The Brown Brick Road

Buggin out

April 22, 2016

Maxwell had his Bug Parade up at school yesterday! Yea, I’m not really sure what that is either but, they made cute bug costumes so we got to go watch them parade around the playground and show them off for 5 minutes! 🙂

On my way in I walked past the playground to see this cutie out having fun with his class….

spencer

Here he is telling me, “Mom, dis is my friend, Sebastian…”

sebastian

I then made it over to the other playground just in time for the parade! Apparently the kids got to pick from a few bugs and Maxwell chose Dragon Fly! He thought the solid gray shirt today would go well with his wings and I have to agree!

bug parade

The Top Dogs (5K) were the bug catchers! ha!

bug parade

It was quick and cute. I always love getting to go up to school and see my boys “in the wild” and interacting with their friends.

This one was the best looking dragon fly out there!

maxwell

ps – Maxwell stayed for soccer but I went on and took his costume home. I went to pick up Spencer and he loved getting to be a Dragon Fly for the walk to the car! shhh…don’t tell Maxwell! 🙂

dragon fly

I love my little bugs!

Kindergarten Orientation

April 21, 2016

When we got home last week, Maxwell had a special surprise waiting on the mailbox!

kindergarten

It was his invitation to kindergarten orientation! Woohoo! We went on Tuesday and it was great.

kindergarten

Maxwell was pretty excited and it helped to walk in and see several familiar faces like Lila, Jack, Glenn, and Cate. We all sat in the auditorium at first while the principal introduced herself and all the kindergarten teachers. The kids then left with the teachers to check out the classrooms and get a little treat in the lunchroom! The parents stayed in the auditorium to learn about important things like school lunches, carpool, and what shoes to wear for PE! 🙂 We also got LOTS of good information about ways to get involved with the PTO. No surprise, I’ve already signed up! We then all went downstairs to find the kids who were having a fun time and enjoying a huge cookie. Kindergarten is off to a great start!

With Glenn and Cate…

kindergarten

Outside after orientation with some buds…

kindergarten

These kids are going to hit the ground running in kindergarten!!

kindergarten

I’m really excited for Maxwell. I’m also a little sad. He’s growing up so fast and I’m really going to miss him next year when he’s at school. 7:50 to 2:50 is a long day! That said, I know he’s ready and I cannot wait for him to experience and learn all the fantastic things MBE is going to teach him. He’s SUCH a good kid. He’s smart, he’s curious, he’s personable…he’s READY for kindergarten!

mbe

MBE here we come!!!

We love soccer!

April 20, 2016

We love soccer…or, you know…opposite of that. Sunday soccer and Spencer are not the best of friends right now! We made it through last weekend’s game but it wasn’t always pretty. It was an unusual day because Maxwell’s t-ball game was on Sunday at the same time as Spencer’s soccer game. Susan very nicely agreed to go watch Maxwell play t-ball so Robert and I could take Spencer and the baby to soccer. We had to leave a little earlier than usual so I had to wake Spencer up from his nap – never a good way to start anything. Spencer just didn’t want to get up and started crying…and crying…and crying. He was SO upset and I really don’t know why. We took Maxwell to t-ball and met up with Susan and then headed to soccer. I finally managed to get Spencer calmed down only to have him start up again because he wanted Susan to go to his game instead of Maxwell’s! Oh, the life of a 3 year old…and the life of dealing with a 3 year old! He’s a stubborn one for sure. I finally, finally got him to stop crying by promising to call Susan and ask her if she would come to his next game. Phew. Of course, it was also picture day at soccer. These were the half hearted smiles they got out of him….

soccer

Like each year, I didn’t buy the pictures. I just stood behind the photog and snapped my own! 🙂

It was then time for the game and I was not optimistic at all. Spencer did get out there and loved warm-up time. He’s always up for a good game of Red Light, Green Light!

soccer

He was still pretty sensitive so I kept trying to encourage him and give him plenty of thumbs-ups! At one point I looked over at him and he gave me a thumbs-up!

soccer

Oh, I love that boy. He can be really, really challenging but he can also be as sweet as they come. It’s tough being 3 and the middle child. He tests my patience but he also pulls at my heart. I love him so much.

Spencer seemed somewhat excited to play in the soccer game. He sat out the first bit…

soccer

but then got out there and ran around after the ball for a few minutes!

soccer

He then was very concerned about Kion’s untied shoe…

soccer

and then just kinda pouted.

soccer

He came out of the game and I somehow convinced him to go back in once more to “run really fast”. He ran for a minute…

soccer

but then just stood still in the middle of the field while the game went on around him.

soccer

We got him off and he sat in my lap for the rest of the game. Right where he wanted to be!

soccer

So, he won’t be a soccer star but we’re all learning how to do hard things – ALL of us! My sweet, stubborn Spencey.

ps – baby loves the soccer field! 🙂

soccer

Street Party

April 19, 2016

This year I organized the Street Party at the kid’s preschool. It’s a fundraiser for their scholarship fund and just an all around fun day for the kids! A LOT went into the planning from requests for donations to reserving the park space to planning all of the games. But, it all went off without a hitch and we raised a record amount of money! woohoo! The party was last week on Monday and, thanks to me getting the stomach virus 2 days before, GJ was here to help set up that morning! Thanks to her we had all the balloons we needed! She was a master on the helium tank. The weather cooperated and it was a great day all around!

My co-chair Catherine and I ready for the party!

street party

The party was Superhero themed in reference to the name of the H.E.R.O Scholarship Fund. We had these t-shirts made which I think turned out pretty cute!

street party

Blair, Polly, Mary Hamner, Glen, Anna, Maxwell

Setup in Rushton Park for the big kids…

street party

We had Bean Bag Toss, Egg Race, Go Fish, and Grand Prize Game plus two bouncies and an obstacle course. It was just the right amount of things to do in the time allotted.

bean bag