Dinner with a Side of History

Tonight at dinner, instead of giving in to the kids insisting on watching something on TV, we left the TV off and started a conversation.

Me: What did you study at school today?

Cutie Pie: We learned about Lewis and Clark.

Me: You did? What did you learn about Lewis and Clark?

Hubby: (Correcting me.) Lois and Clark.

Me: What?

Hubby: LOIS and Clark. (Blank stare from me.) I think it was Lois and Clark...

Me: No, dear, that's Superman.

Hubby: Oh...oops.

Me: (To Hubby) I'm totally blogging about this later. (To Cutie Pie) Please continue.

Cutie Pie: Lewis and Clark set out to find...

Pot Pie: (interrupting) SUPERMAN!

(Laughter from everyone.)

Me: Please continue.

Cutie Pie: Lewis and Clark were two explorers who...

Pot Pie: Peed their pants!!!

(More laughter.)

Me: Please continue. Pot Pie, no more interruptions.

Cutie Pie: Lewis and Clark were two explorers who were sent by Thomas Jefferson to see about reaching the Pacific coast. They had a Native American guide named Sacagawea.

Hubby: Wasn't she an Indian Princess?

Me: I think you're thinking of Pocahontas, sweetheart...

I love having these conversations with the boys as a family. I look forward to every day, asking them what they learned at school. Even though they usually answer "Nothing.", I know they are learning because our conversations are becoming much more informed, much more opinionated. I hope to be able to challenge their thoughts as long as I can, until they are smarter than I am. Then maybe I'll learn a thing or two.

Spit Take!

In our house, with our three sons, we deal with quite a few conversations about private parts, especially about the appropriate terms to use when speaking of such areas. I try to answer the kids' questions as honestly and appropriately as possible, with as vague and undetailed answers as I can possibly get away with.

Today while riding in the car, all was quiet until Pot Pie asked a question.

Pot Pie: "Mom, what is another name for private parts?"

Me: "Just, in general? Besides just calling them private parts?"

Pot Pie : Nodding yes.

Me: "Hmm...well, genitalia is another name."

Pot Pie: "Genitalia? What language is that?"

Me: "Its the medical term. If your doctor is charting about your body parts, he or she may call your private parts genitalia."

Pot Pie: "Does everyone know this word?"

Me: "Yes. Its a common term."

Pot Pie: "Even the French? Do they know this term?"

Cutie Pie: "Yes, of course they do. It even sounds like a French word!"

Pot Pie: "Well, my genitalia is HUUUUUGE!"

And that, folks, is what caused me to spit my drink all over the steering wheel.

End of the School Year

Today marked the last day of the school year for our children. I know they have learned so much this year, and they've grown so much, physically and emotionally. We are very blessed to have three awesome sons. I love watching them experience life and I'm looking forward to a summer of fun with them!

Our Cutie Pie... Here he is on the first day of school.

And here he is today, leaving the building for the last time as a third grader. (Ignore the holey towel...it was water day...)

And here he is with his student of the month award that he was awarded with yesterday for trying his personal best and being most improved! We are so proud of him!

Here is our Pot Pie at the beginning of the school year...

And here he is leaving the building for the last time as a first grader!

Here is our Pumpkin Pie at the beginning of the school year!

And here he is, leaving the building for the last time as a kindergartener!

Wordless Wednesday: A New Chapter in our Boys-Only Family Story

With a housefull of boys, you think we'd be old pros at team sports, but we've always let the boys take the lead on what they wanted to do. Pot Pie is our gymnast, and is more than content to stick with his chosen sport, especially since he will start competing this year and is looking forward to winning "medals and twophies". Pumpkin Pie is still figuring out what he likes, and will not be choosing any sport at the moment, though more than likely, due to his increased risk of retinal detachment and his not great vision, he will not be playing any contact sports. We may try soccer in the future.

