A taste of preschool

Today Clayton's preschool had an event called "A taste of preschool". It basically meant that parents and students could come in the morning and meet the teachers (there are three) and take a look around the school.

I have to say, Clayton's preschool is AWESOME (check it out here)!! I remember once, in college, we had to draw a picture of our ideal classroom for one of my education classes. My ideal classroom was NOTHING like his school. His school is a huge old house that has been renovated and turned into a school. The whole main floor is the preschool. The former living room has been turned into a huge space complete with a loft, a reading area, an area for puzzles, an area for dress-ups, an area for coloring, and the list goes on. The kitchen has been turned into the most amazing art center I've ever seen, the former dining room has been converted into a room that is dedicated to science, and the former entryway has been converted into a room for imaginary play. Amazing!! I am SO glad that Clayton gets to go to school there!

Anyway, Clayton has been chomping at the bit to go to school. He asks about it everyday. I knew that he was going to love going today to meet his teachers. This morning I turned on cartoons for Noah (I needed to keep him out of my hair so Clayton and I could get ready). Clayton started to protest when I told him he couldn't watch cartoons. I asked him if he would rather watch TV or go to school. This was his response (I am not making this up):

I want to go to school! But we need to comb my hair, and brush my teeth, and put on my new school shoes, and put on my backpack, and then you need to drive me to my school and then leave!

I was a little sad with the last part of that, but at least I know he's ready! So we combed his hair and brushed his teeth and put on his new shoes. I told him that he didn't need his backpack today but he just looked at my like I was a moron and said, "Mom, I'm going to school. I need a backpack." Fine. He got so excited when we pulled up to the school. He kept telling me that I could leave (why does my firstborn have to be so darn independent)! When we walked in, he walked right up to the woman who greeted us and stuck out his hand and said, "Hi. I'm Clayton. Are you my new teacher?" I just had to laugh. The teacher did too, but she shook his hand and introduced herself. We stayed for a little over an hour, sampled the centers, and met all of his teachers. When it was time for us to go, Clayton started to cry. He kept saying:

I don't want to leave, I want to stay here. My teachers will miss me!

You gotta love that kind of confidence. I assured him that in 5 days (Tuesday) he would be able to come back ALL BY HIMSELF!! This seemed to satisfy him (for now) but I know that tomorrow morning he will be asking me if he can go back to school. He is so ready for this. I should have taken my camera with me today, but I was assured by his teachers that when I drop him off on Tuesday I can take as many pictures as I want (and trust me, I will be taking pictures like crazy). I can't believe I am only five days away from having Clayton in school. I know how ready he is...we'll have to see how ready I am!

(His face looks a little scary in this picture, but it's because he was so excited that he physically couldn't smile normally. It makes me laugh!)

My Olympian!

Clayton: Mom, I won the gold!
Me: How did you win the gold?
Clayton: In the Olympics!
Me: What did you do in the Olympics to win gold?
Clayton: Running Olympics (the vault), Jumping Olympics (hurdles), Swimming Olympics, and Horse Olympics (pommel horse)
Me: Wow, that's a lot of Olympics!
Clayton: Yes, it is. I am very good.
Me: You certainly are. I'm very proud of you.
Clayton: Yes, you ARE very proud of me!

Lake Placid

**Yes, it's a long one, but it's mostly pictures!**
Last weekend we got the chance to go to Lake Placid! Our awesome friends, the Zinke's, know what home-bodies we are and enticed us to venture out and take a vacation with them! We are so glad that we did. It was a great trip. Lake Placid is a very scenic location with a lot of cool things to visit. It was the home of the 1980 Olympic games. For anyone who doesn't know me that well, I am an Olympics nut, so this was incredibly cool to me!
We did so many cool things while we were there! Right after we got there we decided to take a walk down Main Street to see Mirror Lake.
The weather was perfect. The boys enjoyed seeing the boats and (more importantly) throwing rocks into the water.
Apparently, rock throwing isn't just something that young boys enjoy!

As we strolled down Main Street there were tons of Bobsleds and other kinds of sleds lined up outside all of the different shops. We had to stop at each one because Clayton had to sit in them all!

After seeing what Main Street had to offer, we went to the Ski Jump venue to see a ski jumping competition! It was so amazing! The have this mat that they lay down over the grass and that is what they jump onto in the summer. I must admit, watching ski jumping in the summer in capris and a t-shirt is definitely the only way to watch it!
Once it was over, we got to ride the ski lift to the top of the hill. Those of you who know me well know that I am prone to MANY irrational fears, especially where my children are concerned. I did have a little bit of anxiety that one (or both) of them would fall out of the ski lift. This fear almost prevented me from going but I am sooo glad that Justin, Rick, and Vanessa talked me into it! It was amazing (and the kids were both perfectly safe).

The top of the hill was gorgeous! The boys enjoyed running around and we all had a little bit of fun with the medal stands!
Boys will be boys. Roughhousing for boys of all ages was a must at the top of the hill!

Justin showing us all how strong he is!
This one of Clayton "relaxing" cracks me up.
The medal stand was so fun to see. They sure have come a long way (looks-wise) since the 80's!


Once you are on the hill, you can take an elevator to the very top of the actual jump. The view from the top was breathtaking! It would be absolutely gorgeous in the fall when all the leaves change color...
Once we had seen all there was to see at that venue (we also got to watch some acrobatic ski jumping where the jumpers flip into a huge pool), we went back to the hotel to prepare for....the ICE CAPADES!! We got a sweet deal on Ice Capades tickets so we went to the Herb Brooks Arena to watch. Of course Clayton and Noah had to be hockey players (how could you not want to be a hockey player in that arena)!!

I was surprised at how much they both liked the Ice Capades. Clayton kept yelling to the skaters, "You can do it!" and Noah was clapping and screaming (in a good way) like crazy! Clayton even got up at one point and started twirling in the isle so that he could be like the skaters (future olympian??). We did have to leave at intermission though because poor Noah (who had missed his afternoon nap) crashed at the end of the first half.
When we got up on Sunday we went to see the actual Lake Placid and took one more stroll down Main Street before we loaded up the car and headed home. I loved this trip because we were able to see everything that Lake Placid had to offer in just a couple of days. It was the perfect weekend trip. The boys did so much better than I could have expected. I now know that we can take vacations with them (short ones anyway) without loosing our minds. Thanks Rick and Vanessa for taking pity on us and making us leave the house! You guys are the best!!

Happy Birthday!

Tomorrow (the 16th) is the birthday of two of my favorite people!
First, Justin is going to be turning 28! (Finally...I hate that my birthday is before his, it means 6 months of jokes about how I'm such an old woman.)
Justin isn't a real big fan of his birthday and he hates any kind of fanfare so I will keep it short. Here are 5 of my favorite things about the birthday boy:
1. He really knows me. He can come home and within seconds know what kind of mood I'm in and how best to react to it. He is especially good at keeping the kids out of my hair if it's been one of THOSE days.
2. He always does the dinner dishes. Even if he's the one who cooks dinner. Even if he has been on-call and didn't even eat with us. I am a lucky, lucky lady.
3. He is the BEST cook! His spaghetti is divine and don't even get me started on his grilling abilities!
4. He has a great singing voice. The other day Clayton was singing our clean up song and he said to me, "Mommy, do I sing like Daddy?" I sure hope so. Justin doesn't sing very much anymore (he is busy doing other things), but I love it when he does.
5. He is always on board with my hairbrained schemes. I know that he thinks I'm insane half the time, but it doesn't stop him from jumping in and helping me out.
6. I had to throw one more in because once I start listing things I love about Justin it's hard to stop. He always makes time for us. He doesn't have a lot of free time. He is so busy lately and I'm sure that when he finally gets home he would love to just sit back and kick his feet up and relax...but he doesn't. He always wrestles/plays with the boys, swinging them around in ways that are physically impossible for me and he listens to me talk endlessly about my day. I am not sure he always pays attention, but at least he looks like it and makes appropriate responses.
Happy Birthday Justin. I sure do love you!

