Bigger Boy

Eli has had a busy summer just like Tori.  Eli took the trip with us to see all the relatives over the 4th.  He was pretty good other than asking if we had made it to Springfield, MO, the longest part of the trip, 70 million times!  He saw his cousins and seemed to have a good time at his grandparents.  He seemed to enjoy the zoo, but I think his favorite attraction was the mister's they had out at the zoo.  All the kids stopped everytime they saw one, even if they were 20 feet apart.  He also loved Dave and Buster's.  He especially liked air hockey and playing the penalty kick shoot out with the simulated goalie and Simpson's soccer shoot.  Maybe he'll be the one that likes soccer

Eli's party is coming up August 1st at Monkey Joe's!  We have 5-6 kids coming for sure, but he invited 20, so hopefully more will show!  He wanted an ice cream cake, but it wouldn't keep during the party, so we are having a regular cake for the party and will get a ice cream cake on his actual birthday.

Eli is enthusiastically looking forward to Kuk Sool Won tonight.  He's ready to try almost everything, so that makes it easier on me.  He's also going to be putting out mulch this weekend with the other kids.  He isn't getting out of it by crying and complaining that he's tired.  It isn't tough work, but I'm sure he'll complain about it anyway.

Tired Boy

We’ve had quite the summer so far. We’ve taken up carpet and put down new flooring. We’ve painted a lot of walls. We’ve done some yard work. We’ve helped Grandma move out. We’ve had a slumber party. We’ve gotten two kittens. And, we are just midway through summer. We still have another room to paint, bricks to put into our landscape and a trip next week. The sitter is also getting a pool, allowing the kids to get in a lot of time swimming. As a result of all of this activity, Eli is tired. We put him to bed early, but his perk just is not there. Maybe after this weekend and when he gets to sleep in at Grandma Marie’s. We are headed to Springfield, MO, next Thursday. Then to Pittsburg for the 4th and then to KC to drop off the younger two for a week. The next weekend is our 17th anniversary, and we are headed back to St. Louis to pick up the kids and have a little fun. We are going to the zoo first and then to Dave & Buster’s that night. 17 years, lucky us to have made it that long and still feel like newlyweds. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed that Eli gets some shut-eye before school starts in August. His party is August 1 at Monkey Joe’s bounce house place. 19 or 20 six-year-olds bouncing around for 2 hours. At least there is no slumber party.

Power

“Dad, was there power when you were born?” Eli asked.

We all burst out laughing before we could answer, and that, of course, upset Eli. He wasn’t trying to be mean. He really wanted to know. We must seem ancient to him because he also asked me if I rode a horse to school. After soothing his feelings, we told him about our great-grandmas who rode horses and used kerosene lamps. He must be learning about history in school.

Eli is moving more and more into Legos. He has them scattered all over his room. I haven’t been able to tell whether he turning them into anything or just tossing them around. He wants the Lego game for Easter and a couple of sets. If he gets really good at this, we may have to bring in some shelves for him like we have for Christian.

First Spelling Test

Remember how much fun kindergarten was? It is still fun now, but a lot more work. Kids are learning things a lot earlier now, and next week, Eli has his first spelling test. His words are: pink, said, this, that, read, seem, seven, eight and nine. He knows most of them. Eight is giving him the most trouble. I told him we would do a practice test this weekend and see what he knows. I am so proud of him. He can read and write, and he is learning to spell now.

Even though he is a big boy, Eli still misses his mom and dad. We had a few rough mornings last week, where he cried on his way to school and at latchkey. He kept telling us he was going to miss us. Poor kid. I think he had too many snow days and got too used to staying home. He seems to be doing better this week. Hooray!

Teary Mornings

Poor Eli. He has cried in latchkey two mornings now. He says he is going to miss me. All of these snow days have got him out of the routine. And, of course, the kids have Monday off for Presidents Day, so that is not going to help. Mrs. Sandy, the lead, has him sit beside her and gives him a hug until he comes around. Then, he goes play Legos and all is forgotten until the next morning.

Three months of school left. Thank goodness they have five weeks until spring break. Eli needs that time to get back into the swing of things. Tomorrow is his Valentine’s Day party. I don’t think he quite gets the meaning of the day and what takes place, so this should be interesting. I think Huts and I are going to pick up a stuffed animal for him and Tori. Christian has already put the kibosh on the idea.

Snow Day 2

We have had a bitterly cold winter, and the kids are reaping the rewards. To avoid anyone getting frostbite as they stand at the bus stop, school has been cancelled the last two days. Yesterday, the kids went to Sharon’s. They come home exhausted, so when we found out school was cancelled again, we decided to let them stay home with Grandma. When we left early this morning, they were all still sound asleep. We are hoping they get a good night’s rest and are ready for their half day of school tomorrow. Hopefully, there won’t be any more snow days. The more snow days they have, the longer the school year will be. Eli might like that since he adores his kindergarten teacher, but Tori and Christian won’t. The faster this school year ends for the two of them, the better. They have had enough homework.

