The Absent-Minded Blogger

From the looks of it, I've abandoned this blog. Say it ain't so!

Several things have just been consuming me and every ounce of my time lately, and not just the 3 little charmers in my life (ok, the big charmer, too;).
More on that to come.

For now, I want to post the big "catch-ups", the highlights from the last month that I've failed to post, capture, and later on treasure. Why else blog? ;)

Let's see, I'll start with:

Pinewood Derby! 

Aidan's 2nd year in Scouts, 2nd race. He really dedicated himself to making his Star Wars-designed car, and we are so proud of him. On top of it all, he won 2nd place prize for design for his den! 

 Aidan with his big trophy

 Next up: Brennan!

Brennan has been doing very well in preschool. He is well-behaved in class, and his fine motor skills are developing nicely. The boy can color very well! Here are some pictures to share his preschool fun.
Groundhog Day hat

 Valentine's Day 

 I adore this picture. It's so Brennan.

More Scouts: the Blue & Gold Banquet 

Cillian!
My sweet baby moved into his new convertible car seat. He's loving it, and I don't miss luggin' around that baby carrier, either. I do wish they didn't have to be rear-facing (my older 2 were forward facing after age 1). But hey, he has 2 brothers to keep him company back there.

 Speaking of Cillian,
he had his FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!

 Already. How on earth did he turn 1 last Saturday?! It went by way too fast. 

 He sure loved his cake.

 And we sure love him.

 He also experienced his first Spaghetti Dinner at our church. It's a big tradition in our parish, and they make over 5,000 meatballs for it. Cillian enjoyed himself.

 Here he is enjoying one of his birthday presents, almost walking completely on his own

 Loving another birthday gift, wrestling with Brobee

So yeah, 22 pictures later (are you actually still here?!), I'm almost caught up.  Life is busy busy busy, but good. My boys are growing up before my eyes, way too fast.

I have many reasons to be more present in the blog world, and hope to do so starting with this post.

Brennan's First Christmas Program

Shame on me for not getting this in last week! I thought I had and I was wrong.
Brennan's program was actually before Aidan's. Brennan's was last Tuesday, and boy was he excited! He very much looked forward to it, he was quite enthusiastic, and it was altogether adorable!

In typical 4yo boy fashion, he might have placed his hands in not the best of places ;).
He also bounced up & down with each song and each time the audience clapped. A few times that meant he tripped off the step he was on.

It was all adorable. Bravo, Brennan!

Today is of Many Scenes

The Elf on the Shelf has joined our family this year. His name? The boys decided on "Charlie Claus ourlastname". This morning they found him sitting atop the blinds near our table, looking out into the backyard. 

 A good scene from today: Brennan working on his math, the fun style of muffin tin-pom pom -tongs manipulative. He had a blast sorting the pom poms at first, then we moved on to a counting exercise.

 He took it very seriously, and was proud of himself for knowing "0" meant to put nothing in that section. I love that my boys love math!

 And our backyard, a not-so-great scene. We've had horrific rain, which is starting to combine with snow/sleet/hail. Our backyard is flooding, only getting worse each hour. This was earlier today. Pictured below is normally the little paved patio section.

 Blurry, but you can see how the water surrounds our shed and is getting worse. Ugh.

But hey, beef stroganoff for dinner, a Christmas tree to decorate, and it makes it much nicer inside than outside.
I'm hoping we don't wake to a delay or anything tomorrow...they say we might get 1-2 inches of snow tonight, and hit freezing temps.

Hope it's dry where you are!

1st Day of Preschool!

While I'm still getting over the shock that Brennan, my Brennan, started preschool yesterday, I thought I'd share some of the pictures.
This kid is at a stage of being photogenically-challenged...ha! But he's just adorable.

Ready to go!

Bashful

Spiderman backpack and Spiderman shoes!

 checking out his classroom

Brennan finished his first day of school with a big smile on his face, excited to go back on Friday.

Thank God for the gift of a good first day! 

By the way, the day before, when we dropped off Aidan at school, I did cry the entire way home. I kept it together on his actual first day, but boy was he missed! Having 2 in school, gone during the day, feels so weird. A little empty.

I'm glad at least Brennan was home today. :) We had fun making homemade muffins! 