This week marks a change coming to our household. Cutie Pie came to both of us and let us know that he would like to play tackle football. We were both surprised...and more than a little excited!!! I can't wait to see him play, though I must say I'm a little afraid of what we are getting into, since we have NO CLUE what we have signed up for. Practices...games...being team mom...offense?...defense?...special teams?... I thought about picking up a "Football for Dummies" book so I can actually appear to know what is going on in the fall. But first, we hit a huge tent sale to get ready for the season, picking up cleats, football pants, practice jerseys, mouthguards, etc, because speed and agility camp starts next week. Here's to another new adventure!

Our latest struggle: ADHD

When school started this year, we were all excited. Pumpkin Pie was starting Kindergarten. I was afraid that he should have stayed in pre-k; due to his size and his speech delay, I didn't want him getting frustrated with not grasping new things and then hating school. Pot Pie was more than ready for first grade. He was reading pretty well, and we already knew we loved his teachers. Cutie Pie had been looking forward to third grade all summer. We had started working with him on multiplication tables and we had asked around to the other teachers and the teacher he was assigned to came highly recommended from everyone we talked to.

Needless to say, it came as a complete shock to us when Clint called me upset after school on the third day. He told me that Cutie Pie's teacher asked if he was on any medication. When Clint said no, he informed me that she replied he ought to be. Based on the information that we had been given about her, I was slightly less ready to get worked up about it than my husband, who is a protective papa bear. :) I tried to reason with him, that she had about 30 years of experience with third grade students, and that we needed to be open to her suggestions.

The next morning, I spoke to her, and she relayed to me what a difficult time he was having paying attention; that he couldn't finish any assignments in the time she gave him. She told us he seemed to be unable to focus, and she recommended he be evaluated. That day, when I got to work, I immediately called our insurance company, who directed me to a play therapist. I got him an appointment for that day. His evaluation went smoothly, nothing seemed to jump out at the therapist as a potential issue. There were no red flags. I told her we were afraid he had a learning disability, or at the very least, a reading delay since he had tested below grade level. She recommended we get a reading tutor, and if we still felt he needed to be evaluated for attention issues, she referred us to a psychiatrist.

After I took him back to school, my sister-in-law, who has truly been my rock and my shoulder to cry on (albeit, usually through texting because she's crazy busy too) through this whole mess, told me about a reading tutor. I called and scheduled an appointment. Then, I called the pyschiatrist and scheduled another appointment. Then, I sat in my office, and cried. I felt like a failure...the worst mother in the world. I felt like I wasn't supposed to be the mother of a child with ADHD. With everything we went through with Pumpkin Pie, all the time in the hospital, all the speech and occupational and physical therapy, the constant reminder of his speech delay when I ask him to repeat himself or tell him I can't understand him, I should have been able to handle this. But it just seemed like a huge blow. That night, as I sat down to help Cutie Pie with his homework, I noticed how hard it was for him to stay on task. He was fidgeting, easily distracted. He couldn't sit still. I constantly had to redirect him to his paper. It was an unbearable 2 hours. The next day, it was the same thing. After a week of this, we couldn't wait for his appointment with the psychiatrist. While we waited through that agonizing month, it was never far from my mind what we were facing. I laid in bed at night, trying to figure out where we had gone wrong. Too much TV? Too little reading time? Did we praise him enough? Did we baby him too much? I emailed a mutual friend of ours from our old church, who is a mental health professional, and asked him every question I could come up with. He answered each one, and informed me that I needed to quit trying to be a perfect parent, because they don't exist.

One weekend, Clint's brother, who I absolutely love and respect more than he can even imagine, who loves our boys and is one of very few that I feel we can truly count on to be in our corner, came over and told us about a conference he had been in where they talked about lead poisoning being a cause for attention deficit disorder. Immediately, my mind raced, and I googled everything I could find on the the link between lead and ADHD. I was absolutely dismayed. For five years we've lived in our 80+ year old house, which probably has 5 coats of lead paint on the wall underneath the 3 we've painted since we moved in, and we've done a ton of work. I just knew that we had stirred up so much lead dust over the years that surely this was what caused Cutie Pie's ADHD. I felt absolutely helpless thinking, "Great, I have a son with ADHD, and now we have to move as soon as possible.", which started all of these other feelings of hopelessness about the dismal prospect of selling our home in the current real estate market. I called our pediatrician's office and got a referral for 3 blood tests. I had to know. Everyone I talked to told me it was highly unlikely, that they'd have to be eating lead paint chips 24/7 for it to cause any adverse effects, but I wouldn't rest until I knew for sure. We took the boys to get their blood drawn, and then waited an excruciating 7 days for the results, which all, thankfully, came back negative.

