Connor's Preschool Graduation

Our oldest babe is starting Kindergarten on Monday, August 6th. Such a huge deal, right? 

So this is a big week for him (and all of us I suppose). Last night we had his Preschool Graduation at Bright Ideas and tonight we have Meet the Teacher at his school, Kyrene de las Brisas. He went to Brisas for a few years until bear was born so we have friends there and are looking forward to returning. Bear will start preschool there next year when he turns three. so we're looking forward to getting back to one drop off and one pick up at that point as well. Really dreading that pain.

The boys have been at Bright Ideas for about a year and a half now I think. They both seem to really love it and I think Connor is sad to leave these friends and teachers behind.  He's thrilled to reunite with Aidan, Sam and Kaci at Brisas but happy he'll still get to see his Preschool friends on breaks and during the summer.

Last night we attended the Graduation and it was pretty cute. Connor has been home all week with Noah and Jeffrey. Jeff took the week off to spend time with the boys before school starts. So jealous of all of his vacay time :(  He was really excited to see his friends and looked forward to it all day I think. Both papas and both grammys joined us for the ceremony. We're so so so fortunate to have all our family so close by. Whenever we think about relocating we remember how wonderful it is to have family nearby and present for our boys.

Connor's cheering section - Barnes/Van Hook family represent!

Bear LOVES Papas

this was the best picture of bear all night - he wanted me to take a picture of his treats.



Our graduate walking into the ceremony

Connor's Graduating Class

watching the slideshow his teachers made for the kids

awww, they love each other

Connor and his teacher Miss Kimmy

seriously? this is as good as a family pic with two young boys gets.

The school gave Jeff and I the Parent of the Year award. Very unexpected but Very nice of them :)

Next Up: Meet the Teacher tonight!!

crazy, party of one

I just left the boys' school and it's possible I caused a bit of a scene. Not a giant, sobbing, your-kids-arent-welcome-here scene, but I think I may have said "use common sense" to people which never goes well.

It's a million degrees outside, well 112 to be exact since I'm trying to take the crazy down a notch. i have this weather app on my phone and it tells me anytime there is a severe weather warning. I've been trying to disable that notification all day because it's constantly telling me that it's effing hot outside and that there are Excessive heat Watch/Warnings until 8 at night. AT NIGHT! I still need to figure out how to turn off the stupid notifications but for today, I'm glad they bothered me all day.

I got to the boys school at 4:30 and there were kids playing outside. not even my kids, but still. i went inside and immediatly asked anyone who would listen "how hot does it have to be for you to not send kids outside?!?"  One of the teachers said, we don't send the ones or twos out anymore. I said something about well the older kids are out there right now and it's 112 degrees, which is clearly way too hot for them to be outside.  She said "we let the school agers choose if they want to go out or not. we don't force them to do, so it's up to them. we let them decide" or something similar. i said "well, connor would like to drink soda and play video games all day but I dont let him make that decision because it's not healthy for him". then they said something about not being sure what the state regulation says and i said that regardless of what the state said it may be an opportunity to use some common sense. surely they hate me.  to their credit though, the kids playing outside were pulled back inside within moments. Clearly word of the crazy, sweaty mom spread through the place. The worst part - I feel like we had this exact conversation last summer when they had kids playing outside way past the point of danger.

i can only imagine what people say after I walk away after one of these encounters, but come on.  i am constantly feeling torn between being a go with the flow parent and speaking up when i don't feel like the kids' best interests are being considered. Parenting = Constantly looking like an asshole. And...happy monday.

The Bear turns TWO!!

Our Noah Bear turns two tomorrow...ten hours from now actually...and we celebrated with family & friends today.  Summer birthday parties are tough - there aren't a ton of options since you're limited thanks to the God forsaken heat in AZ. He's too young for most of the indoor play type of party and our family alone includes about 20-25 people so doing a party at the house isn't ideal.  Fortunately, my dad lives in a community with several pools and indoor space you can reserve for parties.  It was a gorgeous weekend and the pool was super refreshing!!

Noah LOVES Elmo

We included some of Noah's favorite things in his Elmo bag of favors. Obviously, all items were food - granola bars, fruit snacks, teddy grahams, fruit bars, cookies and some cute Elmo juice boxes. The kids loved them and the bags were a hit!

Grammy & Papa Barnes got bear some Oreos - they know him well

Noah loved the soccer ball & Elmo books Connor got him for his birthday!

Noah was pleased with the cash from Papa & Tashi, but he was thrilled with the dingdongs they got him

doing great on the scooter we got him

seriously, i love this kid

best.picture.ever,

blowing out his candle!!

sneaking some frosting while i cut the cake

complete refusal to wait for a fork. love him like crazy.

we're super casual around here...