First Day of School!

My big fellas headed off to school today!! Since I'm working there for the time being, we had to leave earlier than we normally would have, but they popped right out of bed when I said it was time to get up. That definitely means they were excited! Wyatt squealed with excitement all morning!! I wonder if it would've been different had I not gone with them...

 They helped me get my classroom prepared, and then I walked them down to where all the kids meet in the morning and where they hang their backpacks. Grant showed Wyatt the routine, although Wyatt said, "I already know this Bubba." As all the kids started coming into the classroom, I expected Wyatt to cling to me, but he didn't! He was busily playing with the trains. I had to help all the kids find their name tags and deal with a few cryers, so I was happy to see the boys playing independently from me. Although, Grant snuck around me for the occasional hug. He seemed to really enjoy having that opportunity :)

 Wyatt did great in his group, at least when he was in my classroom! He seemed to be just fine without having Grant in his class. I loved watching him participate in calendar time, as well as sanctuary time. I just can't believe my little baby is such a big boy! He was definitely ready to go to preschool!!! And Grant- he had the routine down pat and didn't skip a beat! Ms. Terry and Ms. Olivia said he was a good helper in their classroom. I think he's going to like being the biggest kid!

 The first day of school must have worn them out because they took an almost 3 hour nap this afternoon!!! It was pretty exhausting for me as well. I forget how physically draining teaching is! But what a blessing to spend the First Day of School with my boys!!

Back To School!

Today marks the first day that both my kiddos are in school! I just can't believe my little Wyatt is old enough for this! He is oh so excited!! I wanted Grant to start preschool when he was 3, but the Navy our living circumstances didn't allow that to happen, so I'm glad Wyatt is getting this opportunity! Grant is excited as well, saying yesterday, "I've been waiting for school all summer long!" I'm glad they get to be there together! And I'm kind of glad I get to be there with them these first few weeks as well!! 

I'm looking forward to a wonderful school year at Oakwood Christian Preschool!! 

Big Bike Rider, Part 2

Ok, so not even two hours after I just posted about Wyatt being "a little scared" to ride his big boy bike, he was just outside riding his big boy bike!! He just took off and wasn't scared one bit!! I can't believe it happened so quickly! You could see how proud he was of himself! He loved it! I loved it!! I'm so proud of my little big man!

Back to Preschool!

Time for another school year to begin!! After much thought, prayer, and more prayer, we decided to send Grant to preschool for another year. Because of all of our moves over the last few years, he's only had one year of preschool, and since he's dealing with a few fine motor issues, we felt best sending him to pre-k this year! Plus, we knew how much we already LOVED Oakwood Christian Preschool! And the cherry on top, is that Grant and Wyatt get to go to school together, as this will be Wyatt's first year venturing off to school!

I guess to spice things up even more, I'm going to be teaching there, at least for now! One of the teachers had to leave at the last minute, so I'm filling in until they fill the position. So next week, all three of us get to go to school together!

I'm excited for Grant to hopefully fine tune some of his skills and gain a little more confidence. I'm excited for Wyatt to gain some independence and make his own friends! I'm excited that I get to watch it unfold, at least for the time being. Although, I am also excited for the day that I will have 3 whole hours to accomplish anything I'd like to on my own! Either way, we are welcoming the new school year with open arms!!

We had Preschool Open House this past Tuesday. Since I was "teacher" instead of "mom," I didn't really get to enjoy it with my boys, but I at least got to see them in action. They went to all the rooms with Levi to check things out, say hi to Ms. Terry, and meet the other new teacher, Ms. Olivia. And I'm sure their most favorite thing- playing outside on the playground!! It was a great way to kick off the new school year!! 

Updates to come, as the first official day is Tuesday!!!

Big Bike Rider

I can't believe August is halfway over and these are the first pictures I've taken this month. Shame on me! I always feel terrible about ignoring my blog, but what can ya do?! Crazy time in life right now...crazy!! 

