Chicks, Bunnies, and Easter!

Last week a package arrived in the mail. It was from Mamaw & Papaw from Florida and had cards in it for the boys for Easter. Ryan also got a little outfit and there was a Curious George coloring book for Caleb. But, what excited the older boys most was gift cards to Chick-Fil-A. What a cute idea! I loved that the "chick" went along with the Easter theme and yet this was a great gift for the holiday! The boys love to eat and play there, and it was a gift for us too to have the gift cards to go! THANKS!!!

Caleb & Joshua played with their cards all night. And then Caleb detached the gift card off from its holder that stores hang them from and he thought he had broken his gift. He BAWLED! Big tears and cries as we tried to reassure him that the gift card was still usable and he didn't really break his gift - it was supposed to come apart. I don't think he believed us, and his little heart was broken.

But we turned that frown upside down when we told him we would go and give it a try! So, Friday night before St. Patrick's Day, we used Caleb's gift card to go and get dinner.

The kids each got happy meals and Shawn & I got our chicken sandwiches. :)

The older boys LOVE to play there, and Ryan was disappointed that I wouldn't let him since it was crowded. But you can see a couple of REALLY old people in the background behind Ryan in the picture below. The old man motioned me over to him and I saw he was wearing a hearing aid (and his walker was nearby). He told me to enjoy my boys - they grow up entirely too fast. I grinned and thanked him, saying I know that these years go fast and I love each one!!!

Shawn also purchased a BBQ sauce for home from there - it is delicious and they sell it in bulk now! We had a fun family night. Thanks for the Easter gift!

I'm Not Just Lucky, I'm GOOD!

When I saw the two older boys' shirts one day, I couldn't resist buying them. They say "I'm not just lucky, I'm GOOD!" And since our last name is Good, I thought they were extra cute! They didn't have Ryan's size, though, so I bought his t-shirt separately at Crazy 8. It says "This is My Lucky Shirt! I took some pictures of they all wearing their shirts for St. Patrick's Day, and I thought the one above was the cutest of their smiles while the one below shows off their shirts.

In Joshua's classroom leading up to St. Patrick's Day, they had a sneaky little Leprechaun that was doing things to their classroom, like hiding the name tags and putting the computers on the floor and switching around some of the centers. He would giggle each day as he told me what the Leprechaun had done in the classroom. FUN!

On Friday, they were asked to wear green and they made this cool little Irish hats. Aren't they fun? I love the orange beard and the lucky charm on the hat.

Shawn thinks my love for this holiday is strange. He asks if it's because I'm Irish (and my ancestors  from what I understand were O'More before they changed their name to Moore to become more American). But, truly, I love this holiday and all others because I believe life is about celebrating. Each little day that we have gives us a reason to be thankful and happy, so why not enjoy each one for what it is? As Ecclesiastes reminds us, it is a gift of God to enjoy life while we're here on earth.

Saturday night Shawn & I went on a date, hiring our babysitter, to look for a new sports coat for his upcoming conference. The kids don't like to shop, and Shawn wanted my opinion before buying. So we made it a fun day. We talked about going somewhere to drink green beer, but we ended up at a family friendly restaurant and I simply ordered an unsweetened iced tea as usual while he ordered what was supposed to be an Irish shake. Either way, we both wore green that night and enjoyed shopping together, as much as shopping can be enjoyed. We love being out together!

Sunday morning, we made the boys some green milk. They all thought it was cool! Me too!

The Wednesday leading up to the weekend, the local library had a story time for kids about St. Patrick's Day. I called my sister Jen to see if she and John would like to join us, and they did. We ate lunch at McDonald's first to give the boys a special treat and then headed over.

The children's librarian was dressed up for the event (she is so fun!) and read two books on St. Patrick's Day, reminding us that leprechauns typically work making shoes (something I had forgotten) and about their treasures of gold at the end of the rainbow. My two oldest boys were enthralled with the stories.

After they were done with the reading part, they did some of their typical songs and dance time. She had the scarves and shakers. :)

Before leaving, she offered the opportunity to make a craft, but Ryan was done by then. We had come a little early to check out some books - the kids both picking several so we had lots to carry out. And I got the second book of a trilogy that was really good. :)

To continue celebrating, on Sunday afternoon after we checked out the Worship Center, I made a little treasure hunt for the boys based on an idea I saw on Pinterest. Here was the first clue:

The kids loved looking for the clues! They found the second clue on the milk in the fridge:

They were also excited to see the green footprints the leprechaun left behind. For him making shoes, he must have gone barefoot all through our house!

Here was the second clue!

Each boy found one near where we keep our kiddo books in the office.

They found more footprints in the hallway and in the playroom! What a mess that sneaky leprechaun left! The boys giggled and giggled!

Here was the third clue:

They each found a clue in a different spot this time!