Finally, the time came for his appointment with the psychiatrist, Dr. H. She and I talked for an hour, while Cutie Pie sat in front of me and played with the toys in her office. After we spoke, she recommended that he be put on a low dose of medication. She told me the pros and cons of different kinds of medications. I asked her just one question.

"Will the medicine change his personality?"

At that moment, I broke down, trying to cry quietly so he wouldn't notice. I couldn't stand the thought of losing my little boy with the ability to create these amazing sculptures out of Legos, who could sit and sew with me for hours, who makes me laugh with his hilarious outlook on anything and everything. He is so creative and so loving and with a huge heart for helping others, with a huge faith and the ability to talk to God in prayer as though they are sitting across from each other. I refused to put him on any medicine that would change him. She assured me that we could try the medicine, and if we didn't like the result, we could just stop giving it to him, because it wouldn't stay in his system.

That night, I filled his prescription, and started him on the new medication on a Wednesday. I didn't tell his teacher right away that he had started it. The doctor told me not to tell her, because she wanted to see if his teacher would notice a difference without being clued in. After a few days, I asked and his teacher did say she noticed a change in his classroom performance. She said he was able to complete his work, and he was obviously listening more and answering questions. Initially, Clint was really upset with her, but truly she has wanted nothing but the best for Cutie Pie, for him to get the help he needed. We are very blessed to have her as his teacher.

When this whole experience began, we both refused to believe he needed medication. We vowed to do anything we could before we started him on medicine. But now, after being on the medicine, after witnessing the abrupt change, like a light switch was flipped on, Cutie Pie is feeling much more confident in his abilities, and after struggling for so long, its very relieving to watch him come home with less homework since he's finishing more in class, and to complete his homework quickly and with a greater understanding than before. He called me right after school when he made his first 100 on a spelling test. He's still in reading tutoring one night a week, but he's making swift strides, and has already caught up to grade level. We're thrilled with his progress. With the recent advances he has made, we felt a good reward would be something he's been requesting for awhile: a guitar. He started lessons today, and we are excited for him to be passionate about learning to play. This whole experience has shown me once again that I have to trust in God, that I can't make everything right. I have to accept the assistance that is out there, and that people who care about us and about Cutie Pie were put here by God to get us through this endeavor and onto the other side, far away from the issues that plagued him. We are blessed.

Hello Again

Wow. Its been a long time. Since the beginning of the year, things have been extremely busy. I feel like we've been in survival mode for the past 8 months, due to a really super strenuous time for me at work. But, I have started a new position at the hospital, and things are definitely starting to feel normal around here again. :)


Speaking of back to normal, SCHOOL STARTED TODAY! WHOO-HOO! And the moms and dads rejoice. HALLELUJAH!


Here is my biggest boy, CUTIE PIE! He started 3rd grade today. He's looking forward to a year of standardized testing, multiplication tables, and maybe some long division.

Here's POT PIE! He started 1st Grade today! He was so excited to start school today, and he is definitely ready for some homework.

And last, but certainly not least, is PUMPKIN PIE! He's a great big KINDERGARTENER! He had a super fun day!

Here's all of our big boys together, ready to start another great year at school!

IN OTHER NEWS, my sweet hubby has taken up the hobby of photography. Coincidentally, I have taken up the hobby of editing photos in Photoshop. Here's a photo he took of me last week.

And here's a photo I took of him. ISN'T HE HOT!

All in all, things are going pretty well around these here parts. I hope to get back to more active blogging soon. Take care, ya'll!

Cutie Pie's Christmas Dance

I should have done this last month, but January has FLOWN by. Here's Cutie Pie with his Hip Hop dance class, doing a Christmas show.

