Happy Halloween!

Well, as expected the boys had a magnificent Halloween this year.
Aidan went as a clown and Bryce went as Woody from Toy Story and they got to visit with a bunch of our new friends from the neighborhood and meet a few new people, as well.

They both came back from trick-or-treating with loads of candy and then were excited to sit on the front porch and watch for trick-or-treaters coming to our house so they could be the ones to dole out some candy.

Aunt Frances and Uncle Wyatt came over for dinner last night and we carved some pumpkins, so we had plenty of good jack-o-lanterns decorating the porch through the night.

Now that they've come down off the sugar-high, we've managed to get the boys both into bed, so we're all winding down here now..

Happy Halloween!

Visitors!

Over the weekend, our friends Janeen and Paul, and their daughter Carly Beth visited us from Mississippi.
Carly Beth is 3 and Aidan and Bryce had a WONDERFUL time playing with her while she was here.

Cross Country's over?

Aidan had his fourth and final Cross Country meet today.

I shot some more video and (really will) be posting a little clipped-together compilation very soon..
Over the course of the last several weeks, Aidan's really developed into quite the little runner. He's not the fastest out there, but he has fun and seems to enjoy the competition-- sometimes a little too much-- "I beat you, Will!"

So we're focusing on the more important stuff with him-- finishing, running hard, and having fun. All of which he's done superbly I think.

And Bryce has really honed his cheering skills. He asks to be lifted up so he can see the runners and then, mimicking all the parents around him, he claps his hands and shouts things like "Yeah, runners! Way to go!"

And then at the end of the race today, Bryce gave Aidan a big hug and said "I'm so proud of you."

Well, I guess it's good to know the kids don't only hear the cussing their Mama and I utter.

Cross Country Meet #3

Just a quick note to say that Aidan had his third (of four) cross country meet yesterday-- and not only did he finish again this week, but he really blew by some of the competition.

Now understand, there are some kids-- even at the kindgergarten level-- who would appear to be getting coaching on the side from the Kenyan national team. But, with Grampa and Aunt Laura there to cheer him on this week, Aidan did really well and finished up pretty close to a few of the kids who are normally way out in front!

Next week is the last of the cross country meets for the year.

"Oh my gracious!"

It's funny how your toddler can sometimes transmit to you the little things their teachers must say during the day.

Bryce was looking at photos of Aidan's classmates online with his Mama when, out of the blue, Bryce, in response to one of the photos, says "Oh my gracious!"

Our only guess is that this must be one of those little everyday turns of phrase that Bryce's pre-school teacher, Ms. Jean, must use.

Cowboy Round-Up!

It's Cowboy Round-Up at Aidan's school today.

Aidan and his friend Andrew posed for this picture shortly after we got there.
Oh, to be in Kindergarten again!

Crossing the finish line feels good!

Just wanted to make sure and get a quick note up here about Aidan's second Cross Country meet-- which he ran yesterday.

It was a beautiful, sunny day-- 86 degrees, but with a cool breeze (that note for any of the family from the North who may be reading this!)

He did just fine and didn't seem to worry at all about a repeat of last week.
He ran right through the parking lot section of the course and straight on to the finish line..

In fact, after snapping a picture of him running by in the parking lot, I tried to scamper over to the finish line in time to catch a picture of him there, but no luck-- he'd beaten me there!

So this second picture is of the Finish Line, with Aidan having disappeared around the corner and into the crowd around the Finish Line just a moment before.

He was very excited and proud to have finished the race.. and he really looked great out there!

When Clifford Projects Attack

Here's a quick video of Aidan and Bryce in the wake of painting a Clifford puppet (as part of a project for Aidan's class).. Well, you can see how it goes. My wife, I think, suffered the classic journalistic dilemma: whether to put the camera down and intervene or just keep shooting..

Cross Country

Aidan had his first Cross Country meet today.
Yeah, that's right.. in Kindergarten at St. Ed's, they do Cross Country-- or as Aidan more aptly describes it, "Running."

It's a good way for Aidan to run off a little extra energy twice a week after school.

It's also a good way for 1500 or so parents and volunteers from Catholic schools all over the region to get together and mill around on a big field for a few hours on a series of Sundays in the early Fall. It was SOOO much larger an event than any of us expected, I think we were all a little overwhelmed.

Unfortunately for Aidan, during the Kindergarten Boys run, some of that milling involved some volunteers from another school-- in their attempts to cheers on and encourage a few kids from another school-- knocking Aidan down. And that wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't fallen flat on his forehead. And even THAT wouldn't have been so bad if this all hadn't come during the part of the run pass through an asphalt parking lot..

So Aidan's got a HUGE knot on his head tonight and a skinned knee. We were worried at first that we might need to take him to the Emergency Room, but another parent at the meet who indicated she's a doctor checked him out and said there wasn't anything more serious than the big bruise. We've been keeping an eye on him to make sure he's okay tonight and he seems to be doing fine. He seems most upset that he didn't finish the race.. and he's already talking about practice tomorrow and wanting to finish the race at the next meet next Sunday.

(quick note if you're looking at the pictures: the St. Ed's kids are the ones in the bright Kelly Green jerseys)

Stirring-Man

Making pancakes this morning and, as usual, the boys wanted to help..
Aidan helped add the sugar.. Bryce helped add the baking powder..
And both helped to stir the batter..

And when Aidan got the whisk in his hand, he announced to Bryce and me:
"I'm going to stir. I'm the Stirring Man."

