No Limits

We've always told the kids they can talk to God about anything.  On a completely unrelated note (until today), for a long time Eve has enjoyed singing random songs to herself, to her own made-up tune, in her own little world...often indefinitely, and encompassing a wide range of subject matter.
Today on the way to dance class we had the windows down in the car, so I couldn't hear very well, but for the majority of the 15 minute drive, Eve was singing.  At one time I tuned in and thought I heard something about yellow snow.  Since that peaked my interest, I tuned in a little longer.  Like I said, I couldn't hear it well, but she definitely stayed on the topic of yellow snow for quite a while.  Unfortunately I knew that if I closed the windows and noticeably paid attention, she'd stop.  When we got there she asked me if I liked her song.  I told her I did, but that I couldn't hear it very well.  She said she sings only to God and Jesus.  My response, "So you were singing to God and Jesus about yellow snow?"  Her response, "yep.  I was singing to them about a lot of things."  So, maybe this isn't what we all have in mind when we think about talking to God about ANYTHING, but I guess ANYHING does include yellow snow.  I'll bet he enjoys a light-hearted subject every now and then.

Drop What You're Doing

There are some things you just never want to hear when your hands are tied...things that make you drop what you're doing as quickly as you can.  Today, while belly laughing, Eve announced, "MOM!  I just changed Ellie's poopy diaper!  For real!"
Translation, "Mom, I just took off Ellie's poopy diaper and she started running around free!"
Fortunately she was wearing a dress and wasn't completely exposed.  Several wipes and a wardrobe change later we had everything under control.  No need to clean the carpets or upholstry...this time.  I'm sure she had good intentions, right?  They both seemed to think it was hilarious.

Are You Ready For Some FOOTBALL?!

With Labor Day comes the closing of the pool, but also the opening of CLEMSON FOOTBALL!  With all the orange, you'd think the kids get really excited about it.  To be completely honest, we're still working on that.  We're still in the brain-washing phase.  But WE get really excited about it, and there are parts the kids really enjoy...like face painting!

 The first game was against Auburn at the Georgia Dome.  We went to Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate.  I had never thought to paint the kids' faces before, but they loved it! (and I learned a few lessons about saving laundry, but really, who cares if you get a purple stain on an orange dress...right?)

 We also found out that they enjoy wings (with no sauce) YAY!  And, to maintain a bit of interest in the game, we promised them a football-shaped oreo for every touchdown.

The next Friday was the First Friday Parade.  We met Buck at work to explore around his cool forklifts and such.  Fun.  Then we went to play on Bowman field, which the kids love.  The cannons are always a hit.

 Then the parade started.  The kids loved the band.

 C-L-E-M-S-O-N!!!

 The girls really liked the cheerleaders.

Unfortunately it's notoriously hot during the parade.  I've never seen those pigtails so droopy!  After the parade we made our way down to Peppino's (of course), then caught part of the soccer game.  It was really fun, but very hot and exhausting.

One Down...

19 (or 23) to go!  A few weeks ago (September 9) John finally lost his first tooth!  I just looked back, and July 25 was when I first posted about it being lose.  He wasn't afraid to pull it or anything, he just noticed it when it was barely loose, and it took a long time to be ready, I guess.  So, after church Sunday Buck noticed that John's gums were a little discolored.  He told him to try to go pull it.  John went into the bathroom and quickly gave up because it was slippery.  I told him to try using a paper towel.  He then worked diligently, grunting here and there to help it along, as I tried to finish my lunch.  I wasn't really very hungry anymore...gross!  After several minutes, he did it!

 At night everyone was so excited that the tooth fairy was coming for the first time!  I have a pillow (a little frilly, but still fun) that someone cross stitched for me as a child with a little poem about the tooth fairy and a pocket on it.  John opted to use it.

Wha-da-ya-know...he got a gold dollar!  It's been burning a hole in his pocket ever since.  As much as loose teeth gross me out, I found myself being really excited about John losing his first tooth.  His adult tooth is already making its way in.  We're saving for braces now!

Things Remembered...

In John's class, they have a rhythm clap that the teacher does to get their attention, then the class repeats it back.  Eve heard this when we went to John's class to bring cupcakes for his birthday.  Ever since, when we're talking and she wants a turn, she does the clap rhythm to get us to be quiet.  Funny as it is, we've been trying hard to explain why it's fine for the teacher to do that, but disrespectful for her to do it to friends or adults.

Last weekend we went to Clemson for the football game.  I'll have to do a full post later, but didn't want to forget this.  We were stuck in traffic on the way to our parking spot.  The kids know where Bowman field is, so to give them some hope and perspective while they were very bored and anxious to park, I said, "Hey!  I see Bowman Field!"  Ellie replied, "And Callie Field!"

