To Be a Kid...

My mom posted two flashbacks on FB this week of me being a kid.  To be a kid is fun.  I've started this opening paragraph six times and I can't get down what I want to say.  But it comes to this...I want Finley & Hadley to believe being a kid is fun. 

To be a kid...is projects at Grandma's.  A few weeks ago, Grandma had an awesome idea to tie-dye t-shirts.  The kids were excited, I cringed.  Tie-dye is an annual Kindergarten science project, so I'm well aware of the adult-work (a ton), the kid-work (minimal) and the mess (huge).  But we did it anyway, and by 'we' I mean mostly Grandma & me.

The finished products turned out cute.  But it was NOT cute trying to get this picture.  Hadley screamed, she didn't want to wear the t-shirt.  Easton cried, he didn't want to get off the tractor.  Nolan was upset, he wanted to ride the Gator.  Ta-da!

To be a kid...learning to pedal a bike!

Standoff?

To be a kid...HUGE pride in showing off new tricks.  I'm sorry if he's cornered you outside, Finley is really into his scooter right now and is desperate for new audiences.

The babies are showing interest in the potty!  I'd love to jump straight from diapers to fully potty trained.  Finley made me wait for.ev.er to train, but once he did it was over quickly.  She's showing more interest than he did, we'll see what happens.  I wouldn't say we're training (I'm waiting until she moves into the 2.5's room at daycare, then they'll start for me), she's playing around and trying once in awhile - she did tinkle (once) for Grandma.  Nolan was not happy she was sitting on 'his' potty at Grandma's.

She's mostly interested in dumping the (empty) bowl.

To be a kid...napping on the couch when you don't feel good.  Hadley woke up with a fever on Monday morning, poor thing.

Which meant she had a Grandma-day on Tuesday when I met my new kindergartners.  You can guess how thrilled Finley was to learn he was going to school alone.  Little did we know that on Wednesday Finley would be running a temp and get his own Grandma-day.  Great start to the year - my own kids were sick!

With sick kids, I didn't get my traditional first day of school picture and I was wearing a super-cute dress too ;)  So here's our classroom instead.

To be a kid...kindergarten!  Teachers should never admit to having a favorite student, but I totally do this year.  He's just not in my class.  Spencer officially started school, I love the picture on the bus.

To be a kid...your mom will make a special breakfast in hopes you'll eat.  With sick kids, I was happy to be home on Thursday.  Hadley hadn't eaten in a three days, so I was hoping cinnamon rolls would do the trick - nope.  Off to Urgent Care where I learned her mouth was full of lacerations, no strep, just a virus.

Finley started AYSO soccer this week - his first practice as a Zucchini!  The team has six boys (last year was co-ed), the ages are 5-6 years old.

Hadley really wanted to play too.

Instead she took 155 (no joke) pictures on my phone.

You shoot, I shoot.

The highlight for the players was receiving their new jerseys.

Finley loves the BRIGHT jersey and socks.  Paired with his BRIGHT shoes, no one will miss him on the field! 

To be a kid...drop everything and go to the nearest park, just because.  We hit up our township's park on Friday. 

It's totally old-school with the metal (hot) slide.

To be a kid...little shopping carts.  From my perspective, this entire shopping experience sucked.  The kids were racing the little carts, banging into my ankles and crashing into displays.  Serious threats were made.  Then a little old lady stopped and said, You're a great mom and smiled towards my cart-terrors.  I kinda laughed, then she told me about her grown-up kids and how she missed those days.  Proceed bad-cart-drivers, proceed.  Throw in a bad hair day too.

To be a kid...anticipation.  Finley is counting down the days until Patrick's birthday.  He picked out two presents and he absolutely cannot wait for Patrick to open them.  Each morning he crosses off a day and we sing the Days of the Week song from my school.  Sister is catching on.

To be a kid...having the best night ever.  Those were Finley's words.  Patrick was gone Thursday morning to Saturday on a work retreat.  So the kids & I had a Friday night date to Frogiyo wearing jammies.  You buy a bowl and then it's your job to fill it with yogurt and toppings. 

It was a great night for people-watching on the patio.  Finley told everyone walking by that you could make your own ice cream inside.  Fair to say, he loved it.

First soccer game, temps were HOT.

 Go Zucchinis!

 Looking for Finley?  Watch for his shoes.

 He scored a goal!

To be a kid...scoring goals like it's your job.  He has this.

Finley & Brayden were great teammates, they ran the sidelines cheering on their team.

Back onto the field!  Finley's glasses got knocked off once, but overall he had fun.

To be a kid...playing in the driveway for hours.

To be a kid...hiking your neighborhood path and believe that you are exploring new territory.

To be a kid...eating the tops off candy corn and putting the sticky bottoms back into the bowl.

Pontoon ride!

To be a kid...driving the boat.

To be a kid...incredibly dirty faces.  She was eating orange cookies and drinking red Gatorade, so proud of herself too.

Those blue eyes.

To be a kid...giving your mom a big smile because you want to do something...

...like swim in your underwear!

To be a boy...peeing in the water.