First Day and Last Day of School for 2012-13

Aiden will be in preschool again this fall, but today was his last day for this school year!  Aiden has really grown a lot this year and looks and acts more like a little boy than a toddler.  He is smart, silly, and very mischievous! 

Hard to believe Luke will begin KINDERGARTEN in the fall!  He is still minus one tooth with another one soon to follow.  Luke wants to be "bigger than Daddy."  He is caring to other people and children (most of the time), loves to please, very independent, and wants to be about 13 years old like the big kids in our neighborhood.

Liam will also begin KINDERGARTEN in the fall and is super excited.  He continues to be very easy going, meticulous, funny, obedient, and hardworking. 

Kindergarten Here we come!

They have changed so much since September 2012 when we started this school year (see below).

 

First day of Preschool for everyone!  September 4, 2012

First day of Preschool as 4 year olds on September 4, 2012

Aiden's first day in the big boy preschool class on September 4, 2012 (2.5 years old)

We went to see the St. Paul Saints (a minor league baseball team) over Memorial Day weekend.  It was chilly and windy!

Liam enjoying his cotton candy



On our first sunny day in about a week, we enjoyed a hike with some friends (nine little boys, one not pictured!)

Despite the cool and rainy weather, we also enjoyed a short hike on Memorial Day.  The boys loved it.



Aiden was a mess after his cotton candy, but Liam hardly had a drop of stickiness on him!

 We had our last day of school for the 2012-2013 school year.  The boys have all grown a lot since they began school last September as 4 1/2 and 2 1/2 year olds.  Its amazing to look back at the pictures and see the physical differences in each of them.  We had a great year and we are looking forward to a big year this fall. 

We recently decided to keep all three boys at Montessori for another year.  While we looked at public, private, and charter schools for kindergarten, we ultimately decided it would be easiest if they were all at one school for at least another year.  With a new baby arriving in August, there will be lots of change for us so keeping schedules as simplistic as possible is a bonus.  Luke and Liam will attend three full days of kindergarten and Aiden will continue to attend two half days for preschool.  The Montessori school where they have all attended since around 2 years of age only goes through kindergarten so we will be making some changes for first grade. 

We are excited about some camps, vacation, Bible school, pool days, and other fun activities this summer.  Of course, the arrival of Baby boy #4 is getting closer and we are all excited to meet him!

Tennis Anyone?

With relatively minimal instruction, Liam was hitting the ball pretty well.

Aiden couldn't understand why riding around in the garage while they were hitting balls off the wall was not a great idea

Liam

Luke said it was good exercise

Taking a water break

The tennis in the garage went on for at least an hour on the first day we tried it and they asked to do it again the next day.

Super sweaty, but it was a lot of fun!

I know I have said this many times on the blog, but I am a big fan of nearly any physical activity that is safe and burns energy!  It also never hurts to try a new sport in a state where hockey seems to be emphasized for at least 75% of the year.  The boys have been playing with some old plastic badmitton rackets a lot recently so I got them some tennis rackets.  They were in love!  There are not too many things they don't like especially if it involves a ball and hitting with a bat, racket, hand, foot, head, etc...Over the last week, we have had several consecutive days of rain (5 so far) and thunderstorms so the opportunity to play outdoors has been a little limited.  On the day that we broke out the tennis rackets for the first time, it began to rain shortly after we arrived at the tennis courts.  So, we came home, left the car on the driveway, and closed the garage.  Luke and Liam began hitting balls off the wall for at least an hour.  I would say the rackets were a success and once the rain clears, we will try the tennis court again.
 

Luke's first tooth (continued) and Mother's Day 2013

Showing his brothers the pillow with his tooth inside

Very excited to see what the tooth fairy brings!

Heading to bed with the pillow under his pillow.  The tooth fairy brought a $1.00 bill and a quarter because the boys kept asking for some type of "gold coin" so a quarter seemed to suffice.

Liam with his bird feeder in the tree.  It was a beautiful Mother's day, albeit a bit chilly.

Aiden and his bird feeder

Luke's bird feeder is really difficult to see but he has one in this tree as well

We made the bird feeders and the planters over the winter (or actually spring, but it was as cold as winter) at Home Depot Kids Workshop.  We planted a few flowers and herbs in each of the planters so we will see what happens.  I am giving them a few days hanging up there before they are mysteriously knocked off.



AJ's Mother's Day gift was a folder with several drawings throughout the year along with some questions and answers about Me.  Such as, my mom's favorite food is: "all her dinner"; or my mom's favorite flower is: "a rainbow flower." 

Luke's Mother's day gift 2013

Liam's Mother's Day gift 2013

A few weeks ago I mentioned that Luke lost his first tooth on May 2.  We ordered a tooth fairy pillow that evening, then John was out of town for about a week on business, so the tooth fairy delivered the pillow on the evening that John returned from his trip.  Very convenient, right?  Luke was super excited to put his tooth in the pillow and wake up the next morning to a surprise.  For some reason, he and Liam kept talking about having a "gold coin" in the pillow so we put a quarter and a $1.00 bill in there.  Ironically, the exact same tooth is a bit loose on Liam now so we will be better prepared if he loses it pretty soon.

