Original costume idea!

The Mayor

I'd like to introduce you to the Mayor of Lakewood Preschool. We (I) was a bit worried about switching Tucker for one year to a new school before kindergarten because in the past he has been somewhat reserved/slow to warm up. However we continue to get reports that he is crazy outgoing and has gotten to know every teacher, student and parent at his new school. It is really hilarious how many people have told us a story of him going out of his way to make a connection with them and lately I've had two friends say something to the effect of "it's like he's running for office!" So we're not worried anymore.

The picture above is our son, Dr. Ryan, walking in his Halloween parade holding up his pants so everyone would be able to see his Halloween socks.

They paraded and then gathered to sing for us. Below is "Mrs. Parker, The Lovely" (as Tucker calls her.) She is the music teacher and Tucker is in love.

Pumpkin Patch

Dr. Ryan, Yoda (Trace) and the Karate Kid. I'm too lazy to transfer the picture of Mac in his original costume from my phone, but he was VERY unhappy as a lion so we made a last minute costume change to the karate kid and he was thrilled.

Now to trick-or-treating. Growing up in St.Louis I was raised to believe it was called Trick-or-Treat because you had to do a trick (tell a joke) to get your treat. Imagine my surprise a couple years ago when I found out this only happens in St.Louis?!?! Here in Jacksonville, or at least in San Marco where we live, we don't tell jokes at all but there are a fair number of cocktails consumed. Wrong? I don't know. But I'm quite sure it makes it much more enjoyable for the parents.

We went with a very large group but Will, Tucker & Kathryn were going double-time -- running from house to house. They had a blast! Kathryn was Snow White and her cute sister Margaret (pictured above) was the poisoned apple! Precious girls!

Sleeping Arrangements

A few candid shots from the boys' room. Ever since we took the front of Mac's crib off he battles to get up in Tucker's bed. Some nights we give up and let them wrestle and play for one hour plus until they finally fall asleep.

One night they started like this.

...but ended like this.

Love these boys.

So behind

In what has to be deemed the craziest 2 months of our married lives, we have moved and bought cars and Kyle has changed jobs and.. oh yeah, I'm having a baby here in a matter of weeks. It has been insane. And we have been without internet or T.V. for two weeks. I never knew how dependent I was on both! Mostly for my sanity -- but I'm way behind on blogging. So I'll start with our trip to St.Louis in September.

No one in Kirkwood believed me, but Tucker has never seen a parade. We live in the city. A city with no little parades. So they got to go to their first Greentree Parade! Tucker not only got to see his first parade, but ended up being in the parade for the end when Aunt Betsy picked him up to walk with the Rick Stream for MO State Rep Crew!

We finally got to meet 4 month old Taylor. He is PRECIOUS! And Mac, who loves babies so much, was all over him.

So much sweet cousin time...

The "big" cousins went to the zoo on a gorgeous fall day.

Then we went to visit Great Grandma's new place.

Traveling on the plane by myself with the two of them (really just Mac was the problem!) was a nightmare, but it was worth it to have such a great time!

Back to School

First Day at Lakewood Pres!

Tucker is in the "Pound Puppies" this year which is technically PK4, but it is almost all young 5s and a few 4s turning 5 in the next two months. Just as Tucker has been since he started going to school at age 2, he did not even want me to walk him in on the first day so we did the car pool line and he was fine!

On a side note: It should be illegal to start school after Labor Day. Now that I have survived Summer 2010 it already doesn't seem that bad, but it was such a long summer for a boy who needs a lot more stimulation than I can provide!! I know I'll be so pumped when my kids are older and we can spend days at the pool, etc, but we just aren't there yet with Mac and another baby on the way.

As mentioned earlier, we have been playing a lot of doctor around here!! The combination of Kyle starting the new job and Tucker having to do the stitches/shot at his 5 year appointment has led to Tucker giving all of us (and all his stuffed animals) shots all day long. He rips a small square of a wipe as his alcohol swab to clean the area and then pokes us with the sharpest thing he can get away with while telling us "You are just going to feel a pinch." His teacher told me he has already given both of them physicals and is starting on his classmates and "Big Joe," the large dog mascot of the "Pound Puppies."

Injuries

Our calm child, Tucker, has had quite a summer. I'm trying to decide whether to document/blog about it or completely try to block it out!! First... the broken arm. Then, just as we received the urgent care and Wolfson Childrens Hospital bills, he got stitches after a minor fall on the pool deck led to a gaping cut.

The broken arm was a breeze compared to the stitches and his 5 year doctor's appointment today. Tuck likes to know what is coming and getting the stitches was traumatic because he didn't know what to expect and he was totally panicked through the whole process. He had to be held down with a blanket and a very strong male nurse holding his head and it was terrible. The stitches needed to be in for exactly 5 days and that landed on the day we already had a regular appointment set up for his 5 year visit. So... I didn't have to tell him there was an annual visit (he has been dreading this since his 4 year visit because of S-H-O-T-S) and he was really excited to get his stitches out, so I thought we were doing just fine.

WRONG. They took his weight and height and did the eye test and he mentioned to me "This is taking longer than I was expecting if we're just getting my stitches out." By the time she took his blood pressure, it was high. She retook it and it was higher. I whispered to her that he is probably anticipating he might get a shot. But that was the nurse I told and when the doctor finished her part of the exam and loudly proclaimed that all he had left was getting the stitches out and two shots the chaos set in! She is not our regular doctor and not one of the more sensitive doctors, so when I told her it was going to be bad SHE DID NOT BELIEVE ME. Kyle was going to come with me but he had a meeting at 11 - the exact time of the appointment. So they come in to take the stitches out and ask him to lay down and he freaks out -- we're trying to hold him down - trying to talk about the lego set we are going to pick out at Target after we get through this - he is sweating and yelling and thrashing -- and with four of us she can't get close to getting steady enough to get these stitches out. I pull the nurse aside and whisper-mention that we might as well sneak attack with the shot or that is going to be worse. She can't leave because we're trying to get this stitch.

