Preschool Graduation!

Preschool Graduation.  How did we get here?  Of course I’d be lying if I said that the past five years have flown by, there have been some very long days and weeks as Sam and I have grown together.  But that doesn’t make it any easier to believe that my boy has reached this particular milestone in his life.

Sam is an elementary schooler!  In three short months my little boy will walk in the door of his kindergarten classroom, walk through the lunch line and maybe even ride the bus home.  Without me.

I remember listening to a dear friend detail her preparations for taking her eldest son to college.  My eyes filled with tears as I imagined what he heart might be feeling, imagining the day that I would leave my (then 2-year-old) son at his dorm.  She wisely explained that while there are certainly emotions with the process, it didn’t feel to her the way I imagined it.  “Lindsay, you can see him there and it feels big and scary.  But John is ready, and its ok.”  And now I get it.  There are emotions as I prepare to send Sam to elementary school, but they are not fear, anxiety, dread or even sadness.  Instead my heart is full of nostalgia and excitement, because he is ready.  And he is over-the-moon excited!

Yesterday Maria and I (room moms) executed the End Of The Year Party.  Pizza, Pinata and Party Games.  The kids loved the piñata and no one got wacked with the bat!  Annabelle was perfectly behaved through the whole thing, standing to the side holding her baby while Mommy ran the show, but she was super excited to be offered a turn at the games as things were winding down.

We hung around a bit as things were dying down and I enjoyed talking to Sam’s teachers a bit.  Ms. Jackie is actually a neighbor and was giving me the low down on ballet schools.  Ms. Erin, who’s daughter is 6 months older than Annabelle and is pregnant with her second, chatted with me about potty training and all things two-year-old.  It was clear that we’d made a shift – they weren’t really Sam’s teachers anymore.

Today we all watched as our five-year-olds paraded into the sanctuary to Pomp and Circumstance.  They recited the Pledge of Allegiance, Pledge to the Texas Flag, Pledge to the Christian Flag, Pledge to the Bible and The Lord’s Prayer.  I’m pretty sure that Sam was mouthing random words to several of those items.  They sang us several very silly songs and Sam did really well with the songs and the motions, a real area of growth for him over the course of his preschool career!  He smiled and made eye contact with us several times throughout the performance, he was thrilled that all three of us were there.  We watched a slideshow with baby pictures from each graduate. The kids thought it was hysterical to see their friends’ baby pictures!  And then they walked across the stage one by one as Ms. Heather read their names (Sam INSISTED she use his middle name).  They got hugs from both their teachers and a diploma all rolled up.  

We were invited to “clown around” at the reception afterwards – clown noses and cupcakes for all the kiddos.  Sam ran around a bit with his friends, and then it was time to go.  He walked out the doors no longer a preschooler.  It is Annabelle’s school now.  

Congratulations Sam.  I am so excited for your Great Kindergarten Adventure!

For the Record

We had Sam's 5-Year Well Visit yesterday at the pediatrician.  For the record:

Weight: 40.0 pounds (45%)

Height: 42 inches (31%)

BMI: 15 (66%)

Blood Pressure: 97/58*

Pulse: 86

Vision: 20/20 right eye, 20/30 left eye

Hearing: Perfect

It appears that Sam has gained 7 pounds and 3 inches in the last year.  I believe this to be his highest weight percentile since about 3 months.  I didn't expect his BMI percentile to be that high, but I guess he is still on the short side.  Chris believes that to be all muscles, though, and he's probably not too far off.  Although the boy is eating more these days - I can't believe I'm saying this, but he can really pack it in on some days!  Last night he devoured every bite of his rather-grown-up dinner (pan-seared catfish, steamed carrots and couscous) and he's been known to eat 3-4 pieces of pizza in one setting.  This from the kid over who's eating habits I literally lost sleep over at one point in his life!

Sam STILL has some lingering eczema patches on his legs, and we were handed the same "how to handle it" flyer we got when he was an infant.  We also left with a prescription for a motion sickness patch to help him out a bit on our long trips this summer.

*(this was on attempt 3.  His first two were really high.  I blame the nurse, she was stressing us all out a bit)

Galveston Getaway

How many times must you do something before it becomes a tradition?  For the second year in a row we packed up our little foursome and headed to Galveston for a quick getaway on Mother's Day Weekend.  Although trips of any length are never work-free for a Mom, I think I could get used to this type of celebration!

