What Happens at Granny's Stays at Granny's

Last night I picked up both kids at my Grandma's house after work.  I walked in the door expecting to see them all playing in the living room but instead had to follow the laughter and voices downstairs before I found them.  Just before I entered, I heard my Grandma say "You are just like Lady Gaga!", what?  How many Great-Grandma's know who Lady Gaga is let alone talk about her!  Haha, one of the many fantastic reasons my Grandma is so great.  This is what they were doing.

My kids LOVE playing with their Granny, she is way more fun than I am that is for certain.  Did you notice the swing?  Paige has always loved being pushed in that swing.  I remember a few years ago, Paige was maybe two, maybe.  We had used it out on our deck all summer and then when winter came Grandma had said that Paige was bored inside so Jeff hung the swing in her basement for something new to do.  Jeff had come home one night with Paige and asked if I saw how high Granny pushed her in the swing.  I said no, thinking, she is little, the swing is inside, how high could she possible go?  Jeff proceeded to tell me how my Grandma pushed Paige so high that her shoes would hit the HVAC venting in the ceiling.  Yes, her shoes HIT THE CEILING!!!  I didn't believe him until I saw it with my own eyes.  It wasn't high enough for Paige until her feet hit...over and over and over, and Paige loved every minute of it!  I have to admit, my stomach turns just imagining it!!!  What happens at Granny's stays at Grannys!

Here is another clip of what happens at Granny's house.  I think I need one of these at my house to tire the kids out...come to think of it, Tonka could stand to lose a few pounds as well.

We are so lucky to have you Granny!  Thank you for everything you do for Paige and Quinn...We love you!

Really???

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to have a baby follow you around demanding to be held?  Let me show you.  It makes it REALLY hard to get stuff done.

Yes, I realize this looks mean.  But it isn't.  I just happened to have my camera in hand the other night when Quinn decided he needed me to carry him around while I made dinner.  Poor guy.

Archive Video: Tractor Ride

In this video, Paige was clearly not happy about giving Quinn a ride with her tractor. 

Quinn on the other had was really enjoying himself! 

This was taken in the Fall of 2010, Quinn was 1, Paige was 4.

Archive Video: Quinn at 3 Months

I came across this little video of Quinn, he was about 3 months old. 

I am so happy I can share it!

The Big Thaw

Last weekend we had a big thaw, it was amazing and nearly 50 degrees!  That is not a common event mid-February in MN and I was able to get the kids out for some fun in the snow.   Quinn loved being outside, but only when I was holding him.  He tried to walk but he kept falling down.  His boots fit funny, the snow was too deep.  It was just too hard for him, I tried to make him comfortable so Paige and I could build a snowman but he really wasn't having it.  We did the best we could for awhile. 

After the base of the snowman was built we went in for a while so Quinn could take a nap.  Once he was down Paige and I returned with Tonka to finish the job!!

Big Boy Haircut

This weekend I took noticed Quinn was starting to look really scruffy.  His baby hair was beginning to grow well over his ears and there wasn't a whole lot I could do to tame it so I decided to make an appointment at "Kid's Hair" for his very first haircut.  I brought him into a local salon a few months back just to trim his bangs a bit but he ended up looking like I put a bowl on his head and clipped away.  I decided this time I would take him to a professional!

Quinn wasn't very happy with the process, in fact he would have rather been anywhere but in that chair.  Here is Quinn a couple days before his new haircut....

Here we go!

I know, I was totally shocked how much she cut off.  He looks nice, but I will say that I will probably never have his hair cut this short again.  That being said, the woman who cut his hair did a very nice job....it was just a bit short.  Paige keeps commenting on how much she likes it and that he looks so handsome.  Funny girl.  I will say that I can really "see" Quinn.  He was a little lost in his hair before and now I can see all of his features so much more and how handsome he is.  That and he looks a year older which I do not like at all...

The good thing about hair...it grows back!

                               My sweet little Quinny looking so grown up.....I love you!

Class of 2024

I can't believe it.  I mean of course I can, but to put a number on it just makes it so real.  This week was kindergarten round-up at Turtle Lake Elementary School and Paige was invited! 
Jeff and I talked to Paige about it every day for nearly two weeks getting her ready for the big day.

Well it finally came, we picked her up early from preschool on a very cold afternoon (8 degrees!) and headed over to Turtle Lake Elementary.  On our way into the school Paige wanted to hold both of our hands walking in as she was filled with the excitement of the unknown!  When we walked through the main doors we were greeted right away with "Welcome to Kindergarten!" and Paige was handed a bright blue and gold pendant showcasing her new school.  She happily took it from the nice lady welcoming us and we headed down the hall.  We were directed at each turn on our way to the gymnasium by the 4th and 5th grade volunteers and they did such a fantastic job throughout the night.  The little kindergartners really look up to them so it was nice to see how excited they were to be helping out. 