Day out with Thomas

Last Sunday, Aunt Patty and I took the boys to the Tennessee Central Railway Museum to see Thomas the Tank Engine-- who made a stop in Nashville as part of his swing through the mid-South. We got to meet Sir Topham Hatt, got some temporary tattoos, and even got to ride in a train car pulled by Thomas...


Aidan shows off his tattoo.













Thomas showed remarkable patience with all of these gawking onlookers...

Back to the grind, Bryce...

Catching up on the last couple of weeks..
Bryce started back to his little Y pre-school last week..
He was, we think, a little disappointed that he hasn't been able to make the leap straight to Kindergarten with his older brother.. but now that he's back with a few of his old friends from the spring, he's loving it.
And his teacher has been very complimentary to us on what a strong, independent little boy we're raising-- and we laugh to each other because we hardly feel like we've had anything to do with it.
Young Bryce is a force to be reckoned with!

Bedtime stories

Bedtime story-time is all the rage at our house..
And occasionally, Aidan will take it upon himself to read a story to Bryce..
And yes, Bryce does have that monkey's paw in his mouth.. and no, I don't have any idea why.

Remember the Snow Bowl..

Okay, I know this is off topic..
but Notre Dame plays Penn State today... so I've just got to go back to the last time the Irish played the Nittany Lions...
Bettis, Brooks, Mirer, Bobby Taylor, Irv Smith, and Craig Hentrich (... and a really gutsy last-second call by Lou Holtz..

Remember the "Snow Bowl".. and the days when coaches needed 'Cable Caddies' so they could stalk the sidelines with the headset on..

Bryce loves Henry

Playing Pirates

Last Sunday morning, the boys amused themselves playing pirates.. they tore the couch apart (throwing all the cushions onto the floor) to make their pirate ship. Then they put on their costumes and were off sailing on the high seas!

Day 2

This is a quick picture of Aidan as he came downstairs, ready to go for Day 2.

And just to let you know, Day 2 went just fine. Aidan had lunch with his class and met more of his classmates-- Matthew, Ari, Austin, Leonardo, and Talah. And although his friend Keaton is in the other Kindergarten class, he gets to see him out on the playground at recess.

Aidan has settled right in. Now it's just up to me to adjust to the new commute!

And so it begins...

Aidan started Kindergarten today.

We were, naturally, worried over the change in schedule (getting to school at 7:30 instead of his accustomed pre-school 9:00am), the change in school clothes (a uniform, no more tie-dyed t-shirts to class anymore), new kids, new classroom, new teacher.. the list goes on.

But Aidan gamely popped out of bed this morning, put on his uniform (informing me-- "Look Daddy, I'm dressed like you today."), and jumped in the car with his new book bag.

We took a few pictures along the way, of course.

We got to school and walked him into his classroom. He took a look around, immediately searched for his cubby so he could hang his book bag up, and found his seat.

Incidentally, Bryce similarly plopped himself into a seat and started playing with the letters game he found on the table in front of him.

Ms. Natcher, the teacher, handed out little baggies filled with peanuts and a little inscription:
"Don't worry. We'll take care of your little peanut."

Mama says that little baggie and the laugh she got out of reading it is what saved her from tears this morning. I don't think she was the only one, judging from the rest of the room.

When we told Aidan it was time for us to leave, he gave us hugs-- including Bryce (who was, as this was happening, asking us where we were going, as if he were going to be staying too)-- took a moment to look his Mama in the eyes, then ran over and set down in with a group of kids and started telling them about how we drove here in our van.

Mama went to pick him up this afternoon and he reported that he had a good day at school-- it was just a half-day, with pick-up at 11:30; first full day will be tomorrow-- he said he played with the kids in his class, and Mama says he seemed a little disappointed that he didnt' get to have lunch or naptime, since it was a short day.

Well, maybe tomorrow.
So our little boy seems pretty well adjusted. I'm sure there will be some adjusting to do later, maybe next week.. but for now, Aidan seems up for the adventure of finding out about a whole new school.

T-ball Finale

A few quick pictures from Aidan's last T-ball game on 8/3:

Update

So it's been a little while since our last update.
We're all moved into the new house...
We closed on the new house on 7/14, and you may as well have heard a starting pistol fire with all the activity that followed in the two weeks that followed. That, and it was about 125 degrees here in Nashville that week-- what a time for a heat-wave!
The POD guys came and took the fully loaded POD from the old house to the new house.







The boys were excited to watch the POD being lifted and taken away.. but they were, naturally, happy to have the comfort and reassurance of having their Mama nearby throughout..





Then the furniture movers came and brought all of the furniture over to the new house..









And it was around this time that Sylvie, our erstwhile, if elderly cat, started to get a little upset and hid in the cabinets at the old house.





and now, after about 300 round-trips in the car, moving all the boxes and last minute things, we're all moved.. though I wouldn't say we've made a lot of progress with unpacking. We've got the daily, routine essentials worked out...

Aidan's last T-Ball game of the season was last Thursday evening. Coach Doug was out of town last week, so Daddy manned the Tee for the week. It was a really hot day and the kids were all really worn out, but they had a good time and were all sorry to hear that it would be the last game of the season. They all really came a long way in the last few weeks though, really hitting the ball well. Maybe next year, we'll focus on fielding and catching. There's always room for improvement.

So now, the rest of the summer will be spent with boxes, boxes, boxes!
And Aidan and Bryce have gotten into the spirit of it!