Sunday, November 30, 2008

Getting Ready for Santa

We have been busily decorating for Christmas these past couple of days. I must admit, there was a bit of concern since this year I have not one but two very mobile, active, mischievous boys who like to get into anything that interests them. Much to my surprise things went well. The boys enjoyed unpacking all of our snowmen, Santa's and nativities. Carter actually remembered things from last year which was wonderful. His excitement was contagious for all of us, especially Eli who giggled with delight. As you all can see the boys took a special liking to my yards and yards of bead garland! With their little fingers occupied we were decorated and in the Christmas spirit in no time at all.






Friday, November 28, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope that it was a wonderful day filled with love and good food, of course. We had a great day. We celebrated two very special birthdays...our G.G. Kovacs turned 82 years young and my cousin Korey turned 23. We all know how Carter loves a birthday so he was thrilled! We enjoyed spending time with all of our families and reflecting on all that we truly have to be thankful for. For Brian and I these two little boys are our greatest blessings!


Tuesday, November 25, 2008

School Update: The Thanksgiving Party.

Today was Carter's Thanksgiving feast at school. When I reminded him of the party this morning he commented..."That's right...the Thanksgiving Party...I'm hosting it." This kid loves a party.

The below Turkey was our Gift from Carter. As you can see he added the eyes and beak all by himself.
The kids enjoy their 'feast'. Mrs. McAtee said that it took them about 1/2 hour for snack time today. The kids enjoyed all of the snacks, for sure. I was able to snap off this one picture, Carter is the Indian not looking at the camera sitting at the corner of the table.
Autumn Leaf.
I love this guy. Carter did all the cutting of body and feathers by himself.
Carter again displays his cutting technique as well as painting abilities. This paper plate turkey was on display in the hallway to Carter's classroom. All the students turkeys together looked very festive.
Give Thanks place mat.
I love these hats. The kids got to pick whether they wanted to be pilgrims or Indians for their feast today. Carter, of, course, picked Indian.
And my wild Indian kept it on for the rest of the afternoon.
It's hard to believe that class is officially over for November. December will be a busy month for Carter and his friends as they prepare for their Christmas program and the birthday party that they are having to celebrate Jesus' special day.
Please continue to check back and enjoy Carter's journey as a junior in preschool! He is making such great progress and we are very proud of him.





Saturday, November 22, 2008

The Sleepover.

Carter is very well seasoned when it comes to sleepovers. He has spent many a night at his Mimi & Poppy's house, as well as his Nini's house. But never has he never slept anywhere else until last night.
Carter was invited to spend the night over at his friend Vito's house complete with pizza and the movies Kung Fu Panda and Wall E. I was a bit nervous that he would miss us terribly or wake up in the middle if the night and freak out but apparently he did great.
He was very well behaved, ate a big piece of pizza, enjoyed the movies and went to bed with no problems. He did wake up a few times during the night but Vito's mom reports that he went right back to sleep and slept in until 9:30am! That never happens at home.
It is hard to believe that my baby is old enough to be going for a sleepover already....what a big deal! As we left today Carter thanked Vito and his 'Aunt' Christi for the great time and then told me on the way home that next time Vito would sleep over at our house.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Weekly School Update

This week's topics at school were 'Give Thanks' and 'I am Thankful'. The class finished up their thanksgiving crafts and turkeys. This past week Carter had homework. He was given a feather to decorate any way he chose. Below is the turkey showing plumage created by all the students in the school. A very handsome bird, indeed. I also shot a close up of Carter's feather. He started with some markers and then finished off with Backyardigan and Transportation stickers.

