One flew out of the cuckoo's nest

It has finally arrived, the day where my funny little man started school. To say that I have been looking forward to this day is an understatement, I have been eagerly anticipating the miraculous 2.5 hours of quiet  for some time. Please do not construe this as a negative comment though. The thing is, Cooper is an ENTIRELY different child when Thatch isn't around to compete with. He's delightful, talkative and just plain cute. When Thatcher is around he is competitive, rambunctious and a pill. We should probably move to Philadelphia to get help in the brotherly love department. And that is not to say they don't love each other, they're quite affectionate but they're just boys who bicker, I guess. So I suppose what I'm trying to convey here, is that I was looking forward to alone time with the Coopster. Anyhoo, (that was a tangent...sorry) we were all excited about school today!

The morning started out a bit shaky, Thatch was agitated and visibly nervous. He kept asking when we would leave, mind you it was 8 AM and I was making breakfast, so I knew it was going to be a long morning. He constantly snapped at Cooper and I believe they came to fisticuffs two times.Tensions were running high. After a brief but effective timeout in his room I went in and we cuddled and had a discussion about his feelings. He was worried that he wouldn't make any friends and said he was going to miss me (which melted my callous, sarcastic heart) but I told him he would definitely make friends like he had in pre-school and that it was only a short time away from each other. That, and promising him a shower in our bathroom and using Daddy's soap and shampoo perked him up. After a lunch of Frosted Mini-Wheats (it's what he picked and I figured the little mini-wheat always helped the kids in the commercials so what the heck) Coop and Harps both went down for a simultaneous nap so I was able to leave them both home with a slumbering Jonathan and take Thatch alone. Talk about 1st day of school miracles!!

I took these photos of him in front of our house before we left for the first day. All I said was smile for me and this is what I got...

There is not a word to describe the level of happiness and excitement that beamed out of this little boy at this very moment.

I plan on taking these every 1st day for the next 12 years :)

When we got to the school he decided we needed to run in. We were 15 minutes early, but the last ones there. Crazy parents making me look late.

He wanted to climb up on the flower boxes to take this. 

And then my cautious little man jumped down. He never does this stuff normally, it must have been the adrenaline. P.S. Nice action shot by the photographer, huh?

After we hung up his backpack he surveyed his domain for the next year.

I wish I knew what he was saying here. 

Hard at work on his first assignment, draw a picture of himself on the first day and write his name on it.

I'm not sure if you know this, but at the beginning of last year Thatcher was unable to write his name. Not one bit. He had the hand strength of a 27 month old. This picture, right here, is the payoff for a very difficult year of Occupational Therapy 4 times a week, among other therapy sessions, and one on one work. My heart exploded with pride and relief when I saw this.

The final product. His first masterpiece. A few things to take notice of:
1. His shirt is orange in the picture and has blue writing. Matches the one he's wearing perfectly.
2. He decided he has black hair, not brown. We discussed this briefly before he won.
3. He's happy in the picture. :)

And then I started to miss him.

When I picked him up and we settled down a bit I asked him what his favorite part of the day was. He said "When we went outside and played and learned the safety rules." There he his, Mr. Cautious is back! He told me how we have to count to 10 when we are waiting for people to get off swings because getting kicked would hurt. He also said his teacher was nice and that he liked her. Definitely off to a good start!!

After school we stopped off at Wendy's and got an Oreo sundae (not good) and went to swim lesson sign up. The boys are not very good waiters but they played a bit and watched the NPHS swim team practice which Thatch stated "was like the Olympics." Not quite the same caliber, but sure. If he wants to be a swimmer that's cool with me. Low cost equipment-here's your speedo and some goggles. Sounds good to my wallet too! Here are a few pics of us killing time.

We were outside playing on what was most sincerely a fall day when they spotted a C-130 flying through the clouds. Cooper shouted "AIRPLANE!!! I WANNA GO ON THE AIRPLANE!!" and Thatcher yelled "IT'S THE AIR FORCE!!". We are on a plane kick now.

And here's my sweet girl being patient and content. She was a bit toasty in that warm pool which you can see from those rosy cheeks.

