Wayne's FIRST day of Kindergarten

On September 6, 2011 Wayne  went to his very first day of kindergarten.  He could hardly sleep the night before, and was up at 5am, running in to our room shouting, "It's my day! It's finally here!"  We got ready in record time - 30 minutes EARLY in fact.  After dropping Weston and Wyatt off at Auntie Breanne's, we made the short trip up to the school.  I think I said, "Can you believe it?" About 4 times.  I think that although he could believe... I couldn't!  :-)

 Once we got to school - we gathered up a backpack, a lunchbox, and some bins full of Legos that we volunteered to sort and clean for his teacher.  And we gathered our precious baby boy, who we took home from the hospital, scared to death to put him in a car or let the sun shine in his eyes, 5 1/2 years ago.  Wow!

 When we got to class, we sorted all of his school supplies into piles, hung up his backpack, and marked the chart for "cold lunch."  And then we hovered.  Yes, hovered.  Wayne sat at his table, making friends with his tablemates, and Tyler and I spent a good 5 minutes too choked up to talk, and too choked up to leave.  We hovered.  At last, we brought ourselves to say goodbye to him, and Wayne never even looked over his shoulder.  He waved his hand in our direction and said, "See ya later!"

 

When Wayne got off the bus after his first day, he was so excited he could hardly speak.  And he was EXHAUSTED.   And all he would say was that his day was good.  I finally asked him to tell me three things about his day, and he said, "I had recess, I ate lunch, and we read a book."  Yeesh!  It was TWO DAYS, and two good nights sleep plus a nap later that he finally opened up about EVERYTHING that happened in his first day.  Who he played with, what they did, how he ate his lunch, the bus - the works!  We are looking forward to a GREAT year!

A wish

Wayne and I were picking beans, and he found two dandelion seeds.  He brought me one, and said we should each make a wish, and blow the seeds everywhere (don't tell Tyler that part.)

I blew on mine.  And made my wish.

He blew on his, and made his wish.

He looked at me, and said he knew what I wished for.  I asked him, "What was it?" And he told me, "You wished that you could marry me." 

I asked him what he wished for.  His reply? "For me to get older, and have my own car."

Boys and cars.  Can't live with 'em, can't live without them!

Kindergarten Orientation

As I sit here, it's Labor day at 7:25am.  The house is QUIET, not because everyone is sleeping but because Tyler took Wayne and Weston out with Dad and Ryan to go crabbing off of Eliza island.  Wyatt is sleeping.  Before they left, Wayne and I were talking about the plan for today, and then tomorrow.  He likes to know "the plan."  So I told him tomorrow was his first day of Kindergarten, and his response? "Good. I get to go to school without you!  I don't need you anymore!"  LOVELY!  :-)  But the thing is... he is right, in a way.  He is 5 1/2 years old, and perfectly capable of being at school without me all day.  I have taught him so many things in the last 5 1/2 years.  He can go to the bathroom by himself, button his pants, clean his glasses, and put on his own sweatshirt/coat and take it off again.  He can sit at a table and listen, follow directions, and understands routines.  He will make friends, and make others feel welcome, because he is kind and thoughtful.  His teacher will LOVE him, because that's how God made her to be - a kindergarten teacher that loves her students.  He can ride the bus home, and he knows our address and our phone number - just in case.  I refuse to welcome tomorrow with sadness - this is a CELEBRATION!  Our firstborn is entering kindergarten, and is fully prepared and equipped to do that. From here on out - I think this day will serve as a reminder that we are parenting our boys to be men (gulp!).  I am so proud of him, and all that he is.  God made him to be one incredible kid, and I am so blessed to have him for our son!!! 

We went to his orientation this past Wednesday, and had fun being introduced to the classroom and routine, and hanging out with his teacher, Mrs. Venn for awhile.  Mrs. Venn is the best - and the Mom of a friend of mine from school.  She is AWESOME!

 AND she poses for pictures like a pro!

 Wayne, trying out a "first day of school" outfit to see if we liked it... Yup, pretty cute!

 Our kindergartener...  25 1/2 hours left until his first day of school begins.  The countdown is on!

Surprise! Someon's 60!

It was a beautiful night, and the perfect evening to surprise a certain lady who was turning SIXTY!  The Clubhouse on Portal Way is always a FAB place for a party, and it was fun to be out there again.  The kids RAN and RAN and RAN laps around the place, and enjoyed the festive Hawaiian theme.  There was a lot of hustle and bustle before the birthday girl arrived, and I LOVE that my sweet niece is as much in love with Wyatt as he is with her!

