Our week in pictures

David's teacher called Thursday night and told me that David had been chosen as one of the weekly World Class Students.  His name would be announced at the conclusion of the school's Friday assembly.  Arriving early Brett, Evan and I camped out in the multipurpose room with our fully loaded stroller to enjoy the spectacle.  As luck would have it Chad's class and another second grade class opened the assembly with a rousing number about synonyms and antonyms. So I got to see both my boys in action.  And I finally got to hear the pledge to the Texas flag ("Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.").  Gotta love the Lone Star State.  Brett particularly enjoyed singing the Hokey Pokey with all the kids.  I captured that on video - Brett trying to figure out which arm and leg to put in!

Our World Class Student on the stage looking a bit nervous...

Chad's class waiting to perform

Happy Evan (5 1/2 mo.) in his jumperoo

Brett waiting for the assembly to start - holding the flashlight he carried around all day.

Brett's "Bear" impression - that is Bear from "Man vs. Wild."  My kids are obsessed.  Yesterday they put together an entire show called "Kids vs. Wild."  I'm pretty sure they could take "the Wild!"

Our Snow day

You will notice that Snow is capitalized.  That is because I refer not to the white fluffy stuff but to my dear cousin Snow who lives a few hours south of us in Austin, Texas.  On Saturday morning she drove up to visit us for the week-end.  Knowing how much the boys love their own cousins I told them that while growing up Snow was my special "best" cousin.  We used to visit each other every summer and to this day there are three things that still remind me of those fun and carefree vacations:  the intro music from the soap opera Days of Our Lives ("Like sands through the hourglass so are the days of our lives..."), Fruity Pebbles cereal (not that our health nut mother's ever let us eat it; but we spent one summer together with our Philadelphia grandparents and rocked the sugar cereal!), and any 80's hair band (Bon Jovi, Guns'N Roses and especially Skid Row).  As we grew up our paths diverged but have surreptitiously crossed again in the great state of Texas.  

The boys are old enough to appreciate the concept of Fresh Blood.  Someone who has not heard the latest knock-knock joke one hundred times, someone who still thinks playing crack-the-egg on the trampoline is a novelty, someone who is not trying to multitask while playing Guitar Hero.  So between playing with the boys and holding Evan we miraculously managed to get caught up in the past five year of each other's lives.  When she left this afternoon both Scott and I felt truly blessed by what we shared.  Once again living apart from family we realize how much visits from loved ones lift our spirits.  I am not sure if I should let this secret out of the bag but Snow is also a top-notch baby sitter.  Scott and I took advantage of her presence to go to the movies on Saturday night - we saw Taken which was the perfect action/thriller type movie.  

Snow and the boys - she's got in all under control!

This week the boys enjoyed fun Valentine's Day parties at school.  I helped out with the craft activities in David's classroom on Friday afternoon.  It was a great chance to get to know some of the moms and dads of his classmates.  David's best friend in the class is a boy named Aaron and boy, I can see that those two combined give their teacher a run for her money - they could not sit still or keep their hands off each other.  Hopefully it was the excess sugar and they are not normally that obnoxious!  Everything is definitely bigger in Texas; the kids actually decorated ginormous sugar cookies with gobs of frosting and sprinkles - Arnold would not have approved!  It was like a clip from a childhood obesity documentary - supersize me anyone?? 

     

Rub-a-dub-dub

Four boys in the tub!

