Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Happy Snowy Halloween...






So I kind of figured I would get up a post about Halloween BEFORE the first snow of the season, but...NOPE. Two days before Halloween we have a substantial snowstorm. It was kind of fun, albeit totally weird.

Last night we went to the mall for treak-or-treating, and Wyatt made out like a bandit. It was really cute to see all the three to five year old boys walking around in their super hero suits eying each other up. One of my favorite/non-favorite-but-still-kind-of-hilarious moments was when one store ran out of candy and replenished the bowl with these industrial sized pixie sticks and the admonition of "Good luck with that" to all the parents passing by. I mean seriously, this thing is about three feet long and an inch in diameter. A PIXIE stick. If I was a kid I would've been all, "SCORE!"...but now? Not so much. Aforementioned stick is now hiding in the back of the pantry in hopes that it will never be missed.

After that we went to a Harvest Festival put on by my grandma's church. They went all out with games, trunk-or-treating, crafts, lots of food, and even a hayride around the parking lot. We all had a great time, including IronMan himself. Enjoy the pics of our little superhero in his store-bought costume as well as his self-drawn one. Go super powers!









It can't be November already, can it?

Friday, September 16, 2011

No Training Wheels!

We took the training wheels off Wyatt's bike about a month ago and he has been doing really well with riding his bike without them. Here is s short video of that:

Thursday, September 15, 2011

First day of school and miscellaneous updates...

Wyatt started Pre-K last week and he goes 5 mornings a week for 2.5 hours each day. He seems to enjoy it and I think it helps that the five day 4 year olds have the same teacher and are in the same classroom as last year. Kindergarten is next year and that's kind of blowing my mind. I miss having a toddler around. Here is a picture of him on the first day.



The week before he started school we went hiking in the Catoctin Mountains. I am still so used to not checking the weather that it hasn't fully become a habit yet. Unless it is really cloudy or pouring down rain (which it seems to be doing a LOT this year), I just figure everything's good if we've had a couple nice days in a row. So it started raining halfway through our hike and we stood under a tree for a while hoping it would pass. It didn't look like it was going to let up, so eventually we ran the rest of the way to the falls and then had a really wet hike back to the picnic in our car. ;)




Usually when I grab my camera I get all manner of goofiness and throwing up of gang signs like this:



...and a little of this:


That's my boy! :)

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Vacation Bible School

Last week Wyatt went to Vacation Bible School at a friend's church and he LOVED it. Even though he is only four, he and his friend were put in the kindergarten class to even out the number of kids. They had a closing program on Friday night, which was ADORABLE. Wyatt danced right along to all the songs they had been singing all week, and at one point he even busted out of the pack to get up into the aisle so he could see the teacher better...we laughed so hard when he was standing there in the aisle doing his little dance. Here are some videos we tried to get of the cuteness!









Friday, June 24, 2011

Preschool

Wyatt LOVED preschool this year and did SO well. They gave out a little "report card" at the end of the year which let us know that he had excelled in almost everything except "Cleaning Up", "Resolving Conflicts", "Transitions", and "Listening", which he HAD improved on, but still needed work. Ha! I agree with all of those, especially the listening part! ;) There were a TON of categories though and he definitely excelled academically (although what kind of academics are they really doing in a 3 year old preschool class? STILL...). Dude can read, so I fully expected that, but was so proud of how he was so attentive and really participated in group time. That is something totally new.

His last day was on May 25th (I'm a little late...), and they had a party at a sports complex. He just loved his teachers this year (so did we), as you can see. I took so many pictures of him with them because he could not stop hamming it up! He thought it was hilarious to squeeze his eyes shut so we would have to keep taking more pictures.







My sweet little funny man. I can't believe he only has one more year of preschool and then he will be in kindergarten. In some ways I can, in some ways it baffles me. Time. It flies.

Visit with Cousins in New Jersey

Updating after so long can be daunting, so here are some pictures - maybe posting them will give me a kickstart again...








Monday, May 16, 2011

Crying in Goodwill...

Well, that didn't actually happen, but I was THIS CLOSE. We were heading to a food packing event at our church and were early enough that we decided to stop in and peruse the wares at Goodwill. I found a bunch of books and was about to leave when I wandered over to the kids shoes, just out of curiosity.

There they were. Staring me in the face. A pair of canvas velcro skater shoes from Stride Rite. The same ones I had recently traded in at a kids clothing swap because they were getting a tad too small. They were sitting all lonely on the shelf, flooding me with memories of Wyatt wearing those shoes. I almost bought them on the spot, before I talked my self out of it. But I still welled up with tears the entire way to church. Remember when we bought them? It was a lifetime ago... What if I never get to have another child that fits into shoes that size again?

Growing up is so bittersweet. Almost bittersweet enough for tears in Goodwill.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Belated Happy Easter

It's a bit of a rainy Sunday outside and I'm feeling tired and unmotivated to write much of a post, so you'll get pictures. And YOU'LL LIKE THEM. ;) Without further adieu, I bring you some Easter cuteness. Enjoy!

Dyeing eggs with Daddy...



With a friend after church in their adorable Easter outfits!


She wanted to hold his hand and he happily oblidged. ;)


On a hunt for some eggs...



My handsome boy.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Baseball Season

It must be time for baseball...(or tee ball!) We finally had the chance to get outside and use the new baseball tee that Wyatt got from his Uncle Mark and Aunt Marci for his birthday.





