76 Trombones...

On Friday AU had their homecoming parade on campus. I thought the kiddos would enjoy seeing the parade and especially the band. So we went. We got free cotton candy beforehand-and thoroughly enjoyed that tasty treat. The parade, albeit small, was very enjoyable. Alas, we had to leave early and did not get to see the band. They were both quite disappointed about that.

Amusing Anecdote

<p>At the entrance of our building, high above the door is a light with wires that are exposed. One night, soon after we arrived here, we were getting home and I happened to look up and the wires looked like a praying mantis. So I told the kiddos to look up. M agreed with me that the wires did look like a praying mantis. J was a bit confused so I tried to clarify that they were just wires. We went in. Now, every so often when we go in J looks up and says, "Mom, looks like tires!"

Wake up sleepy Jean..

What would a blog be without some precious bed-head pictures? I love my kiddos when they first wake up and their faces and hair are puffy. So precious! Talk about natural beauty!

Yesterday, Maile had quite the cough when she woke up so I let her stay home from school-against my better judgement. Turns out just to be allergies(I think, because her zyrtec seemed to take care of most of her symptoms) from the weather change here. It is turning fall! I laid out some ground rules before she committed to staying home from school: no outside playtime and she must take a  nap. Now, if she were really sick, would I have needed to make those rules? No. Lesson learned! Here she is "taking her nap":

In case you can't tell, she is making faces under her mirror. At least she stayed on the bed...
   Now, here is the rest of this story. This morning she kept telling me she didn't feel good and didn't want to go to school. But, she was also playing with Johnny. To get her out the door, I had to threaten to carry her to school. Half the way to school she cried and I finally got it out of her why she didn't want to go to school. She told me: "if I'm contagious, I don't want to share it to my friends!" That just broke my heart. She was genuinely concerned about getting her friends sick. I know she doesn't feel good, because she and I both have sinus stuff going on, but she is not really sick so I can't keep her home. I just felt so bad sending her to school when she was so sad.

In other news: Saturday we had some things to do in Southbend. We found ourselves with a little downtime in between errands so we HAD to hit up Krispy Kream. Oh, a little piece of fattening heaven. The kids had fun watching the doughnuts get cooked and dunked. Then we all enjoyed a free hot doughnut. Yum-o!

Eating doughnuts-Johnny style.  Here he is with a contented look on his face!

Got milk?

Slides

The Wilson things have been very busy checking out all the slides in the town.

Cute

Tonight Johnny sang "Mary Had a Little Lamb" with me when I put him to bed. Later he got up (he had to do some serious business) and I told him to sing it to Jared. So he did, and got a little teased about it, and then said " aww, so cute!" (About his own singing). It was so cute! He is so cute! Have I mentioned cute??
Here's one more of him at the park today just to prove it!

Reading & Rest

This morning J and I went to an activity sponsored by a program called Parents as Teachers. It is for toddlers. The activity was at a Riverside park-very beautiful! So we sat on a bench and different people dressed up according to their book came and read to us. So that by the end we had six or seven stories read to us. It was really fun! And we got a free snack and book. And J sat through the whole thing! After that we walked by the river and played on the playground there.

Later, after we picked up Maile we went to "Chips and Chapters" At the library. Every body got a little bag of chips and the librarian read the first couple chapters of a book- to be continued next week. M really enjoyed that and J even sat and listened the first twenty minutes - thanks to the chips!

After that we had to go pick out a new microwave. Sadly, ours didn't wake up this morning. It has been on the brink for at least a year. The button to open it broke and then fixed itself, then it would only run for eight minutes max - if you cooked something for that long it had to rest for the rest of the night. Then the other morning it wasn't working but came on by lunch time. I thought that might be the case today but no such luck. Goodbye not-so-trusty microwave. You got me through a lot of leftovers, popcorn, and bottles. I'll not-so-much miss your melted spot where I left a bag of popcorn in you for about four minutes too long. You served me well!














Finally, we had a gift sent to us to celebrate M doing so well at school and so we had to go get Mexican for some cheese dip. It was yummy! Thanks for the treat!

Boredom Busters

What to do on a Friday afternoon?
Hit bubbles with a raquet (the raquet r didn't show up in any of the pics), climb, ride bikes and play in the sand with friends. This is one of our new friends we play with outside at our apartment complex. He is three and so smart and adorable!

First Day

It has finally come and gone-the first day of kindergarten. We all survived with flying colors! M handled it really really well. She did not cry at all when I left her. (I had a short cry once I got in my car-nothing major!) She was all smiles when I picked her up-she was so proud of herself-and so was I. She is such a strong girl to face so bravely what she feared so much. And, while she was at school J and I played race cars, ran errands, and jumped in puddles. I had to wake him from his nap so here is a sleepy pic of him at our first time in carpool. I'm so relieved and proud and excited and sad all at the same time! What a day!

Meet the Teacher Day

Today was preparation for the hard day tomorrow! Last night M had a melt down because she was just so nervous. Jared gave her a priesthood blessing and she has been so much calmer since then. She was brave today. Even though she told me she was not going to say one word to anyone, she did squeak out her name to Mrs. R (her teacher). (Or should I call her "Mrs." like Junie B.?) I think she will manage just fine tomorrow. I am not sure about me, on the other hand! I got choked up at walmart a few weeks back just LOOKING at school supplies! I fought tears at back- to - school night, and again this morning. Somehow I have to find some control and wait to raise the flood gates til after I say bye to her! I think it's hard partly because she is still so young while getting old so fast! Also, I am just going to miss her. She has been my little shadow for 5 1/2 years now. What can I say? I love this girl! Here she is posing wearing the outfit I suggested!