Birthday Bash!

The boys had lots of fun celebrating their birthdays yesterday with all their family and friends! Kyle was definitely focused on the three "main events"...pizza, presents and cake, and he thoroughly enjoyed all three. He was a little restless in between though but was able to pass the time thanks to his "pushers" :) And for the first year, he didn't cry when I brought out cake and everyone sang. Yay Kyle! He also blew out his candles for the first time (and blew out Luke's for him too). Such a big boy, my little four year old. And Luke actually ate a little pizza and cake too...yay Luke!

Thank you to everyone for helping to make the day so special. My boys are blessed to have so many wonderful people in their lives who love and care about them. And the gifts were all so generous and fun, even if you didn't get much positive feedback from the boys during "Hurricane Open Presents".

And a special, HUGE thank you to Auntie Jayne, who flew in from the boondocks of Arizona for a long weekend (and drove about 8 hrs round trip yesterday) to be at the party. And this was after just being here last month! Thank you so much Jayne...it meant so much to me and the boys that you (and Amresh) did all of that to come.

And also a big thank you to Viv and Hank, for coming to the boys' party, even though it was their own very special day...happy 50th anniversary Viv and Hank...the boys love you :)

And Happy First Day of School, Luke!

Today was Luke's big day...his first day of K'tonton preschool at the JCC, where he'll be going Tuesday and Thursday mornings. He seemed to kind of "get it", that he's going to school like Kyle now that he's 2, and that he has teachers, and friends, and snack, etc.

And he was pretty unaware/distracted when I dropped him off this morning (I don't think he really understood that I was actually leaving), so it was easy/undramatic. The teachers said that he did cry for a few minutes (possibly because a couple others were crying), but then he stopped and had fun! And I got a big smile when I came to pick him up, and he said "Mommy came back and now we go home" :)

So Day 1 was a success, and I'm so hopeful that this will be a fun/positive experience for him. Because if it's positive for him, it will be VERY positive for me, getting those impossible kid-free windows in the house.

During today's 1:55 minute window, I rotated in/out Luke's clothes (for size, season, hand-me-down, etc) and started on Kyle's. Good feeling and long overdue, and nearly impossible to do with Luke around!

And that's my plan...each Tues/Thurs morning I will have one little doable task planned, things that are tough to do with kids around. To me, that's the best way to spend this time...getting stuff done from the never-ending list of chores/projects that overwhelm me. I'm excited to hopefully start feeling more "caught up on life", instead of "just staying afloat" :)

Happy First Day of School, Kyle!

Kyle's first day of preschool last year...

And this year! He had a great first day :)

And Luke, watching Kyle's "bus" drive away, is ready for his big day next week :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Lukey (2 days late)

I was hoping to take a little break from blogging, but I realized that I never posted for Luke's birthday and would feel incomplete if I didn't. So here it is, with some pictures from the day!

His special day kicked off with Kyle going into his room with a "Happy Birthday" wakeup song, which Luke loved :) And Luke went on to sing "Happy Birthday to Luke" throughout the day :) And he also thinks it's funny to sing Happy Birthday to random objects..."happy birthday to computer...", etc.

Last week, Kyle picked out a little UPS truck for him on Amazon, and understood not to tell him about it. He helped me wrap it but had trouble parting ways with it when it was time to actually give it to Luke. Luke was so excited when he opened it! And he was also excited about the cow stuffed animal I got him too..doesn't take much at this age.

Grammy came over too and watched the boys have cake. Luke was a bit scared of the candles, but Kyle helped and blew them out for him. Kyle of course LOVED the cake, and Luke surprisingly/willingly took about 5 bites...yahoo!!

And then I woke Luke up for a late night birthday snuggle in my bed before I went to sleep (it's my new guilty pleasure...we both LOVE it). So we all had a good day, despite the usual aching void on days like this.

Luke is just such a sweet, happy, adorable, funny, smart, feisty little 2 year old who lights up my world and I love with all my heart. Now for a little blogging sabbatical...

Fun Visit with Grampa and Auntie Jayne!

We had a wonderful visit today with Grampa and Auntie Jayne! The boys were so excited and had lots of fun playing with them. We packed a lot in!

First we played inside with their new toys from "G and AJ", as Aunt Ca dubbed them on FB :) And Kyle loved Grampa's "maneuver" where he flipped him in the air with his hands! Then we played in the backyard, and G and AJ quickly learned how much Kyle and Luke LOVE to swing (they were their held-hostage "pushers"!).

Then we went for a walk on the rail trail, so the boys could show G and AJ another one of their favorite activities...throwing "big huge rocks" over the bridge and watching the splash! You'll see them hauling some big ones out to the bridge in one of the pictures :)

And I was so happy that Kyle didn't resist going to the rail trail after getting stung there on Thursday. I was afraid that negative association would linger. He talked a lot about how he didn't want to get "stunged" again, and I assured him he (probably) wouldn't. He didn't and as usual, both boys had a blast!

We then came home, had lunch (with Kyle making some lovely sound effects from the "can" for part of it), visited some more, and said our goodbyes. The boys had a great day with two very special people. And we look forward to seeing Auntie Jayne again at the kids' birthday party in less than a month!

Another fun Nonnie visit, except....

We had a fun visit with Nonnie today! The only downer was that Kyle's ear got stung by something on the rail trail bridge. Poor little guy was in a lot of pain :( But he was a trooper and turned the corner when we got home and had lunch (food has that effect on him!). Although his ear was still really red and swollen at that point :(

It looked fine when he went to bed tonight though, and he wasn't complaining about it anymore, so I think he's okay. Next up, Luke's birthday tomorrow (how is my baby already 2?!), and Grampa and Auntie Jayne on Saturday!