Most of the time he ended up hitting the tee over as well, and we still haven't convinced him to wear the glove on his left hand since he is a righty. That's ok...he loved it, so we'll just have to practice more! In his own words, "This is the funnest ever!" :)

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Disorganized Brain??

The other day I stumbled upon this series of short videos created by Brain Highways on the signs of a disorganized brain. I found them extremely interesting and informative as well as entertaining, and I'm inclined to think this theory makes a lot of sense. What do you think?

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Terrific Tuesday Flashback

Taken after a snowstorm in February. On April Fool's Day it snowed, yesterday it was in the 80's, and today its been raining all day. We are SO ready for Spring!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Deep Thoughts

...by Wyatt. ;)

On Saturday at our family birthday party for him, Wyatt asked his great-grandma if she would still "be around" when he is "as old as Pop Pop" (his great-grandpa).

The other day in line at the grocery store he asked me if he could stay awake all day and all night in heaven. I said yes. He said, "But not on the earth, cause our bodies need sleep". Pause. "Will our bodies be as big as God's in heaven?"

And on the way home from a friend's house, "When girls marry boys, do the boys have the babies? I know that when boys marry girls the girls have the babies, but what about when girls marry boys? Do the babies get in the boy's bellies? Cause having babies is the only reason to get married..."

Today it was finally nice out, so we were having a "picnic" on the deck. I asked him why he was making a particular face, and he said, "I'm trying to figure out why it's so hard for kids to listen to their parents." Pause. "It's like when I ask you to go outside and you tell me 'No'. That doesn't make any sense to me." When I told him I didn't understand, he said, "You should say, 'No, because its too cold, or something, not just 'No'."

Hahaha, I have no idea where he comes up with this stuff. He is a thinker.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Catching up with a FOUR year old...

So many things have happened in the month+ since I have written a post...to start with, Wyatt turned 4 on March 18th. FOUR years old. I can hardly believe my baby is four. I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday, and can't believe how quickly time has passed. We have lived in three different places in his short lifetime, and long for a place of our own, where he can have more than a hand-me-down bed in someone else's house. I think it often affects us way more than it does him. He seems happy to spend so much time with his Grandmommy. And we are so blessed by her as well.

Wyatt started preschool at the end of February. Unconventional timing, but when we arrived here in the summer time we hadn't thought we would be here for long enough to really get settled. That our time here would be a lot more brief than it has turned out to be, and we would soon be on our way back "home", or on to our next adventure, wherever God was leading us. We truly felt this, and the waiting and delays have been hard. But we are learning contentment and holding onto God's promises to us, because we know He is always faithful, and He never leads us astray, but sometimes allows delays to be merciful. And we are so thankful for that.

So, when fall rolled around I called a couple of preschools and found one that had an opening. I wasn't terribly impressed when I visited, and felt in the end that I should wait. I wasn't sure if it was a sign that we would be moving on shortly, but I really felt like the timing wasn't right. And in the end, it was best that way, because the car that had been so graciously given to us by my brother (which I had ironically made fun of him for driving for years...lesson learned, ha!) ended up having some problems and not being altogether reliable. Eric finally ended up pulling the engine apart and now it works great, but Wyatt would have missed a good chunk of school just from lack of reliable transportation.

Anyway, after Christmas I thought I would try again. I didn't know how long we would be here, but we were still here, and I have wanted to put Wyatt in preschool for some time. He is so bored here at home, and being an only child who struggles with socialization to some degree I knew it had to be beneficial for him to be around other kids. We visited two that had openings. The first we were not too impressed with, but the second one let us stay all day, and Wyatt fully participated. We liked the teacher, and that is the one we ended up going with.

So now Wyatt goes on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 9:00 - 11:30, and really seems to enjoy it. His teacher has noticed some of the issues I have been concerned about (very rigid, and getting upset easily about things he thinks aren't right, the need to correct people, and preferring to stick to solitary activities or activities with adults rather than kids his own age, etc.), but has noted that he is SO smart and is so eager to learn. I am really proud of the way he has apparently adapted so far to the routine and participates in group time. All the way up to a week before we enrolled him, he would sit on my lap the ENTIRE time at library story times, totally paying attention, but refusing to participate or move out of his comfort zone. It is so great to see this newfound independence and the fact that he is excited to go to school on his own.


Wyatt's first day. He wanted to hold his school bag in the picture and was so excited that he could hardly stand still. So this was the best of the goofy shots I was able to snap before we had to run so we wouldn't be late! ;)

About a month before his fourth birthday was when he really started reading. Not just putting sounds together, but reading...whole books. Like "The Giving Tree" and Dr. Seuss books. He still loves to be read to though. He has been writing his name and whole sentences phonetically. Stuff like, "Wyatt runs and jumps rily fast." His drawing has taken off too. It started off with lots and lots of trains (of course!), and there still are lots of those, but he will also draw houses and flowers and suns, and people. One of my favorites is a picture he drew of our family. Even though he forgot to give himself any arms. ;)

We had a nice day at the park with a couple friends on the morning of his birthday, and hope to celebrate with family later this week. Here are some pics of our brand new FOUR year old...enjoy!



At the park with some friends:






This one reminds me a lot of THESE...




Some things change a whole lot in three years and some things don't... ;)




HAPPY FOUR YEARS, WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH LITTLE MAN/BIG KID!!!