 And then it was time... the crowd was ready...

 SURPRISE!

Oh look!  TWO sweet nieces!  I love these two little girls (hey - enough - they are too little!) SOOO much!

 And this little boy (with the perma-bruise on his forehead, because he keeps whacking the same spot over and over).

 These little fish?  Not so much love here.  We tried VALIANTLY for 4 days to keep them all alive, but alas.... On the morning of the 4th, the last 3 were belly side up, and we held a very special burial at sea with Wayne and Weston in the downstairs bathroom, in their honor.

 Tyler and cousin DJ talked and talked and talked and talked and talked.....

 So did these two!They put together this fun table of old pictures... Cracked me up!

The boys, playing in the grass as the sun was setting...  such a fun night! (That's Weston on the left, underneath Daniel!)

 Don't know why, but this made me chuckle every time I walked by.  Someone on the decorating committee has a sense of humor!

 And so does he!

 Oh yes... and the moment all those fish came home to live with us!  (temporarily)

Happy Birthday Mom/Grammie!

Summer is going SWIMINGLY!

To say that we have spent time in the pool this summer would be an UNDERSTATEMENT!  We are always up for company/impromptu pool parties, and the Scheiber's never let us down.  The cousins splashed away, while Tanya and I enjoyed some quality bonding over latte's, with ALL the kids in the pool.  Yahoo!  The kids are so cute too - they have all grown up A TON over the past year, and can play nicely together, and fight like siblings too!  What a BLESSING it is to have that relationship!

 Wyssa and her "brothers"

 No bathing suit?  No problem for this tomboy!  A tank and Wayne's swim trunks worked perfectly, and who knew you could where this....

 .. to do that?

 Such sweetness.  How many two year olds do you know that would trust their 5 year old brother to carry them in the water?  Wyatt trust's Wayne that much, and is totally unafraid of the water too. That's why we keep the ladder FAR FAR AWAY from the pool when we are not using it.

 Weston loves to take a break from all the pool shenanigans to "take a rest" in his boat. 

Swimming and a BBQ at The Firs

Our Larson Gross annual BBQ was at the BEAUTIFUL and FUN location of The Firs!  We had our own private "beach" plus paddle boats, a ski boat, water trampoline, water slide, and lots of beach toys.  Can you say F-U-N?  The boys and I went solo, since Tyler was back to work after the big fishing trip, and they did so well.  It's so strange to me that we can go places together, with me and the three of them, and it's POSSIBLE to have FUN?  Two years ago, I would have thought this day was impossible. Now?  Bring it on!

These two girls were trying to liven up a crowd of accountant's on a lazy summer day.  They needed all the water gun action they could muster!

 Wayne made good friends with Kevin, one of my coworkers.  The next time I went to work, Wayne told me, "Hey, if you see my best friend Kevin, make sure to tell him Wayne says "hi!" and that he's awesome!"  I passed along the message!

 As you can imagine... Wyatt took home lots of sand in every crack and crevice imaginable!!!

 As did Wayne.  Snow angels in winter, sand angels in summer.  What can I say?  That's how the Silves boys roll!

Thanks LG for the fab time!

Nit Nat Fishing 2011

A few weeks back, the boys (Dad, Ryan, Tyler and Tyson) all headed up to Nit Nat, BC for some good ol' fashioned male bonding over rods, reels, and a boat!  They were succesful "pisherman" and brought back some BIG fish.  We all gathered at Cedar Hill to welcome the men folk home, and to help gut, clean and vac-pac their hard earned fish. 

Wayne took advantage of the tree climbing that Cedar Hill has to offer.  He LOVES to climb trees, and like his Dad, is quite a little monkey.

One branch was making it hard for him to get around, but he asked Grandma, "Hey, this branch is in the way.  Could you just get rid of it?" And Grandma, being Grandma, had the tree saw in hand, and the branch cut down in almost as little time as it took for me to grab my camera and snap this pic.  Spoiled?  You be the judge!

 

This was the day that Wyatt learned to say, "Fish!"

 Lots and lots and lots of FISH!

 See?  This is why I like taking pictures of adults.  They all look AND smile, at the same time!

...well, some of the time anyway.  What are Bajema and Dad talking about?

 And just because this wouldn't be the "and this is why boys need parents" blog without grossing you out every once in awhile....