Catchup Tuesday: Ben is a Preschool Graduate!

Way back in May (you know like a month ago but it seems like five years ago now that we've been on summer time for eight days?)  Well, back in May, a very special little boy had a very special celebration.

Ben graduated from preschool!

Not only did he graduate, but he graduated after a WONDERFUL, fabulous, amazing year.  

The boy who at age 3 cried every second he spent at preschool, so much that I pulled him OUT...the boy who at age 4 had to be bribed every single school day with the reward of  a Dunkin' donut if he made it through the two hours without hitting someone...well that little boy finally, BLESSEDLY matured, and blossomed into a five year old who LOVES to go to school.  Who can't wait to tell his teachers something new, or ask an inventive question, or get his hands dirty in a project, or help a friend when they're having a rough day, or come home and tell Mom and Dad and Jack and Molly all about his adventures at Toadstools & Pollywogs.

It was a GOOD year.  

And to celebrate this special guy on his graduation day, knowing that Daddy was away on a business trip (and very disappointed that he couldn't be there) I kept Jack and Molly out of school for the morning so they could cheer on the little dude who has cheered them on as he's been schlepped to all of their events over his entire life.

And to make it even more special, Auntie Ulia and cousin Cameron came too!

The kids walked out to Pomp and Circumstance as their misty-eyed families looked on

They sang a few adorable songs.  Songs I've spent the entire day trying to locate in the pile of SD cards from my video camera, to no avail.  But you bet your bippy they were cute!  

I'm a little daisy

tall and slim

Here is my petal

here is my stem

I mean, come on!  How cute is that?

 They also sang the Rock & Roll ABCs

with hand motions and cool accessories.

They sang their school song one last, heartbreaking time...
(to the tune of "You are My Sunshine")

"We are the Toadstools and Sunny Days Preschool

We love to play, sing, and do art too

You'll never know how much we learn here

With our teachers, friends, and you."

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

(I was blubbering on the inside, but managed to hold it together on the outside)

Then it was time for each child to receive their diploma and tell the crowd what they wanted to be when they grew up.

When I say that Ben tells us every day what he's going to be or do when he grows up,

I AM NOT KIDDING!

Ben spends literally HOURS every day, pacing in circles, telling everyone what he is going to build/design/film/produce/create/invent/sell/be/do when he grows up.

Detailed, INTRICATE plans for everything from a toy factory to a Ghostbusters sequel.  Plans for how to be both an astronout AND a lifeguard at the same time.  Plans for how to film, direct and act in his  own movies.  Plans for dozens upon dozens of new and unique action figures.  For chemical compounds that do 'magical' things.  For creatures and monsters and vehicles and the list goes on and on and on...

So it was with great interest that I waited to see which career he'd chosen as the one to say into the microphone.

Would it be 

LIFEGUARD?

SCIENTIST?

ASTRONAUT?

ACTOR?

DIRECTOR?

INVENTOR?

When the microphone was handed over to him, he stood with confidence and told his audience....

"I want to have a hose and water plants."

Ba dump bump!!

I'm pretty sure he made that one up on the way to the podium - what a HAM!!

Thankfully, Ms. Janet and Ms. Michelle loved our little ham a whole bunch.

And we loved them a whole lot too.

I wanted to do something special for them, especially Ms. Janet who has been with Ben for two years now.  So I twisted arms and got a group gift going in order to fund my insanity.

(more on that tomorrow).

Then graduation was over and it was time to PICNIC!

Auntie Ulia made such a wonderful lunch to share, and special cookies for the kids too!

Only, just like in a Little Critter book...the puddles and the open field proved to be too much temptation and we just ended up chasing them around like madwomen for an hour.

I didn't even try to stop them because I knew resistance was futile.

Okay, that's a lie, I totally tried to stop them and FAILED.
At some point we just tried to mitigate the damage.

Finally it was time to go with our muddy, sweaty, happy kids.

Ben wanted to take one last look around the school that's been home to him for the last two years.

(Cameron wanted to check it out too)

Goodbye Wigwam, we'll miss you!!

Thanks for the memories, and thanks for the slideshow to remember them by, 

even if Mommy and Ben both cried while watching it.

(be warned, the music will do you in!)

CONGRATULATIONS BEN!!

We are so proud of you, and how much you've grown and learned at Toadstools and Pollywogs.

We hope you'll always be as curious and imaginative as you are right now!

Manic Monday

I used to look forward to those easy days of summer, when the schedule loosened up and spontaneity reigned (in between babies' and preschoolers naps that is).

Those days are GONE, baby, GONE.

