Date Night with Finn--Hauser Food Display

A delightful meal with my delightful date.  Pasta at Village Pub!

The annual Hauser Food Drive Display.

Finn counted the boxes…200!

Thankful A,B,Cs

Sometimes I just can't help myself.  During Thanksgiving dinner I got everyone listing what they're thankful for by asking them to go through the alphabet.  Of course this was a kindergartener-friendly activity, but meant to inspire ideas from everyone.  Some of the highlights:


G & H--Good Health (per Granny)
I--Ice cream
D--Daughters (Granny)
N--Ninja's (Finn, of course, although who isn't grateful for ninjas!)
P--peace and
Q--quiet
R--Red Wine (one of Dad's only contributions...maybe he thought the whole thing was dumb)
S--Star Wars (who do you think?)
W--we all said Wylie, but he wasn't happy being part of our gratitude list, so we switched to watermelon

My own highlights:

A--amazon.com
B--boys, especially my three
C--Core Power Yoga and the Common Core Standards
D--Dunkin Donut's coffee
E--elliptical machines
F--friends and family
G--Getaways with Jason
H--Hauser, despite its dysfunctions
I--ice cream
J--skinny jeans, and finally figuring out how helpful belts are
K--Kinky Boots--the musical I need to see
L--legs to run on!
M--the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
N--new boots
O--On Demand & Oak Park
P--pumpkin bread, that I made myself, with little to no stress
Q--quiet
R--Riverside
S--Sanibel Island
T--Trader Joe's
U--Finn saying "Carrie Underwear" today
V--vacations
W--"Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me"
X--xercise
Y--Young Adult literature
Z--zest for life!

Sensitive Boy

One thing I know for sure about Finn is that he is sensitive.  But I cannot always predict what will trigger his emotions. Today that sensitivity came out in reaction to a surprising topic--his pumpkin.  Who knew he was attached to this pumpkin chosen at the pumpkin farm nearly two months ago and left sitting on a shelf ever since.  When he learned I wanted to use it today and then send it out to compost, he cried.  A pumpkin?

My W!

All of a sudden Wylie can read the letter W!  Whenever he sees one, usually while we're in the car, he hollers, "My W!"  I literally think he believes every W out there is for him.  Here he is pointing out the W's on one of Finn's papers from school.

BFF

Finn told me today that I am his best friend, "because family can be friends, too, Mama." Melts my heart.  I am beyond lucky to have him as my BFF!

Michigan Avenue Lights Parade!

Wylie's First Movie

The Little Engine That Could

This is the Finn I know and love.

We lost Finn for a few months there, starting on August 26th, and it feels like we're starting to get him back.  (I don't dare say we have him back because I know better and Jason says I jinx us--it is always two steps forward and one step back with this boy.)  We lost him to Kindergarten.  Its hard to pinpoint the exact problem beyond exhaustion and adjustment, but just we've been living with a version of Finn I sometimes describe as Jekyll and Hyde.

One moment he would be crying on the way home from Concordia because I had let on that we were not having chocolate ice cream for dinner!  (And that is only a slight exaggeration.)  Later in the evening he would emerge from the gloom and tell us in detail about the best game of tag ever that he got to play in gym class that day.

Even though Jason and I literally said out loud back in August, "We need to brace ourselves for this transition."  That didn't do anything to actually equip us to cope with or help Finn through this overly-new full-day school life.  I've been waffling between grin-and-bear-it and how-soon-can-we-send-him-to-boarding-school?! 

But now, sigh, the good news.  I have recently caught a few glimpses of the Finn I know and love.  Busy and completely and delightfully absorbed in a project of his own design.  Observing and talking about and drawing the moon on our way home from Concordia.  Explaining in great detail his plans for his two newest fixations--a treehouse and an invention that will instantly compost dog poop where it lands in the grass. 

He is a delight to be with again, at least some of the time.  He is sweet and loving, even to Wylie, some of the time.  He wants to spend time with us and acts appropriately, some of the time.  He sweetly offers to share a piece of his Halloween candy.  Ah, maybe this is even the new and improved Finn!

A good deed

Proud of the boys (and Paige), wanting to rake a neighbor's lawn. Even if the good deed was motivated mostly be the large quantity of leaves on that lawn compared to ours.

Lost Tooth #3

Now this is Fall

Marching off to rake in the front!

Rainy Halloween

Happy Wylie

Another first for Finn

First time calling a girl--Alex, the girl. He called her, post-play date, to discuss strategy for climbing trees at Maple Park. 

