Gametes In Love

We finally finished decorating our tree this week-end. We decided to wait for Rose to make her resurgence until we were done. There is really no correlation between the two, other than the face that S was out of town last week, work has been crazy and navigating and elf along with a todo list the size of Santa’s nice/naughty list just wasn’t going to happen.
Somehow in the kids’ mind the two were linked, and with the final ornament up on the tree there was no excuse anymore.
While I read to the boys I told S to get and deploy Rose. When I was done, I saw him holding an empty Rose box. Cr@p! I had not returned Rose to her place of rest since last Christmas and had NO idea where to look.
This morning, thanx to someone calling S at 5:30am in the morning (what’s up with that, btw?!?!?) I was up. So I decided to make the most of it and went on a Rose hunt. Checked my closets and decided to make my way downstairs and think like a frazzled mom on Christmas day: “Where would I hide an elf from a gang of rushing children on loot day?” Answer? In a lunch bag in the pantry in the dining room… where we open gifts.
Elf magic saved, and I don’t have come up with excuses. I was ready to go out and buy another elf, except for the fact that S had pimped ours out to give her wires in her legs & arms to allow her to wrap easier around her hiding spots.

In other news, Rose brought a letter to the kids today, which G began to read himself. Score!!! Rose’s font however didn’t take into account the newly-found reading audience, so it was a little … difficult. Mom fail! I guess I’ll be adjusting that in future Rose letters.

In other “other” news, someone please remind me to start planning Christmas in September after school gets in. Feels like it sneaks up on me faster and faster these days.

S2 and I pulled up to our driveway today and noticing the Sunday paper in the driveway kicked off the following conversation:

S2: Ugh! I hate it when people put their dirty trash in front of our house!

Me: what are you talking about, buddy?

S2: That thing on the side of your car.

Me: [looking around] What ‘thing’?

S2: What’s the thing that old men read called?

Me: What? Do you mean the paper?

S2: Yeah! The paper.

Ah! To be 5, and know following the news only through digital media….

Has it really been 5 years? Feels like it’s gone by so fast, yet that day feels so far away too.

You have such a big, and expressive personality. You are not afraid to show your emotions, when you’re happy (and you jump up excitedly, or run to dish out hugs)…. and when you’re mad (with the yelling and the stomping). You’re working really hard to get yourself in check in the different settings. I know it’s harder for you, but you’re doing great.

We’ve changed your life around a bit these past few months. A new classroom (with new rules), new teachers, homework to do every week, along with much less TV time overall and more responsibilities over yourself and our home. It’s a lot to take on, and I’m so proud of you for taking it in stride. I know more changes are in store for you next year too, but I feel confident you’ll rock it!

You still remain a Lego fiend. Honestly, I hope this stays forever (though my bank account may live to regret it). You are continuing to make amazing creations, and each time they become more intricate, and more dynamic. I may be biased, but I think what you can do and how you think, some older kids can’t even keep up with. You get lost in your Lego world, and can live in that space for hours. I won’t lie: knowing I can send you off for Lego play while I grab a quick nap on a week-end has been really nice. Conversely, I’m your Lego piece finder which both drives me bonkers, but it’s also time I spend with you hanging out and talking that I cherish. You won’t always want me near you like that, so I’m happy to oblige. With that said, I’m probably more excited about the Lego sorted Grandma and Grandpa are getting you for your birthday than you ever will be.

Sports are still not your thing. While a part of me regrets that you’re not as active as your brother, I know you because you’re like me in that regard. If I can get you to overcome your fear of heights, though, I KNOW you will love climbing, and I’m looking forward to having you try it.

You are appreciated by the kids in your group of friends and that makes me happy. You like playing with girls as well as you do with the boys, and I love that you give them all equal opportunity.

I don’t know how many more years in a row I’ll keep saying that you’re still a picky eater. Maybe this will be the last? God, I hope it is! You’re expanding your list of foods up little by little, but it’s at a snail’s rate. Please, oh please get a little better about this by next school year? Your goto of peanut butter sandwich won’t cut it in school, so we gotta get you onto something you will eat and school will let you bring in.

You love to do art. On your homework while you can get away with one picture you do at least three. Grandma would be so proud!

