Xander and I enjoyed some one on one time this afternoon while Daddy took Jonas and Roman to gymnastics. We both thought it was the perfect opportunity to take the snow out of the freezer that he’d been saving from earlier this week to paint it. He was so focused working on his beautiful masterpiece, took a long warm bath afterwards to soak off all of the paint splatters, and was delighted to see how his snow painting melted and all of the colors swirled together.
Xander, Roman, and I went downtown to the Frist this morning to check out ArtQuest, an interactive exhibit for kids. The admission was free with canned goods donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank. They had a blast (and amazingly enough it was not super crowded which was a big plus)! They loved painting with watercolors, doing touch screen art, building with magnetic blocks, drawing on windows with dry erase markers, sketching on an easel, making crayon rubbings, and printmaking.
I was so excited to get to go with Xander on his preschool field trip to Daniel’s Cabin. He and one of his best friends, Shea, rode with me. Aside from the fact that it was FREEZING and Xander was cold, hungry, tired, and whiny…it was an interesting outing. The kids got to play and experiment with all sorts of old-fashioned toys, hear about life on the frontier, spin wool between their fingers, and make the best smelling little “bed bug bags” with dried lavender, rosemary, and roses. Here’s a sweet picture of Xander and Shea in front of a beautiful fall tree outside of the cabin.
The boys had a day off from school today, so we went downtown to the Nashville Public Library to check out their favorite story time with Professor, Mary Mary, J.J. the Lamb, Cedric the Dragon, and the Spanish Fox. Afterwards, they worked on a turkey pinecone craft and made wishes in the courtyard fountain.
Xander was SO excited to bring Bentley Bear home from preschool for a visit over the weekend! Here are a few pictures of Bentley’s adventures with Xander…
We joined several families from our moms’ group at a church down the road for a Family Pumpkin Carving Party tonight. The food was delicious, and I’m totally going to be hitting some people up for some out-of-this-world cornbread and cobbler recipes. The boys had a blast playing on the playground with friends and were very interested in helping Daddy with the pumpkin design and carving.
Xander, Roman, and I went to a Halloween Party at the park this morning with our moms’ group. The boys were not long for their costumes as it felt more like summer today than fall. But they loved sampling all of the different kinds of snacks, drawing with sidewalk chalk, building with Mega Blocks, making arts and crafts with Halloween stickers, checking out the Halloween games, and playing on the playground with friends. How rich we are in community here…it’s a blessing that I am thankful for every day.
Jonas ran in the Fun Run today to raise money for his school (thank you so much to everyone who sponsored him). He did a GREAT job running…he even stopped a few times to take a drink from his water bottle and got right back in there. It was so fun cheering him and all of his friends on…I totally started crying when they all took off running (races always get my heart like that for some reason). Way to go, Jonas!!!
Roman started his first gymnastics class last week, and he was SO excited and SO proud to be a big boy. He’s in class with Xander and his neighborhood buddy, Jay.
I was all prepared last week to try to keep him entertained for an hour (which is darn near impossible there because he’s always trying to run and climb up onto the tumble track), but Coach Tori asked if I wanted to have him try a class for free to see how he would do (even though he’s 2 and 1/2 and it’s technically for 3 and 4 year olds). She said he followed directions really well and picked up the forward roll really quickly, so she invited us to make him official. He LOVES it and is so excited!
We took the boys to Walden Pumpkin Farm this afternoon, and they had so much fun that they didn’t want to leave. It’s hard to believe that this has been a fall tradition for us since Jonas was almost one and now he’s in kindergarten. Jonas’ favorite part was walking through the spooky house, Xander’s favorite part was picking out a pumpkin, and Roman’s favorite part was riding the train.
We have had a SUPER laid back Fall Break. Some of us have been a little bit under the weather, and it’s been raining pretty much every day. The boys have fought a lot which kind of surprised me (although I don’t know why)…I thought they might have missed each other…but alas. Here’s a picture that pretty much encapsulates our long weekend…rain, pajamas, and a lot of free play.
