Triple the Fun

Miles, Noah and I spent 24 hours in Summerville at Gram and Pop's house. Its always fun to hang out there -- but it was triple the fun this time, as Great Grandma T was there, too. (Griffin was recovering from pneumonia, so he and Mike stayed home.)

As always, there were cool instruments to play.


Miles came up with a fun "marble game". Basically, he would load your shirt up with marbles and then yell "go", instructing you to raise you arm and let the marbles roll. Gram was a good sport and we all got a lot of laughs out of it.







Grandma T indulged the boys in many rounds of "elefun". Wish we lived closer to her so that we could hang out more often!

Girl's Trip to Atlanta

A quick girls' getaway does wonders to recharge a weary battery! I spent 24 hours on a road trip to Altanta with 3 amazing friends. We went to see Madonna in concert. The concert was iffy, but the quality time rocked. I am so thankful for these special friendships (and for an amazing husband that stayed home with the boys and still managed to squeeze in a few conference calls!).


As we were leaving town, Tracy's husband, Allan, noticed that my tires were low on air. (I think he noticed from the kitchen...that's how perceptive he is!) He personally hooked us up.





Here's a picture of us from our trip to the mountains this summer. I love these getaways!

Visit with the Larsons

The Larsons came for a quick visit (from Cary, NC) this weekend. They are such a fun family and we're already looking forward to our next visit!




We hung around outside on Saturday. Sydney (in the car, age 3 as of today!) and JuJu (in the wagon, age 6) are such sweet girls. The boys loved their instant playmates. Poor Griffin was not feeling well (as of today, he's on his 3rd day of 101-103 degree temps). He chilled out and watched most of the excitement over the weekend.




Mike and Rob were childhood friends, groomsmen in each others' wedding -- and both enjoy this signature smile. I recently found some of Mike's HS pictures with this pose. Can't wait to snap the same one when they're 80.






We spent Sunday afternoon tailgating before the Panther game (though none of us ended up going to the game). It was a beautiful day, perfect for throwing the ball and playing endless rounds of "base". My favorite picture of the weekend is definitely this one of our god-daughter, Sydney, on a serious hunt. We love you guys!

Can't Quite Get It Right

Today I asked Griffin to point to his nose. He grabbed both ears and stuck out his tongue.

Miles and Noah constantly say, "that happened last day" or "we did that yester-night". Each time we correct them, they give us a confused, glazed-over look (as if to say, aren't you keeping up with the new catch phrases on Wikipedia?)

Miles described a friend in his class as having "flat hair like me". I tried to introduce the concept of "straight hair." He wasn't into it...must not have the same zip for him.

Earlier today I heard Noah scream from the bathroom. I ran in to find him IN the potty (looking kind of like an upside down turtle). I couldn't help but laugh as I helped him out. After it was over Noah said, "Mommy, I fell way into the potty!" I said, "I know...it was kind of funny, wasn't it?" Noah said, "Mommy, it was NOT funny. It was very dangerous!" Somehow that made it even funnier.

Makin' Big Decisions

Brooke: Noah, if you finish your milk, you can join the Batman Club!
Noah: That's ok. I'll just take one sip and join the Spiderman Club, instead.

Griff's 1st Shiner

This is Day 6 of Griffin's first black eye. He fell out of his little chair at church (and in the fall he managed to pull the chair down on top of him). Everyday it looks better...so I figured I'd better document it before its gone. He's been a trooper and I expect may more in his future!

Fun Talkin' to Ya!

I'll take a nibble any day....
I gave Noah a kiss the other day and our noses touched. He said, "mom, that kind of a kiss is a nibble." The same thing happened today while we waited for the bus...and again, he called it a nibble. I hope it sticks.

Thank goodness the cast came off.... :)
While Mike was in his cast, there were a lot of things that he couldn't do. On the bright side, he could still talk, so it was easy for him to remind me of all of the things that had to be done. :) On Sunday, he suggested that I do a certain chore and I jokingly said, 'easy...off my back!' I came down the stairs laughing and Miles immediately said, "Mom, who is on your back?!" (Daddy) "How did he get there? Did you lay on the floor and he climbed on?!"

Stay on the lookout....
Miles matter-of-factly described a person on tv as being "fat" (still not sure where he learned that description). I said, "well, people come in all shapes and sizes." He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "I have NEVER seen a triangle or square person before!"

Apples must mean extra-crazy....
I told Miles that all of the boys' arguing was 'driving me bananas'. Miles quickly responded by saying, "well, its really driving me apples!"

They must exchange notes at school....
On Friday night I said to Miles, "Its 7pm! We need to head to bed soon." He quickly said, "mom! I do not go to bed at 7 o'clock on the weekends....only on school nights!"

Fall Leaves

As soon as a few leaves fell to the ground, Miles was ready to rake them into a pile and jump in. The raking was harder than he thought, but he made the effort and then I finished the job. He jumped in a couple of times, announced that the leaves were "smelly" and then quickly departed for something else.




