It's Official....

We're excited to go home!

Making Headway

I have been on a mission to teach my boys how to communicate their feelings. They have a father who shuts down and a mother who yells and then cries. So I know it's important for them (and us) to learn how to talk about feelings instead of acting out in our own ways.

Tonight, we celebrated our Christmas with our two neighbors (blog post to follow tomorrow). Aid got a Tom and Jerry movie, and Grant got Go Diego. Aid asked if he could put his in and watch it. Since all of the other kids are so young, I said that I thought Go Diego was a better option and we would watch his tomorrow. He argued with me for a bit and then went and sat in his chair. We put on Go Diego. The little kids weren't really even watching it, which I did notice but thought that Aid had gotten into the show and it didn't matter anymore. But when I walked by him he said "Mom, I am really frustrated because I wanted to watch my movie and you didn't listen to me. So I am sad." (And no I am not exaggerating or adding my own words)

I changed the movie and we talked about what a good job he did expressing himself and that I was sorry I disregarded his feelings.

I am so unbelievably proud of him.

She Shoots, She Scores....

My mom hit it out of the ball park with Grant. She sent him a moving train ornament.  He has not parted with this thing since he got it. There have been a few wars over it, but Grant always wins. Nothing can come between him and this thing.

To top it off, she sent this rolling backpack. We must now take it everywhere with us. Everywhere. It is stuffed full of the most random things that are important to him. A flashlight, trains,a couple random books, and a couple dinosaurs snuck in. Everything an almost 2 year old may need on his journey to the grocery store.

Thanks for knowing these two so well Mom. I love you.

What Are You Most Thankful For?

1. I am most thankful for my two little boys. They are my entire world and have taught me the true meaning of love.

2. I am thankful for my husband. Even with all of our ups and downs, I know that he loves me and our family and would do anything to keep us all safe.

3. I am thankful for my home. Though, I am missing Oregon, I still walk into this house and feel safe and warm.

4. I am thankful for my kitchen!!!

5. I am thankful for my family. They are far away and I don't get to see them as often as I would like to, but I can feel their love all the way over here.

6. I am thankful for my Bures family. They support us in so many ways...

7. I am thankful that I am healthy. We are all healthy. I am constantly worried that we don't have health insurance and afraid of tragedy. But I must remember to focus on the fact that we are all ok.

8. I am thankful for my mommy group. It has been a hard transition from Oregon to Minnesota more often then not, and I go to a play date and feel surrounded by friendship and support.

9. I am so very thankful for my friends both here in Minnesota and Oregon. I have great friends that love me, support me, tell me the truth, and help me laugh at myself. I don't know what I would do without them.

10. I am thankful that we are all safe and sound and happy. There is a lot of love in this house and for that I am at peace.

Winter Activities

Well, winter has arrived. So it's time to pull out the big guns since we're all stuck in the house together all. day. long.

Our neighbor and best girl Gracie came over to hang and do some finger painting.

Mama:1 Winter:0

I'm sure those odds are going to change drastically....

A Family Affair

So during Aid's preschool conferences, Bob read about another father coming to visit the class and reading a story. The wheels started turning and it wasn't long into the conference when he brought up that he played guitar and would also like to come to the class for a sing along. Aid's teacher was excited and they scheduled it for the following day.

We told Aid about it expecting him to be super excited. But Aid has so much of Bob in him and was immediately nervous and not at all excited. He actually said that school was "his place" and that he didn't really want all of us there. Normally I would have been upset, but I am married to a Bures. And I have come to realize that the initial response is not usually the final response. So I spoke with the teacher and asked her to continue to check in with him about it. If he really didn't want us to invade his territory then I wouldn't. But I had a feeling he just needed to warm up to the idea.  I was right. He was really SO excited about it that he just sort of shut down. (I am going to have to have a long talk with whomever he decides to marry...)

Bob was a hit. The other class of kids came in and several other teachers and parents stopped in and joined in the songs. And Aid was BEAMING that his Dad was there, as well as his mom and baby brother. He showed us all off and then introduced us to each and every kid in his class. It was adorable. He, Tucker, and Bradley seem to be a cute little group of friends and it was a lot of fun watching him interact with these two. Grant was sick. And not at all happy about being there. But hung in like the champ he is.

