Wesley Well-Check

This won't be the most exciting post on the planet, but I'm stumped for blog material today and I for me blogging is a lot like dieting - if I skip a day, it's all too easy to skip the next one too. So instead of trying to be clever, I'm just going to give you Wesley's 7 year check up report.

47 inches tall - it's two inches taller than last year, but he's in the 40th percentile, so he's a bit on the short side. Not really a surprise to me since I see how much taller than him his friends are.

50 pounds - I'm a little surprised by this number because he feels like he weighs a ton!! He's in the 50th percentile for weight, so I'm not worried or anything.

He did get a couple assignments from Doctor M. He's supposed to work on riding a bike. Duane and I certainly can't get him to do it, so maybe doctor's orders will help. He's also suppose to work on adding a new vegetable to his diet this year. I'm all for that. Sometimes I think I have the only seven year old who won't eat carrots.

So that was it. He's healthy and I'm not surprised. I'm more surprised that he's seven. That's still sending me for a loop.

Happy Birthday Dear Wesley

Wesley turned seven yesterday! Seriously, how did I become the mom to a seven year old!? It doesn't seem possible. We celebrated with family and a few friends this past Sunday. Duane made a great cake featuring Wesley's two favorite things at age seven - super heroes and Disney princesses.

 

Since yesterday was a school day, we decided to do little things to make the day special. Duane made a quick run to Tim Horton's before work so Wesley could have a special birthday breakfast. Hey, it's not every day you get to have a donut with a birthday candle in it for breakfast!

It sounds like he had a great day at school too. There is another boy in his class who shares Wesley's birthday, so the class sang to both of them. They were also serenaded in the lunchroom which is pretty cool. 

 

We ate dinner with Grandma and Grandpa H. Wesley special requested a grilled cheese sandwich because he says Grandma makes the best grilled cheese in the whole entire world. Luckily Grandma and Grandpa decided we didn't ALL need grilled cheese for dinner. 

 

Wesley got a couple more gifts (a spy kit and some squinkies) before we had to hurry off to soccer practice.  Wesley says he doesn't like soccer, but he seems to enjoy it and he's trying much harder than he did in tee ball.  He even did a pretty good job playing goalie for the first time. The team got their uniforms tonight and Wesley's number happens to be - SEVEN! Oh! And his soccer team sang to him too.

 

After practice we stopped at the ice cream truck that had pulled into the parking lot and the boys enjoyed another birthday treat.

 

 

"This is the best month ever!" Wesley exclaimed. "I got to go to Disney! I started first grade! I'm playing soccer! AND I'm having the best birthday!" Little did he know we had one more surprise coming. We took all the Scooby-Doo curtains and bedding out of his room and replaced it with a plain blue bedspread and curtains, but super awesome Avengers sheets and pillows. Wesley was so happy and surprised when he saw it that he actually teared up! 

 

I'd say it was quite the happy birthday!

Ew! Just Ew!

Yesterday morning in the car I heard Wesley say, "No Ryan! Don't drink that!"

I looked in the rear view mirror in time to see Ryan take a big drink out of a travel cup that had been in the back seat. A travel cup that I had no idea was in my car, but that I had a vague recollection contained milk at some point. A travel cup that has been sitting in my car in the summer sun for who knows how long.

Ryan turned a quite fetching shade of green, but somehow managed not to vomit all over my car.

By this point my own stomach was turning at the very thought of what Ryan had just taken a sip of. The only thing I had in my car that would possibly erase some of the taste was iced coffee with vanilla syrup and cream. So I handed it back and instructed Ryan to take a big sip of it.

Yes, I told my four-year-old to take a big sip of coffee.

But it worked! He said he felt better, but wanted to know if we could throw the cup away when we got to Grandma's.

You betcha kid!

Faking It

This post is probably going to make me sound burned out and grumpy. I'm neither at the moment (a great vacation will do that to you) but it doesn't change the fact that sometimes I feel like I'm totally faking it. And by "it" I mean pretty much everything.

We all know I'm faking the whole parenting thing. Then again, I think most parents are. As much as I joke to Wesley about looking things up in the parenting handbook and checking my parenting contract, those things don't really exist, as we well know. I avoid parenting books like the plague - partly because I don't think anyone who doesn't know my children can give me real answers about anything and partly because I'm afraid I'll read one and begin to believe I am a horrible parent who is somehow doing permanent damage to my children. No thank you! I'll wing it.

