Category Archives: Uncategorized

Legos, Chili and More

Hudson is 10 months and Ruthie is 8.5 months old and they are maniacs. They barrel through the house, chasing each other, wrestling, biting and playing. They are trouble makers who continually steal things off the end tables (the remote controls, the ipads, books, a box of kleenex), and who stand directly under my feet while I cook dinner (if I end up with a broken neck, it will 100% be because of them). But they are our sweet babies and while we would certainly have a cleaner house and yard without them, I’m glad that they are part of our family. 
We are 6 weeks into kindergarten and on Friday we had conferences with Xander’s teacher. It was really fun to talk to her about how he’s doing. We didn’t have any concerns, and she was very complimentary of how well he gets along with other kids and his academic progress. She showed us samples of his writing- his letters and numbers are looking good. Her updates are LONG and detailed and I love them. I love seeing videos that the art, gym, french, drama and music teachers share. It is so fun to see him learning and growing. Augustus had bug week at his school and did a lot of fun projects with insects. 
. 

Xander got a super cool gift from Aunt Kara and Uncle Jud (and baby Nell)- a lego hat! You can make your own designs with tiny little pieces. He spent a long time on the perfect design and was very proud of himself. 

On Friday, Xander had his first day off and so we took a family trip to the Lego Store at the Mall of America. Augustus picked out a lego set within about 3 minutes. Xander shops the same way I do, which is to say he looked at and touched every single lego set in the store and then agonized over the right choice. 45 minutes into our shopping trip, I was fully prepared to buy the 7000 piece Millennium Falcon set just to get us out of there, but luckily, Nate was able to help him find a great set for 6 year olds. We went out to lunch and then headed home, where Xander spent 2.5 hours totally focused on building an underwater sub station. It turned out super cool! 

. 

. 

On Friday night, Nate and the boys had happy hour with the whole neighborhood, but I missed out as I was volunteering at a YMCA fundraising event. I have hosted trivia night for CYC for many years and several years ago, I started also hosting the YMCA trivia night (with the same questions I use for each CYC night). It was a super fun night and I got to see some of my Y friends, which I always enjoy. 

Saturday was another neighborhood marathon of fun. We started the day with coffee, hot chocolate and donuts, as well as a Bags tournament. The littlest of the kiddos have recently been stripping down as soon as they get together and running through the neighborhood in just undies. I will be reminding all of them about that when they are about 14 years old. Gussie and the girls literally spent the whole day in underwear, but if the weather cooperates, I am happy to let him run wild and free. We all hung out until lunch, at which point we all went home to eat and rest. 

. 

At 4, we all started heading back outside and at 5, it was time for the chili buffet- not a cook off, because no one wanted to criticize anyone else. We had 4 kinds of chili, cornbread, cookies, chips, grapes… it was a full buffet of food. I tasted all 4 of the chilis and they were all excellent. We had so many people outside and even one random neighbor who happened to be walking her dog and we lured her in. It was quite a spectacle! We stayed outside until it was completely dark and then we dragged the children inside for baths and bedtime. 
. 

Sunday was another gorgeous, unseasonably warm day. The boys spent the day with my mom, and then came home and ran right outside to play until dinner and then after dinner. We are loving this gorgeous fall weather and I hope it continues let us be outside for weeks to come! 
.  

Catch Up and 6th Birthday!

It’s been a busy and fun 2 weeks. Xander had his first school picture day. The boys are rocking swim lessons- Xander’s class went to the big pool last week and I could see that he was surprised and nervous, but he did great! He’s learning to tread water and Gussie is doing SO well putting his face in the water and being comfortable jumping in. 

. 

Gussie is loving his Wednesdays with Grandma Debbie, and Xander continues to feel like it’s a deep injustice that he has to be in school EVERY day, while his brother gets to be at Grandma’s. 
 

. 
We spend every afternoon after school outside in our front yard. After school-dinner is playtime for everyone, and then we all go inside to eat, and then after dinner more neighbors join in until we all set a group timer to make the kids go inside for bath time. It is so wonderful and I hope the weather cooperates for as long as possible! 