I hate to break it to you him, but we love him and are going to want to be involved in everything he does. Better get used to it sweetie....you have parents who love you and are very very hands on!

Related?

These two are obviously from the same gene pool.

Halloween Haters

It's true. We have never been a Halloween family. Neither me or Bob like to dress up. In fact, I would go so far as to say I hate to dress up. And up until this year, we did not have a child who liked to dress up. Each year I have gotten a costume, presented it in the most excited way that I could, and pulled Aid kicking and screaming up and down our street collecting candy. But secretly, or perhaps not so secretly, I was happy that creative costume making (er...buying) would not be in my future.

And then Grandma Mac sent us the "Dragonsaraus". Which is the cutest little mix of dragon and dinosaur you have ever seen, particularly when there is an adorable little 4 year old roaring and scaring the crap out of his brother. He loved it. Which had me loving it.

Grant was sick this year so not really feeling any of it. I finally got him into his Thomas costume, only for our neighbor (dressed as the Grim Reaper) scare the living daylights out of him.  She takes Halloween very seriously and let's just say didn't help us out by breaking character. At all.

So Grant made it to exactly one house and then helped Bob hand out candy. I realized that it was me, the Halloween hater, who ended up hijacking the experience and went along with the kids, a little teary eyed at moments, trick or treating. It's impossible not to enjoy oneself with this little crew, no matter what the occasion.

Maybe, just maybe, I could get into this Halloween thing.  Maybe.

Parent Conferences

I have been waiting for this moment.

I have been so proud of Aid and his beginning education. I am so happy he loves it and is always so excited to go to school. But I have been dying to know what they think about him. Is the feeling mutual? Do they think he is as funny and charming and pig headed as I do? Do they appreciate his active imagination and play along? Do they have better luck getting him to sit and color or practice letters then I do? Does he have friends?

So needless to say as we got there I was a bundle of nerves. I was a bit snappy. A bit indecisive. Biting my lips. And 25 minutes early. All signs I'm a nervous wreck.

It went great. I genuinely love his teacher and appreciate that she seems to get him. The update report that we received was spot on. She has him down.  I like how she talks about him. She gets the dino roaring thing, she sees what a great imagination he has, and thinks he is funny and inquisitive. He participates well in the activities and loves to share things with his class. She also said that he is a very confident kid, which makes me feel like I am doing something right in the area of self esteem building. 

I was bursting.

We asked if she thought he would be ready for Kindergarten and she said she'd have a better idea come spring conferences. As far as being interested and motivated and able to engage in all of the school activities he's doing well... socially we will have to see where he is. He sometimes has a hard time when the activity is over, and he still does more parallel play then cooperative play. So we'll see. She did mention another program they have that can be used as a Kindergarten program or a second year of preschool. But it would be every day. Maybe Bob will write a hit song (ahem) so that Aid can go one more year if he needs it.

I stole his school journal with the promise of returning it in his bag the next day so that i could print some of his artwork off. Here are some samples.

Do you notice the awesome tracing of his name?!!

This school has been a great fit for Aid. And seeing him so happy has made the whole letting go process so much easier for me. I send him off 3 days a week knowing that he is happy and cared for.

It's all a mom can ask for...

Dear Mom and Dad

We miss you.

Youth

Don't you remember when this was the most fun thing in the whole world?

All About Aid

It was Aid's turn to have his "All About Me" week at school. All week he has been bringing in pictures, toys, books, and sharing things with his class.  Aid is a leo, so he loves this as much as I would. (It should be noted that Aid picked each one of these pictures out to share.)

His teacher sent us a picture of a bulletin board that has been up all week for him.

My obvious favorite is the question: "When I grow up I want to be....like my mom!"

What a charmer this one is.

Who is Grant Bures?

It took Grant a little while to adjust to dropping Aid off at preschool. He adores him and they both say they are each other's best friend. I hope it stays that way.
So he was absolutely heartbroken when we began dropping Aid off at school. He felt very left behind. I made it my goal to show Grant that having Mom all to himself was a good thing and that we were going to have lots of fun.