After our walk through the main halls which were so welcoming with all of the artwork and belongings of the existing students, we arrived at the gym.  As each family made their way in we were given a color coded folder which divided us into four assigned groups for the orientation. Once we all found our seats the school orchestra played many childhood songs like "Winnie the Pooh" and  "It's a Small World", they were really fun and Paige loved them.  We could hardly get her to sit in her seat because all she wanted to do was stand and watch the kids play their instruments.  I think Jeff and I enjoyed the experience just as much as she did...maybe more!  I mean, so many of our memories are from elementary school, junior high and high school...the teachers, the classrooms and the gym!  Really, the whole experience was just pretty cool.  I still remember my lunch lady, Darlene, and how she used to walk around the cafeteria at lunch time with her fingers on each hand raised high in a peace sign. This was our final warning to SETTLE DOWN or we would find ourselves at the naughty table.  I wonder if they still do that?  Probably not.  Anyway, we all chattered the whole time about the ropes she would one day climb and why there were so many basketball hoops, what a scoreboard is and where the stage was...Jeff and I of course bored the life out of poor Paige as we told her all of the things we did in our school gyms.  I swear, I saw her eyes glaze right over.  As everything finally got underway each of the kindergarten teachers as well as the schools principal took the microphone talking about everything from how we could trust that our children would make it to and from school safely on the bus without us.....to the news that they no longer allow birthday treats at school because of food allergies.  Lame.  Oh well, if my child were to have an allergy to food I would totally appreciate this. 
After the grand introduction we broke into our various stations.  Our first station was registration.  This was an easy one as we just stayed in the gym while everyone else filed out to their own assigned places.  I had already filled out all of Paige's paperwork so I left Paige and Jeff to check the gym out while I stood in line and turned all of her papers in.  We opted to put her name in to the hat for full day kindergarten rather than have her in an after school program for half of the day.  We had to put down a deposit for it since they work on a lottery system.  We will find out if she gets a spot near the end of March...fingers crossed!!  During registration they also had a table where we could buy shirts and other items with Turtle Lake on them so of course I took Paige over to pick one out.  She chose a blue shirt, rather than the hot pink one and put it on immediately over her existing shirt.  She was so proud and excited.  I actually overheard several other children commenting that Paige got to put her shirt on right away and they wanted to too.  I guess they had mean Moms and Dads that made them wait.  Kidding...just kidding...a little bit.

Our next station was a ride on the bus!  For some reason they said only one parent per child which was odd because out bus was nearly empty.  But anyway, Paige and I went on the bus ride which really just circled around the block and dropped us back off at the school.  Paige wasn't too impressed with the bus ride as she has been on them many times before for field trips with her preschool but still, it was fun. I was actually surprised how little everything on the bus looked from what I remembered, I also pointed out to Paige the best seat on the bus...the one about four seats from the back that has the heater under it...I was always so bummed if someone else took it!  On a side note,  I later learned that Paige thought we were dropped off somewhere else when she was in a panic that there were no buses outside when we left to go home.  She didn't understand how we could get back to our car, and was even more confused when she saw our car was parked outside  It took me a bit to understand why she was so upset and confused, poor thing!  She thought the bus brought us to a different school than our car did.  I wonder why she wasn't confused how Jeff got there if he wasn't on the bus.  Hmmm.  Well back to the bus ride, as we got off of the bus the older kids again stepped up and greeted each of the kindergartners with a bag of fruit snacks.  And not the little ones, these were big!  Like check-out aisle at Target big!  Super cool, Paige was smiling ear to ear. 

Next we headed into the school and has the opportunity to tour all six of the kindergarten rooms and meet the teachers.  The rooms were so warm and welcoming as were the teachers.  Some were full day, some half day but all very similar.  Jeff and I already secretly hope for one particular teacher named Mrs. Voss, we will have to see!  She just seemed so warm and nurturing.  I really enjoyed seeing the artwork everywhere and I mean it was everywhere.  The funny thing was that a few of the art pieces were ones Jeff and I remembered making in elementary school!  Ahhh, nostalgia....

