Growing up

So, even though John thinks he is now bigger than the high school kids, alas he is not. I have agonized over the decision, but anyway, since he is a late August birthday and we get to choose, we are planning to hold him to be older in his grade. Maybe it's just the control freak in me coming out, but anyway, I just want to keep him home longer I guess (and some days, I think I am insane for this). So, for school this year, I am doing a preschool program that is called Joy School. A friend of mine and I are the teachers and we are loving it so far--especially because we each get a morning without the kids each week. Anyway, all you want to see are the pictures, right? So, here are John, Sara, and Gabe on the first day. (By the way, Sara thinks she is all grown up now, too. She refuses to say she is two. She is two and a half!)

If you'll notice, John is holding "Tigress" from the Kung Fu Panda movie. It was the first movie we ever took them to in the theater this Summer, and to put it mildly, John LOVED IT. Especially Tigress, even though she is a girl. What can we say? When the boy gets on a kick, there is just no way to distract him. All he wanted for his birthday were the 2 McDonald's toys that he didn't have. So, yes, I went to trusty old Ebay to buy the Tigress and Tai Lung figures, but boy, was he happy!! John now thinks we can buy anything that we want from the computer...

These other pictures are from the day John decided to be Tigress and drew stripes on himself. The good little boy even asked me if he could, and I agreed and gave him the washable markers, which then wore off on all kinds of soft surfaces throughout the house--oops! Oh, well. Anything to help a budding imagination bloom!

The next pictures are of the kids on their new beds! Thanks to the generosity of one of my friends from church, and thanks to her sons for growing too fast, my kids now have beautiful beds. They love them so much. Got to love hand-me-downs, especially real, hardwood maple beds that I love. This was really a blessing, and I hope I can "pay it forward" someday. I think my babies are offically grown up now! :o)