I feel like I fake where we live too. It's no secret to anyone to knows me that I want to get back to the neighborhood I grew up in.  So what do I do? The boys play soccer in the that neighborhood, attend school and preschool in that neighborhood, I hang out with my mom up there. It's all legit - no fake addresses on school forms or anything - but sometimes I worry that it seems I'm trying to be something or someone I'm not.  Even our church is in a completely different part of town from where we live. We chose the church because it was the perfect fit for us, but still, it's no where close to where we live.

Amazingly enough, I don't usually feel like a fake at work. It's the one place where I feel I know exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. It's not that I don't have stuff to learn - I'm always learning - but I love what I do and I work hard at it. But then I start to worry because I am so happy at work. A couple of my dear friends have recently begun new careers and I sometimes think, "Is that what I should be doing too?" They tell me the difference is that I have what I consider to be my dream job and they didn't, but still...

Does anyone else feel like they are faking it?

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

My car did not practically blow up two days after we returned from vacation. And I did not tell Duane that I was glad he was the one who was using the van when it happened instead of me with the kids. And he certainly didn't agree.

I did not feel like a super slacker mom after taking Wesley's first day of school picture on my camera rather than my phone, meaning I couldn't post it to Facebook as all my friends were doing.

I did not have to ask how to find the soccer fields at the park for Wesley's practice. Nor did I have to ask whether shin guards should be worn on the inside or the outside of soccer socks.

I did not eat so much cake and chips at Wesley's birthday celebration that I didn't want to make dinner for any of us that night.

I did not tell myself and my husband that I was going to start a diet the next day, then immediately go into the kitchen and bake a coffee cake.

Shhhhhh!

I took the boys up to Grandma and Grandpa P.'s this morning. I had to work today and Duane needed some time to get Wesley's birthday cake done, so Grandma and Grandpa said they'd step in and keep the boys entertained for awhile this morning.

Ryan desperately wanted to play on the iPad during the drive, but I had left it at home in case Duane wanted to stream some pictures of the cake for me. I told Ryan that he could probably play on Grandpa's iPad when we arrived.

"But Ryan," Wesley interjected, "remember that Mom likes to talk to Grandpa before we have electronics."

Ryan called out to me, "Mom, can you not talk to Grandpa so much today? I really want iPad."

"Ryan, Grandpa is my Daddy and I don't get to see him all that much," I answered.

Ryan very seriously said, "I know, Mommy. And that makes me sad, but could you please not talk so much today?"

Stubborn Child(ren)

Today was my day off this week since I work tomorrow. I decided to take advantage of the time and run some errands with Ryan and Grandma H.  We went to Target and the grocery story and since Ryan was behaving so well, we asked him what he'd like to do. He wanted to go to Graeter's and play on the inside playground, so that's what we did.

As we entered the play area, we noticed a sign stating that children must wear socks to play on the equipment - no bare feet or shoes permitted. Of course Ryan was wearing a sandal style shoe and no socks. Apparently Graeter's has run into this problem before because they had socks for sale for $1.  We forked over the dollar and got Ryan a pair of navy blue footie style socks which he promptly refused to wear.

It wasn't just that Ryan didn't want to wear the socks - he really didn't want to wear the socks. As in, he peeled them off his feet, plopped them on Grandma's lap and sat on the floor stating, "I just won't play then." 

Okay by me. Grandma and I ate ice cream and Ryan watched the other kids play. About five minutes passed before Ryan decided that he would wear the offending socks and play after all.

A short time later we overheard a mom telling her daughter, "You can't play! You don't have any socks on!"

Ryan looked over at the girl, then said in a stage whisper, "That was my problem too!"

Off the Bench

After an entire season of sitting on the sidelines and watching Wesley play tee ball, plus having to sit in the grass and observe during Wesley's soccer practice yesterday, Ryan finally got his chance to be on the field. Tonight was his first soccer practice and it was no surprise to me or Duane (or Wesley) that Ryan really seemed to enjoy it. Of course, he also made praying hands in front of his chest and bowed before he kicked the ball each time, so who knows what was going on in his head.