The 1st Class=Success

Brennan's 1st class was a success! Especially at only $5/class.  (mentioned earlier here)

I have to be honest & admit that I do prefer the Story Time sessions at the library (& not just because those are free). Story Time incorporates more, with the stories, movement, song, as well as a craft. But hey, I missed the sign up, so this is a nice fill-in! (any locals interested, the classes are at the 577 Foundation).

Brennan was very well-behaved. He excitedly painted his shoebox blue, then glued sand & rocks on, cut out fish we drew, etc. You could see his creative wheels turning! It made me wish we had done this with Aidan when he was this age (didn't even know about it).

 Class 1: Made an Aquarium. Success! He came & left smiling, proudly showed Pat & Aidan his project, and told me he does want to go back next week. (good thing since I already paid;).

 

Next week's theme is dinosaurs! I hope to be able to share an equally fun craft. :)

Brennan & School (lots of links)

Brennan doesn't go to preschool yet. He'll be 4 in April, and in the fall he will be going to our parish preschool. 

I realized I wasn't doing nearly as much with him as I did with Aidan at this stage, and of course the MOMMY GUILT set in. Not that he's seemingly behind or anything, but the kid deserves the same learning experiences, does he not? 

So I buckled down and planned a month's lesson plan for Brennan. We're going on our 2nd week w/ it, and he LOVES it. Once we've done our "school time" each day, he is much more mellowed out and willing to entertain himself. Plus, he truly enjoys the work we do. 

I have him signed up for story time at our library, as well as a few classes at a local place. Today is our 1st class, it's an hour long, and there is book reading, singing, dancing, and we make an aquarium out of a shoebox. All for $5. It's strictly for preschoolers, too. I'm hopeful it goes well, especially because I signed us up for 2 more classes already! 

In fact, I used the class-projects as the themes for our work at home. (if you're interested, it's all in a Google Doc & I'd be happy to share w/ you)

This week is FISH, so yesterday we made the shape fish craft:

Brennan had a blast cutting the shapes (I helped some), and he proudly showed his fish to Patrick & Aidan. 

We also did the daily ABC and Number charts, followed by his favorite, Days of the Week Song.

Oh, and the ABC song that cracks him up: (thank God for youtube, huh?)

For some Math, yesterday we did a new "game" that also incorporated fine motor skills. It was a hit...thank goodness for unplanned fun sometimes! 

I would put down a # flashcard, then he would have to string that many large lacing beads. If he had the correct # of beads, I knew he understood which # was shown.

 He just loved it. And it put a smile on my face. (but also made me realize how big he's gotten)

I can't go so far as to say I'm "homeschooling" for 3yo preschool, because really, I believe this is what all parents/caregivers should do w/ their kids. Not this stuff, exactly, but learning at home. 

I just got my act together & compiled it in lesson plan format, w/ links, printables, etc, so others can take over with him if need be when the baby arrives.

This is a regular part of our day now. It's honestly turning into the best part of our day, too. :)

Interested in some other links? 

Last week we made a Penguin that was super fun (using cotton balls), similar to the one seen here. I also printed off this penguin sheet & used it for uppercase letter matching.

Friday we're doing a super fun craft. Aidan will be home from school (teacher work day), so we'll all enjoy it. Another aquarium!  There is also the pearls math worksheet, paper plate fish... so much to choose from! 

Next week's theme is DINOSAURS. ROAR!!

Thanks for letting me share. I'm excited that Brennan & I are enjoying this time together. And the pride he shows in his work...priceless.

What Time Is It? Summertime!!!

It's our vacation. :)
It's Aidan's, at least.

With graduation yesterday and his school picnic today, he is completely done with preschool!
Good & bad, since he loved it so much. Hopefully he'll have a few playdates over the summer.

The picnic was at one of our favorite parks today, and it was a lot of fun. (Fun for Aidan. I was busy chasing after Brennan;)
I snatched a few pictures. I especially love the first one.


They were exhausted by the time we got home; Brennan even took a short nap.
I told Aidan he & I would watch a movie. What did he pick?
High School Musical 2! Very fitting for his last day of school stuff.

Summer Vacation for Aidan begins!! And I get my boy back every day for the next few months. :)