BMOC

Mitchell has a tshirt that reads "BMOC" on the back and he has taken quite a liking to it. It is his favorite jammy shirt and often ends up sneaking back out of the laundry and back on him after I have already put something else on him. I am not sure why he likes it, other than it is soft and comfy, but he likes to have me remind him quite often what the letters stand for "Big Man On Campus." Who knows why Mitchell is what he is and likes what he likes. He just is :)

I have been thinking about his love of this shirt today as I reflect on the fact that he is almost five now! This doesn't shock me or make me wonder where the time has gone. In fact, he has seemed five for some time now to me. He just has an "oldness" and a "coolness" about him, I think. Five suits him well. It's a good age for him.

In true "cool" Mitchell style, he easily accepted and dealt with the fact that I would not be able to be here on his actual birthday. Perhaps it was so easy to accept because it meant he got to have his party a few days early.

Although we have all been battling sickness all week long, we went ahead with the party and everyone had fun. We made our own ice cream sundaes with more toppings than ice cream, painted robots (and the floor and the walls, and Jack's tummy, and dad's shoes...), and, of course, opened presents! He even got to get up early and go out with dad and pick out his own new bike!

Happy birthday, my Middle Boy! You bring humor and laughter and joy to my life every day! You are truly my "Dude-style" dude and I love you!

As cool as he was with me being gone on the real birthdate, I'm pretty sure he is holding out for some special "dude time" on his actual birthday. What that will consist of, I can only hazard a guess...

Tea and Ice Cream

Mitchell starts school a week later than Ben is beginning to get antsy at home now without his older brother. He keeps asking when his school starts and if his classroom is bigger than Ben's and if his teacher is cooler than Ben's and does he get to go all day too. He keeps Ben up at night discussing his plans for making friends and what he will do on the playground, but, most importantly, he talks about ice cream and tea parties.

Where did he get the idea there will be ice cream and tea at school this year? About a week ago, he received his very own piece of mail inviting him to an ice cream social in a nearby park to meet some kids and families from his school. His teacher will also be there and personally invited him! This letter has joined other precious items he is keeping in his backpack to take to school with him next week. When it isn't in his backpack, he carries it around "reading" it to us all over an over again and asking if we want to come with him to eat ice cream and make friends.

There is also a day next week at school where I have been invited to stay after drop off to have tea and coffee with the other moms. These are two separate events, but they are one and the same in Mitchell's mind. No amount of explaining on my part can convince him that we are not having an ice cream and tea party at the same time. He hears me but clearly isn't listening. He keeps asking me which I like better: ice cream or tea. "Which are you going to choose, mom?"

I love how excited he is getting. I love that he and Ben stay up at night talking about school and the best ways to make friends. I even overheard them talking about sharing their friends with each other the way they share all their toys. Just a few more days, Mitchell, and you too can put on your backpack every morning and explore life away from your mother! I love a chance to miss you!

Thriving Amidst The Chaos

This week was the first week of school for my big boys.  They have been so excited for the last few weeks, counting down the days till that first momentous day finally arrived.

Ben has done all this before, but Mitchell was a first-timer.  How fortunate for him that he gets to attend the same school as his big brother!  In fact, their classrooms are right next to each other!  Knowing Ben would be so close erased almost all fear from Mitchell and, for their part, it was a fun first day.

I wish I could say the same thing for myself though.  I did not have fun amidst the total chaos that surrounded the drop off and pick up.  It was as if two giant mobs descended on the place, pushing and shoving each other, competing for the ONE door that all the kids had to get through.  After asking plenty of clueless parents, I finally found out that my kids had to be dropped of in different areas, regardless of the fact that their rooms were right next to each other!  Thank goodness Matt chose to come with us, so we divided and conquered!  After circling the school, dragging Ben with me, I did eventually find the correct place to bring him.  Matt had a similar experience getting Mitchell to the correct place, but in the end, they both joined their classes successfully.

This chaos was repeated at the end of the day at pick up.  They really thought it might work to dismiss each kid in the lower grades and preschool one at a time through one door.  Now since this was the first day of school, there were two parents for each kid (and sometimes a nanny and a stroller) you can imagine what this must have looked like!  I know what it looked like as a parent on the outside, but now imagine what the poor 

little kids were seeing from the other side!  More than one poor soul burst into tears at the door when faced with this terrifying mob of parents yelling and reaching for their child.

How long has this school been in operation anyways!?  117 years, my friends!  One would think they'd have the kinks worked out by now.

On the positive side, I must say that it was really just that first day that was so chaotic.  The staff regrouped and came up with an alternate plan, and that added to the fact that I actually knew where to be and when made subsequent drop off and pick up much smoother and more efficient.  

Actually, so far, those two instances of disorder are the only things I have to complain about with school this year.  Both boys love their classes and teachers and are bringing home glowing reports of their days.  Ben is really making a great transition from "playtime" preschool, to real school with lessons and desks and pencils and gym class, while Mitchell is quickly learning how to play in a group of kids and follow directions and figure things out without his mom helping him.  

One positive thing that has come from school starting that I wasn't expecting is how excited they are to see each other when Ben finally gets home!  I pick up Mitchell a few hours before Ben is finished, and while we have a good time together, he really just is not himself until his big brother gets home.  They immediately pick up right where they left off, only with more enthusiasm and camaraderie because they haven't been together the whole first half of the day!  It is so cute to sit back and hear them tell each other over a snack what they did at school that day - things they claimed not to remember when I ask them.

I think the very first day of preschool calls for a trip to Dairy Queen, don't you?  I let him pick what he wanted, and he, as always, picked a vanilla dipped in chocolate ice cream cone.  Well chosen,  my big big preschooler!

Daddy's Ice Cream Cake

I'm not sure who to give credit to for this yummy ice cream cake recipe, but is delicious and very simple to make!  We call it "Daddy's Ice Cream Cake" because he is the one who came up with the recipe (or maybe got it from someone else) and also the one who usually makes it.  The boys and I made it this time though because it was Daddy's birthday!

It has 4 ingredients - ice cream, Oreos, a little milk, and chocolate syrup (optional.)

1. Crush up most of the pack of Oreos into the bottom of a baking dish.  Add a little milk (about 1/4 of a cup little by little) until the Oreos are wet and clumpy and will smash down into a crust.

2.  Scoop a whole container of your favorite ice cream on top of the Oreos.  This works best if you let the ice cream melt a little first so that it will smooth out nicely.

3.  Squirt chocolate syrup all over and crumble up the remaining Oreos on the top.

4.  Put it in the freezer so the crust can harden and then eat it!  You can do it Norquist boy style and just dig it right out of the dish, or you can do it the more traditional and civilized way and use bowls and spoons.  Either way, it is delicious and pretty tough to stop eating until it's gone!

 

 

This is a really fun cake to make with kids because, well, it is yummy to eat while making it mostly, but also because it is fun and easy for them to crush and scoop and squirt.  Ben and Mitchell were so excited to tell Matt that they actually made his cake for him - almost as excited as they were to eat it!