(Warning: the following video contains S2’s favorite song. If you finally got What Does the Fox Say from bouncing around your ear drums, you might want to put it on mute)

What is your name? S****
DO you know your full name? S**** V R**** Zane. R**** Zane? Yeah, cuz that’s my nickname. Zane’s my nickname
How old are you about to be? 5!
What’s your favorite color? Turqoise?
Who are your best friends? Danny. Parker. Sophie. Georgina?
What’s your favorite book? Uh, Elfquest! Elquest? That’s a great book! Yeah, I really like it
What’s your favorite movie? Ugh [pause] The Lego Movie
What’s your favorite TV show? Phineas and Ferb. Oh yah. And Pokemon, and ugh Batman, aaaaand… Digimon. That’s a lot of shows!
What’s your favorite animal? Ugh… Diego’s pet. Diego’s pet? What’s diego’s pet? A jaguar! Oh yeah, why the jaquar your favorite? Because he’s so tiny and cute!
What’s your favorite food? Mac & Cheese! Popular choice in this house!
What’s your favorite shirt? I’ll show you. This shirt. Oh, the help keep it clean shirt? Yeah! Why do you like it? Because I like the animals. I like every animal
What advice can you give me? What’s advice?
What’s your favorite toy? Legos
What do you want to be when you grow up? Be a policeman! No! A fire fighter.

Last week-end, by some unknown miracle I was able to talk both kids into doing a quick photo shoot with their Halloween costumes on. Now I can relax on Saturday and totally leave my camera behind.
G went on for weeks declaring he was too old to trick or treat. What?!?!?! I asked him several times and he held firm. No costumes. No candy loot. Ok! Only for S to approach me two weeks back asking “Did G tell you he wanted to be a bat this year?” There may have been an obscenity to leave my lips. Not Batman (which would actually be easy to get), but a Bat. *******!!!!! Staying true to form, G wanted a unique costume, with very limited time. I think the craft gods are still pitying me after caterpillar-gate and blessed me yet another year with the fortune of finding something online. And it fits! And it didn’t cost an arm and a leg! I was set to make it (let’s face it, a bat is SO much easier to do than a caterpillar), but I was glad not to have to.
As an “Aw!” side-note, I really dig G’s two front missing teeth. He looks a little vampire-ish, which makes his bat look so much better.
S2 is Darth Vader. His mind was made up months ago. Well, his mind was directed (and I’ve been holding firm on the “this is it, no changes!!!!”) as soon as the costume was acquired. He loves it! A Disney store trip this summer also yielded two kick-ass light-sabers, too. They only had the Sith variety in store, so he’s totally good to go.
Ready for photos? Of course you are!

Oh, also because I think this is adorable: S2 made a Lego version of himself… in costume. So S2 head, Darth body. Pretty sweet!

S2: Mommy, did you know that Santa doesn’t drive?
Me: He doesn’t? What does he use?
S2: A sleigh!
Me: Hmn… So what does he do during the summer when there’s no snow
S2: He runs
Me: Really? How does he run all summer and is fat all winter?
S2: I dunno. I dunno why he’s so fat!

This was on our way to school the other day. Deep thoughts from the minds of (almost) 5 yr olds.

7.5 years ago when S and I were assembling our nursery we went out and got a crib set from Babies R Us. Green and brown geometric patterns. Perfect! G slept in it. Then S2 did. The crib is long gone. The blankets, bumper, no longer have a home to stretch over. But the blanket is still used. Every day. It’s S2’s lovey! He calls it his “cozy blanket” (on account of the soft, plush underside) and won’t sleep without it. G never took to it, so I’m surprised and glad S2 did.
He drags it around the house.

He’ll be turning 5 in a few weeks. He feels so big, yet so little when he wraps himself in that blanket. It’s his first blanket layer, and his feet or head stick out. The time it covered his body fully it past gone. He’s only going to keep growing. I wonder sometimes, at what age he’ll stop asking for it, and he won’t care that it’s on his bed.

As much as I want to part with the set, I can’t now, because S2 asks for his blanket every night, and knowing how attached he is to it, it’s here to stay in my memory bins forever.

Last week, while surfing facebook I came across a friend’s post from a recent visit they did to a hay maze at Arata farms in Half Moon Bay. It looked awesome, so on a week-end that S needed some alone time to tackle his to-do list, I took the boys out. It took us an hour to get there (typical fall HMB traffic).
We drove past Bob’s pumpkin patch, which is where we’d been going for the past two years, and took a turn just a “block” past into Arata. I was super stoked to see that Arata was not only about the hay maze, but also had pumpkins. Two birds, one stone. I had brought my camera for our annual pumpkin picks, so score!!!!

