Karate Kid

Coop participated in karate for a hot minute. Once a week for about 2 months to be exact. We are struggling to find things that Coop is interested in. For now, Karate is not one of those things. Perhaps he'll pick it up again in the fall. Or perhaps he'll keep his crisp white "gi" hanging in his closest for time and all eternity ;)

Black Tie

Cruzie's preschool had a benefit in March to raise funds for an awesome new play structure. It was a "black tie" event. Once the invitations went out, they sent an addendum that clarified it was "Estes Black tie". This is as black tie as we get. It could very well be one of the only times all 3 of my boys will wear a tie so it had to be documented as a big event.

100 Days

Here we are the day before Coop finishes kindergarten and I'm finally getting around to posting about Coop's 100 Day of School Project. We hit the 100 Day mark back in February and as I look back at the pics, I can't believe how much Coop has changed. He no longer has his snaggletooth and his front permanent teeth are already almost in their place. His hair is even moppier (and starting to really annoy him) and his smile is so different. I'm sure there will be a Summer Hair Cut Post coming soon ;)

It's plain to see that I won't be blogging about his entire Kindergarten career but I do hope to dig up some stuff as it comes to me.

For Coop's 100 Day project, he had to stick or glue 100 items all of the same theme. It was an easy choice for him as he's still a Dinosaur "Expert" (borderline nerd). We decided to make it in the shape of a volcano and used licorice for the lava. Coop wanted to make the "100" out of licorice too. He was very proud of the final product and it now hangs proudly in his room.

Monster Truck Jam

In February, we took the boys to a Monster Truck Jam with some friends. Why is this something that I wanted to document? Well, Cruz LOVED it and Coop absolutely HATED it. Poor Coop. We brought plenty of ear protection. Ear buds and Ear "muffs". Our little friend didn't have "muffs" so Coop let him use his and he used the buds. Apparently, they didn't cut it for him. The combination of the noise, dirt and exhaust actually made his nauseous and on the verge of ralphing all over the people in front of us. Not only did he have to leave our seats, but he asked Mark to escort him out of the stadium! After some fresh air, he returned (donning some purchased "muffs"). But the damage had already been done. Coop wasn't in a Jammin' mood.

Rocco and Cruz ate it up though. These guys are two peas in a pod......

trim.15795975-1310-414B-BBF7-AF720B09D186 from A Mendonca on Vimeo.

Cruz Preschool Update

Cruzie is still enjoying school. Drop off is sometimes rough but he always has a great time once he gets in the flow of things. Cooper was more than a year older when he started preschool so we didn't really have an issue with drop off with him. Cruzie is coming around though.

As long as he's wearing a Spiderman shirt (much to my chagrin) he will pretty much rally through. This past month has been much easier. He's definitely getting the hang of it.

His Spiderman infatuation is pretty annoying but I try not to make a big deal about it and hope it will pass. If it's a confidence thing, then I can accept it. Gone are the days of dressing my boys cute :(

When I made love notes for Coop at school, they were pretty easy. He would give me requests but would also be happy with surprises. Cruz on the otherhand, wants Superheroes and an occasional ninja in the mix.

I try my best.......

Behind

I've dropped the ball on updating the ole blog once again. There's no way I have it in me to regurgitate all that has happened in the past 4 or 5 months but there's stuff I want to document. I'll do my best to throw some posts up as they come to me.

Cruzie does Preschool

My blogging is lacking as of late. I've lost my blogging mojo once again. Things are still happening. I just don't have the desire to blog about it. I must though because I know I'll regret it down the road if I stop. I really do enjoy looking back and reading posts from long ago. That's really what it's all about.

Our baby boy started preschool last week and transitioned like a champ. He's at the "Y" and goes 3 mornings a week. Thanks to the beauty of living in a small town, he knows most of the kids that go there already. Including his best buddy, Rocco.

Here's an interview in the car ride home after his first day;

Me: What was your favorite part of today?
Cruz: Eating gummies.

Me: What else did you do?
Cruz: Say hi to people.

Me: Do you love school?
Cruz: Yes, it's so awesome!

Teeth

I doesn't seem like that long ago that I was writing posts about new baby teeth and now I'm posting about them falling out! Coop has lost 3 teeth already and he's got a 4th hanging by a thread. He's the type of kid that let's them hang and dangle and wants them to fall out on their own terms. His bottom two dangled and his permanent teeth were completely out before they finally fell out.

He sure looks different. And it sure seems early to me. Before you know it, I'll be blogging about braces. It really does fly by!

Holiday Recap

We closed out 2013 with a visit to St. George and a quick stop in Salt Lake on the way home. We couldn't imagine spending The Holidays without family so we made it happen. We had a great time filled with football, food and fun and a couple of day excursions to surrounding parks.

The only negative is that I managed to leave Grandpa Pat with a parting gift of bronchitis. He is now on the mend and I am grateful for that.