Obama Speech

Today at the boys' school, the teachers were given the option to show the President's speech in class. Since it was aired at 11am Central time, it seemed to me to be inconvenient because some students were already at lunch. I didn't speak with Pot Pie and Pumpkin Pie's teachers about the speech. For Pre-K and Kindergarten students, the speech seemed to be a little long and lost on kids who aren't entirely sure what a term paper or a science project is.
I did inquire into whether or not Cutie Pie's teachers would decide to show the speech in class. Unfortunately, they didn't have the proper equipment with the right connections in order to show the speech in class. If they had, I would have gladly come to his school to watch the speech with him, so that he and I could discuss it. From what I read in the speech once it was finally released, there was nothing that we don't already try to enforce every day. We are always telling the kids that they need to work hard, stay in school, be good leaders, and set goals for the future. Obama's message about personal responsibility (something that I feel he should be encouraging to everyone, not just our kids) is the same point we try to get across to them at all times. Therefore, Sweetie Pie and I decided that we would show the speech tonight to Cutie Pie. We both had read the text of the speech, and saw no reason not to share it with him.

After he watched it, we both asked him questions about what the President had to say.

Us: "So, what was the President telling you?"

Cutie Pie: "Uhhh...to be nice?"

Close, but not quite.

Us: "What else?"

Cutie Pie: "To work hard! And.....get good grades!"

Us: "Right. What else?"

Pot Pie: "To get POOP grades! BWAHAHAHAHA"

Us: "(Sarcastic) Hilarious. What else? And Pot Pie, don't say Poop again!"

Cutie Pie: "To be good leaders and set a good example. And to go to college."

Us: "Excellent. Who does the President say we will help if we work hard and succeed?"

Cutie Pie: "Uhhh...Jesus!"

Because, when in doubt, Jesus!!!

Us: "Well...how about our country?"

Cutie Pie: "Riiiiight....our country. America!"

Us: "Right!"

Cutie Pie: "Can I have something to eat?"

Because that's how all of our conversations end...

The Rational Child

Today on the way home from church, Pot Pie asked this question:

"Why are the birds (pronounced "buhds") sitting on the wires?"

Then I, being the silly mother I am, the kind of mother who relishes in preserving my children's juvenile, cartoony visions of the world for as long as I can, replied with:

"They are sitting up there, looking down on us humans thinking to themselves 'Boy, do we have it easy. We just get to sit up here on the wires, watching over everything, eating seeds whenever we want, and taking a dip in a bird bath whenever we feel like it. We don't have any worries or troubles.'"

Pot Pie seemed to accept this answer, but Cutie Pie contemplated it for a moment and then said matter-of-factly:

"Unless they get shot. Then they have worries. And, boy, do they have troubles!"

So much for preserving their childhood innocence...

Extracurriculars

I could sit for hours and watch my kids do anything...as long as they are having a good time, and are benefiting either mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, creatively, etc...I will make time to take them to and from any activity they are interested in. So, when Cutie Pie asked to start taking Hip Hop lessons, we were all for it! He's having a blast and he learned so much over the summer...its really making him come out of his shell. He's already enrolled in classes through the school year, and he also asked for voice lessons, so we'll see what happens! We may have a future boy band member on our hands. HA!

This is a video from his last summer dance class...



And speaking of extracurricular activities...for 2 years now, Pot Pie has been taking gymnastics (except for the six months he had to take off when he broke his arm...) He is determined to start competing so that he can win trophies, and he has already informed us that one day he will be at the Olympics. I don't know where the summer Olympics is going to be in 2020 (Wikipedia says a local group is trying to get it set right here in T-Town!), but, whatever city it is in better watch out! Team USA has Pot Pie, and he's going to wipe the mat with them!
Okay, maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself...
This is a video of him on the parallel bars, which currently is his favorite in class. However, last week he started private lessons with his coach, so in December he'll start competing, and he's already decided he wants to master the rings.


