The Youngest Bachelor

Grant woke up this morning all on his own (awesome) and picked his show and share right away (helicopter). I asked him what he would like to wear today, since it's no uniform Friday. Here is what he chose:



The cutest boy IN THE WORLD.

 I snapped a picture at school because I thought no one would believe me when I said he asked for a cool guy jacket AND a flower to go in his pocket. But the next part is what really put me in tears:

Mommy, can I have a pink flower so I can give it to Ms. Hines (his teacher) when I get to school?

Have you EVER met such a sweet little boy? Honestly, I wanted to hug him forever this morning. He's at that age where hugging isn't cool. He said, Mom, get off me! Ughhhh.

Salisbury Steak

What? Manners? What's that?

So, I was able to get to have lunch with Granters at school the other day. I arrived and he was setting the table. SETTING THE TABLE. Apparently he is totally capable of this. At school. He's much too busy at home to hardly eat, let alone set the table. Well, his little game is up. Now I know.

Cleaning up.

You eat family style at the YMCA. The children ask to be passed things and say please and thank you. Holy Moly. And here I thought I was teaching him all these wonderful things. Ah, well. The point is that he really does have manners and was a perfect little gentleman at lunch. The kid behind him had 2 and a half "meats" as they called them. He must eat his mom out of house and home.

Did you notice his shirt is still white at the end  of the barbecue Salisbury steak meal? That's right, everyone. It can be done.

Oops, I forgot!

I had two oversights.

1. Happy Belated Birthday to Uncle Jimmy. He shares the same birthday with Grant. Here he is with my new Aunt Linda. Hi Aunt Linda! This photo was taken by my cousin, Rachel. Nice!

2. How could I forget the sweetest guest and Grant's party. Sorry, Laine.

What a little trooper. Light Saber and all!

My "Badge"

 

Your Badge

I write like
Kurt Vonnegut

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing

I came across this on some one's blog. It analyzes your writing. Apparently I write similarly to Kurt Vonnegut.  Hmmmmm.

I wasn't satisified completely, so I did another analysis. This is what I got. I like this one better:

I write like
J. D. Salinger

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Bibles and Birthdays

Sunday Grant received his "Kindergarten Bible" from church. There was  a short ceremony at the END of service. The END of an hour service. Grant has never been to "big church". They sat all the "Bible Recipients" in the front rows. Good idea, planners. Not only are you expecting 5 year olds to sit quietly through a sermon and endless announcements, but you choose to put us at the FRONT of the sanctuary. There was no quietly leaving without everyone noticing.

Guess what? Grant was awesome. Totally behaved. The little girl behind us did not. Started wailing. Even the minister stopped his sermon and gave the little girl a sad little look. I bet that Mom just about died. Sorry to say it, but better her than me.

My little handsome boy!



Last one on the upper right. Too cute!

 On to the birthday. Picked up the balloons and three popped on the way home. Thank you Party America for over filling them and scaring me half to death while driving.

We had a good turnout. Just the right amount of kids. Yoda Soda and Wookie cookies were a hit. The birthday cake I made Grant was not. He wouldn't eat it because it was "the dark side" and they were bad. He opted for a "light side" cup cake.


Better

Darth Vader candle holder

The kids were a riot and when I asked them to say cheese, Big Grant (our neighbor's son has a Grant too, he's older) suggested they hold a piece of cheese while saying cheese. Ha ha.

Great group of kids. Love them all.

I thought a Silly String Fight would be so fun in the front yard. Apparently I was wrong. Gabby started crying right away, after Beckett sprayed her in  the eyes. Thanks, Beck. And my little Grant started crying after when Auntie Jessica sprayed him and "got it on his new costume and it will never come out". Geeze. High maintenance.

The yard was a mess.



Not so silly Silly string

 Grant had a great time and ended up with some fabulous presents. Thanks to all who came and celebrated another wonderful year of Grant Matthias. May the force be with you all!



Vader aka Auntie Jessica and Grant.



5 Years Old

We made it! Or, I should say, I made it! Yesterday was Grant's 5th birthday. His "party" isn't until Sunday, but he had a little school celebration. I walked into his classroom with 2 dozen balloons and the kids went NUTS. I'm sure Ms. Hines was pleased with me. I brought lots of sugar and balloons. Perfect. Especially fun when you ask them to sit down quietly after consuming ice cream and rice crispy treats (No, I am not a bad Mom because I didn't bring a cake. Grant did not want a cake brought in. He wanted ice cream and Scooby Snacks)

Good news....they no longer make Scooby Snacks. So I thought what would be the next best thing that Grant would want. Rice Crispy treats, coated in chocolate. Perfect. I was sweating it.

This was Grant's table.

Grant did a great job of listening.  I was very impressed. There was a kid in there (I will be nice and not name names, you're welcome YMCA) who WOULD NOT LISTEN. I totally didn't want to give him a balloon. But I did. Then of course there was the no sugar, no meat, no dairy vegan kid. Seriously? Guess what. She ate ice cream and her Grandma got totally "upset" that her goody bag contained gum. Can't wait to see what they bring for her birthday! Oh, the politics of Kindergarten.....

