The Last Day of Kindergarten

Today was Wm's last day of kindergarten!  Mimi and I went to Lunch on the Lawn.  It was very neat!  They even had a live band!  Wm played more with his buddy than he actually ate, but then I took him to work with me and made him finish his lunch.

I think Wm warmed up to kindergarten just a bit! It started out shaky:

The first day of kindergarten: Face of Terror

And here was Wm today:

Wm and Mom picnickin'

Wm and his Favorite Friend

How cute are they?

Wm and his teacher

Wm's teacher told me, as I left, that she has requested Wm go into the 1/2 split classroom next year where he will be challenged - and they put most of the gifted kiddos. That is awesome news!!!

And tonight Wm goes to his Open House for summer camp.  He's going to OSU's summer camp, so he's back on his old stomping grounds.  Then, afterwards, we are taking Wm out to dinner to celebrate a great year!

Indoor Kid

Steve wanted to go to the sporting goods store to replenish is weird sock supply (Steve buys more socks than any other person on the planet and keeps insisting he needs more - and he is very specific about the type of sock that is acceptable.)  So while Steve was off sock shopping, Wm and investigated.  Wm found the outdoor adventures area.

He LOVED this tent and wanted to buy it immediately.

Wm inside the tent on the cot.

He was also a fan of the kayak 

When we met up with Steve, Wm said he wanted to go camping.  Steve got REAL excited and started planning right away (this has been his dream for 6 years).  Then Wm says, "can we at least bring the TV?" Steve looked super disappointed and goes, "no...dude - we cannot bring the TV camping." And Wm says, "well, can we go for just one second?"  Steve says, "no...maybe this isn't a good idea." Wm goes, "I am sort of an indoor kid, Daddy."

Letter

I told Wm to clean his room.  5 minutes later, he delivered (via airmail from the landing on the stairs) a letter to tell me how he feels about this request.  It read:

"Dear Person Who Hates Me,
I am staying in my room for 600,000,000 years until I die.
William."

Blast Off

Wm pretending a chair is a rocket ship

He did not like me taking a picture of him while playing

Wm has been asking for a dog for a couple weeks - like, seriously wanting one.  We've been wavering on the issue.  But he's also been asking for guitar lessons.  Neither option is cheap.  So we told Wm he can pick one of the two and we'll get it for him. He thought about it for a minute and goes, "I want the guitar lessons - I don't want to have a sick Mommy!"  What a sweetie.  I told him there are certain kinds of dogs we can get that shouldn't bother my allergies too much and he said he'd rather not chance having a sick Mommy and will stick with the guitar (and guitars don't poop).  He will not regret this choice if he keeps up with the guitar.  When he's a teenager, that thing will be a chick magnet.

Steve is doing well.  Hasn't even taken any Advil today!  Meanwhile, I pulled a muscle in my back doing a boot camp workout and now we're a pair of sad people.  I have learned my lesson though - those boot camp things are evil.  I don't like someone screaming meanly at me to feel the burn and get my knees higher...HIGHER.  So I have taken way more Advil today than Steve has. (In fact, as I write this, the weirdo has decided to disassemble our ceiling fan, tinker with the wiring, and then, hopefully, has plans to reassemble it.  Steve is not a good patient.)

Silence of the Lambs

It's nice to see you again, Clarice.

Steve Lives!

Steve is doing well! He's just a bit tender and is managing well on Advil and rest.  He goes back to work Tuesday, so it's a good thing!  He said he wanted to go to Costco today and I told him there was NO WAY.  But he said he'd ride one of those little scooters if he was allowed to go.  But then, he tried to dodge it at the last minute and I had to grab a Costco worker and force Steve onto a scooter.  He was then crabby that it wouldn't go faster...