He didn't initially believe me.

But I have to say it has been really really good to spend this time with Grant. Better then I thought it would be. I feel like not only do I get to just focus all of my attention on him, I get to really pay attention to every little like and dislike and quirk. Here are some of them.

*Grant loves yogurt covered raisins. He prefers them to almost anything. Even chocolate.
*His favorite train is Percy.
*His favorite color is green.
*His favorite place to go is Choo Choo Bob's. And we are there at least 2 times a week.
*His favorite car toy is Aid's dinosaur book that my friend Kelly got for Aid last year.
*His favorite animal is a horse
*He is just as particular about his shoes as Aid was. I can never change them.
*He can leave about any situation without incident if you remember to tell the person,toy, activity, etc good-bye.
*He loves cheese. But only white cheeses.
*He LOVES bologna. (My father does too)
*His favorite animal to watch at the zoo are the ducks.
*He loves to visit his Dad for lunch every Friday.
*His favorite movies are Dinotopia, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Curious George 2 (because it has a train), and Thomas: Mystic River.
*His favorite songs that you must sing to him before he goes to sleep are Row Row Row your boat and the ABC's.
*He loves to give kisses.
*He is very shy in new situations and will cling to me.
*He must have his doggy and tiger when going to sleep
*The more tired he is, the more violent he becomes.
*He hates socks,coats,and hats and is having a hard time with this winter clothing adjustment.
*He bites if Aid blocks his path to something and won't move.
*He has to have the last word.
*He enjoys antagonizing his brother.
*He hates to be left behind when playing chase and screams until you pick him up and run with him.
*He is extremely agile and athletic.
*He slipped in the bathroom and chipped his front teeth. He has little snaggle teeth that I worried about before, but he totally pulls them off.
*You cannot stay mad at him when he gives you his cheese ball grin and says "No, I WUB YOU!"
*He still hates dropping Aid off but he will do so without crying now.

There are many many more I know....

I love you Grant. This has been a special little moment in time with you my baby.

The Letter F

It was Aid's week to take home the "letter box" from school. The instructions are to find things that start with the letter F around your home and put them in the box.

Our letter was the letter F.

I got very excited about doing a school assignment with Aid. Maybe too excited. I found myself rummaging around our house for things. I was feeling very pleased with my findings. Then Bob burst the bubble...."I think you're supposed to do this with Aid." Feeling like the worst parent in the world I brought the box over to Aid.

"Look Aid! I found some things that start with the letter F! Like FOOTBALL!"

"Football starts with the letter B."

"Nope, it starts with the letter F! So does Fire Truck!"

"NO IT DOESN'T! It starts with the letter B!!!"

"It really doesn't Aid, it starts with the letter F! What else can we find!"

"IT STARTS WITH THE LETTER B!!!!"

I continued filling the box hoping that his teacher would have better luck then I did.

Good Grief. He isn't going to make this easy for me is he?

Recovery

I took the boys on a walk around the lake tonight. Fridays are one of my exercise days and I usually spend them in the gym. The elliptical and treadmill are far gentler on the old knees then cement is...even while walking. But Grant has molars coming in and me and Bob have basically been alternating who stays up ALL NIGHT LONG with him. Last night was Bob's night, and he was dead on his feet today. So I skipped the gym and threw the two into the stroller.

There was not one minute of silence on our walk. Aid told exactly 14 knock knock jokes that rival his grandfather's (Grandpa B that is) but which made Grant crack up. Then he pointed out and commented about each person that we walked past. Grant excitedly screamed "Bike!" and "Geese!" if he saw either of those. This was all fine for the first half of the lake. But it just kept going. And I wasn't let off the hook. If I did not respond to the "Geese!" or the knock knock joke appropriately I was basically yelled at ("MOM!") until I did.

At some point, Aid started singing songs. I begrudgingly began singing along only to be met by Aid yelling, "MOM! I AM SINGING THE SONGS TO GRANTY!!!" While normally I may be slightly wounded that I was kicked out of the fun, I only felt relief. A few moments to think to myself.