Here was the fourth clue. It required a little change by the Mama to fit our house:

 They found the clue by the back door:

Here was the fifth clue. It was too chilly and a little wet to go outside for our treasure hunt, so I changed it a bit (after I had already printed them). So, I asked the kids where they would find a ball if we were going outside...

 And they found one on the back porch where we keep them! Here is where I should add that this was the most fun year for anything like this because Joshua can easily read the clues. That makes it all the more fun!

 Here's the sixth clue:

They each found a clue in the underwear drawer (with me trying to think of something that rhymed to change the clue from an outside spot):

 Here was the 7th clue, rather than it being "somewhere in the yard," I changed it to the train yard...

 The kids went downstairs and found the treasure by their train table.

The little black pot beneath the rainbow had gold coins and a gold balloon. It also had a little present we had bought for them in St. Maarten.

The last clue says "You found the treasures and followed each clue, but remember there's no better treasure than you." On the sign with their individual names, it says "You are my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."

They had a fun St. Patrick's Day! :) :) :) Little Ryan was too little to read the clues, but the kids shared some chocolate coins to him after he woke up from his nap. Next year he'll love it right along with them!

Happy 56-month birthday, Caleb Luke!

Caleb turned 56-months old on Friday, March 8. The following Sunday I took him out for a date. He was SO excited to go to Sweet Frog, where his brother had been.

He only wanted chocolate "ice cream" though and asked for swedish fish to be his topping. That was it! We had fun chatting, though, and he does talk and open up more when his brothers aren't around to interrupt. :) After we were finished, we also went to Giant, but I don't remember what we bought now. He loves to shop with us or do anything that's one-on-one.

We registered Caleb for both preschool and kindergarten. Registration for school was this past Tuesday, and based on what Joshua's teacher said, it was safest to register Caleb for both and give ourselves time to make the decision. If we decided to not send Caleb, it wasn't a big deal. But if we registered Caleb late, we may not get into the elementary school near us. So, we decided to play it safe. Mrs. Vogt said Caleb did everything that was asked of him, but he was extremely quiet. I did tell Caleb he would have to say hello and clearly say his name when he was asked, and when we got there, the school guidance counselor came right up to him and he did both things I told him to do well. But, I know it takes effort on his part not to be shy.

They went through a check list of everything kids should know and be able to do before kindergarten. He can do all of them with ease except sit still (not exactly worded this way, but how I took it). I think I finally realized that I want to send him because he IS extraordinarily gifted and advanced for his age. Is holding him back saying that I don't realize this? But, that's really the only reason. I think that kids generally do better when they go later and are older in their class. So, can I let him wait and not feel like I'm making him average? I think so. I'm still leaning toward holding him back, even though he's wearing the clothes his brother wore earlier in the kindergarten year already. We'll see - pray that we feel confident one way or the other. At this point, he's registered for both!

I have started sitting Caleb down in the afternoons and giving him a few minutes of handwriting practice. While he can write, he doesn't always make the letters in the correct fashion. What I mean is, he doesn't start by making the circle part of the 'd' first and then the line down. He may start with the line and then make the circle up. I didn't catch it at first, but as I watch there are many letters that he starts and ends differently than how we're taught in a typical handwriting class. I don't know how important it is, but I want him to refine those skills. He's doing well with the tracing and writing, which was Joshua's homework last year.

Caleb also loves to play puzzle books and do word finds and dot-to-dots and cuts pretty well for his age and has decent drawing skills. He obviously knows shapes colors and even his address and phone number. His math skills are also extremely impressive for his age. But, can he sit still in school and not distract other children with his hands or movement? Hmmm...

Yesterday, Caleb asked if he can make his own lunch. He enjoys doing things independently. I said okay, and he made his PB&J by himself, other than needing help getting the lid off the peanut butter. He also likes to put the waffles in the toaster and pull them out and similar tasks. I'm so adverse to messes that I think I often hold the kids back from learning life skills (like pouring milk - when will I be comfortable with letting them try?!?!). Caleb also is a huge helper in setting the table. He loves when he can be our little helper.

I love to hear Caleb sing. He has lots of songs he knows the words to, and his speaking and singing voice is just the sweetest thing to listen to. :) He has such a cute little personality to go with that voice, too.

He still loves that he is Daddy's "twin" and he comes into our room promptly at 7 am everyday to snuggle before bed. He says it's "cozy." Love it! And him! Happy 56-month birthday, my little Caleb Luke!

Did Dinosaurs Poop?

On Saturday, February 9, we went to the North Museum as a family. I had reserved the family pass in the summer, and then it was our "turn" the week of Christmas. We didn't get to go, so I put our name back on the waiting list and received an email the day before that it was ready for pick-up. Thankfully Shawn is easygoing and agreed to make it a fun family day after the gym!

