Busy, Busy April

April always seems to be the busiest month around here.  The weekends most years contain Modgnik (high school youth retreat), Easter, and a presbytery meeting.  We added to that a few visits from family and friends as well as a vacation for a few days over Gabriel's spring break.  The month was filled with fun things and tiring things (like sick kids).  It sure went by quickly.

Going to the park, after packing his bag with a book
(which he sat on a bench and read for a while).
He really likes Daddy's bag.

Kid's project day at Home Depot

Watching the driveway get paved

The last few years that boys have really enjoyed exploring new towns (Williamsburg, Chattanooga) and seeing what exciting stuff there is for kids to do there.  For spring break we decided to check out Charlotte.  The weekend before we went Uncle Aaron and Aunt Tiffany came up and stayed with the boys while Taylor and I chaperoned the youth retreat.  The boys had so much fun.  BUT, on Saturday evening Gabriel threw up and then had a fever of 103.  I know that's not an outrageous temperature for a kid his age, but it's probably the highest fever he's had (we usually tend to get colds and stomach viruses in our house).  On Sunday when we got back I took him to the doctor just so we'd know what was going on if possible.  Flu A.  The pediatrician said "we haven't seen a positive here in two weeks before today!".  Ugh.  All of the kids in Gabriel's class got really sick about a month ago and he never caught it.  That week it was the teacher and his turn I guess as she had emailed a few days earlier saying that she had what she thought was flu.  Anyway, we decided to take our trip anyway since the place we were staying wasn't refundable and we didn't have set plans beyond going.  I'm glad that we went.  We explored a fun park, went to an aquarium (which was at a mall with a Lego store and Disney store, both new and exciting to the boys), went to a nature museum, tried Duck Donuts, and had food from different places.  It was overall a good trip.  We were planning to go to the science museum there, which was going to be the biggest exciting thing we did.  I'm glad we didn't pay for it because that morning we were walking around the nature museum looking at bugs and Corban suddenly wanted to be held and was on fire.  Poor kid.  Flu for him too I think.  We're all recovered now and neither Taylor or I got sick.

Lego Store

These boys love Steak n Shake

"Mommy, let's be silly"

Aquarium touch pool

Very fun park

The planetarium in the nature museum had big cushions for the kids during the show. 
So smart.  And that show was about a cat going to space so you know Corban loved that.

Sick boy.  I can't remember the last time he fell asleep on me. 
He rarely even did that as a baby

Duck Donuts

Corban's favorite food

A few days after we got back it was Easter.  The boys enjoyed the egg hunt at the local park.  We were proud of them.  They went and got a few eggs and then were done.  They didn't get greedy or pushy trying to get the most candy.  This didn't happen on Easter but this morning both of the boys said really sweet things at church (don't take this to mean they are angels by any means).  Corban said "I love giving some of my money back to God."  Gabriel said "My Bible and Jesus are my two favorite things."

Easter morning

We may have colored eggs the day after Easter. . .but the boys didn't seem to mind

Our sweet neighbors across the street (Bob and Judy) gave the boys Easter baskets with
sidewalk chalk.  Daddy had the great idea to leave them a message on our new driveway.

Lunch date with Daddy.

So, what's new with Corban.  He can still just be so sweet.  He's half child, half pet really.  He likes to meow, snuggle, and rub his head on your legs.  He likes to the dog "Bolt" (Disney movie) at nap time.  He falls asleep several days a week during rest time listening to his SkippyJohn Jones CD (he loves those books.  About a cat who thinks he's a dog.  Very fitting for him).  He likes wearing "comfy pants". He likes waking up in the morning and listening to CDs in his room with Gabriel.  He likes cutting things with scissors and tying things into knots (mostly a jump rope around the tree in the backyard or a shoe lace to a chair leg). He remains a sensitive soul though.  He can go from fine to tears and a red face quickly if he thinks that he's done something wrong or hurt someone (though honestly sometimes he's too hyper to care) and he can get quickly get so angry if someone won't give him his way ("Gabriel needs to give me THAT TOY!).  Also, last week I started working part time.  We'll see how it goes, but that means that Corban is spending about 8 hours a week with one of the high school girls from church.  He is loving the attention.  He might not want to share that attention with Gabriel when summer rolls around.

PJ and movie day at school

Random.  One day Corban was in our big tree in the backyard and he climbed higher than he had gone before.  He said "I have determined that this is too high and dangerous."  Than he climbed down.  This from the boy who at one point thought he could fly off of anything.  He's still pretty fearless though. 

Found a recipe in a Highlights magazine that he really wanted to try.  So, one morning we used
cookie cutters to make biscuits into fun shapes and then top them with whipped cream and fruit.

He also is about to finish 6 weeks of swim lessons.  He's loved it and has done a really good job.  He started putting his head in the water and is getting really comfortable using less things to help him float.  He really likes his teacher, Ms Emily.  We were playing at the pool after one of his lessons and he kept poking each freckle that he found on my body and then putting his finger up to his mouth.  I asked what he was doing and he said "I'm picking off all of your sprinkles and eating them mommy!"  Thanks. 

I can't believe that Gabriel only has 3 weeks left of his kindergarten year.  I don't know how it went by so fast but I am proud of all that he has learned.  Besides massive improvements in his handwriting and his simply loving subtraction, he is such a kind friend.  When I went to help at lunch at his school last week two of his classmates came and asked him for help with the books that they were reading and he just dropped what he was doing to help.  He still has a hard time being still, being quiet, and not letting his anger get the better of him, but he's making improvements there too.  His OT has given him some good strategies and exercises to do and he's brought them up a couple of times when he's angry and it has helped.  I am working on my patience with realizing that he has to be a part of the solution when it comes to what he's working on, so when I see him taking some ownership and trying to improve it is really encouraging.  When you put both he and Corban together though they have so much fun that they often can't reign it in.  Part of me is looking forward to summer since they are both old enough that we can do different things together than we have in the past, but part of me isn't sure how my patience will last with all of their energy, creativity, constant talking, and quick tempers.

Dairy farm field trip with Kindergarten and first grade. 
Gabriel had lots of questions for the director. 
"Excuse me.  Why do the cows have tags?  Why are they
different colors?  Why do they make milk?"

 Another random thing in our lives is that the Children's Museum that we love so much closed it's doors back in January.  They are relocating to a bigger space in the mall and changing their name to "Wonder Universe".  I didn't think that the boys, especially Corban, would miss it so much the past few months, but he asks to go there a lot.  I hosted a table at a fundraising lunch for them last month and also spoke at the Christiansburg Town Council meeting about what they provide to our community to help them raise funds for their new exhibits (this was way out of my comfort zone).  Before I went to speak at the meeting with the director Gabriel drew me a picture to take along.  It was of his favorite things at the museum -- the costumes, art table, and doctor station.  I passed his drawing around and he was excited to hear that the mayor looked at his picture.  While at the lunch earlier that day I saw several pictures of the boys from years past and there was a promo video that had Corban being a super hero, looking at X-rays, and playing with a tractor.  It was so sweet to see.  They had a "sneak peak" at their new space a couple weeks ago and Corban was delighted that they had his favorite toy, their big plastic dinosaurs, there for him to play with.

It's tee ball time!  And Daddy is coaching again too.

Spring BBQ and fundraiser for Gabriel's school

Batman and Chris Kratt are ready to save Narnia

Proud to be drinking out of a can

 Last week was the humanities fair and art show at Gabriel's school.  The book fair was also last week.  Gabriel was so excited about this and even brought some of his own money.  I remember liking the book fair when I was in elementary school so it was fun to see him excited about it too.

Singing

Lastly, we finally went on a little family hike this last weekend.  I wish that this kind of thing happened more often but between crazy schedules and weather it just doesn't.  They had such a good time!  Gabriel especially enjoyed watching some college guys do some rock climbing.  Corban liked looking at bugs and sticks with a magnifying glass and shining the flashlight into the caves.

These boys love their Daddy.  He's so good at Legos, pretend play,
and singing this jazz songs before bed ("Daddy, sing paper moon!"

So that was April.  Busy (and tiring) but great!

It's Finally Spring

The last couple months have just flown by.  Nothing out of the ordinary has been going on.  Just school and normal things.  It's just suddenly spring and the end of the school year is right around the corner.

I've realized that I tend to always start with Gabriel's stuff and this time I actually have more pictures of Corban.  That's usually not the case since he is less likely to hold still for a picture these days.

Walking at our favorite after school park, Nellie's Cave

 Some days when I take Corban to preschool he doesn't want me to leave, but he really loves it there.  Last week when we were leaving he said "When are we coming back to preschool?  I love it here!"  Then he yelled "I love you!" to his teachers and marched out the door.  On the way home from school today he said "Do you know what Ms. Lisa tells me sometimes?  She tells me that I'm very helpful and a very kind friend."

Class Valentine's Party

Class field trip to the gym and sitting with his buddies, Tobias and Luna

Corban's class took a field trip last week.  That evening the following dialogue took place:

Taylor: Corban how was your field trip today?

Corban: It was good. I didn’t hit anyone in the face.

Corban is his own guy.  He is wild and crazy, but then can be so sweet and cuddly.  He likes to sit in someone's lap while he's playing or reading books.  He still likes to suck his thumb and cuddle with "sack".  He also likes to bite his nails, cut things with scissors, be a cat, play with umbrellas, give little kisses, and sing random songs or make up new words to songs that he knows ("Mom!  I'm going to sing a joyful song now!"). We have been going through the letters of the alphabet and when he sees things that start with certain letters he likes to point it out or figure out what the starting letter is.  The other day he said "Rompy and Rubble start with an R!  We should put them our our R paper!"

A big fan of doughnuts.  And of saying
 "Momma, I like doing things with just you."

