A Day Out with Thomas 2009

This was our 4th trip to see Thomas and the kids still love it! Here are just some pics with captions!

Thomas is pulling into the station!

Ethan, Grayson and Jason in front of the caboose!

Little did they know that they were going to
be able to ride in Thomas' caboose!

The conductor punched their tickets like on

The Polar Express!

Looking out of the caboose.

We got to watch the engineer fill the engine up with water

on our second train ride! (The regular train)

Grayson and Ethan letting the wind blow

through their hair.

Charles (Chris' dad), Jason, Chris and Grayson.

The kids had a great day. I think it was one of our best trips to see Thomas! They got to ride in Thomas' caboose, watch the engineer put water in the number 90 and spend the day with Grandpop! They even got to go to Old Country Buffet for dinner (that's their favorite place to eat!)

Grayson's 1st day of Preschool

Grayson started preschool on Sept 9th. He goes Mon, Wed and Fri mornings. He also loves school. He, however, is not the student that every teacher wants a classroom full of. He's very lovable and adorable but its his only benefit! Fortunately he has the same teacher that his brother had for preschool. She's stern but is very good with the kids!

Here he is walking up the steps to his classroom.

"Cheesing" in the hallway for mom!

His first few weeks have been pretty good. He's lost a few tickets already (Jason never lost a single one the whole year in that class) but he is a different kid with a different personality! He will strive his way and on his terms! Anyone who knows Grayson will know that this is true!

Jason's a First Grader Now!

Jason is officially in first grade now! He loves school and is excited to go each day. I still have a hard time not having him at home all day. I love having my kids with me and I miss them when they are gone. But knowing that he is learning and having fun makes it easier for me to handle.

Yes, I am a dork! But when I am old I want to remember the date!

Here he is getting on the bus.

Jason actually told me one day that he had an incredible day at school. He is the kind of kid that every teacher wants a classroom full of so I could imagine that it is easy for him to like school. Its been very challenging for us to balance school with football but we make sure that he knows that school is a priority!

Trying to keep up...

Life has been crazy! Summer was crazy and now school has started for both of the boys so it's probably only going to get crazier! Plus Jason has decided to play football and yes, it was HIS decision! I'm getting tired of people asking me if Chris pushed him to do it. While Chris is a huge football fan, he did not force Jason to play.
At first Jason wasn't too sure if this was going to be for him. However, he has toughed it out. Now that he has been practicing hard and has learned more about the game he really likes it. He really enjoys watching football now too (which does make Chris happy) because now he knows what is going on. Jason has also made lots of new football friends. Though he's not very good (yet) he seems to be very popular among his football "mates" (thats what he calls them, its too cute!)

I just wish I had known how much havoc is football schedule was going to have on our family schedules. Before school started he was practicing 5 nights a week! Now that school has started he practices for 2hours 3nights a week. He pretty much gets off the bus, eats dinner and then we leave for practice. After practice it's a small snack, shower, story time and then bed! I am going to have to figure out when to fit in homework time when his teacher starts sending it home!