1st day of Pre-K

Monday August 29th was a much anticipated day for Zachary.  You see all of his friends are starting Kindergarten...including his best friend/cousin Elliott.  This has just about killed Z.  He does not understand why he could not start Kindergarten too.  After a lot of discussion and explaination he still does not get it.  So we explained that he got to go to PRE-KINDERGARTEN.  Some how that worked. So here he is on his first day of Pre-K! 

 Our little man is so excited!  A couple funny things about Z starting Pre-K.  We have used the same backpack for the past 3 years at preschool. It is solid blue with his name embroidered on it.  It's perfect with a matching lunch box.  However Z informed me last week that it is not COOL. Where do they get this stuff!  He told me that all the other kids have fun, character lunchboxes and backpacks. Really?  After talking with Kevin one night Kevin asked me to remember back to when I was in school.  He asked me if I would have rathered a Cabbage Patch backpack or a solid pink backpack with my name on it?  To be honest I would have loved to have a backpack with my name on it because nothing ever had my name on it. But I got the point.  So the next day I took Z to the store to pick his "COOL" backpack. I can't believe at almost 5 we are already into the "cool thing".  Anyways, he picked Green.Lantern stuff.  Whoever that is?  He was thrilled. 

 Mommy & Zachary (and Will)

 This was so sweet. As we were taking pics Z just leaned over (all by himself) and put his head on my belly.  It melted my overly emotional pregnant heart.  After this moment we discussed that next year when he was going to 'real' Kindergarten that Will would be standing up there with us.  It's hard to believe!

 The "COOL" backpack!

As Z starts school I just pray that he clings tight to his life verse Proverbs 3: 5-8. 

Fufilling a promise...

All summer long Zachary has asked if we could go to a local paint pottery place and paint a skull. Yes you read that right a pirate skull. Not a cute doggie, cupcake, or star...a pirate skull. Everytime he would ask if we could go we had other plans. He quickly reminded me 2 days before his school started that we never got to go. How do kids remember this stuff. So I cleared our calendar that day and took him to the paint place. He was so excited!

Concentrating!

 
Ok, mom I'll pose!

 Painting his masterpiece in a total of 7 minutes!

Here is his pirate skull prior to being fired.  We go on Wednesday to pick up the final piece.  I can't tell you how many times I have been asked, "Is my skull done yet?", " Is it Wednesday?", "Can we go get my skull?"

I appreciate these times with Z more and more knowing that his baby bro will be here any day.  Just me and my Z.

Z & C's last playdate before they become Big Bro & Big Sis

Like I mentioned in my previous post, Mel & I got the kids together last Tuesday for a lunch date and play date at our house. At the time we did not know it would be the last time before Charley became a big sister but I am SO glad we did this.  Mel & I got to chat, catch up, and discuss our fears of becoming a mom of two.  Meanwhile the kiddos played in Z's room, watched a  movie, and goofed off. 

 When we go to Mel's house Z plays dress up in all of Charley's princess gear. Kevin is not a big fan of Z in Snow White dresses or Cinderella but the kids love it.  This time it was Charley's turn to put on all of Z's super hero costumes.  It was hilarious! Here's C as The Flash.

 Darth & the Flash

The kiddos are 3 months apart and have been together since Zachary was born.  Can't wait to see how our next set of children do together.  This time they will be less than 3 weeks apart.  What a blessing!

Dinosaur Attack!

Zachary has recently become interested in dinosaurs....again. He has always liked them.  The other day I walked into our living room and this is what I saw.  Basically Z was playing Dino bowling.  He would take a match*box car at the end of the coffee table and zoom it towards the dinos.  He was trying to get as many dinos to fall off the coffee table as he could with each zoom.  I think his best score was 3 zooms which meant that he knocked down at least 3 dinos per zoom.  Pretty good if you ask me. 

This little man is the joy of my life. He makes me laugh and smile at least 100 times a day.  My cup runneth over being his mommy. Of course there are moments when he pushes my buttons but I am so thankful for him.

Fishin' in the sun!

This past Sunday, Zachary, Kevin, PaPaw and I went to Woody's fishin' hole to get a couple hours of fishing in.  It was one of the first warm, sunny days in a long time. It was really windy which made it hard to fish but we still had a great time. 

Here is Z waiting patiently for a bite...he sat here for over an hour waiting...

 PaPaw waiting patiently too!

 Kevin was fishing for the "BIG" Bass fish on the other side of the pond which meant I was in charge of worm duty, de-mossing the bobber, and keeping Z motivated to keep waiting.

