the sweetest thing

The boys are in a big ninja phase right now.  It’s just such a classic little boy thing that, quite frankly, I don’t get.  Dressing up in all black in the middle of a heatwave in Houston in August and fighting/practicing ninja moves just isn’t fun in Megan Land.  But, alas, I am not a 7 or 5 year old boy, and apparently playing ninja is super fun and super cool.  I’m not even sure exactly what started it, but the boys love to dress up in ninja costumes, Connor’s latest favorite Wii game is Mini Ninjas, and he has decided that he will definitely be a ninja for Halloween this year. Over the past few weeks, this has been a common scene in our backyard.

Boys are fun.  I don’t get it, but I love to see them using their imaginations and playing a game that gets their energy out in the backyard rather than on my couches.

Oh, how I love this part.

There was a lot of build up to this part today.  We waited a long time…like 40 minutes long.  I wasn’t exactly sure what time the bus would arrive and I didn’t want to miss it, so I got to the bus stop early.  Add to that the typical delay of the first day, and we had a long, hot wait.

When I heard the rumble of the bus, I started to feel giddy with excitement.

I searched the windows, hoping to see where they’ve chosen to sit this year.  I was able to find them today, and they were waving excitedly.  The windows are heavily tinted, but I could sense their smiles beaming at me.

The kids started to file off.  Our bus driver said good-bye to each by name (oh, how I love our bus driver!  I am convinced that we have the best bus driver and mailman in the world.)

Finally, they spilled out of the bus, bursting with joy.

There is no doubt about it.  This was the best part of my day today.

I love the morning of the first day of school.  All the anticipation, the excitement, the feeling of a fresh start.  Connor woke up with his alarm clock at 6:30 and bounded into our room at 6:45, ready to go.  Logan took a little prodding.  I had to wake him up, but it didn’t take long for him to catch a case of the sillies because of the excitement.

We’ve started some traditions in the 3 years we’ve been doing this.  We always have a special breakfast.  This morning it was cinnamon butter braid and eggs made to order.  Derek always goes in to work a little late so we can walk the boys to their classrooms together.  There is a note for each boy in his lunchbox.  And, or course, there are the first day of school pictures.  I am totally that mom, the one with the camera, capturing every moment of the first day of school.  In fact, I am so committed to these pictures that we were almost late to school!  It is so dang humid here that my camera lens always fogs up when I first go outside.  It took forever for it to de-fog this morning!

The boys were oh-so-patient with me.  And they were thrilled about pictures, school, the whole thing.  Can’t you tell?

The eventually had some fun giving each other “brother hugs”.  I think they are going to love being at school together but not being with each other 24/7.  They have been so cute talking and planning where to sit on the bus together.  They really do love each other…sometimes that’s my mantra, a constant reminder.  Because, make no mistake, it’s not all happy love fairy tale with these two!

My kindergartner.  It’s gone by in the blink of an eye!  I love that he made all his classic Logan silly faces for me.  That is just so him!

My 2nd grader, who for the first time wanted to buy a first day of school outfit, insisted on a one-strap backpack,  and wanted to comb his own hair (when I probably wouldn’t have combed it at all since it’s so short).  He is really growing up and was super excited about school starting.  I love that.

Once we got to school, the first stop was the kindergarten hallway.  The play-doh on the tables is genius!  I could tell Logan was nervous, but once we found his seat, he sat right down and started playing.   He gave me a quick hug, I kissed his forehead, and that was that.

There were no tears from anyone.  I’m really not a first day of school crying kind of mom.  The only time I ever cried was the first time I dropped C off at preschool when he was 3.5.  Not that there’s anything wrong with crying…it is a pretty big deal.  But that just isn’t me.  I’m more of a skip out the door singing “it’s the most wonderful time of the year” kind of mom.

Next stop, 2nd grade hallway.  Connor really didn’t even want us to walk him to his room.  But when he realized he would have to carry two bags of school supplies on his own, he agreed to the parental escort.  Which made me happy so I could get a picture of him getting situated at his desk.

I think it’s going to be a great year!  Only 30 more minutes until they come bounding off the bus.  I love that part, and I can’t wait to hear all about their first day!

