Crying Today...

Crying tears of JOY, that is! School started and Joel is officially a first-grader and gone from 8:45 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.! I never thought this day would come. It was such a quiet, calm day that I almost got...dare I say it...bored. Oh no, no, not bored in a bad way, bored in an "ahh, relaxation" and no more breaking up fights or yelling, "keep your hands off your brothers and stop tormenting them" sort of way. I'm already dreading Thanksgiving break.

I asked Joel to tell me the best and worst part about first grade:

Best: "Playground"

Worst: "There was no worst part"

(Gee, he didn't mention missing mama. Maybe he was crying tears of joy too?)

OK, please allow me one small "brag" about Joel: I asked him whom he sat with at lunch and he told me this:

"Remember when Evan went to preschool, you told him to be a friend to someone who was sad or who didn't have a friend. I remembered that and saw Jimmie sitting alone at a table so I sat with him."

Now THAT makes a mama proud!

My Newest Bribe

This week I took all three boys to the mall to buy Joel school clothes. On the way there I had a brainstorm: I could BRIBE good behavior out of them! (Sorry, Dr. Phil, I know this is not a "good parenting tip 101," but sometimes a mother is desparate to shop!)

My bribe:
The boys always want quarters to ride the mall "rides" and for the gumball machines. My brainstorm for this trip was to tell them that when I saw good behavior exhibited, they would earn a quarter. "Sometimes Evan will be the only one to get a quarter and other times Joel or Drew will earn one." This worked like a charm! They loved earning money and I loved not having to give them the "evil eye" or a silent sqeeze of the arm. The other benefit was they learned the value of each ride -- for instance, Joel wanted to ride a $2 "roller coaster simulation" ride but realized he didn't have 8 quarters. "Next time you'll just have to be even better to earn more quarters," I told him. (Note: I hope he's not THAT good, 'cause I can't afford to shop if I have to give out EIGHT quarters to each kid!)

Joel Apple Picking

Joel recently discovered that the apples on the tree in the park behind our house are almost ripe so he and Evan decided to pick some. The best part was picking the "wormy" apples and then smashing them on the concrete.

To all of you fellow scrapbookers out there:

When your kid goes apple-picking, make sure he/she is wearing a RED shirt, not an orange one! These pictures are going to look awful with red apple stickers in my scrapbook. :-)

Making Ice Cream with Grandpa

Drew loved watching Grandpa make ice cream, but he most enjoyed tasting it when Grandpa wasn't looking.

Planting Strawberries with Grandpa

Last week we had a fun visit with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Sarah from Montana. This is a picture of Grandpa planting strawberries with the boys in our backyard. We are all anxiously awaiting our first crop so that we can enjoy some strawberry shortcake.

Drew's New Car

Drew got a new car for his 2nd birthday -- all three boys LOVE it! Joel doesn't quite fit in unless he leaves one leg hanging out the side. Let's hope he doesn't drive a real car that way when he's 16! One day Evan disappeared with the Jeep (I thought everyone was upstairs brushing their teeth). The neighbor found Evan -- he was almost at the end of our block and was crying because he had "runned out of gas." Thank God he did "runned out of gas" because I think he would have driven to Grandma and Grandpa's. I've decided to put a GPS system in the car so I can find him next time! Haha.

My Little Knight in Shining Armour

Evan was invited to an all-girls "Princess" 4-year-old birthday party; he dressed as a knight. Here he is with the birthday girl, Keely.