Zoom Zoom

Road Warrior

And Wm's Kindergarten Countdown continues.  3 more days!!  And then, Wm's summer of fun activities begins.  He's already signed up for soccer, we just set up his first guitar lesson (the instructor interviewed US - he asked us what bands Wm liked and I told Steve would should have been like, "he's 6...so, The Wiggles?"), and he will shortly be signed up for martial arts. And, of course, the swim lessons continue.  Wm will be so enriched!

Hernia No More

Steve's surgery is done!  Here is he moments before they wheeled him away (note the look of excitement on his face):

And here he is recovering afterwards:

Steve is always funny because he reacts really strongly to anesthesia.  When I went up to the recovery room, he was looking pretty rough and kept weirdly moving his mouth like Mr. Ed.  I told him that his hernia was repaired, but that the surgeon came and told me it was so small, he had his doubts that it was the only thing behind his pain.  So then Steve started drunkenly weeping and I was all, "waaaaaait, no...nooooooo..."  Once his head cleared, he went from weepy to real pissed.  The surgeon told me the lymph nodes in his thigh were really big and Steve is so skinny he has no "fat pat" to cushion them from his nerve.  So I googled that while Steve was moping and discovered that a hernia can make the lymph nodes nearby swollen. I'm hoping that the hernia was still the root cause of the pain so Steve is all better!!  

He's in pretty good shape right now.  He decided not to bother picking up his pain meds from the pharmacy since he's just a bit tender.  I'm off tomorrow, so if he needs 'em, I can go and get 'em.  Steve is currently a happy boy because I got him Ben & Jerry's and he is having pizza and coke for dinner - which he doesn't even have to pick up.  

Wm wrote Steve a note that said, "Dear Daddy, I love you more than anything.  You are the best dad a son could ever have. Love, William."  Cutest thing ever!!  

Gassypants

Tomorrow is Steve's Big Day. We have to wake up in the middle of the night so he can scrub himself down with some weird hospital soap and then get ourselves to the hospital by 5:30AM.  Not cool.  Steve had a couple days of nervousness, but now he's just back to annoyed about the whole business.  According to everyone I know who has had this surgery (which is, strangely, quite a few folks!) the worst part is the gas afterwards.  I told Steve I will get him whatever he wants for dinner tomorrow and he was all "PIZZA AND COKE!!!!!"  So, as you can see, Steve is all about health and wellness after his surgery.

I told Wm that when he wakes up tomorrow, Mimi will be here to give him breakfast and take him to the bus stop.  He goes, "YAAAAAY!!! [pause] Not that I want Daddy to have surgery."  I know the feeling, Wm.  The other day I was thinking, "hey, if Steve is in a lot of pain, I'll need to take Friday off too!  5 day weekend!  Woot!!"  Then thought, "Waaaaaait...I'm wishing for Steve to be in pain.  Never mind."

Super Productive

Steve works YET AGAIN all weekend this weekend, so Wm and I are entertaining ourselves.  We have been wicked productive this morning!  I am not sure what kind of body snatcher took my son and left me with an angel instead...but I am digging it.  Wm woke up this morning, came down and entertained himself for over an hour while I slept in.  Then, when I came down, he ate a good breakfast, got dressed and brushed his teeth on his own, did not complain about hitting the grocery store pretty early to avoid the crowds, was SUPER good while we were shopping, picked out a pretzel over brownies/cookies for his good behavior treat, helped me carry the bags in, and then entertained himself nicely while I put all the groceries away and made this week's granola bars!  

Wm's class went on a field trip to Dawe's Arboretum yesterday (his teacher put a note in his bag saying he was GREAT!)  Wm had a BLAST.  He got to fish, go on a scavenger hunt, a nature hike, and had a picnic potluck lunch.  Of course, he ate horrible things at said picnic and paid the belly consequences - but he says it was worth it!  Wm has 8 more days of kindergarten left!!

In other news, Steve discovered Instagram and is snapping pictures...

A teensy bit better than Wm's

This is effect is called "1977" and Steve said it looks
old, like me - so we match.

