Super Boys

I'd like to introduce you to Super J...

He has a birthday party for a friend next weekend and it is superhero-themed so I found this great cape on, where else, Amazon! He was also a super helper this morning. After breakfast at Eggct., we went grocery shopping and he helped me plant our mums for fall! And our other boy had day two of the Minnesota double feis. He had a great day! 4th in reel, 1st in treble jig and 3rd in hornpipes. The boys will be back this evening and we are really looking forward to seeing them!

Minnesota Feis

Christopher and Brian are up in St. Paul, MN this weekend for a double feis. Day one is complete and our boy placed second in his reel (a new reel for him that he has been working on since our home feis on Labor Day weekend) and second in his treble jig. Great job Chris! J and I have been enjoying our weekend here. Ms. Kasey (from school) watched him last night while I went to pick up Grammy at an event downtown (past his bedtime) and they had a great time! This morning, we met Danna at McClain's Bakery which was delicious and then walked and scootered at Roe Park. No pictures but it was a nice fall morning!

J's Birthday Celebration

The celebrating has begun! With Jonathan's birthday only days away, we went into his classroom today to celebrate with his fellow preschoolers. Christopher joined us as well! Daddy read The Cat in the Hat to the class and we all enjoyed some Pirate's Booty and pumpkin bread for J's special snack. Mrs. Marklewitz (formerly known as Ms. Rommel) told the kids that Chris used to be in this very classroom when he was their size--hard to believe for everyone! After the snack, Chris got all the attention from Jonathan's friends...

Dance Floor Part Deux

The boys were very happy about the new dance floor and proceeded to show us their moves (after some negotiating, of course, about who was going first...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0k6x3ucVGk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBNBHMuQEJI 

If God is a DJ, Life is a Dance Floor

Of course for Christopher, life is a dance floor! And, oh look, we now have a dance floor in our playroom...

We have one solid rule...

Chris knew we were getting a plywood dance floor built but he didn't know it was going to be today. I can't wait to see his reaction when we get him from school! The floor is simply made of plywood and 2x4s and is 8 feet by 12 feet. There is even still room for toys and a drawing table. Chris will be excited, J will be excited and our neighbor friends down the street will be excited because two of the Hall kids take tap and would like to dance here as well!

It's Shaun the Sheep

I've mentioned our boys' love of the show "Shaun the Sheep" ever since we went to Ireland. Well, I ordered these pajamas for Jonathan as part of his birthday present. When they arrived yesterday, and they were the right size, I couldn't resist and had to give them to him a little early. He loves them! Also, did I mention that our dogs are spoiled? I'm pretty sure Athena's life was not like this before...

Garden Update

It's been awhile since we've tended the vegetable garden. In fact, I'm pretty sure I haven't picked anything or even watered since we returned from Ireland and yet look at the harvest we found this morning! The weather this week felt like mid-July rather than September and apparently that means the cucumber plant was not done yet. These are just four of the cucumbers I found and also some peppers, chard and parsley. It was time for the giant sunflowers to come down so that is the big brown thing in the top picture. The boys were checking that out up close. Chris is attempting to save some seeds from the cucumbers to plant next year as well. So here is what remains of our veggie beds...

The chard is still going strong along with the peppers and parsley. Now the weather has returned to feeling more like fall so we will see how everything does now. Adventures in gardening!

Dogs

Holly sure looks guilty doesn't she? Well, she should because she gave everyone quite the adventure this morning. Wednesday mornings are the one day a week that Brian works out with a trainer in the early morning so it was just the boys and I for awhile. I was getting breakfast ready and I let the dogs out to do their business. Yesterday, Holly was really interested in the corner of our fence. There was probably some creature that she smelled and when that happens, there is almost no stopping her. I called the dogs in and Athena came but no Holly. This is not too unusual, so I went to the door, shook a bag of treats and called her again. Nothing. I went out back and looked in all corners of the yard. No Holly. I climbed the fence to look out over our neighbors yards and called her. Still no Holly. I was attempting to remain calm, the boys are in their pajama tops and underwear, breakfast is just about ready on the counter, and Chris is freaking out. So I loaded the boys in the car (in said underwear) and started driving around the neighborhood with the windows open, calling Holly. We called Brian who left the gym early to help us (thank you!) and stopped to ask people walking if they'd seen a white dog with a black head and a heart shaped spot on her side. Nothing. Long story short, we came back home and I climbed the fence again and happened to see her in our catty-corner neighbor's backyard, sniffing away in their hostas. Well, Brian was just about home by then so I left the boys and went around the corner in the car to get her. Thank goodness all of our neighbors have fenced in yards too and thank goodness that neighbor's yard wasn't locked. Anyway, Holly is in the doghouse with me right now, although Chris is asking me not to be too upset with her, sweet boy. She is currently under strict supervision while going outside and I have a plywood--log--heavy rock--rectangular planter set-up in the corner by the hole in the fence until we can get it repaired. Amazingly, everyone was able to eat breakfast and get to school on time!

OP Arboretum

We spent this morning at the Overland Park Arboretum. We went fairly early, as summer has decided that it is not ready to head out yet and it was going to be quite hot here later in the day. It was so peaceful and quiet there! We all enjoyed the flowers, huge spiders (!) and wind sculptures (minus the wind) as we wandered through the arboretum...

The boys's favorite part (still) was the train garden! J loves the caboose and we also got to watch the volunteers set up the model trains and get them going around the garden. Since our last visit, they have also constructed a beautiful new section of the train garden with large bridges and even a castle! This new section is not open yet but we are betting that they will have it going for the Luminary Walk in the winter!