Now we just have to figure out what activity can keep Pumpkin Pie's interest...we're thinking along the lines of another dance class...perhaps tap and ballet? He loves to dance, but he mainly only seems interested in contemporary dance, and nobody offers that for 4 year olds...

Back to School

I've been meaning to write about this, but like everything else I try to get done in a day, it falls to the wayside. Here are some pictures of the boys' first day of school.

Cutie Pie's 1st Day of 2nd Grade...geez, I feel old

Pot Pie's 1st Day of Kindergarten...he's developed a little bit of a sarcastic attitude over the summer...Don't know WHERE he gets that from...hopefully it won't get him into a ton of trouble this year...DRUM ROLL PLEASE! This year also marks our littlest one's entrance into public school education. Pumpkin Pie started Pre-K this year, and, for those of you keeping score, you'll notice that means I no longer have any kids in daycare!!! Throw the confetti now. Hip, Hip, Hooray!

While this may seem like I am completely and utterly blissful about this, I actually am crying a little inside. Never again will I send another of my babies to their very first day of big boy school. That hits me a little hard...not that I regret us making the choice to end our days of baby making for fear of a repeat of son number 3's entrance into the world, because I don't regret it. I'm enjoying the freedom of having 3 Mini Clint's around who can completely entertain themselves...

The boys all enjoy going to school, and thankfully they have teachers that we already know and love. We're looking forward to a FANTABULOUS year!!!!

Backyard!

For the past few weeks, we've been working on our backyard! We are eager to have a backyard oasis to escape to (even if we can hear the Broken Arrow Expressway traffic), plus, it will keep our puppy pal, Marley, contained and prevent him from chasing other neighborhood folk down the street.
Here's the kids' big outside toy. You can hardly see it, but their zip line goes from over the rock wall...

to a tree on the other side of the yard (not pictured)

In the 3 trees pictured here, we'll be putting in a tree house before too long...the kids can't wait!

In this corner of the yard, we'll be doing an outdoor kitchen, complete with a grill and a bar to sit at while one of us cooks.

We're eager to finish our backyard, as well as the rest of the house! Too many plans and ideas, not enough time or funds to get it all done as quickly as I want to get it done!

The proud mother in me can't help but share the following picture...my little future author, Luke, wrote his first book! I'm beaming with excitement and joy over his creative little endeavor! I can't wait to read more of his writing, and soon, whenever he gets this keyboard typing thing down, I'm sure he'll have a blog of his own before we know it!

Rescue Mission

Tonight started out like any other night. After dinner, we took a family walk like we do every night. When we got back, Clint started watering the garden and the boys were playing in the back of the truck. What began as joyful frolicking soon turned into a dire situation.

Beau was playing with his Batman on the top of the truck when suddenly, it slipped out of his hands, in between the truck bed and the back window. Batman did not fall through to the bottom. He appeared to be lost forever.
But wait! Dad came to the rescue! He climbed under the truck, and reached into the dark crevice, searching into places no one else would dare put their own hands.

And just when we though Batman was lost forever (or at least until the next time I got going pretty fast down the road), Dad found him!

Beau inspected Batman thoroughly. He made sure that Batman didn't have any scratches. Batman had a wet cape, so Beau sniffed it, and proclaimed that it was okay, but that it smelled like "Poop water", to which Jack said "Let me smell!" and he concurred with Beau's previous statement by shouting "EW!".

Afterwards, the victorious father started to scoot out of from under the truck, and all three of his grateful sons came to help, or so it seemed. As Luke and Beau got by each arm to help pull him out, Jack took this opportunity to exact revenge for some previous occurence on Dad, by slapping him in the face. Not shaken, Dad emerged from under the truck and all was once again well with the world.

It's the Little Things...

Last night, the boys and I were sitting on the couch, just before bedtime, playing a game of "Telephone". You know the game, where one person whispers something in another's ear, and when it gets to the last person its the never the way it started. Sweetie Pie walked in and joined our fun little game.

Sweetie Pie whispered in Cutie Pie's ear: "I am in love with mommy."

Cutie Pie giggled, and whispered in Pot Pie's ear: "I am in love with mommy."

