First Day of Preschool

It's official! The "big" boys are at school today!

We took photos at the front door to mark day one.

Their shirts say "Owen Class of 2026", "Liam Class of 2028", and "Gavin Class of 2029".

Owen wore silver shorts for the silver room! Liam's shorts are orange for the orange room!

Owen wanted to take a picture -- Liam's smile cracks me up. Looks like I left the house without makeup on--oh well. At least the boys were dressed and had lunches!!

Owen was so excited. He wore his backpack for about an hour this morning and constantly asked me how much longer until he got to go to his Silver Room. Liam kept telling me that "no" he wasn't going to school today.

They did great at drop off! I look forward to picking them up and hearing about their days!!

Daddy Q snapped this photo of us at bed time last night--LOVE MY BOYS!

Meet the Teacher

It's official. Summer is coming to a close. Unfortunately, the only "summer" that is going away is our open schedule. Seems the summer heat is here to stay.

Owen & Liam met their teachers today and visited their 2011-2012 classrooms where they attend preschool.
We found Owen's class first. He is in the Silver Room (mid-3's) with Ms. Michelle and Ms. Tracy. He was so excited to find his name on the wall next to the letter "O" in the alphabet.

His teachers had a project out for them to do. Each kiddo had to decorate their "spot". Liam helped Owen with his project--in fact, Liam did more of Owen's than Owen did, I think. Owen's teachers had a note written to them and left a hershey's kiss. We read the note and then Owen shared his piece of chocolate with his little brother. I got a wee bit teary eyed.

When we got in the car later, Owen said "momma, I am gonna looooove my new classroom." Yay!!!

Next, we found Liam's room. Liam is in the Orange room (young-2s) with Ms. Michelle (both boys have a Ms. Michelle) and Ms. Kim. Liam just walked right in and started playing....even with all of the people crowding the room. Wow!

Owen did more of Liam's project than Liam did.

Proof that Liam did decorate his "person" a little bit.

I thought this schedule in Liam's classroom was so, so cute!

So, while Owen & Liam are away at school a few days a week, I get to spend time with this happy little fella!!

Here's to a fun-filled 2011-2012 school year!!!!

Circle Time

The boys have really taken to creating forts in the house using blankets, pillows, sheets, etc. The other morning, I came down the stairs after putting Gavin down for a nap to find this.... their very own Reading Circle, complete with Owen reading a book to Liam. Super cute!!

Time just keeps flying by...

Gavin turned 8 months old last week. Yup, he's my 3rd. Takes me longer to get the pictures taken and on the blog. I don't think this laid back little fella will mind at all, though. He's a big 'ole happy 8 month old!!
At 8 months, Gavin is using "rolling" as his means to get where he wants to go. He'll roll across the floor, or into another room, and then scoot the last few inches to get exactly where he wants to be. It works! He feeds himself chopped up table food--tonight he had baked beans and mac & cheese. He can feed himself, messily, with a spoon. He holds his own bottle. He is learning to drink from a straw. Do you catch the theme here? If it involves food, he is mastering it. Little man is motivated by his tummy--kinda reminds me of Pooh Bear (cute movie, by the way).

The brothers are making sure to include him in their fun and games. I am so thankful for that. We build tents, and they want Baby Gavin under it with them. They post for silly-face pictures, and they want Baby Gavin to pose, too. See....

Middle Man has started potty training. But, we are taking a very laid back approach to it. He wears underwear some every day. But, we put it on when he wants to and take it off when he is ready. Some days its for 30 minutes. One day, we did it for 5 hours. He doesn't do so well with transitions and isn't the people pleaser that his big brother is, so I think this approach works well for us. We'll see what happens. His potty prizes are bits of candy and he gets one for him AND for Owen when he goes. So, you know Owen is in there getting this boy on the potty often so they can both get candy. This afternoon, Liam got the underwear wet and he said "Wiam sorry, momma" so sweetly I almost cried. I reminded him that we are just practicing and that it's okay. What a big boy he is!

Man, they grow and change in the blink of an eye, don't they?

3 boys + 3 girls = Lots of Fun

We had a great time splashing, sliding, jumping, and playing with Ella, Emma, and Ava! I do think Owen has a wee crush on 5 year old Ella ;-) What a great time we had today!

The six kids all in one spot.
Ella showing my boys how to go down the water slide.

