Landscaping With Children

We decided to build a path from the new deck to the fence gate. We had made the deck bigger and it's been an amazing outdoor space. We decided to make this path to put an end to mud. The grass didn't grow well in this area and we had just completed some landscaping around the deck and on the back side of the house. A path would be nice.

Except building a path with kids, well, it takes a little longer and involves a lot more dirt and sand management. The kids were great helpers and in less than 2 weekends we finished the path. It looks great and I love walking on it. Roo loves to try to dig up the sand on it. I think it'll be the last path we build for a while. But I'm glad we did it ourselves and the results were worth the effort!

That's Logical

Grandma and grandpa came over for dinner last night after spending the day doing things for their new house. I was supposed to have Roo call Grandpa on the first day of school to tell him about his day but Roo doesn't really like talking about what he did at preschool (I'm told this is very normal and I'll be lucky to ever get anyting out of him!).

Grandpa asked Roo why he hadn't called him to tell him about preschool. Roo said "because there isn't a phone at preschool."

Can't argue with that logic :)

Good Words, Bad Words

Roo is picking up every word we use in our speech now. There's a part in Toy Story where Woody says the word "stupid." I wish the movie didn't have that word in it because it's really hard to miss and Roo picked right up on it. So we are working with him when he picks up words like this to not say them. So we went for a walk after dinner tonight and Daddy said something was "stupid" to which Roo said to daddy, "no daddy, we don't say that word."

First Day of Preschool

Today was Roo's first day of preschool. I was so excited that I woke up super early. He was great about getting ready this morning and putting his nice shirt on (just like Daddy's) and making sure his shoes were clean for school. He smiled great for his first day of school pictures too. We ended up leaving the house later than we anticipated so instead of dropping him off at the sitter and then going back to get him, we took him out for a first day of school breakfast. He kept asking if it was time for school yet and then pointed down the road that his preschool is on and said that it is down that road. We asked him if he was excited and he said yes and if he was scared and he blurted out that he wasn't. When we got to the school he was so excited to go in, in fact he was so excited that he didn't even say goodbye! We didn't follow him in to make him say goodbye, he seemed like he was in really good hands with the teacher.

I called the sitter later in the day to see how he was doing after preschool and she said that all three of the kids were tired and napping! And the mommy who drove them home from preschool said that all three of the kiddos were silent on the way back to the sitters. Guess preschool is tiring!

We're so excited for Roo and can't wait to see all the things he makes and brings home. Today we put the bird he made at orientation on the fridge. Tomorrow is show and tell. Hopefully he continues to enjoy preschool!

Preschool Orientation

Last night was preschool orientation for Roo. I was so excited to take him that when he woke up that morning I told him all about where he would be going that evening. Sure enough, in classic Roo form, he completely rejected the idea of preschool when we picked him up from the sitter that afternoon. It was a battle on the way home and a battle once we got home. Then it occurred to me that maybe he just didn't want me to take him, he's got to fixate on something, that's his MO so I asked if he wanted Daddy to take him. All of a sudden he perked up and was ready to go to preschool. He took a shower and changed into a cute little polo shirt and was dressed and ready to go. He was super excited and even took his Toy Story lunch box with him.

He and Daddy stopped and got dinner on the way there. Once they got him Daddy and Roo told me all about the orientation. Evidentially Roo loves glue! Daddy said he put gobs and gobs of glue on his Birthday Crown. In addition to making a Birthday Crown, he also got to do handprints and make a bird! I love doing crafts and can't wait to see these when I drop him off for his first day of preschool. Daddy told me that he even has a cubby. So cute!

Roo is super excited about school and we're so excited to watch him learn new things and enjoy a great educational experience. He's already got 2 friends in the class; two other little girls that go to the same sitter as him which is good as he talks about how they're all going to school together.

I'll make sure we take pictures of him on his first day. Hopefully he'll have a great school year and learn a lot of new things and make a lot of new friends.

It's a Work of Art

Well, it's a work of Mommy baking and Roo color selection. But really, what better cake to say Happy Retirement to Grandma and Grandpa! The blue turned out purple looking and had a little colored icing flavor to it but the cake tasted great. It was wonderful to see family at the party yesterday and we all had a great time. The boys were so excited when we brought the cake to the table, Bug practically jumped out of his chair and Roo lead us in the Happy Retirement song! We hope Grandma and Grandpa have a wonderful retirement!

Happy Early Birthday B!