Our final stop was a trip to the library where the kids all gathered to listen to a story on the "story steps".  The library was fantastic and of course full of books.  The story was read by the librarian/art teacher/gym teacher/health teacher.  It was very fun, but the kids were all ready to go home.  It had been a long day and it was closing in on dinner time so once the story was over, we headed home.  After working through the confusion of the missing bus of course...

It was a great welcome.  Thank you  to the Mounds View school district and cheers to the class of 2024!!!!

Butterfly Smasher

This morning while I was driving into work I was thinking about this blog, and why I started it.  I thought back to something that happened about a year and a half ago, a story about Paige.  When I shared this story with friends and family they doubled over with laughter.  I clearly remember my Mom asking if if wrote it down so I didn't forget to which I most likely replied.."No, but I will. I need to get better at that."  So here we are. A lifetime later and it still. isn't. written. down.
Lets fix that.

This little episode happened about June of 2009 while Paige was at her childcare center located at my Mom's work, Aveda's Child Garden.  Paige was about 2 months from turning 3 and I was five or so months pregnant with Quinn.
On this particular day I was picking Paige up from "school" as we have always called it.  I entered her classroom and gathered her belongings as she was out on the playground.
I noticed that on the whiteboard near the door there was a special announcement, it read "Today our monarch butterfly came out of his cocoon!".  With a smile I thought about what a great experience it was to see that, how rare it is to witness something so special.  As I walked through her class, observing the classroom, the art, the organic feel of it all and appreciating how lucky she was to be able to attend such a great school I was just so happy.
As I walked out the back door onto the playground on this warm summer day I heard, "Paige!  Your Mom is here!"  To that Paige came rushing every day.  Every time!  (Oh I do miss that, these day's when I pick her up she is more likely to ignore my as she continues to color.)  Anywho, Paige runs to me, screaming "Mommy!" And leaps into my open arms for kisses and hugs, I am the luckiest Mommy in the world.  I look around at all of the children, such a small group of kids who are nearly the same age.  A core group of eight or so who have been together ever since their Mom's had to return to work, Paige's friends.  Sigh.
We wave goodbye and head home.

On the way home I ask Paige about her day, if she had a good day? Did she have a good nap?  Did she have fun with her friends at school?  Did she eat a good lunch?  Did she have any accidents in her big girl pants? 
Then I asked her what I thought was an innocent question...

Me:  Paige!  I heard you had a baby butterfly that was born in your class today!
Paige:  I don't like it.  It was icky. I threw it on the ground and smashed it.
Me:  Silence
Me:  No you didn't.  That would be "not okay" and we are always nice to butterflies.  They are our friends.
Paige: I don't like butterflies.  I throw them on the ground and step on them. (note that she actually yelled this statement)

At this point I was in denial, I decided to let it go.  I mean who would have done that?  Stomped a newborn butterfly, right?  So the next day when I got to work I emailed the director at her center, it started something like this...so Paige told me something yesterday, and I am sure it isn't true...but...
She replied back pretty quickly.
I was true!  oh no.  Unreal.  I couldn't believe it.  She actually smashed it.  My mind was spinning....

Hurry children!  The baby butterfly is about to be born!  Let's all gather around to watch and celebrate the circle of life.  All of the children have formed a delicate circle and are kneeling quietly and observing while holding hands of course as harp music plays.   Just then, the sky opens up to the heavens, where a bright ray of light shines down right in the center of the children, directly on the slowly emerging butterfly.  Every one is silent as the butterfly opens his wings for the first time, gently fluttering them up an down in the warm sun.  Then...all of a sudden, Paige breaks free from the circle of children with her messy hair and mismatched clothes and grabs the baby butterfly with a scowl on her face.  Lifts it up into the air before throwing it to the ground and stomping it repeatedly with her little purple shoe while saying "I hate butterflies!  I hate butterflies".  Then all of the children erupted into tears and called out for their mommies.  The teachers hung their heads in disappointment...

Really, it didn't quite happen like that.  The director explained to me that after the butterfly was born they took it out of it's habitat as it will sit where ever you place it for quite sometime while it's wings dry.  Apparently one of the teachers put it on Paige and she was scared to death of it.  She immediately brushed it off and stomped on it. Because that is what you do with icky bugs.   I also learned that what was on her looked nothing like a butterfly and I really couldn't blame her for her reaction.  Although it was colorful, it had a lot of legs and resembled a giant bug.  The good new is that there were 2 born that week so there was still one to have on display and luckily the children were still young enough that they didn't realize that Paige killed their butterfly.

That being said, even though I know the real story.  The one I imagined is the way I still picture it.  And I can tell you, for the remainder of the summer I avoided the butterfly gardens whenever possible.