Xander got some level one reading books from Grandma Renee and has been doing SO well. He can read full sentences and even read to a bunch of his friends one afternoon. His personality is so much like Nate, but every now and then, he bosses everyone around, commanding them to sit and be quiet and listen while he reads, and I think, “oh there’s some Natalie in him as well!”

. 

Last weekend we went to 2 birthday parties- on Saturday we went to a party at the apple orchard. It was totally insane, but I got to meet some of Xander’s friends and their parents, the boys got to run around, play, and take a hayride, so it was good.  Nate was at a golf tournament with Jake, but you’ll have to take my word for it, because taking a photo is easily forgotten! 
. 
Last Sunday was Phoebe’s birthday, so Gussie and I got to go hang out with all of his friends, while Xander had some one on one time with Grandma Debbie. 

This week was homecoming at Xander’s school, so Monday he got to wear PJs to school. Gussie and I were busy at home and at the park. 
.  
Tuesday was swim lessons. 
. 
. 

On Friday our neighborhood had a pizza party- similar to our chicken sandwich tasting extravaganza of the summer. This time we sent 4 families to 4 different local pizza places. We got a large cheese and a large pepperoni (thin crust only) at each. We tasted Davannis, Skinners, Italian Pie Shoppe and Carbones. We rated sauce, cheese, crust and overall. Italian Pie Shoppe was the winner, but Davannis was a close second. The kids drank kiddie cocktails and ran around. It was a fabulous night. 

. 

On Friday night, right before Xander went to bed, he asked me if there would be anything surprising in the morning, “ya know, like streamers or balloons or a scavenger hunt?” For the record, the answer was no, I had NOT planned any of those things- I had planned a birthday party only. But my darling boy has gotten used to special days being extra special, so after I tucked him in, I printed off some lego heads, wrote down some clues and set up a scavenger hunt. I put up a few streamers and went to bed. 

He woke up at 11pm (Nate and I were both already asleep) and 2am asking to get up. At 6am, he basically DEMANDED one of us get up so we could help read clues. We made him wait until Augustus woke up and then they ran around the house finding the clues. The prize was that next week (on Xander’s first day off), we are going to Legoland to buy legos, but both boys were a little disappointed that there wasn’t an actual prize in hand. 

The morning was LONG as we waited to head to the park for Xander’s 6th birthday party! But finally after lunch, we loaded the van and headed out. We rented the park building (which we’ve done several times before), but this was the first time we’ve needed it. “Light drizzle” as the weather had predicted was actually POURING RAIN. The kids decorated lego guys, ran around screaming (in a fun way), we cut the cake, played a game, and then the rain cleared up and they got to play on the playground. It was a very fun day! 
. 
. 
Xander got 2 lego sets he already had, so this morning, we stopped at Target to return them. Xander also got a giftcard, so yes, I let my 6 year old free with $70 to spend. He still has no concept of money, because he picked one small thing and generously agreed to buy a toy for his brother and only spent $13 total. At this rate, he will have many more shopping trips ahead of him. He was VERY proud to be able to ring everything up and pay for everything himself. He’s a very grown up 6 year old! 

Today the boys were at Grandma Debbie’s and Nate and I relaxed all day. It was a wonderful day, with 2 very tired boys at the end of the evening. 

A Good Week and a Perfect Day!

Another great week of kindergarten for Xander and Pre-K for Gussie. Xander is still adjusting to the fact that school is EVERY day and he is definitely still pretty exhausted by mid week, but he is really enjoying school. On Friday, he was SO excited when he got home because he learned to read! We got a really nice email from his teacher sharing the following- 
Just wanted to share a really cool moment for Xander today. We were doing the -at word family and sounding words out with the words cat, hat, and bat. Xander meticulously put his finger under each sound h-a-t and then looked up and we had this exchange:

X: That says hat, Ms. Santiago. 
Me: Xander, you just read a word!
X: No, all I did was sound it out.
Me: That’s reading! You are a reader!

