Christmas at Preschool

The month of December is a fun time at preschool.  I always say the teachers should get paid double.  Lots of adorable crafts, fun games, parties, treats, learning, and more fun.  I still can't get in my head that this is Tate's last year at preschool, which sadly means his last year of the Christmas preschool festivities.

The Christmas program was great again.  His class sang Go Tell It On The Mountain.  The version they sang was much more upbeat then what we kept hearing on the radio.  Tate would say the people on the radio were singing it wrong. :)  He is on the back row and second from far right.  As you can see he doesn't have much stage fright and is all in.

They also got to visit with Santa one day at school.  My friend sent me this picture, and I could not get over how BIG he looked.  Growing up so fast.

And on the last day was the Christmas craziness...I mean party.  :)  Lots of fun playing a dice game, making a Christmas tree out of an ice cream cone, frosting, and candy.  And then the hilarious book exchange game.  Such a fun day with some sweet kiddos and pretty amazing teachers.

Tate is 5!

Most of the time I write a birthday blog post, it starts by stating that I can't believe he is this old.  Oddly enough, I have not had that feeling with Tate turning 5.  He has changed so much in the last year (including growing almost 4 inches taller), and now he seems like a 5-year-old.  He seems older, looks older, and acts older (most of the time).  :)

Tate is the kind of kid that if you've spent much time around him, you are quickly considered his friend.  It started early as a toddler, but he typically knows no stranger.  He truly enjoys being with other people.  He is outgoing, friendly, and talkative.  He is full of energy, full of life, and starts the day ready to go.

I can see the wheels spinning in his little head all of the time as he asks lots of lots of questions.  About the weather, about which bugs are eaten by which bugs, about why people go to jail, about heaven, about how to spell all kinds of words, about which superheroes are bad guys.  The list could go on and on.  He is in that stage of just soaking everything in.

I love that although he has a side of him that is definitely all-boy, high-energy, craziness, he seems to love to learn.  I hope and pray we can continue to foster that in him.  He still loves to be read stories each night.  He has recently started sounding out words and figuring out how to spell them, recognizing several sight words, counting to 100, etc.  He looooves going to Discovery at preschool and learning the weekly science lessons.  And just in the past few months, he has seemed to enjoy coloring more.  For the longest time, he had no desire but now actually asks to color and definitely enjoys drawing people...and monster trucks.

He loves playing and watching any sport.  It's part brainwashing by Daddy and part his genuine interest, but he has impressively figured out most of the NFL logos and which team goes with which one.  Pretty sure I had nothing to do with that life skill.  Jason Witten is already his hero.  He loved playing soccer and T-ball this year.  I definitely see a competitive nature to him, which if I'm honest, makes me a little nervous.  Praying to always help teach balance.

Tate has taken to being a big brother well.  He rarely objects when asked to help.  And he is great about trying to entertain Will when needed.  And the feeling is mutual.  Will loves much prefers when Tate is in the car with us and always thinks he's hysterical.

(picture taken on his actual birthday before our Movie Date to see The Muppets.)

This video is an interview I did with him the day after his 5th birthday using the questions from the Your Birthday Book that I fill out each year. We made it through all of the questions, but I wasn't sure it we would at times.  It is clearly December (birthday and Christmas=lots of presents talk), and he gets a little silly/inpatient at times, but I love getting to capture him each year.



I love this boy with every ounce of love in me.  At the same time there are days it takes every ounce of patience I have, but we are all figuring this out together.  I'm reminded every day that the Lord creates us each unique and wonderful.  I'm excited every day to think of the bright future ahead of him.  I'm thankful every day that I get to call him mine.  Can't wait to see what this next year brings!

(Continuing the superhero theme, this was the family birthday dinner with a Superman cake)

Party Like It's Your Birthday

Tate decided months ago that he really wanted to have a superhero theme party for his 5th birthday at the place he goes for summer gymnastics camp.  It ended up being the perfect place and a great party.  He had a huge smile on his face every single second and was surrounded by his best buddies....and superheroes!

This was definitely one of the easiest parties for me since the gymnastics place did everything.  And even better, all of the kids had such a great time.  The coaches make it lots of fun for everyone.

 

And no lie, his exclamation at this point..."Look guys, it's a card!"  He does not lack in enthusiasm.  :)

I was so bummed that I forgot to take some pics of the kids with their party favors...superhero capes.  During the Strzinek family Thanksgiving, we had an assembly line of capemaking.  They were a hit, and the kids looked cute.