Because while a preschooler and toddler or two would be entertained with, well just about anything, a sixth grader, third grader and kindergartener have this to say...

MOM....I'M BORED!

Which is why, this summer, even with a 5 month old in tow, 

I decided to sign the three big 'uns up for Swim Team! 

Marc told me I was 1000% insane for even thinking it.  And he may be right.  But I knew that the cost of not being up and out of the house bright and early each day would be the constant drone of...

"Moooom, there's nobody outside to play with!"

"It's too hoooooooot!"

"Can I play on the computer?"

"Can I watch TV?"

"Can I play on the iPad?"

"Can I use an app on your phone?"

And I would go slowly (or quickly) insane.

So Swim Team is the cornerstone of our summer, and we are up and at 'em even earlier than we were on school days, to my shock and horror.  Jack bikes to his practice at 8:15am because while Jack and Ben still rise at the crack of dawn, no amount of poking and prodding can get Molly out of bed before 8:30.  

Molly and Ben have practice at 9:15 and we usually show up, at a breakneck run, at 9:16.  But we're THERE, which is half the battle.  With private lessons for Molly and Ben now starting after practice on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, our mornings are pretty well spoken for, and we all come home good and tired - which is important to ward off the bickering and house-trashing that occurs when too much energy is trapped inside those skinny little bodies of theirs.

So today, our day looks like this...

The white board came out of hiding because I need it to keep me on track!
I like it so much I might even keep it out for the school year.

We kind of get the best of both worlds because even though Jack is doing karate 3 times a week and golf twice, our afternoons from 11-5 are free to do what we please.  I'm trying to sneak in an adventure day, when we blow off everything and just go someplace fun on our bucket list...but we'll have to wait and see if that ever moves beyond the idea stage!

Summer 2013

Two weeks down, ten to go!

I need a nap already!

Summer Buzz....

Mother Nature may not have her act together

(and goodness knows I can empathize with her on that!)

but we're carrying on here pretending it's summer anyway.

The boys got their "easy care" summer buzzes.

And Ben is sporting one heck of a Kool Aid mustache.

He's also sporting one heck of a dramatic flair...

Yes, swim team practice was cancelled because it was only 50 degrees.

He wore his goggles anyway.

To the grocery store.

And then he pretended to squeal out of the parking lot with the moto-cart.

Oh man, this kid is a trip.

A cuddly, trouble finding, funny as all get out TRIP.

Entourage

A certain little someone has developed an entourage!  Yesterday, while Ben was hard at work breaking every rule ever made, Molly and her friends choreographed a dance for Maeve's entertainment.

 

 

 

Then while Maeve napped this afternoon, they planned a party for her.  They made a sign with her name on it, and went around the neighborhood collecting flower petals (some with permission, some without - oops!) 

 

When Maeve woke up, there were six neighbor kids waiting to take her for a walk.  Here are Kayden and Sela ready for their turn at the wheel.

 

 

 

Here is the celebrity, groggy from a two hour siesta, but ready for her chariot.

 

 

 

 

The flower petals were strewn down the sidewalk in front of her as she was walked.

Molly and Avery were her dedicated flower girls.

 

 

 

 

 

 Here's the whole crew...

 

L to R: Sela, Gianna, Avery, Vince, Kaden (peeking from behind Vince), Chelsea, and Molly

 

 

In this day and age of organized, supervised activities, where many kids never get time to actually PLAY, I was so tickled to see these kids acting like my friends and I did at their age.   My best friend Dianne and I used to wait outside on the porch of our neighbors the Josselin's house every afternoon because Mrs. Josselin would let us feed baby Amy her lunch.  I'm pretty sure we stalked their house for an entire summer, begging to hold Amy, feed her, walk her, change her, etc.

 

One of my biggest hopes in having a baby so much younger than her sibs, is that they'll be able to tap into their maternal and paternal sides so that when they think of their future, family is an important part of their dreams.   Not some theoretical ideal of "Yeah, I want a kid someday, doesn't everyone?", but a real, visceral need to love a child (or children!) of their own because they remember how magical it is to love and be loved by a sweet little baby like Maeve.

A (half) Day of Summer Vacation...This is My LIfe

Today is the second full day of summer vacation.  Mother Nature clearly didn't get this memo because it was 52 degrees this morning!

I don't want to keep Ben locked up in the house all summer, but I also can't be his bodyguard 24/7 because of Maeve.  So I've been trying to loosen the reigns a bit and let him have some freedom.

