September 2009

Brian and the Os at a Mariner's Game.

September brought the Watkins' family the return of the almighty SCHEDULE. Do I lament the passing of the lazy days of summer? Somewhat. It was definitely less stressful. But I thrive on staying busy and a schedule keeps me centered, focused and alert. Of course I have to write everything down now because my mind isn't as sharp as it was in my 20s.

For example, I told my friend I would be home one afternoon and her 6th grader could come hang out at my house after school until she returned from a shopping trip. I did not write it down because his arrival time would have been during Elliott's nap time and I am always home then. Well, nearly always.

On the day in question, Owen had an afternoon field trip -- odd because he is in morning kindergarten. Also odd was the fact that he started crying when it came time to take him to school. He said he didn't feel comfortable going on the field trip without me. I figured Owen must really need me and it wouldn't kill Elliott to miss one nap. So away I went without a single thought about the 6th grader who would show up to my empty house.

Oh, the shame! The embarrassment! THE GUILT! Not one of my prouder moments, I can tell you that.

Obviously, the return to a schedule is the result of school starting. Owen started half-day kindergarten this year. His teacher is a wonderfully warm, sweet little thing. She has this old puffy armchair-rocker in the classroom with a great big quilt thrown over it. It makes the room feel so cozy.

The cutest thing about Owen starting kindergarten is that he's made a brand-new friend named Owen. They are Owen S. and Owen W. The wildest part is that they look a lot alike! They are also the only 6 year-olds in the class. My Owen came home today grinning saying that Owen S. wanted our phone number. He said Owen S. refers to the two of them as "The Owen Team."
Love it!

My Owen is in the blue shirt. Owen S. is the other one with the same hair.

Here's Owen coming home from school on the big yellow bus.

Oliver is having an interesting year so far. He was placed in the new 2nd/3rd multi-age class with a 3rd grade teacher. Criteria for placement was not smarts. They chose students who could work well independently. As a result, he gets to do some things that other 2nd graders do not. He gets to the be the big buddy for reading buddies (older and younger students pair up), he gets to do a night sky journal this month (a 3rd grade activity), he participates in Passport Club (a geography thing that starts in 3rd grade), gets to do 3rd grade math and has access to books on a higher reading level in his classroom.

Oliver also started PATS (Program for Academically Talented Students) this year. On Tuesdays, he and one other 2nd grader travel to another elementary school that hosts the program. He and 16 other second graders from 8 different elementary schools go deeper into the existing curriculum doing reports and projects to develop critical thinking skills. He's doing completely new and different things in PATS and he seems pretty excited about it.

Both Oliver and Owen are participating in the 100-mile Club at school. They receive a foot charm for a necklace for every 5 miles they run. Oliver has 6 or 7 already and Owen has 2. Owen doesn't have the same opportunity to run being in half-day but he is darned proud of the 2 feet he has! He wants to make it all the way to 100 miles. I don't think Oliver is quite as ambitious. We'll see what happens.

In September, Oliver turned 8 years old. Wow! I remember 8 very well. I was in 3rd grade, Mrs. Buckingham's class. It was the only year I made straight As the whole year despite the fact that my parents separated and divorced that year. Anyhoo... for Oliver's birthday we picked up a couple of his buddies and went to the circus. Neither of his friends had ever been to the circus so it was a treat watching their little faces light up. The boys were well behaved (all 5 of them) and a good time was had by all.

The pack we took to the circus.

They were all totally shy to take a picture with this performer. Silly boys!

Showing off for his buddies.

Father and son Mariner's Game.

Post M's game fun in Seattle. Oliver's first rock show!

Elliott and I started a new adventure in September -- Kindergym! It's a little playgroup at the community center with lots of gross-motor toys and circle time with music. He LOVES it. I swear he thinks it's all done for his benefit. Most of the children sit with their parents around the circle. Elliott stands smack in the center, eyeballing the teacher, smiling, jumping, singing and dancing. He's quite entertaining to watch.

Going against the grain... as usual.

Elliott and his buddy, Nolan.

Elliott's first haircut. At age TWO. That he barely needed!

Cheese!

And last but not least -- our household now includes a cat. It wasn't my idea, that's for sure. But the boys are loving having her and are taking good care of her so I can't really complain. Meet Maya....

Downtown Portraits, October 2009

I still need to put up some photos from Oliver's birthday but I couldn't wait to post these! Brian and I took the boys downtown to take some pictures last weekend and some of them are pretty cool. Elliott is still difficult to work with but he's getting better. Brian even took a few of me with the boys which is always a special treat for me.

Whidbey Island, August 2009

In late August, we were invited on a lovely weekend getaway to Whidbey Island with Linda, Janet, Alex, Vanessa, Mark and Leon. Linda won a stay at a beachfront home through a silent auction and decided to celebrate her birthday (and Elliott's) there with all of us. It was a really cool house in an amazing location. There was plenty of good company and good food. Thank you, Linda!

Little Man Turns Two!

Okay, so I'm over a month late on this posting. I can't believe how quickly the last part of the summer blew by! I'm attempting to catch up starting with Elliott's 2nd birthday. He turned two on August 22nd. About a week prior, we had a little at-home party for Elliott and invited his one friend, Margot, and her family over to dinner. The kids played, the grown-ups talked, we ate dinner and did cake and presents.