The other night we were sitting at the dinner table working on baby names.  The kids were in silly mode, per usual at the dinner table.  Usually it drives me crazy, but this time I was in a better mood, I suppose, and more ready to excuse the potty humor...and laugh at it.  They were coming up with the typical potty names you might think of (and somehow Tito was thrown in there, which was funny), then they came up with what I think was the most dangerous idea...let's just wait to name him until we see what name he likes.  Yikes!  Anyway, I can't remember what was on the edge of not OK that made us all laugh hysterically, but just after that I asked Ellie what she was eating (pretending with the spoon from her tea set).  She sang, "poopie poopie poopie," and it quickly turned into one of those unfortunate times that you know you shouldn't encourage such behavior, but just cant hide the laughter.  I guess sometimes we have to let our guard down and show that we're not much more mature than they are.  I just hope we can compose ourselves enough to come up with a reasonable name for this poor little boy.

On Your Mark!

We had trouble getting a good video of this, which is really too bad.  One fun thing from the pool this summer has been racing.  Since John and Eve did Guppies, and we watched the Olympics a bit, they sort of knew what racing was like.  Several times, all three would like up on the edge of the pool (Ellie with her life jacket on) and ask me to step back and get them started.  "On your mark!" and all three would assume a starting position...typicall with hands down on the edge of the pool and one leg WAY back.  "Get set!  BEEP!"  When they heard the beep, John jumped in as fast as he could and swam to me.  Eve sometimes took a few seconds, but followed suit.  Ellie very carefully stood up straight, turned around, and lowered herself into the water, bumping over the edge of her life jacket, then swam to me.  It's one of the cutest and funniest things of summer.

John is SIX!

Holy moly!  John has to use two hands to show his age now!  The first Friday of the school year was his birthday.  We all woke up REALLY early that morning!  We started the day of with, of course, Krispy Kreme.  John wore his #6 Clemson jersey.

 John's first present from Eve, Ellie, and Baby Brother

 I thought it would be fun to read Dr. Seuss's "Happy Birthday to You!"  It was fun for a page or two, but unfortunately turns out to be one of his worst books.  We quite partway through to open more presents.

 Lots of Legos this year.  John really loves legos, star wars, Ninjago, and angry birds.

 We got to bring cupcakes to school.  It was a quick treat because they stay really busy in their classroom, but he and the other kids enjoyed it.
In the evening we had his birthday party at the pool.

It was a fun birthday for a fun birthday boy.  It's hard to believe John is 6.  I suppose I'll say this every year.  He still has a fantastic smile and even better laugh.  He's still extremely creative and analytical.  Still very strong willed and rough, yet compassionate and affectionate.  He spends most of his free time with TV, the computer, and legos.  I'm always amazed at what he can build, and what he has learned.  Recently in the car Eve has asked several questions that I was about to answer until he started answering.  I didn't figure he'd know the answer, but curious to see what he'd come up with, I just listened.  The other day he gave a very good explanation of why tires, being made of rubber, wear down and pop.  He's lazy with things he doesn't want to do, but very energetic otherwise.  We're still working hard on obeying authority, but every now and then I see him do something that's very encouraging in that respect.  As far as academics, I'm constantly questioning whether we should've sent him on to first grade.  He's certainly ready academically and socially.  We're really hoping that this extra year will help him develop some leadership skills.  At his doctor's appointment he weighed 52 pounds (81 percentile) and was 46 3/4 " tall (75 percentile).  There's just something about his creativity and ability to analyze things that amazes me, and something about his fantastic smile and tender heart that make me melt.  Happy Birthday, John!  What a blessing to our lives!

First Days of School

Starting school was a big deal this year!  John started Kindergarten at the big school, Plain Elementary School.  He is in Mrs. Chapman and Ms. Floyd's class, but Mrs. Chapman just had a baby, so our neighbor Mrs. Walter is his long-term substitute.  He wasn't at all apprehensive about going to the big school, but at the same time he wasn't overly excited.  I thought I was fine, but ended up having a really tough time dropping him off the first day.  I'd like to blame it on hormones, but something tells me it's going to be hard for 19 more years.  We walked him to class the first few days, but now he just hops out of the car in car line and walks himself to class.  He looks like such a big boy!  He's been doing great so far, and while he hasn't said he loves it, he hasn't complained either.

 The girls have enjoyed walking up to the top of the street to meet him at the bus stop.

 My original plan was to pick him up the first few days, but he wanted to ride the bus.  I guess he's going to force me to cut the cord...probably a good thing.  Every day, his favorite part of the day is riding the bus.  He looks a little unhappy in this picture, but we both had a HUGE smile when I picked him up the first day.  It was a very happy reunion.

The next Monday Eve had her first day of school.  She's been very excited.  She is in Mrs. Looper and Mrs. Medlen's K4 class at Simpsonville UMC, where she and John were last year.  So far she is loving every minute!  They're getting so big!