The boys also got to do some climbing...

It was a fun morning!

Spirit Week

This week is Spirit Week at Pembroke Hill. Each day has had a different theme. For example, Monday was "Favorite Sports Team/Activity Day" to which our boys wore their Dublin and Galway Gaelic Football jerseys. Tuesday was "Kansas City Day" and today is "Pembroke Hill Day." The boys wore their spiffy new PHS gear and later this morning, there will be a mini parade through the front parking lot in honor of Homecoming weekend. Tomorrow is pajama day, always a favorite with all the kids!

Goings On

This past weekend was our first non Irish related weekend and we were back to our normal life! It literally rained every day last week but that didn't stop the boys from playing in it a bit. Also a good activity for a rainy day (or any day), according to Jonathan, is vacuuming. Our old Shark bit the dust so we upgraded to a purple Dyson that is apparently amazing for dog hair (they all say that). I thought I had a picture of him vacuuming with "his" new toy but apparently I don't so you'll just have to take my word for it! In the picture above, Jonathan enjoyed his friend Beril's birthday party at Gymboree on Sunday. The kids had a great time and J was fitting right in with his new friends. Also, on Saturday we went for a hike with Grammy to see an art installation that is part of Kansas City's Open Spaces art expo for the next month and a half. Very cool! Finally, most days when we go to pick Chris up at school, J is so worn out from his morning that he catches some zzzzzs in the car!

Rainy afternoons

Now that Jonathan is in school, I pick him up at 1 and we get a couple hours to hang out before we go back to pick up Chris. Yesterday was one of those days that was sunny one minute and just a little rainy the next. So we planned to go out and just as I opened the garage it started raining! J's idea was to stay in the garage and "blow bubbles at the rain" so we did just that. Then a few minutes later it cleared up and J spent the next 15 minutes running back and forth from the basketball net to the garage!

Feis-a-palooza, Day Two

As I mentioned in our previous post, we were back for more Irish dancing today! It was a busy morning right off the bat. My friend Tiffany came to watch with her boys...

I was working the morning shift so I missed one of Christopher's dances, but he got a first place in his reel! He also got a first place in treble jig and third place in hornpipes. It was a great day (and weekend) for our dancer!

I tried to explain to Chris how the trophies look like the top of the Stanley Cup and how the hockey players will drink out of it. He thought there should be an ice cream sundae in each! Anyway, if you recall our lesson from yesterday, he has "officially" qualified for Oireachtas now and he is one first place away from moving into Preliminary Championships! Well done Chris!

Competition was not all that was going on this weekend. The kids danced again at Irish Fest, but this time they got the bigger stage. It was so fun to watch them dance--they have worked so hard to prepare their dances! Here are some pictures...

The boys did their number from Friday but with an added surprise at the end. Check out Joseph (their teacher) jumping in to dance at the end!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qfCtkgLfLE

The boys dance is definitely a crowd pleaser! The audience was packed and they really enjoyed it! Chris also did his hornpipes with Phillip, a championship dancer who he really looks up to! There are two dancers that go before Chris so hang in there...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDJESnhiGhc

Here is a picture of Chris and Phillip from yesterday. Phillip won his age group yesterday, hence the sash...

One thing I have to say about these kids is that they are like a close-knit family and the more we do this, the more a part of it we become, the more fun we all have! Chris is getting close to a lot of the kids. They all really care about each other and are genuinely happy when the others do well in competition. So many kids have come up to Chris to ask him how he's done and they high five him or just congratulate him and they all do this with each other. The kids are just so personable too. They just start talking to us like we are part of the crew too. It is so great to have Chris be a part of this great group of dancers!

Feis-a-palooza

I know every entry I've posted within the last week has to do with Irish dance but that's kind of where we are at right now. Don't worry! The school gets a week off after all the craziness of hosting our own double feis this weekend so we'll have other things to talk about. But exciting stuff today! First, Chris debuted his solo vest!

And he danced very well in it! He took second place in reel, fourth in treble jig, and he got first in his hornpipes! This means that he moves his hornpipes up to the Prizewinner level! Now he has all three of his dances in Prizewinner! This means two things (warning: you're about to get an Irish dance tutorial)... When he gets first place in all three Prizewinner dances, he moves up to the Preliminary Championship level (aka, pretty big deal). Also, a dancer has to get first, second or third place in each Prizewinner dance in order to qualify for Oireachtas (aka, regionals). At this point, Chris has one first and one third in his Prizewinner dances. So he is a third of the way to Preliminary Champs. In Christopher's age group, his teacher is allowed to nominate him for Oireachtas (which he did) but technically, he is also 2/3 of the way to "officially" qualifying. There will be a test on this later! Here are his awards...

Since this double feis is being run by our school, I volunteered to help today and tomorrow as a stage monitor. That was a new experience but all went well! It is also difficult to describe these feis weekends and the state of us all when the day is over. This morning, we left the house at 7:15, got there, waited awhile before putting on the bling, bought the tee-shirt, looked at vendors, and waited some more. Then after about an hour, one dance and then wait some more. Today it happened to be another 3 hours and then wait some more. Then more waiting and the final dance. Everyone also had to then wait for me to finish my shift before we could pack up and leave. I hardly eat during these things because it's a mix of nerves and excitement being a "dance mom!" So by the time we all leave, we are all exhausted and starving. So today, we had dinner at 3:45 at the Blue Moose! And then it's "Shaun the Sheep" for an hour or so while everyone decompresses. And guess what? We get to do it all again tomorrow!