Ice Cream and chocolaty crispiness

We arrived home and I had the house all decorated (partially for the party on Sunday, I work ahead) with Star Wars. Grant flipped out. "Mom, how did  you do this? This is awesome!" He tore into his presents and immediately took a liking to his Darth Vader costume. So much so that he took the mask to show and share today.

My favorite part = Grant jumped in my lap and said "Mommy, thank you so much for my presents. Can I put on my costume now?"  Anything you want, my sweet little boy.

He put the whole thing on later.

Here's some more pics, but I'll post the party ones next week. They should be good. Dress up as a character from Star Wars.

Who does he look like? Goodness.....

I love you, Grant Matthias! Always, to the moon and back again.

The Newest Democrat

I forgot. We went by Billy Coyle's headquarters last week and picked up our yard sign. Grant was a hit and they're going to use him on their facebook campaign. LOVE IT! He told the guy at headquarters that Barack Obama was our president. Awesome. I'm sure my family is **cringing** right now. Ta Da!!!!!

And while I'm at it, Go Pokes!!!

Creepy Morning

I've been sick. So, I didn't want to get up this morning and slept late. Just late enough where if I hurried, I could get Grant to school and make it to work on time.

One *little* problem. I say *little* but inside my head, it was HUGE.

 It was a tick. Deep breath. A tick. Embedded in my precious son's head. First thing this morning. I was rubbing his head like I do every morning to wake him up and there it was. I was  cool.

Oh, hey Grant. There's a tick in your head. No biggie (excuse me while I go FREAK OUT in the bathroom), I just need to grab him. I seriously contemplated taking him to the neighbors where a man lives. To get it out. Guess what? It was 6:30am. Didn't think the neighbors would appreciate that. I'm so thoughtful.......

30 seconds later out came the tick and Grant didn't even move. He thought it was funny. I thought I needed to take another shower. To rinse the cooties I clearly caught from the seed tick.

And where did the tick come from? I'll tell you. The farm. That had seed ticks. I'm finished with nature for awhile. Here's a picture of happy Grant on the way to the pond:

Courtesy of John Deere Riding mower with trailer.

The other big event of the day was show and share/homework turn in. He took night vision goggles. I'll spare you the horrendous argument that ensued this morning. And here I thought the tick would have been the main event. Nope. Not with Grant. You don't get to show and share if you don't bring your homework. Kindergarten is serious.

Of course I remembered to pack it......the night before. Little tip I learned in all my four years experience of parenting.

Putting his homework in his folder. Yes, he's wearing fireman boots again.

I'm a big homework motivator. Grant does not like homework. At all. He did one thing and looked at me and asked if I could just do it for him. Please, please don't let me have 14 more years of homework battle!

Yes, he's brilliant. I know.

Right before he asked me to do it

Reflections of Motherhood

I came across this on another blog I follow. Wow. What an honor it is to be a mother. I watched this and so many memories crossed my mind. I do remember staying up all night watching him breathe...

What I would tell myself the day before Grant was born:

Now you will understand what love is. Enjoy EVERY moment, even the hard ones, because they will be gone before you know it. You will make mistakes and you will learn from them. Grant truly is a gift from God and I'm so blessed to have him as my son.

Crayons and Videos

Yesterday was grocery day. My least favorite activity. Added bonus is when Grant comes along. Grocery shopping with children is miserable. I get hot and cranky and then there's always some weird person in there who gives me the creeps and then it's a mad race to get in and out as fast as possible.

I was proud of myself, though. I decided to give Grant some responsibility and gave him the grocery list. He was all business when we walked in. It kept him from the usual:

 "Oh Mom. Look at this! No really, look at this!!! Can I have one, please?"

No. You get One thing, remember. Oh, yeah......I remember.

Anyway, he was good and really did pick just one thing; crayons for the bath tub. Not bad. Cheap and no sugar. I was on board. (I think Auntie Jessica first introduced them to him long ago. Now that he can actually write, they've taken on an all new priority in bath time)

Spelling his last name from right to left. Hmmmm

That's the YMCA and playground.

**Note to the above picture. When I asked what he was drawing he said, "The YMCA and playground, but I don't have enough room to write their mission statement."     

WHAT?       

Apparently you also learn about mission statements in Kindergarten. I was in college when I first heard about those.

After taking these few photos Grant asks if we can do a video. This child loves for me to interview him and then watch the video back of himself. I think he would watch himself all day long if he could. Seriously. He watched himself last night until the battery went dead.

I tried and tried to upload the video. Maybe it will work. I'm guessing it's too long. Bummer.  Happy Labor Weekend! (13 more days until Grant turns 5)!

It's September 1st

Grant's learning so many new things at school. I know this because he will randomly say something that I know for sure he didn't get from me.

Like this morning. Grant wanted to know what day it was. He never cared before. Apparently this is something you learn in Kindergarten. Days of the Week. All the way to school I hear this:

"Mom, it's Wednesday, September 1st." Followed by "Can I get a costume now, since it's another day?"

I made the  mistake of telling him yesterday that costumes aren't out yet and will start in September. He actually listened and correlated the date to an event. He's a genius and I can longer get away with the things I used to. Wau waugh :(

This has nothing to do with the post. I just really like this one.

Could he be any cuter?

And,  he fastened his own seat belt this morning! Ta da! I'm glad about that one. I tried to help him and he said, "Can you give me minute? I'll get it, just be patient." Well! I couldn't love anyone more.