Cole's Kindergarten Debut

After spending most of my summer fretting about Cole's impending kindergarten debut, something unexpected occurred...school was delayed due to the teachers strike! I went from thinking that I never wanted my baby to start kindergarten, to thinking that my baby might actually never start kindergarten. At first I viewed the strike as a gift...a few more days at home with Cole. But then a few days turned into many days and I began to get impatient. The strike did end up being a true gift in that by the time it was over, I was MORE than ready for Cole to begin his school career!

School was supposed to start on August 31st. Here's what it looked like...definitely not the "first day of school" picture I was anticipating. We brought treats to the teachers at his elementary school to show our support and appreciation for them. We were off to a good start!


~F I N A L L Y~
On September 15th, we got the word that the teachers and the district reached an agreement, so it was time to get out the new "it's the night before the first day of school" pjs. We'd been waiting for these! (Cole picked these Transformer jammies. I know, they're hideous, but he thinks they're way cool.)




So here we are, the morning of Cole's first day of school. He was so excited to go to big kid school...it really was the sweetest thing ever.


When we pulled into the school, the first thing Cole said was, "Hey, where's the picket line?" I thought that was pretty clever. We did make several visits to Horizon during the strike, but I had no idea he was paying such close attention to all the honking and shouting I was doing for our teachers!

Here we are at our official FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

If only...

...Cole would look...

...at the camera...

...and smile!


Here he is with our neighbor boys, Rickie and Bryce, waiting for Miss Gregg to open the door.


I went to high school with this little boy's mom. How funny that our kids are now in kindergarten together. I never would have imagined this back then!
Jaden and Cole



Miss Gregg opened the door and instructed the kids to find their name tags. Cole went right to his seat and got to work. What a big kindergartener!

Let the learning commence!

Shortly after this, I left Cole to begin his school career. I think it's important to mention that I didn't cry. This is beyond a miracle, because I've been crying about it for the last 4 years or so. It was a great feeling to drop him off, knowing that he was ready, and that I finally was too!

Here he is coming out of class after school.


He doesn't look too happy in this picture. He said he wanted to go home because he missed Daddy. Daddy was home all week with an injured foot and the flu, so I think Cole really was missing him...



Of course, Mrs. Galassi was there and came by to share in our big day. She's been there for many of Cole's "firsts"...
Here she is with Cole on his first day of life...

...and here they are together on his first of kindergarten!

Thank you, Molly, for being an important part of Cole's life. We love you!

This was without a doubt Cole's favorite part of his first day of school, Miss Gregg gave him a giant cookie. What a great way to end the day!

So now we're about four weeks into the school year, and Cole's doing great. I can already see how much he's learning and growing in just this short time. I can't wait to see all the changing that he does over the next several months. I'm so proud of him!

Hello, Desperate Times. Meet Desperate Measures.

It's super hard to imagine my precious angel-baby boys ever acting so wild & crazy that Chad and I would be compelled to send them to the backyard. . .and then lock the door on them. But desperate times call for desperate measures. They were so unruly-crazy-insane one evening, that we sent them outside to burn some steam, and then, well, you know what we did next. . .click! I know it's not the nicest mommy-moment in the world, but I love the looks on their faces as they realize that they can't come in, and that their loving mother is prolonging the misery by photographing them instead of unlocking the door. Although you can't tell from their expressions, the lock-out only lasted long enough to get these pictures!

You Plus Me

= 7 YEARS OF HAPPINESS!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, CHADDY!

Chase's Preschool Debut

Our little Chase Ryan Boy (that's what he calls himself, evidently he believes the "d" in Boyd should be silent) started preschool today! Hooray!! Last year it was very hard and sad for Chase to stay behind when Cole went to preschool. Sometimes he would cry, and I would tell him that he had to grow a little before it was his turn for school, and he would stretch himself in his car seat to try and get immediately taller. It was so cute, and a little heartbreaking. So...you can imagine the happiness he felt (I felt it for him, too!) when it was finally his turn for school!!

We started a new tradition this year of getting a brand new pair of jammies to wear the night before school starts.

Here we are right before we're about to leave for school. He looks like such a big boy!!

The Brothers Boyd

The backpack is a very important accessory for any preschooler. Naturally, Chase chose Cars.

Cole spent most of the ride on the way to school with some serious sour grapes. Joyful Noise has been HIS preschool for the last two years, and he was none too happy to have to stay behind while Chase got to go. Hmm....sounds familiar. Here are some of his comments to Chase, "You don't get to play with toys during circle time." "Colby won't be in your class." (That's his favorite friend from Joyful Noise.) "You'll have to do crafts with glue and scissors." (This might sound like a benign comment, but it was actually said with great disdain because he does not like to do crafts.) I finally had to tell Cole to keep quiet with his discouraging remarks, to which he replied that he's been waiting for school to start for so long, and then he started crying! I feel so bad for Cole and the long wait for kindergarten...I have sour grapes about that too.

Sour grape face.

Even Caden looks a little bummed.

Chase entered his preschool class without any apprehension at all. Here he is greeting Miss Amy, and showing her the exciting things he sees, like The Very Hungry Caterpillar hanging on the wall...

...and of course, his backpack!

Chase and Miss Sara.

Making friends.

This is right before I left. He was totally fine with it, but I was a little teary to say goodbye. It's a very weird sensation, leaving one of my babies for a big event like preschool. I'm so happy that he's finally reached this milestone, but I'm going to miss him! After this day, he'll always be in school...he's not a baby anymore!

(After I left, we went to Costco and my tears became ones of joy when I only had TWO kids to manage instead of THREE. Oh school, how I've missed you over the summer.)

When it was time to pick Chase up, I got there a little early so I could watch him on the playground. But he wasn't there! My first thought was that he was naughty, and was having a time out. I got so nervous, thinking of what he could have done on his first day of preschool. But no! I was super relieved to find out he wasn't in trouble, he just chose to stay inside and play. I did learn however, that he had a lot of trouble with circle time, as I thought he might since this is his first exposure to structured activity. He really wanted nothing to do with it. He did confess this to me by saying, "I wanted to play with race cars, but Miss Sara wanted me to sit on the carpet. I didn't want to sit on the carpet." We talked (a lot) about how he needs to cooperate and follow directions, and obey Miss Amy and Miss Sara. We'll see how he does tomorrow! I am just so excited for Chase to get to have an experience he can call his own, make his own friends, and have something that's just for him. I can't wait to see how he grows and thrives at Joyful Noise with Miss Amy and Miss Sara!

Salmon Fishing..."It's Easy" (by Chad E. Boyd)

Prologue:
We moved to Seattle when I was 9 years old. Soon after the Boyd family's arrival to the Puget Sound area, my father decided that he would become a salmon fisherman. This by default meant that I would also become a salmon fisherman. So many, many, many weekends I could be found cold, wet, half asleep, and fishless in the Puget Sound with my Dad at the helm of our little fishing boat. Fast forward 20 or so years, and you find me telling my eldest boy that we are about to catch the biggest fish he has ever seen! You see, I had been reading on the internet how the Pink salmon run was in full swing and limits of salmon were practically being handed out at the dock. I have chased my share of salmon as an adult, but I have never even tried to catch a Pink salmon. But really ...how hard can it be? The mark of a fisherman must truly be that we just never learn………

4:10 AM, Saturday Morning; Boyd Residence:
I tiptoe into Cole’s room and gently nudge him. He starts to just roll over and ignore me. I say, "Cole, Cole, do you want to go fishing?" His eyes snap open and he quickly descends from the top bunk while telling me how he’s soooo excited. My chest swells with pride at his excitement. The plan is going perfectly so far…….