He looked so proud and happy. He then looked at the schedule on the board and said “Wait, I can read this one!” and proudly read Art. It was such a cool lightbulb moment! It was a joy to witness that spark in his eyes and his sense of pride and accomplishment. 
He’s doing so well and he’s so excited about learning. I’m excited to practice reading with him. 
. 
This week I had my final 2 runs before my half marathon, and since Gussie is home with me on Mondays and Fridays, on Monday we went to Como so I could run around the lake. A 45 pound toddler and a stroller made running a LOT harder than I’d expected. At the beginning of the run, Augustus was singing along to my music and cheering me on. By 1.5 miles, I thought I was going to fall over from exhaustion, and he actually fell asleep. 

On Tuesday the boys started the next session of swim lessons. This time around, they are in different classes, but they were both very excited and did well! 
. 
On Wednesday, Augustus was home with me because Grandma Debbie was in New York this week. He’s my little helper and we love hanging out together. 
.  

On Friday we went to the community center to swim and he kept saying, “I’m having the best day!” which was so cute and fun. We had the whole play to ourselves, so we called it “mommy and Gussie’s water park” and ran around and played and it was a blast. 
 

Neighborhood hang outs are still happening every moment we’re not at school, which is the best. 

On Saturday, I ran a half marathon, which was a goal I put on my 2021 vision board and have been training for. I have been running and exercising every day since January and my long runs have gone pretty well, but I was SO nervous all week. 

The run was in Maple Grove, so I invited myself over to Danny and Heather’s house and also demanded they make me and my family a post-run lunch. Luckily they love fitness and fitness events and they were very supportive. On Friday night I headed over to their house so nervous I thought I was going to pass out. Heather has run a full marathon and approximately 1 million other races, so she gave me some advice and also tried to re-assure me. She was the PERFECT person to hang out with that night. I went to bed at 8:15 and got a wonderful night of sleep. I was up by 5:30am on Saturday, and spent the next hour actually shaking with nerves and trying to mentally prepare for the challenge ahead. The race started and ended at the high school just 10 minutes from their house, so at 6:50, we all headed out. 
Heather was a rockstar who had a whole plan for she and Danny during the event. I originally thought they’d just drop me off and then go out to brunch or something while I ran. No. Not my dream team super fans. Heather mapped out a separate course for them along the trails so they could meet me at mile 7 and cheer me on. I underestimated how much I would need that, but by mile 4, I just kept thinking, “get to Danny and Heather!” I was VERy happy to see them and it was really helpful. 
I was SUPER nervous the first few miles, but eventually I calmed down and the first 10 miles flew by. Miles 11 and 12 were not as smooth and by 12.5, I was DONE. I know that a half mile isn’t very far, especially when I’d already run 12.5, but I really didn’t think I could do it. And then I saw my brother come running towards me (in birkenstocks) and I nearly burst into tears. He ran the last 1/2 mile with me and I truly don’t think I could have done it without him. As we rounded the final corner, Heather, Nate and the boys were there cheering me on, and they all watched me cross the finish line and accomplish my goal. It was SO SO nice to have them all there. I felt so proud of myself and so grateful for all of them supporting me while I did this. It was an awesome feeling. 
 

. 
Afterwards, we went back to their house and I showered while the boys played. Danny made the best lunch I’ve ever eaten and I got to wear their super fancy recovery things that fill with air and squeeze your legs (kind of like a blood pressure cuff) while were AMAZING and I want to buy an entire suit just for relaxing at home. 
. 
When we got home, I napped for an hour and a half while the boys played outside with the neighbors. After napping, I went out to hang out too. 

Dinner was supposed to be pizza on the couch, but we ended up going to Surley for pizza and beer with our neighbors. 
. 
. 

I was exhausted, but when another neighbor texted, “I feel like a root beer float, is anyone else interested?” we obviously had to say yes, so when we got home from dinner, our amazing next door neighbors set up a root beer float stand and all of the other neighbors joined in, and once again, the yard was filled with kids, dogs, footballs and bubbles flying through the air, bikes zooming around… just pure joy. 
. 

Saturday was the longest, fullest, most perfect day I could have imagined and I fell asleep with a smile on my face. 