Noah didn't really catch on that he had to throw his body into the leaves. He kept jumping in, but would always end up in the same position -- standing. He eventually had the most fun walking through the leaves, mixing them all up.





All the while, Griffin slept. Next time, little buddy!

Dave Matthews....and Pop?

Over the past month we've started watching concerts on tv after dinner. It started out as background music but the boys quickly got into it, becoming mesmerized by different instruments, different styles of music, different musicians. Hands down, their all-time favorite is Dave Matthews. They'll ask for his music by name ("Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, please!"). The other night while Dave Matthews was playing, Noah said, "mom! Dave Matthews has hair like Pop's!....well, except that Pop only has TWO hairs."

Couldn't pass it up. Had to include it on the blog. Love you, dad!

The Zoo!

On Monday, we met Pop & Gram at the Columbia zoo. It was so great to see them and fun to check out the animals at the same time. The boys loved it! All of the animals were out and it was pretty empty. A great combination!


Noah hanging out, watching the bears....



Checking out the baby lions -- so cute!







Griffin loved his first trip to the zoo! He mimicked animal noises and if he wasn't being held, he crouched down to get an extra good look. Too cute!


What's next? Let's check the map!







Already looking forward to our next trip to the zoo! Love you Gram & Pop!

The Presidential Truth Comes Out

Mike and I spent a very fun 30 minutes with Miles' teacher yesterday. I mean, what could be better than hearing great things and funny stories about your child? Since this blog is the one place I now store all of these precious memories, here are few highlights:

Election Day
On school election day, Miles' teacher hung up pictures of the candidates and told the kids about the election process. Someone asked how to tell the candidates apart. She told them that if they 'looked closely' they should be able to see differences. She said Miles immediately raised his hand and announced to the class "I really like Barack Obama because he has big ears!" He then proceeded to the art center where he drew a picture of Obama and then single-handedly led the class in a "Go Barack Obama!" chant (raise the roof style). Love the passion -- regardless of the way he determined his presidential choice!

Hats
Miles' teacher told us that how much he loves art. She said a lot of the kids in the class love art this year -- but she said that Miles loves art all-the-time. She said that many of the kids love art during their "center time", but Miles spends a lot of time on his drawings when he's doing in class assignments, etc.. She also said that whenever the have "open center time", he usually selects the art center and she said that recently he's taken to making hats. She said that he first draws/cuts out a picture which becomes the front emblem for the hat, then he cuts strips of paper and staples them together until they all fit around his head. She said he'll often make one in the morning and wear it all day. She said that he has started a trend of kids wanting to make hats just like his. Love it!

Math
Turns out that Miles has quite an aptitude for mathematical concepts -- another characteristic to make him a mini-Mike. I'd better get studying if I'm going to help him with his homework while Mike's on the road (either that or we'll need to invest in some video-cams by 3rd grade!).

Spot Sound Challenge
I wrote in an earlier post about Miles' earning the Spot Sound Challenge (demonstrating knowledge of all of the letter sounds). Miles' teacher said that Miles was the student most excited about accomplishing the challenge. She said that its the first year that she's given out medals (she used to give our stickers) and that Miles will often arrive to classroom in the morning wearing it (he keeps it in his book bag). She was beaming when she told us (so excited that her teaching/testing method had such an exciting impact on Miles, I think).

Standing His Ground
Miles' teacher told us that he has really come out of his shell since school started, which is great to hear. She also said that he gets along with everyone but is definitely not the type of kid that will be pushed into doing something that he doesn't want to do. She said, "oh...Miles will stand his ground!" Hallelujah!

It was the only conference we'll have all year...from now on we'll just be getting report cards (report cards?!). Hard to believe how quickly Miles is growing up...but so much to be thankful for.

Have You Voted Yet?

Miles came home from school on Wednesday with an "I voted" sticker.

Brooke: What did you vote for?
Miles: The president!
Brooke: Oh? Who did you vote for?
Miles: Well, Ms Derrick told us not to tell friends at our table who we were going to vote for. But, X said he was going to vote for MaJohn Cain and Y said he was going to vote for Barack Obama. So, I was going to vote for MaJohn Cain, but then I saw what he looked like. I didn't like what he looked like, so I decided to vote for Barack Obama. I really like Barack Obama. Who are you voting for mommy?
Brooke: I'm still deciding (I know, probably the last person in America that is slightly undecided)

For the rest of the night Miles tortured me about it. He'd say things like, "If you want Barack Obama to win, raise your hand now.....Mommy, raise your hand!" The next day Miles came home with a picture.

Brooke: Who is that a picture of?
Miles: Mom, its Barack Obama. Our president! He won at our school, so I drew his picture during art free time.



Wonder if the bat is Joe Biden? In flight for his daily hour & a half trip home?