Kola's Turn!

Ta Da! I am Ready!!!


Flip side...Tigger;)


Quiet time in his classroom's reading loft


Making new friends at "the office"


Although Kola's backpack is a hand-me-down from cousin Andrew that I've had in the basement storage for a few years, and something I hadn't used for Ethan - that it was waiting there was no coincidence. If I had to shop hours for the perfect backpack for Kola, this would be it. He is such a Tigger, and even happens to have it on his toothbrush (such a tiny character - or is it my refusal to get bifocals - I didn't notice until I unwrapped it.) He's always full of bouncy trouncy funfunfunfunfun. The wonderful thing about Tiggers is he's the only one.

Kola was all smiles on his first day of school. He's attending the same preschool with the same wonderful teacher Ethan had for two years. She's been a part of our family and Kola's history and we're lucky to have her this year. All last year, Kola sprinted into the preschool as we dropped off Ethan and picked him up. He'd blow through the electronic doors like the wind - one parent called him Beth's early detection system, since he always arrived at the classroom a minute or two ahead of me. But on his first day, he Walked(!) in along side me, calmly strolled into this classroom, hung his backpack on its hook, and entered his first day as a legit member of the preschool class. A huge change from when he used to try to break or sneak in and play with the trucks - often ending with me pulling him from the room in protest. Because I was so confident I knew his answer, at the end of the first day I asked, "so are you ready to come back to your school next week?" "No," a composed Kola replied. "not this school. A different school." "Oh, really?? Which one?" Well Kola informed me that he'll go to Ethan's school instead. When people ask him how old he is, he used to answer 5 because then he figured he'd get to go to Ethan's elementary school. Since that didn't work, and I informed him he needed to know his alphabet and be able to write his name, he's been diligently working on both. Yesterday, one of the kindergarten moms asked Kola how old he was - "I'm 10." I guess he figured 5 wasn't high enough for him to transfer... But no doubt both kids love their schools and teachers. Last weekend, both were bummed to hear they'd have to wait a few days before heading back. They both like to do homework in the afternoons, and if they don't have any they're happy with made-up assignments. And the beauty of this blog journal is that five years from now I'll probably read this for a good laugh;) But it's great to have them like school and I hope that lasts for a very long time...Thanks for checking. More soon! xo b/s/e/k

From zzzzzzzzero to 60

friends for how many years?!?


faster, faster! racing a freighter in IN


Although time rushes by, we were able to make it stand stiller for a weekend in Indiana with BFFs. Ethan and I took a road trip to spend time with four of my friends, and five of their kids. Lots of laughs, reminiscing, food, and beach time was had by all. It was so great to catch up for a couple of days and share ideas, and the kids all really enjoyed each other and some end-of-summer fun. The past few weekends we've spent with friends have reminded us about what's important, how lucky we are, and how much fun can be had in the slow lane;)

A day and a half later, Ethan was still a little groggy from the late night hide-and-go seek, literally falling out of bed at the beach house, and sugar buzzes that postponed sleep. We had to rack him out of the loft bed or he would have dozed through his first day of kindergarten. We woke him a little later than we should, only because sig and i were racing around getting ourselves ready so we could be 'pit crew'. Aside from an early meeting or appt. about once every six months, we NeveR set our alarm (I know, lucky us) but at 6:45 we started our drill. Ethan was summoned at 7:15 for a 7:40 departure. Just enough time to fill him up with a donut and sausage (power breakfast!) - he was chewing as I buttoned his shirt. He laid on the couch while I strapped on his shoes, but he was very excited to be a part of the mix, after watching so many others on our block go before him. It was a glorious morning and Ethan was beaming like he was going to his first day at Harvard. So many neighbors and kids and sibs migrated up our street that it felt more like trick or treating.

walking with friends to his new school


kola leads the parade, hauling the supply kit


next to patrick, in front of his teacher, and 7 small steps away from kindergarten!

carnivals!

go speed racer, go!


skipper and gilligan


"after the log ride hill, you should downshift..."


to the moon!


lollapalooza by day


shari, me, radiohead, and 75,000 of our closest friends


this could quite possibly be the only blog that tries to compare and contrast kiddieland and lollapalooza. let's compare: someone threw up at the park, there was a lot of walking back and forth and going in circles, it was loud and hot, it seems expensive to get in, and a good time was had by all...but kiddieland had far better bathrooms, lollapalooza had far better food and beverages, and no one tried to bum a cigarette off me at kiddieland.