This time it was a 48 hour trip.  Chris went to and came home from work early on Friday so that we could arrive around dinner time and get all settled in.  I'm glad that I'd packed s'more cones for desert again, because Sam remembered every detail of our trip from last year, including what we'd eaten for desert.  This year Annabelle got one, too.  To quote her directly, "Mmm yummy chocolate!  I need more!"  And then she dug her finger into the melted chocolate to scoop out the best part.

A beach trip in early May is always a bit of a toss-up weather-wise, but we came out ok this year.  No rain, sunny all day Saturday (a few of us might have some burns to prove it - oops!), and temperatures that allowed us to be comfortable on the beach, although not warm enough that anyone other than Sam really wanted to swim.  The water was fine once you were in, but it got a bit chilly in the wind once you were out.  And Galveston is...well...kind of a gross beach much of the year.  We didn't have any tar balls to contend with, but there were piles and piles of seaweed blocking most of the beach.

None of that stopped Sam from running and jumping in the waves, diving in, splashing around.  My boy was made for the beach, he is so very happy every time we go to one.  He dug giant holes, made sand balls with mom, ran laps to collect buckets of water to fill his holes, and splashed to his little heart's content.  He even belly flopped into the seaweed piles.  I remember his first trip to Hilton Head he wiggled out of my arms and took off sprinting down the beach, sqeeling with excitement, at only 15 months.  And then there was the sunset beach trip over Christmas this year.  Good thing he'll have another crack at one in 3 weeks! 

Annabelle is a bit more of a learned lover of the beach.  Her reaction to the sand was severely negative at Christmas, and we have been slowly warming up to it since - even sandy playgrounds have been a challenge.  But she desires to do what Sam does and couldn't completely turn her nose up this time.  By Saturday afternoon she was sitting in, digging in, playing in the sand.  She told me it was "so pretty!" when she dumped it on my feet, and "thank you, mama!" when I dumped it on hers.  She even conquered the seaweed piles to get to the water on the other side.  Of course she only went deep enough to fill her bucket, which always sloshed to no more than half full by the time she returned to camp.

We grilled and watched movies and the kids got up too early and Sam didn't nap till the car ride home.  I went for a run on the beach and was allowed to sleep in on Mother's Day.  Annabelle cuddled with me almost to the point of falling asleep in my arms when we laid together in a twin bed on Saturday night, something that almost never happens with my obsessively-sleep-trained children.  We ate a lot of food, especially Sam, who downed 3 pieces of pizza at lunch on Saturday and 6 cinnamon rolls on Sunday morning.We were invited to a birthday party by the people renting the house next door!  It was a 'more-the-merrier, stay all day' kind of party common to the Hispanic culture, but Sam had a hard time understanding that he couldn't stay till the end of the party.  We weren't sure how to explain that there might not be a real end!  He was disappointed to leave the big kids he was playing with and the seemingly endless supply of Capri-Suns.  He lost some of that disappointment when the birthday boy brought party favors for both kids up to the house while we were eating dinner.  So kind!

And we did a craft!  I was worried it would be cold, so I packed supplies to make and decorate footprint casts for the kiddos.  They turned out pretty well and they seemed to enjoy the new beach activity!

Also, my daughter has the best beach hair in the world.  We literally did nothing to it for 46 hours (they bathed right before we left) and it was amazing - glossy, bouncy, perfectly-formed ringlets in wind that would have made my hair a knotted mess had I not had it pulled back the entire time.  I think she will need to live at the beach when she grows up!

It was short, but it was relaxing.  Its amazing how much stuff must be packed for even a quick trip, but it was so worth it to be away, alone, uninterrupted and unscheduled with our little fam for a whole weekend.  And now I am in summer mode!  We've got a lot of trips coming our way, and I am ready!

Mother's Day Tea

 My Mother's Day celebration began on Thursday I was invited to a Mother's Day Tea at Sam's preschool.  I honestly had no idea what to expect, maybe a cookie and a song or two.  I under-anticipated this special event!

