Tater-Nater the Kindergartener

Have I mentioned that Tate tells me "I love you" each morning from his kindergarten line in sign language?  It's super sweet.  He just started it and must have remembered it from a book we used to read when he was younger.

He also picked up the phrase "sweet dreams" this week and started telling me that as he goes to bed each night.

Tate is growing up and so very sweet.  Don't get me wrong, he is a rambunctious 6 year old boy, but he is at such a innocent and fun age.  Here is in line with his Superman pack and green pants.  The next photo is to commemorate the awesome toy gifted him by Aunt Jenn for his sixth birthday.  It was loved for 2 weeks and then fell to a tragic and kind of cool messy and loud tragic death on our kitchen floor.  And finally, a shot of Tate with the Hawthorne Bear.  Love this boy!

Fall and Babies

I love Ember's expression.  It says, "Get this big guy away from me!"

Ember found her smile when Avery was entertaining her.  Very sweet.  Avery can be quite rough with Henry, so we always guard him.  But she is so gentle with little Emmy.

I intended to pick a few perfect pictures, but I couldn't narrow it down!

Tate Turns Six

Tate turned six last Wednesday.  He informed grandma that six year olds can turn on lights (the sconce that requires a little finger muscle).  He told me that six year olds can fly helicopters (he got a remote control one for a gift). So, six year olds have it pretty good!

When told that grandma would be visiting on his birthday, Tate said, "Maybe she'll bring me a card!"  He enjoys the card isle at Winco and Target.  Cards are much more exciting nowadays than in the days of my youth, so I don't blame him.  Grandma didn't disappoint.  He opened it and didn't even notice the birthday money as it fell on the floor.  He, and Avery and Lane, were more interested in the lighted candle that you blow and it triggers a monkey singing "Happy Birthday to You".  

We love Tate so much.  He is doing really well in Kindergarten, although I am still adjusting to letting him go.  I just feel that everybody should attend school from 8am until noon. When they reach sixth grade they can transition to all day school.  At least his teacher doesn't assign homework, aside from reading, so he gets to come home and play all he wants.  I dread the homework era when it's work all day for these little people.

Anyway, Tate had a fun time at Chuck E. Cheese with a few friends.  I appreciate that he requested a rainbow cake because it doesn't get much easier, or prettier =), than that!  He told me exactly what he wanted-a candy rainbow with clouds and candy for gold at the end of the rainbow.

 We are spending Conference weekend with grandma and grandpa.  I heard Tate and Avery talking in the early morning together.  I caught this much of the conversation: "Avery, after sixty years, the lava turns to rock.  And that's how volcanoes work."  He had one day a couple weeks ago that he didn't want to go to school because "math is too hard."  I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that his teacher made him re-do the cutting and sorting math activity because he did it wrong the first time.  He was trying to convince me to write a note to the teacher about how he doesn't need to go to school anymore because he already knows everything.  One month of kindergarten and he's good =)  I asked him what he knows and he said "Mom!  I already know about volcanoes!"  Duh.

No worries

It's Sunday evening, and I am trying to remember noteworthy conversations this week with my kids.

Here's one:

Avery was in the doorway of my room, but she was supposed to be on my bed going to sleep.  I was freaking out a little as I discovered that Henry, whom had just had (yet another) blowout, lay on the floor pooping and peeing all over his nice rug.  I had left him airing out for mere seconds as I disposed of the first diaper.  Anyway, Avery was like "Mom!  I just want to see the poop!"  And I was all, "No! It's gross!  Go to bed!" To which she responded, "Mom, don't worry, I'm not going to eat it."

I lost it and couldn't stop laughing at that point.

Here's the only other funny scenario I recall.  Eric returned home from work at 5am to find Tate awake!  He was leaning over the back of the couch singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" as he peered out the window.  Eric came in and Tate pointed out the star he was singing to.  It was sweet.

Grandpa's 66th! But mostly car ramblings...

