A Long Awaited Off-Roading Trip for the Boys!

Today was a day that both boys- my husband and Justin- have been waiting for for a very long time. I am pretty sure Jon has been waiting for this day since the day we brought his first son home from the hospital and Justin- well, I can't really remember when Justin started loving four wheelers and off-roading equipment but I do know that it has probaby been since about (or maybe even before) he started talking. I know they are still both longing for the day they can load up a four wheeler for each of them and head off to go riding, but Mommy isn't quite ready to let her little preschooler have that much responsibility. That's where the golf cart comes into play. Jon bought it a while ago and has been giving the kids rides on it around the neighborhood for quite some time, but his real plan was to be able to take the family off-roading with it. With Katelynn heading off to kindergarten for the second day, Jonathan decided to make a boys day of it for Justin's last day of summer and head out for a riding day. Justin was so overwhelmed with excitement; he could hardly control it! I came home from dropping Katelynn off and he told me, "Mommy, I'm going out of town on the golf cart!" Now, I have to tell you that Justin has been talking about a day like this for months now. He told me just a few weeks ago that he and Daddy were going to go out of town for lots of days to ride the golf cart and that Katelynn couldn't come because she might not like to be gone that long, but that he would like it so he could go. It was like his dream come true to have a special day with just his daddy! (Here Justin is ready to go!)

Since it just about killed me to not be present for a "first" for my little guy, my husband made sure to make me feel included by emailing me every hour or so with pictures from their adventure.

They got stuck a few times and Jonathan said that this time he had to use a log to get the wheels unstuck. When he was finished with it, he tossed it into the mud without thinking and a huge puddle sprayed over Justin's head and covered him in mud. He said all Justin kept saying was, "I wanted to get a little wet, Daddy. Just a little wet." Justin came home COVERED in mud! I hadn't even considered sending him a change of clothes. Guess I know better next time!

They packed a lunch and snacks and were gone from 9 a.m. until dinnertime. Justin couldn't stop talking about his day the entire time at dinner. He is ready to go back again asap!

Kindergarten- Here we come!

Our baby girl started kindergarten today. We have been leading up to this moment for so long it seems and yet here it was sooner than I was expecting. Katelynn was excited to go today. I think she was a little nervous, but the excitement overruled that. She woke up at 5:50 a.m. (normally wakes between 7 and 7:30) because she couldn't wait to go. We got her all ready and then I surprised her with a "new" breakfast: French Toast Sticks! Of course they were a huge hit (what isn't that you can eat with syrup?). We all loaded up in the car and headed to school!

The boys all stayed in the car (Jonathan included) and I walked Katelynn in for her first day. We got her settled and snapped a picture with her teacher and then I gave her a hug, and she moved straight to her desk to get started on her first task of the day. It was that easy! She didn't even hesitate, and neither one of us shed a single tear. I have to say I was a bit shocked. I expected to be a blurry mess, but I wasn't at all. It was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be.

The day didn't even drag by. Justin, Ryan, and I played in the basement, baked a giant cookie for our new kindergartener, vacuumed the van out, and headed back to school for pickup. It wasn't until I seen Katelynn outside waiting for us that I started to get all teary-eyed. It was such a relief to know that my baby girl made it through her first day of kindergarten and was coming out smiling! She had a GREAT day! Her only complaint is she has to wait until Friday to return.

Pizza Dinner on the Boat!

Tonight we made a last minute decision to head out to the boat.. around 4 pm so why not just grab a pizza and go for it? Jonathan has been traveling a lot and we have been itching to get out there. Sure, we have three kids but we can still be spontaneous at times and have a great time! We even brought PJ's so the kids could crash on the way home!

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

Our neighbors had an Ugly Christmas Sweater party this weekend that we were able to attend.  It was nice to have some adult conversation for a bit with no kids!  We did our best with the sweaters.  We found Jonathan's sweater at Goodwill but wanted to ugly it up some more so we added the tree and extras to it.  If only I would have had time to add some lights to it that really lit up, it would have been so much uglier :)

Wrapping Paper is YUMMY!

At least that's what Ryan thought when he got a hold of some....

Pre-K Christmas Performance

I can't believe it has already come time for school to break for the Christmas holiday, but somehow it has!  Today was Katelynn's last day of preschool until the New Year.  They ended it with a fun Christmas Potluck and put on a performance for all the parents.  They sang several Christmas songs and even played a variety of instruments.  Katelynn played the triangles for two songs!

And in case you want a taste of the performance, here's a quick 2-minute snip of it.  They didn't play instruments the entire time, but I only taped a short bit and they happened to be playing them the entire time I taped.

Up, Up, and Moving!!

Wow.  I feel like Ryan hit 5 months old and just took off on the milestones.  Every day I feel like he changes!  Off the top of my head, he has learned to sit up, play actively with toys, and now he is semi-mobile!  We are so very, very close to crawling!  In the last 48 hours, he has made improvements literally every few hours it seems!  When he went to bed tonight, he was officially getting on all fours and moving one knee forward.  He would push off with that one knee and kept rolling over instead of going forward, but he didn't get upset.  He just kept rolling back to his belly and going again!  For the most part, he is moving backwards rather than forward, but he is moving!!  Earlier today he started at his playmat and made his way to our Christmas tree without any help from anyone!

And just because Mommy couldn't get enough of his sweet face, I kept on snapping pictures of my BIG, BIG boy as he played and continued to move around!

While I should be in tears that my baby is getting big so quickly (and blowing his big brother and sister away on the milestone markers), but I am actually hoping he full-fledge crawls before the first of the year.  Jonathan leaves for France for several weeks January 2nd, and he is already upset that he might miss such a huge milestone.  So, for the sake of my husband, please baby boy start crawling before daddy leaves!