Will Lost His First Tooth

Will came to me last night and showed me his bottom right tooth was loose.  By the time I picked him up from school today he was carrying his tooth in a little necklace container the school nurse gave him!  It makes me want to cry - it seems like just yesterday he was teething and now they're falling out!

7:00 a.m.

2:30 p.m.

Working Outside

We spent this weekend working on a project outside (I'll post some before and after pics later.  It's one of those typical projects that always end up taking longer and costing more than you thought!).  Will used the landscaping bricks to make a firepit and Jerry used some cardboard to make a wagon for Will's four wheeler so he could gather fire wood. 

I liked Jerry's creative use of cardboard and bungee cords!

 I think Will looks so much like Jerry in this picture!
And not just because he's playing in the fire.   : )

I Never Thought I'd Have a Post Like This on my Blog!

Well, school has been in session for one month now.  That's as long as it took for me to get a call from the school about Will!!

As a parent your stomach gets a knot when you see Greenfield Elementary on the caller ID.  So I wondered, "Is he sick, did he get hurt?"  Nope - not my son!  Instead it's the principal calling to tell me she has Will in her office because he brought a pocket knife to school!!  She said he found it in the car that morning, put it in his pocket then took it out to look at during library time.

I went to pick up Will and the knife, wondering the whole way what I was facing since these days bringing a weapon to school is taken seriously.  I was also furious at Jerry - it was totally his fault that his pocket knife was left out where Will could find it.  And of course he was too far away to be the one to suffer the embarrassment of going to the school. 

Finally, just in case the situation wasn't bad enough, I walked into the principle's office to get Will and the first thing he says through his tears is, "Are you going to make me live in the shed now?"  REALLY!?!?!  I honestly had to turn my head to avoid laughing since I was completely at the end of my rope by this point.  I could just picture my kid being suspended for bringing a knife to school and then the visit from social services wanting to check my shed for signs I've made Will live in there!!!  Then the principal said, "See Will, I told you she wouldn't make you live in the shed."  So apparently he's been sitting there the whole time telling her I would make him live in the shed!!  If there had been a hole in her office floor I would have gladly crawled in at that point!! 

After my discussion with Will about why we don't bring knives or dangerous objects to school (I didn't let you take your jumping beans this morning because they would be a distraction - don't you think a pocket knife is even a bigger distraction!?!?) and what the consequences would be (the worst of which was loosing the privilege of spending time with daddy looking at his special things) we left school with reassurance from the principal that Will certainly wasn't the first kid to bring in his daddy's pocket knife.  Honestly though that did little to get Will (or Jerry) off the hook!  

We spent the afternoon shopping at Walmart (Will's least favorite thing to do) and then doing homework.  I hope this was a bad enough experience for him that this will be an isolated incident rather than the start of a trend!

I'm sure this is one of the things I will remember forever and laugh about for years to come but I'm still not quite to the point of laughing - I'm still half waiting for the call from social services! (Or at least the call revoking my appointment to room mother!)

UPDATE AND CLARIFICATION:  (10/4/13)
Everyone is wondering "where did he come up with living in the shed?!"  To clarify, I've threatened him with plenty of things but the shed hasn't been one of them.  Apparently living in the shed is my child's equivalent of running away.  Recently, any time he's mad at me (like when I'm too "ruley") he tells me "Fine, if you won't let me eat a cookie before dinner then I'm just going to live in the shed!"  In thinking about it, I think it shows two things;  he is smart and he is spoiled.  Running away would mean missing out on the good things he has going on around here so the shed seems just far enough to dodge the rules but still get the rewards! 

Mini Golf

Mom, Tom, and Kristen came over last Wednesday after school and took Will and I out to play mini golf.  We had so much fun!!!

Will decided to add a moving golf club obstacle to the course!

 

What We've Been Up To

Well, Jerry has been working, Will has been going to school, and I've been unpacking and organizing.  I think I can finally say that I'm (pretty much) finished.  Now I just have a few areas, like the pantry, to straighten out.  When we moved to Pennsylvania we downsized so unpacking was difficult.  This time our house is bigger so I thought it would be easy.  Wrong!  While there was enough space for everything, it still wasn't easy to find the right spot for things.  Plus we had a sofa and love seat that wouldn't fit anywhere - literally!  The sofa was too big to fit through the doorway to the basement or into the TV room upstairs so they ended up on Craigslist.  While it wasn't easy it was still enjoyable because I really do like my house this time.

Will is still enjoying soccer and doing well this year!  He has gotten fast and
has scored several goals!!

