First ride on the school bus!

Thomas loves seeing the school bus go by in the morning. His two favorite toys at the moment are yellow school buses and he loves singing wheels on the bus, he's not obsessed but he does have a love for them!

The look on his face when he got to climb aboard today was priceless!

We saw the bus approaching from the top of the hill "school bus mommy! school bus mommy!" he would scream while jumping up and down, seriously! The excitement was so high pitched.

The doors opened and he looked at me, you could tell from the look that came to his face, he so badly wanted to go on but wasn't sure. "Go on, climb up" I said to him. He lifted his little leg, it just reached the first step, its so high off the ground. He reached the top of the stairs and looks around...."Harry? Harry?" He called "Where are you?" Thomas thought we where getting Harry from the bus. I continued to tell him that it is his school bus and it was going to take him to see teacher Becky, he just could not wait to sit down.

A little worried I said good bye, he looked a little worried too. As if to say "aren't you coming with me mommy?"

Off goes my big boy on his little yellow bus.

School Photo's.....

Time for Haircuts!

First week of school and already its school photo time. We took the boys off to our favorite little hairdresser.....man they look cute!

What handsome little guys...

One down...
We survived the first full week of school....Phew!

What a HUGE week!
Its Friday and man are we all looking forward to the weekend!
Early starts and long days are really taking a bit of getting used too.
But here are some of the boys funnies and highlights from this week....

Harry reminding me every morning that he is finished with school because he has learnt everything! Really Harry? and off he goes for the day...

Thomas calling one of his teachers at school "Teacher Chicky" Its hilarious!!! Her name is Jackie and he can not say it correctly and it comes out as Chicky.

Harry's addiction with Power Rangers is growing more and more...agh! HELP!!! From the minute he wakes up to the time he goes to bed, if he's not at school he is wearing his blue Power Ranger costume. "Mommy am I a real Power Ranger?" He's totally convinced he is...lol!

Thomas calls the girls at the gym....Gym! Hi Gym, he says to the kids club coordinator's. Apparently he would go up to them and ask them for something and address them as "Gym" such a goose! Thomas is having such a funny week with names.

Thomas has two new phrases this week....
"AGHHH Its Scary!" He says that to just about everything! with his hands over his face, he must have seen someone else do that.
And the other one, we know he picked up from his brother is "What the?" I know what your thinking, and no we do not encourage this one, but it does make Dave and I laugh (quietly) Harry picked this one up from school and Thomas picked it up, luckily not the complete version of it though!

But who will help me bake the bread?

OK, so I won't bake it but I sure know where to buy it from.

The Franz Factory outlet in Tukwila is amazing....check out the cart!

That whole cart cost just under $15...crazy!

To buy this bread "retail" its at least $4 a loaf. I bought 10 loaves of bread as well as muffins, bagels, cookies and ginger snaps...yum! They have this great deal where you buy 5 loaves for $5 and you get 5 free, how unreal is that!

So I guess my real question is, Who will help me eat the bread?.....lol! There is not enough room in my freezer.....Help!

Now that Harry is taking lunch to school each day, I also make a lunch for Thomas too to have when we are out and about together. When you throw in toast for breakfast and lunch for Dave we are going through quite the number of slices a day....hmmm peanut butter sandwiches, yum!

Anyone know of a good recipe that uses bread?

What a crazy busy week!

Between Kindergarten, Preschool, School buses, working out, PTA, Moms Group, Friends, Soccer, Karate.....my head is spinning!


But amongst all the chaos there is the "eye of the hurricane" that small window of time that I get to myself with out the whirlwind of craziness and demands. Four afternoons a week I get the freedom and flexibility to do anything (well almost anything...lol!) for three hours.


Soon my free time in the afternoons will be taken up with volunteering at the boys schools and doing PTA stuff. But in the meantime I have been enjoying strolls through local nurseries, time in my garden, even had a date with Dave...OMG!

Dave worked from home on Tuesday, the boys were both off to school, it was time for Dave to take a break surely.....what to do? So we went out for coffee at Vince's my favorite local coffee shop, no chocolate milk or toy cars, no interruptions or distractions, instead adult conversation and coffee! Love it!! We are going to try and do this once a month, sooooo special! We talked about what we want to do together, funny memories of our dating life, trips we want to take, the kids! And so much more. It was a wonderful way to spend a sunny, kid free afternoon.

Presenting Harry's finished desk....

What a big moment in this little guys life (or should I say power rangers life!)

It seems as if he grew 5yrs in the time it took to bring the desk up the stairs, to when I saw him sitting, working at his desk for the first time....What a big school boy!

He loves it and could not wait to work at it.

"Mommy is the sun setting?"

"No, there is still a few hours of sunlight today, why?" I replied

"I want to do my work and you only work at night" said Harry. I have no idea where he got that idea from, but when I told him he could work at it anytime he wanted too, you should have seen the uncontrollable smile on the face....so excited to do homework. I will be reminding him of this moment when he is in middle school and hating it...lol!

My Kindergarten Photo.....

Thornleigh West Public School, I can not remember my teachers name, isn't that terrible!

I guess it was over 25yrs ago in 1982. I am first girl standing on the left. What a bunch of 80's cuties...

Its quiet....

Harry's at school and Thomas is asleep!

What a morning. Harry had a late start today due to the weekly Friday late start for the Renton School district. Ahhh a sleep in! We all needed it after such a big week...He didn't need to be there until 10am. We enjoyed a long breakfast and some morning cartoons.

I took Harry to school, he's still so excited to go. After dropping him off Thomas and I did our customary stop at Sips on the way home for quad shot fat free iced mocha and a tootsie pop for T. That should get us both going, caffeine for mom and sugar for the little man....whoo hoo!

