Dave and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary today. Adam made us this picture at school today. He was so excited to give it to me when he got home.

I am especially fond of the giant green wedding rings and the chandelier over Dave’s head.

We went out to dinner tonight with the kids. It was a pretty good way to celebrate.

Two years ago yesterday, we were in the emergency room with Luke. He had to get two stitches in his forehead after hitting it while playing with Adam.

Today, I was in the emergency room with poor Maggie. She was running, tripped, and fell into one of our wooden dining room chairs. She ended up with a cut, about an inch long, right along her eyebrow.

Maggie was fast asleep when they came in to do the stitches. They wrapped her so that her arms were behind her back and then put her in a papoose-type contraption. Her upper and lower body were both strapped down with velcro straps. Even with all that, it still took me and two other adults to hold her down so that the physician’s assistant could stitch her up.

Let me tell you, Maggie is STRONG. She managed to free her legs twice and almost got her left hand out. She was one ticked off little lady, about 20 pounds of pure anger. I felt horrible. I just wanted to scoop her up and hold her, but it was really important that she stay as still as possible.

I didn’t realize how deep it was until they started to stitch it up. They ended up having to do two layers of stitches. I don’t know how many they put inside the gash (I couldn’t watch while they did it and didn’t think to ask afterwards). She has nine stitches on the outside though.

And they’re not slowing her down at all. As soon as we got home she was climbing on the furniture, chasing after her brothers, and running around the house. We’ll see how she’s feeling in the morning.

Adam had a Lego Club Meeting this morning, so we decided to make a day of it.

Adam built a snow vehicle and then spent some time playing with the digital box.

That machine was actually pretty cool. When you held certain Lego sets up to it, it would show you a 3d animation of what is inside.

After we left the Lego store we went out for a late breakfast and then set out to visit the zoo.

All of the kids loved the giraffes. We just missed being able to feed them, so next time we go we’re going to try and plan for that.

It was a nice warm day today, perfect for walking around outside. Unfortunately it was a little too hot for a lot of the animals. A lot of them were napping or hiding in the shade.

We were able to get a picture of the rarely spotted wild Adam though.

Luke tried out a new pair of ears and Adam compared his hands and feet to those of a gorilla.

A lot of the exhibits had waterfalls in them and Luke pointed them out each time he saw one. He was very concerned that the monkeys were going to fall down the one in their area. Before we left them he yelled to them, “Be careful monkeys!”

I did take a couple pictures of wild animals other than my children too.

The zoo has a train that you can ride through certain areas. It’s about a 10 minute ride and Luke and Adam both loved it.

Maggie fell asleep shortly after we got there. We bought a membership though and are already planning our next trip, so she’ll have plenty of opportunities to see what she missed.

Earlier, I was teasing Luke and telling him his socks were stinky. His response was to take them off and flush them down the toilet.

That’s really all I’ve got as far as stories for today. So here are some pictures from the past two days of Sherman and his apprentice.

For school, Adam had to take in a paper bag full of things about him. He had to bring a photo (or drawing) of him as a baby and one of his family, something that represented his favorite food, something important to him, and something he likes to do or play with.

He took the Lego key chain to show that he likes building with Lego bricks, the Mickey figurine to represent his stuffed Mickey that he sleeps with each night (his something important), and the toy hot dog for his favorite food. He also took in a copy of his birth announcement and asked if he could draw a family picture. I offered to print one out for him, but he really wanted to draw one (and I’m so glad he did).

This is my new favorite Adam drawing. He actually spent time studying each of us, to make sure he got it exactly right.

I’ve been enjoying his artwork so much lately. I really look forward to looking in his backpack each day to see what’s waiting there.

This kid is in full on Sherman mode today.

I was folding laundry upstairs and he was helping. After he put away some of his clothes and some of Adam’s, he asked if he could put away the kitchen towels.

I finished up the rest of the clothes and went downstairs to find that he had carpeted the kitchen in towels and washcloths. The two towels he had taken downstairs, and about half of the rest of the drawer, were unfolded and laid out like a crazy patchwork quilt on the floor.

I had him help me clean them up and then put on a cartoon for him and Maggie. Once they were occupied, I went upstairs to grab a quick shower. While I was gone, Luke decided he needed a snack, and helped himself to four apples (he took 3-4 bites out of each one).

Then, just a few minutes ago, I was filling out the online paperwork for the kids’ dentist. My desk is right outside the doorway to the kitchen. Maggie came up to me with her face and shirt covered in cookie crumbs. Sneaky Sherman had silently raided the pantry – and decided to share. I’m still not sure how he did it without my hearing him.

That kid, he keeps me on my toes.

Adam took an apple to his teacher today. She sent an email saying that they are going to be starting a unit all about apples this week, and asked if the students could each bring one in.

I’m kicking myself for not getting him a green apple, since that kid is still all about green.

Part of Adam’s bedtime routine is picking out his clothes for the next day. Because of soccer, things were a little rushed last night, and we skipped that step.

This morning I found him wearing camouflage shorts (it was 45 degrees) and a very wrinkled long-sleeve plaid shirt. Thankfully, I was able to use the weather to dissuade him from the shorts and promised to iron the shirt for another day. (Side note: What was I thinking buying a shirt for a 5-year-old that requires ironing?)

Instead, he insisted on wearing all green – pants, shirt, underpants, and even socks. When I pointed out that he had a green sweatshirt he could wear too, he was thrilled. He told me that I really am the “best mom a kid could have”.

And lest you think I let my child hop on the bus looking like the Jolly Green Giant, he actually matched rather nicely (or will at least once the sweatshirt comes off at school).

Adam came home from school with these pictures yesterday.

I’m glad I’m not a bear.

I’m not sure who wrote the captions – I’m guessing Adam wrote the “I” on each sheet and his teacher (or a classroom aide or volunteer) wrote the rest. You can sort of see though, that at his school they use the D’Nealian style of writing.

It’s not much different than the traditional style of printing, the letters have some extra loops and tails. It’s supposed to make it easier for them to transition into cursive writing.

I’m totally on board with this. I know some schools are no longer teaching cursive and I’m glad that’s not the case in our district.

Just a couple of pictures from soccer tonight.

Adam really seems to be enjoying it and was very excited to kick the ball in the net. They don’t have actual games, mostly just work on different skills – but at the end of each session they do a little scrimmage.