An Update From The Reynolds Home For Mischievous Boys

School is in full swing around here and it's great! Both boys are enjoying themselves. Prestons adapting to the idea that he has to go to school every day instead of having play days in between like Jaxton has. And it's been 2 weeks since he cried while getting on the bus! (his reason for crying? he loves me so much and is going to miss me. ya right.) 

Monsoon season is also in full force and one morning we woke up to a snake being on the front porch.
Yes, a snake. 

*insert screaming and heebie jeebies here*

Patrick was very proud that I walked past it to go inside and get him to come kill it. I was proud of myself too. I did have my toes curled the whole time so that it couldn't bite my toes off.
A few chops with a shovel and it was gone.
Sorry Voldemort.
I know that some snakes are good and such, but we don't want the boys to see snakes and think they can just touch them when they could be dangerous, so out of sight out of mind.
Also, we will never have a snake for a pet.
Thus sayeth me. 

On the mornings that I only have Lucas around I always feel like we HAVE to go somewhere. I HAVE to take advantage of only having 1 child and the ease of going places that comes along with that. But after a few trips out we start to run out of places to go. Or at least run out of cheap places to go! So the other morning we went to McDonalds and had an ice cream cone & then went and watched airplanes take off/land at the small airport by our house. 

My handsome angelic boys.

Putting Lucas in a "Mommy's little Dare Devil" shirt was a bad idea on this day. I let the boys take the cushions off 1 of the couches and play on them since I won't let them jump on the actual couch. I figure its safer this way. WRONG. Lucas and Jaxton were playing on the cushions and jumping and Lucas fell weird somehow and hurt his leg. He wouldn't put any weight on it and so after his nap I took him to urgent care to get checked out and make sure nothing was broken. It didn't hurt at all for him to have his leg pressed on, but they did an xray of his knee and it came back fine and so the doctor said he was going to call it a sprain and to keep it wrapped, keep him off it for a few days (ha!) and follow up with our regular doctor if it wasn't better in a few days. A few days later and he was still walking on it weird. He would walk with his toes curled and walk on the outside of his foot, and whenever he was leaning against something he would pull that leg up like a flamingo. So we went and had an xray of his foot done. That also came back clean. He walks on his foot now, but he twists it strange when he takes a step. Almost like he is turning his hip outwards or something. We are going into a pediatric orthopedic doctor next week, so we will see what he says about my little million dollar baby. 

It's really strange, but if they eat while sitting at the counter on a stool they will eat their entire meal. At the table its a different story where I'm constantly threatening, making deals, begging, yelling for them to eat. 

One night I told Jaxton to go to bed and I would come check on him in a little bit. About 15 minutes later I came up and he wasn't in his bed. I went in to check my bed because he loves to sleep in my bed and found this. Guess he invited everyone to a sleepover in my bed! Waffle crumbs were everywhere. 

We have picked our Halloween costume theme! We are going with Mario characters. The fun part of it all is that John/Rox/kids are going to dress up along with us! So there will be 10 of us all dressed up! Expect greatness.

One of my FAVORITE Mexican food places, and where I had my first job, Mattas opened up a location a mere 500 steps from our house! Literally, I counted how many steps it took to get there. We went the night it opened, so they were still working out some kinks, and we had some of our regular dining out issues like 3 different drinks being spilled on the table/floor/child, but it was worth it!!!! Lucas was really loving the salsa. They have a version that isn't spicy at all, and he was just scooping it up and eating it with a chip. 

Earlier this week he had his first dentist appointment! He's congenitally missing a tooth right by his front teeth which the dentist says happens a lot in adult teeth but not so much in baby teeth. Lucas hasn't really been a normal baby tho! But he said his teeth look great. He got a fluoride treatment which Lucas was sure to tell everyone that day "teeth...it's yucky." 

At Patricks work they rotate schedules every week and this week he worked the early shift: 5-12 so he took cat naps in the afternoon. And on this afternoon the cat also napped. They were practically in the same position! 

A friend of mine who understands my love for Dr. Pepper got me this shirt and it instantly became my favorite shirt!!! 

We had Curriculum night at Preston's school which was fun. He showed us around his room and what he does everyday and we got to hear from his teacher about how wonderful and smart he is. I love when people tell me how great my kids are, so that was really fun. And then we went in to see the tortoises that his school has. It was his classes turn to bring food in for the tortoises, and so we got to get rid of some grapes, tomatoes, watermelon and egg shells and Preston said they gobbled them up!  

