One Big Week for Two Big Boys!

What a huge week for both boys! Harry having full days at Elementary and Thomas missing his afternoon naps to attend preschool....

I think this pic sums up how the boys feel after their first week at school. We were still in the car park at preschool when I took this. Thomas was so tired he fell asleep while I buckled him in.

Harry's New Desk!
We bought a banged up, pre-loved, old wooden desk from the local thrift store...

I really wanted Harry to have a space where he could work and not be distracted. So Dave and I decided to buy him a big boy desk for his bedroom.

He can work, in peace and quiet. He can close the door and have his own space away from toys, tv and one distracting little brother....fingers crossed my optimism for homework being done pays off!

We sanded the top down and painted the bottom part and draws, BLUE...Harry's choice! It is going to look great in his room. Harry is taking so much pride in his stuff especially when he helps make/fix it! I will upload more pics of it in his room when its dry.

Harry and Daddy working together!

One Happy School Boy!

There is a room just for lunch!
Harry's stories from the first day of school...

Not only was he excited about the room (cafeteria) just for lunch, but he came home beaming with so many wonderful stories from the day.

I picked Harry up from the bus stop up the street, he literally jumped off the bus and into my arms from the top step, so excited to tell me of his first day!
He wore a beautiful shell necklace he made that day that he placed around my neck and a note pinned to his shirt from the teacher.

His excitement from the day was overwhelming, in a good way. I had not even had time to ask him how his day was "Mommy...the school has a room just for lunch!" Was the first thing to come out of his mouth. So fast and so full of excitement. I asked him what else he did today.....

"Mommy, there was a room for music too! I need to go back to school so I can learn some more things." Oh music to a mommies ears! "I made friends and sat with my legs crossed. The bus was loud and fast and went past Kat the Coffee lady" He barely took a breath.

That night he did not want to get undressed "If I get undressed I will not be ready for school and I don't want to wear my pj's to school, I need to wear big boy school clothes!" Together we organized his clothes for the remainder of the week so he would see that he wears a new outfit everyday. All stacked neatly in a hanging organizer.

I know I have used this word repeatedly but if I had to sum it all up into one word it would be....EXCITED!

The excitement of a Kindergartner!

Tears of joy were running tonight! It was not only an exciting night for Harry but this mommy was so proud to see her big boy loving his new school. Tonight Harry had his open house at his new school, Bryn Mawr Elementary.... running eagerly through the big blue doors, huge grin on his face, looking for familiar faces, excited beyond belief! "Mommy is this really my school?"

We walked to his classroom and met his teacher for the first time, Mrs Wilson. She is just wonderful, enthusiastic, sweet and outgoing and we are lucky to have her as a teacher. We spoke briefly and a great impression was left on both Dave and me, not to mention Harry who has not stopped talking about her.

His class room is bright and colorful, with a huge playground just outside the windows. The kids each have a locker with their name's already marked on it, its so organized and ready, big school is about to happen!

I am sure this will be the first of many wonderful stories to come from school and we look forward to blogging all about his school experiences.

Here are some photos of Harry enjoying his first moments in his classroom....

Learning to let go!
Thomas is off to Preschool in a few days....

Today was the Hillcrest Preschool open house for all students attending this year! I am not sure though if Thomas realised it was for him? He is so used to visiting the Preschool because of Harry. Thomas will be in the same classroom with the same teacher. Which is wonderful, we love Teacher Becky. I just hope Thomas understands that he will be starting here in a few days!

Its very exciting, although a little sad. Its a time of very mixed feelings and crazy emotions! For a mom its scary, not being there to protect your little ones 24/7 trusting that they can do it on their own, or with the help of a teacher anyway. Hoping that they make friends and will not get picked on or bullied. Why do I want to be so over protective all of a sudden? If anything I should be letting go and encouraging their independence....help! Maybe I'm the one with the separation anxiety this time?

Today we are buying a big boy desk!

It feels so official, Harry really is a big boy now! We are off to hunt for a big boy "work" desk today. He is so excited to have a place he can work and not be constantly annoyed by his little brother. Harry has his heart set on a bed/desk, one where the bed is up on a platform like a loft bed and the desk is under it. We will see though. He has a queen size bed so I am not to sure if they make ones that size? Any how, we are heading out and I will update when we get back to what we find...
Harry is so excited I just had to blog this moment! I wish I could share the excitment with you all through the computer. Its like he's one the golden ticket....hehehe!

Summer....Please stay a little longer!

We had a beautiful weekend of sunny, warm summer weather. That was until now! The rain's have returned and looks set to stay for the next few days....grrrr

Here are some of the latest summer blooms from my garden.

