Yankees, Soccer, and Columbia Football

We had a fun filled, exhausting, everything boy weekend!  Friday the older boys went to school while Jayden and I enjoyed a little morning baking.  We made chocolate chip cookies together.  It was the first time that Jayden has been the helper and he thought it was pretty fun.  I let him sit up on the counter and pour the ingredients in.  He loved it.  Then he got to help me roll the dough into balls and put it on the cookie sheet.  Since we do not make cookies very often he got to have a cookie breakfast before we headed off to the park to play with some of his little friends.  Then we picked the boys up from school later that afternoon.  I was excited to tell them that there were cookies waiting for them at home.  The joy of motherhood!  Usually we have popcorn durning our Magic Tree House read aloud so to come home to cookies and Mummies in the Morning was pretty exciting to them.

Once Chase got home from work we ordered Pizza, watched Sandlot, and got ready for the Yankees Game!  I love that the boys get so excited to go do things as a family.  They are at an age now that doing things as a family feels more like hanging out instead of babysitting.  It was a lot of fun!

Tired Yankees Fan

Saturday morning we went to Chase's soccer game.  After soccer we went to the Columbia Football Game.  It feels like a high school football but it really is a lot of fun!  I love it cause we have a whole bleacher section to ourselves.  It is just great to hear a little marching band music,  watch football, and enjoy the fall weather.   The boys think it is as big as it gets, they have obviously only attended ivy league college football games.  Maybe one of these days they will get to experience the real deal.  The first things they look for is the lion mascot.  Its their favorite part.  Today it came over and shook their hands.  They all ran away at first but Chase took them down and after they were pretty proud to have a picture with the Lion!

The greatest line of the day was little Chase as we were walking to the bus,

"I don't know if my legs have any more walking in them."  The funny part is that I was just telling Chase that my legs were completely dead after all the walking that we had been doing.  Once we finally got home, ate dinner, and got the boys in bed, Chase and I went and layed down on our bed(at about 6:30) and crashed.  We were surprised the boys hung in there for all of it because we were completely beat!  Lots of fun but it is time to kick our feet up and RELAX a little.  

Manhattan Memory

Chase's good friend that was in his program his first year here at Columbia got married yesterday. Chase was one of his groomsmen.  His reception was on a Cruise Ship and he invited our family to go.  At first we were hesitant to take the boys.  The reception was from 6:00-10:00 and because it was on a cruise ship, once you are on you are on.  We had a babysitter lined up but the night before we decided to take them with us.  It ended up being one of the funnest things that we have done together as a family.

Our train ride down to the end of Manhattan

Sitting down to dinner

We could not believe how good the boys were.  If there was one night we needed them to come through for us it was tonight and they were absolutely perfect.  There were two babies on the ship but other than that they were the only kids.  I am sure the thrill of being on the boat helped out but they never let up and behaved so well.   

Up on the top deck passing the Statue of Liberty

Our camera ran out of batteries halfway through so these pictures are taken with Chase's phone so they are not as clear but still show how much fun the boys were having dancing on the dance floor.

You should have seen Jackson.  He loved it and danced like absolutely no one was watching:)

The best part of the night is when the boys favorite song came on.  Can anyone guess???

Party Rock!  

Chase's first soccer experience

Chase had his first soccer game yesterday!  In this soccer league all the kids ages 5-6 meet Saturday mornings and are divided into groups.  The first half they work on drills and the second half they play a game.  It was so fun to watch Chase.  Ha!  He is a stud!  At first he was pretty timid.  He ran on the outside of the mob of kids chasing the ball around but never really got in on the action.  Then he scored a goal...thought he won the game...clapped his hands and turned around ready for the crowd to explode in excitement!  Chase and I couldn't help but laugh and smile.  It was super cute and funny!  After that he thought he was the man and picked up his intensity.  On our walk home he said, "Mom, are you so proud of me."  "Heck yeah, you were the man out there:)"  Excited to see him learn a new sport!

After the game we went to Dunkin Donuts to celebrate Chase's first game- Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa who sent the boys a Dunkin Donuts gift card!  

MmmmMMMm...their favorite place! 

   

What a week

Good thing it is Friday and GOOD thing Chase gets back tonight because I am completely exhausted!  It was a great week but thank goodness it is the weekend!  I am completely fine taking care of the boys all day every day but...when it comes to bedtime, that is when I need Chase to step in and let me have a little time to recover from the day.  Although I must say that the worst part about Chase going out of town is dog duty.  When Chase goes out of town I think Gauge knows it and thinks he has to remind me that he still needs love and attention cause he follows me everywhere.  The other morning I was trying to get all the boys ready for school, lunches packed, etc. and Gauge was in my way every time I turned around.  He is like an old person that doesn't know what to do with himself so he just follows me and sits and stares.  I finally gave him a kick to the rear.  I think little Chase thought I was going to kick him out permanently because after that  he quickly took Gauge to my bedroom and shut the door. "Don't worry Mom, I put Gauge in your room."  Smart move.

