Responsibility

Rhett was recently chosen by his teacher to receive the "Responsibility" award at school. We were so proud of him when we got the notice in his backpack! They had a small assembly last Thursday where he and the other recipients received their awards. They were treated to cookies and punch after the ceremony and were allowed to check out of school a few minutes early (but he didn't want to--he wanted to go back to his classroom to get his spider cupcake that his class made that day, and he wanted to stick around to see whose name was drawn from the witch's pot to receive a Halloween pencil! :) This kid is loving Kindergarten.).

My flash didn't work very well in the dark cafeteria, but here he is receiving his certificate from the assistant principal:

Two kids from each Kindergarten class received the award:
Rhett and his friend, Grant:
(It was also Pajama Day at school--part of Red Ribbon* theme week. Rhett insisted on wearing his flannel Christmas pjs from two years ago, so they were a bit small! A wise friend suggested I clean out his pajama drawer and put away the 2 year old pajamas!)

Unfortunately the cookies and punch invitation did not include siblings--Alexee was very upset about that and was in no mood for a picture.

We love you and we are proud of you, Rhett!

"Responsibility" is a great character trait!

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*He made these drug-free "ribbons" for the whole family one day after school. :)

Seven months

Crosby is 7 months old today! I say it every month...time flies! He is so alert now, he's sitting up great, he's rolling over and over and over--he makes his way all the way across the living room rug, he laughs a lot, he reaches for me sometimes now (I love it!), he loves to observe Rhett & Alexee, he's eating stage one veggies and fruits now, along with baby cereal and still nursing (I'm having such a hard time letting go of that. Soon though.) He's STILL not sleeping through the night, and I'm really tired...but that's okay! He's so good during the day that he more than makes up for his nighttime routine. :) Rhett slept through the night at 12 weeks. I guess that spoiled me a little bit. Alexee slept through the night at 5 months.

R & A love their baby brother!

just the boys

Here are some pictures from bath time tonight. It's so cute that he can sit up in his tub now. He likes his bath.
His cute feet make me smile!
He's getting so curious. He found the drain tonight.
One of my favorite parts of the day--getting the kids all clean and in their PJs.
Look at these legs!

Happy 7 month birthday, Crosby Grant! You are a JOY!

Dress-up

I just love her little pig-tails and had to take a picture of her after church! She still carries around these two worn, pink blankies.We put the camera on timer and tried to take a few together. Rhett decided to make a funny face in this one.
After lunch, R wanted to do the dishes (if only this would last!). Of course A wanted to help and insisted on sharing the stool. R washed, A rinsed...and I mopped up water and tried to keep dishes from getting broken! :)
This afternoon they decided to play dress-up. This was their first costume:
The second outfit that Alexee came up with: Lane's boxers pulled up to her chin, one of L's white t-shirts tucked in, a baseball cap and a pair of my ballet flats. It made me laugh out loud. This also made me laugh when I went to the closet and found R in this garb:

Fun times!

A walk with Rhett

Rhett didn't have school today, which was fun. We met friends at Jump Zone this morning, went to the pizza place together and then just Rhett & I went on a walk this afternoon after Lane got home to watch A & C. The walk was Rhett's idea, which I thought was cute. He wanted to look for 4-leaf clover, and we found one! We walked probably a mile or a mile and a half--at a very slow pace--picking up leaves, acorns, etc. R even stopped to sit and rest a couple of times. It was good to get out for some fresh air!

(He was trying to make a pretend mustache with his finger in this picture below.)
Stopping for a rest in someone's yard.
Pretty colors near our house:

Baby booties

I've had it on my "to-do" list to get C a Baby's First Christmas ornament before they are all out of stock. I went to the Crown Shop today and chose this sweet little ornament (ceramic booties) for him. The lady there suggested buying a silver pen to write his name and birthdate on the bottom of them, so I did that. I also bought these real Christmas booties for him to wear--I thought they were so cute--I couldn't resist! I'm actually not ready to rush the Christmas season at all. I'm still enjoying fall. I made autumn trail mix a few days ago, a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks ever, pictured below (Gooseberry Patch). I changed the recipe a little bit. My trail mix included Cheerios, goldfish, pretzels, candy corn and fall-colored m&ms. My friend Heather found Halloween marshmallows, which I would like to include if I make this again (we've already eaten the first batch...well, I ate most of it. Somehow the m&ms didn't seem as unhealthy when they were mixed with multgrain Cheerios.)

First field trip

For weeks I've dreaded this field trip because it was going to be Rhett's first time to ride a school bus (across the river, on the interstate--with NO seat belts!). I think I had a small anxiety attack last night and didn't sleep well.

My bus fears aside, we had a great time at the pumpkin patch with R's class. Alexee was at MDO, and Crosby was easy-going as usual. There was a great play area with animals to look at, hay tunnels and playground equipment. Then the classes loaded up for a hayride out to pick pumpkins (I skipped this portion of the trip because Crosby was hungry, plus we had his big stroller, a camera bag, purse, coats, etc.--we would have needed our own hay wagon.) When they got back from the hayride they had their picnic lunches, played on the playground a little more then had a group picture and shaved ice from the snack bar. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the temperature was great--just cold enough for a jacket!

Here they are ready for the hayride. Rhett is at the very front/center turned around to look at the tractor.

C was so sweet the whole time. He is such a pleasant baby. I know I say that all the time. :) He is wearing a little sweatshirt that my parents brought Rhett from Yellowstone in 2004--hard to believe it ever fit R!
Class picture, minus Miss Johns (she was taking a picture of the group with her camera and I think she'd planned to hop in for one picture, but the kids all took off running before she made it there!)
This picture makes me happy because Rhett looks like he's having such a good time. It's so neat to see him develop new friendships!

The kids were all excited about the shaved ice. Here they are in line:Rhett was sweet to stop and talk to Crosby.

Fun First Field Trip!

10-19-09

Fall Carnival

Last night Rhett's school had their annual fall carnival. Rhett had a fever when he got home from school, but he's been so excited about the carnival that he cried to get to go. Lane stayed home with Crosby and put him to bed, and I took R & A to the school for just a little while. It felt so strange and simple to go out with just the two of them--I think that might have been the first time in almost 7 months that I'd left the house with just R & A while C stayed at home! They had fun and Rhett seemed to feel okay. I was nervous about him eating the cotton candy just in case it was a stomach bug that he had. I kept asking him if he felt okay and asked him to PLEASE give me some warning if his stomach felt funny! It worked out fine and I'm glad we went. Lane said Crosby was in a good mood and went to bed just fine for him.

Before going to the school:

R had been looking forward to the cotton candy for weeks. He ate all of his and some of Alexee's.
R & A climbing up the slide:
Sliding down:
They also liked the pony rides:
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A few of sweet, happy Crosby from last week: