Jeremiah's First Day of Preschool

This week Jeremiah started preschool!  Even though he just turned four, he is in a K3 class.  We'll wait to start him in kindergarten when he is about to turn six instead of next year when he is not quite five.

All decked out in Cars2 accessories:

About to enter school.  Not quite sure what he's thinking:

 When we got to his room, one of his classmates was crying and clinging to the teacher.  I wasn't sure how that was going to affect Jeremiah, so for distraction I asked him to pick something in the room to have his picture taken by:

(My camera and I need to have a heart-to-heart about focusing in low-light conditions.)

Next we took a picture with Mrs. Rhonda (still wearing the clinger):

(It's nearly impossible to get Jeremiah to look at a camera long enough to snap a picture.)

Jeremiah decided to head back to the Lego table.  He soon told me it was time to stop taking pictures.  I took that as my cue to leave!

I stopped outside the door and saw that he was completely unconcerned that I had left:

After I left, I ran four errands without having to unbuckle/buckle a carseat eight times or having to tell anyone, "No, we're not buying that today."  Then I still had time to read my Bible study and eat lunch.  Hooray!

Jeremiah's take on the first day:  He met lots of new friends, sang a song about a crocodile and a monkey, and ate all his lunch.  I asked him if he got to go outside to play (it had rained overnight) and he said it was too wet, but he got to play in the gym.  His preschool is at Rocky Creek church where his brothers play Upward basketball.  I guess he hadn't put that all together until that day, because when he told me about playing in the gym, he said, "And it (school) is attached to Rocky Creek!"

(Don't look now, but I'm all caught up on blogging!)



Greenville Drive Game

After Jeremiah's birthday party, we went to the Reading All Stars Greenville Drive game.  The boys earned free tickets to this game by completing the library's summer reading program.

This was Jeremiah's first year to complete the program, so we all walked around the stadium in the pre-game parade:

The boys were impressed with all the ball dents in this sign:

All the boys got free t-shirts, but the smallest size left when we got there was adult small.  Joseph wore his and Tony carried the rest:

Posing in front of the "Green Monster:"

 We met up with some friends there:

 The view from our seats:

So thankful we were in the shade!

After Sunday games, all kids get to run the bases.  You can find our three boys by looking for the red hats:

Joshua and Jeremiah:

Jeremiah wasn't really sure what to do once he got to the big crowd at home plate, but Joshua was a great big brother and went back to get him and make sure he got safely back to us.

Jeremiah's 4th Birthday

We had Jeremiah's birthday party the day before his birthday.  He wanted a Monster Truck theme this year.  I had been convinced he would want Cars 2, but I was wrong.

 Jeremiah praying before the pizza:

Monster Jam obstacle course (or being chased by a girl--you decide):

Opening gifts:

On the actual birthay, Jeremiah declared that he was still 3 and wouldn't turn 4 until he opened all his presents.  We didn't do that until after meeting Daddy for supper at Stevi B's Pizza.  I love the expression on Jeremiah's face as he opens his gifts:

At bedtime, Jeremiah declared that he was still 3, because he didn't actually open and play with all the things he got.  When we did that the next day, he said we was still 3 because he hadn't opened Grandma and Grandpa's presents yet.  They came the next weekend, and he opened their gifts.

But guess what?  It is now over a week past his birthday and he says he is still not 4.  He has run out of explanations for it, though.  Who knows when he will decide he's not three anymore?  Hopefully by the time he turns 5!

First Day of School

The day before school started, Joseph reminded me that we usually have a special breakfast on the first day.  I was still worn out from Jeremiah's surgery and hospitalization over the weekend, so I opted for store-bought muffins.

 The traditional under-the-crepe-myrtle picture:

(My goodness, Joseph looks grown up.)

Jeremiah gets in on the act:

One last brother-pestering moment before summer ends:

Joseph ready to head off with Daddy:

I asked Joshua if it was OK for me to walk him in (only allowed on the first day).  He said yes.  After we had parked and gotten out, Joshua told me he wanted to walk in by himself.  I told him it was too late--I was going.  I have a feeling next year I'll be stuck out in car line.  : (

Joshua with his teacher:

OK--get ready for the Sunrise, Sunset moment:

kindergarten                                              first grade

                                                          (He's in front of the wrong tree!)

 

kindergarten and 2nd grade                                  1st grade and 3rd grade

2nd and 4th grade

Myrtle Beach 2011

A few weeks ago we took our now-annual trip to North Myrtle Beach.

If this looks vaguely familiar, it might be because we stayed at this same hotel last summer.

I didn't realize how shiny the spray-on sunblock is until I saw this picture.  It is a must for lunchtime re-application, though.  Saves you from rubbing sand in with your sunblock.

The big boys' first stop Monday morning was the lazy river.  Do you see Joshua in the water pulling Tony along?  That was before the security guard came along and told us all kids had to be in tubes.

Jeremiah was brave enough to float this year, and Tony made sure to protect him from the overhead buckets that dump water on heads:

Jeremiah wanted to wear goggles to get under this umbrella in the baby pool:

 He went under one time, and one time only:

It was overcast the whole first day, which was actually pretty pleasant but didn't make for the best pictures.

It was high tide when we got out to the beach the first time, which meant there was a line of shells at the edge of the water.  This is just a fraction of what we collected:

If you look in the background of this picture, you can make out the line of shells and lots of people collecting them.  High tide also meant the boys had to play in the hot dry sand.  They hauled water up and made the most of it.

(This picture was actually from Tuesday, but it happened both days):

After we went back to our room for lunch, we hit the beach again, and it was low tide.  This created some tide pools out in the middle of the beach.  They were Jeremiah's favorite.  He was brave enough to go out and jump waves this year, but he preferred the calmer waters:

In the tidepools, we spotted a hermit crab, a fiddler crab, some fish, and some other shelled creatures that we couldn't identify.  We didn't manage to photograph any of those, though.

Tony, Joseph, and Joshua all spent some time bodyboarding.  Here is Joseph:

We were really impressed with how fearless Joshua was this year:

Tuesday morning a Canadian family approached us with an offer.  It was their last of ten days at the beach, and they had bought chairs, an umbrella, and a body board that they could not take back on the plane with them.  They sold it all to us for $20.  It was definitely an upgrade from sitting on towels under our sad old umbrella!

(Joseph isn't a bad photographer, as long as you didn't want to see our feet!)