I had a very nice Mother's Day with John and the boys over the weekend.  We planted some flowers on Mother's Day and were finally able to use the planters and bird feeders we made at Home Depot over the spring that felt more like winter.  Each of the boys also made some special gifts at preschool.  Aiden was so proud of his book he made that he wouldn't give it to me for the first 24 hours or so.  I asked if it was a present for me on Mother's Day and he said, "nah, maybe next time."  He finally forgot about it so I put it in a safe place for years to come.  I am so thankful for these three (almost four) that call me Mom and consider it such a privilege to be entrusted with them.  Motherhood is by far the most difficult job I have ever had, but certainly the most rewarding as well.  Happy Mother's Day to my Mother and Mother-in-Law as well!

 

Spring is finally here!!

Spring is finally here.  We are so happy to be outside in some warmer temperatures at the playground.

These are a few of our favorite things for today...

Standing on the sand table making "cake"

Stirring the "Cake"

Aiden

Liam catching sand

Luke wanted me to take his picture up high

Spinning each other in the swing

Liam is so excited that he is strong enough to work the diggers this year

A little snack

Aiden and Liam

 

Luke's First Lost Tooth

I am posting an update on this because I am certain I will look back (probably when Liam, Aiden, or baby #4) loses his first tooth to see when it was that Luke lost his first tooth.  A few hours after I posted yesterday, we sat down to eat dinner and Luke said, "Mom, look at how far my tooth moves around!"  He had just bitten into a carrot and the tooth was literally hanging in his mouth.  I called John over and he quickly pulled the tooth out.  As we were getting in the car on Monday to go and play, he told me to take a look at his tooth because it was "wiggly."  Luke and Liam have said this many times and I have felt their teeth and not noticed a lot of movement, but this time it was indeed loose!  We had our discussion about the tooth fairy last night which Aiden plainly explained to his brothers what is going to happen (according to what he has learned at preschool).  We are waiting on a tooth fairy pillow to arrive so that the tooth fairy can come.  Yes, we are holding out for the pillow which I just ordered yesterday before the tooth popped out.  Congrats, Luke!  We can't believe you are old enough to lose a tooth!!  The funny part was seeing Liam's excited yet perhaps a little disappointed reaction to his brother's lost tooth.  He really wanted to join Luke in the excitement.  This morning, he has already had me check to make sure that none of his teeth are loose yet.

First Tooth!  May 2, 2013.  Note the carrot still in his mouth (right side)!

 

Spring...where did you go?

Blurry I-phone pictures, but we were so excited to wear our new pajamas without sleeves.  The boys have been asking to wear them for a few months now, but I told them we had to wait until the snow melted. 

 

Dinner and ice cream with neighborhood friends at one of our favorite local places.  It has a backyard patio area with a swingset for the kids.  Peaceful dinner for the parents!

Luke's obstacle course from the boards on the hockey rink

Liam on the obstacle course

Liam running the boards again

We finally had a little taste of spring over the weekend.  We basically skipped temperatures in the 50's and 60's and went straight to 70 degrees, but I am not complaining.  The boys were so excited to wear shorts and short sleeves.  For the first couple of days, they were still putting on their coats and trying to pull down their short sleeve shirts.  The ground finally thawed and the ice melted enough to get rid of the hockey rink.  Luke and Liam had a fun time making a maze from the boards.  For our 3 days of spring, we spent most of the day outside and the boys wanted to get out all the summer stuff in one day.  They pulled out balls, bats, the jumping thing, even puzzles and legos from inside and then asked if we could could get out the swimming pool. 

Following our big 3 days of spring, winter returned literally overnight.  I heard this lovely piece of information on Minnesota public radio and thought I would share how "lucky" we are to possibly see snow in May.
About once every 30 years or so, there is a snow event that is enough to cover newly greened lawns and coat budding leaves in Minnesota. The last time there was a snow event in May greater than an inch in the Twin Cities was on May 2, 1976 with 1.2 inches. The most that it has snowed in May in a single event for the Twin Cities is three inches. This has happened on three occasions: May 20, 1892, May 1, 1935 and May 11-12, 1946.

When it started snowing at breakfast yesterday, Liam suddenly screamed "oh no, its snowing again!  I wanted to wear shorts and play outside!"  Luke followed with his disappointment and I tried to reassure them that this was not normal and it would melt very quickly.  Aiden followed up with how much he loves the snow and started singing "Frosty the Snowman" for us.  Pretty positive that three of us were not amused.  I do, however, feel very fortunate that we dodged another big storm today.  We were forecasted to get 6-9 inches of snow today and thankfully the storm moved south of us and we just barely missed it.  It is still cold, but no wet, sloppy, slushy white stuff this time.  We could still get some in the next couple of days, but I am hoping it will be minimal.