Wm wrote on the sidewalk CEM+SBM+WHM=LOVE.  He asked me if my middle name was Corinne.  Like Cory Corinne.  I go, "no, dude - Cory is short for Corinne, like a nickname."  So I told him all the nicknames for William and said we actually called him Liam when he was a baby.  He goes, "That is AWFUL.  I hate Liam.  Thank god you stopped doing that."  I asked if he liked Will or Willie or Bill better and he goes, "NO.  I am William.  WILLIAM is my name."  So I told him I will just call him Frank.  He didn't like that.

It didn't show up well, but Frank's "family love equation" is in front of him.

Nearly a 1st Grader

Wm only has 2 more weeks of kindergarten left!!  And then he will be a first grader. I can't believe it.  Wm has decided to go out with a bang.  He has been bringing home one great report after another. It seems Wm has finally figured out kindergarten with 2 weeks to go.  Better late than never.

The beginning of summer camp means a trip to the doctor for a checkup.  Steve was all in a panic last night because Captain Scrawny has hardly gained any weight since last year.  He's taller, but leaner.  Wm has been eating really well, so we can only surmise that his constant activity is the culprit.  For Health Week Challenge, he brought home this chart where we clocked how much physical activity Wm got.  I figured it wasn't fair to count his every waking moment (though, honestly, if he is awake, he is moving), so I only counted when he went "above and beyond" with his physical activity by playing some sport or specifically saying it was "exercise."  Wm likes to move it, move it.

Speaking of moving it...Steve also has a hairy eyeball on me.  Since starting the anti-inflammatory(ish) diet and being more active, things have been tightening up just a smidge.  So, about a week ago, Steve came up and hugged me around the waist and then goes, "NOOOOO!  No losing the muffin tops!"  If you know Steve well, you know he is all about The Muffin Tops.  That is his thang.  He loves him some muffin tops.  (And for those that are really in the dark, "muffin tops" are little blubs of fat that sit above your jeans - yeah....Steve LOVES those.)  This would pretty much be Steve's nightmare:

Under no circumstances am I allowed to be muffin top-less.  Then, last night, Steve came up and grabbed me from behind.  He goes, "NO. Enough. Stop now!"  When Steve looks at old pictures of me from when we met, he calls me "Skeletor."  Thank god I married a man who doesn't let the media dictate his beauty ideal.  Although, I am now getting the evil eye any time I do a crunch.

He-Man's nemesis or Cory circa 1996?
The world may never know.

Broccoli Boy

Wm got his 20 stars on his start chart!  So we took him to dinner and to Target to get his prize.  He chose a new Skylander guy (it's a video game that Grandma and Grandpa got him for his birthday).  He is PUMPED.  He also ate an AMAZING dinner.  We let him order for himself and you'll never guess what he got for his side....

Wm seriously enjoying some broccoli

BIG BITE o' broccoli

Wm took DOWN his entire hamburger in 3 minutes.  He then went through his broccoli in record time and came sniffing around my fries.  Maybe he's growing!!  He also said a bunch of hilarious things at dinner, and while we were all laughing, he goes, "ahhhh, the whole family is laughing so hard!"  Wm loves to be the comedian!

Like

Eating the amazing Mother's Day dinner Steve made...

Steve: How is the salmon?  Did I overcook it?
Me: No, it's good!  It would probably help if you, like, let it rest a bit before, like, cutting it up to take Wm's piece off.  It may make it just, like, a bit juicer, maybe? But it's not overdone.
Steve: Yeah.
Wm: Mommy...why do you say "like" all the time?
Steve: [LOUD laughter]
Me: What?
Wm: You say the word "like" ALL the time when you talk.
Steve: You DO!  I am just used to it so I don't even notice it.
Wm: But WHY do you?
Me: I have no idea Wm. It's how I roll, I guess. It's how I talked growing up and it stuck.
Wm: Oh. It's weird.
Steve: [still laughing]
Me: You guys suck.  It's, like, Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day!

