Five Year Olds!!

The boys turned FIVE Monday!
My does time fly. I know that every mother says this and it's so true. I just can't believe how big they are. I remember them as my little squishy big headed babies!

The boys were so excited to go to school Monday on their birthday. I couldn't help but chuckle and think that this definitely won't last forever. I took Monday off so I could decorate the house and go up and have lunch with the boys and bring cupcakes for their class.

They decided early on that they wanted a "Toothless" Birthday, meaning they wanted it all to do with "How to Train your Dragon". Let me tell you, this was a feat. Apparently they did market this movie when it originally came out, but there is hardly ANY toys on the shelf anywhere for it. It's such a cute movie, we actually took them to see it when it came out in the theater (back when they didn't scream about how loud it was). I found out that WalMart had some toys on clearance and I ended up breaking my golden rule of never stepping foot into WalMart. I ended up going to three WalMarts in one day. I think it's the most I've been there in years.
I found them each a small Toothless dragon and each a Hiccup toy. They also had little plate sets and got them each one of those and the movie, which I was surprised we didn't have in the first place. They also had a giant Toothless dragon that makes all sorts of noises on super clearance and of course they only had one. The scramble was on to find a second one and I ended up having to order it on Ebay.

Anyway, so I got the decorations up that morning and then headed to their school for lunch. It was so adorable. I got to see them go through their lunch line and was so happy with their choices for lunch. The boys have been buying their lunch even though I would prefer to pack it they really like being able to choose what they want and I have trusted that they would make good decisions with how we've raised them and they sure do.
Sure, Callum has chocolate milk everyday but they chose the fish option of lunch that day instead of a hotdog or a grilled cheese sandwich and they both chose carrots and a banana with their lunch. I was so proud.

Their classmates were so cute and talked non stop during lunch. The boys were wearing cute rubber bracelets that said Happy Birthday that the teacher gave them. Ms Davidson their main teach came up and hugged me so hard I thought she was going to squeeze all the air out of me! She told me what a joy they are to have in class and thanked me for bringing them to her and how much they love them. It was so nice and reassuring to hear that from their teacher. It was good to know that they're so loved at school when I have my freak outs about them being in school!

After they came home from school I had to go and take a Pharmacology test and then left school right after my test so I could come home and see them open presents and have more cupcakes.

They were so stoked on their presents and it was awesome to watch their faces light up. Josh got them viking helmets and I am pretty sure that was by far their favorite.
After dinner and cupcakes we watched "How to Train your Dragon".

The boys birthday party is tomorrow at KaZoing at 4:15 and they're so excited. Taylor asked specifically for a place they could bounce. We didn't invite any of the kids from school since we would have had to invite ALL of their class, all 47 kids. Since they just started and I don't really have contacts for any of the parents I figured this will be our last year of inviting our friends and their kids exclusively and after this year it's going to be all about their schoolmates.

The first day of the rest of their academic lives.

The day has finally come!
I can't believe that I am a mother to two school aged kids.
The boys did great this morning. We've been talking about "big boy" school all summer and getting them ramped up. Last night they told me they were a little nervous and we talked about how most of the kids will probably be nervous and even mommy was nervous on her first day back to school, it's normal to feel that way but they were going to have a great day and will love going.

We went to their orientation last Friday and met their teachers, toured the school again and got a bunch of paper work to fill out. They got to find their desks and see where they're sitting and explore the classroom. They're in the same class but sitting pretty far away from each other, so that will be good to have them together but get the chance to make friends on their own with the kids around them.
We got their two four digit numbers, one each for their lunch number and the other is their car rider number for them to memorize. The lunch number they'll use basically for the rest of the JCPS school career and the other will be called aloud when someone shows up to pick them up at the end of the day.

We had a storm blow through here Saturday and they pushed back the first day until Wednesday from Monday so we were glad to have the extra time to help them memorize their numbers and do our parent homework filling out all the papers.

The boys woke up right when my alarm went off at 7 and jumped into gear getting themselves changed and ready for school. They both told me they weren't nervous anymore and were SO excited to go to school.
Josh and I drove them in and we got to see how they'll start their days. They sit in the cafeteria in designated tables for different teachers and wait for their teacher to come take them to their class.
We took the boys through the lunch line and had them buy juice and tell the lady their numbers for practice and I dropped off a check to put money in their lunch accounts.
Once we got back to the table again they asked us "why are you still here?"
I have to admit I did start to get a little teary eyed seeing them ready to be so independent.
Ms. Davidson came and lined the kids up to head to their room. They got everyone situated and started circle to read a book to the parents called "Kissing Hand" about a mom having a hard time letting her baby raccoon go off to school. It was so cute.
Josh and I gave them hugs and kisses and left our babies to enjoy their first day.
There were no tears on their part and only a couple on mine.
I'm so proud of them and I know they'll do great.
I can't wait to come home from school myself tonight and hear all about their first day.


they were both picked out their own outfits.