Our team's three boys, Blake, Will, and Garrett, played a good game!

It's so nice that so many of our family and friends have been able to
come see Will play.  Mom, Tom, Granddad, Grandma, Jenny, Craig, and
Brittney have all come on numerous occasions.  Our team
always has quite the cheering section!  : )

We have plenty of cool bugs around that Will enjoys playing with.
This was the biggest grasshopper I've seen!

And I decided to try to like these huge, creepy-looking robber flies after I saw
this one sucking the guts out of my arch nemesis, the stink bug!



Will is adjusting well to school.  Honestly I have to admit he's adjusting better than me.  He gets out the door in the morning without complaining most days, which is good for him since he isn't a morning person at all.  We aim for bedtime around 8:30 so he's doing ok without the nap he was used to.  I'm busy all day so I'm ok with the length of the school day, but I'm struggling with the curriculum.  Two by Two was a great preschool so I wish he was building on what he learned rather than still reviewing so much.  I understand what teachers face regarding a wide gap in skills but I wish there was a better system.  So far he has learned two things in school: the months of the year song and what abstract art is.  He learned one in music and the other in art, which highlights the reasons those types of programs shouldn't be cut!  I think if I had my way I would send him to school for half a day then to an individualized tutoring program for an hour or two in the afternoon.  I know he is learning valuable skills in kindergarten ("everything he really needs to know", right?!) but I worry that too much of his short attention span is being wasted on review.  At this age, free play time would be more beneficial than review.  Which is also why I don't feel like teaching him myself after school is fair to him.  That's the time he needs imaginative free play to just be a kid!  Ggggrrrrrr!! 

 

This was the first thing Will has ever made that he was really proud to display
on the fridge! 

 

Sunrise is always so beautiful from the backyard!  And we're always up to see it
since we start our day at 6:30 now.  There is a bright side to those early mornings! 

Jerry took this with his phone in the back yard when he got home
from work one day.  Nice shot dear!

Did I ever mention I love my cows??

We went to Huntingdon over Labor Day to visit friends.  It was a short visit but Will did get to spend some time playing with a few friends.  He and Grace rode bikes, which Will enjoyed since he doesn't have a good place to ride here.  But of course I forgot my camera so no cute pictures of them.  : (

On Saturday evening we went to a cookout at Lindsay's mom's house which was so nice, and Sunday we went to Whipple Dam with Lindsay and Jess.

 

It was hot and humid so all the kids had fun swimming.  Will must have
made 20 laps to the rope and back!

They loved the huge tadpole they captured!

Natalee, Will, Logan, Brady, McKenzie, and Amie
Everyone except Colby - he was in no mood for a photo since our play time
infringed upon his nap time!  Poor guy!!

A couple weeks ago we took a ride up to the star on Mill Mountain in Roanoke.  Will had fun climbing on the rocks and he even humored Jerry while he took a picture at the star.

 

 

While we were at mom's house visiting recently, Will invented a sled for Kristen to pull him in behind her bike!  It was hilarious - he even got a thumbs up from passing traffic! 

 

By the way, Mom.  Will says you should put a motor on this for him so be
sure you get right on that!!  : )

 

Jenny and Craig are hosting an exchange student from Germany, Marike Johannsen.  They took an anniversary trip to Virginia Beach this past weekend so Brittney and Marike stayed with us.

 

On Saturday we walked around downtown and visited the rooftop garden at
Center in the Square.

We also had fun flying helicopters in the living room!
Brittney looks nervous though because someone had just
crash landed one on her moments earlier!

On Sunday we went for a hike and picnic at Roaring Run with one of Will's friends from school, Sara and her mom, Kim.  It was perfect weather! 

Sara, Will, Brittney, and Marike

Will posed for a photo!!!

They had fun being scared of the millipede.

Aren't they cute!  Sara told Brittney she has two boyfriends, Will and another boy,
but she can't decide which one she wants to marry!
Good thing she has a LONG time to think about it!  Hahaha!  : )

 

 

 

Playing Soccer

We were a bit late, but we were able to get Will signed up to play soccer here.  His first practice was Thursday evening. It was the team's last practice before their first game so they organized a game of kids vs. parents! 

GOAL!!  (for Will - I just couldn't catch him!)  : )

Will's First Day of School

Will's first day of school was Wednesday, August 21.  He was rather nervous the day before during orientation, but while he was there he met a girl who would be in his class so he was excited to see her again.

