Little Buddy's Big Day

As hard as it was for me to believe, Little Buddy's first day of kindergarten finally arrived. He had been waiting for this moment since at least two years ago when he realized that BOTH of his playmates would be gone for the entire day. He was so excited about his first day that he actually let me brush his hair without complaint. And that, my friends, is a huge deal when you have a head of hair like his!

The first day was just a half day so Rhett was a car rider. I wanted to be sure I got all the documentation I needed for such a momentous occasion so I lugged along my camera....and Bobby so he could be a baby-holder. He didn't want to miss the big day either so he happily obliged. Here are the brothers on Rhett's big day:
We headed into the school and Rhett never even looked back. He was a kid on a mission getting into that classroom.
Strutting down the halls that he's been in many times before but never with his very own snake backpack on his shoulders:
As luck would have it, we entered the school at the same time as one of Rhett's favorite friends! There was much excitement and chatter. What a way to make the best day even better!
We got in the classroom and snapped a picture with our most favorite kindergarten teacher EVER, Mrs. Cole. She has served our family well being our kinder teacher for every child we've sent to school. She really is a blessing to our family!
Rhett got to go in the cubby room and locate his very own cubby, #12. Or, as he called it "a one and then a two".
Despite his confidence and readiness for this day, I could tell he was a little subdued. I think he was just trying to figure everything out. He sat down at his chair, grabbed a marker, and then.....just sat there.
I'm going to give him about a week and a half and then Mrs. Cole is going to wonder what she's gotten herself into. I'm certain there will be enough stories for me to create a blog solely devoted to this cat's kindergarten year. He's got lots of funnies stored up in that little noggin of his!
I took one last picture before leaving. I'm pretty sure there was no other kinder kid with this big of a first day entourage. We all watched him to make sure he was good to go and then, assured, we left him for the day. I was a little shocked at the weepiness I felt when I left. I don't know where it came from or why. I'm pretty sure it was because this means I really am getting old.
The next most exciting day ever was the first full day which meant that Rhetters got to ride the big yellow bus with his brothers. He was up, dressed, breakfast eaten, teeth brushed, shoes and backpack on by 7:20 yelling, "Come on, guys!!! You're going to make me miss the bus!! LET'S GO!!!" The bus doesn't roll up to our stop until 8:05. A little eager to say the least.
I don't like the new bus stop area. We have to walk to the end of the street to the stop sign, get on the bus there, only for me to watch the goofy thing turn down our street and drive right past our driveway. It makes no sense. Whatever.
And, here's Mr. Quick our resident old man bus driver slash Pop Rock and Roller. I'm giving Rhett to the end of the calendar year before he knows all the words to at least one Ke$ha song. Awesome. With no "see ya, mom!" or "love you!", he was off.
And then there was one. Thank the Lord there is still one.
We made it through the afternoon and headed back to the bus stop to see if Rhett had indeed gotten on the right bus to make it home. And, why yes, yes he did!
I guess his little laminated school bus tag with the purple string worked well for him!
So far the word on the street is that Rhett is loving kindergarten. Monday will be his first full day with all of his classmates (thus far he's only attended with the boys). I'll reassess come Friday when he's spent 40 hours working on writing and reading. I hope he still loves it then! Happy Schooling, Little Buddy! You're not so little anymore :(

Five and the Train

While our husbands were busy serving the Lord in Nicaragua, A'lyce and I decided (in our lonely wife angst) that it would be a great idea to score some tickets to Maroon5 and Train. After a few hours online we had secured row 10 and we just knew our hubs would be so filled with the spirit that they would overlook any miscellaneous spending done while they were abroad. Several months later we're finally making good on our ticket purchase! It's always fun having a mid-week date night!

Manphoto.

After a great dinner we headed to the Bridgestone with our listening ears on, ready to hear some great music. I had not been to a pop/rock concert since middle school when Katherine and I were dropped off by her mom at the Bryan Adams concert. I can still feel the emotion of "Please Forgive Me" and "Everything I Do, I Do It For You". Ahhh. Memories.

