pumpkin patch

These pictures bring up some very mixed memories- it was a very fun, if freezing cold morning at the pumpkin patch. However, I spent the afternoon in the hospital trying to stop contractions and being threatened with a transfer to a bigger hospital in Topeka. Regardless! That ended well so we'll just focus on the better part of the day.

four year old in the house

We continue in the vein of all things girly... with a birthday themed in pink, Fancy Nancy, ballet, My Little Pony, and princesses. I think she will hold up her end against three brothers!

eek

Somehow I did not anticipate just how busy things were going to get!

We have Tim teaching his first class- meaning that every night when the kids are in bed, he has to flip open his laptop, write up his next lecture, and answer about 400 emails from students wanting extensions on their homework. I don't mean "every night" as in "a whole lot," I mean "every night" as in "every. single. night."

We have George in kindergarten. Apparently kindergarten now includes homework (!?). Actually it's not a big problem because it is reading, which he does constantly anyway. In the mornings, I regularly find him trying to pull up his pants while reading a book propped open on the floor. New obsession: human anatomy. I've been grilled several times on the subject of synaptic transmission. Mommy, he says, how do you know so much about the brain? Ha.

We have Helen in preschool, and ballet. This girl loves her dance class. She was positively beaming the day they learned to plie- she knows she's a real ballerina now.

Thomas is just Thomas. Busy, smiling, naughty. The things that have been broken, lost, or colored all over lately!

And last but not least- me. I'm now 32 weeks along and this is where things traditionally get hairy. I'm on weekly injections to try to prevent preterm labor but I've already wound up in the hospital once. Fortunately they were able to stop the contractions with some medication, and I'm not quite on bedrest although I'm also not allowed to do, basically, anything. You would think that not being allowed to do anything would leave you with lots of time on your hands- but somehow it does the opposite. There's a physics dissertation in that somewhere!

some big firsts!

Professor Durrett's first day of class was yesterday!

and... George's first day of kindergarten was today! When we dropped him off this morning, his principal walked us all down to the gym where they were lining up in their classes. At the entrance to the gym she said "George, do you want to say goodbye to your parents?" but even as the words were coming out of her mouth, he started racing over to his class without so much as a backward glance! All we could do was laugh. He has been ready and waiting for this day for months now.

birthdaaaaay

According to his sibs, Thomas is now officially a "big kid" since he is two. For his own part he was pretty excited about his carseat promotion, cake, and presents.

A classic Durrett gift opening scene... We have Helen being a bit of a bossy boots trying to "help" Thomas with his gifts (aka do it for him), and George totally oblivious and reading his third Magic Treehouse book of the day.

county fair

Thomas liked the animals, Helen liked the baby animals.

George.... was absorbed by a 4-H kid's science poster on generators.

soccer!

There can be few things funnier to watch than 4- and 5- year olds playing soccer. They kind of swarm the ball, no concept of teamwork or passing, just a flat out rumble to get a foot on the ball. Kids are toppling left and right. The coaches are constantly having to yell "other way, OUR goal is the OTHER WAY!!"

The last night of soccer, they had a kids vs. parents game. Helen was allowed to play on the parents team- she held Tim's hand through the whole thing which was kind of adorable. She was pretty good, too, I think she will be a force to be reckoned with when she can officially join in next year!

Never one to be forgotten or left out, Thomas craftily tried to sneak into the action with an army crawl...