around 6:45. When I walked in I found her sitting in the corner of her crib with her blanket over her head like a ghost. When she heard me she scrambled to pull it off to see who had come to visit, and greeted me with a giggle and a smile. Then, she stood, in the same corner, which happens to be next to a book case. There were some books sitting on top of the book case, and she reached each arm through a different slat opening in her crib, and picked up a book, and began flipping through the pages as she pressed her face against a 3 opening. I wanted to get a photo of this hilarious little act, but I knew if I left the room she would drop the book and cry for me. So I just stood there and enjoyed the moment. She is a silly little girl. Her favorite past times lately are sitting, rocking and pushing. She loves climbing into chairs, the kids sized chair in her room in particular, but anything she can scale. Also sitting in anything she can fit into, like laundry baskets and toy boxes. We have a little wooden rocking horse which she gets up on and rocks all on her own now.

She also likes to rock in our Ikea chair, and the rocking chair in her room. She has some great push toys which she likes to toddle around with, but she also loves pushing her brothers. That's a habit we'll need to brake before nursery starts.. She's still crawling to get around, but seems to dare to take a few more steps everyday. Today I think she took about 10, and was grinning from ear to ear when she got to where she was going.

Now, to change the subject, we are not so excited about our latest house guest. When we first moved in our new place there were ants. Kind of annoying, but with one treatment they seem to be gone. Our newest "friend" is the stink bug. We started noticing them on the screens, and on our front door, sometimes making it inside. Well, the other day I came down stairs to go out the door and found at least 20 of them all around the door frame (on the INSIDE of the door...). I left, and came back, and there were hundreds on the outside of the front door. I quickly bolted in side (as quickly as you can with 3 kids and huge flying insects attacking you) to find the number in the house had at least quadrupled since we left. So I got out the vacuum and sucked them all up. Luckily it's been raining, which seems to keep them away. I found a not so helpful article which pretty much says "deal with it." Maybe it will just rain all fall....

First day of preschool

This was actually Noah's 2nd day of preschool. His first day was a little bit thrown together - I got a call Tuesday morning that there was a spot for him, and an offer for him to start that day. So we jumped in the car and off he went, without a chance to take a photo. But I promise he looked this happy the first day also. He was so excited to go. When I told him he had preschool, he asked,"Real preschool, mommy?" I started a little co-op group with him, and he calls it homeschool. I guess it's not real in his mind...

So after withdrawing Noah from my original preschool plan, and then searching for a replacement, I ended up re-enrolling him in the first one. It's perfect for him, though. Tuesday and Thursday mornings 2 1/2 hours, with all 3 year olds. His teachers seem fabulous, and he is loving it. And since Tuesday is his birthday, he gets to bring in the snack, and celebrate with all his new friends. It was a strange feeling on Thursday. Noah was at preschool, Harrison at Kindergarten, and Olivia was napping. It was so quiet, I almost didn't know what to do. It also felt strange to have them all in different places. I suppose I'll get used to that. And love it.

Reunion

I missed my high school reunion last year, but I managed to have a mini-reunion of some of my best high school friends yesterday at my home. Melissa lives just up the road 25 minutes from us, and Laura was visiting her family in Virginia from Washington State. It was so good to see them, and their kids, and catch up. We have 7 kids between the 3 of us (!), but Harrison was at school and Parker was napping, so there were just 8 of us all together. I look forward to doing this again, soon. Thanks for coming over, Laura, Melissa, Mia, Tucker and Wyatt!

Monach Fiesta Day

On the 5th, we took a break from our labors at home and checked out the Monarch Fiesta Day at a nearby park. It was a celebration of the Monarch butterfly, and we had a great time.

They really did a great job of having activities for all ages. Olivia loved the little tube she could crawl through. The boys also enjoyed it.

They had some captive butterflies that you could go look at up close. They also had lots of caterpillars and cacoons, and every stage in between.

They were tagging and releasing butterflies every 10 minutes, so there were lots of opportunities to see butterflies up close. They look amazing - almost artificial.

They also had some dramatics for the kids to participate in. Harrison loved it. Noah was content coloring a picture with Dad.

The day ended with a catipillar race - they tied up the kids hands and feet and they had to wiggle their way to the finish line. Harrison won! It helped that he was the oldest in the 3-5 year old race, but he worked hard to win. His prize was a field guide for flowers, which he is really excited about.
It was beautiful weather, and such a great way to spend an afternoon. We'll definitely be going back to Black Hill Regional Park and Nature Center to visit again soon.

Harrison's First Day of School

Harrison started Kindergarten last week, and is loving it. Here's some pictures from the first day. He was so excited, and not nervous at all.

Sam stayed home a bit later to walk to school with us. The school is about 3/4 of a mile away, so I get a good 3 mile walk in with the round trips twice a day. I'm glad to have a walk built into my day again!

I'm not sure where Noah was when the pictures were happening - but Olivia gladly posed in her shades. She's been loving wearing sunglasses lately, but unfortunately these were lost on the 3rd day of school.

This is Harrison right before he walked in the classroom. He was just excited, and ready to go. They asked parents to just drop off and not linger, so I snapped this photo, and he ran right in. When I picked him up he reported he had a great time, and has been happy and talkative every day since. I think he's got a great teacher, and it seems he's already made a best friend. Her name is Bryn, and we hear about her constantly. Harrison said he knew he liked her the moment he saw her, "because she has a patch over her eye!" They sit by each other at lunch, play at recess, and have been scheming to have play-dates - I guess I need to figure out who Bryn's mother is...