Chocolate Milk Bubbles
Today was a day full off Corvette's Coffee Choc milk & Crayon's

On the way to IHOP this morning, we stopped at another one of my favorite local Coffee houses...Vince's Its just up the street from us, maybe a 2min drive if that! They serve wonderful Italian coffee in a great atmosphere a real cafe feel from back in Aus, not your Starbucks type place at all! Full of the character and charm of an old Italian cafe, big comfy couches, rich cozy colors on the wall, lots of vintage prints, somewhere you want to buy a coffee and then hang out at for a while! Oh and did I mention the coffee rocks....so strong, just what you need first thing in the morning!

Daddy taught the boys how to blow bubbles in their chocolate milk! The excitement on Thomas face was so worth it...."more bubbles daddy" Harry drew a beautiful picture of his red power ranger today at IHOP, while Thomas is really into trying to write letters. He will ask us to write a letter for him and then he tries to copy. It will just be a stick, but he is really trying! The boys love coloring and playing the games on the activity sheet. They have a find-a-word, which I have turned into a "find the letters in your name" game. What great entertainment for them and what a great break for mom and dad!

While in Issaquah today, we dropped in on Triple X after breakfast to see what car show they were having. Today was the Vette's.... oh soooo sexy! We all went today and had a wonder.....
Harry reminding Daddy not to touch the cars "just look daddy!" The owner was so impressed by Harry's behaviour, he thanked us for teaching Harry to respect others cars and then asked Harry if he wanted to sit in the drivers seat! You should have seen how the face lit up, Harry got to sit in a beautifully restored Vette.....truly the highlight of his day!

The Renton Art & Antique Walk

Harry had fun checking out all the art and "old stuff" he even

a painting of Nikko

After a fun time with our friends today, Harry and I headed home. Off we went through downtown Renton....what's the buzz? I thought, so many people, stalls, displays....oh we just have to stop and check it out!

It was the annual Art & Antique walk in old downtown Renton. We parked the car and went exploring this fun festive day in Renton....Harry was excited how all the shops had candy and cookies for the kids!

relized when I got home I didnt take many pics of the displays!

The SUN is back!
Our fun morning of friends waterplay & gardening

After a week of clouds, rain, storm warnings, thunder & lightning and wind....the sun is a welcome sight! Thank God that summer is not over quite yet and we can still enjoy some outside play.

The boys and I spent the morning with a group of friends at a new spray park in Tukwila. It was great! The boys loved running around, jumping, ducking, splashing, squealing and laughing! They have water cannons in the shape of Nemo's, there are fountains to run under, water that bubbles out of the ground and many other unexpected things that squirt when your not looking...What a fun place to be on a hot summers day, we can not wait to go back.

After a few hours of playing we came home for lunch and then spent the afternoon playing in the backyard. Such a beautiful day, I think its around 75deg today with a slight breeze and perfect blue sky.

The boys were happy playing in their fort, so finally I had a chance to garden! I bought a few plants last week before the bad weather set in. I had been looking forward to getting them in the ground. The garden smells so fragrant, I planted some white geraniums, lavender, rosemary, passion vine and a Italian cypress. Fingers crossed I planted them in the appropriate places and they survive. Still trying to get a grip on this gardening thing!

Such a beautiful day, don't want to spend too much time inside on my laptop!

Scissors Harrison & Hair

Hearing from the living room a very proud scream off "Look what I did Mommy!"

I came rushing into see what the excitement was all about....Did he clean for me? Did he do a beautiful drawing? Did he eat all his breakfast?.....hahaha!

That's not what he was excited about!

The first thing I notice was a pair of bright blue and green kiddy scissors in his hand. I thought great he has been doing craft. That thought quickly ended as I turned to do a quick check of the room for cut drapes or upholstery.

The worst fear was then discovered......

Sitting neatly on the corner of the coffee table was a little bundle of blond hair....who's was it? I quickly checked out Thomas as it was Harry holding the scissors after all. Nope he's little head of hair was fine.

I then went over to Harrison, without saying anything he says "what?" as if to say he was Innocent! From the front he looked fine, but on inspecting the back of his head....there it was a bold spot, the size of a milk bottle lid smack bang in the middle at the back....oh Harry!

So of cause I had to do the mom thing and grab the camera. He was so proud of himself as you can see in the photo with the big grin. No scissors for Harry for a while!

Harry's favorite super hero.....Spiderman!

Its true love! He is obsessed with anything Spiderman. I am sure if I showed him a Rorschach ink test he would only see Spiderman or something Spiderman related....lol!

As a reward for being such a wonderful helper this week. He got to choose a book at the store last night. You will never guess what he picked......

Make a Splash!

Today reached a scorching 92 here in Seattle, that is HOT!

What to do on such a hot day....hmmm?

Fill the pool with ice cold water from the tap and watch the boys squeal as they get wet! So much fun to watch. I'm sure it was refreshing though, they had a ball!