The Zone

Friday found me in the zone.  And shockingly it was not the "zone" of nutrition and exercise.  Rather it was the Lego zone.  Chad brings home a color coded behavior chart each day.  A few weeks ago he excitedly brought home his first highly elusive purple which represents a GREAT day.  Knowing how much Chad is motivated by a reward system I challenged him to bring home 20 purples upon which he would earn something very special.  Friday was Day 20 so when Chad came home from school I was excited to show him the Lego Star Wars set he earned.  Turns out it was a bit too complicated for him to put together by himself and I, being quite the Lego fiend back in the day, immediately offered my assistance.  An hour later I was left wondering where the time had gone!  It was 6:15 pm and, while nary an item was on the table for dinner, our Naboo Starfighter looked awesome!  I really do find myself scoping out Lego sets at Target and Walmart.  So I wonder if I had girls would I scope out Barbie Dolls?

the finished product

On Monday I took cookies to school for David's birthday.  Thanks to Ah-nold in California kids are no longer allowed to bring yummy treats for their birthdays.  Instead you are left to choose other fun options such as a pencil or sugar free popsicles.  WooHoo!!  Clearly going overboard to compensate for prior treat deprivation I brought bags of homemade heart shaped sugar cookies sprinkled with red sugar crystals and large chocolate chip cookies made with Valentine's M'nMs.  Oh and little bags of mini M'nMs.   I am sure the parents were loving me that day!  Saturday afternoon we took a few of David's friends to Gatti Town - an overpriced Chuck E. Cheese-esque place - here in Frisco.  While Scott and I rolled our eyes quite a few times the boys seemed to enjoy themselves playing endless games of skee ball and it was fun getting to know a few of David's friends from school.  He also invited a friend from his church class.  Jackson has an absolutely delightful personality and I am sure we will be seeing a lot more of him.  So David's 2009 birthday is officially OVER.

The Birthday Boy eating his cake.

The gang at Gatti Town

In other news:  Evan was 5 months on Thursday but is really not doing anything new.  Except sleeping through the night which is probably of interest only to me!  But I did bust out the Jumperoo which he seems to LOVE already.  Except when the boys (i.e., Brett) try to bounce the heck out of him.     

Birthday Boy!

David waited impatiently ALL week to open these Legos from Grandma!

Hard at work!

Happy Birthday David - love your little brother Evan!

David's 6th Birthday dinner:  scrambled eggs, Hawaiian rolls w/honey butter,  fruit salad and ice cream for dessert!

I love birthdays.  This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me as I unabashedly love my own birthday.  But I really love my boys' birthdays; from the planning to the presents to the party.  And I must confess that David's birthday is my particular favorite.  He is the only winter birthday in our family and I like having something to look forward to after the holidays.  By the time February 1st rolls around I am ready to get my party on!

David has grown up a lot this year.  He started kindergarten and learned how to read.  He made his first "best friend" (Landon Telford) with whom he had special play dates in California.  He discovered a passion for legos and with his excellent fine motor skills spends hours following the detailed instructions for which even his mother and father have no patience.  We have discovered this year that David is the jokester of the family.  He loves to hear new jokes, compulsively re-tell old jokes and make up his own.  At six his favorite color is blue, his favorite foods are scrambled eggs and toast, grilled cheese and Reese's peanut butter cups. In other words don't waste your money on a Michelin three star restaurant when a Sonic kid's meal will suffice!  He is, like his mother and namesake grandfather, a creature of routine.  Don't rock the boat folks! 

Most importantly we have learned a lot more about what motivates David this year.  He is, perhaps, our most private and complex child.  We know that he values one-on-one time with either Scott or myself and try to use this as a reward for good behavior.  I have also noticed that with heaps of positive reinforcement he is much more apt to listen and help around the house.  The minute I go negative he tunes me out.  This has been a difficult adjustment as the past year has been challenging for our family and I have not always had the energy or patience to be the kind of mother he needs.  In fact over the past couple of months I had two very distinct dreams about David that caused me to reflect very seriously.  I believe that this coupled with his growing maturity will make for a wonderful sixth year for our beloved David! 