Later that day it was time for Thomas to nap, I gave him the 5min warning and he came over and said "goodnight" gave me a kiss and took himself off to bed! WOW! Even typing this I can't believe he did that, what no tears, no fighting nap time! He must be exhausted.

I went up 5mins later to check on him and he was sound asleep in bed with baby George. What a great little guy.

What a great opportunity to do some laundry and catch up on house work. Not more than 5mins later....BUMP! THUMP! CRASH! DRIP, DRIP, DRIP! oh no what is going on upstairs?

I ran up to my master bathroom, there is Thomas washing my makeup case full of makeup!!! AGHHH! This was after he had covered his face in black eyeshadow!!! So I turned off the tap, saved my makeup and grabbed the camera....

Thomas you little monster! (OK mom I know you are getting a real kick out of this, please send me the photo from when I was this age covered in your makeup....hahaha!)

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!

School Memories....

Had to share this class photo from Pennant Hills High. So different to school here in the states, we had to wear uniforms to public school! I missed that on Harry's first day and kind of wish he had a uniform to send him off in!

I am down the front, 5th from the left...we look like a bunch of sailors!

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!

All by myself....

a mommies first day all by herself in 6yrs!

I miss him! Its now lunch time and I really miss him. Its nice to have just Thomas time, we spent the morning gardening and drawing out on the porch. Its been wonderful to have some special time with Thomas... But I can not stop wondering how Harry is doing? Off in the world without his mommy...ok, yes I am tearing up! and being sooo over protective.

His wonderful teacher Mrs Wilson asked the parents to fill out a questionnaire on our kids. This will help her get to know her new students and focus the curriculum based on their likes and interests. One of the questions asked was
"what do you hope your child will achieve in their kindergarten year?" A love of learning and a foundation that helps him love school.
"what is something wonderful about your child?" His sweet and caring nature, the way he is so empathetic and kind towards others. His imagination and creativity with inventing and story telling.
"What are some of his favorite things to do?" Invent contraptions, figure out how things work, build machines and buildings out of everything, tell stories, draw, rhyme.
It was a great little questionnaire, I feel so proud of my little guy!

Thomas is off to school now and I will have the next 3hrs to myself....whoo hooo! What to do?
Well I just got back from Lowes. What a wonderful hour of looking at plants without distraction. I am home now and have an hour before I need to go pick up Thomas. It feels really strange, I feel like I have left them at the store and I need to go back and get them. I am looking forward to this down time to really get back on top of the house work after a busy summer break!

I am heading out now to get Thomas and then meet Harry at the bus stop. I will update with how Harry went when I get back...I am so excited to see him!!!

Harry's first day at Kindergarten ....

"Mommy, why do I go to school?" So you can learn lots of new things, like your letters, numbers, science....etc. Oh said Harry, that sounds cool!

Today was a day of many firsts...
First school lunch box packed
First day choosing school clothes
First goodbyes at the school building
First day of the 12 plus school years ahead.....

Harry was so excited to start school, he could not sleep the night before and was up till 10pm!

He kept popping his head down the stairs saying "mommy, can I talk to you about school?" sure! He would ask me questions like, does the school close at night? do the teachers like it there? will it be a long day? I asked him if he was a little nervous? he said yes in a shy little voice, like he really didn't want to admit it, but the nerves where more than he could hide. He so badly wanted to be the big boy on the day! I think he was more excited for his first day than he has ever been for Christmas, just beautiful!

Beep, Beep, Beep! 6:30am school day! I was feeling the nerves and excitement today too! The big day was finally here. I woke Harry up, with his eyes closed still he said is it school today? As I replied yes, and a huge smile appeared on his sleepy face. Quick as a flash he was out of bed and getting dressed...so excited!
With his school bag already packed and lunch made we headed out to the car, the smile on his face was just infectious. You could not help but feel the joy of his first day of school.

We finally got to school and walked to his class, his eyes were so big and full of hope! The innocence and excitement was priceless and I sure hope it lasts. We reached his classroom and greeted his new teacher, Mrs Wilson was so excited to see Harry and welcomed him with open arms. Thomas too got a hug, very sweet! Bye Mom, Bye Mom, he was so excited to get on with his day. He lined up at the school door with his class and walked in with his new friends.

I kept a brave mommy face as I walked away, the tears started streaming the min I got to the car....my little guy is now in a world all on his own. I hope I have prepared him for this next adventure in his life.


I'll post more when he gets home!

Thomas and his first day of Preschool Good Bye Little Man!

Backpack on! And he's running out the door.....He's so excited for his first day at Hillcrest and to see Teacher Becky. Thomas is going for half days in the afternoons, four times a week. We love Hillcrest and love the teachers and staff there.

He is still trying to figure out the backpack thing and usually ends up wearing it across his tummy or dragging it.

We arrived at school a little early, we saw one of our friends from last year so we headed in. Posed for a few photos and then walked through the doors as a big school boy for the first time!

He was a little unsure as I said goodbye to him, looking at me strangely as if to say....where are you going? But he was fine and there were no tears!

I peeped around the corner for a few moments to see what he would do, he just waited in the class line, played with his new friends and spoke with the teachers. Nothing like Harry and his first day at preschool, lots of tears!

Thomas is in Harry's old classroom with his old teachers and some of Harry's friends. Teacher Jackie is still there, while Teacher Zeba has moved rooms. There is a new teacher, Teacher Wendy who seems really sweet and I look forward to getting to know her.

I want to do some volunteering in the class this year, now that I will have some free time! Not to mention PTA duties as Co-president!

Thomas is loving school and is fitting in really well. He is sitting for circle time, paying attention to the stories, singing the songs and even listening...OMG! Teacher Becky tell me you secret...lol!

I look forward to blogging more stories of Thomas and his preschool adventures....stay tuned!