Pot Pie rolled his eyes and said in my ear: "Luke is in love with you."

It was the cutest thing ever!

My Biggest Boy

Cutie Pie has had a few moments of struggling this year in school. He doesn't have loads of confidence about his reading ability, and he's kinda moody sometimes. However, for the entire month of January, he hasn't had a single day with a "sad face", meaning he hasn't had more than one warning a day for this entire month! We're very pleased with his growing maturity, and tonight, we rewarded him with an extra special surprise...staying up past bed time to hang out with dad, eating popcorn and watching UFC matches. He's in "Big Boy Heaven"!

Brotherly Love

Tonight, I updated our family menu for the next two weeks, and also updated our family memory verse. I used to update our memory verse once a week, but it has gone to the wayside. Tonight, I decided to get back on the wagon. I selected Romans 12:10...the boys have actually been having a good couple of weeks, but I never miss an opportunity to get the point of being kind across to them. It must be sticking...Earlier this week, Luke pointed out that I appeared tired, and offered to do the dishes. You know you look tired when your 6 year old points it out...

Today, Luke filled me in on why they are out of school on Monday. He told me all about Martin Luther King Jr and how he had a dream that everyone would treat others equally and that everyone deserves to be treated with respect because we are all people, and nothing else matters. He asked me, "Why would people not be nice to everyone?" Honestly, I didn't have the heart to tell him about the way the world used to be....or sadly, I guess is still somewhat today. How do you explain racism to a 6 year old? How do you ruin a naive child's perceptions of the world outside and tell him that there were...are people that don't like other people simply because of the color of their skin? Why would I ruin him of his knowing true acceptance by pointing out differences that really don't even matter? I just can't do it. My only solution is to just remind them whenever I can about the ol' Golden Rule, slip in a few Bible verses like this week's, and to set the example myself, treating others with love and kindness. I pray their kind hearts continue to grow, with our help and God's love and guidance.

And speaking of great leaders, check out this link to letters of advice written to President Obama, written by kids. You'll definitely smile.

Broken Beau, 'Round the Table, and Family Dominoes

I don't think I have blogged about this as of yet, but Beau has a broken arm. It was such a freak occurance. He happened to fall on it at just the right angle, and after a conversation with the medical director of the urgent care physicians, I learned that the initial x-ray just barely missed the fracture, by mere millimeters. With the missed fracture, Beau walked around for 6 days with a broken arm...falling on it at gymnastics, attempting to use it at the request of my husband and I who thought that if he used it after what we thought was just a contusion he would get better, and favoring it so that it wouldn't hurt, never really letting us know how bad it was hurting him. He's healing well, says the orthopedist. We keep him in the sling for a few more weeks, and then he should be back to normal.

I hate to admit it, but to keep my blogging integrity, I must. Beau has gas...constantly. I swear, he could probably fart on command. Today was no exception. I was playing with Beau and Jack while Clint and Luke were at Tae Kwon Do, and amidst the fun, Beau let out a very stinky poot. And then another. Perhaps a more proper mother would have thought before she spoke, but I, for some reason, couldn't stop myself, and I called him a...

Fart bucket!

You would have thought I was the headliner on a comedy tour. Beau practically had tears coming from his eyes from laughing so hard at this new word I introduced into his vocabulary today. Sorry, Mrs. Davis...

A short time after I thought the moment had been forgotten, we were sitting at dinner. As we quietly ate, Beau, again, passed gas. This time, Clint commented on his gas, to which Beau replied, "I know! I'm a fart bucket!"

The look I got from my husband was one of bewilderment and shock. Perhaps he had never heard the word uttered before this evening, and certainly not from one of our children. I quickly stuffed my mouth full of smothered chicken and green beans, so that when my husband asked me where he could have possibly heard that word, I was able to just shake my head and, with a mouthful, mumble an inaudible "Idunno..." Of course, Beau gave me up, and Clint just shook his head at me. Oh well, there are worse phrases in the world.

