Cutie Patooties and some artwork

Boys will be Boys: Silas has a KAZOO-shaped cut near his right eye. (We're lucky this didn't end up any worse than it did.) They EACH had a kazoo so, there wasn't REALLY any reason to fight... other than JUST BECAUSE. (Silas got hurt out of the deal.) Cut matches the large end of the kazoo perfectly.

Sydney LOVES to play GAMES on PBSkids.org!!! (We keep the printer unplugged now because it is too easy to "accidentally print". Our print queue remains QUITE FULL.)

My heart melted a little today when I went into my bedroom and found THIS DRAWING on the floor. I thought that Mike was the 2nd one because he has had a bad back since August, but Sydney declared that "That is Mommy because she is the biggest one of all of us" 

Pulled this artwork out of Sydney backpack last week. He proudly exclaimed "That's YOU, Mommy! See, you have crazy hair and a happy smile!" {love!}

It's official: Registration and Deposit Checks delivered to school(s)

IT IS OFFICIAL! Today, the boys and I dropped off registration papers, birth certificate and deposit check for Sydney to attend kindergarten! Surprisingly, (timid) Sydney was THRILLED to show Silas around the school...

See? Silas, down there is where the children eat their lunch....

In there is where the children have gym class with Mr. T...

And over here, THIS is my kindergarten classroom!

We stepped inside to find his teacher (and college mentor student) eating lunch in the classroom.

I announced "Well, it's official! We dropped off Sydney's check and paperwork for him to come here for kindergarten!"

The teacher seemed genuinely excited.

Sydney and Silas quickly explored the entire classroom.

"Wow! Look at him GO!" I announced. "He didn't explore this much the last time he was here for your Open House day,"

"I know! It's great, isn't it? He's just much more comfortable now. That's fantastic!"

I explained to her that Mike was "on board" with this school choice immediately, but I was the one with the hang-ups on the fact that we are NOT Catholic. (I'm assured that they have plenty of families that are NOT Catholic.) I explained that neither of us ever went to parochial school and that we were both born and raised Lutheran.

Shaking her head, she announced "They're almost the same. It'll be just fine."

I told her how I had continued to interview people and how everyone convinced me that it was a fantastic family environment. Recently, the allergist had informed me that HE was born and raised Catholic, he  married a Lutheran, they were a non-practicing family and that their family was THRILLED to have their children attend one of the parochial schools in town. He also mentioned that there are PLENTY of "Catholics" who never attend church. (He really SOLD ME on it.)

Sydney will have the opportunity to learn in a smaller class-size. He will NEVER slip through the cracks. They will always be able to nurture and challenge him. He will have exposure to iPads, laptops and smartboards. (The worst part for him: he wont be able to wear sweatpants to school!)

Mike strongly believes that this school will offer the most parental involvement and family-oriented atmosphere. (Personally, when the principal announced that they have a very strong emphasis on FAMILY and COMMUNITY, I was immediately intrigued.)

And an added bonus: it's close enough that we'll be able to BIKE THERE or WALK, if we want to!

• • •

From there, we drove 3 minutes away (.8 miles) to drop off registration papers and deposit for SILAS to attend 3 year old preschool (where Sydney has enjoyed going these past two years).

Last night, Silas and I went to their OPEN HOUSE for Silas to explore the classroom. He is THRILLED to FINALLY get to attend school (in the fall).

Immediately, upon waking, he asked "Is TODAY the day I get to go to Sydney's school?" Followed up with "Is TODAY anyone's birthday?"

He will be SO EXCITED to turn THREE! (And to go to preschool!!!!)

• • •

In the blink of an eye, they aren't babies anymore. (I'm SO PROUD to be their mom! I've got TWO FANTASTIC LITTLE BOYS!!!!!)

A First Time for Everything: SNOWSHOEING

We tried something NEW today! It was a BEAUTIFUL WINTER DAY! The boys lasted THREE MINUTES before asking to go home from the trails at Swiss Valley Nature Preserve. (Two minutes longer than Mike anticipated!) Once they got their snowshoes off, they were back at FULL SPEED AHEAD and seem to have enjoyed themselves more. Sydney got into a bunch of burry prickers and was NOT happy to make that discovery. Daddy came to his rescue. As soon as Silas spotted a stream, he asked if we had brought fishing poles and informed us that we should GO FISHING NOW! Then, since we had no fishing poles, they decided that the fish would like to eat SNOWBALLS so, they kept taking off their mittens to throw snow towards the running water. Our self-timer picture did NOT work; the camera fell from the flat surface where I had it balanced. Thankfully, I had thought enough to tie the camera strap around a post first, saving it from the wet snow. The only proof we have that I was snowshoeing was the photo of Mike's and my snowshoed feet together. Overall, I'm glad we tried it! (Mike claims he would have preferred to ride a horse instead.) Regardless, it was a nice day to be together as a family. {love these guys SO MUCH!}

Click on the pics to view them larger.

 

What a funny kid!

SHOOT! This was in my DRAFTS folder and when I hit publish, it did it TODAY (in 2014) I'd guess that this post was REALLY from BEFORE SILAS, so prior to May 2011. I'd guess that Sydney was between 10 and 18 months old when I wrote this post. (He was non-vocal until at least 18 months, but VERY COMMUNICATIVE!)

