Weekend Update

We survived the first two days of kindergarten and, even though we have only had 2 days in, I would say so far, so good! Cal really likes it and is enjoying his class and teachers.  Phew! We will see if he continues to like it... I hope he will! We have started to add in his other activities, which is keeping him ( and us!) super busy, but I think that's a good thing.

He doesn't get out of school until 3:35, which means getting into my car around 3:45/3:50.  I have to figure out the sweet spot for pick up times...

Friday, we walked Cal in to school (he will start walking in this week!), but he posed for a quick picture before:

See those sneakers?? (hard to miss them...) Homie tied those puppies all by himself.  yeehaw! He isn't great at doing it, but he tied both of them and he was pumped!

Andy is all about taking pictures now.  Unfortunately that meant a nasty picture of momma... oh well!

 Andy and I spent the day together getting things done, and we even hung out at the pool for a bit.   He gave Bruce some much needed loving (that is facetious; this is the most loved on dog in America, next to Hank). 

Of course we had to do some bike riding too...  his day is not complete without riding that thing.

Friday, I picked Cal up from school and drove straight from the carpool line to the country club for an invitational tennis tournament.  It started at 4 and we showed up right at 4! Cal ran straight down to the court and played tennis for over 2 straight hours... after a full day at school...!

 He had fun playing-- and bless his heart, he just likes to play physical! He was diving on the ground for balls, rolling in the clay, and falling every chance he got.  He did not win one match-- and he didn't care in the least.  THAT makes me so proud. 

They gave out trophies once the tournament was over and Cal received the Sportsmanship award.  I pray that he will always be a good sport when he plays.  I want him to try hard, but to also enjoy playing sports-- all while being a good person.  

After the matches, the kids went to kids club and we had a fun little group sitting outside for dinner.  I got to hold this sweet little angel... she doesn't even look real, she is so precious.  

Saturday morning, I was up bright and early for:

We took a little break during summer from KidsPop, but it is back and it was so much fun!!! I had 11 kids show up and we had a great time moving and grooving.  

I called one little girl 'sis' and she goes, "I am not your sister!" and this sweet thing goes "I will be your sister, Ms. Carrie..." I was about to scoop her up and squeeze her- haha!

Cal went with me to kidspop while Eddie took Andy to tee ball.  Cal and I ran a quick errand and then headed home to find Andy splashing in the kiddie pool.  He came in and was cold and wanted to snuggle Bruce (again, this dog just gets no love!)

Bruce was flat worn out.  I couldn't find him and after looking, he sent himself up to his room and walked in his crate- only way he gets any peace and quiet! ha!

We had a birthday party at Pump it Up Saturday afternoon and then it was time to get dressed up and head out for a friend's birthday party.  It was a FUN night.  There was lots of dancing, lots of laughing, lots of drinking, and lots and lots of FUN! Sunday morning was ROUGH. 

Popup Instructors!

MY GIRL..... I heart her. 

Andy managed to get in our bed that night and he also managed to spin himself around.  I woke up to his little legs across my face and neck (one was on my forehead and one on my throat.  I woke up in a panic-haha).  

Sunday was lazy as we were licking our wounds from the previous night.  Being on a group text chain with a bunch of people telling funny stories kind of made my whole day. 

I took a friend with a new baby dinner and I made these enchiladas.  I love them because they make enough that I could take their family half and we could have the other half later in the week!

The weekend flew by.  This will be Cal's first full week at school and I also go back to work on Tuesday to start prepping for my preschool gig.  I imagine we will all be worn out come Labor Day weekend....might as well rest up at the beach!

And this... in case you have a case of the Mondays... this made ma laugh.  I love dogs.  These are awesome.



 

First day of KINDERGARTEN!

Yesterday was Cal's first day of kindergarten... ! He woke up in a great mood and showed no signs of nervousness, so we were hopeful for a great drop off.  He had to take a shower in the morning to tame some WILD bead head (Eddie said we couldn't have him go on his first day with his hair looking like that-- hahahah)

I realized in the morning that I forgot to make him a sign to hold, so I quickly made this one and handed it to him- 

Love this sweet boy and I am so excited for him starting school!

 Every year I get a picture of Cal with Hank on the first day (I say this, but I couldn't find the one from last year... I did get one the year before, see below...

 

 And the year before that:

Andy was riding his bike up and down the driveway while I took a few pictures of Cal-- he finally said, "want me in one too?" So he pulled his bike over and smiled-- he wouldn't get off the bike for a picture though.  

We took a few with the big guy with mom...

 ...and dad...

 Eddie, by the way, had a trip planned to be out of town for the week.  We thought the first day was going to be Monday of this week (because that's when the school started!) but with the gradual start, he didn't go until Thursday.  Eddie completely rearranged his trip because there was no way he was missing Cal's first day... thought that was so sweet of him! He came with us to drop off and everything. 

My smile couldn't be cheesier in below pic...

Andy offered to take a picture of the 3 of us-- so kind of him to stop riding long enough to take a picture...

 We got to school early and walked in to see Laynie and her mom and brother! Cal was confident and did not look even slightly nervous.  Laynie's brother is older, so Cal was kind of showing off in front of him. 

