Brotherly mornings

On weekend mornings, the boys internal clock still wakes them up around 6:30 - 7am.  We always want to sleep in, so the boys often get to play together on one of our phones or ipads while Scott and I snag a few more minutes of sleep.  They're so cute sitting together and sharing.

Liam isms

It's been a while since I've shared some of the funny tidbits that Liam says.  It's hard to believe that he used to be in speech therapy - you would never guess it by listening to him.  I was talking to his teacher the other day and she commented that he uses some phrases that make him sound older than three.

• She said that Liam asked to come inside from the playground becuase 'it's terrible hot outside'. He picked up this phrase from my mom!   
• We passed a car on the road the other day and Liam said 'So long slow pokes'
• He knows how to spell his name but we're still working on writing his name.  The other day he wrote the L, I, attempted the A and then said how do I write the letter in my name with the up and down up and down with all those hills (meaning the M).  
• The boys like to bring the fruit to the table during dinner.  Liam hopped out of his chair and said he wanted to mail the fruit tonight.  We were so confused about what he meant until I asked him to show me, and he wanted to deliver the food to the table.  
• The boys have been playing with Mario and Luigi characters again and Liam has started to call him Seezee.  Not sure if he has trouble saying Luigi or if he's just renamed him.  
• We dropped Karsten off at school, and as we were driving out of the parking lot, Liam said 'I miss Karsten, it's more fun when he's with us.' {melt my heart}
• I asked Liam a question and his response was 'the truth is mommy...'

Who's in charge?

We've been telling the boys that Grandma and Grandpa were going to pick them up from school today and they were very excited.  When Karsten brought this paper home from school, I was stumped trying to figure out why I had dark, short hair.

When I asked him about it the next day, he said it was a picture of Grandma and Papa becausethey were in charget at our house while Scott and I went to Back to School night.  LOL, of course, why didn't I think of that?!

Blue Angels

We were excited to see the Blue Angels would be returning to KC to participate in the air show. Rather than battling the crowds and busses to the airport, we decided to find a spot to watch outside the airport.




Travis provided a great suggestion and we scored a good seat about 30 minutes before the Blue Angels were scheduled to take flight.


Right on schedule, we saw Fat Albert, the Blue Angel's C130, start to taxi toward the runway. Everyone watched with excitement as the plane took off and sharply climbed into the sky.  Before we knew it, it banked and flew low right over our head.  Everyone thought it was super cool, but Liam was scared by the noise because it was very loud.

I had read an article about Fat Albert and was excited to tell the boys that a woman was flying the huge plane.  Good for her!  I want them to know that anyone can do whatever they set their mind to - kudos to that pilot!


After several passes, it was time for the C130 to land and the Blue Angels to take flight.  The boys brought their metal Blue Angel planes that we got when we went to the Blue Angel's 'home' in Pensacola, FL.


Seeing them fly in formation is so cool, I'm always in awe of how close they get to each other.




Liam was very perplexed by the smoke, he didn't understand why they were smoking.





Everyone was thrilled when all six jets joined together in this formation - they were beautiful!


When they started this manuever, the boys were like 'WHOA, where are they all going?!'


Can you imagine being a bad guy and seeing this coming towards you?  Pretty intimidating if you ask me!  Thanks to the miliatry for all they do to protect us.


A great way to spend a beautiful summer afternoon - great entertainment and lots of fun, family time!

Karsten's Teacher

As I enjoyed flipping through everyone's first day of school photos on Facebook, I realized I had forgotten the obligatory photo with his teacher.  I may have obsessed about it for several hours before I realized I could easily take the photo on Wednesday.  Jeez - the things I worry about!



And Karsten even humored me on the way into school and agreed to take a picture with our associate pastor.  Looks like a put a filter on this picture or turned it black and white, doesn't it? Oddly enough, I didn't do a thing to it, the light must have confused my camera and I ended up with this odd filtered look.

First day of Kindergarten

Today was the day we had been talking about and planning for all summer.  Karsten was excited to be going to Kindergarten, but was nervous as well. Liam had a great first day of school yesterday, and I think his bravery helped encourage Karsten that he could be brave as well.


His school has done a great job with activities to make the kids feel comfortable with each other and to get to know the school.  We've gone to summer play dates, an ice cream social and he got to visit the school one more time at enrollment.  He was shy at each of these events, preferring to stay close to us unless one of his friends from pre-k was there.


I'm so glad we waited and didn't send him to kindergarten right after he turned five.  I think at five he was ready academically, but the extra year has given him additional social and emotional maturity.


Getting him to smile for pictures is still an adventure.


I wish we could put tiny little cameras on their sholders and watch what they do all day and how they interact with everyone.  I asked a bizillion questions when I picked him up but I got a lot of 'I don't remember' answers.  I keep asking and eventually learned bits about his day that I can piece together - I'm learning that some questions are better openers than others.