My big two year-old!

Elliott and his sweetie, Margot.

Elliott got so excited during the Happy Birthday song...

He was literally squealing with joy here.

Trying to blow out the candles.

Stunned and amazed when they finally went out!

Cake face!

Elliott made quite a show of opening gifts.

Elliott at work with his new birthday train set.

Gorilla Boy Sings the ABCs

Brian and I laugh at how similar many of Elliott's movements are to a gorilla. Check him out:

Where's Your Six?

Here's my sweetie at 23 months:

My Funny Guys

My little Jedis watching Episode I together.

Singin' in the rain.

Love this one!

Revenge of The Wiggles! Elliott found all the old Wiggles toys and books and became interested just from those. I played a Wiggles DVD for him and he was in love.

I pulled out Owen's old Wiggles t-shirt and pjs from the keepsake tote and Elliott was ECSTATIC! I mean, I didn't know he could reach that level of elation. The Wiggles are magic. Really. I don't understand how families get by without them.

The morning he woke up with these jammies on he said, "Show Daddy Wiggles jammies!" You can see how happy he is in this photo.

Elliott has learned to count! Oliver and I were tickled when we heard Elliott count his own hops yesterday, 1 through 10. Way to go little man!

First Track Meet

Tonight was a first-ever track meet for Owen and Oliver. They've been working hard at track practice and were totally excited for this meet. I couldn't believe how well they did!

I won't bore you with their times and distances but they both ran the 50 yard dash, 200 meter, 400 meter, 800 meter and mile races. They missed out on the 100 yard dash because they were busy at the softball throw and long jump.

I will say that both the boys blew away the competition in their separate heats for the 400 meter. They were phenomenal!

They tied each other in the mile coming in at 9 minutes 25 seconds. (I ran a 15-minute mile one time in high school and threw up. Weenie!)

In the long jump, Owen averaged 6 feet over three jumps. Oliver was consistent with his three jumps at a whopping 9 feet! The kid is a freaking grasshopper!

Their scores get written down on their backs so we can compare their numbers meet to meet.

July 4th Weekend

We spent a wonderful weekend camping at Mark & Vanessa's forested property on Whidbey Island. It was beautiful there and great to see everyone. Mark has done an amazing job building their house.

I could have done with a little bit of moisture in the air though. It was pretty dusty because we've had a bit of a dry spell. Highly unusual! The kids have never been so dirty... and they liked it. Actually, they LOVED it! I guess it's a boy thing.

We had a nice time visiting, going for a bike ride into town for ice cream, playing at Castle Park, doing a few fireworks, and relaxing at the beach.

We're looking forward to getting together with these guys again in August to celebrate Linda's and Elliott's birthdays!

School's Out!

Yes, it's late. We had several snow days to make up for this year so the kiddos didn't get out until June 17th! They don't go back until September 9th though so it all works out.

So here is what's been going on around here:

I produced the elementary school's first talent show in June. It was a blast! I already have the dates confirmed for next year. Woo-hoo!

Baseball ended and track started tonight. The kids have never done track before and they are REALLY excited about it. Practice on Mondays. Meets start in July on Thursdays.

Oliver will go to a baseball camp in July and start fall baseball mid-August. Owen wants to play soccer in the fall so I guess Brian and I will have to divide and conquer.

We'll be going camping over July 4th weekend on Whidbey Island. We'll be there with Vanessa, Mark, Leon, Linda and most likely Alex. I'm refusing to commit to any other camp outs this summer because of the Tasmanian Devil known as Elliott.

Elliott and I have coughs. Owen has allergies in his left eye and pink eye in his right. Oliver lost his second baby tooth. Elliott cut a canine tooth. Brian appears to be as healthy as a horse. No fair!

Oliver read a series of books called Percy Jackson & The Olympians. It got him interested in Greek mythology and he's been reading anything he can get his hands on about it. His writing journal came home at then end of the school year and I found a great piece in it. Hopefully you'll be able to read it:





Father's Day was uneventful but that was fine with Brian. He said he couldn't remember the last time we just hung out at the house and did nothing. He even got to read his paper and take a catnap. My gift to Brian was to clean up the back yard. It was spic 'n span by Saturday afternoon. By Sunday evening it looked like I'd done nothing because a wind came through. That's what happens when your house backs up to a greenbelt.

I have so many little projects to do that I put off during the school year. I don't really even know where to start. Hmmm.... maybe I'll start by making a list! I love lists.

I took the kids to see the movie Up. It was brilliant. I cried, I laughed, I cried again. If you haven't seen it, please go! I'm hoping Brian and I can go see The Hangover this weekend for his birthday. He's going to be 39! I can't believe it. I'll be 37 in September. My mother was 36 when I met Brian. How weird is that?

Last night, to entertain themselves, the Os made cartoon flatulence to tape to their backsides. Owen's was a long, straight, green rectangle. Oliver's was a green cloud with a brown spot in it. Little creeps. But hey, that's some cheap entertainment!