As I arrived, Sam came into the hall and grabbed my hand to lead me to where he and I would take a picture together.  Then he grabbed my hand again and led me to his chair in the classroom (they were taught about escorting earlier in the day!).  Once all the Mommies had arrived, the class sang us two adorably silly songs: "Skidly Winky Dinky Dink" and "Tony Chestnut."  The second has us all laughing - you can imagine the motions that might go with the words, "Toe Knee Chest Nut Nose Eye Love You, Toe Knee Nose, Toe Knee Nose..."  There was a part about Tony's friends; Aileen, Pat, Neal, Bob, Rustle, and a line that noted that the song was "silly, but HIP."  Ha! 

After the music we were lead to the youth room where a Chick-Fil-A feast awaited all of us!  Wraps, chips, fruit and a brownie for the moms, nuggets, applesauce, cheese stick for the kids.  Each child went up to the front to collect drinks and fruit to serve to his mom (note: Same does not eat applesauce or cheese sticks so he ate my fruit!).  Also waiting on the table was the hand made Portraits of Mom and an 'All About Mom' questionnaire.  He nailed it with the running, I do enjoy that, but I guess if I only weigh 11 pounds I should probably give up that hobby!  Not sure where he got scary movies from, but I do eat Turkey Sandwiches.  My favorite?  No, but I probably only eat my real favorites when the kids are in bed and can't steal from me!

One might not think that's Sam's portrait of me is "good," but I have never been more proud.  He couldn't/didn't color AT ALL at the beginning of the year, so the fact that I have a face and earrings is impressive to me.  He explained that my neck was black because they didn't have a blonde marker.  (I was thinking about this later and realized that we rarely if ever use color names for skin in our household.  Being in Houston where there are so many shades, I think that "lighter" and "darker" just make more sense to him.)  It was very fun to see Kim's portraits all lined up - she is mom to the triplets in Sam's class and the three pictures could not have looked more different!  She decided she changes her hair color too often...

They showed a video of all the kiddos saying what they loved most about their moms.  There were many very touching answers, but not from my kid.  "I love my mommy because she buys me presents."  And I was not a little bit surprised.  That's my Sam!  It was very fun and special to have lunch with him, and I was thankful that the school insisted that other arrangements be made for siblings, it would not have been the same with Annabelle in tow.  She had a blast with our neighbor (who also happens to be a preschool teacher!) anyhow!  Next year I will be allowed to pop in to the Elementary school for lunch whenever I want, and I am looking forward to doing so!

Time to Celebrate Sam

Being 5 years old is a pretty big deal in Mommy's book, so celebrate we did.  Turns out I work well within the confines of a theme - it helps me to gather ideas and stay focused.  Also makes searching on Pinterest a bit easier...

The House Guests.  Much like they did for his sister's birthday, Gommy and Papa flew in for the occasion.  It was a quick trip, Thursday afternoon through Sunday afternoon, but we squeezed in a trip to the zoo, a soccer game, a few good meals out and plenty of birthday fun.

The Party.  I am the kind of mom that likes to throw a birthday party every year, and I plan to continue to do so at least throughout elementary school.  As Sam gets older I allow him to participate a bit more in the planning, but I am still able to guide his decisions without too much difficulty.  We picked a theme together and he selected the guest list himself, giving a thumbs up or down to each child I listed from old school, new school, church and soccer.  He was quite clear with his choices, which is good to see.  He knows who he enjoys spending time with!

I was excited to get a bounce house this year - the first time we had room in our own yard to do it!  I found one that could be set up to match our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Theme and had a few extras, including a slide, to go with it.  There was a good bit of practicing before the party - so much that we had to make Sam rinse off in the poo because he got so sweaty.  Actually, we had to trick him into doing it.  How?  By allowing him to open a strategically selected gift from Gommy and Papa that we knew he'd want to try out right away.

I'm not going to lie, there were moments when it got pretty wild in there.  5 year old boys lack the ability to know when they've gone too far, it turns out.  At one point about 50 minutes into the party we had to call for a halt and break for snack.

What was the snack?  Well this year I gave up on making a cake for the boy who mostly uninterested in cake.  I bakes him a bunch a cookies instead!  One special order cookie cutter and lots of decorating bags and tips later, I put together this display.  I was pretty pleased with how it turned out!  Mostly, I was pleased with Sam's enjoyment.  I finished them after bedtime one night (his and mine, to be honest) and received a truly grateful "wow, awesome!" the next morning.  Bonus - they turned out really soft and delicious!  I also served grapes and pretzels, but the cookies were the big hit!