Today Nate went golfing and the boys went to Grandma Debbie’s house. I went grocery shopping and then spent the rest of the day relaxing. This is NOT typical for me- usually when I have a free day, I use it to bake, organize, clean or whatever else. But today I was TIRED. My legs felt fine (those crazy inflating things must have been magical), but my whole body was just SO tired. 13 miles is a lot. I kept thinking, “it’s only half of a marathon” so it’s not that much, but my body said otherwise today. I took a bath, watched a movie on Netflix and sat around all day. It was luxurious. 
. 

Tomorrow is back to normal! Bring on week #5 of kindergarten! 

Neighbors and Friends

I don’t know how we got so lucky with our neighborhood, but we hit the jackpot! We chose our house because it had all of the things we wanted- number of bedrooms, a nice yard, etc. We hoped our neighbors would be nice, but I don’t think either of us expected to find a beautiful community filled with dear friends, but here we are. There’s always something going on and someone to hang out with. The boys love having neighbor kids just a few houses down and they have awesome parents, which is a huge bonus for Nate and I. 

Christine recently said to me, “you managed to find a neighborhood with a 1950s mentality” and I texted back, “I’m eating a warm chocolate chip cookie on a neighbor’s porch right now, so yeah, you’re probably right.”

A few doors down is 23 year old Joe, who Xander recently said, “can I go see if Joe is home?” to which I replied, “the adult?! No, you can’t be friends with a grown up!” But Joe happens to be a Pokemon expert and also the most patient person I’ve ever met, as he has spent several hours sitting on his front step, VERY patiently explaining a complex game to 3 little boys who don’t even know how to read yet. He’s quickly become a hero and at first I was worried that the boys were bothering him, but whenever they knock on his door, he happily comes out to trade cards or teach them how to play. 
On Friday, we had our first ever (but not last!) Camp Juliet, which was NOT my idea and I was a little skeptical, but was AMAZING. We had regular neighborhood happy hour like usual, but that extended into grilling and potluck dinner. 
After dinner, we headed to our backyard to set up tents. When Sean came up with the idea, I was hesitant because it seemed like a good way to end up with overtired, crabby kids. But I went along with it and I am SO glad we did. 3 families planned to camp. Putting up tents while kids and dogs ran wild and free was a test of 3 marriages, but we got all of them up and everyone was still smiling. We had a campfire, and then set up a backyard movie theater for the kids. We projected the movie on a white sheet. I had buckets of popcorn and all of the kids were wrapped in blankets. At one point in the movie, all 7 kids burst into laughter and it was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. 
. 

. 
While the kids watched the movie, the adults sat around the campfire and chatted. We paused at one point for everyone to make s’mores, and then the kids went back to the movie and the adults played flip cup (which I haven’t played in a long time, but was SO fun!). Several times throughout the evening, different people made the comment that the whole thing was magical. And it was so so magical. 
. 

When the movie ended, we put the kids to bed in their tents and continued to sit around the fire. As I had expected, my children had a tough time falling asleep in the tent, and at 11pm, I made them go inside and go to sleep in their beds. 
Augustus slept until 10am the next morning, which is a record! 
We woke up the next morning and took down tents and cleaned up the yard. But fun with friends and neighbors was not over yet. 
Nate was off to spend the day at a kittenball (like softball, but a different ball) tournament in honor of a friend lost a few years ago. I had to run 11 miles for my 1/2 marathon training, which I expected to take me around 2 hours. So our 11 year old neighbor Olive came over. She took her Red Cross babysitting class a few weeks ago and recently sent out a flyer advertising her services. I remember doing the same thing when I was that age and I was eager to support her! Also, the boys LOVE her and have been begging to have her babysit for weeks. I think Xander may have a little crush on her because when he found out she was babysitting, he was nearly floating on air and had the biggest smile on his face. 
She kept them busy and happy while I slogged through the miles. She made them lunch and kept them alive. It was outstanding! 10/10 will hire her again! 
But wait, our weekend of fun was not over yet! 
After running, the boys and I got ready and drove an hour to Sarah and Grayson’s house (Nate met us there after the tournament). Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Iowa Cyclones– YAY sports! Sarah and Grayson had made so much amazing food and so I was content to eat snacks while the kids all ran around and the football fans actually watched the game. 
. 

