Thanksgiving 2012

This year we spent one of our three Thanksgivings in Palatka at Aunt Nadine's house.

Brandon is holding a wooden car that Grandpa made a hundred years ago.

Mer and GrandMer helped with an art project.

Uncle Wyman brought the motorcycle.  Brandon was officially in a limbo somewhere between heaven and hell.  Is that called Purgatory?

(Uh nope.  Nevermind.  Just looked that one up on Wikipedia.)


He gets all excited about motorcycles from a distance, but when he was near it and heard it turn on, then SAT ON IT.  It was a little overwhelming.

 

 

Here mommy is asking, "Brandon, what sound does a motorcycle make?"

Brrrrrrrmmmmmmmmm!!!!!

Not her thing, for sure.  I think she heard someone refer to it as a "horse."

Little Big Man

This guy is growing so fast.

All our kids are, really, but he seems to be going through a growth spurt, therefore it seems he's growing faster for now.

Could be he started school and I don't get to see him as much.

Could be he's really taking this whole "big" brother thing seriously.

Could be he's digging the new Reward Jar system I started and is striving to do anything for a puff to fill the jar and get any of the bagillion toys advertised on TV.  You know, the kind of commercials that are so heavily edited they make a 4-year-old think Legos Star Wars are actually flying through space without the assistance of a hand and fingers.  Or the commercial that makes the Hungry Hippos look like they actually come to life as a cartoon while they're chomping at the marbles.  Or the commercial that turns Hero Factor figurines into flame-throwing, gun-wielding, building jumping save-the-world robots.

Ugh.  Those commercials.  THOSE COMMERCIALS!  They're enough for me to consider shutting off cable TV.  Just so he won't be tempted by every. single. advertisement. and shout during Brandon's naps, "I want dat!  I want dat!  MOM, I WANT DAT!"

[OK, so not really on that whole shutting off the cable TV comment.  I still HAVE to have my HGTV, Fashion Police, Project Runway and an occasional E! News segment.  And I'm pretty sure Jim would wither away to nothing if he had to go without Wicked Tuna, Duck Dynasty, Swamp People and Ice Road Truckers.]

I digress.

That's right, I'm talking about this guy.

Hmmmm.

He makes my heart melt.

He's either off or on.  Hot or cold.  Forward or backward.

But when he's on, he is ON baby.  There's no one sweeter, kinder, more lovable, giving, compassionate or cuddly.

(It's just that the alternative has it's equal and opposite lows.  Oh my.)

I love you sweet boy Nathan.  You're my biggest defender, my roller coaster partner and my fellow thespian.

Hugs and kisses,
Mama

CowPapa & the grandkids

Nathan's 1st day of school

Can't remember if I've mentioned the whole wait-list situation with St. Paul's Pre-school right by our house, so here goes anyway.

Back when I was trying to get Katherine into a 3-year-old program, I called St. Paul's around June/July asking about entrance into the program.  There was a waiting list and Katherine was #12 on it.  I didn't know then how hot this little school was within walking distance of our house when I made that first call, but I quickly learned.  Friends, friend's friends and heresay helped me figure out that the "norm" was to be there on the day of open registration, before the office opened, and wait in line.  Uh, okay.

Katherine ended up going elsewhere and we never got a call inviting her.  #12 was too far down on the list I guess.

This year, the day of open registration in January, the office opened at 8 and I had to drop Katherine off at 8.  Me and the boys hot-footed it over there as soon as we could and got in line at 8:30.  The line was 25 people long!  NOT KIDDING!

I found out later on that people were there at midnight that morning!  NOT KIDDING!

Anyway, after all that, Nathan ended up being #4 on the waiting list.  I thought, "January to August, certainly 4 kids will drop out to make a spot for him.  Right?"

I even got a call in June saying he was moved up to first on the waiting list.  Just need one little kid to leave and he's in!  Sweet!

June came and left.  No call from St. Paul's.

July came and left.  No call from St. Paul's.

August came and left.  No call from St. Paul's.

September came and left.  No call from St. Paul's.  Jim and I had a talk about waiting vs. finding another school.  We decided to hang on through his birthday.

October came and left.  No call from St. Paul's.

November came and right around Thanksgiving they FINALLY said there was an opening.  We opted to wait until January since we had already started him at another school the beginning of November and there were only 2 weeks of school in December.

So January 2nd, the same day Sissy went back to school after Christmas break, Nathan started at St. Paul's.

The other little school he attended was very loving, accommodating, kind and generous.  He was starting to act out here at home, out of boredom I'm sure, so the 2 days a week at Loving care was just enough.

Here he is his first real day of school, at Loving Care.

Rocking the Spidey lunch box.

Yes, there were tears

No, they weren't from him.  That's just what I do when my babies go to school for their first day.


He walked right into class, followed the directions on where to put his lunch box and jacket and sat down.  His teachers beamed when describing what a good boy he was.  Every time I picked him up for those 6 weeks, Miss Judy would brag about how kind, helpful and well-behaved he was.  She was sad to see him go right before Christmas.

So after Christmas, Nathan started his new school at St. Paul's.  He did the same thing.  Walked right in.  Followed directions.  Sat down.  Was a stellar young man.  Received raving reviews from his teacher.

His little friend Jackson is in his class too!

Great news is we're considered alum now, so hopefully the process won't be so difficult for Brandon.

I love you big man.  You melt my heart.

1st grade trip to Brown's Corn Maze

Katherine's class took their Fall field trip to Brown's Corn Maze down in Oxford.

Very cute setup.

Very excited and energetic kids.

One very honored momma that got to hang out with her girl.

Not kidding when I say that I'd love to waller in the corn myself.