We took an evening trip to Pendleton yesterday to celebrate dad's birthday with a picnice.  Doesn't that sound nice and relaxing?  It would be, except we took the little car with 3 squished kids in the rear.  But I thought ahead and packed snacks to keep their mouths too busy chewing to argue with each other.  I also opened the back door and threw some books at them before taking off.  These tactics worked well, and the final unplanned tactic helped keep the peace as well-an old Primary songs CD sung by an a capella group called "Inside Out".  The last 10+ songs on the album are short versions of "Once There Was A Snowman" each sung in a different style.  Tate requested that I name each style as they came on.  I tried, and it was something like
-90's poetry reading style in a lounge (think "So I Married An Axe Murderer")
-70's folk (sung to the tune of a Simon and Garfunkle hit)
-soul (like a James Brown song)
-rap
-rock and roll (like a Michael Jackson song)
-Jamaican
-Spanish
...and one in the middle sounds like some monks, which I tried to explain to the kids.  But each time that version came on, Tate would identify it as the "old Chinese men one".  Avery's reaction was the most perplexing and made me laugh every time.  When she heard the monk version, I would hear a hushed little voice from the back seat say "Baby Jesus died." I explained to her that Jesus lived to grow-up, but did die as an adult for us. 

Anyway, we had a nice visit with the folks, and enjoyed some delicious food!  The ride home was almost as peaceful as the ride there.  But I spent a good half hour explaining the details of an episode of "New Girl" Tate overheard me telling mom and the gals about.  It involved a haunted house and zombies and a mummy.  "It's funny, Tate, because he punched the zombie on accident because she scared him when he temporarilly forgot she wasn't real.  So the girls work friends, who were dressed as more zombies and a mummy, punched the guy who punched the girl zombie.  A zombie is a pretend monster. All adults understand that zombies are not real.  I don't know if they walked to the haunted house or drove there.  She had a wig and zombie make-up on....It's a grown up show.  I'll show you when you are much older." The punching part was repeated no less than 4 times.  It was much more tedious to explain than it was for you to read =)

Here's a picture of zombie Avery:

Avery's Turn

From the day Tate started Kinder, Avery has been toting her backpack with lunch inside every morning.  She carries it as we walk him to school and back home.  She hefts it as we go to the court club.  It's worked out great because by the time we get home from the gym, both Avery and Henry are hungry.  It's nice that she has a ready-to-eat lunch so I can feed the baby.  

Anyway, today she was happy to tote her own backpack filled with a lunch, even though a lunch was unnecessary for her 2 hours away, to PRESCHOOL!  She is one lucky little girl to have 3 other darling girl friends with whom we have joined for a preschool co-op this year.  My friend, Janelle, is teaching for this first month and reported that the girls did great (although she questioned why Avery brought the giant lunch =).

After spending all morning with her friends at preschool, Avery got in another half hour with a friend from church we were watching today.  Then, she was in utter and complete despair that our neighbor, Nicki, wasn't available to play with.  This is one social butterfly we have on our hands! 

p.s.  She is also a jokester-she tried to tell Tate that the "P" stands for poop, when it clearly stands for preschool.  

Tate Goes To Kindergarten

Tate is a month away from turning 6 years old and he started kindergarten last week at Hawthorne Elementary in Mrs. Humbyrd's class.  There are 30 kids in his class and they attend all day.  I am relieved that a friend of mine is the para-educator in his classroom most of the day.  It's still a huge class and his being gone most of the day is a big adjustment for us all.  Tate told me exactly what to put in his lunch, "Four strawberries, two string cheeses, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, juice, and fruit snacks."  He also chose his outfit so that "the school will know that (the angry bird bomb) is my favorite."  Avery also packed a lunch and hauled it in her backpack, but she did a very good job of letting him stay at school while she walked home with Henry and me.

We were out the door early and Tate chose all his locations and poses, which were mostly goofy, to document the special day.  As you can see, he was very excited, but I know he was a little nervous, too.  He wanted to also take pictures in our neighbor's yard so I knocked on their door to ask.  They have a couple little boys near his age and one came and gave Tate a big hug.  It was cute.  I was full of emotion, and for the record, sending a child to kindergarten is traumatic.  But I take comfort in knowing that Tate is a good boy and a social boy. Plus it helps to know that the school is just around the corner from our home.  Eric peeked at him practicing lining up outside when he drove-by that morning.

He had a good first day and was worn out.  We didn't have time to rest, though, because Ty's family was visiting in Pendleton.  So we picked up Tate and headed out of town to play with cousins and also attend cousin Chaz's baptism on Saturday.  The information from Tate about school is as follows:

*He likes his teacher.  Yay!

*His P.E. teacher claims to be funnier than Bugs Bunny AND Donal Duck.  Impressive.

*The P.E. floor is cement and walls are brick so they have to be careful not to run into either.

*They made gingerbread men, and Mrs. Humbyrd will cook them at home this weekend.

*We packed too much lunch and he brought the excess home to finish.  They get snacks at school.

*Of the two kids he sits next to, one plays with him and the other doesn't.