. 

Today we had our family photos taken, but otherwise is just a day of rest. The boys are back to playing with the kiddos down the street and Nate and I are catching up on laundry and house stuff. We are all taking it slow and enjoying a day of rest after a marathon of fun on Friday and Saturday. 

What an amazing weekend of fun and friends. I am overwhelmed with how lucky we are to live in a magical world. 


This is how I feel after a busy weekend too… 

Kindergarten Update

“I need a cup of coffee this morning.” -Xander (5 years old) 
(for the record, he could not get past the smell and did not actually drink any of it)
We’re 3 weeks into kindergarten and it’s going well! Xander is periodically offended by the fact that it is EVERY DAY (even though week 1 was 3 days and this week was only 4 days). But overall, he is really enjoying himself. He can already count to 10 in french, he regularly shows us his huge muscles he’s been working on in gym class and yesterday he brought Augustus a snack without being asked and when I complimented him, he said, “it’s called empathy” (which was apparently a topic in class that day).
I really like that he spends a lot of time in specialty classes- gym, art, music, theater, french, and library. He has recess twice a day and in a few weeks they will begin working in the teaching kitchen. 

.  

I also really like the updates that his teacher (and the specialists) are posting on the app. The french teacher posted a cute video and I like to see photos from class from time to time. 
Here’s the most recent update from his teacher (the photos above are from this post). 

Hello again families,

It felt great to be back together as a class! The students are making so much progress with settling into our routines.

I wanted to highlight a multi-day project we completed today. This particular project wove together many different topics and skills.

Part 1: We talked about what it means to be a bucketfiller as part of our classroom culture and social-emotional development discussions.

Part 2: Students then created a small paper filled in with ripped paper pieces that they glued on.

Part 3: They added different precut paper shapes above the bucket as a visual representation of bucketfillers. They were instructed to have 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 of each shape. They worked in partners and moved around each table to complete this.

Part 4: We practiced the correct number formation for the numbers 1-5, and they completed a sheet that showed how many of each shape.

Part 5: They spent time playing “teacher” and “student” – they exchanged projects and quizzed each other on how many of each shape their bucket had. There were a lot of communication skills embedded within this task, such as waiting for a partner to become available, giving clear instructions, complimenting a friend who answered correctly, and kindly redirecting a peer’s incorrect answer. 

Part 6: We added googly eyes and a mouth to the buckets! We talked about different words to describe emotions that our buckets seemed to be expressing with their faces. We got some fun ones like “grumpy”, “serious”, and “overjoyed”! 

We love the way that this joyful project incorporated so many different topics and skills, such as:

  • Following multi-step directions
  • Counting accurately from 1 to 5 (one-to-one correspondence)
  • The initial sound of consonant /b/ for bucketfiller
  • The correct number formation for 1 to 5
  • Vocabulary – Identifying colors, shapes, and feelings 
  • Fine motor skills – ripping paper, gluing, cutting 
  • Working with partners
  • Speaking and listening to peers 

We know that student engagement and achievement both increase with applied, interdisciplinary experiences such as these. It was a pleasure to see this project unfold and watch the many discoveries the kids made throughout the different tasks. We will proudly display these completed buckets on our bulletin board in the classroom!

I love picking him up each afternoon and hearing about his day. He’s learning and growing so fast it’s truly amazing. 

So Many Fun Things

I’m way behind on all of the fun things we’ve been up to lately. Last week and weekend, Renee and Kyle were visiting from Ohio. They drove their RV and stayed at a nearby campground, which was fun for the boys to visit and do camp-y things. 

. . 

.  
They also hung out at our house and played a lot of board games. 

. 

A quick trip to Como Zoo. 

.  

.  

Augustus had his last day in the Intermediate class and was sad to say goodbye to his teachers, but excited to move to pre-K. 

