Back to Preschool!!!

9.2.13

Brenner had his first day of his second year of preschool with Miss Christine and Miss Larissa today. He wasn't very excited last night when I told him tomorrow was school. He was carrying on and pleading not to go. Rusty gave him his back to school blessing and he settled down for bed. 

This morning when I asked him to get his shoes on he quickly put it together where we were going. And he freaked. Luckily, Rusty was still home, waiting to see if he had to report for jury duty (he did not) so he came with us. 

He walked right in the door, said hello to miss Christine and went straight to pick a work and found a place to sit. I was so happy it was so easy! He told us goodbye and we were on our way!

When I went back to pick him up he was super excited to show me something. He led me to the snack table. He was very excited that they had had NutriGrain bars as part of their snack. It was so funny because I can remember Berk going through a phase where he loved those too. Brenner will be going three days a week this year and come spring we will have to decide if he will go to kindergarten in fall or do another year of preschool. I'm excited for my time with just Boston each week! 

Christmas Celebration at Preschool...

Brenner got to meet the big guy again at school.  We love the little celebration "Miss" Christine does each year.  For her gift I made a sign for the school that said Montessori Learning Center "Follow the Child"- Maria Montessori.  Christine loved it, and of course I didn't take a picture of it.

 Brenner and Miss Nonna- oh and Santa

 Love his somber face in all of these.  Thankfully Ms Larissa took these and emailed them to me.

Brenner Starts Preschool!!!

Well, the day finally has come! Brenner finally got to start school at the Montessori Learning Center in Mesa with Miss Christine Vaughling.  Like his brothers before him, and his aunt Kelcie and uncle Ryan too, he is going to the best preschool around- hands down.

So excited he could barely stand it!

 He had to show me our cards on the fridge.

 And wander around looking at all the 'work' he could do.

 He was very happy to start this work before they headed outside.

And we left him driving around on the first day at Montessori Learning Center.

Too Big, Too Fast...

Do you see this? The other day I was in the laundry room (which faces the downstairs bathroom) when I hear the toilet flush. So, I look up and this is what I see- he even got the little potty lid out from under the sink.

What?!? He just turned two (the other boys trained closer to 4). I am 34 weeks pregnant, I am so not ready for the potty training thing! He will take his diaper off and tell us he pooped-which really means pee, and he will strip his clothes and diaper off and bring me a diaper to put back on. He climbs on the pot a couple times a day, but so far it is only after he has already peed in his diaper. But still, he's getting it. So I have a conundrum, do I try to get him potty trained before baby comes, or just not push it and see how he does on his own? I guess I'm afraid if I do get his partially trained he'll regress when B4 comes. But still, it is pretty cute to see his tiny naked buns running around, except that I'm too big to want to chase him!

Brenner is 2 ???

Oh man, after our trip to Navoo we had a mellow Sunday with church and trying to unpack. So, we didn't do much for the little guy on the actual day, but we did make Mickey Mouse pancakes and sing Happy Birthday with a yummy brownie cupcake!.

(Don't mind the undies- He isn't even potty training yet, but we've been a litte horrible about laundry (me oops) so these bigger brothers' undies were our sub for pj pants!

Monday night the party got started. We went to dinner at Red Robin's. Sorry bout the iPhone picts...

 Do you love the dirty look he gave the folks singing to him?

 But it was all worth it for an ice cream sundae!

Then we had family and the Robisons over to eat cake and ice cream.

 Some of the guests...

 Opening presents with LOTS of help...

 Cake time! He blew the candle out like a pro!

 

 Some of his gifts and the birthday boy with Mom and Dad...

Brenner, you are the spunkiest tyke I know. You talk so much more than any other toddler I know. Your favorite phrases of the moment include "I not want it/ you" "Need Brenner glasses, shoes" "Where's Bayen (B1) and Derkie (B2)?" He loves to FaceTime with his Auntie Kelcie and will knock on the screen and say "Hello? Delsie?" till we call her. He loves to see my belly and blow raspberries and then tell me "put it away" meaning pull my shirt back down.  I am so excited to see how is does with baby. He says B4's name so cute and he points out babies everywhere we go. Happy Birthday Brenner!!!

Spring is here!!!

Sorry for the lack of posts! I am finally feeling better-ish. More good days than bad! Yeah! I have been super busy with the kids so here is a quick look at what we have been doing nearly everyday for the last few weeks...

Braden is playing baseball again. Oh what a difference a year makes. He is so good at batting and throwing! Go Rangers!

 Brenner and Berk both love to come to the games. Brenner for the treats, and Berk for the camera...

Berk and Brenner are in swim lessons. Brenner screamed the whole first week and is totally fine now. He has great, patient, teachers and both boys have buddy's in the class with them!

 Brenner loves going for the ball and can roll from his stomach to his back and float! He is also an amazing monkey walker around the pool!

 Berk is loving the 88* water.

Berk is learning the strokes and having a good time with his buddy Max in the class. I am really glad I got these pictures off my camera because about 1 minute after I took this picture my camera fell out of my pocket and into the pool.....  YUP. oh boy! But I put it in rice when I got home and it looks like it'll be ok! Thankfully it was my little point and shoot and not my Nikon! One week of swim left, and I will be sad it is over, but they have learned a lot! There is still another month of baseball tho, and I can't wait to see how good they get by the end!

Life Right Now...

The boys are at such fun and different stages, that I had to write some of their funny quirks down before I forget them. And since I have a million pictures from Ethan's Run to post, and Blogger is saying I am out of space, you get this post until I buy more storage. Enjoy.

Brenner @18 months.

• He will come tell you "nigh nigh, baba" when he is tired
• He has to stick his finger in the bottle or sippie cup before you put the lid on to make sure what it is. 
• He says "all done!" or "I'n done" as soon as the car is put in park. Every single time. 
• He will come and tell me "I poop" and smack his diaper. Cracks me up- guess I need to think about potty training. 
• He is in LOVE with Elmo, and calls him "Mel-moh" thankfully his big brothers are willing to watch it in the car, so he is quiet on the rides. 
• Everything is a 'dog' to him. Birds, cats, Zebras= you name it, it is a "Dod!" 
• He loves to chase the flocks of "dods" from our lawn.
• Will, every single time, run directly into the middle of the road when we head out to play. And then turn and head down the center laughing. We don't think it's so funny, Needless to say, he doesn't get to play out front much. 
• He loves to close the microwave door. 

Berkley @ 4 1/2 years

• HAS to be the leader on our family bike rides.
• Has to be the first one out of the car at preschool, or anywhere else.
• Refuses to learn to buckle himself.
• Has to have me lay with him at bed time -even if it is for only a minute
• He can almost say his prayers all by himself, but when he repeats after you he does it in a sign song voice
• Nearly anything sung by him is at FULL volume and to the tune of Book of Mormon Stories.
• Has had Zero cavities, and would have perfect teeth, aside from the one dead one, yuck. 
• Is insistent that when he gets bigger HE will be "B1".
• Tells us we can't nibble on him because "if you eat me I won't be in the family"

Braden @8 1/2 years

• Has decided it is just to far to walk home from school and calls everyday for a ride (which he doesn't get)
• If he wakes up in a good mood it will be a great day, if not, hold on to your hats.
• He is amazing at school, loves his teacher and loves reading with me for AR.
• Is finally not biting his nails to the quick anymore.
• Is very particular about eating anything green, or with hints of green, like diced things or flakes.
• Is so easy to read when he is lying. Like it's pathetic how bad he lies.
• Will empty the dishwasher without being asked.
• Likes to put the big garages away.

Current things I never thought I would hear myself say before I had kids...

