School transitions

After a great first week of school, reality must have set in, because every morning when we dropped the boys off at school, there was a hysterical screaming or crying fit by one or both of the boys. Connor seemed especially sensitive, and last Friday he clamped onto my neck so hard I had a difficult time prying him off. Their teacher didn't seem to understand that all she had to do was take him by the hand and distract him for a minute so I could get away, since as soon as I leave they almost always stop crying immediately. I was finally rescued by the art teacher, Mrs. Murphy, who led both the boys into the art room to "help out." I am not quite sure I am sold on their kindergarten teacher, but maybe it's because I was used to the smaller class size and rapport they had with their teachers at the preschool, because they had been going there since they were babies, (literally, at 11 weeks old!). I guess we all need a little adjustment.
This week though, I had a talk with the boys, and let them know the screaming crying fits weren't allowed, and I gave them an incentive. On Tuesday, I told them that if they had a good drop off with no tears or tantrums, that we would go swimming that night. There were very excited and when I dropped them off they seemed fine, until I was getting ready to make my exit and looked over at Connor's seat, and he wasn't in it. I went over there and he was bent over, basically hiding under the desk, because he had started to cry and didn't want me to see! I gave him a big hug and told him he did a good job, and that it was okay to be sad, just not okay to have a fit about it. After that he seemed okay, and I managed to get out of the room without any hysterics. Today I instituted a sticker chart. For every good drop-off they get a sticker, and if they get stickers today, Thursday and Friday, we get to go see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. It worked like a charm! I dropped them off and said goodbye at the door to their classroom, and there wasn't a tear in sight! Hopefully Because I don't know how long I can keep topping the awesome bribes, I mean, incentives!

First day fun

So here are the long-awaited first day of school pics, only a week after the fact. I am still so excited for the boys and can't wait to hear everything they did every day, even though it is already like pulling teeth. "How was your day?" I ask. "Good," they say. "Well, what did you learn today?" I ask. "I don't know, and can you please stop asking?" They already have the whole teenager thing down.
The first day went smoothly, Aaron and I both drove them to school since the bus doesn't go to our house, we waited with them in the gym as everyone got organized and checked off the list, then we marches as a group down the the classroom. They looked small and a little tired and lost as they got settled in, but as soon as the teacher sat them down "cris-cross-apple-sauce-hands-are-in-our-laps" and started reading "The Kissing Hand"
by Audrey Penn, they were just fine. I thought I would cry at some point, but I was so proud and excited for them that none of us even shed a tear! I can't believe how big they are getting. In fact, they seemed to have gotten older by the time we picked them up from their first day of school. We went to the Kalamazoo Nature Center on Sunday, and they have some birds on display; a kestrel and some owls, among others, and Connor asked me to get out a piece of paper and write notes about his observations about the birds; i.e, "The American Kestrel has a sharp beak for stabbing into the meat that it eats." I don't have the paper in front of me, but that was the gist. I love it that he gets it that writing things down can help you remember, and that he found the things that he learned that interesting.
Here are some pictures from our first day of school. Click on the slideshow to see them bigger...

Elementary eve

Its ten p.m. The new school clothes are in the dryer. Backpacks on the hook. Kids in bed, ready for a big day tomorrow. Me, trying to think of something profound to write on this day before the first day of kindergarten. I don't know quite how to feel. Mostly I am SO excited for them to start this next chapter. There are so many fun and interesting opportunities out there, and I can't wait to for the boys to experience them all. I always thought I would be a "slacker mom," because I hate the idea of the boys being over-scheduled, but now I am thinking of all these activities that they can sign up for: swim lessons (done), soccer, baseball, karate, gymnastics, climbing camp, the list goes on and on!
Meagan is now living with us full time, and we just got her registered for high school at Kalamazoo Central today, and I was reminded of the anticipation of a new school year, and all the new and exciting things that came with it. It's a big switch for her, transferring in 10th grade, but she seems excited. Almost as excited as I am for her. Honors english, college readiness, journalism, and geometry. Helping her with her homework might be my one real chance to put my rusty math skills to work!
Well, off to bed now, having a high schooler who catches the bus at 6:50 a.m. means our house will be waking up pretty early from now on. Well, at least Meagan will be!

Stay tuned for the obligatory "first day of school" pictures.

Graduation

Here are some photos from the boys graduation in June. Kindergarten here we come!
Connor won the scientist award, (he is always making things) and Riley won the future banker award, for saving up all of his crystals (awards for good behavior) for 2 months to get a prize of Galactic Putty.

The boys' first movie

So I got a new camera at work, the Canon 5D Mark II, which aside from being an awesome SLR, also takes HD video. It works a little differently than a video camera, so I though I would test it out. Trying to focus on two jumpy little boys turned out to be my downfall. They wanted to make a movie, so here they are, re-enacting the swordfighting scene from the Princess Bride. Riley gives it an unexpected twist at the end. Please note, Sorry to all the tech gurus out there, I did not shoot this in HD.

Some like it hot.

There are a few more things I want to post, but it is 83 degrees in our office, and my laptop is like a heating pad for my hands. So instead I am going to sit in the other room and sweat a little less profusely. Check back, some possible topics include; Jazz Fest in New Orleans, Bonfires, and Drummond Island.

Camping Extravaganza

I love camping. It is something that was instilled in me at a young age by my parents. There is nothing better than cooking outside, kicking back, watching a campfire burn, then sacking out in the tent, listening to the sounds of the outdoors. Even better if it is raining. ( As long as you have a good tent that won't collapse in the middle of the night, forcing you to sleep in the car.) I want the boys to love camping too. They have been a couple times already, and Aaron and I have been talking about taking them this year, but our schedules have been crazy and we haven't been able to get a trip planned. But two weekends ago, I had some time off, and decided it would be fun to try and take the boys camping. Aaron was traveling, so it would be just me and the boys. By ourselves. In the woods. I think Aaron said "Are you sure?" when I brought up this idea. It actually was a lot of fun. We drove to Lake Michigan, to Van Buren State Park, which has a campground and a beach. I set up our camp, with minimal help from the boys, then we hit the beach. The water was 53 degrees, hypothermia cold, cold enough to make my legs cramp up when I put my feet in, but Connor actually dunked himself under more than once! We spent tons of time digging giant holes in the sand and running up the giant sand dune that is there at the beach. The same kids that whine that they can't walk up the stairs because their legs are too sore ran, and I mean RAN, up this sand dune. Have you ever tried to run in sand? It's hard. But they couldn't be stopped.

Needless to say, after all that excitement, they passed out within about 30 seconds of me zipping the tent closed that night.

The next day we hit two more beaches, one at Saugatuck Dunes State Park, where you had to hike through the woods for a little over a mile to get there, and Oval Beach in Saugatuck, which is a great family beach. I was surprised to see there were no longer lifeguards there. It used to be one of the few spots that still had them, at least a couple years ago. After all that beach time, stopped for some ice cream and headed home. Connor passed out in his car seat almost immediately and Riley followed soon after. I would have joined them, except I had to drive. Despite the huge pile of camping gear and dirty laundry that followed us home, it was a blast and totally worth it. When I asked the boys if they had fun, Riley said, "No, because we only got to camp for one night." Next time then, we'll go a little longer. But I am definitely taking Aaron along for the ride!