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?