Not So Little Anymore

My little Eli is growing up fast and spending less and less time with me and his dad and more and more time with his brother, sister and the neighbor kid. He has a lot to say and a lot of questions. He also knows a lot, that he is willing to share with anyone who will listen.

It is strange not having to get Eli as many snacks or help him as much. I kind of miss it. Oh well. I am sure he will need my help again next year when the real homework starts.

 Eli had a great Christmas. He says he didn’t get everything he wanted, but he can’t say what it was that he did not get. His room is packed, and he even gave up some old toys he was no longer interested in. Easter will be here before you know it, and he is starting his list for it already.

Tap-Tap-Tap

Eli came home yesterday with a new screw in his glasses. Apparently, Ethan, a kid at school, taught him how to tap, tap, tap on the lenses and make them fall out. So, that is what Eli did, which, of course, ended in the loss of a screw. The secretary inserted a new screw, but it is too long. We told Eli to be careful and we would get the right screw put in this weekend. Tap-tap-tap. Thanks, Ethan. We told Eli that he probably should not try any more of Ethan’s ideas. Hopefully, he listens.

Eli’s class turned in the most Labels for Education, and we are having a party for them tomorrow afternoon. They are going to paint rice crispy gingerbread boys and girls with flavored ice cream syrups using paintbrushes. The kids do this at Joe’s Crab Shack every time we go and really love it. I am hoping Eli’s class does too. I really don’t want to do an ice cream party. That seems so much messier. (The kids absolutely loved the snacks. They were all very good and scarfed down everything, even the ugly leftovers from the shapes we cut out in the rice crispys.)

I signed up as the coordinator of the Labels this year. So far, it has been interesting. We’ve had kids turn in labels without writing down their full name on the bag. I had to go through the directory to figure out that. Then, there were all of the labels from last year that did not get sent in. I had to go through all of those, toss out the expired labels and get the rest ready to go. We ended up turning in over 4,000 points. That gives the school 12,000 points to spend as they wish on school supplies. Way to go, kids of Charter Oak.

 We also just found out that Eli grabbed $18 in the grab-for-cash cube. Good for him to grabbing it and holding it! He got to do it because he sold so much Fannie May candy. Not sure how Tori did.

Happy Boy

Elii is my happy boy. He comes home from school happy and gets up happy. The little fits he used to throw are becoming far and few between, and he is learning to compromise and be content with what happens. He is growing up and turning into a very nice boy. Miss Marjorie at latchkey calls him her good boy, and he strives to meet her expectations.

Eli is exceeding expectations now in language arts. He still needs to work on his fine motor skills, but he will get there. He is such an eager beaver. He wants to practice everything, including Tori’s spelling words. Sometimes I think I should just teach the words to him now.

Thanksgiving is coming, Eli wants everyone to know. Hope you have a happy one filled with good food and friends. Eli will be busy putting up the Christmas tree and adding to his list, I am sure. Some people in our neighborhood have already decorated for Christmas, and Eli is getting excited about it. He is looking forward to all of the fun and the festivities. Hopefully, this year, we do not get sick.

Thanksgiving

My sister’s dad is coming up the weekend before Thanksgiving because Annie has it off. They are celebrating the holiday then, and Frank, Darin and Dale will also be there. Lucky us, we get another year off cooking. Annie and Dale want to spend the actual Thanksgiving Day at home, so it is going to be just us. We asked the kids last night if they wanted the traditional dinner, and they all three shouted No! This weekend, we are looking at recipes to see what to make in lieu of turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes, most of which Eli would have probably just shoved around his plate.

Last night the question was why turkey is served at Thanksgiving. Eli wanted to know. Christian explained that may have been what was served at the very first Thanksgiving. I don't know that Eli understands there was a first Thanksgiving, but he might learn about it more at school this year. He is a sponge right now, soaking up everything he can!

His teacher is amazed with all of the progress he has made. He knew no letters or sounds at the beginning of the year and knows 51 right now, in less than two months. He can read a bit and knows some math. Eli is getting there, and he must delight his teacher because all she could do was laugh for the first five minutes of the teacher-parent conference. She says she keeps Eli close, and the only thing he needs to work on is crying less. Apparently, he is a crier and tears up at the slightest things. We have been talking to him about not crying as much and just going with the flow. He told me yesterday that he has not been crying; hopefully, that is true!