We had a fun experience at church last week. As I was standing in the hall about to collect the boys from junior primary Brett's CTR 5 teacher came out into the hall. She told me that Brett had lice. Now that is what every mother wants to hear! He had fallen asleep during class and when I went in to examine his head sure enough the bugs were visible to the naked eye. I was so grossed out that I could not bear to pick him up but made him stand up on his sleepy, wobbly legs. Poor kid was about to fall over, having just been awakened from his nap, and I was not about to touch him. Had there been a lice colony at my disposal I probably would have committed him. Ewe! The sad thing is that over the past couple weeks I witnessed the child frantically complaining about and itching his scalp and truly thought it was just because it is so dry here. Then Scott tell me he noticed something in his hair and thought it was dirt. Talk about not making the c-o-n-n-e-c-t-i-o-n. I am sure our church congregation here in Frisco, TX is glad we joined the ranks.

On the way home from church we bought lice shampoo and threw him in tub immediately. After shampooing I used the accompanying gel and tiny comb to try and remove the bugs. We did not make much progress. A few minutes into this exercise in futility I reached for the hair clippers and did the unthinkable. Moments later I hardly recognized the child staring back at me in the mirror. Surrounded by his precious, golden locks I was the emotional one while he was completely blase, commenting, "I look like Chad now."

Brett - the AFTER picture

The other boys were not affected but in an act of brotherly solidarity offered to shave their heads as well. Really it was not too much of a sacrifice on their parts as they both needed a trim anyway . Regardless they are now all sporting matching hair cuts - we are calling them the buzz brothers. I suppose this is sort of a motherhood rite of pass age but definitely one I could have done without. A ll of a sudden I found myself nostalgic for puke.

The Buzz Brothers

After the lice outbreak we thankfully had an uneventful week following Grandma Sheryl's departure last Sunday. Scott took David into his office on Monday (Martin Luther King Day) which is something he tries to do when he sometimes has to catch up on the week-end or holidays. They love going to work with daddy (hello Office Supply Closet - no the apples do not fall far from this tree!!). We enjoyed all the inauguration excitement on Tuesday and on Saturday Chad got a bed! What a trooper - he's been sleeping on the floor for a month. But thanks to Craigslist his parents finally ponied up for something a bit more comfortable. We had not noticed so much time had passed until he actually started complaining that his back hurt. Nice parents that we are - one son has bugs in his hair and the other is sleeping on a hard surface for a month. Meanwhile we are nice and cozy in our super supreme cal king mattress downstairs!

Is this what daddy does at work all day??

Smokey and the Bandit

On our way to church - don't we clean up well??

Grandma Sheryl loved our little Evan!

Obviously it was not the original plan to leave the cats in California.  The plan was to bring them with us to the airport and check them in as baggage.  And based on all prior conversations with American Airlines it was a good plan, a sensible plan.  On said day, per THE PLAN, we arrived at the airport ticket counter with 4 children, 4 huge suitcases, numberless carryon bags and two cats in a crate.  Alas we did not count on this fickle thing called weather.  It had dropped thirty degrees in Dallas overnight.  As a result all prior information we had obtained from the airline was now null and void.  Now, with ninety minutes prior to take off, we needed to obtain certificates of health from a vet and a certificate of acclimation stating that the cats could fly below certain temperatures.  Or, as the lady at the ticket counter so helpfully suggested, we could just all come back the next day because the temperature might be warmer in Dallas.  Chad, David, Evan and I checked in and left Scott and Brett to deal with this hopeless situation.  In the end our Temecula vet would not sign off on any health certificates and who could blame him considering he had not seen Smokey in ages and had never even MET Bandit!

Scott made the agonizing decision to leave the cats in the parking lot.  Riverside County Animal Control then picked up the cats after a call from Carrie in Nashville.  The Monday after arriving in Dallas I called animal control and confirmed that our cats were still alive and well.  We really did not know what to expect.  Thus began the saga of trying to get the cats to Texas.  Honestly the whole experience was too frustrating to recount so I will proceed with the condensed version (I would like to not relive the mini nervous breakdown I experienced after repeatedly calling American Airline's 1-800 number).  It was decided, after consulting with American Airlines ad nauseum and literally getting a different answer each time, that it would be best if Uncle Evan flew out with the cats as carry on in separate cat crates.  You are wondering why we did not do this in the first place.  Considering we were traveling with our children and so much luggage we thought it would be easier to check them in as baggage.  So we had them in one crate which is a no-go for carry on.  Oh the joy of hind sight...

