Weekend Top Five

Here it is, Monday again. Only three weeks left to play before school starts. The pressure!

Here are the top five from the weekend:




5. Cousin Fun at Playworld
My sister in law brought her three kids to my parents for a few days to visit while my brother was out of town. We added in two more of my nieces, as well as another nephew, and had a great time doing several activities.

On Thursday, we took 8(out of 11, soon to be 12) to Playworld. For two and a half hours, the cousins all ran, jumped, slid, ate, and played to their hearts content.




One of our favorite moments was when all of the kids (minus the littlest) managed to organize a "mass slide" to include all of them together.

We were laughing saying that if we had tried to get them to do it, it would never have happened. But while my step mom, sister in law, and I were sitting talking, they worked it out all on their own, over and over again. After awhile, a few more kids that they didn't even know joined into the crowd.




4. More Cousin Fun at the Beach
We set out Friday morning to the Lake Michigan beach by my parents' house. Everyone had a great time playing together. The most brave adult award has to go to my dad who spent at least forty five minutes out in the water, playing with the kids.

Afterward, my sister in law and I took the boys for a drive and (just happened to) end up at the ice cream store. Noah has recently discovered the joys of cookie dough ice cream, and Aaron and my nephew decided to try it as well. Yummy!








3. Frustrating School News
On Friday when I got home, I checked the mail and noticed that Noah had received a letter. He gets a letter from his new teacher every year about this time, with a personal greeting and also containing his supply list for the year. The thing I was the most surprised about was his teacher mentioning in the letter to Noah that they have 17 KIDS in their class this year. He had 8 in his kindergarten and 12 in first grade.

Noah's class last year in first grade

Word must be getting out about this school. The moms in his class last year all discussed how we believed that this school was the best kept secret in West Michigan. I'm thinking that maybe the secret is out. I know its not 30 like most of the schools around, but I am still pretty concerned. The whole reason I chose this school was the small class sizes and individual attention. I hope that this turns out for the better, but for now I am quite worried. At the open house in a few weeks, I will take a look at the incoming class list and hopefully get a better idea of what's to come.

2. Movie Saturday
With our original plan for the day busted, (city pool closed earlier than we thought) we decided to see what movies were playing at the second run theater ($3.99 all shows). We found that Up was playing and everyone had wanted to see it, so we surprised the boys and took them. They both really liked the movie, although every so often we needed to refill Aaron's popcorn bucket to battle the wigglies. Cute movie.



Then, later that night, we let them watch Aladdin on network television before bed. We learned a lesson too...movies on television with commercials really aren't any fun to watch. We will stick with recordings from now on.





1.Sunday Game Night
We did NOTHING on Sunday. Didn't even leave the house. It was hot outside and the kids were grumpy. I put Aaron back to bed around noon for a nap and things were better when he got up. Steve went and rented a movie for them in the afternoon and then we tried our first "Game Night". It was actually kind of fun. We made it through Sequence Jr., Yahtzee Jr, Guess Who and then Noah wanted to try Scrabble. I knew he was too young for it but he really wanted to try. He made a good attempt and I was proud of him for trying. I wonder if I can find a Junior edition of it.

I do think we may keep Sunday night game nights though. It may be a fun tradition to start. But I think we need to invest in some more games.


The Week Ahead
I am REALLY hoping to hear about that job I applied for a few weeks ago. I called the school last Wednesday and left a message, but my hope is definitely starting to fade. I also have a parent's meeting at the school at which I am sending Aaron this year. It will be the first time to see what the school is all about, and maybe meet his teacher. I also need to get my rear in gear and find a pediatrician for the boys since our moved away and Noah hasn't even had his seven year check up.