Alex's First Day of School

Alex on his first day of school - wearing his backpack and toting his car-snack: Golden Grahams!

Today was Alex's first day of 3K Preschool. He looked so grown-up marching around this morning, his backpack slung over one shoulder. When we got to school, he held onto my left index finger between the car and the school. No longer does he want to be carried, no longer does he need to bury his tiny hand into mine as we approach the building. Will and I watched as he hung his backpack on the correct hook and posed dutifully for a picture (well, about 10 pictures). He paused in the hall for a spell, watching the other kids and parents, and then went into the room. He is ready. I'm just not sure that I am.

life is good

Evan was positively glowing all afternoon today. At school, he was chosen to hold the flag during the Pledge. Then, during the school-wide morning news, they showed his Chicago and Yellowstone vacation pictures. He got to rest in Rooker's spot for naps (Rooker's spot is near the blocks. Evan was formerly under the backpacks, a "totally boring" spot for someone who doesn't sleep, I hear), and there were mashed potatoes for lunch! Does life get any better?

Books

Will's Center for the Teaching of America's Western Foundations has a new website. (It is rudimentary at this point, but we are working on it.) For the "about us" page, Will needed a picture of himself. Of course, the boys wanted to participate, as well. Here are all 3 Jordan boys in front of "Daddy's important books."

Happy Birthday, Alex!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Alex!
We love you!

Enjoying Alex

Evan started school almost a full month before Alex, Will and me. I thought that with Evan gone, Alex would be super-bored, missing his "best fwend in the ho whirrr-uld." Instead, Alex, Will and I have enjoyed lots of time together reading, playing, doing puzzles, running errands, going on excursions, and generally goofing around. As it turns out, Alex likes undivided attention! :) We even fit in a day-trip to the Zoo for an early birthday present to Alex. (Evan was crazy-jealous when he found out, to say the least!)

Here are some shots of enjoying our time with Alex. We love you little buddy.

Chattanooga & Macon

We spent an awesome weekend in Chattanooga with my parents, followed by a week in Macon. It has become tradition to meet them there for a weekend each August and this was our third trip! I have many pictures and stories to share, but the images are not yet loaded to the computer. Stay tuned!

The School Rollercoaster

Evan's first week of big-boy school was a roller coaster, to say the least. It is probably best described in timeline fashion.

First, a little bit of background: Evan attended a Church preschool for the last three years, most recently 5 mornings a week for 3K. This school year, his name was drawn for the Pre-K lottery at Springdale Elementary, the school in our neighborhood. It was a tough decision to send him to a true "big boy school" that meets all day, but honestly -- had he been born 6 weeks earlier, he would have started kindergarten this year! We decided to go for it with Springdale. He was ready.

On Wednesday night, Aug 5, we attended an open house.

Evan was all smiles. Thumbs up!

He met both his teachers (Miss Clegg, above, and Mrs Jones), and he loved the classroom. He looks a little nervous in this picture, but most of the evening, he was smiling ear to ear.

We bought him a Springdale shirt. He put it on the very minute we got home. Plus, he wanted to wear it to his first day of school. So much for the outfit I'd chosen!

Fast forward to 5:00 am on Thursday morning: Evan's first day of Big-Boy School. Evan crawled into our bed, complaining that his "heart hurt." Seconds later, he threw up all over the bed -- and then two more times before we left for school. He didn't have a fever and I was near positive it was nerves. (Who me, anxious? with an anxious, nervous, excited, over-achiever kid? He told me later that he thought he would need to read on his first day of school!! Poor thing.)

A little green, holding his tummy on the way out the door. After this picture he told me, "Mommy, no pictures when I am ill, please."

Modeling his backpack - full of towels for nap time, a change of clothes, and other goodies.

Will, Alex and I took him to school, where he was just not himself. He sat quietly at his table (see below) while all the other kids ran around and met one another. I told the teachers about our morning and they promised to alert me if he was sick at school.

Evan at his spot on "table 2"

At 10:30 am, I got the call. Evan had thrown up two times at school. They knew it was nerves, and they knew he'd be fine since he didn't want to leave -- but what did I want to do? I drove as fast as possible to that school with an indescribable, heavy sense of disappointment. Poor Evan. I picked him up in the main office and deflected as many stares as possible. What kinda parent sends a puking kid to school on the first day back? I wanted to shout, "He is excited! He wants to learn! It is nerves! He is not contagious!" He (then I) cried the whole way home. "I'm missing my first day of schooooooooollllll, Mommy! My first day ever!"

Thumbs down - Evan at home on his first day of school

Will met us at the door with grilled cheese and other favorites. Within 30 minutes of being home, Evan was eating everything in sight and goofing around with his brother. It has been smooth sailing ever since. He really loves school.

What a roller coaster.

Go West, Young Men

We just returned from 11 days with Nana & Gramps in Colorado & Wyoming. In addition to spending many hours playing on the Pirate Ship in their backyard, we also visited Fort Laramie, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Tetons National Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park. (Our National Parks Passport book is quickly filling up, as we have collected 36 stamps in the last 31 days of travel! It helped that every visitor's center in Yellowstone has its own stamp -- seven in all!) We were fortunate to see the boys' Great-Grandmas several times this visit, as well.


Other highlights included dressing up (as Pirates, Davy Crockett, Indians, Park Rangers, Trappers, and ... of course... tourists!); seeing Old Faithful erupt from our hotel window (the kids saw it erupt 6 times!); spotting wildlife (Moose, Elk, Buffalo, Deer, Yellow-Bellied Marmots, a Grizzly Bear, Pronghorn Antelope, and the boys' favorite: PIKA!); riding in a stagecoach at Yellowstone; standing in wheel ruts from the Oregon Trail; sleeping in a real log cabin; driving over Trail Ridge Road in the snow on July 26th; becoming junior rangers at RMNP; seeing Megan and Greg's new house; watching Tanner play T-ball; "messing with" Nana and Gramps in the back of the "Grand-Van" as we drove across Wyoming; visiting a working dairy; and drinking free samples at the Budweiser plant (some of us drank Sprite, some of us did not). We even found time to visit Fort Vasquez (info), too.

Thank you for a wonderful vacation, Nana & Gramps!

Picture Slideshows Here:

Fort Laramie, Oregon Trail Ruts & arrival in Cody

Yellowstone Day 1 & Old Faithful Inn

Yellowstone Day 2 & Colter Bay (Tetons)

Grand Tetons

Visit to a dairy (with homemade ice cream!) and seeing the Great Grandmas

Rocky Mountain National Park

Fort Vasquez, the park in Fort Collins, and the Budweiser tour

Pirate Fun, Water Balloon Fight, Tball, and other misc. pictures

Cash for Clunker

Mom and Dad got in just under the wire with the cash for clunkers deal. Dad traded in his beloved explorer for a prius. What a difference - in so many ways! On the plus side, the prius is totally cute... er... ahh... I mean... macho!? (At one point in time, Dad and I had "matching" navy blue explorers. Mine was better, of course. :) It was hard for me to say g'bye to mine several years ago -- even though I was trading up. I know how you feel, Dad!)

Congrats on your new car guys! We can't wait to see it next week!