My sister’s dad is coming up the weekend before Thanksgiving because Annie has it off. They are celebrating the holiday then, and Frank, Darin and Dale will also be there. Lucky us, we get another year off cooking. Annie and Dale want to spend the actual Thanksgiving Day at home, so it is going to be just us. We asked the kids last night if they wanted the traditional dinner, and they all three shouted No! This weekend, we are looking at recipes to see what to make in lieu of turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes, most of which Eli would have probably just shoved around his plate.

Last night the question was why turkey is served at Thanksgiving. Eli wanted to know. Christian explained that may have been what was served at the very first Thanksgiving. I don't know that Eli understands there was a first Thanksgiving, but he might learn about it more at school this year. He is a sponge right now, soaking up everything he can!

His teacher is amazed with all of the progress he has made. He knew no letters or sounds at the beginning of the year and knows 51 right now, in less than two months. He can read a bit and knows some math. Eli is getting there, and he must delight his teacher because all she could do was laugh for the first five minutes of the teacher-parent conference. She says she keeps Eli close, and the only thing he needs to work on is crying less. Apparently, he is a crier and tears up at the slightest things. We have been talking to him about not crying as much and just going with the flow. He told me yesterday that he has not been crying; hopefully, that is true!

Big Boy Now

Eli has been in kindergarten for just two months, but what a change. He no longer whines about everything, and he has become very polite, thanking everyone profusely and apologizing immediately. He is going to bed without much complaint and getting up smiling. He has memorized everything he needs to for school, and he is working on tying his shoes. He reads more, does his homework and practices his flashcards willingly. “I am a big boy now,” he tells me. He most certainly is.

In Love with School

Finally I have a child who loves school. Eli tells me he loves his teacher and his school every day. He sings school songs in the bathroom and gets excited when we read to him. He loves to work through the flashcards, especially the color words. He is my eager beaver!

Eli has also developed an interest in soccer. He likes going to practice now, and he likes playing in the games. He has one practice left tomorrow and three more games. He has even mentioned playing again later.

Who knew my uncooperative child could be so cooperative and be named Student of the Week.

Soccer Game

Eli had his first soccer game on Saturday, and it did not go well. They lost, but that wasn’t what bothered Eli. He hated being on the field. The kids went too fast for him, he couldn’t get to the ball and he spent most of his time on the field crying. I pulled him off and he stayed off until the second half. Then, Huts put him back in and he cried again. Huts tossed him out and he stayed out the rest of the game.

The other kids on the team did a good job for the most part. They tried their best and subbed in and out with ease. It wasn’t easy for them, and one got mad when the other team scored, but it seemed to go ok. If only Eli would get past the fact that not everyone gets a chance at the ball.

Getting There

Eli is the youngest and it showed on Monday morning, his first day of kindergarten. He got in line ok, but soon started crying. I hung around as long as I could and then I had to leave. No parents could accompany their child inside. Picture him with a quavering lip, a sad face, tear-stained cheeks and a tissue in hand. He got through it and came out smiling—with a yellow card. Seems he did not behave as well as he could have. He scribbled rather than try to write his name and would not sit still on the mat. We had a little chat that night about him losing iPad privileges and he has had a green card since then—green for good.

This was the first time Eli has ever had to deal with a cold lunch and he came home with quite a surprise. They don’t get a lot of time to eat, and on the first day, Eli shoved everything into his lunchbox, opened drink and all. He came home with a wet backpack, lunchbox and folder. Huts explained to him that he needed to toss all of his trash and so far, he has listened.

We got to the second day, the first day of before care for the kids at the school, and there were more tears. Tori was hoping to see Ms. Lynn, but she was switched to another school. So, Tori started crying and then Eli followed suit. Luckily, there was a woman working who got Eli interested in the Legos and started chatting with Tori.

Finally, Friday came and Eli got up, got dressed and went to school with a smile but told his dad he wished he could stay home. It has been one long week for that kid. He has done a good job and is even getting more involved in soccer. He has his first game tomorrow. Wish us luck.

Birthday boy

Eli turned 5 today. Seems like yesterday I was at the hospital stunned to find out I was carrying a 9 lb., 14 oz, baby. I remember them holding him up in the delivery room and remarking how big he was. We brought him home, and like most babies, he dropped down to 8 lbs. quickly. Then, he grew and grew and grew, and now, we have a happy, loves-superheroes-of-all-kinds boy.

Eli used to be our wild child, and in some ways, he still is. He has grown up a bit this summer and settled down. He still hates to eat nutritional food, and he still whines a lot, but he has become much more self-sufficient. He is taking care of his bathroom business, dressing himself and letting us know when he is tired. He is stocking Hugs in the refrigerator and getting his own snacks. He is inching his way toward kindergarten in two weeks.

Tonight we celebrate Eli turning 5 with dinner out, cake and presents. Happy Birthday, my big boy!