When Karsten was born, I remember having a conversation with Kenna about kindergarten and how we hoped the district would offer full day kindergarten by then.  I thought we had SO much time before we had to worry about kindergarten.  Not true, not true at all.


I want to try and enjoy every minute of these years - I know they go far too fast.


Lucky me, I have two wonderful boys!


Our neighbors were outside taking their own back to school pictures, and they kindly volunteered to take a family picture.


Hopefully the teachers are ready for these two monkeys.


And then it was time,  Scott dropped Liam off at school then came to meet us at Karsten's school.  Karsten and I took a few more photos and talked about how much fun he was going to have, then headed to school.  The principal and priest were outside greeting everyone as they arrived.  I tried for a photo, but Karsten said 'no' in a sad voice.  I didn't want to push it, so I let it go and we headed to his classroom.


They wanted to take photos of each Kindergartener with their parents - rumor has it we will see this photo in a project at the end of the year!



We got his backpack put away in his locker, and he humored me for a photo.


He was excited to see his little friend, Sam.  I was so excited that Sam was in Karsten's class, I think the transition would have been much tougher without a friend by his side!


Then, he went right over to his desk and sat down - he was ready to get started.  The whole thing went much more quickly than I had anticipated.  I looked at his teacher and quietly asked if we should head out and she said 'yep!'


I gave him a big hug and told him to have a great day.  He jumped up for one more hug as we got ready to go, but then he went back to his desk and looked through the book he had chosen. As we walked out, I asked Scott 423 times if I should go back and check on him to make sure he was ok - bet you know the answer from Scott.  Before we left, I did peek in one last time, and just like Scott predicted, he was just fine.  I'm so proud of him!


He only had a half day, and I couldn't wait to pick him up and hear all about his first day.  I got there a bit early, so I was toward the beginning of the pickup line.  I think I spent 10 minutes agonizing if I should park and go into the school and get him or wait in the pickup line.  It was pouring rain and most of the parents seemed to be in the pickup line, so I stayed with the group and braved the pickup line.

Sam's mom invited us to join a group going to pizza for lunch. We met so many great people that we look forward to getting to know more - such a welcoming community that we've been lucky to find!

Splish Splash

The boys love going to the pool, but sometimes Scott and I don't want to get in the pool.  Since that's not really an option with the boys ages and swimming skills, we suggested water fun in the backyard when they asked if we could go to the pool.

While Scott filled up the water balloons, Karsten checked out the progress from his zinia.  They planted these for Mother's Day, and they're FINALLY blooming.  We were beginning to think it would just get very tall - Karsten is standing next to the flower, can you believe how tall it is?


Karsten got the first water balloon and Liam did a little dance to taunt Karsten that he wouldn't be able to hit him.


Karsten thought he would get closer to to increase his odds, but then Liam bolted.  He's a smart guy...


Lucky for Liam, the balloons had to hit you pretty hard to actually break plus Karsten wasn't throwing very accruately.


I don't think any of us were throwing very accurately, check out this balloon going right over Karsten's head!


After the water balloons, we got out the sprinkler and remembered that a few of his 'arms' don't work.


The sprinkler was entertaining for a few minutes but then we got out the small pool we had.


We explained several times about why all of the water wanted to run out the side of the pool (it was slanted downhill), but the boys didn't believe us and were perplexed.  After pushing down the side and letting out a bunch of water, they seemed to realize what was causing it.  They had a good time playing together in the small pool.

First day of preschool

Today was the long awaited first day of preschool for Liam.  Liam has been going with me to drop Karsten off at preschool then pre-k for two years, so thankfully he is familiar with the school and several of the teachers.  We arrived today looking forward to seeing Liam's beloved Ms. Sharon who he chatted with and got a snack from every morning when we dropped of Karsten.  Unfortunately, she is on vacation this week, but one of Karsten's previous teachers was there so Liam still had a familiar face!

I was worried about how he would do when it came time for us all to leave, especially since Karsten would be with us and he would leave as well.  Scott and Karsten found a toy for Liam and got him started playing, and by the time we were ready to go, he was happily playing with the toy.


I gave him a hug and kiss and hoped that the little boy crying about his dad leaving wouldn't make Liam think that he should be scared too.


We lingered for a minute as we signed him in, just to make sure he didn't run after us for one last hug and kiss.


But he did awesome - I was so proud of him!


I feel like we just dropped Karsten off here for his first day of preschool.  The Kenny Chesney song 'Don't Blink' is the soundtrack in my head this week.


I can't wait to hear all about the fun he has, the friends he makes and the stuff he learns.


And these two are going to miss each other like crazy.  They totally have their moments where they fight like crazy and push each others buttons, but they play together so well and really enjoy each other's company.


I hope they stay this close as they get older and they each have their own set of friends.
 

My three favorite guys




Liam requested a Flash backpack - thanks to a plain backpack and a Flash patch sewn on by my mom, we were able to make it happen!