For the second year running, Brian took Owen to a Mariner's game as part of Owen's birthday celebration. Brian took the cutest photo!




And how sweet is this?



Alas, this last one has no explanation. But you better believe this will serve as leverage one day! Or blackmail.

Happy 6th Birthday to Owen!

Owen's birthday party was last Sunday and it was SO MUCH FUN! We went to Friendly Grove park that we love so much. There were lots of kids, mostly boys. There were chips, dips, fruit, cheese and of course birthday cake. We did sack races, Red Rover, a pinata and played in the sprinkler we brought from home. (Resourceful aren't we?)

The kids were great. They were all good kids, enthusiastic to play the games and very sweet to the birthday boy. The only fight was between Oliver and Owen and I guess that doesn't really count since they're siblings. It was lame though because Owen ended up crying in the bushes for about 10 minutes until he could shake it off. Poor kid. Oliver got to do push-ups when we got home.

Owen got some really cool birthday presents from his friends, his brothers and his parents. In fact, when Owen opened his Star Wars game for the Nintendo DS he started jumping up and down giggling like a madman. Owen NEVER gets excited like that. Brian and I just looked at each other like, WOW!

Tuesday is Owen's actual birthday. After I drop Oliver off at school, Elliott is going to play at Margot's house and I'm taking Owen on a date for a special birthday breakfast. Just the two of us. I'm really looking forward to it. He's such a sweet boy.

How 'Bout Chocolate Bunnies?

Elliott is jabbering away now. I think he may talk more than Owen. And that's saying something.

One of my favorites is when he doesn't want something he'll say "IdontwikeitIdontwikeitIdontwantit" while he waves his hand.

My other favorite is "chickaburga" which he'll ask for nearly every day starting at around 10am. I'm just going to start calling that kid "Burger."

He's picked up a new phrase from me, "how 'bout."

He came up to me the other day and said, "outside." I asked, "What about outside?" He replied, "How 'bout -- outside."

I was rocking him before his nap on Sunday. He wasn't feeling well and I thought he was asleep when he suddenly cried out with his eyes closed, "How 'bout -- abcs?" He wanted me to sing.

He also says a couple of things like a little Italian-American:

More moke-a pees. (More milk please.)

No touch-a bees.

The funniest and weirdest thing he's said to date was today while talking to the kindergarten teacher Oliver had and Owen will have, Mrs. Fettig. Now the thing you have to know is that Mrs. Fettig is African-American. I asked Elliott, "Can you say Mrs. Fettig?" He looked at her intently for a moment and said, "chocolate bunnies." Her skin is about the same shade as the chocolate bunny graham crackers he loves. She cracked up! I was fairly speechless.

We're Back!

That makes it sound like we JUST got back. Ha! We got back nearly a month ago from a 3-week trip to Texas where we visited with friends and family. We did lots of fun things and had a swell time. The Os did not want to return home. For me, one of the highlights of the trip was introducing Elliott to everyone. Another highlight was getting to know my nephews and niece.

One of the reasons I've taken so long to update my blog is that I couldn't decide which photos from the Texas trip to post and how many to post because I took over 500 pictures. Holy smokes! So I'm just going to skip it altogether and not post any. Most of you have Facebook accounts and have likely seen some of my Texas photos anyway. It's the only way I'll be able to move forward. I don't like it but... there it is.

I must recount one event that happened while in Texas, however because it's just one of those things that was so cute I'll never forget it. Owen and I were sitting at the table eating breakfast and he was kissing my arm all over just like Pepe LePew. He was even making the "Mmm, mmm, mmm" sound. I laughed and asked what he was doing. He looked up at me with these lovey-dovey eyes and in his best French accent said slowly, "You set my foot on fire." My mind raced to understand this comment. I smiled and asked, "Do you mean your soul?" He covered his smile, giggled and said, "Oh, yeah."

Oliver finally lost his first tooth at 7.5 years old. You have to look closely though because his adult tooth had already grown in behind it. So no gaping hole.



This looks like he's wearing Bermuda shorts, doesn't it? No. These are Elliott's 2T jeans. Someone give this kid a sandwich!



Owen is really into making forts lately. He reminds me of a lion up there.



He called out, "Mom, come look at my tall tower." Boy, was it!



Baseball photos of Oliver:





Photos from Owen's cooking class at Bayview School of Cooking. It was a special Mother's Day event called "Thanks a brunch!" They made a fruit salad with canteloupe and honeydew melon, bite-sized frittatas and a scrumptious coffee cake.




Photos from Owen's preschool field trips. I didn't get to go with him to the dairy but the other mothers told me Owen was letting all the calves suck his fingers. Looks sweet but seems icky. (Dairy farm photo courtesy of Jill Morse. Thanks, Jill!) The marina field trip was fantastic because his preschool hired two divers to bring creatures up to us. Owen touched everything: starfish, sun stars, sea cucumbers, crabs, moon snails, whatever! I touched nothing. I'm a fraidy cat.







Here are some of the things Elliott is doing lately. He loves his train, is excited about the Robodog, goes crazy for balloons, is interested in coloring and continues to eat his body weight in bananas on a daily basis.