The timing was GREAT because the museum just opened a new exhibit called "Did Dinosaurs Poop?" The boys love dinosaurs, and being boys, they giggled at the word "poop."

The first room we checked out was the live animals room. The attendant said he could take almost any animal out of its cage for the boys to touch, if we wanted. But, there were also lots of other folks in the room and Shawn shook his head no. There were cockroaches, snakes, frogs, turtles, lizards, a super hairy tarantula and all sorts of small  animals in this room. Ryan is checking out the turtles in the picture above and below.

The other boys were fascinated by this room and would tell me when they spotted the creature in its cage (some of them were hiding).

They had some various exhibits on stars and the solar system in general, and we did not pay the extra fee to see the planetarium presentation this time.

The next area we went into was the "hands on" room for little discoverers. Joshua was excited to see some dinosaurs already out. They also have tons of bins with different items to check out (my favorite being the animal feet that you have to guess belong to which animals). Others have rocks and minerals, etc. One had building blocks that the boys enjoyed putting together.

I thought this bee hive was also intriguing. Shawn told the boys if they ever see anything like that outside, they should stay away from it. Ryan enjoyed the birds on the wall, the puzzles for his age group, and the little wall of pieces that you can turn together (forgetting what it's called now). 

Caleb especially LOVED the microscope where he could adjust the focus and brightness and try to find things on these tiny cards that then were magnified and big! He could have sat there all day. Eventually he also colored some pictures and Joshua also took a turn at the microscope. 

And while I don't have as many pictures as I usually do at events like this, I was busy with my hands interacting with the boys and the stuff they were exploring. FUN!

The best part by far, though, was the actual dinosaur exhibit.

There were lots of signs and information about how dinosaurs ate and what anthropologists can tell from their fossils and even their feces. The kids could have cared less at the 'boring' info. They were just happy to PLAY! They all loved the dino slide (which you can't tell from the picture that the sides are the shape of a dinosaur).

Ryan sat down to examine the dinosaur poop to learn what the dinosaurs ate. When he went to eat the "excrement," I drew the line. But, there were also other dinosaurs to play with, which he highly enjoyed. There were books on dinosaurs (some just 'fun' ones too that we've read from the library before) and there dinosaur puzzles. There was also a station to build-a-dino with various parts of legs, heads, bodies and tails that were foam but reminded me of legos in a sense because of looking at the suggestions and then putting the pieces together to make the creature.


The coolest part in my opinion, though, was the fossil dig.

They had little scientist coats the boys could have worn (but opted not to, sigh) and goggles for fun. With tiny little brushes, we 'dug' through this box of what I'm guessing was rubber tire bits (almost like what I've seen at some playgrounds) to find various fossils. There was a paper there to say what fossils were in the box, and we found the head, an arm bone, a piece of a tale, etc. The boys LOVED this area! So did the other kids - it was a happening spot!

After we found them all, we covered them back up with our same brushes to make sure the next kids could have fun finding them. There were other exhibits about bones and dinosaur discoveries, but the boys were about done by then.

We went downstairs (a complete waste of time, in my humble opinion) and saw several different speces of birds (BO-RING!) and then went upstairs where there's a whole lot of nothing.

We felt that we definitely got our money's worth, though, since the pass was free and all it cost us was the gas to get there. :) :) :)

When we left, I suggested that we take the kids to Burger King with a playground. If I'm remembering correctly, we had a coupon and I just thought the kids would enjoy playing. I wasn't ready for our fun family date to be over yet. Shawn reminded me how far away Ephrata was, and I agreed to drive. It was further than I remembered (can't believe we used to live up that way!) but the boys had a GREAT time!

Of course I had to get the crowns - what's a trip to BK without them?

We got the boys chicken nuggets. They've changed their nuggets since the last time we were there, and they are AWFUL! Even the kids wouldn't eat them - GROSS!!!

Shawn was impressed, however, with their new soda machine. It was an experience I didn't get to see because I stayed behind with the kids while he got our order.

The playground was packed (what was I expecting on a Saturday?) but the kids had a great time!

Ryan wanted to play with his older brothers, so I said okay to him going up. Then I read the sign that all children must be between the ages of 4 and 10 for safety reasons. AHHH!!!! I was appalled that I didn't notice it sooner. Joshua was a HUGE help in coaxing Ryan back down to us.

 We left after Ryan came back down, but the kids had had plenty of play time by then. We had started the day at Universal, then went to the North Museum and then BK for play time and lunch. We swung by our old house just for fun and then headed home. It was mid-afternoon until we arrived, but it had been a great family day! If I'm remembering correctly, that night we did a family movie night and watched "Wreck It Ralph" which the boys highly enjoyed. I love spending time together! We are blessed to have three wonderful little boys to enjoy and raise. :) They are an awesome gift from God!