Birthdays

We had a great visit today with the birthday girl (Nonnie)! The boys each made her a card, and were really excited to give them to her :) And they loved the toy airplanes she brought them. Kyle opened his first, and then when it was Luke's turn to open his, Kyle said "I don't want it to be something I like"...very perceptive little boy, hoping to avoid brotherly jealousy/envy! He says that when Luke's eating "big boy food" too..."I don't want Luke to eat food that I like". Anyway, we had lots of fun and were so happy to celebrate Nonnie's birthday with her.


I meant to post a couple weeks ago on Jared's birthday. I bought the boys each a balloon (with the moon and stars on them) to release to heaven for Daddy's birthday. They each gave their balloon a big hug and kiss for Daddy before letting them go. They loved watching them go way up in the sky. But once they disappeared, Luke became hysterical and kept saying "where did they go?", and Kyle kept matter-of-factly responding with "they went up to Daddy in heaven, Luke". Talk about a conversation that you never thought in a million years you'd hear your 3 and 1 year olds having...

Kyle seemed to sort of "get it", and I could just see his little brain really trying to process/understand my responses to his various questions..."he died because his body broke" (I don't know how else to explain death at this age), "he can't come to our house next week because he has to stay in heaven forever", "yes, he loves you very much", etc, etc. And I was of course crying as this was happening and he'd say "Mommy's sad" and I told him that it's okay to be sad that Daddy died because we love him and feel sad that he can't live here with us.

These conversations are indescribably heartbreaking, and it still just seems so incomprehensible to hear these things said out loud. Hopefully I'm "handling" all of this the right way with them...I just sort of go with my gut as to when and how much to say/do. At this point, I try to keep it very simple and matter-of-fact, knowing that their understanding of it will grow/evolve as they get older. But I want it all to be very familiar to them, so that no element of it ever "shocks" them. And most of all, I want them to absolutely know how much he loves them from heaven, and always will.

Davis Farmland with Nonnie

Seeing Nonnie three times in the month of June pretty much guarantees at least three blog posts :) And what a fun visit we had today! After playing for a little bit at our house with the new toys from Nonnie (the Curious George car was a big hit), the boys introduced her to Davis Farmland.

And despite going mid-day on such a hot day, it was actually quite comfortable there...great breeze and nice dry air. The boys had fun watching/patting all the animals, going for a hayride, and jumping in the bouncy house. And most of all, hanging out with Nonnie :)

Weekend Update

First I'll start off with some pics from our visit to Davis Farmland last weekend, where Kyle had his first pony ride and loved it, and loved saying "giddy up pony"! And I let Luke run around for most of our visit, instead of having him in the stroller. He loved the freedom, and loved doing "nice" to all the animals. Until a really large, creepy sheep approached him from behind and made a weird, loud noise right in his ear. He looked at me with panic and said "hug" and didn't pat the animals after that. And I don't really blame him...that sheep was pretty disturbing!

Then yesterday, we went to a "Big Truck Show" at a local high school. Both boys loved it, although Luke didn't like all the REALLY loud honking and was crying off and on because of it :( Oh, the last picture in that batch shows what I found when I got back to my car...in my frenzy of trying to get sunscreen on the boys while juggling/keeping them safe in the parking lot, apparently I left my driver's side door open (with my purse/wallet right there on the passenger's seat) for the entire 1.5 hrs that we were walking around. Wow, never done that before! Fortunately everything appeared to be in tact, and my battery wasn't dead. Phew!

And today, we went to Great Grampy's and had fun playing ball outside with him, Nonnie, and her friend Diane. Then we had an early dinner at the country club, and the boys both did great! They liked walking around and looking at the fountains, pretty flowers, and golf carts. And of course Kyle LOVED eating his decadent mac 'n cheese dinner :) And Luke liked picking at his grilled cheese sandwich, and plucking little morsels off my plate too :) They went to bed at a wild (for them) 7:30 tonight! We'll see how that shakes out in the morning...

I'm glad today was a very busy day because as I sit here now alone on Father's Day, the sadness is really setting in, thinking about all of the love, fun, and life experiences that my boys are missing out on without their amazing father. I do the best that I can, but I certainly can't come close to filling that void in their lives. And that just absolutely breaks my heart. We love you so much Jar, and I wish with all my heart that you were here with us today celebrating your 4th Father's Day...you truly epitomized what it meant to be a great father.

Preschool Parade!

Today was "Parade Day" at Kyle's preschool. And because he goes in the morning and afternoon, he got to march in two parades!

Luke and I went this morning, and watched the "big kids" do two loops around the parking lot, marching and waving...super cute :) And Kyle looked like he was really having fun, which I just love to see :) Luke liked all the action and yelled "Kahgie" REALLY excitedly when he saw him :) Kyle's class then had a little ceremony for parents, where they sang songs (including Row Row Row Your Boat, which you'll see a picture of him acting out with a friend), did the "Hula Hop" (those are the pictures that show Kyle's cheerleading potential), and got their certificates. Luke had fun roaming around the classroom, especially playing (or I should say flooding the classroom!) at the water table.

Then I brought Luke home for lunch/nap (with Grammy) and went back for Round 2. Another parade and more festivities in his afternoon class. I wasn't sure how Kyle would do today, because he had been saying all week that he didn't want to be in the parade. But he did great and looked like he had lots of fun!