Wm woke me up this morning with a card he made.  He also brought me a zinnia he planted and has been growing at school in anticipation of The Big Day.  Oh, and he also made me a very tiny crown to wear today. It was really cute.  I asked him to take a picture of me in it (holding a book he wrote about Mother's Day - in which he took each letter of the word "mother" and thought of a word to describe me...so I am marvelous, outstanding, thrilling, helpful, exciting, and respectful):

Ansel Adams Wm is not.

Then Steve and Wm made me pancakes for breakfast.  I hear Steve go, "NoOoooOOOO!" Then Wm comes in and says, "Hey, mom, watch out for a large chunk of egg shell in your pancakes."  Haha!  I think Wm enjoyed them more than I did.  He ate two and got chocolate chips all over his face.

Eggshell still missing

Unrelated to Mother's Day, Steve got cute new glasses!  And, after much whining and attempted dodging, I got him to let me take his picture.

Cutest Husband Ever

Steve usually gets annoyed because I keep trying to make him laugh and/or tell him to stop making weird faces when I am taking his picture (mostly because he does a creepy predator smile or just stares at me serial killer-style when I try and take his picture).  So I told him I am going to post one of his faces.  Boom goes the dynamite...

Perhaps NOT the cutest husband ever...

Little Fish

Wm had his first swim lesson today!!  I didn't take the camera to the pool, so I have no pictures.  Wm's Mimi was a certified Red Cross swim instructor/lifeguard in her heyday.  So she offered to be Coach Mimi.  Steve and I went along and swam laps while Mimi took Wm to the kid's pool for swim instruction.  He started off pretty shaky - refusing to get in the water.  But, by the end of the hour, he was having a GREAT time, was blowing bubbles, and nearly floating (assisted by a noodle) on his back!  Mimi even got him almost into the adult pool...one more step to go!  We plan to take him every Saturday - he says he wants to go every day.  Steve and I plan to join an outdoor swimming pool (we haven't decided which one yet), so Wm can get even more practice in the water.  Wm goes, "I am just like a fish!!" And Steve goes, "Yeah, you did great today!  But, ya know - fish can swim." And Wm goes, "But that's the only difference."  Way to keep it positive, Wm!

We also signed Wm up for Whetstone Rec soccer today.  They have little uniforms that are super cute.  Wm is an XS.  He is not as excited (yet!) about the soccer as he is about the swimming.  But I have discovered that Wm isn't excited about much until he's given a gentle push to get himself started.  Then, he usually loves it!  Without that little push, I think Wm would be playing Xbox and Legos by himself for the rest of his life.

Wm Fights The Man

Wm is going to commit his first act of civil disobedience this weekend!  Steve got free tickets to the circus at work - but I refuse to go to the circus because of how they treat their animals.  So I told Wm, "we have tickets to go to the circus, but I won't go because they hurt the animals and do not treat them well - do you want Daddy to take you or would you rather boycott it with me?"  Wm said he wouldn't go if they hurt animals.  So then some friends decided to go protest the circus with PETA (I know...don't get me started on PETA - but those people know how to put on a good protest, you have to give them that!)  So I asked Wm if he wanted to go protest the animal torture.  He wasn't sure at first, so I explained what it means to go to a protest and showed him some pictures of what they do the elephants (nothing that would scar him for life). And then he was IN.  So, the whole fam is going down to give the Ringling Bros a piece of our mind!  Although, when I told Wm he should write a big sign to ask them to stop hurting the elephants to hold up, he goes, "that sounds like a lot of work."  So...I'm not sure how committed he is.

Wm is Funny

To Steve while playing his new Xbox game: "Just because this is the first time you played doesn't mean you get to steal everything from me.  If that hurts your feelings...I'm sorry."