Now travel back in time with me...

On Sunday, Jonathan finished his wood shed. He started this project last year and finished the main structure just in time for the snow to fall so the dirt work was pushed off until this summer. It was kind of scary and dangerous getting wood last year, especially being super pregnant and not exactly the most graceful person to begin with (let's put it this way...when I was home alone and I had to go out and get firewood, I would call my friend Melissa and tell her that if I didn't call back in 10 minutes come get me because I'd fallen and needed rescuing. No joke.) So it's done, and turned out even better than either of us expected!

Here it is!! He built this all by his self. 

And here's our firewood for the remained of this decade. I think we could be on an episode of hoarders if there was a wood segment.

Jonathan, happy to be done.

And then annoyed that I was still taking pictures of him. Of course I was going to put this in the blog.

So while Jonathan was working hard on man stuff, us girls went out and did girl stufff. Mainly, shopping. I think it was mine and Harp's first shopping trip together and thus needed to be documented for prosperity. This is my good friend Ali (friend's since middle school : D)  and her daughter Gillian (aka Gilly Bean) shopping at a CAbi party. I tried on a pair of size 8 pants and instantly bought them. In reality, they couldn't possibly be a true 8 and I'm not fooling myself at all but it's just nice to see that number ; )

And back a little further, if you please...

Harpie turned 7 months old the other day! Can you believe in only 5 months my darling girl will be 1? SOOOOO FAST!!! Time to start planning stages for a FAB birthday party!

I mean seriously, HUGE. I'm going to be super sad when she grows out of this outfit, it's one of my favorites.

And for some perspective, here she is at 2 weeks. Look at the difference in her legs! She has gotten seriously cuter too. 

And on that note, I'm off to bed. I was going to shoot for before 10 but I guess I'm shooting for before August 29th now. If I can only avoid pinterest for the night it might happen, but this was worth staying up for. I hope you enjoyed!!

XOXO,
 S

Movie Nights, Halfie Birthdays and Photo Shoots

On Friday we had our Family Movie Night, something I implemented a few weeks ago and we’ve stuck with them. The boys love our snuggle time and I love it too! So far we’ve watched Harry Potter and the Sorcer’s Stone, Cars (which made us want to go back to Disneyland so bad!) and tonight the original plan was to partake in some Peter Pan action but after seeing a commercial we watched Sword in the Stone, one of Jonathan’s favs when he was little. I made a new pinterest recipe of tiny pizzas and they devoured them. Note to self: little food is eaten best by the little people. Jonathan and I both agree that Friday Night Movie Nights are going to stick around for a while.

Say this in your head with an Italian accent- Ima making the pizza pies, Mama!

Loving the little food.

The Yarsley men (even the Chevy Dude).

Super engrossed in popcorn and a movie.

The men folk.

Cooper used Harper's nursing pillow and proped himself on Chevy in order to get most comfortable. That would be Jonathan's genetics shining though, the man knows how to get comfy with pillows.

Today is Poopie Coopie’s Halfie Birthday! My little guy is officially 2 ½! Yea, yea, so I go a little overboard on Birthdays, so kill me. I love them so much that I do months of idea searching for them and with my introduction to pinterest it’s gone to a new level. I have a board specifically for possible themes (So far it’s between Candyland or the Hungry Catipillar for Coopie’s 3 [Seriously, months of planning…]). Anyhoo, tangent…my bad.

Looking back between 6 months ago and today, it’s crazy how much he’s grown up. Who knows if it is because of the addition of Harper or if it’s just normal growing up but he’s just developing in leaps and bounds. The other day he said “Mommy, I want to go on the airplane please.” Seriously, a 9 word sentence at this age is phenomenal! He also says “I love you Daddy” when ever Jonathan leaves for work and shouts it at him through the window as he drives away. He is ridiculously friendly, he says “Hi” to everyone at the store (especially the ladies) and “Bye” in the cutest little voice. Don’t get me wrong though, he is 2 and extremely good at it. The lungs on this kid!! He could clear a zoo, honestly. People would think that there was a wild baboon on the loose with the heinous shrieks this child produces. He also is a very physical child: he climbs all over the furniture, leaps from couch to couch, moves the chairs to the cabinets so he can get the marshmallows out of the top cabinets and can throw a ball pretty far actually. With that physicality though, he is very gentle and loving as well. He is a cuddler and can often be caught sneaking a kiss on Harper’s cheek. Right now his favorite phrase is “Don’t get me!”, but it‘s more of a challenge. Love that kid. 