Xander’s been busy in kindergarten (more in the next post) and I’m enjoying spending some extra time with Gussie on Mondays and Fridays. We’ve been playing, baking and he’s a good assistant when I run errands. 
On Friday, I ditched the boys for a road trip with my 3 camp besties, for adult summer camp. Shayla and I went to Unglued Summer Camp 2 years ago and it was SO fun! We recruited Abby and Meghan this year and it was even more fun (which I didn’t think was possible). 


Our 4 hour road trip was a blast, including a stop for dinner out. When we arrived at camp, we were greeted with shots of champagne. We moved into our cabin (top bunk!) and then headed to social bingo and happy hour, followed by the opening campfire. 

On Saturday, we ate AMAZING food, attended 4 different sessions (I took a calligraphy class, a mixology class, how to make potstickers and cheese class). Mid-day we got dressed in our assigned color for the camp battle. 
. 
The blue team had heart, but few skills. But last place was almost as good as first place because we got loser ribbons! 

Saturday night was the dance party (undersea outer space theme) 

And Sunday was tie dye on the beach and the closing ceremony.
3 days of amazing food, open bar, crafts, relaxing, time with camp friends and being at a summer camp was so wonderful. I had the best time. 

The boys had a relaxing weekend and I missed them terribly! Nate is a rockstar dad and they had a lot of fun too. 

. 

On Monday, we had a family fun day for Labor Day. We went out to lunch, played mini golf and then played at the park near the mini golf course. 
. 
. 

We’ve been so busy, but our fall is starting out strong! 

Kindergarten

Our first 3 days of kindergarten are complete and I think they were a success! Xander was in a good mood all 3 days when I picked him up. He was eager to go to school each morning. He came home with lots of stories and positive feedback on lunch, activities and his classmates. It’s early on, but as good of a start as I could have hoped for. 

At daycare, there are regular updates on an app and a decent amount of teacher feedback. I was trying to prepare myself for the wild world of elementary school, but the good news is that so far, they’ve held our hands quite a bit. There is an app that gets updated regularly. There was a first day of school email from his teacher. I’ve gotten a few photos from during the day. They are being very strict about visitors but we got to walk him to his classroom this first week.  
The lunch room is different this year (due to covid), so instead of him going through a lunch line (which he was very excited about), kids choose their meals ahead of time and the meals are delivered to the classroom. This is how meals worked at daycare, so I actually think it’s an ok transition. I look forward to when we don’t have to worry about a global pandemic, but in the meantime, I think it’s ok for my kindergartener to have his meals in his classroom. 
At the beginning of the week, we choose his lunch options (he can also bring cold lunch if he wants). There is a chef, and according to Xander, the meals have been good so far. 

School is 8am-3pm and his schedule is busy with specialists. He goes to PE 3 times a week, which he is LOVING. The first half of the year, he is taking french and then the second half, he will take spanish. He has music, drama, library, art and goes outside twice a day. I don’t have anything to compare it to, but it seems like a pretty good schedule. 

I’ve bonded with a few other kindergarten moms while standing outside waiting to pick up. The big kids get picked up from a LONG line of cars. If you are parking (which kindergarten parents are required to do), you can bypass the long line to get into the parking lot, but that’s not immediately apparent, so we are all learning together. There are approximately 17 doors, and morning drop off happens at the front door, while afternoon pick up happens at the kindergarten door (they have their own entrance). 

Xander has 12 kids in his class- there are 6 boys and 6 girls. There is a second kindergarten class as well. 
3 days into kindergarten and that’s what I know so far. 

The First Day of School!!!

. 

Our baby began kindergarten today! I can’t believe it! He was calm, cool, and went into school like he’d been doing it his whole life. When I got back into the car I thought, “wait, I think I was supposed to cry!” but he was so calm, it didn’t occur to me to be nervous or upset. 

. 

We made family bracelets so that if Xander got nervous, he could look at his bracelet and think of our family. 

We dropped him off and just like that, he’s a big kid! 

. 

. 
The admissions director sent Nate and I a few texts throughout the day with updates and a photo of X. 