Sydney has been VERY OBSERVANT again (or shall I say STILL).

On more than one occasion, he has stopped reading books to go flip through a different book - because he is in search of SOMETHING.

APPLES

One book has a red apple, the other has a green apple. He likes to show us the two different pages as if saying "Hey, look! Apples!"

MILK

Two of his picture books have a photo of a bottle of milk. "Look, there is milk there AND there!"

DRUMS

While reading his "Hands, Hands, Fingers, Thumb" book about monkeys drumming, he stopped to flip through his bedtime book "I am Blessed" to find the page where the little boy is playing a drum. He pointed at both books, as if saying "Look, drums there AND there!"

BUTTERFLY KISSES

One of his picture books has a blue butterfly. Whenever he gets to that page, I announce "Butterfly". Sometimes, he responds with the spoken word "KISS". Then, of course, we have to take off my glasses so that he can have a butterfly kiss. 

Today, while reading his "Yellow and Yummy" Winnie-the-Pooh book, as soon as he saw the butterfly, he wanted me to take off my glasses so that he could have a butterfly kiss. He did the same thing when he saw a butterfly within the pages of his Elmo search & find book. (Thanks to Aunt Sue, he sure does like Butterfly Kisses! It is SO CUTE! When we said hello to her on Skype the one day, he wanted butterfly kisses. He's a smart kid... he KNOWS it is her!)

BLOWING & CATCHING KISSES

At dinner last night, Sydney flirted with his own reflection in the dining room window. Mike convinced him to blow "that cute baby" some kisses. Then, Sydney started "catching them" like Grandma Olson does. When Mike and I talked about where he learned that from, Sydney pointed upstairs - indicating that Grandma Olson does that on the computer (thanks to Skype).

ICE CREAM

This afternoon, Sydney stacked up a tower of tin cans in the kitchen. Then, I whispered into his ear "Daddy has ice cream!" Sydney stopped instantly and took off running towards the living room - in search of his favorite: mint chip ice cream (with daddy).

"Look," says Mom, "a Digger!" SILLY MOM...

While driving today, I spotted construction equipment on a trailer and announced "Look! A digger!"

Silas, age 2, quickly corrected me "No, mom. That's a backhoe!"

Baby book confusion... you'll see!

Shoot! Found these old posts in my DRAFTS folder, but once I hit PUBLISH, they all saved with TODAY'S date. (I believe this was from early 2012.)

This afternoon, I had pulled out Sydney's baby book (birth to first birthday) and was AMAZED at how much Sydney and Silas resemble each other!

When Sydney got up from his nap, I encouraged him to look at the book with me.

Immediately, there was confusion. "Look, Mommy... Baby Silas!" he announced - pointing to a photo of HIMSELF.

"No, that's YOU... that's Baby Sydney!" I corrected.

"No, Baby Silas." he assured me. "Look!" he said as he pointed to another photo of himself.

"You're right! Baby Silas looks JUST LIKE Baby Sydney did when YOU were little! I think he's going to be SUPER CUTE - JUST. LIKE. YOU."

"Yeah." Sydney agreed.

We flipped through the entire book and I showed him how every time we turned the page, Baby Sydney got a little bigger, a little bigger, a little bigger. Eventually, he saw a picture of Baby Lucy on her first birthday. I didn't know if he would recognize her, but he instantly smiled and pointed, exclaiming "Lucy!"

Happiness and Positive Psychology (HIGH FIVE GUY)

The day Daddy made an IGLOO

WI Weekend - late JAN, early FEB (MRI, haircuts, sledding, FUN!)

The boys seem to have understood mommy's explanation of a MRI because they were excited to tell Daddy all about it. (I went to Madison for a MRI on Friday.)

Friday afternoon 

We enjoyed LUNCH at Culvers with Papa Olson and Grandpa Lowell. Then, some playtime with Aunt Sue, Uncle Willy, Rachel, AvaLynn and Abigail before leaving to go get haircuts from "the pretty Princess". AvaLynn was rather upset... as SHE wanted a pretty princess haircut, too!

The boys LOVE to sit in the "astronaut chairs" at the beauty shop. They also get to choose between "a trim" or "a haircut" (and our beautician plays along with it!)

I love how the boys RECOGNIZE the school by Nana & Papa's house, as well as roads while we drive. They will suddenly announce "Hey, we're in Beloit!" or "Don't we have to turn HERE?" I also love how excited they get when they realize "Yay! Nana's house will be on MY SIDE of the car!" I also like "YEP! This is the way to Nana's house!" :)

Saturday was a DAY OF FUN! 

Uncle Mike came in to visit with us AND to go SLEDDING!!!

Grandpa Lowell, Nana, Uncle Mike and I walked down to "the pool park" (as Uncle Mike and I still call it.) with the boys. :) Actually, there was a house that hadn't shoveled yet so, Uncle Mike and Sydney SLEDDED down the large hill to the park. FUN! (Unfortunately, I had bumped the setting on my camera and THOSE pictures, sadly, did NOT turn out.) Papa Olson met us down at the park a while later and watched from a picnic table in the pavilion.