I'm ashamed to say I did the lick and swipe. Didn't want to send him off covered in toothpaste on his face.


going through the lunch line


waiting for our teacher.


reading the Kissing hand. some of the kids look so big!!!


Taylor at his desk


Callum at his desk

Summer!

We thought long and hard about buying an "easy set" pool for us to use this summer. I sat on the idea for a few weeks and we finally decided to go for it. It was NOT easy by all means and was a major pain in the ass to set up, but it's been worth all the pain a million times over. This weekend alone we've been in every single day since Friday when I hit the door from work. I figure this is where I'll be most of the summer.
The boys have been having a blast in it. It's finally warmed up to almost 90 degrees thankfully. Last weekend wasn't quite as nice when it was around 80 degrees. I still managed to get a good amount of sun last week and am happily adding to my tan this weekend.
Mammaw bought them some life jackets, kick boards and pool toys to play with. The boys can reach the bottom and walk while I float around them. Today they added more squirting toys and some creepy goggles that look like lizard eyes. Taylor calls them his dragon eyes. The boys still aren't too keen on letting me try to teach them how to float on their backs, but they'll float on their bellies with the kick boards and kick their feet...so they're getting the general idea of swimming for now. Ideally I'd really like them to get swim lessons.
The pool has been a great source of entertainment and keeping us out of the house and enjoying our backyard for the summer. It makes me feel better about the boys not spending the summer inside watching tv and playing video games constantly.

I'm on a two week break from school! Thank goodness. I definitely needed it. I'm pretty happy to report that I am mostly positive that this will be another 4.0 quarter for me. Next quarter looks brutal so I am thrilled to have this break to come straight home from work, eat warm dinner with my family and enjoy our boys before kindergarten starts up sooner than I'd like to think about.




Callum is figuring out how to float and kick himself around the pool with the little kickboards. He was brave enough to float around on his back with them yesterday.




Taylor zooming around the pool with Aunt Ashley





These water shooters were the best $1 spent at the dollar store, although getting shot in the face with it is not fun.










Firefly catch and release




This is exactly how I want to spend the summer!

Our Weekend

This weekend was Nana's birthday and Sunday we had tickets to go and meet Thomas at the KY Railway Museum. 
Saturday after we went out to lunch with Nana for her birthday we stopped by Brown Park in St Matthews. They were having some sort of health fair with all sorts of fun activities for the kids. They had at least five bounce houses, a Tumble Bus, the St Matthews fire department and all sorts of other vendors giving away free swag.
We ran into our old neighbor that we lived next to almost four years ago now when the boys were babies. He had a booth giving out information for dental screenings for kids going into school this year.
I didn't even think to take my camera with me since we were just going out to lunch and then stopped by to check this out. Josh and Nana took a few pictures on their phones right before we were leaving. They had a little petting zoo and the boys got to pick up chickens, pet llamas, a horse, a pig and some bunnies.
The boys spent a ton of time on the Tumble Bus. It took them a while to even want to get on there and check it out, but once they did they didn't want to get off. The lady in there with them was so nice and they really liked her. The vendors there including the bus and the petting zoo had a good set up for the free advertisement. I'll definitely remember them for future birthday party ideas.



Callum petting the horse and Taylor posing



Chicken wrangling!

Sunday we drove to New Haven, KY to go to the KY Railway Museum for the "Day out with Thomas". The drive was really pretty. Being a city girl my whole life, I love taking drives out into the country. I have to admit that they make me a little bit nervous. I was happy that Josh drove so I could sit in the passenger seat and stare out the window.
The boys had a great time. It started out fairly overcast but by the end of the day was pretty sunny and hot. We got there over an hour early before we got to take our ride on the train so we got to walk around and have fun at the little stations they had set up for the kids. The boys go to play with bubbles at the Bubble Truck and jump in a bounce house, and play with the train tables they had set up under a tent.
They had an area to meet and get your picture taken with Sir Toppem Hat, but the boys couldn't be less interested in waiting in line. They were pretty disinterested in waiting in line to get a picture in front of Thomas either. The less waiting in line was just fine with me.
The train ride was really cute. The boys got to give their tickets to the conductor and it was about a 20 minute ride. They just take a ride out a ways backwards and then you go back into the station.
It was the boys first train ride and they thought it was pretty neat. Taylor was amazed that there was a "real" Thomas. He's convinced that they made the show after the "real" Thomas.
The gift shop tent of Thomas stuff was highway robbery. Thankfully my kids picked their usual stuffed animals and were just fine with spending $7 rather than having to have the $30 trains.

































It was a great family fun weekend!