He has four rules;

 

1. Don't leave the house without permission

2. Keep your shoes on at all times

3. Don't go in anyone's house without permission or into any off-limits areas like the drainage ditch, construction site, or off of our street.

4. Don't eat anything that Mommy and Daddy don't give you or tell you is okay to eat

 

In the three hours between noon and 3pm today while he was partially supervised by yours truly, he managed to;

• Go into his friend Samir's house without permission

• Get ratted out by our neighborhood tattle-tale for throwing rocks in the construction site across the street

• Wander down to the drainage ditch at the end of the street and come home shoeless and covered in mud up to his chest

• (After being scrubbed clean, wrapped in a towel and handed his clothes so that Mommy could feed Maeve) sneak out to his friend Jack's house across the street NEKKID AS A JAYBIRD under his pink towel to see if he wanted to play.

• (While Mommy was out cleaning up the driveway and he was supposed to stay inside) find a dead bird in the back yard, get a shovel and throw the bird over the fence into our neighbor's yard.

Oh.  Boy.
 

If today was any indication...it's going to be a VERY interesting summer!

20 Weeks of Maeve

It is hard to believe how quickly the last five months have passed since sweet baby Maeve came into our lives.  The kids keep complaining that they never want her to grow up, they want her to stay this cute and tiny forever.  I tell them this is exactly the same way I felt about all of them too!  But each new stage brings more joy and fun with babies - they are like a present you get to keep unwrapping.

In my attempts to savor every moment, I've been doing a Maeve version of Young House Love's 'Clara Photo Project', taking a picture of Maeve in a white onesie every Friday since she was born, and then photoshopping her age on the front of the onesie.  

John and Sheri Petersik who run YHL, have a little more free time than I do (and a sewing machine!), so I toned down my own version of their awesome project.  Instead of searching out a different fabric each week to then assemble into first birthday party decorations, I just hunt the house for something colorful to stick under the baby and roll with it.  Some weeks its a baby blanket, but I've used throws,sheets, rugs, curtains, bathrobes...nothing's off limits, really!

And here are the results, from week one to week 20, and every week in between.

And the last two weeks might be the cutest yet!

Time keeps marching on, week by week.  

Luckily, we've got a trusty camera to use every Friday as we 

unwrap the most adorable present ever.

Dandelion Wishes.

Ahem.  Just a wee bit overwhelmed with life at the moment.  Life is WONDERFUL, don't get me wrong.  I'm just drowning in it a smidge, so it's no wonder the poor blog gets neglected.

I'mma dip my toes back in tonight starting with life as it is RIGHTNOW.  Lots has happened since the last blog post, but I think it's best that I back into it, otherwise I might never get to it!

So tonight.  A GORGEOUS night.  So lovely I kept the kids up late to get outside and enjoy it.  It took us a half hour to get to the top of the street because we stopped along the way to dig in the dirt of the construction site across the street....to pet our neighbor's cat, Lola (the chillest cat EVER that lets kids paw all over her and never complains)...and to make dandelion wishes with friends among the gazillions of dandelions in the last vacant lot on our street. 

Clockwise from top: Lily Hebel, Molly in her sweet new dress from Auntie Treecie, dandelions galore in a vacant lot, The Pram, and three of the four Hebel girls making wishes with Ben and Molly.  L to R are Lily, Evie, Molly, Ben and NieNie (Sydney).  NieNie's twin JoJo was busy crying her head off after stubbing her toe.  She's the 'Jack' of their family :)

As you can see from the collage, Maeve got to try out the vintage pram that Auntie Treecie found at a yard sale years ago, that came out to Illinois with us when we moved because either Ulia or I would be having the next babies in the family and this beauty needed to be used!

When we lived on Edgewater Drive in Pembroke, in the raised ranch with a 4x6"landing for an entryway, I spent an exhorbitant amount of time wishing that I had a house where I could store my baby's carriage in the front hall and just push it out the door when I wanted to go for a walk.  And then when the baby fell asleep, I could push the carriage back into the house and the baby could nap while I did things around the house.

Honest to goodness, we spent actual money, LOTS of money, working with an architect to try and design this wish into reality.  It never did, because we weren't meant to stay (though of course I didn't know it at the time and shook my fist at the sky...and at Marc...and at our architect...many, many times).

But here I am ten years later, marveling at how these dreams of mine manage to come true...just in their own time, not mine. 

Because tonight I laid Maeve in her pram where it sits in the dining room, pushed it straight out the front door, and went for a stroll.

And it wasn't lost on me that despite the many things about our new house that I wish I could change, it is also a place where dreams come true.

No dandelions necessary.