After dinner and some homework, we played a fun game of dominoes as a family. It was hilarious to watch the boys and their fun competitiveness. Luke loves games of all kinds, and Beau loves to play dominoes, especially if he can have the double blank. Jack just likes to steal the dominoes...but fun was had by all!

A Totally Different Kid...

We've had a hard time finding an activity that Luke has really liked. We've tried baseball, flag football, soccer, gymnastics...he has gotten bored with each one and wanted to quit halfway through. Tonight, we tried a new activity. Tae Kwon Do...



At first I wasn't totally sold on the idea, but I figured we'd try it and see what happens. Clint said when he first started the class, he was crying because he couldn't keep up with any of the other students during warm up. Luke is so hard on himself and he gets frustrated with himself so easily...Clint told him he'd just have to suck it up and pay attention, if this was something he really wanted to do. And that's just what he did. He had a one-on-one lesson with the co-instructor to get caught up with the rest of the class and very quickly realized that these teachers are not playing around. This is serious stuff and if you don't pay attention or take it seriously, you are going to get hurt.

To say the least, Luke loved it. Looks like we'll be heading to martial arts class two nights a week from now on...

And, in a crazy turn of events, the moment he walked in the door after class, he seemed like a totally different boy. He wasn't jumping around or being his usual, sometimes slightly obnoxious, self. After he finished eating dinner, he asked if he could clear the table and do the dishes. I've never turned down help! He did a great job rinsing and scrubbing the food off the dishes (better than me, even!) And he placed them all expertly in the dishwasher, added the soap and started it up. I was very impressed. I think I'm going to like this!

On Wednesday, Beau starts a new gymnastics class with the Tulsa Parks team coach to start training to join the team. Because their competition season starts next month, he won't be ready to compete until next year, which is fine, because it will give him a lot of time to work on his routines. He's so excited, and so are we!

Boo HAHA

Today was a super fun day. Actually for two reasons...one being that it was the first day I have left the house since Wednesday, considering I haven't been able to sit up without puking. You see, I had a very minor dental procedure on Wednesday that left me feeling a little dizzy Wednesday night, followed by a night of said hurling, followed by an entire Thursday of not eating for fear of hurling, another night of sleepless migraine-induced dizziness, a Friday spent in bed, finally braving dinner that evening, and waking up Saturday morning, not feeling entirely 100% better but picking myself up by my boot-straps because my Indiana Jones needed his jacket. Which brings us to the second reason it was a fun day. It was BooHAHA on Brookside, the annual prequel to the big show (aka Halloween Night Trick or Treating), where all of the businesses on Brookside hand out candy to hundreds of Trick or Treaters. We don't necessarily go out for the candy. In fact, there are so many Trick or Treaters that its really not too fun to attempt to get candy. We prefer browsing the other costumes to standing in lines. We didn't see very many Indiana Jones costumes today, but Luke got quite a few compliments about his, and I beamed every time. Of the homemade costumes, I think Luke's was in the top 2...the only reason I don't say his was the top is because someone had an absolutely fantastic Wall-E costume. Check it out for yourself! (Ignore the mess in the background...gimme break...I've been super sick) He fits the part, don't you think?

Beau and Jack were also super cute today, even though I can't take credit for their costumes besides finding the Transformer online and the Dinosaur (yes, I know its really a dragon...just don't tell Jack) on sale at Old Navy.

After BooHAHA, Beau attended his first classmate party! His friend, Victoria, had an awesome Halloween Party at her house, and Beau obviously likes her a lot. They were attached at the hip most of the party, either jumping in the Jupiter Jump or playing in the backyard. It was so cute to watch them! I had a blast meeting his friends and their parents. Beau is already talking about his 5th birthday party and inviting all of his friends. Too much fun! Here's Jack wearing one of Beau's party favors...

Jack's new favorite thing to say... "Are you kidding me?!?"

Saturday Brunch

Kilkenny's is by far one of our favorite restaurants. Today, we went there for Saturday brunch. The kids love everything Irish...in fact, we think that's what the new theme is going to be in their room. Here's a pic of Luke and Beau, knocking back a few (root) beers.