this old house

dan the man


his side kick R2D2


ain't no ladder high enough


there are so many wonderful qualities to living in an old (1880's) home on a tree- and porch-lined street. anyone who knows us has heard (ad nauseum?) how much we love our block friends. we also love our mature gardens and front-facing porches which host conversations, happy hours, and casual shout-outs to dog walkers and trike riders.

well any commentary on our life here over the past year would be incomplete without a four squirt-gun salute to dan, the man who removes all the wallpaper and duct tape that holds our house together. he replaces the licorice-like wiring, and adds insulation where no insulation has ever gone before. all with the patience (for the house and us) of a saint. he answers so many of the boys' questions, "dan, what are you doing? what's that? can i do it?" as you may be able to tell, dan is working in our dining room. and as you can see, especially through the eyes of a 3-5 year old boy, there's lots of fun stuff in there! so the house rule is no kids on the white tarp. the boys are really building up their calf muscles tiptoeing along the edge to get as close as they can to the action without teetering into the white zone. sig likes to come home from work to see what happened in the dining room that day, too, but we let him go on the tarp.

dan is a foodie, too, so it's fun to be able to feed someone during the day, who doesn't complain about trying new things:) we've been dipping into my beef jerky stash from MI, sipping sun tea, and dan will even eat an occasional PEZ if the boyz offer.

with all the old houses on the street (and such the nice and talented guy he is,) Dan's white station wagon practically has an honorary spot on our street. he's regularly invited to our block party and last year, his car was on our street every work day from new year's to christmas (and no, you can't have his number;)

thanks for everything dan - for making all of us and our home very happy!

xo b/s/e/k

run and jump and slip and fall and slide and laugh

but the marketing department thought that product name wasn't "catchy" enough.

ethan, kola, and friends on a wonderful summer day in the yard...

abbey road? (john and george not pictured)


kola catching big air


mr. sprinkle toes


more run, more fun

road trip!

checking out indy

happy passengers

visiting friends!


although the blog has been quiet, it's only because our last few weeks have been all but... first was a road trip ethan and i took to indianapolis to visit our friends laura, pat, colin, brendan, and caroline. we had such a great time catching up, relaxing with our friends, staying up too late, catching fireflies, swimming, and touring a new city. we loved indy which is a great town - and was only overshadowed by the time we spent with our friends there. we walked and ate our way through the town, visited a wonderful park and natural area, and ethan spent hours acquainting himself with the 3-car garage and its accompanying remotes and buttons. the barn-buster was their house's intercom system. i can't believe ethan hasn't already requested one for christmas.

other summer fun includes the revival of VOW (volleyball on woodbine,) an outdoor concert with the flemmings and other friends, slip and slide (or in ethan and kola's case, slip and fall,) kiddieland, and our vacation last week in michigan. wouldn't be fair to post about that before the pics arrive. promise to get those done asap - check back soon! xo, b/s/e/k

out and about

beach day!

team building, a moat i think

bugs at the arb

building a dam

grandma and da boys

me and da boys


we've done a few fun field trips with the warm up over the past couple weeks. probably the collective local favorite is north avenue beach. the day was windy (we were literally exfoliated by whipping sandy winds from the east) but our desire for beach fun overcame that and the cold water temps for a couple of hours. the arboreteum was a huge hit too, especially with grandma carol's guidance. we were there for several hours and g'ma helped the boys discover tadpoles and taught ethan how to catch one! she also initiated an andy goldsworthy rock design, which even roped in a couple of river bullies who were previously throwing rocks and marking territories. kola came up with an interesting experiment - testing different-sized rocks to see which the current could push off an immersed flat rock. so much fun to see the discoveries and to pal around with grandma.

kola and ethan started kiddie camp this week and have been playing school ever since. they each walk around with a backpack (ethan's with camping gear and kola's with a leappad - er his computer) and they take the bus to school (ethan's desk) and do a project, then turn it into me (mrs. holzwarth, ethan's former and kola's future concordia teacher.) they're both getting ready for school this fall. they've generally been playing well together which is great timing for me, since i need to clear out the china cabinets and strip wallpaper from our dining room in prep for a room 'redo.' if i get pressed for time, i'm sure kola and ethan would love a crack at the wallpaper too!

more as soon as my camera software is reinstalled:) xo b/s/e/k