Good first week

These are some of Johnathan's newest pictures of himself:

He's had a great first week of school. Mrs. Miller is wonderful! I really thought after only going to school MWF mornings last year that he wouldn't want to go back to school EVERYday, but I was so wrong! His alarm went off at 6:30 every morning, he put on his clothes that we had laid out the night before and he made his bed all before coming out of his room. And he couldn't wait to get to school!

With all that playing and learning and getting up early, he's so tired by about 6:00, even after an hour rest time right after school.

Really tired!

(sorry about the blurry picture -- no flash -- you get the idea!)

School Days!

The first day of school is always exciting. The morning prep included lots of eye rubbing, egg eating, bed making, dressing, potty going, teeth brushing, backpack packing, lunch making and picture taking!

The drop-offs went well. Both kids were perfectly comfortable in their new classes. Johnathan even told me, "You can go now, Mom." :) And I did just fine, proud of the kids for being so independent!

They both had good first days, aside from Kalleigh's poopy accident. They love their teachers and were eager to go back! Thank you, God, for good schools and teachers!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Kalleigh and I painted our fingernails and toenails yesterday. We took two pictures and I couldn't decide which I liked best. The first shows the main idea of the post--just the fingernails and toenails. But I couldn't help but love Kalleigh's little face and her sunglasses from Aunt Laurie in the second picture!



We've made big steps in potty training the past few days. Right now we're coming up on her being dry for 48 hours. That doesn't seem like a lot, but for us, it's huge!

She's going to be in the Purple Room at Little People's School starting tomorrow! This is actually the younger 3's class, so she'll be one of the very youngest, as she won't turn 3 until the beginning of October. But Mrs. Carys, her teacher from last year, said she's definitely ready for their curriculum. I'm also thrilled that she'll go MWF rather than just MW like last year!

Mrs. Melissa is the teacher in the Purple Room. Johnathan had her when he was 3 and just loved it! And all last year, Melissa would say to me, "You're going to put Kalleigh in my class next year, right? I want her in my class!" The catch was that in order to go in the Purple Room, the children had to be potty trained.

So I had Kalleigh signed up for the Red Room, the older 2's. Well, at "Meet the Teacher" this past Friday, we visited the Red Room, and then I walked over to the Purple Room to say 'hi' to Melissa. She said, "I have room for one more on MWF!" I then told her frankly where we were on the potty training issue, and Melissa said to bring her on anyway! I really think that seeing all of her other friends going potty frequently at school will help her a ton. And like I said, we're nearly two straight days dry and in panties! Go girl!

Johnathan & Mommy Date

I learn so much from my blogging cousins. From house decorating to fun kid projects, photography to gardening, new ideas, new recipes, new jobs, new homes ... thanks guys!

This was one of those great ideas that I thought I'd copy. Johnathan and Mommy Date Night. It's where just the two of us go out and buy school supplies and eat wherever he wants.

So we printed out our list, dressed up and went. Johnathan picked an Indiana Jones outfit and I wore khaki pants, a blue halter and a multi-strand necklace. Johnathan, being my little fashion police, noticed that my pants were just like his and he liked that. While in the car, though, he suddenly asked if I was wearing a shirt because he couldn't see any back or sleeves. I thought, "Who are you? My dad?!" Later he looked at my necklace and said, "Mommy, that's too many necklaces." Thanks, kid. What's high school going to be like?!

Wal-Mart was our first stop and had everything but the right kind of glue and the #2 pencils. They were sold out of both. Johnathan also wanted a Star Wars backpack, but Wal-Mart didn't have that either. I told him we could look at Target when we went to get the other school supplies. But we were hungry, so we decided to go eat supper and finish shopping later.

Of all the places in Tyler we could've gone, Johnathan chose McDonald's. No matter how much I told him how good the food at Breakers was, we still went to Mickey D's. I had to remind myself that this evening was for him, not me. :)

Then we hit Target, where we found the pencils, but not the glue or the Star Wars backpack.

So we headed to Michael's where we found the glue, but of course not the Star Wars backpack.

Next door to Michael's is Big Lots. It's hit or miss there. They had some pretty cool Batman backpacks, but that would not do.

We crossed the street to Toys R Us. Success! We found the Star Wars backpack there. Plus they were having a "buy 1 backpack, get 1 lunchbox free" sale, so we grabbed a Star Wars lunchbox as well.

Then we finished the night off at Braum's and each got a junior cone; chocolate for Johnathan and chocolate almond for me.

On the way home I asked Johnathan what his favorite part of the night was. He listed every single thing we did! I guess that means he had a good time!

