September 2011 Nutshell

I'm still in nutshell mode... seems to be working so I am just going to jump right into September!

Of course, September started out with one of our favorite things to do: swimming!  Since we swim a lot and go to the lake and have a lot of water days in the backyard and just generally do a lot of things with water, I decided that I needed to get another camera.

Yes, it is a little surprising that I would get a point and shoot, but I really wanted a camera that could let me take shots like these: 

and I wasn't willing to put my good camera at risk by buying an underwater housing for it!  I love this camera!  It does have some limited manual modes which do allow me a certain amount of control, even if it is a point and shoot, and it also takes video!  

And of course, Sam and Luke had a lot of fun swimming, too!

 

I definitely am happy about my new camera :)

Our next September event is one of the MOST SIGNIFICANT events to happen all year!  Jackson's FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!  I was so proud of him, he was so brave!  I mean, he was obviously nervous, but he did a really good job telling exactly what he was worried about and was very willing to listen to my advice and to put it into practice as his 'game plan' (this is what we are working on as we try to figure out and deal with his OCD issues- I know him very well so thus far we haven't had many major issues, but my goal is to teach him how to handle his OCD issues so that he is equipped to deal with the unexpected even when I am not there.  He has come so far in the last few months!).

My facebook status that morning says it best: After showing Jack how all the clocks say the same time & assuring him that the clocks at Pre K say the exact same time & thus there was no way I wouldn't know that it was time to come get him, I completed my very first Pre K drop-off. My baby is at SCHOOL! WithOUT me! He did great- a little nervous but very excited. I did great, too- very nervous but excited and proud, & I held it together! Now what to do for the next 3 hours while Sam & I wait to go pick up the rest of my heart from school...?

Pre- Dropoff pictures! Had to get one of my big boy by himself, and of course couldn't neglect to 

include little brother in one, as well!

 

And the traditional Student-And-Teacher shot! Jack and one of his teachers, Mr. David, who according to Jack "has the same name as my daddy!"

And how did his first day go?  Once again, it can be summed up by my facebook status that afternoon: Jack had a great first day! When I came in he was sitting in front next to his teacher while all the other kids were sitting on the rug facing them- he's not satisfied with being read to: he wanted to read over her shoulder! Teacher said great first day, Jack said "Well, I was just a LITTLE good. I was kind of cranky that I didn't get to finish my puzzle!" and also "when it was time to play outside, I pretended I was a train!"  I love that my kid is honest when he doesn't think he was as good as he could have been, but more than that I love that he loves preschool!!! ;)

Our next September event was a last minute trip, but a pretty big event.  September was the 10 year anniversary of September 11th, and we wanted to participate in the memorial somehow.  Dave found out about an event that was going on at the Nixon Library, and so as soon as we picked Jack up from school on the 9th, we headed out there.  On the way there we stopped at In N Out for lunch and had a talk with Jack about what we were going to see, what it meant, and how we expected him to behave.  I was so proud of both of the boys' behavior and that Jack really seemed to understand the need to be respectful and quiet as we walked about the display!

 

 
 
 

After we saw the display, we decided that since we were already there we might as well go in and see the museum.  Jack and Sam were still on their best behavior, and even though we didn't get to enjoy the museum as much as we would have liked since we had our Littles along we had a good time.  There were plenty of interesting displays to entertain the kids while Dave and I read some of the plaques, and we had fun watching the fascination on Jack's face as we taught him a little bit of history.  And then, when he got bored, we handed him my iTouch to keep him occupied!
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 

Midway through September was my mom's birthday!  My sister's family ended up going on vacation that weekend up in Big Bear and were gone on my mom's birthday, so instead of having them miss the party, we brought the party to them!  We hooked up the boat and picked up my parents and headed up to Big Bear!
Because we had the boat, we decided that it would be best if we took the longer route to get there because it was less twisty and turny.  Unfortunately, even though we took that route, we were still hit with the motion-sickness!  And it wasn't me this time... it was Jack!  My poor kid suddenly said from the back seat that he wasn't going to puke, and usually when he says he's not going to, that means he is!  Dave quickly pulled over and my dad and I hopped out of the truck, I grabbed Jack and we walked a few steps while I explained to him what motion-sickness was and why the fresh air would help him.  He puked, of course, but he felt just fine afterwards and we continued up the mountain!  Once we got there we put the boat on the lake and headed over to a dock near my sister's campsite and picked up some more passengers!  We had a lot of fun... Dave got to wakeboard (and broke yet another binding, this time beyond the point of being able to Mickey-Mouse it together), the boys got to play on the shore, Amy and her family got to ride on our boat for the first time, and I very smoothly and efficiently practiced my bringing-the-boat-to-the-dock skills (I totally rocked it!).  I think my mom had a fun birthday ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, our last event in September!  Jack's school had a roller skating/bike party, and since we wanted to give Jack as many opportunities as possible to practice riding his bike before the Trike-A-Thon his class was having in October, we didn't want to miss it!  The boys had a great time, and Jack really got the hang of riding that bike!  Sam had a lot of fun on his trike, too.  Until he discovered how fun it was to push the trike, though... once he tried that he didn't want to stop.  Until he found the ice bucket that the drinks were in... that kid really likes ice so it was hard to tear him away from that.  Until he discovered the hole in the brick walkway that is.  Then I couldn't get him away from the hole!  And then he wanted to push the trike again.

 

 

 

And that's September!