On a positive note, the boys had a fabulous week!  Jackson has warmed up to the idea of going to school. The last two days he has been super happy and excited to go without getting nervous when I drop him off.  That makes me extremely happy and I think he will have a great year!  I also signed up to be a room mother so I am excited about that.  They are all about parent involvement and they like to invite parents in to share talents and hobbies with the class throughout the year so I hope to be able to help out in his classroom a lot.

Chase is doing great! He seems to be doing really well in school.  I think he is really going to excel this year and have a fun time doing it.  I am extremely proud of him.  I would have never thought that Chase would have so much confidence when it comes to school and friends because of his shy personality.  He kind of reminds me of my brother McKay, shy on the outside but has so much personality, especially with his friends.  He has told me that he want to invite his whole class to his birthday party this year.  I am a little nervous about that one but he genuinely feels like they are all his friends so I don't know how I could leave any of them out.  We will see what we can do about that.

Jayden is kind of going through a funny phase.  I am trying to be super patient with him because I know he senses a lot of change.  You can tell he really enjoys the time he has me to himself yet I feel like he is a little confused and unsure about life and what is going on.  He is much more clingy than he has ever been and that is just not like him.  He has also been a little on the moody side which I don't know if it is just his age or something else.  Hopefully I can get him going with a little routine of our own and make it fun and exciting for him!  Luckily he has a little buddy coming soon!
One thing about Jayden,  he has a huge imagination just like his brothers.  I am fascinated by the way that he plays.  The other day I walked in and this was his setup.

Three batman cars lined up in the firehouse garage, his cash register, and his guys sitting around their table-the coins to the register.

Jayden also loves playing the guitar.  It is one of his new favorite things.

The last bit of news for the week...the latest and so far the greatest rewards system yet.  We have tried many different things and although it is only week one, they have definitely responded to this one the best.  I hope this will instill in them some lasting habits, especially making their beds every morning.  That is at the top of my list of things to accomplish as a Mom, create bed makers:)  

This is Mom and Dad's Super Store!  We made a chore chart for each of the boys with specific chores that they have to do every morning and night.  If they do their chores they get to put a sticker on their chart and earn "Star Bucks!"  They can also earn extra star bucks when they help out around the house and show super great behavior.  I was surprised by how excited they were to go to "the store".  They were counting down all week and when they woke up this morning they were stoked to go to school cause they knew that when they got home they would get to use their star buck to buy a prize!  If it works this great every week life will be pretty good!  We will see if the enthusiasm and motivation lasts. 

I asked the boys to go in their room while I get the prizes ready.  Jackson says, "Is that because you want to surprise us cause you love us!"  Exactly:)

Their first pack of gum that is all theirs!  

It has been hard having Jackson in School.  I miss him so much and my days seem so quiet.  It has made me think so much about being a Mom.  I truly enjoy it.  It is so hard sometimes but there is nothing else that I want to be doing with my time.  Knowing that two of my kids would be in school I had thought all about the wonderful and exciting hobbies that I could do and the talents that I could develop with my extra time.  Now that I have the time it does not seem so exciting any more.  I miss my boys and find myself spending my day planning for the time that they get home from school.  It has made me realize the role that each of my boys play in my life.  I hope I can always remember to cherish the time that I have with them.  To be more patient and loving even when they are at their worst.  Because...I am lucky to have them in my life and should never take it for granted.

Jackson has been a little shy going to school the past few days.  It makes me a little sad and worried but hopefully he is ok.  When I pick him up he is seems really happy and excited to tell me about his day so hopefully his initial shyness will pass.  Here is a picture he drew to put up on the wall his first day of school.

First Day of School

The boys both started school today day and absolutely loved it!!! I was expecting a few bumps in the road but today could not have been better.  First Jackson woke me up at 6:00 this morning asking for his new school shirt.  He does not wear uniforms at his school but I thought since I was buying Chase all new clothes for his uniform I had to have something to give him. So I surprised him with what he thought was the greatest shirt ever.  I did not tell him that I found it on the clearance wrack for $2.00:)  Poor guys, has to wear all Chase's hand-me-downs and then gets one $2.00 shirt for his first day of school.  I will make it up to him when he is older.  Anyway, he was so excited when I gave it to him on Tuesday that he put it on immediately.  Of course I told him he might want to save it for the first day of school but he wanted to wear it that day.  So the morning of the first day of school he came in asking me for his new shirt and I had to break it to him that it was in the dirty clothes.  After trying to get him to wear something else I gave up and thought, this is his first day of school and I want him to wear what he is excited about.  So I went and pulled his shirt out of the dirty clothes and let him wear it.  He thought he looked like the cats meow.  Chase and I were laughing because he got all his clothes on, ran in front of our full body mirror and said, "How do I look!"  He was so proud!

