Halloween Carnival (times two)

Today the boys both enjoyed the Halloween carnival and individual class parties at their school.  Many thanks to Trey for coming and helping since I was going to have a really hard time being in two places at once and I didn't want either child being neglected!  They have been looking forward to today all week and were very excited to go to school.

Thomas got to wear his costume and Parker (and all twos) wore his class t-shirt.  He didn't seem to mind that he couldn't wear his costume, thankfully.


Trey came and took Parker to his carnival and I joined them after dropping off cupcakes in Thomas' class.


Parker enjoyed all of the games, but mostly wanted to play with all of his prizes!


He made some of the games a little bit easier for himself.  He had more success throwing the bean bags from one inch away, not four feet.  :)


He had success throwing the velcro ghost...




He didn't end up keeping this prize, but I'm glad I got a picture of it.  Too funny!


I think he settled on a magnifying glass from the treasure chest of prizes...


Then the kids headed to the playground until it was time for their party.  There was swingin'...


Drivin'...


And lots of playing until it was time to line up and go inside...


After two years of watching from the sidelines at Thomas' class parties, I think Parker was most happy to finally have his turn to sit at the table!


Then it was time for me to leave Parker with his classmates and head over to join Thomas' party...already in progress with a fun scavenger hunt.


I actually had to bypass watching that fun and help set up for the party.  The parents had gathered together quite a feast!


Thomas was hot from being outside (nearly 90 degrees on October 28 is just wrong, wrong, wrong!), so he wouldn't look at me or eat much...but here's the best I could get of his party...


Here's Thomas at the carnival with two of his best buds...


Thomas was happy with his eyewear prize (perhaps not quite as cute as Parker's find)...


He intently looked for a whistle in the treasure box.  Just what we need around the house...another whistle.


Then it was on to more games...


I suppose I should have told him to go to the devil side...


Back in the classroom, he tried on his buddy's astronaut helmet...


And posed for a picture with "Princess Jasmine."  This is a friend who was in his gymnastics class last year and he frequently talked about her.  He was so happy when he found out she'd be in his class this year!  :)


Most of the children left early for the day with their parents, but some either stay the whole day, or like Thomas, stay for longer than usual on Thursdays (Thomas hs his "Ready Hands" (occupational therapy in a fun atmosphere) class and stays for lunch and a little extra playing).  So we got them to change into something more comfortable and one of the other moms ("Jasmine's" mom)  read the children an interactive (dancing) story.  They were hanging on her every word.  Too cute.


And then I left and went to pick up Parker (who was at that point, one of only two children left in his class (everyone else left early with a parent).  He didn't seem to mind.  He had a fun day.

Speaking of fun, I snapped a quick pic of the measuring tape in Thomas' class.  It shows how tall he was on the first day of school (and the same of his classmates).  His teacher wrote down two "Thomas M."'s, but I am sure that one is actually our Thomas.  As such, he's tied with two other children as the second tallest in his class (the tallest is a little girl!).  Anyway, thought that was cute.

Mama said...

Did Mama say there would be days like this? Days where your children behaved so poorly in a store that you would have to give up almost all the reasons you went there (except for the bare necessities) and get out of dodge before people ask you to leave? :) I'm sure she did.

Yesterday morning, Thomas was in school and I usually make grocery trips with just Parker, because Habitat for Humanity decided to stand me up on our date for them to come pick up our old couch, I didn't get to finish my errands before Thomas got out of school. This meant I had to take both boys. And it was not pretty.

We had only been there a few minutes and I was quietly looking through a few coupons and deciding my strategy when Thomas started wailing. He seemed extremely hurt and upset. He finally managed to tell me that Parker bit him on the back. Parker was so upset that he had hurt his brother (and that he was in trouble for it) that he started crying too. People quickly started to stare, I had to pull Thomas out and hold him...and it just kept getting worse. And then I saw Thomas' back:

THe worst of it was left by his top teeth...you can faintly see a reddish mark were his bottom teeth were below and to the left. And a little closer...


No wonder he was so upset! I got the two things we had to have and after stopping to get a cookie for Thomas (and not for Parker...which of course caused more tears) we got out of there and headed home. My apolgies to all of the ears that were damaged yesterday by the cries of my children at Publix. :) How I managed to keep my cool and save my fussing for the car I will never know. Thank God for granting me patience when I needed it most.

First season comes to an end

On Saturday, Thomas had his last soccer game of the season.  I didn't take enough pictures, mostly because I was sitting in awe of how quickly and suddenly Thomas improved his game!  He did so great!  He didn't score any goals (only one child did on his team), but he played terrific defense and kicked the ball almost all the way down the field on two or three occasions. 







