potty seat pics

Yeah, I wasn't kidding about the potty seat making a great hat. Here's the proof!

odds and ends

Alright, this one goes out to Nanny, who apparently needs new pictures. I wanted to save my posting for the 4th when I could combine it with a birthday shout-out to Noah and Tim, but those are a couple of good guys so we'll dedicate a post just to them. Ah yes, October is here and the birthday scramble has begun. On the 4th we've got the guys, the 5th is my mother-in-law, the 12th is Darren, the 14th is Cameron, dad's on the 18th, and the grandpa, Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jim finish off the month. Honestly, family, what kind of monster have we created? Nine birthdays?!!!!
Let's talk TV. Am I happy that the new fall season has begun? You betcha! That's right, I am loving Thursday nights because PB&J are back with the whole gang from The Office. This week 30Rock starts up (with Jerry Seinfeld.... how could you NOT watch Jerry?). Monday nights are suddenly interesting again with Chuck. He's great, just great, I will not have a TV crush on him..... And yes, eventually I do want to be a Heroes fan, I'll probably have to Netflix season 1. I won't commit to buying it because sci-fi is not my forte, but I'm willing to jump on board. I'd watch reality shows like The Biggest Loser and Dancing with the Stars if the results/ weigh-ins weren't so drawn out. And this Friday my guilty pleasure show Friday Night Lights returns. Yes, I watch a drama about a high school football team, I'm really into angst and drama and football (?). Ever since Kyle Chandler got blown into pink mist on Grey's Anatomy I've been a fan of his and I think this show's the best depiction of a married couple on TV right now.
Update on Jason and kindergarten: still lovin' it. This kid never has a bad day. Apparently, everybody's his friend (especially the little red-headed girl that was hugging him all night at Back-to-School night.... hello? Can we get some PDA rule enforcement please?) I get all my information from the other moms because apparently Jason gets amnesia the minute he steps into the car at pick-up. "How was your day?" "Fine" "What did you do?" "I don't remember." And so it begins....
Cameron continues to thrive at the gym. "Jump at gym?!" "JUMP AT GYM!" She also has taken an interest in bathroom business so I jumped on it and bought her a potty seat. So far it has made an excellent hat.
One of the great things about being a parent is surprising your kids. Last Friday we picked Jason up from school in the motorhome and took the family to the beach for the evening. The plan was to play all afternoon, cook our dinner (hot-dogs) over the bonfire and spend the night. Unfortunately the rain started up at about 4 o'clock which was fine by us because the beach was howling with wind and the coloring books in the motorhome were not satisfying our children's insatiable need for activity. We did quickly light a fire, toast hot dogs and marshmellows and eat inside. We made it home by about 7 and were able to bathe and sleep in our own beds. Just a tip, use chocolate frosting on your s'mores instead of chocolate bars, it eliminates the wait time for melted chocolate (which never seems to happen anyway).

where's jason?

Has anyone seen Jason lately? I can't seem to find him. Although, there's a funny little man that's been visiting me .....

r.i.p.

On Saturday morning Darren found our friend, the tiger beetle, legs-up in the wood chips. Being the optimist I decided not to announce his death until we had made sure that he was truly gone. He's gone, alright. The kids poked it and it didn't protest. In fact, he's still in the same spot, 3 days later. So, rest in peace, Chocolate the tiger beetle. You were a good and kind beetle and you will be missed.

a little mommy time....

Fridays are going to be sweet! On Fridays the kids can stay at school until 12:30 (instead of 11:45) and eat lunch with the big kids. So today, Darren took Jason to school and Cameron and I stayed home. While she got down to business playing with Jason's Rescue Heroes, I got down to business cleaning out his toybox. Gone are all the happy meal toys, broken parts and packaging that he likes to keep in order to play "store". There was no little voice behind me saying, "oh, that's important... I need that... I know the rest of it is around here somewhere...." I was a whirlwind of productivity, sweeping up junk with a vengance, and loving every minute of it! After I was done with the kids' room I looked around my house looking for some other victim..... I haven't had a rush this great since I first cracked open my Martha Stewart Homekeeping Handbook! TGIF!

cameron

Now that Jason is kindergarten in the mornings, I've been able to have some desperately needed one-on-one time with Cameron. I've always known that she's different from Jason and the same things that worked with him don't work with her, but now I've been able to understand her specific needs. My girl needs to move! Jason could sit inside and play quietly all day, but Cameron can only stand that until about 9am. So after we drop off Jason I take a walk with a friend and then we head to the park for some serious play time. She can play hard for a long time.... running, sliding, swinging. The only thing that will make her stop for a break is the promise of a snack. Today we tried a new activity. I took Cameron to a gym for their parent and me session. She loved it! This gym has a super springy floor for the gymnasts but during the mornings the toddlers can run on it and have their circle time with songs and games. They have a lot of free time to jump on the trampolines and climb over the obstacle course. Cameron was in heaven because they have the most amazing trampoline. If you've ever been to our house you've probably watched the kids run down our hall and dive into the couch. Well, this trampoline was as long and as wide as our hallway running path. Cameron would not get off! Itried to take a few pictures but she's just too fast. She also loved the tunnel, pictured here. This class totally wore her out after 45 minutes and she became a delightful little girl who I could take into the library afterwards. It's amazing how a little play time will take her edge off and make her fun to take out in public. Lesson learned!

kindergarten

The first day of school has finally arrived! All the anticipation is over and we can get on with normal life again! Here are a few pictures from the first day. We arrived early so that I could get a few more pictures and Jason could get settled in to his classroom. We met up with Sidney Key and I think Jason was relieved to walk in with a buddy. After finding his hook, hanging up his backpack and finding his cubby we looked for his spot at the tables. What a great surprise..... Jason and Sidney were assigned to seats next to each other at the same table! This will be great until the jitters are over, but once these guys get warmed up they'll be in trouble! Jason was a little nervous, but didn't cry and Darren and I were able to get out of the room without a scene. To get over the trauma, er, sadness, Darren took me to Target to buy season 3 of The Office. I bought the "Nifty Gifty" edition and settled in for a few laughs before the return trip to school. Cameron did alright playing on her own, although she only wanted to play with Jason's Rescue Heroes and Cars cars. We picked Jason up at 11:45, said good-bye to Sidney and headed back to Paso to pick up Darren and go to McDonald's. The poor kid was grilled by his parents and grandparents and I think he had the best time going back home and playing trains by himself! Day 1 was a success!