5:00 AM, Saturday Morning; Park & Ride in Federal Way:
Uncle Darin pulls up with the boat. Cole has finished his muffin and red Gatorade for breakfast. He has been telling me over and over how he is going to net a salmon and catch a salmon. "It's easy," he tells me. He also tells me that he recently caught a poisonous frog, but the poison had no effect on him (you have to know Cole on this one). Again all is going to plan…….

5:45 AM, Saturday Morning; Redondo Boat Launch:
Uncle Darin backs the boat down the ramp like a pro (nice work). I pull the boat off the trailer and go motor out a ways to wait for him to park the truck, and for Cole and Darin to jump in. After a few minutes here they come and Cole has found a fishing pole. The pole is one that someone had broken in half and left in the garbage, but Cole felt it was a magnificent find. Life is good, the boat's in the water, and hey, Cole found a fishing pole. This just gets better and better…….

6:45 AM, Saturday Morning; Puget Sound:
The poles are in the water and it’s starting to get good and light outside. The rain is coming down pretty good, but that can’t squelch our spirits. No fish in the boat yet but the flood gates are about to open for sure. After all, salmon fishing is easy........

7:45 AM, Saturday Morning; Puget Sound:
The rain is now pouring down in buckets. Cole has stopped believing that the fish are going to bite at any moment. He is now curled up in the fetal position in the front of the boat. Uncle Darin’s back up rain suit is his bed and I donated my sweet Rivers West jacket as the comforter. I’m hoping that he is asleep so it will buy me some time to turn this nightmare around……

8:15 AM, Saturday Morning; SAME stretch of the Puget Sound:
Cole has now requested on several occasions that he would like to go home. He has made these requests without taking his head out from underneath my jacket because he doesn’t want the rain to get on his face. We have seen several fish landed, but not so much as a nibble on our lines. After spending the morning trolling around, Darin notices that most people are not trolling but just drifting in their boats and casting a lure called a Buzz Bomb. We change tactics and join the crowd. Cole is approaching critical mass and I’m thinking how did this all go so wrong? It was such a sure thing……

8:20 AM, Saturday Morning; THE SAME stretch of the Puget Sound:
“Cole, we will head back in just a few minutes if we don’t get a fish.” That is the fourth time I have said that since 8:15. I’m casting this 2 ½ hot pink Buzz Bomb like my life depends on it, knowing that we have just come full circle; we're cold, wet, half asleep, and fishless once again.

8:21 AM, Saturday Morning; I think you know:
What's the deal? I’m reeling and reeling, and pulling back on this pole and getting nowhere. Then it hits me. Can it be? There is actually a fish on the end of the line. FISH ON! Cole immediately springs to his feet and begins coaching me through the basics of landing a salmon. A few tense minutes later and the curse is broken! We have a salmon in the boat, the rain stops, the birds are singing, etc.

9:30 AM, Saturday Morning; the best fishing spot ever!
8 salmon in the boat, Cole has netted a few and his spirits are high. The rainy, long morning is long forgotten and everyone in the boat is happy. A great day salmon fishing...it really is so easy!

Time Out!

Caden Riley got his first official time-out on the stair today. Naturally, he witnesses his brothers in time-outs regularly, and sometimes he voluntarily joins them. I'm not sure if it's because he thinks it looks fun, or if he's demonstrating brotherly solidarity. At any rate, after a few unsuccessful attempts to assuage some poor behavior that he was insistent on demonstrating (throwing a toy at the wall), I decided he was ready for a serious time-out. I explained to him that he needed to sit in time-out until he was ready to be a good listener, and stop throwing. He did a good job of staying on the stair until I told him he could get down, but I think it's clear from his body language that he wasn't contemplating the consequence of his bad choices, or what he might do differently in the future.

A Post To "Other Mother"

Other Mother!! It was such a wonderful surprise to hear from you today, and to learn that you're keeping up with my little family by reading my blog! Thank you so much for still caring about me after all these years. Love you, Other Mother, and Jennifer too!!

Jennifer and I in 10th or 11th grade.

So many good times!