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Grant learned how to ride his bike when he was 3.5, while we lived in Texas. It's so hard to believe Wyatt is now that same age. I always think back to that time and Grant just seems so much older then than Wyatt is now. Actually, I know he was physically bigger because we've had a hard time even finding a bike for Wyatt to ride because he's so tiny!! Grant had to start on a 14" bike because the beginners bikes were too small!

But, Wyatt LOVES his balance bike. LOVES it! Every chance he gets, he's on that bike. When we're going to get in the car to go somewhere, he has to ride his bike around the driveway "really quick." And when we get home before he goes inside, he makes a spin around the culdesac. He just can't get enough!

 And he learned how to ride it quickly! Too quickly, because when the time came to buy him a big kid bike, we couldn't find one that fits! Most kids start on a 12" bike but Wyatt's feet were nowhere close to touching the ground. But after some searching, we found a perfect extra small 12" bike. And he can ride it all by himself- but, "its a little scary" says Wyatt. The first time he got on it, Levi was holding on to him and then Wyatt just took off. He looked back and realized Levi wasn't holding on and he started crying, even though he was riding it all by himself! 

So for now, he's sticking to the balance bike until Daddy gets a good stretch of time to get Wyatt comfortable. But I have a feeling, in no time, he'll be zooming down the street with Grant! I'm so proud of my little little guy!

 This is his favorite move, he calls "The Ninja." One foot forward and one foot backward, balancing the whole way down the driveway! He also has the "No Feet" move, where he brings in his feet and rests them on the bar in the middle. He also likes to "pop wheelies." 

And speaking of Grant, he now has a new addition to his bike. Something that kind of made Levi cringe as he was adding it on, but seeing Grant's face light up, it was totally worth it!

Yep, a basket, just for Cuddles! At least its not girly and has flowers and streamers!! Grant, I just love how you love Cuddles!!

July Instagram

A quick snapshot of the month of July, via Instagram

Mommy Moments

Just a few stories I don't want to forget:

- Wyatt was going to the bathroom at a store and as he was standing at the toilet he said, "My pees are probably thinking, 'This looks like a fun pool. I think I'll go swimming.' (as he starts to pee) See Mom, they're going swimming now."

-While painting a wood dinosaur at the table, Wyatt kept saying, "Why is this taking so long Bubba?" I responded that painting was supposed to be fun, so its good if it takes a long time. Grant said, "Yeah Wyatt just enjoy it." And Wyatt responded, "Well, you know what they say Bubba, The harder it is, the better it is." I had no idea he was so wise ;-)

- We were at our cell phone company trying to fix our internet and the service man was very rude. As we walked out of the store, I told Grant to never be rude to a lady, no matter what. He said, "Don't worry Mom. I'll never be like that guy. He probably doesn't even have a wife."

- I've been "training" Grant how to treat girls as he gets older, and practice going on dates. I've told him numerous times that sometimes he has to do what the the girl wants, even if he doesn't like it, because that's a good way to show love. So after a day in the city, we ended up at PF Changs for dinner, much to Levi's dismay. (But I guess after 7 years, its about time he took me to my favorite restaurant...I digress) So after Grant enjoyed his dinner, he grabs my hand and says, "Mom, I'll take you to dinner here anytime you want to. Because I love you."

- Conversation with Wyatt:

W: When do we go to Heaven?

Me: When God calls us there, after our job on Earth is done.

W: Well, we have to move next year, will that be good timing?

I just love the words that come from their mouths! If only I could remember each and every word!

Date Night with My Boys

Levi works late a lot of evenings, and some days those evenings can draaaaaag. So every now and then I like to make life exciting and surprise the boys by taking them somewhere special!

Last week, after dinner, I made them put their shoes on and hop in the car. And while my plan was to take them mini-golfing, I had to improvise because it wasn't open. Luckily, I hadn't told them where we were going. So we went for Cherry Berry! We ate outside and the boys ran crazy for a few minutes. I was hoping golfing would be open by the time we drove back, but it still wasn't open. As I drove past the park, I noticed the lake was super full and the waterfall was overflowing (we did have 4" of rain overnight!), so we decided to park and walk over to the lake. It was a sight to see!! The water was gushing over, creating loads and loads of bubbles! They were amazed!

It was a wonderful evening hanging out with my boys, doing something out of the ordinary! Those moments are oh so special to me!! 

Kansas Cosmosphere

On our way to Grinnell for Great-Mom's birthday, we decided to head to the Kansas Cosmosphere. I'd never been, and it had been many many years since Levi had been, and we knew the boys would LOVE it. To top it off, the Kansas Cosmosphere is participating in the Blue Star Museum program, which allows Military service members and their families free admission to a variety of museums all across the country. And while the museum itself was free for us, none of the extra exhibits were, which was kind of a bummer. But it turned out they were all sold out by the time we got there anywhere, so we figured a fun stroll around the museum and gift shop would be enough excitement for the boys anyway.

And while a lot of the information in the museum was not entertaining for the boys, there was still a lot to be seen! They had a great time checking out numerous space shuttles, astronaut suits, a moon rock, and lots of space equipment! Although I'm pretty sure the gift shop was probably their favorite part. But isn't that usually how it goes?

We had a fun family day exploring space! Some day we will try for all the other exhibits as well!

The Lake via Instagram

A very random picture post of the lake, via Instagram!!!

Great-Mom Edna's 90th Birthday

Last weekend, we got to celebrate Great-Mom Edna's 90th Birthday! Levi's Grandma Edna is amazing! I hope I have her energy and stamina when I'm 90! She's had a rough few months overcoming some health issues, but we all knew she was strong enough to overcome!

We had a great time celebrating her special day! The weather was BEAUTIFUL, which made for lots of playtime outside with the cousins! We had a wonderful meal and ice cream cake for desert, YUM!!

We gave Great-Mom a few framed pictures of her 5 beautiful great-grandkids! Barb made her a beautiful photo book, documenting her life in pictures! It was a beautiful celebration for a wonderful person!

 All of the Broeckelman extended family

(Great-Mom and her three daughters Kathy, Barb, and Carolyn and their families!)

The Broeckelman's 

 And a trip the farm isn't complete without a go-cart ride from Levi! The boys and Haylie had a blast zooming around the farm! Piper didn't want a turn, but she sure did like chasing it!! The kids are all so cute to watch them play together! The weather was so gorgeous, it was almost cool the night of the party! 

It was a beautiful weekend, full of family fun!

My Dad Can Fly....

...What's your dad's superpower?

Doing What We Do Best

Of course, most of our time at the lake was just spent swimming and splashing! In fact, I don't think I even left the house the first two days! Its a little bit trickier going to the lake with such young kids. The past few years I've gone, I felt like I was hardly ever in the water because I always had a baby to take care of! So this year, it was nice that the boys were just big enough to stay inside in the house and play if they didn't want to swim, and I could still lay on a raft! They were much more independent than I had hoped!

Although they really loved swimming more than I thought they would, especially Grant. Wyatt still wasn't too sure about swimming in such a wide open area, but he did his fair share! Grant LOVED jumping off the side doing cool moves. The big boys had jumping contests and we had to score them! They had a great time squirting everyone with the water guns! And of course, playing with Kenny in the water! He was best water toy there was!!

Of course, us grownups enjoyed lounging on a raft or noodle with a cold beverage in hand chatting and enjoying our time together! The water was PERFECT!! The weather was PERFECT! It was just a PERFECT vacation!!!

The Family

The absolute best part of vacation was spending time as an entire family! Staying at a house altogether versus staying in individual cabins meant alot more time together! I think I can safely say that it made our vacation that much better! I miss all my family, especially since I haven't lived in Kansas City for going on 7 years now! It's hard to be away from them. I am so so thankful we are able to have this time together!