Jackson's first few days were half day with Mom so we will see how he does on Monday.  So far he loved it.  He enjoyed eating school lunch, putting the dress up clothes on, and doing rug time.  He surprised me by how confident and comfortable he seemed.  He actually didn't want me to stay with him and kept asking when he gets to go to school by himself.  He thought it was so great!  I hope he feels the same way after his real first day.

Chase could not be happier.  He was excited to see all his old friends and LOVED show them his new batman backpack.  He thinks it is pretty cool.  The morning of, Chase asked him if he was excited to see all his buddies, this was his response, "Dad, they are my dudes." Alright.  Not sure where he got that from but I am glad he feels like he has "his dudes." He absolutely loves his new teacher Ms. Ivy Cole.  She seems fabulous and I have heard nothing but good. He is so happy when I pick him up and is excited to go the next day. 

Eating breakfast waiting to head of to school. Jayden suspects something is about to change; a lot more one on one time with Mom, toys all to himself, and no one to tell him what to do.  By the look on his face he is not sure what to think about it.  He will love the attention but miss his buddies.

On their way to school

I am so glad that the boys seem so happy!

Bitter and Sweet

Last night as I was going to bed I thought so much about my family.  Life is bitter and sweet, sometimes even feels like a lose lose situations.  So many times in life you reach a point where you know life cannot stay the same or you will go crazy, yet...the thought of it changing, although exciting, feels incredibly sad.  The last few weeks have been full of ups and downs.  Knowing that the boys would be starting school I have tried to really spend a lot of quality time with them.  Throughout my efforts of savoring this time and creating memories it has also brought moments of feeling discouraged and frustrated when it does not go the way I had planned.  As a Mom I have a lot of expectations.  Sometimes I wonder if they are a little too high.  I vision what I want my family to be like; harmony in the home, kids that love and respect each other, everyone working together to learn and grow and BE HAPPY! The energy that goes into each day to try to get that to happen can be so exhausting.  It is in those moments when I am all about them starting school so that maybe, just maybe, the time that I do have with them can be what I picture in my mind.  I love spending time with my boys.  The joy that it brings me when we do have those glorious moments as a family is so wonderful! It is then that I begin to feel sad that they will go off to school and grow up before my eyes and therefore, life is bitter sweet. You can't live with them and you can't live without them.  It will be a big change for me to have both Chase and Jackson in school.  Although there have been many days that I have wanted to package them up and send them in the mail to Grandmas house I am glad that we have had this time, even the hard times, that teach us lessons and strengthen us as a family.   Here are a few pictures of the last few weeks of our summer!

Painting the rocks we found on our hike

The boys paint a lot these days and really enjoy it

Jayden just likes mixing all his color together

Today I let the boys choose what they wanted to do.   The pet store was their top choice.  We headed down to a cute pet store down on 87th street but the early bird does not always catch the worm and it was closed.  Luckily petco was just a few blocks north and they were happy with that.  I made up the difference by letting them stop and pick a treat from the magazine stand along the way.  

Chase and I at a Yankees game!  It was a lot of fun although we realized how fun it would be to take the boys to a game so this morning Columbia had tickets on sale and we went and bought some for the whole family!

Our new tradition is a Back to School Dessert Party with friends to kick off the school year!  The boys helped me make these apple rice krispie treats and thought it was so fun.  Jackson loves helping me these days with just about everything and sticks with the job from start to finish.  Chase and Jayden are there for the exciting parts, like the end when they get to lick the bowl!

Coloring cards for their teachers.  It started out great until all the kids showed up and then they just wanted to run around and have fun!

Jaydo!

Friends!

On Labor Day Chase had a play date with his friends from school; Leo, Kadin, and Max.  They played soccer, ran races, and had lunch! 

Chase loves hanging out with his friends

And this is it...

The night before it all begins

So we took the boys to Crumbs to pick their favorite cupcake

These are the flavors they chose:)

Chase: Mint Grasshopper

Jackson:  Cotton Candy

Jayden: Oreo(picked by Dad)

Chase and Jackson are very excited to school.  Today Chase asked me when it was going to get dark so that he could go to bed and wake up and go to school.  Lets hope it is as grand as they imagine. 

This finished the end of Summer 2012