• If you are gonna wrestle, do it on the lawn.
• Take that sucker out of your mouth and give it back to your brother.
• Don't act like a girl.
• Text me when you get there (B1 has a phone- don't mock me, it is so handy, and Rusty works for AT&T so...)
• Stop changing your passwords without telling me, I can't get into Webkinz.
• Let's go work on a merit badge.
• Who ate the last of my Frosted Mini Wheat's?
• No, you cannot download an App.
• Who has my iPhone?
• Did you flush? (asked about 12 times a day!!!)

Trunk or Treat...

Well, before we could do any candy getting the boys had some games to play in first. The season's are owed their own post, so that will come later. Until then. This is how we spent Saturday afternoon...

 This is his "I don't want to play soccer" face.

 Soccer for Berk- with Rusty as his coach and how great is it that his uniform was Halloween colors???

And Basketball with Brae.

Braden has come leaps and bounds in just a few short weeks! Love that this kid is able to compete in sports!

That night we had our Ward Trunk or Treat. And before we left we took some family photos. So, introducing...
Mario

 Mario & Luigi

 Toad (or Frog Mario if you prefer)

Rusty was Player 1 and I was Player 2. And no, the boys' mustaches did NOT make it to the trunk or treat...

We had a fun time with our ward family, and I only took a few photos and I will save them for later!

Hope you had a great Halloween!

Halloween Week Festivities...

In case you can't tell, October is THAT month in our house. You know, the one where you have eighty-nine billion things that you HAVE to do? So, let me re cap our last week.

We had a little pre-pre-pre Halloween party at the Beck's because Jaci (our niece) wasn't going to be here for Halloween. We got the boys dressed up in costume, they played games like bobbing or apples, eating doughnuts off string and ring toss before trick-or-treating 'round the pool.

 Everyone had fun, and got their apple- even if it meant using their little Mario hands...

 Brenner wasn't sure about the doughnut, until he ate it, and then he was in powdered sugar heaven.

 Our trick-or-treat line...

Brenner still clutching the doughnut, not caring so much about the candy as he did the rocks around the pool.

On Monday night we had our annual Mortensen family Halloween Party out in Queen Creek. We eat dinner, chat, the kids play tons of games, and then everyone gets in a huge circle for the kids to trick-or-treat. It was a beautiful night. The kids had a great time, and came home with tons of candy.

 The eating and chatting part...

 The costume putting on and games part...

 Games, games games. And if you are Brenner, sitting on Pops' head so you can look at the starts and planes.

The trick-or-treating part.  Brenner was a squid this night. Like from the under water levels of Mario.  Even tho he was up hours past bedtime he was such a good sport.

On Tuesday, we met Rusty at Mother Nature's Farm for some pumpkin picking!

We had such a fun time. Braden and Berk were more interested in playing on the big dirt pile than actually doing anything else. But they had fun.  Brenner was in heaven. He walked around saying "ball! Ball! ball!!" about the pumpkins. So cute.

Wednesday was a usually crazy day, and I only mention it, although I have no photos, just to remember how hectic this week was. Both boys had school, followed by scouts for Braden, immediately followed by soccer for Berkley and overlapping by 15 minutes to Braden's basketball practice. Whew. Wednesday's are crazy around here.

Thursday I took a much needed deep breath, and stayed home working on a project. Photos to come soon, since the paint is finally dry and said objects are back in the house!

Friday, Berk had school (which is not the norm) so they could have a Halloween Celebration. Here he is with his cute teacher. Braden had a parade at school but Brenner was napping so we missed it.

That night we went on a double date with our good friends Blake & Addi. We met at Kona Grill, and were happy to introduce them to one of our favorite restaurants and then went to go see their new house!  Rusty and Blake grew up next door to each other and have always been best friends. We are so happy they left San Fran and decided to come back to AZ, and not just anywhere, but in our same community. I love that our boys (6 in all) will grow up together like their Dads did!

Whew, are you tired now too? I gotta take a break and post the actual Halloween stuff later!