We are so thankful for all that made it out to celebrate with Tate.  He is a very social kid and loves being with his friends.  It made his day to have you all there having fun with him!  Next post on the big day and the 5-year-old himself.  :)

Family Day

After a fun but very busy Thanksgiving weekend, we decided on Sunday to have a day for our little family of 4 at the zoo.  We got there early and were pleasantly surprised to see no crowds at all.  Could of also had something to do with the 30 mph winds and 40 degree temp.  Hmmm?

Despite the cold, we had a great time and enjoyed seeing several animals up close and personal.  Including this crocodile who hung out by the window floating around.

Will has always like to watch birds.  Maybe a future in birding?  :)  So he was in bird heaven when we went into the huge aviary full of hundreds of birds flying around, who you can also feed.  I was in the opposite of bird heaven as they totally freak me out.  I tried to suck it up and be brave for my kids, but there was still some squealing and jumping when those crazy things swarmed me as I pulled out the seed stick.  I still have the heebie jeebies.  But this little guy thought it was all pretty great.

And the animal highlight of the trip came right as we were leaving and walked through the primate exhibit.  All of the gorillas and orangutans are usually outside but were in some small, temporary rooms.  So we got up close and personal.  Kind of amazing and a little creepy at the same time.  Thankful for the very thick sheet of glass separating us.

It was a fun, cold, relaxed day with my little family, and I loved every minute.

Thanksgiving 2011

For the 3rd year in a row, our Thanksgiving season was kicked off with the annual Preschool Thanksgiving Feast (that's a hat with two turkey legs he's wearing).  :)  And two people who I am regularly saying I'm thankful for are these two pretty ladies, Ms. A & Ms. P, Tate's preschool teachers.  Even in less than three months of the school year, Tate has learned so much while also having a lot of fun.  That's what preschool is all about.  And in the midst of both the learning and the fun, I really see that they want the best for him and to help him do his best.  Will they ever know how much that means...probably yes because they're moms too.  :)

We are fortunate to have family living in town, so each year at the feast we usually have an entire table.  My other pictures are acting up, but it was fun having Mommy, Daddy, Mimi, Grandpa, & Poppy this year.  I still can't believe this is his last preschool feast, so a little trip down the memory lane of place mats.

2009

2010

2011

One good Thanksgiving story I need to record for memory's sake.  A thankful wreath came home from preschool with three places to list what you were thankful for.  Tate's list:  myself, my bones, and my favorite treat.  We may have some work to do.  :)

And then the real Turkey Day was here.  Thanksgiving morning started with some sleeping in for me, followed by a bike ride for Wade.  We were both thankful for each of those gifts!  :)  Next was some parade watching, some playing, and then we headed over to Mo Mere & Poppy's house.

Imagine someone's surprise (and great excitement) to be greeted with their very own "monster motorbicycle race track!"  And it's not even Christmas yet.  :)  Between the new track, playing with his older cousins, and getting to run all over the golf course, I barely saw the kid on Thanksgiving Day.

Cousin Trip who grows a foot every time I see him.

Since Tate was preoccupied, this guy got most of my attention.  He loved discovering that he could push this little chair all around.

And that Mo Mere has some fun "toys" to play with.  Pretty sure he brought each of these vegetables to every person there.  :)

It was another successful year grilling the turkey in the Green Egg.  Seriously the juiciest turkey I've ever had.  Ford did the carving honors.

A big success of the day was Tate eating five bites of turkey.  It took some serious prodding, but he finally did it, and we all cheered.   Now Will on the other hand didn't need much prodding for anything food-related.

It was a great day, and we all enjoyed having the Phillips family with us as well.  Helen gave me pointers as I nervously blanched green beans for the first time.  They turned out really good, and now I'm a blanching machine.

Thanksgiving #2 was a couple of days later with my side of the family.  We definitely missed not having my sister and her family there.  And we were also glad as always to have our "adopted" extended family, the Barbarenas, with us again.

We're all getting old enough that "the kids" now have their own kids.  So that seems to be the entertainment most of the time.  Somehow I didn't take many pictures at all and none of any adults.  Just the cute kids.  Everyone has a good time when these families get together.

And if it's a holiday and I have anything to say about it, there will be festive hats worn.

Looking back over the pictures, I'm reminded of the incredible blessings I have for which to be thankful.  Not just the possessions, but the people.  I've been sadly reminded this past year that we aren't promised each day.  It gives me a renewed sense of what thanksgiving truly is about.