 The first catch....PaPaw felt one on his line and quickly passed his pole to Z. Z caught the first fish!!

 Here is Zachary's 5th fish.  He "caught" the most! 

 Z holding his catch! 

We had a very fun afternoon!  Thanks Candise and Carm for letting us use Woody's pond!

Martial Arts Testing Day

On March 11th, Zachary and Elliott had their first "big" martial arts testing.  It was the day they would test to go from a white belt to a yellow striped belt.  We had practiced and practiced for the past 6 weeks for this day.  We were not sure what to expect but we knew the boys needed to have "super focus" and discipline to earn their new belt.  We talked about it ALL week.  The day finally came and boy were the boys focused and excited.

Here's Elliott getting ready for a drill

 Here's Zachary doing a "Bob and Weave"...sounds like hair styles to me.

 Zachary showing off his side kick with Mr. John

 Elliott doing his side kick with Mr. John

 At the end of testing, Mr. C calls each child up one at a time. He would get down at the childs level and ask them....are you obeying your parents at home? Are you keeping your room cleaned? Are you listening to your teachers at preschool?  Then he would turn to the parents and ask us if Zachary deserved his new belt.  The parents gave a thumbs up or a thumbs down.  If you look close in the mirror you can see Kevin, me (taking pictures, Aunt Rachel, and Uncle Matt.  We gave the thumbs up and then Mr. C had the child run over to us to hug us and then we gave him his new belt.  The look on Zachary face was priceless. I thought he was going to bust out of that uniform with pride.  As silly as it sounds Kevin and I had tears in our eyes and were very proud too.

 Then it was Elliott's turn.  This is when Mr. C and Elliott were looking for the thumbs up.  Can you see Rachel and Matt with their thumbs up?

 He was so excited too!

 After class they took a class picture with their new belts on.  Zachary and Elliott are on the far right in the second row with YELLOW striped belts on. 

I was so proud of the boys for their accomplishments.  They worked super hard and showed super focus!

Star Student & Claire Bear

Back in January, Zachary was selected as Star Student for his preschool class. He was so excited. His teachers send home a special tote bag that says "star student". Inside the bag was a lot of prizes (pencil, eraser, stickers, candy, etc).  There is also a huge poster that Zachary was supposed to fill out all about himself and an instruction form for the parents.  During your childs week a parent or parents are invited in to read to the class.  The child also can bring in 2 favorite books and a favorite toy.  When Z and I sat down to do the poster and discuss what he was going to bring he asked me if he could bring his dog.  You might say, "I didn't know they had a dog?"  Well we don't. Zachary's dog is my parents dog...Claire Bear.  Well after going through some hoops at the preschool and thinking that there was no way they were going to let us bring a dog into the church preschool we got a note home that it was okay.  AWESOME!  We had it all planned. Grams, Pops, myself, & Claire were going to go to preschool. 

Next thing you know the morning sickness kicks in and I had no idea how I was going to go. Then we got the Blizzard of 2011 and school was cancelled for a week. The same week Z was Star Student. I was no worried because Z's amazing teachers e-mailed and rescheduled his week for another one. Totally a God thing because there was no way I was making it to that first week. It also ended up being that the day we were supposed to bring the dog was a Friday which meant that Kevin could come too.


Here's the whole crew getting off the elevator. Thank God Claire did not have to walk up those stairs. We would have been there all day.

 As soon as Z saw us he came out in the hallway to take Claire's leash from my dad. He was so proud.  He couldn't wait to show his classmates "his" dog.

I was thrilled I was able to come to the event. It was only for 30 minutes but it was the most activity I had had in two weeks and it took all I had to get dressed and out the door.

Here is Z showing his friends Claire's tricks.  My parents broke up the dog treats so each kid could feed Claire a snack.

Here's Kevin reading the book, CHOWDER (a book about a bulldog that was very well loved) to the class. I love that Z has his hand on his leg. He was tickled his dad came to class too.

 Meanwhile Ms. Christine and Pops were hanging out with Claire.  Claire loved all the attention

 Then Claire decided to join the reading.  The kids couldn't get enough of her.

 We had to take a group picture.  Zachary was so proud.  The boys were in heaven with Claire. 

It was awesome that Zachary's teachers and the other staff at the preschool let us bring the dog.  It was the highlight of all of our week.  I think  Grams & Pops got a kick out of bringing "Zach's" dog to school too.