I have a rule with the kids: “no pumpkin bigger than the size of your head”. This coincides with “no pumpkin heavier than you can carry”…. and “no pumpkin pricier than what I was to pay for”. S2’s approach to pumpkin shopping is to get the smallest pumpkin he can find. He thinks smallest = cutest, so every teenie pumpkin was cute. G’s a bit of the opposite — he goes for large, so the rule is especially helpful for him. We often compare: how big is your head next to that pumpkin? Also makes for good photo opp. This year I caved though and let him get one on the larger side. Sadly for me, though, I had to carry it most of the way, because it did get unwieldly for him.
We picked our pumpkins first. Good call. Got the kids to look over the maze — also good call. Then paid, and decided to drop the orange spheres back in the car before we went into the maze. THAT, on the other hand was a bad call. G tripped on the way back to the car, scraped his hand, and then just wanted to go home. Enter in sad mommy. Bummer. We went home. I went back to return the tickets, and we just drove home.

That was the maze that wasn’t.

However, after we got home and got to tell S about it, he got interested in going. This is a pleasant surprise, because the man hates driving to go to adventures like this. So we planned a second trip this past week-end. Next week-end is Pumpkin Fest in HMB, and you couldn’t pay me enough money to sit through THAT traffic, so it had to be either yesterday, or wait for another two weeks.

S2 literally ran the maze. This sucked, because we’re talking human adult sized maze, that takes 30 min to get through. Adults can’t see through the end (since the hay piles are taller than an adult), so it wasn’t exactly difficult to lose a child in there. And he wouldn’t stop running off. Thankfully most turns were dead ends, so he didn’t get too far, too quick, but still definitely a heart-racer there.

On the second trip, S2 found an even smaller pumpkin — it fit in his pocket, so it had to come home. Also G discovered the gourds and found one that looks like a perfect swan. It came home too. I’m a sucker!

The maze though was truly awesome! I’m hoping they’ll bring it back year after year, because I hope we can continue going every fall. They do evening maze runs too, which sounds evilishly fun.

G also had a fun run using my camera. I’m actually pretty proud of this kid. It took a bit of training, but he know knows how to back-button focus, take a photo, and zoom in and out. He was full on directing us what to do too. I might have to invest a bit more time teaching him how to work it more. Though admittedly, it IS a heavy combo, so it’s something I don’t completely trust him to run off with. Still — lookie!!!! I’m IN photos.

It’s embarrassing how long it’s taken me to write this. School has been in for almost a month, and the week before we took the boys to Tahoe for an extended week-end. So, yeah, it’s been a month. Let’s pretend it’s only been a week, eh?

I’ll say that while this vacation was far from stress-free (the kids weren’t exactly angels), I got a whole new appreciation for Tahoe, to a point I would be 100% open to buying a second home there. To rent out while we’re not there, and for us to visit a few times a year. And when I say Tahoe, I’m pretty sure I mean Northstar. Shane found a 2 bedroom condo for us through an AirBNB, and it was perfect! Driving distance to the resort, quiet, REALLY kid friendly (internet, board games, furnished kitchen), AND it came with passes to the Northstar pool area which gave us something to do.

G’s major score was Walking With Dinosaurs. He had watched it in his kinder class, and really wanted to watch it with us too, but it was hard to figure out which one of the dozen series they watched. Luckily for us though, the ONE show he wanted was the one the owners had to share in their video library. We brought our own movies rented from the library too.

We took a hike, went to the lake for dinner with the kids. Most of our calm time was back at the condo, but it was still a trip I look back on pretty fondly.

This little monkey is now to pre-k! Last year before big-kid school. Whaaaaa???

I’m glad his first day started at 9am. G got dropped off in time, but S2 had a chance to get his day moving without being rushed. Plus, both S and I got a chance to hang out in his classroom for a little bit and see him settle in without having to rush off.

Let’s talk about settling in. He got out of the car, ran into a friend on the side-walk and held hands all the way to the classroom.
He walked in, and as I introduced him to each of his teachers (not necessary, because they all know him), he gave them each hugs. Like big, deep, cuddle hugs. What?!?! Talk about scoring brownie points, kid! Then he ran off to read superhero books with his friends in the corner. No tears, no hesitation, just as if this is day 99 and not day 1.
LOVE THIS KID!!!

I hope he has a great day, and a great year.

Like the outfit? He picked it out himself!

Oh… guess whose class he’s in?

Kind of humorous that the school bus photos were branded with the name of his lead teacher. Happenstance? I think not! He’s with the same teacher G had his last year of pre-K. We loved her class, and lobbied for S2 to be in her class as well.

s2:

I’m the best player at dodgeball!

…

I scored 400 goals!!!

…

In one day!