We finally have to take a break because it is NOT happening... and low-and-behold Kyle comes flying in to the office. By divine providence (God loves me so much!) his guy didn't show up for the meeting and he headed toward the doctor's office with a sinking feeling it was bad over there. He got Tucker relatively calmed down to do the stitches while the nurse went and got the shot ready (we decided against the other "elective" shot. Ha!) and she got the shot done while Kyle held him down up top and talked calmly to him. He did freak a little and ask "what is going on down there?!" but overall, the shot went easily. Once he had the shot he calmed down for the stitches. This whole thing took FOREVER. Why can't he be rational??? He just can't.

There were some moments of hilarity in the last few weeks with all these events. For one, last night Tucker told Kyle about getting the original cast on at urgent care back in June. He explained how the first lady "didn't have any idea what she was doing" and cut everything wrong and had to go get the second nurse. He told him "there was all kinds of drama going on." Ha!

And today on our way to Target he was reflecting on his visit today and told me - in all seriousness - "That doctor's visit was brutal."

I couldn't agree more.

How August has played out at our house!

As previously mentioned it has been HOT and HUMID, so we're in the water if we are outside. Plenty of swimming days, not enough beach days and lots of slip and slide! Tucker and Mac both took swimming lessons for the last month or so and Tucker has made HUGE improvements!

Daddio now has access to all sorts of fun medical supplies with his new job and there has been tons of doctor-play. This is a picture of the rare time that Mac was allowed to be the doctor~

Our friends got Tuck this dinosaur egg discovery kit -- he is chipping away at the egg to find the tiny dinosaur inside.

Tucker spends many minutes a day asking me how things are spelled and figuring out how to read. He loves this dry erase board... and exclamation points!

If there is one thing that has taken over our summer (thank goodness an inside activity!) it has been LEGOS. Tucker is obsessed and Mac is right there with him --

Tucker is excitedly acquiring all the sets in Lego City. The last two days have been miserable for me because he really wants the Lego Airport and he whines and begs and gives me 1,000 reasons he needs it NOW. We're working on patience and understanding money! Ahh! You would not believe how obsessed he is. He has been on lego.com countless times zooming in on every angle to see all the airport features. Crazy kid.

Sno cones daily...

Wrestling a few times daily...

Surfin'

Tucker helping Mac body surf inside in Hilton Head!

Dog days

We are on Day 48 of above 90 degree temperatures. I, of course, find this perfect! It does make it difficult to be outside with the boys, but when Daddio gets home they've been doing some serious Slip N Slide/Tucker's car wash combo action.

One Trip To Publix.

- Tucker told 7 strangers that he was 5. If they looked at him he asked how old they thought he was.
- He also managed to several of them about his Lego City at home. Obsessed with Legos these days.
- He begged for cinnamon rolls for the morning then did not want the cinnamon rolls when we got to them because they had a pink band around the canister.
- After spending no less than 20 minutes looking for Mac's Croc this morning (I spend MUCHO time per day searching for navy Crocs...despite my "take your shoes off at the door rule.") we were in the store and he casually mentioned that yesterday he put my coupons in my middle console with the other Croc! Ahhh! He realized it as he was saying it...
- He looks for whether or not Lunchables are on sale every time we are there. This morning they were on sale. I think they are the most disgusting things EVER but I usually let him have one if they are 10 for $10. He was pumped.
- He is very bothered by the fact that my new CD player in my "new" car is playing his VBS CDs on random. He keeps freaking out "Ahhh! That was #3 and now this is #7!!! Why is this happening??"
-"I would like to be a teacher when I grow up so I can be the one to open the curtains with the pulley system for the program rehearsals."
- Other favorite Tucker sayings lately: "You've got yourself a deal!" "That is just ridiculous."
- Mac is LOUD. He doesn't talk yet - he just yells out all sorts of jibberish. It sounded like I brought a monkey in to Publix this morning. A loud monkey.
- He will do ANYTHING Tucker is doing.
- He is 10 times more wild than Tucker in every way, shape & form.

Accessories

Mac loves to dress up. Apparently loves to dress up without his britches!!

After nearly two years of very limited time together, God blessed us with 4 uninterrupted family days in Hilton Head between Kyle's last day at his old job and training for his new job. He left this afternoon for a week in Michigan. 2 hours is the MOST consecutive time we can spend at the beach and we did that most mornings...

Mac can't seem to give up the morning nap, so he took it out there!

Kyle & Mac took long bike rides in the early mornings.

Tucker talked all week about playing mini golf. They really need to create a 9 hole course for kids with short attention spans! He was DONE (except for his fascination with the engineering of some of the holes) while Kyle and I attempted to duke it out in yet another competitive endeavor. He beat me by one point. Grrr. I fell apart on the back 9 with the distraction of whiny Tucker & wildest child Mac.

So, so grateful for this trip. We've been home 24 hours and have been shopping like mad for Kyle. Those of you who know Kyle well will be SHOCKED to know he will be in suits, ties, dress pants, real shoes. He is growing up right before our very eyes :)