Catching up...again. Christmas Recap in 7 days

Zachary's preschool has an annual Christmas Program.  He was super excited this year because his class was doing TWO songs.  He practiced and practiced those two songs.  Then the big day came...his program.  He was super excited because Kevin was taking off work to see it and both sets of his grandparents were coming to watch him.  He thought that was cool!

All I want for Christmas is a HIPPOPOTAMUS.

Zachary singing Silent Night with Sign Language...thank you Lori for sharing these pics!

Zachary's class with the Tues/Thurs Class

Post-program lunch at Qdoba

Zachary with his grams, pops, MaMaw & PaPaw

Flu Shot Fun!

Kevin and I knew that Zachary was going to need a few immunizations at his fourth birthday check-up so we tried to prepare him the best way possible. Let me just say that I know every child is different. For Zachary he wants to know all the details in advance. He does not want to be suprised or caught off guard. With that being said, we read books about "shots", watched Sid the Science Kid about immunizations, and talked about being brave, etc. The day of Zachary well-child check-up it was also Kevin's annual doctors appointment. I couldn't have planned that better if I tried. Basically Kevin & Z were talking about how tough they are and how excited they were to get a bag of gummy sharks* after their appointments from the pharmacy. (*Tradition we started when Z was at the doctor every month for ear infections. Not sure if it is the best thing or not but Zachary loves to take his dollar up to the counter and get his bag of candy after an appointment.)Before Zachary's appointment we had about an hour to waste. I asked Z what he wanted to do and he said, "Mom maybe you need to get shots today too since Daddy & I are getting them." He was right, I did need my flu shot and I knew just where to go. I called my dad at Walgreens and sure enough he could do it then.

Zachary thought it was hilarious that Pops was going to give me a shot.  While my dad was getting all the paperwork ready Z said, "Hey mom we need to take pictures for the blog".  Yep, my son knows that I always have my camera ready. So while I got my shot Zachary took pictures.  Kinda funny, if you ask me.

After my shots we went to Z's pediatrician. Ended up that he needed 4 immunizations (flu, chicken pox, tetnus, and pneumonia (just because we are high risk with my lungs) ).  If he had four this year then he would just have 3 next year to get him ready for kindergarten (flu, rubella, measles).  The poor little guy was pathetic.  So pathetic that his pediatrician asked if he could carry Z to the car.  Yes, he did. I informed our Dr. that he had a waiting room full of other patients and did not have time to carry Z to the car.  Our pediatician and Z are tight since we visited him every month at least once for an entire year with Zachary's ears.  They are buddies!  Well, Z survived his immunizations, Kevin survived his flu shot, and so did I. It was a family affair. End result we all got bags of gummy sharks at the hospital pharmacy. 

Happy Birthday to my BIG 4 year old!

Geez, it just seems like I was doing Zachary's 3 year old birthday blog post. Where are the days going? I can't believe that four years ago today I looked like this.

I can remember how nervous Kevin & I were on our way to the hospital.  We had no idea that the little mover & shaker inside my body was going to be a charming, hilarious, fun-loving, smart, creative little boy.  In the past four years my heart has grown 100 times its size because of the love I have for Zachary.  Of course, there are times when he frustrates me with his determined spirit mainly because it is in the way of MY determined spirit.  I'm so proud of the little man he is becoming.

Here is what Zachary is doing at 4 years old:

What he likes to be called:  Zachary..it used to be Zachy.
Favorite Color:  Green (he has loved Green since he was one)
Favorite Food: McDonald's Cheeseburger & Apple Dippers
Favorite toys:  Anything that involves Super Heroes (Spiderman, Batman, Ironman), Dinosaurs, Animals, Laser Guns, and Cars.
His lovey: Pig Pig the Pink Pig
Birthday Plans: We are having a family & friends birthday party at Incredible Pizza (tonight) to celebrate his special day. The funniest thing about the party is the theme.  Zachary insisted that we have a Go! Diego Party.  He likes Diego but it's not really his favorite thing like super heroes, Toy Story, Dinos, etc.  When I talked to the cake lady about making his cake she said lets do a pizza cake since it is a pizza place.  When I told Z he cried. He insisted the cake have a huge Diego on it.  So the cake will have a Diego on it.  I want him to be happy but I'm still surprised we are doing a Diego party. 
My mom and I think he picked it because they had Deigo masks at the party store. 

Other Facts about Z:

*When he grows up he wants to be either a Veterinarian or a Dentist (it depends on the day).