Wy's First Sports Class

After a few minutes of initial apprehension, Wy was attentive and fun during his first sports class. It's designed for little ones, an intro to the five major team sports: soccer, baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. Luckily, class started off with soccer since Finn too is doing soccer this fall and Wylie pays close attention to what his brother is doing.

Coach Alex, who has taught many of Finn's sports classes - indeed this same one when he was two - called the kids over and from there Wy dutifully followed all instructions and showed some decent skill. He also made one of the coaches laugh a lot, which is so typical for our little man with his outsized personality.

Taking direction . . .

Stretching . . .

Trapping . . .

Hey, no hands! . . .

Celebrating . . .

Tid bits from Kindergarten

Finn takes a "need to know" approach to what he will tell me about his day in the new world of elementary school.  The fact that I am dying to know more and ask endless questions only works against me, I am sure.  So I will revel in the tid bits he does share.  And, I cannot help but marvel over the boy-ness of the aspects of school he talks about--lunch, recess, gym.

Wednesday, 9/28--It is the third day of school and Finn has figured out that he has options at lunch.  He came home today and said, "I want hot lunch tomorrow."  Apparently there is a sign-in-type board in his classroom where the kids have to indicate their lunch plans for the day--brought a lunch, hot lunch, or the alternative school lunches, a salad or sandwich.  It is possible that he wants to take the hot lunch because of some sort of status it earns him on the board.

Thursday, 8/29--An older boy, possibly the only other Concordia-bound-kid, told Finn that there are bullies...on the bus to Concordia or at Concordia.  Somewhere, there are bullies.  So now, Finn has remarked a few times that he didn't see any bullies today.  Breaks my heart that he knows about bullies already.

Wednesday, 9/4--"Today was an exciting day," Finn said during dinner.  Mr. Wise (or Wiza?), the new PE teacher, has hit Finn's sweet spot--games that involve running and chasing.  So far PE class appears to be all about variations of Tag.  Finn is in heaven.  He has now explained to me the rules for "Everyone is It Tag" (I think that's what it is called.) three times.  Today he went to extensive detail about "Line Tag."  Oh and, "Today," Finn said in awe, "we got to play in the big gym."

Wylie in the morning

A joy of my renewed morning commute to Concordia--Wylie time!  Unlike Finn, he opening shares his thoughts and feelings and observations and experiences, often with exuberance. 

Here are some Wylie snippets from our morning drive:

"We are at Concordia!  Hee, hee, hee!"
"I found another dump truck!"
"There is my classroom.  Hurray!"

9/5--"Let's look for dinosaurs!"  Wylie decided when I asked what animal we should look for on the way to school. We even saw a school bus-dinosaur. 

9/11--When I asked him what he was going to do at school today, Wylie enthusiastically replied, "Sing!"  Apparently the song goes, "the cows in the kitchen go moo, moo, moo!"  Makes me smile. 

A walk in the rain with Wylie

Overjoyed to use the umbrella, but with no intention of using it to stay dry!

Fourth Day in and Finn is the Special Helper

Mrs. Foreman doesn't mess around.  The fourth day of kindergarten and Finn is thrilled to come home with a bag containing Clifford, a few books, and a journal.  Apparently he had been the "Special Helper" today and thus got to come home with this special bag.  

So he read the stories and set up a special bed for Clifford, even slept on the floor with Clifford.  In the morning this is the story he dictated to Jason, about Clifford and some blue guys helping to stop a flood coming into our house. After telling it he acknowledge without any prompting, "This is fiction."  

First Day of Kindergarten (and Concordia)!

First Day of School Sum-Up

10--Neighborhood kids in back-to-school picture: Finn, Wylie, Zach, Alex, Paige, Samantha, Tau Tau, Chloe, Zoe, Mary
9--Boys in Finn's class, plenty of new buddies in the making
8--Items packed in Finn's lunch, not knowing how much he would eat
7--Bedtime after an exhausting first day
6--Hand-outs sent home in the all-important green folder
5--Number of times Wylie asked, "Where's Finn?"
4--Hugs good-bye
3--Number of times Finn got to play outside
2--WOW Slips received for unknown good deeds
1--Adjective Finn used to describe his first day: "Good"

So glad Grampa could walk Finn to school, too!

Finn and Zach, "We don't need the grown ups.  Let's go to school ourselves!"

Off we go!

Saying good-bye to Wylie.

Aidan and Finn

Don't forget, it's Wylie's first day too!