Today Roo and I went to Uncle Matt's house for a birthday party for Baxter. Baxter turns 7 this year! Roo's been talking about how much he misses Baxter so this was really risky. Once I got him out of the house and settled down and told him what we were going to do, he got pretty excited to see Baxter. We stopped at the "Red Cart Store" as Roo calls it and got him some birthday presents; a bag of food, some treats, denta stix and some toys. After a short stop at Ikea which was a success and once on the bottom floor Roo likened to Lowe's (his favorite store) we stopped to get Baxter a birthday cake. While we were picking out the cake Roo explained to the cake lady that he was going to B's birthday party. On the way out of the store Roo told me that B is a good dog. I really couldn't believe how excited Roo was to see him. He did keep asking if we were going to bring him home.

When we got to Uncle Matt's, Roo was so excited to see him and play with him. He even made sure he was gated in so he wouldn't get out. We enjoyed a nice party with Uncle Matt and Grandma and Grandpa and when we were ready to go we explained why Baxter couldn't come home with us, but that he was allowed to visit anytime. Roo seemed ok with the idea that Uncle Matt needs company since he doesn't have a mommy and daddy or Roo Roo or Love Bug living with him.

It was a fun day and great to see Baxter. It's nice to know he's living in a good home!

Happy 4th Birthday Roo Bear!

Roo turned 4 today! We can't believe that he's 4 already. To celebrate we took part of the day off from work and decided to take him to see a movie in a real movie theater. We took him to see Toy Story 3 in 3D. We got him popcorn and Sprite and he actually sat through the entire movie, including the previews. He even sat in his seat the majority of the time; he stood for a little bit. He didn't keep his 3D glasses on the whole time but he had fun and really enjoyed the movie. He was really scared during the fire part; which was really scary and lasted for what seemed like forever!

Happy Birthday to our big boy!

Roo's 4th Birthday Party

We debated what kind of party to have for Roo this year. This was the first year that he said he wanted to have friends at his party. We had discussed going to a bouncy house place, McDonald's and even the gymnastics place. We ultimately agreed that it would be easiest to control all the food that was around us at our own house.

For a while Roo really wanted a Handy Manny repair shop cake. We had discussed how we were going to build this cake and then we went on vacation, watched Wall-e on the way there and home and it was over, he had to have a Wall-e cake.

So we decided to rent a Wall-e bounce house for his party and make him a Wall-e cake. When the house arrived this morning I distracted him and tried to get him to guess what was arriving at his house. His first guess was a trash can, next was a bucket, the third was boobies (no joke). So then I took him outside and the look on his face was priceless, he couldn't believe there was a big house with Wall-e on it. He immediately played on it and when I got home from the grocery store he, Bug and Daddy were all having a blast in it.

Later on Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Matt arrived. Grandma and Grandpa gave Roo his present before the party. He first opened a gift bag that had a horn and a helmet in it. We asked him what it went to and he said "the biggest bike." And he was so excited when he saw he was getting his very own big boy bike. He tried to ride it around but it's hard on grass, but then rode it around later after everyone left and told Daddy "Grandma and Grandpa got me a big bike!" We think he loves it!

While we were waiting for his friends to arrive, he found a frog outside. Good thing Uncle Matt got a butterfly net for his birthday, it made it so much easier for him to catch it and make it his new friend.

Roo was so excited, especially once all his friends arrived. He kept talking about who was going to be at his party and how he wanted to sit next to one of his friends. He was so excited for it all weekend in fact that he kept waking up early! They played outside in the bouncy house and in his play house for a while. Once they got hot they came inside and played for a bit.

Even as Roo turns 4 the Happy Birthday song still puts a huge smile on his face. He was so happy to have all his friends sing happy birthday to him he was smiling ear to ear! He loved his Wall-e cake too (and yes, I made it myself from scratch and it's totally Bug allergy friendly)!

After we all enjoyed cake, we opened presents. He was so excited about each present that he wanted to open each one as he got it. He got some really awesome gifts. He got several really great board games, letters made by Uncle Will that spell his name for his room, trucks, more bug catching gear and books, an amazing Toy Story toy that he and Connor played with all afternoon and got really wet with, a Handy Manny car with tools that he spent the evening with that he wanted to take to bed, a remote control car from Bug and an amazing remote control Wall-e. Daddy had a blast playing with the Wall-e toy and Roo really didn't want to share it with his friends!

As a final present after everyone left, we gave Roo a pair of Wall-e underwear. He was so excited and surprised that we were able to find such a thing and even more pleased when I told him that Bug helped us find them.

Roo and Bug were so tired after a day of fun that they were ready for bed a little early; that's always a good sign of a great day! Thanks to all of Roo's family and friends for making his day so special!