Meanwhile, Augustus spent Wednesday with Grandma, and they were BUSY! They were at the park for 2 hours where Augustus made a gaggle of friends. They had a fabulous day!

. . 

. 

. 

I’d been warned by several people that when kids start kindergarten, the first few days (or weeks) they are a mess- exhausted after a busy day. I had snacks ready in the car. I had an early dinner planned. I didn’t bombard him with questions. But he was chatty on the way home and was excited to play with Grandma and Gussie when we got home. After dinner, he insisted I get him some cones so he could show me the activity he did in PE class. He’s shown us his muscles several times so far and he’s very excited about gym class (luckily they have it 3 times a week). He liked his lunch, he got to go outside twice, he had art class. It sounds like it was a very good day! 

Countdown to Kindergarten!

We’ve filled our last week with family fun and it was absolutely wonderful! Prepare for photo overload! 

Monday was a typical night with our tiny biker gang roaming the street, while the grown ups played bags and hung out. 

. 

Tuesday was a normal day at school for the boys, except that it was Xander’s last day of daycare! Xander started daycare at 1 years old. He couldn’t walk yet and all the other 1 year olds seemed really big. He had to wear shoes (he’d never worn shoes before!). He needed a cup and silverware (he didn’t use either!). I was HORRIFIED. His teachers were calm and sweet and shrugged their shoulders saying, “he will” every time I said he couldn’t do something. He was just another 1 year old, not the special snowflake I thought he was. I cried in the parking lot every time I dropped him off (for several days in a row). As predicted by his teachers, he learned how to do everything and he loved daycare and for the last 4 years, he’s come home with art projects, stories from the day, new friends and he is a happy, confident little boy. And now when I drop him off, I slow the van to a roll, open the door and tell him to tuck and roll before I burn rubber out of the parking lot. Nate tells me I’ve told that joke to everyone, but it’s not so much a joke, as it is a reassurance to myself. I am uptight. I don’t like change. I spend a lot of time thinking, processing and having feelings about everything. I toured MANY daycares. I agonized over every little detail. It was not easy for me. But it was fine- better than fine- Xander LOVED daycare. And so I’m reassuring myself that even though we toured 13 schools and I’ve agonized over him starting kindergarten, eventually this will be no big deal too and he’s going to be so happy as a big kid. 

. 

Tuesday morning, I surprised him by decorating his room and the hallway. Xander is an early riser, so he and I snuck off to the bakery to bring home donuts for everyone. 
. . 

He will miss his teachers and his friends and I am grateful every day for his time at KBH. Gussie is moving to pre-K in September, taking Xander’s place in his classroom, so we will still get to enjoy the amazing teachers. 

Wednesday began our family fun countdown to kindergarten week. 

Wednesday morning, Nate and Xander played golf. Xander finished golf lessons recently and this was the first time he got to go to actual grown up golf with Daddy! 

 
Gussie and I went to the bakery and the park. 

. 
. 

Wednesday afternoon, the boys went to my mom’s house for a slumber party. They hung out at the mall all afternoon, playing in the arcade and in the play area. Nate and I went out to a nice dinner and then out to drinks on a patio. It was a great kickoff to our fun week. 
. 

Thursday the boys stayed at my mom’s until the afternoon and then had a low key evening at home. We played outside and relaxed. 

Friday was kindergarten orientation day at school, so Nate, Xander and I headed to school while Gussie and Grandma Debbie hung out at the park. Xander unpacked his school supplies and spent some time with his classmates and his teacher. We got to learn all about how things work and meet the specialists (gym, art, music, theater, stem, french, spanish, and librarian!)
. . 
On Friday afternoon, we headed to the movies to watch the new Paw Patrol movie. 

After the movie was weekly happy hour with the neighborhood. Happy hour is always a blast with kids running around, the most fun adults joining in to play with the kiddos, and everyone just relaxing. 

. 
. 

Saturday was a playdate with Xander’s best buddy Leo, while Gussie and I went to a birthday party with his friends (they had a bounce house!). 

 

Saturday night was a mini version of happy hour. There are some “big kids” down the street who the boys LOVE!! They are always thrilled when Olive and Emmet pay attention to them, so they couldn’t have been more excited to have them come over to play. 

