Frosty Celebrations

We went to Springfield, OH to celebrate Dennis' dad's college graduation. Super special occasion. Also very cool because Mr. Krabs (from Spongebob) was the speaker! At a lunch afterward the boys got his autograph.

We also had Christmas with Dennis, Cindy and Valerie. The boys are at a super-fun age--super excited by all things Christmas. The best part about Santa is that all his toys are FREE--this is Dominick's constant refrain as he adds more items to his list.

Coming home we hit a winter storm and the 5 hour trip took 7 hours. Luckily we have a dvd player and the boys watched 7 hours of classic cartoons. They were classics like Betty Boop and 3 Stooges--so it's kind of a study in pop culture and history.

New School

Dominick starts tomorrow at his new school. We've had so much stress over the montessori school. I think he's been fine and he's smart so will continue to be ok but it's just not the kind of education we want for him. His teacher had no idea who he was or what he should be doing, she was finding stuff for him to do each day but mostly it seemed to be just keeping him busy. And then we just always felt in the dark about the school--all together we're glad to be switching him. A little sad as we have friends at that school and so does he . . . but hopefully he'll make new friends soon and we're not moving cities so we can keep our friends.

Fingers crossed for a good tomorrow. Have to say he's been a trooper so far, he can really just roll with the punches when it comes to the big stuff.

Picture Day

We took portraits today--it has been well, never since we've all been in a photography studio together. Last time we did family pictures Dominick was about 6 months old. The boys have been stolen once or twice by the grandmothers for professional photos but this is our first time to all submit to the ordeal.

Thank you Grandma Frost for funding our expedition and giving us that push that we needed. It actually went pretty well all things considered. We ended up going to the mall and Sears. It was close, quick and fairly painless--although trying to get us all looking decent was a bit of a challenge.

The photographer kept telling the boys to say "Boogers." She was laughing hysterically and the boys were just not quite sure--they don't know what that word means. Our big edit in their language learning has been to replace "boogers" and "snot" with the much nicer (I think at least) "hanamizu." It means "nose-water" in Japanese. But hana is also the word for flower so it has a pleasanter ring to it. It was all kind of amusing to me.

We did manage to find some good shots. I'll post them here when they come in--December 3. Then we went to the food court for dinner. And Dominick got to spend some of his raking leaf money on some bubble gum machines--he is so into the little creatures and for 25 cents I'm not so opposed.

The boys also got to meet with Santa. He wasn't fully dressed in coat and hat so they weren't quite sure it was him. Xander kept telling people (random strangers we passed in the mall) that Santa was in his pj's. It was a kind of strange moment, they had a complete uninterrupted audience with SANTA. Dominick kept pacing. Xander told him that he was working to be a dad. Dominick finally admitted that he wanted a remote control tarantula--I guess that was on his list from last year. I think the boys weren't quite sure about what you are supposed to say as the only Santa they really see is in South Bend and he's always giving presents.

It was a good day.

Writers

The boys did a bit of writing today. When I came home Xander had a strip of masking tape wrapped around his chest--a "story tape" Today's read: "I love my mommy. I want her. xoxoxoxo" He was so proud and had me count out the hugs and kisses so we could get it just right.

Dominick was hard at work on a sign after he finished his homework. The finished product:

No Work at Northglade Montessori
Sine name if agree
(Lots of blank lines and his name signed to one)
On the other side of his petition are pictures of smiling faces, cut out of my magazine with arrows pointing to them:

thae sinde
thae see free
fiere works

followed by a picture of fireworks. Not to sure what to think of his early rebel-rousing :)

Holidays are Coming

Today it was over 60! Sadly i missed most of the beautifulness as I was in the library from sun-up to sundown. The days are getting shorter even if the weather is staying warmer for a little while longer. It's almost mid-November, almost Thanksgiving and then it will be the holiday season. AH! I always want to be relaxed and unstressed when it comes to the holidays and I just think that if I can plan everything out, and take care of things early everything will go smoother.

So this year I'm hoping to put together photocards from Shutterfly. I'm also hoping to get a jump on holiday calendars a tradition I started a few years--of course in the days of stay at home work and part-time cushy adjunct jobs. We'll see how it goes this year.

What I really want for Christmas . . . address labels--with an address of our forever house on it.

First Tooth

Dominick lost his first tooth today. It has been wiggly for a LONG time. Last night every time he talked it wiggled in his mouth. He pulled it out at school and brought it home in a bag. Super excited. He even wrote a letter to the tooth fairy explaining where the tooth was. So excited!

A bit of guilt/sadness though, as we sat down to read tonight he held out his pinky and said (very fast) "Pinky promise it isn't you being the toothfairy" he then just reached out and grabbed my pinky. A pinky promise is pretty much as strong a promise as there is. I haven't broken one yet. But technically, I didn't really officially make this pinky promise . . . still a bit of mom guilt going on there.

I just tucked him in and did relaxation. We secured his note to the side of his bed. I offered to get a piece of tape was quickly told that "fairies are tiny. She won't be able to pull it." We had to make sure it was right-side up so she could read it and lightly attached with an old sticker.

He's growing up so fast but we're both still clinging to the little boyness for as long as we can.

Halloween 2010

Our little lion man

Dominick's self-designed alien monster

Trick-or treating was so much fun this year. Both boys were super excited. Xander loudly would tell everyone we passed--"It's almost Halloween Night!" We met up with Nattie and Jane and Dom was soon treating at warp speed. Xander was not nearly as scared as I had feared. One scary monster guy sat motionless on his porch, until you walked up. That freaked him out a bit and he still talks about "that guy" but luckily that was on the way home. He informed every house after that about the guy that was a "little bit scary." He also told everyone that he was "a little bit ferocious."