It was suppose to be Gavin Degraw up first but word on the street (and the news) was that he had gotten beat up in New York City or something. Needless to say, he wasn't there but the 30 minutes that were meant to be his were. We sat. We waited. And finally, Maroon 5:
We thought it was odd that Maroon5 opened when we thought they were the concert headliners. Oh well. You never know what's going to happen when you trade in your usual cowboy boots and Levi's for skinny jeans and patent black Nikes.
There was another giant disco ball though. Either it was left over from Keith's concert or the universe is trying to tell me something.
Adam did a great job singing. I knew lots of songs and sang to most of them. Be it known that I didn't sing the chorus of the one with the bad word in it. You have to keep your dignity even at a rock concert.
I wouldn't be able to pick out anyone from Maroon5 other than Adam Levine if they robbed me on the subway. I did, however, for a fleeting moment, feel sure that I had gone to highschool with the bass playing guy. He looks eerily similar to someone I knew. Too bad it wasn't really him. I could've played the hey!-We-went to-highschool-together-but-I-can't-remember-your-name-can-you-introduce-me-to Adam?-card.
After about an hour of playing, 5 shut er down. I've been to enough concerts to know that the end really wasn't the end. I didn't even sit down. I knew they'd be back.
It was an extended wait but back they came. I thought for sure that in all the minutes he was backstage that Adam would've taken 5 seconds to change that sweaty t-shirt. Anyway, after a couple more songs it really was the end.
The band came to the forefront for a bow and I'll be honest, we were all a bit bemused by the homeliness of most of the band members. They just didn't fit together. Apparently it's serving them well though since they've been around for a while and have a concert tour and some grammys. And, on another note, the one guy in his 1991 loose fit church khakis either has a really spacey guitar playing face or he did not take heed to his D.A.R.E officers in elementary school.
Anyhoo, I enjoyed their part of the concert but I do still prefer country guitar playing over rock guitar playing. Here is our obligatory concert self portrait during the stage change. Next up:
The first thing that caught my eye was the really cool drum set.
The second thing was that I was pretty sure that I had never seen this man in my life. And he's the lead singer to the band that I paid to watch. Oopsie. Should've done a little research I guess.
Despite not having seen this man (whose name I still don't know although I'm smart enough to know it's not "train") I was really enjoying his concert! He was randomly pointing out in the crowd to get some people on stage and despite the fact that he did indeed NOT point at us, A'lyce and I ran up to the front and did our best to get up there. Can you believe we were this close and then an overzealous security guard pushed us back. Auughh. Someone is always standing in the way of my being almost famous.
This guy changed outfits nearly as much as Carrie Underwood did at her concert. I've never seen a man with so many costume changes! It was unclear what he was wearing at first...
But when the stage lights went down a little it was clear that he had paired a feathery shirt thing (much like Seinfeld's puffy shirt) with his white skinny jeans. I got tickled thinking how ridiculous Bobby would look if he tried to wear white skinny jeans and a feather shirt. There aren't too many people that could pull off that look.
Another outfit change singing a U2 song. I was shocked at the number of songs that Train sings that I didn't know that Train sings! I was singing right along with 90% of the the stuff. I had no idea I was such a Train fan!
Then, out of nowhere, TrainGuy announces "Please welcome.....Martina McBride!" Whaaaa??? And sure enough, out comes Two Lungs and a Larnyx (pet name given to her by the great Gerry House because she has a big ol' voice in a tee-tiny little body).
They sang "With a Broken Wing" together and wowzer, TrainGuy can hit a note! That's a big song to try to duet with Martina but I'll give him his props, he did awesome. Martina headed off stage and then he got all quiet and sentimental. He started to sing his lovely song "Marry Me" and then began telling us a story of a couple.....
On stage rolls a man in a wheelchair followed by his wife and two girls. His wife told the story of how in January of this year her husband was in Afghanistan searching out IED's.....and he found one. In turn he lost both of his legs. TrainGuy wanted to recognize this man, as well as all the other men and women, that have to come home from war to a "new normal" after fighting for all of us. The last thing I thought I'd be is weepy at a Train concert but sho 'nuf. I was one second away from an ugly cry.
The mood lightened when he pulled out his last outfit change and did a pilates move.
Cool picture.
It was time for the fun to end. Train was finished with their set and I was left with a hoarse voice from all the songs I sang along with. Who knew?? Who knew I knew so many Train songs?? TrainGuy gave out some hand slaps. Row 10 is close but not close enough for the hand slap.
It was a great date night and if I wasn't before, I'm now an official Train fan. If you see TrainGuy, don't tell him I still don't know his name. I guess I should call my friend Google 'cause I'm pretty sure he knows all about Train and TrainGuy.
Unless something sneaks up on me, this is going to close out 2011's Tour of Concerts. It would be a good one to end on for sure!