Sunday afternoon we headed to Great Wolf Lodge for a quick get away. We swam until the pool closed for the night. We ate snacks. We played in the arcade. It was nonstop fun!

. 

. . 
.   
. . 

We got home Monday afternoon with 2 very tired boys, so we had a very low key relaxing afternoon. 

When I asked Xander what he wanted to do for his final special day, he told me he wanted to go to Target, buy legos, and spend the day putting them together as a family. And he wanted hoagies for dinner. I had expected he would ask for something way bigger or more extravagant. It was a good reminder of what is really important. 
So today we got up and headed to Target where we told the boys they could pick out any legos they wanted. Xander chose a big set even though it said 9+- he felt pretty confident because he’s very good at legos. We got his backpack packed, his uniform laid out, and picked out his hot lunch choices for the week, but otherwise he worked on legos ALL day. I think it was the perfect activity, because he was occupied all day, but it was relaxing and low key after a busy week. 
. . 
And now tomorrow our baby is off to kindergarten! I can’t believe it. The days are long, but the years fly by- so true. Xander is smart and curious, confident, but sometimes a little shy. He is sweet and kind and has the best smile. He is laid back like Nate, but “type A” like me. He is turning out to be a very cool little person who I love spending time with. I am very excited to see him grow and blossom this year. 

School starts at 8am tomorrow. We haven’t made it to daycare before 8:40 all year, so our family is going to have to adjust to a new schedule. Wish us luck! 

August Fun

. . 

We’ve been busy and trying to cram as much fun stuff into the final days of summer. 
.  
The boys are busy at school with water days, making popsicles, science experiments, and playing outside. 
At the end of July, Xander spent a week at kindergarten camp, trying out big kid school for a week. He came home with lots of craft projects and he liked it. He was a little outraged that, “it’s every day!” but I think it was good practice for when he starts kindergarten in a few weeks. 

. 

We are almost ready for kindergarten- we went to the uniform sale and stocked up. We bought schools supplies and a new backpack. Next week we have family orientation day. 

We spend a lot of time outside, playing, biking, scootering, and just hanging out. 

August 3 was National Night Out and I hardly took any photos, but the boys were very excited when the barricades arrived and when we got to close down our street. We pretty much spend every Friday hanging out with neighbors, but NNO was extra fun because the street was blocked off and it seemed like every neighbor came out. We had a potluck and hung out and it was wonderful! 
. 

. 

I’ve had quite a few interviews for potential jobs. Last week, one interview fell during a day the boys were home, so they went to the office with Nate. He sent me these photos of the important work happening at Nate Whited and Sons EJ office. 
. 

Augustus turned 4!! We’ve been celebrating for a full week, starting with dinner on his birthday and ending this weekend with his party. This photo doesn’t show how cool this cake turned out. The cake itself was in the shape of a 4. We crushed oreos to make dirt and made an amazing ganache sauce that went on top. It was meant to look muddy and dirty for the monster trucks on it, and it tasted amazing. 
. 

. 

. 

The weather has been milder, so we’ve been to the park several times. 

. 

Yesterday, Nate took Xander to the Vikings game, and Gussie and I had a mommy/Gussie afternoon. 
. . 

And today was Augustus’s birthday party. We had perfect weather and all of his buddies (plus Grandma, and Uncle Danny and Aunt Heather) all met at one of our favorite shady parks. Danny told me I was slipping because it was a pretty simple party- a far cry from some past birthdays with themes, food and games. But parties in the time of covid are a little simpler, or maybe I’m just getting more tired as we all get older. Gussie was very happy to run around with his friends and they were all happy to eat cupcakes and fruit snacks and leave with goodie bags. So I’ll call it a success. After the party, Danny, Heather and my mom came back to our house and we tried a new restaurant Nashville Coop and Gussie got to open his presents. It was a great after-party. 

. . 

. 

 

The boys have opened and are playing with every single new toy. They are VERY excited. Nate and I are sitting quietly- we are much more tired than the kids! My baby is 4! I can’t believe it!