So here’s the photographic evidence from our little celebration:

2 1/2!!

Using his lungs for good, rather than loud, heinous shreiks. Also, note that Thatcher is in the background -a few seconds after this photo Thatch blew out Coopie's 1/2 candle. Not cool.

Super excited about his present that Thatch picked out and wrapped (in foil, hehe). Airplanes!!

Auntie Ash skyped in while we were partying hard. Coopie is showing her his new airplane.

A couple of Thursdays ago I had Harper’s photos taken for her 6 month photos. We went to the botanical gardens and although it was mid August the flowers were fading fast! Here’s some of the photos from that shoot! If you all want any just let me know and I can email the original full sized photos to you :)

I've been told this is a face I make. I doubt it's as cute as this one.

Oh, those eyes!

Pretty baby.

In a cabbage patch :)

She tried to eat this later. 

Her eyes look brown here. So funny how they change.

I love this one!

Those pouty lips. I see them a lot actually.

Anyhoo, that's what we've been up to this weekend. Tomorrow should be a bunch of cleaning and laundry but I will spare you the photo journalistic pictures of that impending doom fun. 

I hope you enjoyed!!

Love,

S

A little of this and a bit of that.

The gang and I are on a mandatory rest before school starts next week. I implemented this hiatus a few weeks ago and while I've been pretty good at maintaining it there have been a few activities on our schedule. Here are a couple of pictures from them :)

We went to the fair with Grandma, gosh, two, maybe three weeks ago. Yikes. Sorry this is so late. Anyhoo, we ate too much and had too much fun.

I don't know why kids love this stuff so much. It's quite ridiculous when there are cream puffs right across the way that would have been $5 much better spent.

Apparently something really interesting was going to our left, as neither child could be bothered with a photo.

Again, something to the left is entrancing.

Harps and Grandma. Thanks for giving my back a little break!

To me, this look says "When I turn 16 all your hair is going to turn white and  you will probably die a small death each time I get behind a wheel to drive because I am trouble with a capital T."

Riding the train. Big shock.

Harper and Zarriah...age 6 1/2 months. Look at Z's hair!! (P.S. This isn't the best angle for H, is it?)

This is better. Oh those cheeks! That's Mom's friend Joan behind her :)

Notice the nuances in this photo: Thatch yelling at the kids behind him that he's going to shoot them with his lasers, Coop with his  turned to the right like a trucker, the kids behind them yelling back at Thatch with them screaming that they're going to shoot them. Sigh, boys.

I wish I could zoom into this so you could see the smile on his face!

Thatch sharing his ice cream.

And there it is...the moment we hit the wall. "NO MORE PICTURES!!!!!" he yelled, emphatically.

Coop was still pretty chill though. He likes ice cream, by the way.

And so does H. 

Here we are, on the way inside church. Luckily, they let us in again.

After church we went to B&N and Thatcher spent all allowance for the first time on...

A shark book!! We read it for bedtime every night of shark week. 

Okay, so here's a random experiment that I found off pinterest (If you haven't joined pinterest it would be best if you never do, it is a time suck.) I am re-growing onioins that I cut already. It was a long shot...

Here's how much they grew in one day!

In the mean time, Jonathan took photos of his lawn. I will admit, it's pretty awesome. Even if we aren't allowed to walk or play on it.

Celebrating Shark Week: Here's the little guy being a shark. He's doing so good at swimming!

We went to a wedding this past weekend and they had cupcakes, red frosted cupcakes. It wasn't quite his color though.

And here are the onions after a week...Crazy!! This is kind of fun!!!

Anyhoo, Friday starts the begining of our regularly scheduled programing...school stuff, OT, library time,  so on and so forth. Fun should ensue.

I hope you enjoyed!!!

Love,
S