a week later

i got a little side-tracked with pre-school this week and never had a chance to post about labor day.

we went to my parents house out in the country to help them build a pergola for their garden. (am i the only one who knows what this is? it seems everyone i talk to is like....."a what?")

anyway, the kids always have such a blast there because they have tons and tons of free space to run. they have a huge yard and we can let them run free without worry.


you can see here just how much fun was had that day! and this was after being washed up once already! this face is a mix of dirt and dinner. he just loves being able to play in all the dirt at grandma & papa's house....something he never really gets to do at home.


and here's the baby playing in the grass. i've never seen a baby take to crawling in the grass like he does. most babies are afaid of the stuff. not this guy. he'd roll around in it all day if he could!


and here's a photo of the hard work the boys put in all day. (just one small corner) i can't wait to see the finished project! it's beautiful already!

first day of pre-school

today was the day. the little dude's first day of pre-school at the john michael kohler arts center. this day has been a long time coming as it was something that the hubby and i had been dreaming about even before we had kids. i remember the day that we discovered the arts center had a pre-school. we peered through the darkened room's door, trying to get a glimpse of the magical room inside filled with easels, floor to ceiling mirrors, paints, books, play areas and so much more! even though the lights were off and it was locked up, we knew right then and there that when we were finally blessed with children, they would go to this preschool no matter what the cost. (i recently found out that the only other art museum in the country to house a pre-school is the smithsonian!) while the fees to attend the pre-school are much higher than other pre-schools in the area, education for us is a huge priority. getting a superior education that revolves around art.....well, it couldn't be a more perfect fit for us. we got him on the wait-list soon after he was born. (yeah, almost 4 years ago! it fills up fast!)

to see those dreams become a reality was such a joy for us today. the hubby took off of work and accompanied us as we all walked up to the glorious front entrance. above you'll see the little dude sitting in front of his favorite bird bath. (yeah, that thing coming out of his head! we have to look inside every time we're there to see if there's water in it or not)


here you can see the beautiful glass entrance on the front of the building. i'm not sure who designed it, but it takes my breath away every time i see that building. i know i talk about the arts center a lot on my blog, (and how we were married here) but for us it's one of the huge benefits of the very small town we live in. we don't have a lot of fancy stores or restaurants, but we have the arts center and we take full advantage! for a small town, we get some amazing exhibits and entertainment.


ok, back to pre-school. on our way up to the door, one of the jmkac employees was walking up and offered to take our family picture. (how sweet) so now we have a lovely photo to remember this special day


the little dude loves to open the huge doors by himself by hitting the handicap accessible buttons. it was hard not to notice how small he looked next to those gigantic doors! (insert weepy mom sound here)


and finally, outside the door to his classroom giving us the thumbs-up. since he's VERY familiar with the jmkac, he had no problem saying good-bye. he had an absolute blast and cannot wait to go back on friday. (sometime i'll have to take photos of the insides of the classrooms)

here's some more information on what the classes focus on at the arts center.

happy birthday little man!

the baby turned 1 yesterday. hard to believe. the last year on my life has been so busy with work, i feel like it was just a whirlwind. it's been challenging, it's been fun. i'm hoping that this year will be much easier! (i can hope, right?) either way, i wouldn't trade him for the world. here are some sweet photos from yesterday where there were actually a few moments of calm....something very unusual with him....so i took full advantage!


waiting for guests to arrive.


aren't i just so cute and innocent? ("hah! i have them fooled!")


as the "destroyer-of-all-things" (as we so affectionately refer to him), i was shocked that he didn't just rip into his cake. he was very delicate and gentle and didn't even eat much of it. it was way past nap time and he was so zoned out that i don't think he knew what was going on!


before the guests arrived again. of course you can't take photos of just one kid without the other one wanting to get in the action, so here's a brotherly photo.