Wm farted loudly....
Me: GROSS.
Wm: [laughs] That was dedicated to you, Mommy!

The Little Birthday that Could

This birthday will never end!  And Wm doesn't it want it to.  Grandma and Papa came Friday night to surprise Wm.  He was super excited!!  Then, they took him to Toys R' Us and let him pick out his own birthday presents.  Which was a BIG hit.  He got some XBox game that he is in love with. He has already used up a birthday Target gift card buying some new guy for his game.  Watching him play is hilarious.  He bounces constantly.  He is a jumping bean...



We also tested out Lactaid - to great success!  We took Wm out to Dewey's, his favorite pizza place, and gave him a Lactaid right before he ate.  No problemo!!  That will be good to send with him to pizza parties, over to friend's for cake and ice cream, etc.  We won't use them often, but it's good to know that they're there for him when he needs them to not feel left out or for a special treat.

Birthday Conclusion

Well, the day is Big Day is done! Wm is still running - and we are about to take him up to bed.  I think he's on 100% pure adrenaline.  Steve and I are exhausted, the house is a mess, Legos are everywhere...and I'm pretty sure I smell ripe. A cool shower and early bedtime are in my future.  But we had a great day!!  Wm said it's the best birthday ever.  And so it ends....

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

Very excited about more presents from Mimi

I will leave off with the pictures we took first thing this morning as we began The Best Birthday Ever and the excitement was still palpable:

Mom and the Birthday Boy

Dad and the Birthday Boy

And now I'm going to bed....

Birthday, Part 4

And the fun continues!  Wm had lunch at Graffiti Burger, followed by the arcade at Magic Mountain then putt-putt.

Wm took down his entire turkey burger!

The Arcade

Wm got 152 tickets!

Just taaaaaaaap it in

Showing Dad how it's done

Get your motor runnin'

Wm plays Happy Gilmore-style

I just frosted Wm's chocolate mint cupcakes, got him dairy free ice cream - and am gearing up to make his birthday dinner.  After putt-putt, we asked Wm what he wanted to do and put the ball in his court.  He yelled - "BUILD LEGO SETS!"  So we are home...and Wm is a-buildin'.  And Steve and I are exhausted.

Birthday, Part 3

We just got back from an epic adventure at Easton.  Wm did Build a Bear and then a trip to the Lego store.  The Build a Bear pictures are out of order...but moving them around is hard.  So you can figure it out. :)

Making a wish on his heart (that beats and gets sewn inside)

Wm adding stuffing

The finished product!  (It's a boy...says Wm...)

Wm filling out his bear's birth certificate.  His name is Rainbow.

Wm giving Rainbow a bath

Picking a song that Rainbow will play.  The choice: Star Wars Theme.

BUILD-A-BEAR!!!  The selection is made. Colorful bear.

Picking out clothes and dressing Rainbow.

Trip to the Lego Store.  Still not tired of Ninjago crap.  LOVING IT.

Next up is Wm's super surprise lunch!  Then...on to the next adventure!

Birthday, Part 2

Wm is 6!!!!  And we have entered into Phase 1 of The Biggest Birthday Surprise of All Time.  Wm woke up this morning and got ready for school as usual.  Then, as he was getting his shoes on to go to the bus stop, Steve and I marched downstairs playing Happy Birthday on kazoos, wearing party hats, and stuck a hat on Wm's head.

He's very confused at this point.

Then we told him that he's not going to school today and he gets to spend the entire day having one awesome surprise after another.  It took a couple minutes to sink in.  And then this happened:

 The first stop on the Surprise Train were confetti chocolate chip pancakes.  The inside was filled with all sorts of colors...and chocolate chips!  Wm LOVED them!  (And, there were super healthy to boot!)

Wm goes, "THERE'S COLORS IN HERE!"

He has no idea these are pretty good for him...

We leave in 10 minutes for Phase 2 of The Surprise.  Rest assured that pictures will follow!!!