Secondly, it's my sister Anisha's birthday!
As opposed to Justin she LOVES her birthday and wishes that it would be a national holiday (which it totally is honey)! She loves it when people make a huge fuss over her on her birthday so here it is. Here are ten things I love about Anisha:
1. The fact that she loves her birthday more than any other day of the year and yet she is the only one (well I guess not the ONLY one) who shares her birthday with another person (and a dog).
2. Her neatness. I wish that Anisha lived with me all the time (for many reasons) but one of them is that my house would always be spotless. She keeps her house so neat and tidy that sometimes it makes me feel bad because I know that my house is not even close!
3. She is soooo funny! Most people don't know this about Anisha because they think that she's so shy. Let me tell you, she is so sarcastic and quick-witted. She KILLS me!
4. She is very practical. Out of all of my siblings, Anisha is definitely the most level-headed (sorry guys, but I'm including myself here too, it's just true). I know that if I have a problem I can talk to her and she will give me a very sensible and honest solution. It may not always be what I want to hear, but I like that she just tells you straight!
5. She has a no-nonsense attitude. She gets things done and she does them well. She is very up front with people. People almost always know exactly where they stand with Anisha. She doesn't do the whole "nice to your face, mean behind your back" thing (or vice versa). Most people just aren't that genuine (how sad). 6. She always has very close friends. We used to tease her because she never had a ton of friends growing up (yeah, we were really nice), but I think that she is the only one of us that still talks to her high school friends. Once you are Anisha's friend, you are her friend for a long time.
7. She is a great aunt. She loves her neices and nephews and they know it. They all love Aunt Nisha. She is endlessly patient with them. Sometimes I feel bad when she comes to visit because she does EVERYTHING for my kids (feeds them, bathes them, plays with them). I don't feel TOO bad though. She is going to make an AMAZING mother!
8. She is very pretty. I used to get so frustrated (well, I guess I still do) because both of my sisters are so tall and naturally thin! She has these gorgeous blue eyes that I am insanely jealous of.
9. She loves to sit around and do nothing. I love to sit around with Anisha. She is not lazy (not at ALL), but she knows how to relax. In fact, she's really good at it! I love to sit around with Anisha talking or just watching TV. She's good to be around even when you aren't doing anything (which is nice). There is no pressure when you are with her.
10. She is (one of) my best friends. I am so lucky to have two great sisters that I would want to be friends with even if I wasn't related to them.
Anisha, I can't say enough good things about you! Happy Birthday! I love you!

Guess Who Comes Home Today...

My baby brother, Jeremiah, comes home today from Honduras! I wish that we could be there to see him, but we look forward to seeing him when he comes to visit us in a month!
I can't believe how big and grown-up he looks!! He's so handsome (and will soon be on the market ladies)! We love Bubba and are so proud of him! He has set such a good example for my boys and I know that they are just as excited as I am to see him!

Yup, It's Random

**We haven't been doing anything too exciting lately so I thought that I'd just share some of the random happenings at the Smith house. As you read it you might think to yourself, 'Wow, this is really random'. To that I say, "Yup, it is"!**
I just want to share a little about what we've been doing lately. Justin is currently doing his psych rotation and really enjoying it. He won't go into it or anything (he's family practice all the way), but he says that it's really satisfying being able to help someone who is hurting in that way. I am so amazed by him! He is so smart. We will be watching a medical TV show and he will be able to finish the doctor's lines or guess what they will do. Sometimes, it's a little frustrating because if the show is wildly medically inacurrate (which a lot of them apparently are) he will laugh out loud and call my attention to it (I like living in my ignorance). But I am really proud of him and how hard he's working.
The boys and I have been hanging out and waiting for breaks in the rain. This July was supposedly the 7th wettest July in Vermont history (I realize that 7th wettest doesn't sound like that big of a deal - but in a state that is insanely wet anyway, this is saying something). Anyway, August doesn't seem like it's going to be much better. The point is, we've been sort of home-bound. I feel like the "summer" is going to end before it really began!
In just a few short weeks, Clayton will begin preschool. It is only two days a week, but I am 'looking forward to/trying not to break down into tears when I think about' it. I get excited at the prospect of going grocery shopping/running errands with only one kid! Speaking of that one kid who will soon be my errand buddy:
Every time he sees a camera lately he comes running at it full speed yelling "Cheese"! These are just a few of the great shots I got of him.