And we did crafts!  Nun-chucks anyone?  I promise they're safe!  Made from pipe insulation precisely measured by ninja standards to fit each child, pipe cleaners, duct tape and plastic rope.  The kids enjoyed playing with them during the party and were good about respecting the rule that they were not allowed in the bounce house.

What turtle party would be complete without a shell of your own to wear home?!  I combined a few different Pinterest ideas into this one, and I think we were able to turn some foil roasting pans, ribbon and paint into some pretty darn cute little costumes.  The kids seemed to really enjoy painting them, too.  And thanks to a blow dryer, most of them were dry by the time the kids went home.

There's was plenty of bouncing to be done after the last guest had left.  While the adults were doing a bit of cleaning, Sam went off to jump all by himself , not caring that he was companion-less, but also not minding when Annabelle, and then Mommy and Gommy, joined in on the action.  In fact, we ordered pizza and camped next to the bounce house until about 8pm that night.  Turns out my girl loves bounce houses at a much younger age than her usually-wilder brother did!  She help her own not only with Sam (who taught her to climb up the slide, and then assisted her in descending the rock wall once inside), but also with the rowdy 5-year-old guests.  I will raise no sissy sister in this house!

It is worth noting a mark of growth in Sam between his 4th birthday party and his 5th: The ability to be patient for presents.  Last year he melted down because he just couldn't wait to open a certain gift that was wrapped in a particularly appealing fashion.  It wasn't pretty.  This year we prepped him for the gift plan, but weren't sure he'd follow through.  Much to my surprise, he accepted gifts from guests at the door and happily added them to the pile and then ran to show his friend to the bounce house.  He did not speak of touching a single gift until the party had been over for almost an hour.  And when he did, he reminded me that last year he just couldn't wait to open the really cool gift, but this year he could because he was 5.  And I was proud.

(I was not proud when he melted down over the party favors - someone took one without Sam handing it to him, which he really wanted to do.  Never a dull day with him!)

Wednesday was his "actual birthday," and while he understood that, he insisted that he turned 5 at his party and would not hear otherwise.  He woke to streamers hanging from his bedroom door frame.  This was by request, as I'd done it for Annabelle's birthday.  He also requested that the decorations be different for his party.  Hers were pretty, his needed to be "awesome."  Wednesday are our busy day - School, bible study, swim lesson, soccer practice - so we had to work to fit some birthday fun in there!    Of course nothing is more fun than donuts for breakfast, and how about 5 dozen sprinkle donut holes to share with everyone at school?!

Not a single one came home.  I hope they shared with some friends outside of their classroom!  There was a little surprise in his lunchbox - that would be a wrapped Lunchable.  He said it was fun, but I think he was secretly disappointed that it wasn't a toy!  After school we had to head straight to the pool, so we weren't able to stop for a special treat.  BUT when his instructor found out that it was his "actual birthday," she led the entire pool in a round of happy birthday directed towards him, followed by a toss into the water.

After a brief stop at home, the three of us headed out to an early birthday dinner at Chick-Fil-A.  Lucky us, it was family night!  And the last family night before they tear this location down for a rebuild, so they graced us with a free soft serve bar in addition to the face painter.  My kids, of course, think ice cream is so distasteful that they refuse to let it approach their lips, so they ate the candy off the top and threw the ice cream away.  They are strange people.

After soccer it was back home for the rest of his presents.  The rest?  Why yes.  The boy is spoiled.  Not only were there presents from the party, and from Gommy and Papa, he'd also managed to open at least one present per day that had arrived in the mail...for about 5 straight days.  On the morning of his birthday Chris and I had given him his presents from us.  He opened to gift bags of clothes.  After acknowledging that the shirts were cool, he kinda murmured a question about "maybe Daddy has a present for me?"  "Why do you think that, buddy?"  "Last year he got me a bike." 

Poor guy.  Last year he got a bike, this year a few shirts.  Good thing we had a brand new, real, grown up kindle waiting for him that night.  He was much more impressed by that!

And here I sit a week after the party and my house is still adorned with TMNT decor.  Sam opened a stack of birthday cards today.  How long must this celebration continue?  I guess the desire to be celebrated starts at an early age.

At one point during the week leading up to his party he told me, "Mom I really like all this awesome stuff you're making!"  It was a quick sentence made in passing, but it meant so much.  At 5 years old he recognized that I was working for him, and he thought what I was doing was "awesome."

Happy 5th Birthday, Sam!