Weekend Recap

Liam’s in the center with the blue “bird” picture around his neck,
grinning cheesily at his grandpa in the audience.

• Liam’s preschool program was Friday morning and my parents came to watch it with us. Liam was so thrilled to see us that it took him almost the entire first song to remember he was supposed to be singing and doing motions before he got into it and stopped waving at us. He still waved to us at least once a song. It was adorable. [As a side note, at what point should I be concerned that Liam was the spaciest of the kids and the one most likely NOT to be doing what he was supposed to be doing? When does his behavior stop being written off as distractable preschooler and start being a problem? He’s super smart but so easily distracted from what he’s supposed to be doing… help.]  

Is there anything cuter than 4-5 year olds dressed up for a performance?
For reference, his class this year (above) and last year (below).

• Liam’s enthusiasm for performing could only be rivaled by Jack’s enthusiasm for the snack table… any chance he got he took off for the table with the hope of snatching a cookie. Thankfully Simon was sitting closer to him than I was.
• The school also [silent] auctioned off artwork created by the art teacher using the handprints of the students in each of the classes, am I a bad parent because I had zero desire to bid on the pieces?
• After the spring sing, we stopped for lunch at the Omelette Shoppe – I’ll just say that taking my kids out to eat is not something I enjoy doing and probably will try to avoid for the next year or so. Perhaps because of his affinity for the snack table earlier, Jack refused to eat anything, including the luscious cinnamon roll we ordered him in lieu of his beloved “fwies, Fwies, FWIES!” [who doesn’t serve fries!?]
• The little boys and I headed back to Lansing with my parents with Simon to follow after work… Liam fell asleep rather promptly, Jack did not. Ever.
• This weekend, Liam discovered that my parents’ neighbors have a daughter fairly close to his age. He and Ava pulled their chairs down to the back fence and sat on either side, showing off their random assortment of toys and laughing randomly at nothing (it was like a toddler version of a blind date). Saturday and Sunday we had Ava over to my parents’ back yard and they ran around after each other until she got called home. We have discovered another bonus to going to the grandparents’ house, built-in playmates.

Oh my word, look at those babies almost two years ago!

• Saturday was my great-nephew’s second birthday [the joy of having older siblings means you also have older nieces and nephews; my oldest niece, Quinn, had a baby (Max) 3 months after I had Jack. We’re hoping that someday they will be friends; right now they tolerate each other but mostly try to take the other one down when they do acknowledge each other.
• Being so close to Cinco de Mayo, Quinn had a Mexican-themed spread of food. It was fabulous.  
• Though I’d have to say the highlight, at least for me, was when Jack fell down on his behind and came running to me, crying, “Kiss my butt. Kiss it all better. Pwees.” And then he leaned over to give me better access. So thoughtful, that one.
• Mother’s Day was rather uneventful – Simon had given me my wonderful gift the day before and Liam had been wishing me “Happy Mother’s Day” since Thursday so the celebration was pretty much over. Plus, Simon was sick so parenting fell mostly to me that day, which was fine because without kids, I don’t really get to celebrate that particular day (even more fine since he brought me coffee at work on Monday). But there were Blizzards and Dilly Bars to be eaten and obligatory photos to be taken:

All-in-all, it was a good weekend. The kids got to play with their grandparents, cousins and new friends and visit three parks. Simon attended his rugby banquet (he’s coaching Calvin’s team). And I have a child-free evening with friends to look forward to.