Wrong again. While I was not allowed to sing along, it was demanded that I needed to watch and listen to him. I sighed, but agreed. But then nothing...he was not singing, he was not talking, just silence. "Aid," I said, "You're not doing anything.."

"Yes, I am!" (followed by nothing)

"No, Aid you aren't honey." (Why am I engaging in this argument with him?)

"YES I AM!!!!"

I didn't respond and after a few moments, he lovingly looked up at me and explained that he was singing the "Mama Song" very quietly for Grant.

I listened to him sing it.

"Mama, loves me, and I love mama. And mama loves Grant, and Grant loves mama. And mama takes care of us and loves us. We love mama. We love mama...."


Not a bad make up kiddo.

Bad News

The blog Gods won't be happy about this one. Our NEW camera has once again been taken down by Grant. Try as I might to keep the thing in it's case at all times, on the few occasions I quickly just set it down...he's on it.

We are on our third camera in a year. This time at the advice of my wise aunt my even wiser husband purchased the "Diamond" insurance plan. Which basically means that we could kick it off the top of a building and they'd fix it for us.

So when it stopped opening properly and then began flashing "Lens error" I didn't worry too much about it. I brought it in the to store. After first finding something "gooey" in the lens (GRANT! GRRRR!) he noticed that we weren't even getting a picture, it was black. So we went through all of the paperwork and off it went to the repair Gods! I asked how long it would take to get it back...

Between 4-10 weeks.

What? I'm sorry sir. You do realize I have two children and a blog to consider, yes?

My father did give me his old camera for back up and I will have to take a look at it and see if I can figure out how to use it, and then how to download pictures. I have not exactly been on top of the blog anyway, but this is really going to put a kink in the cycle. While I find myself throughout the day catching moments where I think, "Hey that would be a funny little blog," by the time I sit down I have forgotten what I thought was so funny and just want to ready my book or watch my soap.

Sorry.

Again.

School is Cool

Aid is having an absolute blast at school! He loves it. I got there early the other day to pick him up and got to spy on him a little bit. I watched him excitedly run around the yard with his friends and then grab the teachers hand as they went on a little exploration. To say it was heartwarming is an understatement. It's so nerve racking sending the little thing you love the absolute most off into the world and can only hope that he is cared for and nurtured. Well, at least at this first school he is being cared for and nurtured. It feels good to drop him off and even better to pick him up. Grant was heartbroken for the first few weeks of this new routine. Today was the first day he did not cry and happily said good-bye to his big brother. I think I have him convinced that he gets to do super fun things with mom all on his own. We have yet to just go back home and our days are filled with adventures. It is wonderful to get to spend this time with Grant one on one too. We are all doing very well! And we are all very busy, hence the erratic blogs. Sorry....

Aid's teacher (Laura) sent us some pictures!!

Aid donated some dinosaurs to his school. Their supply was insufficient!

Motley Crew

I know this is a bit of a repeat, but seriously. These four are the cutest little things on the planet.

Jumping Jellybean

School Story

F

There is no doubt that Aid is ready for school. He literally sprinted into the building, stopping only to oblige his crazy clingy mom with a photo op from time to time.

(This is his new friend Bradly, who was very happy to see him walk into class!)

I am so very proud of you Aid. I have enjoyed (most) every moment watching you grow up and feel so very lucky that I got to see all of it.

Here are some pictures of the outside playground area. They really don't do it justice.

The goats...

The rabbits...

And the chickens. There are also ponies (and pony rides that I hope I can stay and watch since there is an open door parent policy!) and llamas that Aid excitedly told us he got to pet and feed today!

The pool....(?!)

 

The cabin house....

As one friend pointed out, Aid could possibly have a hard time downgrading to public school next year! This place is crazy! (Thank you Grandma and Grandpa B for making this possible!)

So anyway, we dropped off Aid and Grant got mommy all to himself. And he kicked her ass....

And got to play with all of Aid's things....

It was very sweet when these two were reunited. They ACTUALLY missed each other.

And then they both passed out.

The End.