So did I, little man. So did I!

ENFJ

Probably the most popular Facebook quiz right now, at least among my friends, is the Myers-Briggs personality test. I am fascinated by personalities and how it says so much about why we do what we do, so I was eager to take the very long test. Here's my result:

You are warm, empathetic, responsive, and responsible. You are highly attuned to the emotions, needs, and motivations of others. You find potential in everyone, and want to help others fulfill their potential. You may act as a catalyst for individual and group growth. You are loyal, and are responsive to praise and criticism. You are sociable, facilitate others in a group, and provide inspiring leadership. Famous people with your same ENFJ personality include: Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Dick Van Dyke, Diane Sawyer, Peyton Manning, Pete Sampras, Johnny Depp, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


Johnny Depp? Really?

What is interesting to me is that almost every time I take a Myers-Briggs-type test I come out with a different result. Last time (maybe a year ago?) I was an ISFP. Go figure. Back in college I was ISTJ. Either I have huge mood swings which makes me answer totally differently depending on the day or I'm really close to the middle on all of them. Or I didn't understand the questions very well or just didn't take the time to read them closely enough to really understand them. Anything's possible. :)

I clearly remember getting this particular result the very first time I took the test back in 7th grade. What does that say? I'm regressing? Ha! I wonder if the extrovert part just means that I have too many children and will do whatever I have to for any kind of adult interaction!

Now I just need to get John to take it. I think it's been a while for him, too.

The redo, the birthday and the anniversary

I just haven't been home, okay?

Today was the first day I've checked blogs in about two weeks. I should be cleaning house. I'm not.

We have been having so much fun! Two weeks ago tomorrow, the kids and I headed to Mom's for a week to help redo her bedroom and bathroom. The project was a huge success and Mom and I got a lot of good visit time in while we were painting! I forgot to take "before" pics, but here are the "after" pics:

Just imagine flowery pink wallpaper with a pink ceiling. I'd say this is a big improvement!

This pretty furniture belonged to Great-Grandma Curtis.


Mom had someone come in to replace the counter top and mirror, but I refinished the cabinet! It used to be a lovely country blue! I painted it dark brown and brushed a light coat of metallic copper on top to match the new handles and knobs! The guy still hasn't been back to finish the mirror ...

The project wore us all out. :)

Thankfully the kids drove home so I could sleep.

I think the quote of the weeks goes to Johnathan. The conversation between him and Mom went sort of like this:

Johnathan: Look Nana! I can wink one eye! (demonstrates)
Nana: Good job! You know, you need to be careful with all that winking. If you wink at a girl, she might think you want her to be your girlfriend! So you might not want to be winking at girls!
Johnathan, totally serious: Oh, okay. So only boys?

We got back last Tuesday, had gymnastics that night, church the next, with Jonas's birthday party to follow, and Thursday night the band sang at KE Cellars. The days were filled with laundry and errands!

Yes, Jonas's birthday! Hard to believe it's been a year! We celebrated with the Deans, who have unofficially adopted my kids as their grandkids. :)

This is what happens when you decorate a ball-shaped cake in a 78 degree house with 100% humidity.

Jonas figured out the drill pretty quickly!

Ta-Da!

J. C. & Terry with the two older kids. Johnathan's attempt at a sly grin.

The fam.

Friday, we drove to Dallas to celebrate our 9-year anniversary! We dropped the kids off at Dad's for the evening (thank you!!) and went downtown to eat at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant called Five-Sixty up in the Reunion Tower. It was beautiful and the food was fabulous!

The view from our table.

I'm always impressed by the food presentation! My salmon was SO good.

My handsome date!

When we were checking out of our hotel Saturday morning, Danny called us to see if we could sing at Breakers (the amazing new seafood place I've mentioned before) THAT NIGHT. Sure!

Of course we had to get back to Tyler for a quick Clearly Vocal rehearsal where we sang for an engaged couple in whose wedding we'll be singing in another month or so.

As soon as we finished there, we rushed the kids home with the babysitter, changed back into the clothes we had worn the night before at Five-Sixty, loaded up our instruments and rushed back into town to Breakers. We sang from about 6:30 until MIDNIGHT. There was a big crowd the whole time and people still there when we left!

The table of people right in front of us was especially animated and shot requests at us all night. After we finished we found out that they were the parents of the owner! They told us that they really enjoyed us, so we'll be back in a couple of weeks!

This morning I went on my last run with Kristin before she and her family move to Rwanda tomorrow. I'm sure going to miss her!

I'll try to be better about keeping all of you faithful readers updated as we get started with school and ... and ... KINDERGARTEN!