In this one, good old Uncle Rick stuck that piece of tape to his forehead. Noah walked around with it on for about a half an hour. I don't think he realized it was there, it sort of just fell off on its own. Thanks Rick!
The boys have been playing together a lot better lately, which is so nice for me. Clayton loves having Noah follow him around (for the most part). Ahh, hero worship at it's best! They are really becoming best buddies. I think Noah is going to go through withdrawls with me when Clayton starts school!
This is the bubble machine that Grandma and Grandpa Lee gave Clayton for his birthday. They LOVE it (I just wish it was good enough weather to use it more).
This is the "super fun" game that the boys invented (I'm pretty sure they just do it to try to give me a heart attack). But they both pick a stair to "jump" down from. They egg each other on too. Clayton is always trying to get Noah to choose a higher step.
They like watching cartoons together too. Noah is always willing to sit and watch if Clayton is doing it (see? hero worship).
Here are a few pictures of Clayton that are pretty funny to me. They're random and I don't really have a reason for posting them but hey, check out the title of this post.
Clayton came to me the other day and said, "Oh No!! I can't smell anything!!" Any guesses why?
Clayton doesn't take naps anymore, they have been replaced by "quiet time". A while back, he had come downstairs wanting to have quiet time in "Grammy's room" (our guest bedroom/workout room/junk room). I told him that was fine. I didn't hear anything out of him for about 20 minutes, which is unusual because "quiet time" is usually anything but, and when I went to check on him I found this:
I had to take this picture of him because, even though he's growing up so fast, seeing him like this made me feel like he was still my baby.
Finally, in other news, we have an exciting new addition to our family...
Abigail Rose! She came into our family on July 17th (10 days late) and weighed in at 10lbs 1oz! Missy we don't know how you did it! Congratulations Missy and Jared! We wish we could hold her!

It Begins...

Keep Your Shoes On!

The other day Justin took Clayton to the baptism of a girl in our primary. We decided that, since he is in primary now, it is good for him to go and see other children get baptized so that he can get excited about being baptized himself one day. Justin said that he really enjoyed it, he was asking tons of questions and he especially loved watching Rebecca get into the font in her clothes! He did, however, inform Justin that, "When I get baptized I am going to keep my shoes on!"
This is Justin and Clayton after they got home from the baptism.

I had to include this one because it really showcases Clayton's personality. He's such a goofball!

I'm glad that going to the baptism was such a good experience for him. It is great to hear him talk about getting baptized! Clayton has such a sweet spirit and I am so happy that seeing this has made him excited about his own baptism!

Superman

I had briefly mentioned before that my boys have recently discovered the wonderful world of superheroes. I thought that I needed to dedicate a post to it because it is so funny (and very manly)! Clayton and I now play games where he is Superman and I am the villian and he has to neutralize me. (Someday I am going to have to explain to him that I should be the beautiful damsal in distress.) It's a fun game, but I'm a little sick of always being the bad guy (plus Clayton gets a little too into it sometimes)!! Noah especially loves the cape-wearing aspect of being a superhero. He wears that cape almost everywhere - playgroups, McDonalds, the grocery store, Wal-Mart, you name it Noah has been there with a cape! I probably could attempt to take it off of him when we go places, but it's cute and it isn't hurting anyone so I let it go. Anyway, here are some cute pictures of my own personal superheroes (every girl should be so lucky)!!!

This is Clayton's "Superman stance". He will also sing his own theme song when he enters the room (the first time he did it I almost passed out from laughing)!
Here are several of Noah, he is much more into the cape-wearing than Clayton is.
This would be his 'get out of my way when I'm trying to watch cartoons' pose.

This picture is my favorite (if you ignore the mess in the background - which I do)! Something about little kids running around in diapers always makes me smile a little, but when you add a cape to that - priceless!
I am lucky to have such adorable heroes! Just the other day I was saved from an imminent dinosaur attack! I love my little Dynamic Duo! Now if only we could hone their "super sharing" powers...