The first few games, he just played silly the whole game.  He'd run silly, he would sit and chew on his shirt and fall on the ground all the time just for fun.  Then he went a few games where he seemed afraid to kick the ball.  He would get nervous, it seemed, when all of the kids were around the ball at once and he never would try to kick it.  And then there was Saturday.  He wasn't kicking the ball for the first quarter, but then something clicked and he was pursuing the ball, kicking it and taking it away from the opponent and he was really trying hard.  I was so proud of him!  And he was so proud of himself. 

Sure, he still had his moments of silliness, but those were only when he was on the bench...


I wish there were more games to play so he could keep improving, but I guess we'll have to wait untl the next season rolls around.  And we'll see...we probably will try a new sport in the meantime!  He was so sad that this was ending.

Since Thomas (and at least one of his other teammates) were out of town on picture day, we tried to take a team picture.











 

I cannot say enough how proud I was of Thomas for the improvement he showed over the course of the season!  It was amazing to see...and I know it was in large part to their wonderful coach (one of his friend's Dad).  He was so patient with them and so incredibly encouraging.  He was exactly what Thomas needed for his first foray into the world of sports! 

I'm not sure if soccer is going to be THomas' game, but he had fun, and that's what matters most!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

The boys were on "fall break" from school on Monday and Tuesday, so we made the most of it and planned a playdate with friends at the pumpkin patch on Monday. It was a beautiful day and aside from a swarm of mosquitoes that accosted us on the hayride, it was a pleasant day!

Thomas refused to sit in the sun and both boys were, as usual, unable to both look at me and smile at the same time (despite all sorts of bribery), so that's what we get.

We had better luck individually...




They had a blast on the "hayride," even though Thomas did inquistively ask me later why it was called a "hayride" since there was no hay. :)


Thomas was happy to sit with two of his best buddies (one from school and one from our former neighborhood):


Finally at the end of the ride, Parker was brave enough to leave my side and sit by his brother:

And of course the boys enjoyed the other joys offered at the pumpkin patch...the bounce house and slide, the big slides and the mound of sand. They didn't last long on the huge jumping "pillow" there...and I was a bit glad about that. Here they were on the bouncy slide:




The boys were moving so fast on this thing that I couldn't quite get the camera to keep up. So that was the best I could do with that!

And then before we left, we stopped for a quick picture on the big red chair (that is starting to look a bit more worn then when we first took a picture of Thomas there three years ago!


Here was Thomas in 2007 (I was probably about 10 weeks pregnant with Parker then!):


Just before we left, it was time for another one of their favorites...sitting on the tractors.










And just for fun, here's one of the other attempts to get a good picture with the pumpkins. This cracks me up. I had promised them lollipops if they would smile and look at me. Thomas was doing it (though often with this crazed, forced permagrin) but Parker would not look at me. I love this one because it's like Thomas is saying, "I'm smiling, I'm smiling...now is Parker looking at Mommy YET?!!"


We had a great time despite the lack of great pictures to prove it. Three of Thomas' best buddies came (each with a sibling friend for Parker (including one who is in his class)), and so it was a great day all around!

Coach to Cure MD

It's that time of year again! It's time for the easiest way to make a donation that is so very much needed. And if you are looking at my journal, you must have some interest in my boys...and I can think of no better way to honor the fact that they seem to be healthy then by making this small donation that can help boys who are not.

This weekend you will notice college football coaches will wear armbands with the Coach to Cure logo seen above. The coaches are showing their support for Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy -- an non-profit organization that works tirelessly to find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Duchenne affects 1 in 3,500 young boys and is the most common fatal genetic disorder in childhood. Yes, I said "fatal." That is why a cure must be found.

I dare you to take two minutes to watch this video. I don't know if it can be done without tears...especially for those of us with young boys...but I'm hoping it spurs you to action. What if I couldn't tell Thomas and Parker that he could do whatever he wants to do? I don't want to imagine it. All children should feel free to dream and sets their sights as high as they like.



My good friend's six-year old son, Jake, was diagnosed three years ago. Here he is (in the green) with his younger brother Ben and their new dog:


For more on Jake, feel free to visit his Caring Bridge site.

I know I don't post on here much anymore and I hope I haven't chased away all my regulars, but I'm hoping that someone will see this and feel called to do something. Most of us have cell phones and there are two super easy ways to make a simple $5 donation. You can text the word CURE to 90999 and it will be added to your cell phone bill (you will be asked to confirm the text in a separate text).

Or you can simply enteryour cell phone number to this "widget" and it will go on your bill. It's so easy and it can make a big difference in the lives of so many!



So please. It is five dollars! Money is tight for us, just like for everyone, but I hope this is five dollars you can give. And if you have a son (or a daughter) who will be able to run a marathon one day if he wants...or play kick ball in middle school...or run with his friends in high school...if you know someone who will do these things...then please, show your thanks and give $5 to help someone who cannot.

Many, many thanks to you for your kindness.