It's hard to believe that this coming Tuesday is the last day before Thanksgiving vacation. The class will celebrate with a Thanksgiving feast and party. The party is only for the kids but I am going to try to sneak some pictures through the door.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Giving Thanks

Carter Turkey
Elijah Turkey

These are the little hands that draw, color, paint and create. These are the little hands that climb, swing, slide and play. These are the little hands that bring laughter and life that I never imagined possible to my world. These are the little hands that have completely wrapped around my heart and filled it with a love I never knew. These are the little hands for which I am most thankful!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

School Update

We finished yet another week of school. This week's theme was turkeys. The class is gearing up for their give thanks party in a couple of weeks and they also will have the theme of 'I am thankful' until the end of November. In keeping with that Carter and I have chosen to purchase a package of cookies and a jug of juice to donate to families that are less fortunate. It is a great way to help out others and the kids seem to enjoy picking special treats and food to donate.

Below are Carter's crafts of the week. Craft time seems to be his favorite thing to do during class right now...snack time follows at a close second.

What's inside this little pumpkin?
The seeds, of course.
Carter cut out this acorn all by himself. (yes, the kids are starting practice with scissors, thus prompting us to purchase a pair for home) On the bottom are the words to the song I'm a Nut. It is one of Carter's favorites to sing right now.
Carter continues to enjoy his time at school and Mrs. McAtee and Miss Marie continue to compliment Carter's progress and how much he has matured in the last year. Brian and I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Kelly, the therapist who visits Carter twice a month at school, last week. She seems to adore Carter and it was quite obvious from the way he greeted her that he loves her. She also seems pleased with Carter's progress and let us know what a pleasure it is to meet with him. We are so very proud of how Carter is growing and maturing.


So Very Handsome.

Carter 3 1/2 years old
Faith Lutheran Pre-School Junior Class


Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Thursday, November 6, 2008

So Pretty

Years ago I bought a Thanksgiving cactus and it was blooming and beautiful but never flowered again until.....this week. It is just gorgeous and such a great little surprise especially since I am going to have wait a few months until my yard is in bloom again.

School Week: Halloween Party

Today we celebrated with a Halloween Party at school. Because of the rain, a cancelled field trip and a scheduled day off our Halloween celebration continued into this week. Brian, Eli and I attended and had a great time. Enjoy the pictures below.....

Carter and Michael are an awesome Buzz duo.
Enjoying that cupcake, Buddy??
Jacob is all smiles...probably because he is the coolest Transformer ever!
Eli showed us today that he will be ready for the Tot's class next September. He sat and had snack with the 'big' kids, played with the toys and joined in for singing at the end of class. He had a blast!



Carter and I did a craft together and made a pretty fall wreath. By the way, Carter used so much glue it is still drying!
The Tuesday/Thursday Junior AM class. Carter is all the way in the back trying to hide.
The kids end the party with songs.
Carter has done a quite a bit of artwork in the month of October. Most has been decorating his room and the hallway leading to class....today we brought it all home.

The wreath Carter and I made today.
Cute Little Jack-O-Lantern.
Mr. Spider.Carer hold his egg carton Spider....so cute.
Fall festival placemat.
And last but not least......Spongebob Squarepants!















Tuesday, November 4, 2008

He's Walking, Yes Indeed!

Tomorrow it will be two weeks since Elijah started walking and it is still amazing to see him round a corner or enter a room up on his feet. The change in him has been wonderful.....he chatters a lot more and now with a new found independence he is never without a smile on his face.

Kelly, our occupational therapist, was so pleased with his progress and I can't wait for her to come tomorrow to see how much walking he is doing since her last visit. Kelly and I discussed what course we should take now that Elijah is officially a 'walker' and we decided it was time to transition Eli to a physical therapist. I know that this a wonderful news and is the best for Eli's continued therapy but we will really miss Kelly. She has been just fantastic and a wonderful guide for myself, Brian and especially the boys. So basically what will happen is Elijah will be re-evaluated and then a physical therapist will be assigned to us....provided that the evaluation shows the need to continue on. Kelly will remain on Eli's case until the whole process is finished.

Thank you to everyone for your support and patience. Parenthood, as most of you know, is a crazy journey with many bumps in the road but with those bumps also comes smooth travels and we are happy to have finally hit some smooth road. Having such great family and friends around us makes the trip that much sweeter. Now we enter a world of two young boys running everywhere...........