Xander started a round of swim lessons by himself on Saturdays this month…he’s having a blast!
Jonas was SO excited to bring Gingy the Gingerbread Man home for a sleepover tonight. He came running off the bus with him and loved introducing him to all of us (especially to Maw who came for a sweet visit and graciously brought us dinner). Here are a few pictures from Gingy’s time with us…
Jonas asked for some craft supplies this afternoon and set to work at the kitchen table making…a bird feeder. He was learning about sharing God’s love in Sunday school today and was encouraged to do acts of kindness this week…I didn’t even realize it until after the fact. So, I totally had to share the sweet story and pictures with his Sunday school teacher.
While Tom took Jonas and Xander to a birthday party this afternoon, Roman and I headed out to Centennial Park to hear one of my favorite all-time guy voices…Gabe Dixon. It was so sweet and like coming home to be led into the park by his voice…like a warm and delicious smell invites you into the kitchen. It’s not often that I get to go out and soak up music like I used to and not often that I get to share that huge part of my heart with my boys. So, it was such a delight to wander purposefully into the park with my little musical boy, Roman…sit down on a blanket, share a snack, and enjoy a great talent together. We had fun hanging out and dancing to the music. Afterwards, we ran up and down a few hills and fed the ducks. What a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon!
Tom read “Firefighters to the Rescue” at “F Is for Firefighter” storytime this morning!!! After that, he and a few other firefighters talked with the kids about fire safety, passed out fire hats, and showed off the fire truck. It was a big hit!!!
The boys are loving the climbing wall Tom built in our garage. Here they are burning off some energy before school…
The big boys have started up a round of swim lessons on Saturday mornings. They are having fun and learning a lot. We usually try to get Roman in the pool with one of us during their lesson so he can kick around…otherwise he’s making a mad dash for the pool from the bleachers or he’s squealing and running in the hallways trying to get to the pool…if you can’t beat ’em join ’em. (He’ll be old enough to start lessons in the spring which I know he’ll be beside himself excited about.) Tom went with us today, so he got to join in on the fun.
Xander and Roman and I headed out to Noble Springs Dairy this morning for a tour. They usually really dig things like that, but for some reason…this time around…they became very quickly NOT INTO IT in a big way. Xander does not do hot or walking long distances. It turned out to be much warmer than I thought it would be, and my thought that I could get away without bringing the jogger stroller since I have such big boys now…was wrong!!! Looking back on it, I suppose it was quite funny but not in the moment to have two fairly big boys pitching laying down fits and refusing to walk while everyone else went merrily on their way. It wasn’t surprising to me in a way with the week I’ve had but still a bit of a kick in the pants on the way out the door at the end of the week. Needless to say, we left early. They were both excited about the barn cats, and that’s about it. The picture of Xander with the goat sticking his tongue out at him is pretty telling (definitely how I felt about my boys’ attitudes, obviously how the boys felt about the farm, and most likely how the farm animals, farmer and fellow tourists felt about my tantruming, wailing children). So there!
Xander, Roman, and I met a few moms and kids from our moms’ group for a preschool edition of a self-guided walking tour of downtown Franklin. It was really fun! It started out a little rocky with the bookseller arriving late to open up and only having one I Spy Franklin Preschool Edition book (we ended up just walking down to another shop to buy two more) and Xander pitching a fit because he didn’t want to leave the charming little kids’ room in the back of the bookstore without a story book he fell in love with (I totally get it). But the boys ended up getting really into it…I brought an extra piece of paper and a crayon for Roman, and he was right there in the middle of it. We spied the columns and a clock on the courthouse, the four owls on top of the buildings in the square, the statue of a man on the obelisk in the roundabout, the interesting shapes laid into the brick-face of the old bank, a gate that looked like gingerbread…and even made crayon rubbings of the first letters of the boys’ names from engraved stones in front of the courthouse and from a metal dial at the base of the monument in the square. I can’t wait to go back and take Jonas!