This picture makes me laugh...it's like Andy is saying "please don't go!!!" 

 All the kindergarteners wear these little things around their necks that say "I am in kindergarten!" and on the back, it basically says "if I am lost, please return me to my teacher, Mrs. Shinn..." hahahah

They opened the doors and Cal walked right on in! Really, he glanced back once and then kept right on walking.  Zero hesitation!

This is the kindergarten hall and that's his teacher at the end in the pink sweater.  He walked right on down to her!

We carried in all of his supplies and were instructed to leave them at his table.  Mrs. Shinn said class would begin on the carpet-- didn't have to tell these two twice! They went straight to the carpet and sat smiling!

 So, now he's off! I am thrilled he went in with little nerves and a lot of excitement.  He is going to have so much fun-- he is beyond ready for this!

While Cal was gone at his first day, I tried to make it a special day for Andy too.  He had a play date planned for the day, but got a fever on Wednesday, so we decided it wouldn't be smart to spread the germs to him.  Instead, we spread the germs to Chuckee Cheese! Only kidding... kinda... he hadn't't had a fever all day,  He wasn't 100%, but definitely no fever...

I put $5 dollars worth of tokens in his little cup and he basically had the whole place to himself.  He was in heaven.  

We went to Wendy's for lunch and we ate IN the restaurant, which we never do....gasp! And he as thrilled.  

We came home and he rode his bike (shocker) and then he asked to come in for some rest time.  He asked me 92 times when Cal would be home and then he got quiet... 

I woke him up a little after 3 to head to school for pick up.  The school has this pickup routine down to a science-- and it's impressive! I was scared/amazed at this line in front of me.  But it worked!

As I got closer to the front of the line, I was BEYOND excited to see Cal-- like giddy-excited! ha! My friend Rebekah was a few cars in front of me and Kristen was a few behind me.  I am pretty sure we were all anxiously awaiting our kindergarteners!

Cal jumped in and started talking right away-- which I wasn't expecting.  I thought he would be silent, or just not offer much information.  He actually had a lot to say! He liked the day, he said, but, "mom, it's going to be hard work... It's not going to be easy every day...."

And so it begins....!

 

Meet the Teacher Day

There is not much I love more than seeing everyone's back to school posts on social media.  I love it. 

Cal's first day is today....cue the tears....! But not really! He is so ready and is now excited...however, last week, on meet the teacher day, he was less than excited.

 Meet the teacher was from 1-3; you could drop in whenever you wanted.  My mom offered to keep Andy, which turned out to be sooooo nice.  I had no idea Cal would react the way he did. 

Cal is my go with the flow kid.  He's always happy.  He's rarely nervous.  He just kind of goes.  He's easy and easily happy, if that makes sense. 

After we dropped Andy off, we were driving to school and we were talking about meeting his new teachers.  He asked me what kind of things they would ask him.  We talked about it some questions they might ask and then he said, "will you be by me the whole time?" I assured him I would.  And I felt a little lump in my throat.

We got to school and I parked.  As Cal got out, he looked at me and tears escaped down his face.  Woah.  That is not Cal.  He didn't cry when he went to any preschool...ever.

I bent down and asked him what was wrong.  He said, "I guess I am just feeling nervous." I told him it was more than okay to feel nervous! What a big school! And how exciting it will be to meet new friends and see a new classroom! As I was talking, we started walking toward the school.  His hand in mine, we made our way down the looooong kindergarten hallway.  Of course, Cal's class was the very last one.  His sweet little hand tightened his grip on my hand the closer we got.

His assistant teacher greeted us at the door and said she had heard all about Cal and that she was so excited to meet him.  She sat on the edge of the desk and pulled him in to a big hug.  My heart swelled.  And then Cal looked up from her embrace and his little bottom lip was jutting out and a big fat tear slipped down his cheek.  I wanted to melt into the floor.

She knew just what to say though-- she immediately told him how much she loves playing football with her kids and wondered if he would ever play with her.  Amen- this woman is going to heaven.

We walked over and found Cal's spot at the table.  He was not crying any more, and was working on a full smile (the full smile came when he saw Jackson behind him-- he was so upset when we got there that he didn't even realize Jackson was there for about 10 solid minutes!).  

And then he looked down and realized his name plate said "Calvin." The assistant quickly came over and wrote CAL on it, but he first said, "Oh, man! My thing says Calvina on it!" Which is what my brother calls him...and he HATES it. I was cracking up at this point.  

His friend Laynie got there and they were super excited to see they were next to each other at their table- yay!

We met the teacher and spent some time exploring the classroom. Once he was back to being smiling Cal, we headed out to the hall way.  There was a big bulletin board saying "Bouncing into Kindergarten!" with all of the class names written on little beach balls.  Again, his said Calvin, but he was okay with that...  (this one actually says Calvin Williamson IV....which is pretty much more embarrassing than just Calvin....hahaha)

We went down to visit the gym and the cafeteria, because, well, duh. And we wondered around a little bit more. By the time we left, CalBoy was smiling and said he was excited about it.  Thank you, Lord!

Bring on Kindergarten!!!!!