surprise from the skies

Last night while the boys were playing outside, they spotted a low flying hot air balloon. Hot air balloons are not uncommon around here, in fact, last month we chased one down as it landed. They allowed Koby, Ky, Kals, Shel and I help roll up the balloon and shove it back into its bag. It was a very cool. Anyways, I digress. Back to last night. Last night the boys saw the balloon and because it was so low, they began to shout "Hi!" to the people and waving. Suddenly, they noticed something drop from the basket. They immediately took off through the yard trying to find the surprise. They searched through the pond area in our backyard (which is currently dried out, so that was nice) and their search eventually took them to the farm house behind us. It was there they found....




a very cute little stuffed monkey. They were so excited!

a simple question

My conversations with the boys lately are priceless. Tonight Ky and I were on our way to Meijer, driving in the Jeep with the top down and wind blowing through our hair, when he asked,

"Mom, why are we driving this car? Is it because our limo is broken?"

I am going to start a journal so I can remember these conversations forever!

spelling test

Koby brought home his very first list of spelling words yesterday. His list contains six words:

I
you
no
the
to
and

Each week he must also choose a bonus word to study. This week he chose "brother".

So today, after we worked on his reading assignment, I asked him to get a pencil and paper so that he could practice his words. As I read each word to him, I used it in a sentence. For example, "You are in a very bad mood.", "I went to the store." After a couple of sentences, he protested.

"You just need to say the word! Not a sentence!"
"Doesn't Mrs. VanderLaan give you a sentence with each word?" I asked
"UGH!!!!" he replied
"Koby, remember that I use to be a teacher. I am not stupid."

"That might be the old school stuff, but that's NOT what my teacher does!"

....and it is only Tuesday :)

punishment

The boys and I got off to a really rough start this morning. I was trying to get them both ready for school and I was at the receiving end of both their bad attitudes. Unfortunately, this seems to be pretty common as of late. So after several warnings to Koby regarding the tone of voice he uses when speaking to family members and the warnings apparently falling on deaf ears, I had no choice but to take away some privileges. By 8:00 a.m. he lost the privilege of playing with friends and Nintendo for the day. I was frustrated and he was MAD! (He even through out the, "I wish you were not coming to my school today" card....OUCH!)

He arrived home this afternoon with a smile on his face. WHEW, I thought to myself...but that relief was only short-lived as I heard his friend call from the bus window, "I'll call you in a bit!"

Oh, great...this is going to cause some serious drama I'm sure. So we ate snack, talked about his day and the phone rang. Quick glance at the caller ID told me that it was indeed his friend holding up his end of the bargain.

I listened:

"What?" Koby said as he answered the phone (which by the way, is not the way we taught him to answer, but the way he did none-the-less)

pause.... "Remember what I told you on the bus?"
pause..(his friend is talking) "I lost my privileges"

pause....(his friend must have inquired about the duration of his punishment)


"I'd say like probably two to three weeks."

I had to laugh.

Sometimes the punishments we put on ourselves are far greater than that anyone else could give us.

Ky's first day of Preschool

Crazy as it is, today we sent our baby off to Preschool. This was officially the last "first day" of Preschool for our family. Surprisingly, I was not sad. No tears (for either Ky or myself). In fact, he walked right in like he owned the place and once in his classroom, it was as if I didn't even exist. So long Mom! Adios! Don't let the door hit you in the butt on your way out! He found his cubbie and then saw some other boys playing with trains and that was all he needed. I asked for a hug and kiss before I left (hoping not to cramp his style), he obliged. "See you in a bit", I called. He smiled and waved.

Two and a half hours later, it was over. When I picked him up he appeared to be burying himself in the sandbox. He was dirty, but happy. I asked about his day and he told me he hunted for acorns in the hallway (he is in the Chipmunk class) and he found three. He painted a chipmunk, played on the playground and played with "everybody". He ate a snack, crackers and milk, and read a story about a teacher with a broken head.

I would have to say that it was a great first day of Preschool for our little guy.





(Just for fun, this is a picture of Koby 3 years ago on his first day of Preschool. Looking at the door knob you can see that Ky is indeed taller than his brother was despite being about 4 months younger than Koby was at this time!)