Steppin'

Elaina and I have been enjoying our free days together while the boys are at school. I'll admit though, I do spend some time sitting in the floor thinking, "ummm, what now??" Girlfriend won't sit still long enough to read a book and she does quite a bit of screaming at me (in most cases it's "I WANT MORE GOLDFISH!") But, seriously, you can't eat goldfish ALL day long......unless your mom is tired of your screaming. I can't win 'em all you know.

I decided to get the camera out the other day. Immediately she sat down and started posing. I'm so happy she's learning what camera means :)

After that we went outside to kill some time. I thought maybe she'd do a little walking for me since she's been dabbling in it....finally!
I coaxed her a bit and then she gave me the look. She's gotten quite adept at cutting her eyes and it cracks me up.....for now.
Then she did what I was asking and she took a few steps!

There are still many spills and it really hacks her off. Especially when she's falling in our crusty grass. I guess having a sprinkler system isn't all it's cracked up to be when the city puts out a watering restriction.
She eventually made it to her destination which is almost always, always our neighbor's dog. She loves dogs of any kind and will go out of her way to get over there. Even if it means walking and falling 50 times before she gets there.
It's great incentive for walking practice! I've got to get her rolling along before Mother's Day Out starts 'cause this mom is going to need a day out soon. I'm out of goldfish and I'm still waiting on Publix bogo or Kroger's 10 for 10!
I guess until I get the goldfish I can put her outside to watch the dog. Unfortunately she's not old enough to play outside alone and the last time I took my eye off of her for 15 seconds she ate a cigarette butt and a wad of abc chewing gum. (And just so you know, that was at the ballpark, not my back yard.)
I feel pretty certain, though, that given enough time unsupervised in our back yard she'd find some rabbit doodoo pellets and eat those just like her youngest older brother did when he was her age. Ahhhh.... toddlers. Always a good time!

Back to the Grind

I literally blinked my eyes this summer and woke up on the first day of school. I really feel like I had just attended the end of school parties! In fact, when I went to put lunch boxes in the boys' backpacks, I discovered that I had not even cleaned them out at the end of school! I found 852 silly bands, random pencil erasers, and a gift certificate from one of their teachers thanking me for my help during the year!

I don't really think anyone was ready to start school per se but they were both excited to see school friends that they've missed during the summer. Cade lucked out and had several friends in his classroom for 4th grade. That always makes starting a little easier. Here's Cade on his first day of 4th grade. I sniffle a little when I look back to 2007 to see his first day EVER.

Grant has one buddy from his 1st grade class in his room again this year. He has a brand new LVES teacher that is a transplant from the Sunshine State. She seems really nice and he's excited about her. He's going to have to get to school a good 30 minutes early every day because he's already added Mrs. Casey to his daily morning stop-by in addition to Mrs. Cole. This kid has loved his teachers thus far. We all remember his first "true love".
Big Bros....heading to another year of school. Just a few more days until Little Buddy gets the day he has so long dreamed for. I can't believe it's actually here!
Here's to a fantastic 2011-2012 school year. 2012 sounds crazy. Back in '88 I would have sworn we'd all be buzzing around in flying cars and wearing jet packs by 2012. Anyway, Happy School Year!!