*Zachary LOVES to do projects whether it is painting, using glue, sissors, glitter, stickers, etc. He LOVES them. 

*He pretends that he is on a football team.  Daily he tells me that I have to take him to football practice after school and that I have to wash his stinky uniform. I think he got this from my cousins Austin & Wade. What is funny is that he absolutely believes 100% that he plays high school football.

* Zachary also pretends he is in a "VAND" aka a BAND.  He is the vocalist and the guitarist. 

*He LOVES to be read too. His favorite books right now are anything Bernenstein Bears, Pout Pout Fish, If you give a Pig a Pancake, and a Super Hero I Spy book.

*Zachary gets scared really easy.  He does not like to go into any room by himself.  He is afraid someone is in there. So we always have to go in the bathroom to turn on the lights first.  Very annoying but it is something we are working on. I don't like to see my little boy scared or fearful. 

*Zachary also gets his feelings hurt very easy.  He does not like to be teased or made fun of.  I don't blame him.

*Zachary still thinks he is a comedian. He laughs at his own jokes and continues to have the most contagious belly laugh I have ever heard. 

*He is really good with his manners....most of the time.  When leaving the table he asks to be "excused". I love that he is learning to be polite.

It's hard for me to believe that he is growing up. I feel so blessed to be his mommy. May God grant me 60 more years with him. 

3 boys at 3 stores with 2 dino books

The other day I had the priviledge of having three boys for the afternoon.  I had my son, Zachary and my two wonderful nephews, Elliott & Jerrytt.  I had some errands that I needed to run so I just took them with me.  Boy, was I blessed. I really think they were on their very best behavior because they wanted me to see how "easy" it was with more than one child so that I will have another one. HA! No just kidding. They really did great in the stores.  We went to three places....Kinkos where we pretended they worked for me at the copy machine. Both Elliott & Zachary had a blast making the copies and runing them to me to cut them. Meanwhile Jerrytt slept in his carseat. I thought well..that went good lets go to store #2. SONIC...not really a store but it was 1/2 price drinks and I knew Jerrytt's hunger time bomb was about to go off.  So we got sonic slushes and fed Jerrytt at the same time.  Again the boys were EXCELLENT! Next stop store #3....  Gordmans...yes I took two 4 year olds and a 5 month old to a store that has a ton of home furnishings and breakables. Needless to say a very little bitty cart to place a baby carseat on.  We survived!! The boys were so good that I told them they could pick out a pair of new pjs & book for each of them.  They found these dinosaur bone books that I thought was a great steal.  Zachary & Elliott could not wait to return to my house to put them together. The only problem was that I needed to fix dinner because my sister was coming to pick them up and to be honest.... I DID NOT WANT TO BE THE ONE HELPING THEM PUT TOGETHER A MILLION DINO BONES. No thank you. 

I felt bad for not doing the books but I thought it was definitely a task for a son & father.  So after dinner and after my nephews went home, Kevin & Z put together Mr. Dinosaur.  Kevin said it was easier than he thought it was going to be.  

Here is the final product: 

Z loves him and talks to him like he is alive.

After the dino was completed it had to do everything Zachary did. It watched Z take a bath. It watched Z have a snack. It watched Kevin read to Z and finally it watched Z go to sleep. Until Zachary called me into his room to remove him because he was scared.  Crack me up!  Kevin and I are still shocked that the dino is still in one piece.  I think it was well worth the $1.50 I spent.  I hope Elliott likes his as much as Zachary does.  :)

Allergic Duck

The day before my nephew, Elliott had his HUGE allergy poke test, Zachary drew this picture for me.  He told me it was an allergic duck.  Can you see a duck?  It has a rash on his face and wing because he ate

peanuts, chips, and a hot dog.  Those food items are over in the right column.  Elliott is severely allergic to peanuts but not hot dogs or chips.

I might not have a Leonardo Da Vinci or a Picasso but I do have a 3 year old that has an imagination the size of the universe. 

You know you are the mom of a boy when....

You know you are the mom to a little boy when....

1. You find a Transformer and a pirate eye patch sitting on the counter on top of your make-up...

2. When you find a water gun in your shower....

3. When you find this mini action figure drawings all over your house...

Piture 1:  Transformer

Picture 2: Captain Hook with the pirates

Picture 3:  Captian Hook's parrot

Picture 4: Transformer with super long legs.

One of the best things about being the mom of a active, funny little boy is hearing his 'stories' and jokes all day long.