The boys had a day off from school today, so we went downtown to the Nashville Public Library to check out their favorite story time with Professor, Mary Mary, J.J. the Lamb, Cedric the Dragon, and the Spanish Fox. Afterwards, they worked on a turkey pinecone craft and made wishes in the courtyard fountain.
Xander was SO excited to bring Bentley Bear home from preschool for a visit over the weekend! Here are a few pictures of Bentley’s adventures with Xander…
In his thirty-second month, Roman is: loving gymnastics; trying to drop his nap; developing his newfound ability to play by himself (he’s so super extroverted that this is a tough skill for him); and enjoying fall with all of its festivities (pear picking, pumpkin farm, pumpkin carving, nature walks, Halloween parades, trick or treating, etc.).
Here are a few of his most recent one-liners:
“What are Rice Krispie Treats made from?”
“That’s what turkey’s eat…turkey bacon!”
Xander is: loving gymnastics and swim lessons; going on his very first field trip…to Lucky Ladd…one of his favorite places; enjoying playing my childhood piano (that we’re honored to keep at our house for Maw right now); making up his own songs; and getting into fall with all of its festivities (pumpkin farm, pumpkin carving, Halloween parades, trick or treating, etc.).
Here’s a very insightful statement he made to me the other day:
“You’re already at your work.”
We were SO excited this year to get to celebrate Halloween with my brother, Kerry, who moved back this year after many years in Taiwan!!! It was CRAZY cold and blustery, so it wasn’t quite the party in the streets in our neighborhood that it usually is. But we still had fun dressing up and watching the boys trick or treat around the block, and enjoyed giving out a few pieces of candy and eating a bowl of warm chili on the porch after we got the boys snug in their beds. Here’s to having fun on Halloween with family!
We picked up Adelaide, Roman’s best friend, on the way to preschool this morning. It was so sweet to watch her and Roman holding hands in the hallway, after we dropped Xander off. I could not resist taking pictures of the love and cuteness. We played for a little while at home, and then I helped them put on their costumes and we went to Trick or Treat storytime at the library.
We joined several families from our moms’ group at a church down the road for a Family Pumpkin Carving Party tonight. The food was delicious, and I’m totally going to be hitting some people up for some out-of-this-world cornbread and cobbler recipes. The boys had a blast playing on the playground with friends and were very interested in helping Daddy with the pumpkin design and carving.
Xander, Roman, and I went to a Halloween Party at the park this morning with our moms’ group. The boys were not long for their costumes as it felt more like summer today than fall. But they loved sampling all of the different kinds of snacks, drawing with sidewalk chalk, building with Mega Blocks, making arts and crafts with Halloween stickers, checking out the Halloween games, and playing on the playground with friends. How rich we are in community here…it’s a blessing that I am thankful for every day.
In honor of the 50th day of school, the kids dressed up in 50’s style today. I thought Jonas looked SO cute (he was not super enthused with the slicking back of the hair…but he rolled with it). His favorite part of the day was making and tasting a root beer float.
Roman and I went out to visit MeMe and PaPa this morning and very much enjoyed picking pears, sitting on the porch, walking down to and playing in the creek, and catching up over lunch. Here are a few super sweet pictures of Roman doing some pear picking with MeMe.
Jonas ran in the Fun Run today to raise money for his school (thank you so much to everyone who sponsored him). He did a GREAT job running…he even stopped a few times to take a drink from his water bottle and got right back in there. It was so fun cheering him and all of his friends on…I totally started crying when they all took off running (races always get my heart like that for some reason). Way to go, Jonas!!!
Roman started his first gymnastics class last week, and he was SO excited and SO proud to be a big boy. He’s in class with Xander and his neighborhood buddy, Jay.
I was all prepared last week to try to keep him entertained for an hour (which is darn near impossible there because he’s always trying to run and climb up onto the tumble track), but Coach Tori asked if I wanted to have him try a class for free to see how he would do (even though he’s 2 and 1/2 and it’s technically for 3 and 4 year olds). She said he followed directions really well and picked up the forward roll really quickly, so she invited us to make him official. He LOVES it and is so excited!
It’s time for another installment of “What Did I Just Say?”…statements that come out of my mouth as I try to parent three little boys under the age of 5…that, as I’m saying them, I’m realizing how ridiculous they are in and out of context and marveling at the fact that I’ve even put some of these words together in the same sentence as a directive:
“I don’t want you throwing stuffed animals at the fan.”
“Don’t vacuum your brother!”
“Let’s not climb in the pantry.”
“You are not bringing a 2 x 4 inside the house.”
Roman has been skipping out on his afternoon nap lately. I knew this day would come…I just didn’t expect it to be so soon. I’m still torn between really working hard to try to coax him into taking a nap (which is honestly just darn near impossible and extremely frustrating) and just giving up and providing him with some things to do in his room for quiet time (which is what I’ve been opting for lately). It’s actually been a bit of a blessing in disguise…him dropping his nap…(once a dear mommy friend reminded me to let go of the expectation)…as he has spent more time playing by himself than he ever has in his life. He’s such an extrovert that entertaining himself is just not on his radar. So quiet time has been good for him.
All of that to say, because I didn’t feel like I had to rush home to get him down for his nap, we ended up heading out to Nashville late this morning to see Aunt Beans at work and walking a few blocks with her to have lunch. It was super fun and just like old times, as Jeanne and I both used to work downtown and tried to eat lunch together every so often. Aw…I miss that and my one-of-a-kind sister! Roman fell in love with a bright green and yellow monkey while he was visiting her office, so she let him take it home…what a sweet aunt…I think she had a hard time resisting those doe eyes he was batting at her…ha!
We took the boys to Walden Pumpkin Farm this afternoon, and they had so much fun that they didn’t want to leave. It’s hard to believe that this has been a fall tradition for us since Jonas was almost one and now he’s in kindergarten. Jonas’ favorite part was walking through the spooky house, Xander’s favorite part was picking out a pumpkin, and Roman’s favorite part was riding the train.
We have had a SUPER laid back Fall Break. Some of us have been a little bit under the weather, and it’s been raining pretty much every day. The boys have fought a lot which kind of surprised me (although I don’t know why)…I thought they might have missed each other…but alas. Here’s a picture that pretty much encapsulates our long weekend…rain, pajamas, and a lot of free play.
Jonas has been enjoying taking gymnastics and swim lessons, riding the bus home, and rooming with Xander. Here are a few of his most recent questions:
“If the earth is round…how is the ground flat?”
“What are sewers?”
Xander started a round of swim lessons by himself on Saturdays this month…he’s having a blast!
I’m so excited to be volunteering at Jonas’ school, helping his precious teacher outside and inside the classroom. (How grateful I am to dear friends for taking such good care of Roman on these days so I can help out!) I got to eat lunch with Jonas for the first time this school year which was such a treat.
Roman’s best friend is Addie. Her mommy is one of my dear friends, Heather, who I met and loved immediately at NES when I was the librarian there. Heather taught Early Childhood and helped me with my lesson planning for that age group and what that looked like when the kids came for library time. Now, we enjoy having play dates and mom’s nights out and taking care of each other’s children so we can have a mommy moment. Adelaide helped us drop Xander off at preschool and then had a blast playing with Roman (they LOVED playing on the playground, doing arts and crafts, and having lunch together).