 

Let's get this practice started!

 

Working on controlling the ball

I love this picture

Catch, Mom!

On the way home Ryan informed me that he wants to play soccer every day and wants to wear his shin guards all the time except for in the bathtub. He also claims he "kicked the ball way more times than Wesley, " which Wesley vehemently denied.  Hmmmm...think we have some brotherly competition going on?

Day of Firsts

Hard to believe, but I have a first grader in my house.  A first grader! Seriously, how did that happen?

That's a whole lot of cheese in one picture!

Heading to school was a little anti-climatic today. I dropped Wesley off at the curb like I did every day last year (except the first day). He headed off to the playground under the direction of the new assistant principal and that was that. No backward glance. No prolonged good-bye. Just a "Have a great day. I love you!"  I guess that's the way it should be for first grade.

Wesley reported that his day was "pretty good."  He has his own desk and sits in the back row - at least for now. His teacher started jury duty today, so he's got a sub for awhile. Perhaps that's why all his school supplies came back home with him instead of staying in his desk. Yes, really, he brought them all back home. I've told him several times tonight that they are to stay at school, but I won't believe it until I (don't) see it.

The only downer at school today had to do with Wesley's choice of school folders. If you read my Not Me Monday the other day, you might remember that Wesley chose both a Spider-Man folder and a Cinderella folder for school this year. He was really happy with his choices, but I was a little concerned that he might get picked on. Sure enough, he came home and said he didn't want to use his Cinderella folder at school.  I asked him if someone teased him and he said no, but that one of the girls in his class looked at him really funny when she saw it in his backpack. It makes me sad that at six years old he can't just carry the folder he wants, but we got him a new one tonight. On the other hand, he still wants two super-heroes and one princess on his birthday cake, so the funny look didn't knock the love of princesses out of him.

The other big first today was our first soccer practice. I don't think Wesley loved it and I believe he is the only child on his team who hasn't played before, but there were a lot of smiles (as well as some tears.)  I really think he'll enjoy soccer more than tee ball. At least that's what I'm telling myself.  And he sure looked the part. Check out these pictures!

Doesn't he look like he means business?
 

Ryan's first day of soccer practice is tomorrow. The team has already had one practice, but it was while we were on vacation. I don't think he'll have any trouble catching up though.

Silver Surfer

Well, don't all grandparents think their grandkids walk on water?

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not make Wesley ride a couple of rides that he didn't want to go on just because I wanted to go on them. What kind of mom does that?


I did not thank Duane at least a half dozen times a day for the wonderful vacation our family was on.

I am not a little worried that Wesley is going to get picked on for having a Cinderella folder at school.

I am not super proud of Ryan for going on all the "big boy" rides at Disney, but still loving It's a Small World enough to get off the ride singing the song.

I did not spend an entire day on the computer editing photos, posting them and "catching up" on the blog. 

And I am not already planning another Disney vacation in my mind!

Disney Trip Recap - Heading Home

Saturday was our final day at Disney and really, it was a day to just tie up loose ends and get ready to head to the airport. Ryan desperately wanted to go back to the Magic Kingdom to ride Splash Mountain again, but it was a pretty rainy day and we didn't think we'd have time.

We had a big breakfast at our resort (Ryan and I got Mickey waffles one last time) and decided to go back to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping.

No, we didn't make Ryan sleep on the floor. He moved there in the morning.

Think we ran them ragged on vacation?

The last Mickey waffle of vacation

Bye-bye Mardi Gras gators

Strolling down the streets of the French Quarter

Wesley's new princess obsession came to a head at Downtown Disney. He spent the last of his vacation money on a princess coloring book, a princess place mat and a book featuring Merida.  He calls it his princess collection. Hey, whatever makes him happy.

We got back to the hotel in time for a bite of lunch before heading out to the airport. The flight home was not quite as charmed as the flight to Orlando. Our seats weren't even together, let alone in business class, but the airline did manage to get three of us in one row the and the fourth in the row before. Unfortunately, they were the last two rows of the plane and there was a lot of turbulence. I felt absolutely ill by the time we landed. But we made it in one piece and our luggage was waiting. I call that a success!

Disney Trip Recap - EPCOT

Friday was our last full day in Disney World and we spent it at EPCOT.