Here are some pics of the boys enjoying the refreshingly cool water....

Warning: rated N - for nudie boy! most were to N rated to post

Wobbly Green Jelly....




Nothing as refreshing as cold, lime jelly on a hot summer day!


It was a very hot day, the kind of day you want to do nothing except find AC or a pool.
The boys had been swimming but started getting a little bored.
So we made some wibbly, wobbly jelly.
Thomas got to choose the color and Harry got to sprinkle the crystals in the bowl. Harry did a great job of helping stir the jelly. We poured it into small bowls and then placed it very carefully on the top shelf of the fridge. OK Harry, we need to leave them in the fridge to get cold and firm. 5mins later "mommy is it ready now?" oh boy, this is going to be one long afternoon...kind of like, are we there yet? Are we there yet?





3hrs later and it was ready to slurp, not super firm but firm enough to resemble jelly.
And for an impatient 5yr old, that was good enough....Yum!

A good Karate school is hard to find!

Either I am just being a difficult mom or there really hasn't been that great of a Karate school yet! We are still on the hunt for the right Karate school for Harry and its proving harder than I thought!

We visited another local Karate school yesterday. Again just up the hill in Renton, Kim's Karate on Sunset. It was great timing as it was the beginners class. But beginner class for anyone and was mainly filled with adults. Harry was trying his hardest, but it was a huge class and he was just getting lost in the room. And for a first time student I didn't think it was very nice of the instructor to speak down to him and say "buddy, are you awake?" There were a few other kids there, but you could tell they had been doing it for a long time.

I don't think I am quite ready to throw him in the deep end yet and will keep looking until we find a Karate school that offers a kids only or kid friendly program catering to the interests and the attention span of a kid.

If anyone has had experience with putting their child into a Karate program I would love some feedback as to your experiences....thanks!

A house full of boys...whats a mom to do?

Teach them to put the seat down that's what! Replacing the toilet roll and picking up their socks will come next....hahaha!

Harry has been potty trained for years now, but I really feel he is not there unless he completes the whole routine. This not only includes the regular washing of hands and flushing...etc.
But also putting the seat down! Harry's future wife will thank me =)
"Mommy, why do I need to put the seat down?"
"Harry, why do you think you need to put the seat down?"
"Is it so we can sit on it and so you don't fall in and get angry with daddy?"
"hahahaha!" gosh that had me laughing, "that's right" I said.

Harry is still a little confused as to why I don't just stand....ah, the joys of boys!

Big Boy School is just around the corner! Somethings we are doing to help Harry prepare for Elementary...

Harry wearing his new school bag and being silly at the store

Its so exciting and scary to think of Harry going off into the world of Elementary school. All I want to do is protect him and keep him happy and safe! How can I do that when he is away from me so much of the day...gosh do I sound over protective or what?

In preparation for what is just around the corner I took Harry shopping for his school supplies last night.

Pack of Crayons
Pack of Colored pencils
Kids safety scissors
Glue sticks
A ream of computer paper
Cardboard folders with pockets
Lunch box
School bag
Box of tissues

We had a lot of fun choosing what he wanted, anything Spider man and he was happy, such a boy!

I decided to buy him a second set of everything so we could have it at home for his new desk/homework space....he's growing up and becoming so independent.
All I want to do is cry and snuggle with him like I did when he was my little baby. He is totally ready for school but I'm not there yet! I think this mom needs to prepare herself for big boy school still and learn to let go....OK, so typing that I totally starting tearing up! I hope school is kind to my kind, sweet little guy.

Check out the school he will be going too, I've attached a link to it in the side column.

Round and Round the Meadow....

Some of the little daily things that make being a mom so rewarding

Harry cleaning up his room and making his bed without even being asked. He loves saying "mommy was that a great surprise"...the best type of surprise I say!

Reading Thomas his favorite book at bedtime "Round and round the meadow" he can now finish the sentence's and is even spelling some of the animals names. He loves letters.

Harry putting himself to bed at last night saying "goodnight mommy, I'm going to bed" takes himself up stairs, gets dressed the whole bedtime routine down pat...even his toothbrush was wet!

Thomas enjoying soccer and being left, I think the separation anxiety is over! T is really into it, he listens to the coaches instructions and does his best at it!

Hearing my boys both say please and thank you without being prompted.

My new favorite mommy reward is the kids club at the local supermarket. I can put them in there for an hour, so mommy can shop in peace....whoo hooo!

I guess you can tell I am having a good day with the boys....lol! They really have been wonderful lately (knock on wood!) Which has come at a good time with Dave working so much. Its made this mama's life a little easier and sooooo rewarding to see them grow.

Playtime at the Park!

Here are some pics from a play at Fort Dent Park this summer.