This month in Jaxton's class they are talking about the ocean, so today I took Jaxton and Lucas to the Sea Life Aquarium in AZ Mills mall. I'm hoping that it will help Jaxton talk more in his class if he can offer up information about what he saw. But if not thats ok, it was still fun, we got to see those two giant lobsters fight each other. 

Jaxton's 1st Day Back at Preschool!

Thursday was Jaxton's 1st day back to preschool!
He is going to the same school, with the same teacher, on the same days at the same time as last year. Which is great because like most kids Jaxton does not do well with change.
We went to meet the teacher for him on Tuesday night to remind him of the routine of it all. He actually talked to his teacher when she asked him a question which is better then he did all of last year, so I'm hopeful this year will be good for him!

For his "back to school" special meal he chose to have chicken and rice with strawberries and sugar with leftover cake from the night before. I LOVE that both boys picked healthy dinners when given the choice to chose any meal they wanted! I thought for sure we'd end up at McDonalds two nights in a row.... 

He woke up early on Thursday to walk Preston to the bus with me and then we had a lot of time to kill before getting ready for school... Preston's bus comes at 7:12 & Jaxton's at 9:15, so we took lots of pictures.
He has the same bus drivers/aids from last year so that was even more great news! 

He was really excited to go. I asked him which friend he was excited to see and he said "uh..Miss Claire (his teacher) because I luff her. She's my friend." awww!

Even if he's silent the whole time he's at school and doesn't offer up much information about school, he really really loves it. He was super excited to go. 

Hi Lucas crying....

He had a great first day! He answered most of my questions, and is happy to be back in the swing of things. 

Although I was laying in bed with him last night after he had 3 days off school and told him it was a school day tomorrow & he just whined and said "again???"
Get use to it kid. 

Preston's 1st day of Kindergarten!!

Today Preston starts Kindergarten.
He will be going full day, all week. 

And he is so so excited.

Saturday they had a kindergarten boot camp. We got to go check out his classroom, meet his teacher, take a tour to see where the bus will drop him off and pick him up, check out the playground, see the cafeteria and of course look at the tortoises- which are pretty much the highlight of kindergarten. 

His teacher seems nice. She use to be a 1st grade teacher but has moved down to Kinder. I'm hoping this is a good thing and that she will challenge him more because not to brag, but he's really smart. I know all parents think that, or at least I hope they do, but seriously. According to the sheet that they sent home for what he needs to know before coming to school, he should know his last name, phone number, how to count to 10, his ABC's, and colors. He's known his colors since he was 2, knows his name, phone number, my name & phone number, patricks name and phone number, address, birthday and who knows what else. He can count to 1,000, probably farther, and knows over 100 sight words. Plus after one night of explaining how to add and subtract he can now add and subtract single digit numbers without using his fingers. Bragathon over.
My point is I want him to be challenged. 

Check out that great writing grip he's got going on!

Last night, on his last day of vacation- which he made sure to remind everyone of all day long- he got to pick out whatever he wanted for dinner. He chose pork chops, pasta roni, bread with butter, apple juice and a chocolate cake. He got to eat on the "I am special today" plate which he loved. 

And then this morning was school.
He woke up at 6am and told me "mommy, I woke up early!" Yes. Yes you did. Too early. So I sent him back to bed for 30 minutes. He had a yogurt & 3 packets of strawberry oatmeal, got dressed in his new red shoes which he has been dying to wear all summer! and we went out to take some pictures.
He wasn't too nervous, He was sleepy.
Normally he doesn't get up till about 7:40. 

I think he was a little relieved that Noah would be going with him to school. They aren't in the same class, but are on the same bus and can play together at recess. 

Then we walked around the corner and down the street to wait for the bus.
He just sat right down like he'd been doing this for ages. A lot of kids on the bus are from our ward, and come over every week for scouts, so that put him at ease too. When the bus came he got on and him and Noah sat almost in the back, just like the cool kids. 

I didn't cry.
I'm not nervous for him. He has been going to school for awhile, and knows the drill, He's really good at making friends, we talked about what he does for lunch, for the bathroom, for the bus, he's very prepared.
This is what I AM nervous for.
I don't want him to change. I don't want school to change him. I don't want him to be afraid to be who he is or change what he does/doesn't like just to fit in. I don't want him to lose his sense of humor or curiosity just because others might not like it. I don't want him to be teased or feel bad or be left out. I want him to be safe and confident and secure.
I just have to remind myself that he's a good kid and he needs experiences like this to grow and develop. I can't hover over him his whole life and protect him from everything.
All I can do is pray and love him and guide him and hope he makes the right choices. And I know he will. Pretty sure I mentioned it before, but he's smart. He can do it.
1 more hour and he will be home to tell me all about it!!!