Gavin and Ava. Sweet babies. Ava is very mobile and Gavin is content just watching her. That's my boy--don't go anywhere too fast, Gavin, your my last baby!

Owen on the slide.

Even Liam made it up the ladder--crazy kid can climb anything now.

Sisters splashing in the sprinkler.

Baby Ava. She's 2 months older than Gavin and 4-5 pounds lighter. Haha!

Emma and Owen swinging....the two 3-year olds.

Emma and Ava posing for the crazy neighbor with the camera.

My boys in a pink Jeep that's out of batteries are letting a girl push them. Doesn't seem right, does it?

Before I had my camera in hand, Liam was playing, too. It was priceless. Still really cute shot of Owen and the girls. But, would have been even cuter if little Liam was still in there.

See....I think Owen has a crush on Ella....look at his face....he's smitten. Oy.

Fun with Friends!!

The Baby

I decided to take a few photos of Gavers to share with you on the blog. As with anything I try to do with one boy when all three are awake, this was quite an ordeal. This is Gavin once I FINALLY talked the other two into "helping" me by hiding behind my back.
This is Gavin when Owen was sitting next to him, but left because momma talked Owen into, you know, hiding behind my back. Yup. Gavers is a HUGE Owen fan. He loves both his big brothers, but Owen pays the most attention to him and it shows in how Gavin reacts when Owen is around.

This, is just plain funny. It's a perfect "sibling"shot. I love Gavin's face. It is so, so unlike him to have a scowl.

This series captures Owen & Gavin perfectly. When Owen is around, he can get Gavin talking like noone else can. Who knows what Gavers is saying, but boy was he saying it with gusto.

Funny that Gavin and Owen have the same expression while Liam is doing one of the things he does best...snacking ;-) Liam generally takes advantage of the time that Owen spends with Gavin and uses the time wisely--he eats Owens snacks, plays with toys that he knows Owen likes, etc., etc., etc. Middle man is one smart cookie!

Owen chatting with Gavin about the photo-shoot.

Happy, happy baby.

So, I am in a wedding in a few months. I need to lose the baby weight. What better than pulling the baby's that caused me to weigh this much to lose it? Phew. This is a WORK OUT!

Happy Thursday!

Can I have a motorcycle?

Last Monday on America's Got Talent, a dad and his two kids (one 13 and one 8) did their act while my boys and their dad watched. The kids rode on motorcycles inside a sphere cage with their dad standing in the middle directing them like a conductor. After the act, Owen turns to Gerard and asks if he can get a motorcycle from Target. Gerard's response was not what I expected. He simply replied, "Owen, not EVERYthing comes from Target." Ha!

On Friday, Owen asked me the same question. And I didn't reply quite as a should have. Instead of saying "no, you are too little" or "not while you are living in my house" as one of my momma friends says to her little guy, I said "Owen, you can't even ride your bike without training wheels, yet". Well. that wasn't the right thing to say.

Owen must really want a motorcycle, because he promptly replied to me with "Well, let's take them off so I can learn". And, we did.

Early morning practicing.

Owen practicied on and off all day Friday. When Gerard got home from work, we wanted to go to a field to try some more. So, we loaded his cheering squad in a double stroller....

....and Owen got to practice some more.

Gosh, he looks like such a big kid. Boo, hoo.

We took a few breaks to ride the scooter really, really fast down the hill ;-)

And then Middle Brother wanted to try riding the bike....

And then Owen got brave enough to say "Let go, Dad". He didn't make it far before toppling over, but I am just so proud of him for trying.

If he keeps practicing, I think we will have a full-on bike rider in a week or two. I will have to get his helmet on him the next time we practice just in case that's when he decided to take off!

Thought this was funny. Liam was hot and thirsty and wanting juice. I was so busy taking pictures of Owen that Liam got a bit loud....

Today, I took the boys for a hair cut. For the last 6 months or so, they have sat in the chair together for their hair cuts. When we try one at a time, the one in the chair cries, screams, and wants to get down with the one NOT in the chair. I finally had the lightbulb go off in my brain, and tried this. It works. I have never had a problem talking a stylist into doing it. I say "you can have one, very difficult kid in the chair, or two very calm, still kids." They ususally pick the latter. ;-) And, we usually get a lot of attention from everyone in the place b/c they are so good and so stinkin cute ;-)

It certainly takes creativity and lots of energy to be a parent to three little boys!