Dreams and reality

We moved to our new house on Sunday. It took me until today to complete the move and get everything out of our previous (rental) house. Needless to say, it has been an exhausting few days. Thankfully, my parents kept the boys on Friday night (the movers were originally supposed to come on Saturday, but called Friday night to reschedule), and then from Sunday until this afternoon.

Actually, my dad was out of town starting on Sunday, so my poor but fabulous mother managed to wrangle our crazy boys for three days all by herself. Someone nominate her for sainthood! :-) I know I do this all the time, but as Trey always reminds me, "this parenting gig is a young man's game." And we are not that young. ;-) Anyway, she did all this even though the weather was less than stellar for most of that time (cold and rainy after weeks of 80+ degree temps). Trey and I have been so busy moving that it has been nice to know the boys were in good hands...being entertained, educated and well fed. Thank you Mom! You are the best. Even though now Thomas wants his own iPad.

I promised Mom I'd be there by today to rescue her and give her a much-deserved break. I arrived right after Parker went down for a nap, so when it was time to wake him up and get on the road I went up to his room, opened the curtains (he didn't stir) and then laid down beside him. He moved a little and then started mumbling something that obviously pertained to his dream. He half-opened his eye and realized someone seemed to be in front of him. He stretched a little and then struggled to open both eyes. He stared at me, straight faced, and slowly said, "Is that my Mommy?" Then he reached out and touched my face (that was about a foot in front of his). It was the sweetest thing. And then, after I assured him that I really was there, he snuggled up to me and wrapped my arms around him and asked me to hold him. Awwwwww.

I'm exhausted and sore and would love nothing more than a day to relax, but I'm glad to have my boys back. Our house is a complete wreck...boxes everywhere remind me of the Christmas hymn "In the Bleak Midwinter." That song says, "Snow had fallen snow on snow, snow on snow." In our house there are boxes upon boxes upon boxes. There is STUFF everywhere. But our boys are back home and our family of four is spending our first night all together in our new house. Despite all the craziness and tired, achy bodies, everything just feels right.

"Is that my Mommy?," he asked so sweetly, yet so unsure. Those are the moments that melt my heart!

Moving Day

The moving truck has come and gone…

And now we are left with piles of boxes and STUFF that I don’t even want to think about sharing in pictures.  :) Thank goodness we had help with the big stuff, but it sure would be nice if some magical fairy would come and unpack everything and find a perfect place for everything big and small.

The movers came a day later than originally planned, which left us with no childcare on the day when they had to come (on Sunday).  I was nervous, but the boys did well.  Of course if you move the television, a few chairs, snacks and of course the DVR, it certainly helps. 

After moving twice in less than a year, I’ve had enough moving for quite a long while.  This may not be our “forever home,” but it is a house where, God willing, we plan to stay for a very long time. 

Now if only these boys could figure out how to unpack these boxes and not just pose in front of them…

(By the way, Parker fell on the nice new driveway this week, and that’s why he is sporting the lovely mark on his forehead!)

Field Day for 4K

Thomas was excited for weeks about his school’s 4K Field Day.  I don’t think he really knew what was going to happen, but he was pretty sure it was going to be fun.  After days of warmer temps, it was unusually chilly that morning, but it warmed up a little as the sun finally made an appearance!

Thomas’ class was divided into two groups, led by his assistant teacher, Ms. Merrick.  The kids all seemed to have a great time!  I should edit the pictures to improve the color, but I’m to lazy and there are so many, I just want to post them!

This was Chinese Freeze Tag.  The “tagger” would tag someone and that would freeze them.  To be “unfrozen” someone else had to crawl through their legs.  Thomas eventually decided that the best strategy was to wait until someone crawled through someone’s legs and then tag them.  So basically, he was tagging the heroes.  :)

Thomas loves any excuse to run around and be silly!

Parker cheered from the sidelines…or something like that.

In this game they had to try to throw a little bean bag into a hula hoop.  They decided to make it a boys vs. girls competition.  The boys were victorious!

Thomas was the first to finish the obstacle course for his team.

The little boy in the red hat his his best boy friend in his class; his name is also Thomas and he was also in his class last year.  This year there were THREE Thomases in the class.  Whew!

It wasn’t long before Parker got a little bored.  He was clinging to my legs and whining (though you can’t tell in this picture).  I held my camera down to take this picture and I thought it turned out cute.

Goodness.  How small do they look in that goal!??!  That can’t be a soccer goal.  They are just too little!

At this point, Parker was less than amused. 

A quick break for face painting (Thomas opted for an ice cream cone)….

One last game…

Three Thomases and a boy named Jack:

After the events were finished, each class posed with their teachers and their PE teacher (Ms. Weezie in the green) and were given their trophies…I mean, Porter-Gaud visors. 

After all that fun, Thomas was all out of smiles.  :)

He had a wonderful time with his friends and Parker looks forward to the day when it is his turn to participate!

Happy birthday cousin Eliza!

The boys were thrilled to celebrate their cousin Eliza’s birthday with her yesterday.

It is so hard to believe sweet Eliza is already three!  Thanks for allowing us to share your birthday with you!

Our little Ham

Parker’s teacher is due to have a baby May 1st.  His assistant teacher, along with other 2s teachers, asked all the parents of the kids in Parker’s class (and the MWF class with the same teachers) to take a photo for a special project.  They asked us to take a picture of our child holding a 12x12 sheet of white paper in front of a white or neutral background. 

I think Parker enjoyed the “challenge.”  As much as he adores his teachers, I think he was just thrilled to do anything special for them!

These are only a select few of what I got.  I think they show his personality. 

He is a little ham!

Silly boy!

Just for fun, here’s the finished product that the teachers shared with us.  Too cute. (She was born April 27 and I will pretend that I didn’t backdate this and instead came back and added it!)

First 100 days of 4K

To mark and celebrate the first 100 days of school for the year, Thomas and his classmates were asked to bring in 100 of something to share with the class tomorrow.  Thomas bypassed any non-food options and decided on fruit snacks. 

He seems to have a hard time not blinking when the flash comes on with the new camera.  It was equally hard not eating the food as he counted!

So if you’ve ever wondered what 100 fruit snacks looks like, there you go.  One hundred days down, far too few left to go!

Three times the energy

Don’t get me wrong, I love it when the boys have playdates.   When a friend comes over it makes for a little less entertaining that I need to do, but it also makes me realize how thankful I am that I never had twins…and it makes me realize that two children are plenty for me.  :)

The ride home from school with the three boys in tow proved to be a crazy start.  They were all so excited to be with each other, I just about needed to strap them to the roof. 

We managed to get through lunch and finally calmed down a little bit enough to go outside and get all riled up again.  Parker showed off his driving skills.

And no playdate is complete (especially when three children are involved) without a little pouting time.  We had two large trucks to load with rocks and push around the yard, but three boys.  This meant one boy was not happy. 

Before we knew it, the playdate was over and we were back to two.  I really enjoy having children over, I truly do, but on a full-time basis, I think two is the perfect number for me.   Those boys were pretty close to bouncing off the walls and I can only take so much energy flying around the room!