 As soon as the gates opened I booked it to the Land pavilion to get FastPasses for Soarin'. It's the newest ride and I have heard great things about it. Kirk told us he loved it so we wanted to be sure to get in there! 

Once the FastPasses were secured, we headed to Imagination, which the kids loved. They even bought little stuffed Figments to bring home!

Duane being attacked by Figments!

We went to the Living Seas with Nemo, the Cool Club with Coke products to taste from all around the world and LOVED Soarin'

After lunch we wrapped up our time at EPCOT by checking out Agent P's World Showcase Adventure. We chose to do our adventure in Norway because it was close and we were tired!

Listening to a clue

Checking out what to do next

Wesley doing his best viking impersonation

We headed back to the hotel for a quiet afternoon and evening. The boys tried on a variety of mouse ears at the gift shop.

We had a fantastic dinner at Boatwright's Dining Hall and ended the night with a late swim. Perfect.

Disney Trip Recap - Magic Kingdom Day Two

On Thursday it was just the W. family at the Magic Kingdom since Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Kirk and Aunt Susan all headed off to either home or to other parts of Florida. However, we did not slow down one bit!

We started the day by taking the bus to the Magic Kingdom, then catching the monorail over to the Contemporary Resort for our last character breakfast.

Then we headed back to the Magic Kingdom for a whirlwind day. We started off by getting FastPasses for Splash Mountain, then rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Ryan adored it! Wesley hated it! No surprises there. When Wesley saw Splash Mountain he flat our refused to ride it, but that was okay, since we knew Ryan would want to ride it twice.  Duane and Ryan got in the FastPass line and Wesley and I staked out a place to watch for them.

We waited for probably ten minutes before and realized that the logs were going by with no one in them. Apparently there was some sort of "boarding problem" so we had to skip Splash Mountain for the time being. Ryan was pretty upset about it but we promised him he'd get the chance to ride it later in the day.

We made our way through a bunch of rides including the Haunted Mansion (which neither child liked), Winnie the Pooh, the Mad Hatter's Tea Party (a favorite of both boys), and the Great Goofini (which again, Ryan loved and Wesley hated).

Ryan raiding Pooh's honey pot

Ready to ride the tea cups

Spinning round and round

The faster the better

Especially if it was fast enough to make Mommy and Daddy feel sick

After all that fun, Wesley decided it was time to gather a few more princess autographs and pictures. So I waited for an hour in the blazing sun to get Merida's autograph and picture. But hey, it made my oldest son happy!

While we were in line to see Merida, we learned that Rapunzel was on Main Street, so on our way out of the park for our afternoon swim, we swung by to see her.

Belle was there as well and even though Wesley had already seen her, he decided to see her again. I asked Wesley to hand me his autograph book since he had already gotten Belle's autograph at lunch the day before. "I thought that was you!" Belle told Wesley. "It is so good to see you again!"

We returned to the Magic Kingdom in the evening to drive the cars on the Tomorrowland Speedway. I rode with Ryan and he is one crazy driver!  I controlled the pedal and let him steer, but he kept trying to take my foot off the pedal! 

Ryan wanted to ride the Astro Orbiter, but that was too high for me and Wesley, so he and I rode the Buzz Lightyear ride again while Ryan and Duane soared above Tomorrowland. We even had time to grab an autograph and picture with Buzz Lightyear.

We had one more character meal to enjoy - dinner with Winnie the Pooh and Friends at the Crystal Palace.  Eeyore actually got Ryan to smile at him, so that was a pretty big deal.

After dinner we headed back over to Splash Mountain. Like I said, I was determined to get Ryan on that ride!

My children in the stroller when they think no one is looking

The same children when they know the camera is on them

You'll be happy to know that Splash Mountain was totally worth the wait for Ryan. Just as we thought, Ryan got off the ride with Duane and immediately wanted to get back on it, so I took him. We were in a log with a group of people who had been on the ride when it stopped earlier in the day and they were totally psyched to be on the ride this time. They were clapping and singing and having a great time which made it extra fun for me and Ryan.

Ryan right after the big drop on Splash Mountain.  Now that's a happy kid!

We took one last trip on the Jungle Cruise ride before heading back for bed. Yet another great vacation day!