Weekend recap, and then some . . .

I decided I really need to do a weekend recap post since I am really bad at keeping this thing updated with anything personal. So, here ya go:

Friday - Hmm . . . oh yeah!! Grant had his very first non-family-member sleepover. He and Katie had been talking about having a sleepover for the LONGEST time, and it finally happened! Yes, his first sleepover with a non-family-member was at Katie's house (who is practically a sister anyway) and they both had a great time. Grant had no problem being away from us. In fact, he didn't want to call us on Saturday morning because he thought he would have to go home if he did. So cute! They watched Strawberry Shortcake, "Because boys can watch Strawberry Shortcake if they want to, mom," and made light sabers with the tinker-toys. Grant is looking forward to the next sleepover. (Oh, and just to sort of nip-it-in-the-bud . . . we are not really ready to have Grant sleep over at anyone else's house. He's a popular kid, but we only want him to sleep over with family members or Katie at this point. We're kind of protective!)

So, while Grant slept over, Mitch and Cole took me out to Thai food, then we stopped in at the scrapbooking store and Sportsman's Warehouse. Then, back to our house with some movie rentals! It was a fun date night with just me and my two boys!

Saturday - After a leisurely morning, we picked Grant up from Katie's house and took him to McDonalds for lunch. Lazy day. We discovered the Red Box machine (thanks to Moriah) and rented a movie for Grant. The rest of the day was spent doing nothing much, then watching a movie with Grant and Cole while eating fancy cheese and crackers. It was a wonderful day!

Sunday - In Sunday School, we are doing the James Dobson Series, Bringing Up Boys. Mitch and I read this book back when Grant was itty bitty (like, days old) and we now have the opportunity to learn from Dobson again from a different perspective. We are really enjoying the video series and love the conversation that sparks from it. Wonderful stuff. After church, we came home for leftover Thai food and a nap for Cole. I got some designing work in while Mitch took Grant "crawdad fishin'", which is the ULTIMATE father-son adventure. They both LOVE the time they spend together doing this, and I love the stories they bring back. They are talking about fishing a crawdad out of the creek to take to "share" at school. Yikes!

Speaking of school . . . we decided to put Grant in kindergarten. I don't know if I have ever posted here about all of my emotions and decisions regarding Grant's schooling, but if not, then that might be a good thing. I have been struggling with this whole thing since he was 2. For me, it was not a matter of public vs. private vs. home school. I already know what I want to happen there (and hopefully I'll get my way). For me, it was about timing. You see, Grant's birthday is mid-July, and the cut off is September 1st. To make a super, emotional, long story short, I wanted my child to be the biggest and smartest rather than the youngest and smallest. So, we started him in the 3-year-old preschool right after his 4th birthday, and 4-year-old preschool right after his 5th birthday. However, he has proven to be so much more advanced than his peers that it has caused us concern. I taught the 4-year-old Sunday School class this summer and I saw a HUGE difference in maturity, academic skills, etc. At the end of the first week of 4-year-old preschool, Mitch once again asked me if we were doing the right thing. I panicked again. Then I relaxed. Then, I started to think about how this was going to effect Cole. See, if we "hold Grant back", we need to do the same thing with Cole to make sure they are 3 years apart in school. Problem is that Cole's birthday is in June, so he would be even older. Yesterday (Sunday), I was sitting in Sunday School talking to the mother of one of Grant's friends from 3-year. She said that her son misses Grant and we should get them together. I said, "Well, aren't they in the same Sunday school?" She explained that they decided to push their son ahead into Kindergarten this year, so he is in the Kindergarten SS class. Ugh. And this gal is another teacher - who knows her son and his abilities - and she is making the decision to push her son ahead. Yikes! My heart started racing and I started freaking out about the decision we (I) made about holding Grant back when he is clearly ready for Kindergarten.

SO, it kept me up all night. I spent the morning visiting classrooms, meeting teachers, asking for special consideration. And, Grant's first day of kindergarten is tomorrow. He has been evaluated (and he really is a genius - although the teacher said he did "well") and he is very excited to be in kindergarten. He loves his classroom (especially the dinosaur toys) and I am thrilled to pieces at what he will be learning this year. Grant's teacher is a good friend of mine, so that is a wonderful plus, yet I truly did "evaluate" her to make sure she really was as good as everyone says. Yes. She REALLY is.

I am relieved. I am excited. I feel so very blessed to have such an awesome church and preschool/kindergarten. And, I am so glad they decided to let Grant in!!

So, anyway. That is my big news. I'll leave you with a couple of fun things to look at. First, is a new product for my store. These are just my thoughts, put together in word art. A perfect addition to any page about a newborn, etc.


Click here.

And, here is a layout I did last week. Did I mention that I am on the CT for Funky Playground Designs?


Click here for credits. (Oh, and I used one of my own templates!)

And, The Digichick, where I am honored to be on the hybrid CT, has revealed a new look and we are keeping the party (which started this weekend) going! Check out my notebook for my covered notebook challenge: