After-school adjustment

Our  family has entered a wonderful, new, exhausting phase of life - school days. Timo has had 5 days of school so far, at Heritage Christian Academy, a small (pretty young) K-8 school 3 miles away that meets at a local Baptist church. After the adrenaline of the first few days wore off, he woke up and announced, "I'm not going to school today. I just want to stay home and read." (Ah, the irony, because we are all so eager for him to actually learn to read on his own! Just think how many more hours he will spend with books then!) But he continues to go, of course, and gradually will adjust and learn the new rhythms, and will make friends and be more eager to go. And he has done really well so far - he gets up and ready by 8 AM, and seems to be properly respectful of the teacher and classroom rules.

We are also all adjusting to a different schedule to our days...getting up and ready to leave the house earlier, having quieter moments (with just 2 boys at home) throughout the day, leaving mid-afternoon to get Timo from school, Hawk taking one nap instead of two, and wondering how to spend the two hours after-school and before supper. I've had my daily routine with preschool/toddler kids for so many years, and it is strange to have to adjust my mentality away from "morning activity to lunch to nap/make dinner to play until Daddy comes home". But one small adjustment at a time - we don't have to have it "all down" the first week. And so far the changes have gone well.

Throw in there the changes brought on by Jim quitting his job at Western so we can raise support for South Africa full-time! He is also in disequilibrium as he gets a rhythm to his days and a sense for what he can accomplish each day and what location is best for various tasks: our basement; the library; church; campus library (he got a "campus minister" parking pass); coffee shop; or a combination.

Yesterday after school Timo requested the sprinkler, so why not?! The hot days of summer seem to have passed already, so we may only have a few more chances for this. Plus, he needs to be outside and running around after spending the day at school! Hawk happily watched from the [very long] grass, and tried to get Timo to roll the giant ball his way.

Timo starts kindergarten

Today was Timo's first day of Kindergarten! He was so enthusiastic, calm and ready to go this morning. What a smooth experience from start to finish the entire day. School is about 3 miles away, and we take the South River Road (winding alongside the Tuckaseegee River) the whole way. I drop him at 8:15 AM and pick him up at 3 PM. The principal, Mr. John, stands outside and ushers the students in/out of the building. This afternoon at pick-up, there was all of 1 car in front of me in line. I think we're going to like this small school!

Earlier in the week he and I cut out pictures from magazines and made a big poster of the steps for his school morning routine. He arranged all the pictures into a timeline and taped it up next to his bed (wake up; reading/quiet time; breakfast; make bed, get dressed, brush teeth; get backpack and lunch box; go to school). This seemed to help me get an idea of the morning and able to do all of those tasks by himself. The real challenge is going to be getting the rest of us ready in time along with him!

We even had 5 minutes to take a few photos this morning. Timo and Mattias decided to say "Gemma!" while they smiled for the photos, and Timo remarked, "Let's send this photo to Gemma to show her." Then he paused and smiled, "Can she see us right now? Can God see us? Well she's not really on earth anymore... she's getting ready for the New Earth!" We miss her a lot on days like these... she would be starting 2nd grade, and I'm sure would be enthusiastic for school and protective of Timo!

Hawk's head looks bigger because of the angle...

Another reason this morning went so smoothly is because of Kindergarten Camp last week, when all the K students spent a half-day at school for orientation. So on the first day, Timo walked right in, hung up his backpack and sat down at his spot to start coloring.

Mrs Abby is the teacher in the flowered dress on the left

Midway through the morning Mrs Aby texted all the parents this photo from recess! She also sent a text at the end of the day to say "today went great!"

Beautiful morning for a first day, and the sun is just coming out through those clouds!

Amazing week... Recovering today

We had an AMAZING week of family reunion time here in Sylva with our Hawkins family - 12 adults and 14 children! Today most of the family packed up and headed home, Jim went back to work, and the three boys and I sat around the house feeling wiped out and talking together about all the things we had enjoyed, like tubing and picnicking at the river, racing up and down the driveway with cousins, Timo learning the "Guess Who?" boardgame, family talent show... I look forward to loading all the photos and sharing them!

Timo spent three hours this afternoon listening to an audiobook and reading books on our bed. I couldn't even get him to budge at suppertime. "I'm going to keep having my quiet time," he explained.

Friday and warmer temps

We've slowly been getting warmer weather the last week or so, and we are all itching to be able to be outside more! Of course, true to spring, we've had some very windy days, some cold nights (still in the 30s so can't plant anything outside yet because of the risk of frost), and weekly rain. But slowly the blossoms are out and dogwood trees are blooming with pink and white and cream. When the weather is nice we are able to walk to Timo's preschool (although it's a mile each way), eat meals at the picnic table, have friends over to play outside, romp around campus and, like we did today, go for a bike ride on the Greenway.

The river is full at this time of year, and trout season is open now. Beautiful.

"I'm going to eat my snack outside because it's so lovely out there."

Timo? Timo? Timo!

You cannot tear this one away from his new library books!! (And just wait until he starts actually reading...)

Saturday morning

At Timo's initiative and Mattias's willing participation, the boys set up a cars vs dinosaurs battle scene after breakfast. Hawkins was very happy to observe. Timo has been narrating stories for many months (basically for the last 2 years already) but in recent months has started telling them to us more often throughout the day. This weekend he told us several chapters of a story featuring four characters: Card, Jacob, Sally and Nina, who found themselves transported to Jurassic Island, where they met Tom, a camo-wearing helicopter pilot, and had to battle dinosaurs while traveling around the island on various vehicles.

Timo was setting the stage before the battle began

Cosmic Kids

Yoga on Youtube for kids! Really cool! And in fact the boys (particularly Timo) are very attentive and follow the teacher's instructions well. She tells a story and does poses throughout her narrative for the kids to follow along. I'm very glad that we've 'discovered' this diversion now that the colder weather is arriving.

Boys!

Big grins! Brothers!

Timo is 5!

Even typing that title makes me get emotional - ! Birthdays are bittersweet around here, and 'bittersweet' fails to capture what I mean. A mixture of excitement about new things to come, thankfulness for the growth that has passed, happiness in celebrating and doing things with/for Timo that he enjoys, and yet always a sadness because we miss Gemma so much on birthdays. Days like these make her presence seem so far away.

In any case, we had a GREAT day celebrating Timo turning 5 on Wednesday, Oct 25th! We started off the day full tilt, with opening cards and a few presents at breakfast, along with jelly donut cupcakes (that still seems sorta breakfasty, right?). Jim had to leave for work but Timo and Mattias then happily played with and shared the new remote controlled fire truck that Nonna had sent. Then it was off to Bible study, where the ladies all sang him happy birthday (much to his embarrassment). On the way home we stopped to get boiled peanuts at the farm stand for lunch. YUM.

breakfast cupcakes and a super excited Mattias (there was a Chewbacca sticker on the banana)

In the 'new' soccer shirt from Mila and Lithemba

Later in the afternoon we took a walk/bike ride and enjoyed the cool fall weather. I love seeing how well Timo is riding his bike these days, and he is very aware and safe in the town; he stops at the end of every block and waits until I catch up with the stroller.

caught a spider in the new microscope jar from Jaja!

For supper we surprised Timo and got pizza from a nearby restaurant that he has been asking to go to (the place where Jaja took the boys for pizza this past spring). And thank you to Nonna for sending the gift card to the restaurant, which arrived the day before and was perfect timing so we could get pizza and our favorite kale salad for a birthday supper! Then it was a couple more presents before bedtime, including a huge construction book from Nonna. He has hardly let that book out of his sight since! And has spent numerous hours reading it and doing sound effects, his current specialty.

Hawk thinks he's going to get a bite...

Birthday Questions, a selection

What is your favorite toy? remote controlled fire truck (that Nonna just gave him for his birthday!)
What is your favorite food? cupcakes (...grins)
What do you like to play with Mattias? playing cars
What do you like to play with baby Hawk? I like to kiss him. Well, that's not playing...
What is your favorite place in Sylva? I like going to the Woodys' house.
What is your favorite trail? Waterrock Knob [on the Blue Ridge Parkway]. I like the view on the mountains. And I like all the rocks we can climb on, too.
What your favorite books? library books. And amazing book of dinosaurs; rhyme book [poems]; Tintin

the other two brothers, off for our late afternoon walk

Can I hold him?

...actually Hawkins was smiling for most of the time that Mattias was holding him, but I couldn't capture it on my phone and in focus!

Pre-Kindergarten for Timo

Look who is getting to start pre-kindergarten two mornings a week! We were very excited to get a phone call two weeks before school started and find out that an opening had become available at the nearby Methodist pre-school (it is hard to get a spot). Timo is VERY ready to learn and make friends and learn from teachers - and to get to experience something on his own, away from us. On the "describe your child" sheet that listed various adjectives, I circled: cheerful; inquisitive; friendly; and tentative (sometimes, when trying something new, but that is quickly changing. I think that aspect has more to do with him wanting to do things properly and well). Already after the first week Timo has established himself in those ways. He runs and hugs his teacher when he arrives, and joins in at the table to do his notebook work right away. He loves talking to the other children, asking them questions, and answering questions that the teachers ask. Before his 2nd day of school last week, he looked at me with such a happy grin and exclaimed, "I love pre-school!"

After 2 miles on the Greenway, on his pedal bike

One of the best parts about the school is that it is just a few blocks from our house, so we can walk there - or ride bikes. Truly these boys seem insatiable with their bikes right now, and ride them on walks and in circles on the driveway whenever they can. Typically every afternoon while waiting for Jim to get home from work, they ride them around the driveway - Timo makes up songs while riding; and Mattias squeals and sings, either pretending to be a police car or a marching band.

And meanwhile Mattias likes getting the whole morning to have all the cars and Legos to himself... Although on the first day he insisted on wearing a backpack like Timo and was quite distraught that he wasn't going to pre-school as well.

A sample of Timo's name/artwork

Getting stronger and faster!

Ever since Nonna and Granddad's visit in June, Timo has continued to ride his pedal bike around our driveway. He has no trouble balancing but learning to pedal is tricky, especially on our steep driveway and with the heavy weight of the bike. I mean, why do kids bikes have to weigh 3/4 the weight of the kid?!

This weekend he suddenly seemed to figure out the pedaling, so we took the boys down to a nearby church that has a flat parking lot. He was so excited and proud. Now to go out on the greenway (mostly flat paved trail) for a real challenge! Too bad the Hawkins cousins have just left...

Brothers and Legos (of course)

Just for fun, all the brothers next to each other!

At a recent check-up (for WIC), Timo was 36 lbs, Mattias was 31 lbs, and Hawk - at 3 weeks old - was just under 7 lbs.  This photo was taken a few days before Hawk started his feet casting (and he's now on the third week of that process). This was also pre-haircuts, as you can see.

Such gentle kissing from the older ones!

Timo and Mattias have spent MANY, many hours with Lego Duplos in recent weeks. Naturally they get along great and create vast airports/cities/parking lots/electricity centers/water treatment facilities etc and then in the next moment they are yelling at each other and crashing everything down...

We have a photo of newborn Mattias in this outfit so I wanted to get one with Hawk, too - but he is so much smaller at 3 weeks!! Even though it may look it, his feet only came down to the leg/pant and didn't even come to the footholes! He's not much bigger than Gemma's doll.

 

And here is one of the main uses so far for baby Hawk's crib - Mattias's big parking lot (and a quiet, uninterrupted place for him to play by himself)! - since Hawk has been sleeping in a mini-crib in our bedroom so far.

And don't forget - the FIRST TIME EVER!!

At the ocean, that is! (I forgot to post these photos last week after we got back from Durham.)

Jaja and I were able to take the boys to the beach for a day, for their first time ever (yes, it was even Timo's first time at age 4) to see the sand and ocean. Even though it was early March, the day we were there was sunny and clear and about 70 degrees. And, thankfully, Wrightsville Beach (outside of Wilmington) is only a 2 1/2 hour drive from Durham, so even though we only stayed for one night it was "worth it".

Seeing the excitement and sheer joyful energy on the boys' faces was amazing. I tried to capture a few photos with my phone, but mostly we just enjoyed ourselves and didn't try to overthink it. Timo spent almost the entire afternoon running up and down, squealing and yelling, "This is so fun!" Once he got his swimsuit on, he was jumping in the waves (even though it was too cold for me!) almost up to his waist. And yes, I had to chase down the sand to get him to come inside at dinnertime.

Mattias took his time a little more to get into the water, but it didn't take long before he was running after Timo and squealing with delight and digging his feet into the sand. I never saw him look fearful about the waves and the open space, even when he slipped and went face first into the edge of the water.

Swimsuits on now!

Mattias would run away from the waves and yell, "Hang on!"

Washing off before heading into the hotel

We had hoped to spend the next morning down on the sand, but the weather turned very chilly and very windy so instead we played in the hotel swimming pool and then went to a really cool local playground before we drove back home in the early afternoon. It was fun to play at the park since it is the same place where we Hawkins kids spent countless hours playing basketball over the years during our family trips to Wrightsville.

We were sorry to miss having Jim with us on this trip ... but we are resolved to go again together as a family. I definitely realized how fun and 'do-able' it would be now to take the boys to the beach for a family vacation. They loved it and were very content, and would be to play in the water and dig in the sand and look for shells and ride their bikes the whole day. And of course we were all completely exhausted and ready for bed by the end of the day!

crossing the channel and heading home...