Our neighbor Jeff picked them up from animal control and brought them back to Temecula where they lived in our garage thanks to the kindness of the woman who rented our house.  After numerous trips to the vet and a round of antibiotics Evan was able to nurse them back to health.  Certificates of health were procured and Scott cashed in frequent flyer miles to purchase Evan a plane ticket.  We watched the weather anxiously because there was a possibility one of the cats would have to be checked (again difficult to get a straight answer from American Airlines).  The day Evan flew out was cold.  At least as cold as the day we flew out if not colder.  But his ticket agent had evidently attended a different training program because she allowed him to CHECK both cats as luggage and did not blink an eye or make one comment on the weather in Dallas as being too cold.  I do not even think she checked the weather! 

In the end it was a blessing because we got to see Uncle Evan and enjoy 3 full days with him.  He was able to help Scott put some big things together and even built a fantastic cabinet for the niche next to our fireplace in the family room.  He also got to enjoy a bit of spoiling by Grandma Sheryl.  Meatball soup, homemade creme puffs, pancakes for breakfast each day.  Nothing is too hard for Grandma Sheryl.  Evan left on Tuesday evening and we continued to thoroughly enjoy the rest of our visit with Grandma who just left us today.  We are very sad. 

Jumping on the trampoline the boys got for Christmas - thanx G'pa David!

Leaving school on Friday - Chad took home "Bear" from his class

The boys started school on Monday amidst much parental anxiety.  School starts an hour earlier here (7:50 am - oy vey!).  With military precision I woke the boys at the dot of 7 am so that I would have enough time to dress them and feed them before waking the baby to feed him.  It is still VERY dark here in Dallas at 7 am (and gets darker later in the evening around 6 pm) and Brett wondered why I was getting him up in the middle of the night!  To make the morning even more exciting we were experiencing our first Dallas ice storm and freezing cold rain was coming down in buckets.  Side note:  this later turned into icicles which the boys which entertained the boys for hours after school.   

I was actually not sure if I would just fill out paperwork on Monday and bring the boys back for their official first day on Tuesday.  So they brought their backpacks but I did not pack lunches.  After I filled out piles of paperwork (in duplicate of course) the assistant principal took them to their classes.  We were able to accompany them to meet the teachers and say good bye.  After handing each child some lunch money so they wouldn't starve I left thinking that the school was very efficient - it had all happened so fast! 

At the appointed hour of 3 pm I was waiting by the door to see if they survived the day.  To my utter astonishment they exited the building with huge smiles on their faces.  The new school was a hit!  A few highlights from the week:  both of the boys loved buying lunch because, unlike health conscious California, a fun dessert was included.  To say that the lunch menu is a step up is an understatement.  Each day includes three entree choices sure to please any child, even one as picky as David!  Not to mention a slew of sides and desserts.  The boys love the daily C.A.M.P. activities which are computers, art, music and physical education.  And due to the innate Texan friendliness the boys' classmates really made them feel welcome.  Perhaps starting a new school mid-year is not always a bad thing and helped the boys to feel special.  The teachers seem very nice and the homework is somewhat similar in length although my first impression is that it might be a tad easier.  So far the only major downside is the early start time.  

The rest of the week went well.  Brett is not going to preschool right now which for him is great because it is one less place to which he must be dragged.  He is fun to have around during the day and great company for me.  Grandma Sheryl arrived from Nashville on Thursday night and she will be staying until the following Sunday.  It is a joy to have her around!  She is so helpful and generous with her time.  We have also had a special visitor - our Uncle Evan who came all the way from California with our cats Smokey and Bandit.  But that is a story for another day...

One really cute thing that I love about the new school is that Chad picks David up from the multipurpose room and brings him with his class to exit the second grade door.  The school is really organized because obviously I cannot be in two places at one time!