Back to Football

Most people go back-to-school shopping.  We got back-to-football shopping.

Show your tiger paws!

Her First "Real" Dance Lesson

Last year I asked Eve if she wanted to take dance.  At the time she said, "No, I already learned how to dance at the Daddy Daughter Dance".  While Daddy is quite the entertainer on the dance floor, some real lessons couldn't hurt.  Actually, Eve just LOVES to dance, so I figured she would just LOVE dance class.  I was really nervous and did a lot of research to find a place that would encourage my little girl to be a little girl.  Too many places want them to grow up too fast.  I had several good reports about this place, Studio A.  Miss Cindy, the owner, is Eve's teacher.  We had quite the count-down to her first "real" dance lesson, which she more than loved.  Since then, each week, we've been counting down the days until the next lesson.

 Before the first class I asked her to give me a dancer's pose.  She had so many different ones to choose from...none quite like a dancer, but all fun.

 They do tap for about half the class.  The tap shoes are only allowed in the classroom, so this was the first time she got to tap them.  Fun!

 We've gotten a little bit of a buy one-get one free deal.  Ellie loves to watch through the window and do what they're doing.

 The second half of class is ballet.  Poor Eve has chubby little feet, so we had to go two sizes up to get her ballet shoes to fit.  They look a little like witch shoes, still she loves them.  Tippie toes!

What a pretty little dancer.  I love that she has so much fun doing it, and her teacher is really great.  The last 5 minutes or so of class they have free movement time with streamers or hula hoops or other fun things.   Dance can be pricey, but so far this is money very well spent.  She really does love love love it. 

#3 Amazes Me

I suppose child development in general amazes me.  Each has done several things to catch me off guard and amaze me with what they can do.  Also, one blessing of having a terrible memory is not being able to compare children.  And another thing, I give props to #1 and #2 in this post for being better teachers than I.  At any rate, I'm constantly realizing that I've failed to teach Ellie things, yet somehow she's learned, and learned (in my opinion) quite early.  On our way to Wisconsin we passed by several windmill farms.  To pass the time I encouraged the kids to count them (since there were WAY too many to count).  Ellie counted to 14 out of nowhere.  FOURTEEN!  I was impressed.  Recently I realized we haven't really sung the alphabet to Ellie and thought maybe we should start doing that.  Today Eve, Ellie and I were having a picnic before Eve's dance class.  One of the girls was singing something, so I suggested we sing the alphabet song.  Eve said she would and got started, "A, B, C, D..." and then she got distracted.  At this point, without skipping a step or a voice fluctuation, Ellie continued, "E, F, G."  Out of nowhere.  I doubt she knows the whole thing, but who knows.  That girl amazes me.

Warm Welcome

Back in August I went to my cousin Kyle's wedding in St. Pete, FL.  Sice we had just gotten back from a week at the beach, I went and Buck stayed home with the kids.  Already he deserves HUGE credit.  I had such a great time seeing family and getting to witness Kyle and Angie's beautiful wedding.  Buck and the kids also had lots of fun shopping at Target and getting ice cream at Clemson.  On my way home, I called at the SC border to let Buck know I was getting close.  It was getting late, but he said the kids wanted to stay up and wait for me.  I really missed them, so I was excited to see them.  When I got home, the house was dark.  I told Mom they must've fizzled out and gone to bed.  So, I walked into a dark and quiet house, trying to be quiet myself as I dropped all my stuff.  All of a sudden I heard music (Moves Like Jagger...of course), and all three ran dancing around the corner with glow bracelets, necklaces, and drum sticks.  It was one of the most fun things, and warmest welcomes ever!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

I'm so far behind on the blog that the task is daunting, so I'll start with something easy to get back into it.
Kids really do say the darndest things, don't they?  Here are a few things we've heard over the past month.
Eve - "We're going to Grandma's house?!  I'm so excited...I can see her fruit snacks from here!"
Eve - "Do chickens like being cooked?"
John - "Mom, I know Dad doesn't like traffic.  Since he's taking me to school tomorrow (for the first time) can you please tell him that he has to wait in traffic in car line?  You can't cut in line.  It's not safe."
There's something else Eve said that was hilarious and note-worthy, but I just can't remember now.  Not to leave Ellie out, she keeps us laughing all the time.  It's just that the humor isn't in what she's saying necessarily.  It's in her genuine excitement as she says something like, "I have mosquito bites!" when she doesn't exactly know what it means.  Or, the way she says things, or the fact that she's saying certain things when she's only two.
She does tell people that her favorite song is "I've Got the Moves Like Jagger", when most people expect Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or something.  That always gets a good laugh, but unfortunately due to the ability of all 3 kids to memorize songs and repeat them perfectly, we've had to put a temporary hold on listening to that song.  Bummer.