 

I had explained to him beforehand that he would have to wake up earlier than he normally does to get to school.  Actually it's a lot earlier.  School starts at 7:50 so we leave the house by 7:30 or 7:35.  As Will has said before, he's not a "get up and go" type person so he has to be up by 6:30 (his normal time is between 7:30 and 8!).  I asked him how he'd like me to wake him up.  His first thought was for me to give him a wedgie!!  That seemed funny to him right then but since I was pretty certain he wouldn't see the comedy in it at 6:30 a.m., I tried to help him think of a different idea!  He then decided he wanted to wake up like daddy, so we put an alarm clock in his room.  Jerry showed him how to hit the snooze button to turn off the alarm.  I was really surprised that he heard the alarm because he never has before (at hotels, etc.).  It worked really well because he hit the snooze button and got to lay in bed to wake up a bit before I came in 10 minutes later. 

 

The first day went really smoothly.  He was smiling going in and coming home.  I smiled until he was out of sight then cried!  Thankfully Jerry had taken the day off with me, knowing that I'd be having empty nest syndrome.  Isn't he the best husband ever?!  I am so blessed! 

 

The second day was a different story.  It was like preschool all over again with the tears.  His main complaint was not wanting to leave so early of course.  But like preschool he recovered quickly.  That afternoon we talked about it and opted to try to get to bed earlier.  : )

 

By Friday he was back to himself again and went off to school happily.

 

I have been thankful because unlike preschool, he had actually been willing to talk about his day - some.  I don't get a lot of detail but I did learn that he spilled his milk on his friend Sarah's shoe the first day, but she wasn't mad.  : )  He liked recess, played with red bouncey balls (kick balls) in gym, recited for me the months of the year song he learned, watched Bearenstain Bears Too Much Birthday, sits on the green line while waiting for his name to be called for dismissal at the end of the day, and he missed ice cream on Friday because he mistakenly thought that if he got in the cafeteria line during snack time he'd have to get something besides ice cream, "like fish or something."  Poor kid!    

 

 

A big smile on his first day!

Still smiling at the end of the day.



Our Time Before Kindergarten

I decided to forgo unpacking and organizing in favor of spending time with Will before he started kindergarten.  I tried to make sure we did something fun each day to make the most of the time we have together.  It felt like I counted every hour since I knew things would be so different once school started and we would be apart the majority of his waking hours. 

On August 6, we packed a picnic lunch and walked on Cherry Blossom Trail.

 

Our lunch was interrupted by quite a few of these HUGE bees.  They weren't
really bothering us but they were too close for comfort so we moved on!

After our walk, we went shopping for school supplies.  We ended up with three bags full,
including pencils, markers, crayons, folders, baggies, tissues, and TWELVE glue sticks!
All together it cost $50, plus his book bag!!  Thank goodness we've only got one kid!

On August 12 we spent some time at our little creek and Will actually
found salamanders and this little crawdad!!  Afterward I turned over
a rock and found a HUGE one - at least three inches long.
I was amazed they were living in our little spring!

On August 14 we went to the West Virginia State Fair with mom, granddad, and grandma.
Will spent the whole day navigating granddad's hoveround.
It was his favorite ride!

We watched the pig races and Will was chosen from the audience to cheer on one of the
pigs.  His pig won so Will won a pack of Oreo cookies (the treat the pigs were
running for).  I couldn't believe he volunteered to cheer for a pig!  I
guess Oreos are great motivators for everyone!

I hope I won't regret taking Will to see the bike show.  I can see him trying
this at home!   

After the hoveround, Will's second favorite ride was the ferris wheel
with grandma and granddad.

He also enjoyed the inflatable tunnel in the pool, thanks to the money
Kristen gave him to spend at the fair!

I had to laugh at this sign.  It was posted beside a ride, and after a moment of thought
I realized it was indicating that you could ride if you were "with and adult OR
with someone."  Apparently at the fair the word "are" can take the place
of any other word that sounds similar in your local dialect.
Last year at the Huntingdon County Fair the following text was
spray painted across the bumper of a demolition derby car...
"For Are Mother"

On August 16 we participated in a program through Nature Investigations.
The kids caught various bugs then examined and learned something about them.

On August 17 we were out shopping and I got a good laugh
when I looked more closely at Will's pants!

On August 18, Aunt Carol, Uncle Greg, and grandma came by for a
visit.  Will was glad to let Uncle Greg take a turn on his four wheeler!

On August 19 we went to Troutville park to play and then to Greenfield
Recreation Center's parking lot to ride bikes.

 

On August 20, the day before school started, I took Will to
Splash Valley to swim.  I think I was bordering on
hypothermia by the time we left but we had lots of fun together!!