He loves Ninja class and Coach Daniel

Corban has taken to playing with his toys or telling stories using chapters.  He was playing in the bathtub the other day and I heard him say "Chapter 3!  Tony Stark and the Hulk!"  The following was a recent Facebook post that I made:

Corban spent the entire afternoon talking. He came out at rest time and said “Mommy I need to talk about some things.” He followed me around and proceeded to do so. When he got in bed he said “I just can’t go to sleep. I have so much more to talk to you about.” I said that it can wait until tomorrow. He said “Ok, we’ll start right when we get up.” Where did these talkative children come from?

The following happened just that night:

He came into my room at 5 this morning saying he had a bad dream. I asked if he wanted to tell me about it. He said “Chapter 1. The evil emperor bird steals Christmas. . .” And so he began. There were many chapters

Science museum with Daddy

Corban has been having some trouble with sleep lately, which isn't a problem we've had with either of the boys since they were babies.  He's not napping much anymore, and so is enjoying some quiet play time in his room in the afternoon on most days.  Some days he falls asleep in his bed during that time for a while.  The frustrating thing is that he keeps waking up sometime between 1am and 3am.  He usually comes into our room and just stands by Taylor's side of the bed.  He says that he's scared, though he isn't externally looking like he is. We want to give him the benefit of the doubt about it though.  Sometimes he gets in bed with Taylor for a few minutes and then he takes him back to bed. Last night I heard him shuffle into our room in his footed PJs and just stand by Taylor's side of the bed.  He stood there for some time.  I finally got up and asked if he needed something.  He said he was scared.  I just picked him up and hugged him and walked him back to his room.  He gave me a kiss and went back to sleep.  Him waking us up is a little frustrating sometimes, but he goes back to sleep without getting angry.  He's going through some kind of transition, with having so much to talk about, sleeping less, throwing age appropriate tantrums, etc.  He's trying to figure some things out.

One night last week Corban told me that he's scared of the dark because God is always there.  I hadn't thought of that from a kids perspective, but I could see how thinking about someone being in your room could be strange.  We talked about it and later he told me that he was glad that God was always with him.  I'm glad that his little mind is processing these things.

Opening day with our dragons

We don't go and see a lot of movies in the theaters because it's obviously so expensive.  Gabriel had seen a float with the How to Train Your Dragon characters on it on New Years Day.  He remembered from that what day the new movie was coming out this year and he pointed out many times that it came out on a day that he didn't have school.  SO, on that day the boys pooled their money and bought a new dragon and we went to see the movie in the theater.  Gabriel said it was the best day ever.

In the movie two of the main characters get engaged and married.  Gabriel's teacher sent me a text last week and said that while talking to one of his classmates about the new movie he said "I hate engagements.  That's all girls think about."

Playing on a fallen tree in the park.  We've had a windy winter

Valentine present from his buddy Addy

Local Hokie statue

Gabriel loves this monkey, who he named "Macaroni."  Corban, who did
not want to be left out of the noodle fun, named his Penguin "Spaghetti"

Helping Daddy change the oil

Taylor was out of town for a week recently.  He came back on Friday and I had to go to work on Saturday.  I told Gabriel that I was sorry that I had to go to work the first day Daddy was back home.  He said "Mom it's ok that you're going to work on Saturday.  We've been with you a lot this week and we want to hang out with Dad." 

Gabriel is up to the same things.  He loves his Legos and both boys have been really into dragons (due to some Christmas presents and the new movie that came out).  He told me that his favorite day of the week is Wednesday since he gets to have his violin lesson.  And he's super excited that tee ball starts back up this week. He also finally started occupational therapy.  I'm still trying to figure out how to incorporate the things that he's learning there into daily life.  They have been working on learning how to adjust his body from being fast and wild to calm and controlled.  He now has a weighted lap pad that he uses at school for math and writing to help him stay grounded and still.  He also has something on his pencil that he can purposely chew when he feels the need to do that.  They have also been working on identifying emotions and talking about appropriate ways to express and deal with different feelings.  I didn't realize that OT could address all of these things, but the activities that she does with him seem to be focused around the areas where he really struggles and I'm thankful for that.  And Corban also loves the sensory bin and putty that we got for help with calming down.

"Mom take my picture by this pole.  It looks like something from Narnia."  Gabriel loves
Daddy driving him to school most mornings so that they can listen to Narnia books in the car.

And finally last weekend we went to the open house at the local Vet School.  They have this every year, but I'd never taken them.  They had so much fun.  There were exotic animals to touch and see, ice cream for milking a pretend cow, a "repair clinic" where vet students had stuffed animals and felt hearts and they could have one sutured on, cookies decorated like cells, microscopes, and a whole room full of animal skeletons.  We will be going to back next year I hope!

Identifying ticks

They had a book of facepainting options, which did not include a bat.  Gabriel had never wanted his face painted but was certain that he needed to be a bat.  The girl looked up an example and he loved it!