Soon it will cool off.
Not soon enough, in my opinion. Could it be any hotter? (I just typoed hooter instead of hotter and it made me laugh. And it reminded me of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation…”it wouldn’t be the Christmas shopping season if the stores were any hooter than they-hotter than they are.”)
Ah, Christmas time.
Winter, I am so ready for you.
And fall, too, if we can pretend for a moment that Houston actually has a fall and we won’t all be still sweating profusely on Halloween.
Right now it’s still summer, still time for watermelon and treats in the backyard after dinner.  Lucky for me, I’m not really a big fan of watermelon so I was able to take some fun pictures of my two watermelon eating kids (Logan, like me, does not like watermelon.)  Warning: Picture overload, especially of Miss Cami.

This was definitely a case of monkey see, monkey do.

I really like how in this next one, the watermelon is totally going in her ear and she could really care less.  That, my friends, is dedication to the craft of watermelon eating.

She was seriously so happy outside tonight. I know I am biased, but she just has the cutest watermelon drippy chin, the best carefree toddler smile, and the most beautiful blue eyes!

Even when she pouts that it’s time to go in, she is still just stinkin’ adorable!

It’s officially the last weekend of summer.  Monday morning will start bright and early for all of us as Connor heads off to 2nd grade and Logan to Kindergarten.  We’ve met the teachers, readied he supplies, and I can honestly say that we played hard and had a lot of fun this summer but we are all ready for the school year.  I feel like there are so many things I didn’t get a chance to blog about this summer, and I’m hoping to finally have some time to go through the pictures I’ve taken and do one final (probably boring to most) summer post.    Then, bring on the fall!

The boys sat in front of the tv for no less than 6 hours today because I declared it an official “media day”.

I’ve never really had to put a lot of controls on their tv and video game time.  During the school year, we are busy enough that it’s not really an issue.  And, since I’m married to a man who I think is pretty great and also loves to play video games, it’s not like I’m completely against them.  Sure, the kids play, but it’s never been obsessive. Well, suddenly this summer, they have both decided that the only thing they like to do at home is sit in front of the tv. Connor even shed real tears one day over the injustice of his December birthday and how he gets so many toys in December and now he doesn’t have anything he likes to play with and he has to wait all the way until Christmas to get new toys. I just don’t know where this kid gets his dramatic streak from (ha.)  Anyway, the drama and the tears and the fights all led to me putting my foot down: you must exercise your mind before you exercise your thumbs, and you only get 1 hour of video game time per day.  It’s worked pretty well (for the most part.)

But today…okay, really it was last week…I think we hit the summer wall.  We are hot, tired, bored, and ready to get back into our fall routine.  Last week was a tough week for all of us.  I woke up this morning with a little bit of dread in the pit of my stomach.  What on earth were we going to do all day?  I decided to declare it Play as Many Video Games as You Want Day.   There were a few ground rules.  The free for all was only good as long as the boys didn’t fight with each other and kept their hands and bodies in control.

Logan started playing video games and watching tv at 9:00.  He lasted until 3:00.  Honestly, I was shocked at how long he lasted!  Connor made it until 2:00 and then began writing a script for a play that we are going to perform sometime in the next 3 years.  He said it might take that long to finish it, plus Camryn and Logan have to be able to read and memorize lines.  He makes me laugh!  I’m just glad he was using his mind and practicing his writing!

The boys loved Media Day.  In fact, Connor thinks we need to have a media day once a week.  I told him we could do that for the rest of the summer, which means we’ll have one more next week.  I can certainly live with that.

I got so much accomplished while the boys vegged out!  I got completely caught up on laundry, had dinner ready to pop in the oven by 3:00, vacuumed the whole house, mopped the kitchen, and even watched a tv show and read a magazine.  It was almost like a mental health day for all of us.

At first, I totally felt guilty about our tv day.  Good moms don’t get sick of summer time.  Good moms don’t let their kids sit in front of the tv all day.  Good moms fill their days with quality play time.

I say every good mom needs a break.  And that’s exactly what today was, for all of us.