Tyler's self portrait

I love the self portrait that Tyler made at school. It hangs on the wall of his classroom along with all of the other kids' pictures. Check out the smile and the blue eyes.

Favorite Sound

One of my favorite sounds is to hear the kids yawning through their monitors. Both Tyler and Hailey yawn while they are sleeping. I think sleep yawning means you are REALLY tired.

And there he goes......

Well Hailey and I got the axe today at school. Up until now, the three of us walk to school and Tyler hangs close to me as we wait for the doors to open and make our way to his room. Usually once we get there Hailey and I stand off to the side as he gets all his stuff on the hooks, folder out of his backpack and gets ready for the day. Then he comes over for a hug before he walks in the room. After that Hailey and I head home.

Today, we walked to school and Tyler spotted a couple of his friends. He asks "can I go play with them". Of course I say. Hailey quickly runs after him and I had to gently call her back. A couple minutes later, he drifts back our way. "So, is it ok if I walk into school with my friends". "Sure", (sniff). Hailey and I dutifully "hung back" as he made his way to his class, unpacked, and nearly walked into the room without even a goodbye. Then he caught sight of my sad face and came over for a hug :). I just cried silently inside. He might need to go back to preschool.

I am happy he's making friends though!!

We Play Soccer...With Our Feet!

I have no qualifications to back up my new title of 3-4 Year Olds Soccer Coach but I guess being Hailey's Dad and not working on Monday's are key ingredients! Tonight was Hailey's first experience with organized sports at the Gold Creek Church Kids at the Creek inaugural soccer league! Hailey looked mighty cute in her pink shin guards, shorts and Hershey's Kisses Shirt! We hada great time and her teamates Audrey, Tristan and Ryan (who is also in her pre-school class) were great kids to be with. I'm not sure the end product can be called soccer but there was a ball, goals, some kicking and running. Does that count?

Hard to let go

School has been an interesting journey for me as a mother. Tyler has been loving school so far which makes me very happy. We've hit a morning routine. The three of us take our 10-15 minute walk to school, get Ty settled, and Hailey and I make our way back home (counting slugs, spider, and snails on the way). Walking on school campus in the mornings brings a lot of interesting emotions and thoughts to my mind. There are some memories of going to school as a kid...how everything seemed so big, what it felt like to sit in the classroom, everything new and different, recess, finding friends, lots of different things. Things all kids go through everyday. But now there's a new perspective. I see everything from the parents point of view. I watch every morning as a big group of kids wait outside for the doors to open and the stampede once they do open. I see kids playing and goofing off and making friends and trying to fit in. The only thing I can really think as I see all this is "it's hard to be a kid". Sure their days are filled with playing and they don't' have a lot responsibilities but boy do they have a lot to figure out. And sadly, kids just are not always very nice to each other. They tell it as it is, they make fun, they try be the center of attention, often at the expense of another kid. How hard is it to be a small child and walk into this big school? You have to take what you know and everything you are learning and figure out who you want to be friends with. You have to take it all in and absorb all that is around you and somehow make the right decisions. That's not easy. And I hope the best for my kids. As I've watched I realize that this is really the beginning of a new Tyler, the one that is outside the shelter and protection of our immediate family. I hope his core sweetness remains as he fights for a place amoung the boys of grade school.

For now I'm cherishing the sweet boy he is today. I'm holding on to his good soul. Here are some of my favorite things from the past few weeks:

Tyler and Hailey are so good to each other. Yes , they are brother and sister and they do fight but for the most part they play so well together and they really do care for each other. Neither really like to go upstairs by themselves so they go with each other so they can "protect" the other.

Tyler posted this sign in the doorway of his fort.

He found a card in my desk drawer, wrote a note, and gave this to me.

And a small victory in the household department. We've started chores (another post on this soon) and within a couple of days Tyler announced he was just going to keep his room clean all the time and then he would get his chore card each day without having to do any work. He's pretty smart. He's been doing a pretty good job too. It also didn't take him long to figure out how to take his jammies off right side out.....saves him a lot of time on laundry sorting day :).

Project Pirate Ship

One of Ty's projects a few weeks ago. He did this totally on his own with no help. Never underestimate the potential of popsicle sticks, lots of tape, and playdough. Of course a 5 year old imagination is key. And yes, I do believe there is a gun taped to the bow of the ship.

Ty ties

Tyler got his first pair or real tying shoes the beginning of August. We thought it would be perfect to have the last few weeks before school to learn how to tie shoes. And it worked out a great. About a week before school started he had it figured. He still prefers a finger on the first part to help keep it tight and sometimes a little adjusting at the end because he likes his loops equal size. Other than that our Ty can tie ties.