Then tomorrow it's Jaxton's turn for a 1st day.

Other July Stuff

25 days till school starts. 

This is both a good and a bad thing.
I've enjoyed the time with the boys and we have done some fun things, but it's hard to keep their screen time under control & keep them stimulated with the right things. Preston is doing great learning his sight words. He is on page 23 of Hop on Pop which he is very proud of, and so am I!
Jaxton's summer goal is to learn how to spell his name and identify the letters in his name. He's doing well too, if only there wasn't that pesky A in his name! And Lucas? Well Lucas is Lucas. He talks all day long, sings, dances, amuses himself and everyone else too. 

He had a 21 month well check to get some immunizations that he missed at his 18 mo checkup due to being sick. As usual he impressed everyone with his development level. He's already hit a lot of his 2yr old milestones. He's started putting 2 word sentences together and is showing interest in potty training. I can only imagine what a life without diapers is like and it's LOVELY! 

Don't worry. He isn't perfect. He gets into more mischief then the other 2 boys ever did. He climbs on EVERYTHING and tries his best to keep up with the other boys. 

Earlier this week was Cow Appreciation day at Chick-Fil-A, which we LOVE. If you dress like a cow you get a free meal! Free food?? Yes please!! And the boys really liked dressing up this year. 

A true Jaxton smile is a rare thing.
This is a true smile. 

After lunch we went to ride on the carousel.
Their favorite thing is the spinning cup. 

No thank you.

The carousel already makes me sick but add spinning on top of spinning and I was not a fan.
Turns out neither was Lucas and I ended up holding him for most of the ride. 

Boy #1 & #2 got to go on a date with Daddy to the golf place (aka Golfland).
They had dinner, played games and then did their version of golf. 

They have really enjoyed having each other around this summer.
I think Preston being gone all day at Kindergarten will be hard on Jaxton. 

We've done our best to stay cool. Every Monday we go swim at Skyline Pool for a few hours and whenever we are feeling generous we set up the water toys outside. 

Patrick and I took these two to go see the Minions movie. He says that I laughed the most out of everyone.
It's true.
But it was a pretty funny movie. 

Today I took the boys to Pump it Up. A lot of other people had that same idea because it was packed!! But they had fun, I think. 

Lucas was keeping up with the big kids. 

See what I mean about trying to stay cool? Even Tobi is looking for cool spots to lay. 

Fort building has become a daily thing. They try to distract Lucas to keep him from tearing it apart. But I don't think we have enough toys to keep him occupied.

It's ok Lucas. 25 more days and the forts are all yours. 

The 4th of July, 2015

I think Preston loves the 4th of July more then anyone I've ever met.
He might even like it more then Christmas, I don't know.
Probably because on the 4th of July we actually DO stuff as opposed to other holidays where we are boring. 

We usually make 4th of July shirts. This year I found some tie dye kits on clearance at Target in patriotic colors so we did that.
Sad getting a picture where all 3 of them are looking like normal children at the camera is a thing of the past. Someone's always getting smashed or has their eyes closed or isn't looking or something. Like this picture. 

The morning of the 4th Preston came in my room at about 5:30 all dressed in his shirt and said he was ready for the 4th of July to start. Lucky for me I was able to get him to fall back asleep for another hour.
We went to our wards annual pancake breakfast and did a small parade around the building. I was too busy running the flag ceremony and then making sure Lucas stayed off all the bikes to take pictures.
Later that morning Patrick took the boys to Home Depot for a kids workshop where they got to make a Minions car. You can't tell from the back of their heads, but they enjoyed it. 

Later in the day we did some games. Ring toss was fun. Till Lucas realized not all the rings were for him and we had to take turns. 

Concentration.
by the way I'm pretty sure I won again this year. 

We played "firework" where you get wrapped up in toilet paper like a firecracker and then you have to explode free. 

Firecracker!!

Firecracker! 

We didn't have too many red white and blue foods this year, but we did have some pudding. 

Look at that patriotic pudding mustache! 

And then that night we had the missionaries over for dinner along with John, Rox, Noah, Lyla and my friend Krissa. We bbq'd a bunch of cheeseburgers and had all kinds of delicious things. 

I didn't get a picture of us doing fireworks and I wish I had, it was super cute. All the little kids would stand on the sidewalk and whenever Patrick would light a firework they would stomp their feet up and down over and over again. And then cover their ears of course. It was fun. Till Lucas grabbed the end of his sparkler.... His finger and thumb are still recovering from that one. 

The very next morning Preston asked me how many more days till Christmas.
A lot.
I hope.