Back to school time

In the one month since we've been in the new house, Chris was in Detroit for 1 week, I was in the Med for 10 days, we have 90% unpacked, bought a lot to pull the new house together and have finished up the summer at camp.  All of this has culminated to the next big day that everyone was counting down to - back to school day!

Asher had his first day back at the JCC last week and it was a seamless transition.  He knows Ms. Jen from summer camp, his classroom is the same and all of his friends are still in his class.  There wasn't a big hype about back to school for him cause he was at JCC camp all summer and feels like it is his second home.

Riley, on the other hand, had a huge change when starting first grade today!  He is at a new school, with new kids, taking the bus and going to school for the full day.  He has been counting down the days until school started and this morning when he woke up, he asked if the bus was here any time he heard a card drive by.  The bus comes right next door and if I could bottle the excitement he had when stepping on the bus for the first time, I would!

He came home announcing that he had a great first day, he loved the bus, our neighbor is in his class and he has a really sweet teacher.  I am hopeful that we can keep this momentum going and each day (or at least many days) go as well as today did!

Our New House!

Well, it's official, we are now in our new home!  To be honest, I would have written this blog a few days ago but A) I didn't have any free time and B) I couldn't find my computer...

But we are in the house four days now and we are loving our new digs!  It is a process that will take a little time to get everything in the right place, figure out what we need, assess how we will best use all of this space and work out the details, but it feels so good to be home.

The boys have been telling everyone about the new house, their big rooms, cool wall colors and awesome backyard.  Not to mention the fact that there is a playground right down the street and we have gone a few times already.  They are having the easy jobs of just moving in and making the best of our house.

Chris and I, on the other hand, have been busy at work!  We each took off the week to paint, unpack the PODS, clean and get everything in the house.  And it just so happened to be the hottest week of the year when all of this was happening, so we definitely deserve the break that we are getting tonight.  We still have some unpacking to do but after painting half of the house and doing lots of heavy lifting, a few boxes can stay unpacked in the garage for another night or two.

The house is already looking like a home and we are looking forward to putting our art on the walls, picking a new color scheme for our room, decorating the boys rooms with their new themes and living here.  The neighbors are really nice and it is exciting to see this as our long term home.  Signing away the next 30 years on a mortgage was a little daunting but we are really thrilled with the house, the amount of space that we have to live in and can't wait to make many memories here!

Kindergarten and Preschool Graduation

It's official, Riley had graduated from Kindergarten!  I honestly have no idea how we got here already and it really feels like it could have been last week that I brought him to the JCC for the first time when he was 10 months old for his first day of school.  Time flies when you're having fun!

The JCC put on their end-of-year graduation ceremony and this year, the Kindergartener's showed off their singing skills both in English and Hebrew.  I shuffled my way to the front, took my spot with camera in hand and as soon as I turned it on to start recording, the camera politely told me that I had forgot to put a card in... thank goodness the other parents were all equally as obsessed with capturing this moment and were willing to share their technology skills where mine had failed!

Asher also graduated from Preschool A and loved taking part in the celebration.  He and his classmates tie-dyed their own shirts and sand a song of their own.  Asher was singing his little heart out and was happy to see us right in the front row taking pictures of him.

After the ceremony came the carnival - a favorite activity every year.  There were snacks, train rides, a bouncy house and fun on the playground.  The weather was perfect and everyone had a great time celebrating the kids.  

Now it's officially summer time and we are ready for another awesome year of camp!

Playing Catch Up

LIFE IS BUSY!!!  As if you couldn't tell from the date of my last blog post (1/10/19), things have be incredibly active in the Herman house!  Getting our house on the market included lots of cleaning, decluttering, many trips to the storage unit, lots of time out of the house, packing, putting things away and general high stress levels.  Living with these two little monsters included lots of books, dirt, fights, acrobatics, giggles and imagination.  Things are always busy!

Every time I think I have a few free minutes, something else pops up that I have to do.  But with the nice weather that we have been having, a lot of the time has been spent outside too.  Asher wants to do everything that Riley does and Riley is (usually) great at letting Asher play along.  These brothers are two peas in a pod.  Riley has a super active imagination and is talking about 23 hours a day.  He is getting really good at baseball and has lost 8 teeth.  Asher loves helping me cook, wants to play with all of Riley's toys, tells the pets hello all the time and lights up a room with his smile when you pick him up from school.

It is so nice that they have each other and I love that every day, they are playing more and more together.  Yes, I still have to separate them and tell them to keep their hands to themselves and make them sit down during dinner, but I am also loving how grown up they feel at times.  I love that we can go out and do lots of fun activities and they are constantly asking questions to learn how things work.  Parenting is a full time job and these guys sure know how to keep us on our toes - every. single. minute!

Asher is 3!

This past weekend we celebrated Asher turning 3 and had a family birthday party a few days delayed.  Bibi and I got back from our UAE & India New Year's Cruise and with enough sleep on the plane rides, were able to bounce right back into action.  With Asher's birthday being on New Year's, I think he will one day enjoy all the hype and celebration - parties all around the world just for him!

This year, things were more tame, however, and we had a super hero themed birthday party at home.  Everyone was encouraged to dress up and there were certainly some creative costumes.  The four of us had more well-known costumes while others came as Super Stretch (Stacey), Penguin (Leo), The Time Traveler (Bibi), Super Zee (guess who) and Dad (Brad) - thank you all for your effort.

A few weeks ago, Bibi asked Asher what he wanted his birthday cake to look like and he said he wanted an M&M/pickle/orange cake - so who am I to deny my son of the cake that he asks for?  I had just flown 14 hours on a plane the night before but you better believe that I whipped up that cake just for him!

At three, Asher is precocious, silly, smart and active.  He wants to do most of the things that Riley does but also shows the differences between them.  We love seeing the smiley, snuggly, quirky and brave side of Asher and can't wait to see what else this year brings out in him!

Bunk Bed Brothers

This afternoon as Chris and I were watching the Buckeye game, the boys were upstairs playing in Riley's room.  It was the longest time they played together without yelling, fighting or crying and it was really fun to hear them laughing and and playing along with each other.

When it was getting close to nap time, Riley came down and told us that he had tucked Asher into the top bunk and he was going to nap up there - so who were we to refuse this request?  Asher was so cute snuggled up on the top bunk in such a big kid bed!

And for bedtime tonight, Chris asked if they wanted to have a slumber party and sleep in the bunk beds together.  This, of course, was met with resounding approval!  So tonight, the boys are having a brothers sleepover party.  I hear them talking and laughing and so far I have only been called in twice, so we will see how this goes.  Keeping my fingers crossed that Asher will fall asleep quickly and Riley will stop talking to him when he stops getting answers!

Halloween 2018

This year, the weather has been beautiful all around Halloween but of course the day finally rolls around and rain threatens all day.  We kept our eye on the clouds, planned our outfits accordingly and made the best of the day.

Riley had a costume parade at Hoover where all the kids wore their costumes and took a stroll around the blacktop.  I wasn't planning on going cause it was in the middle of the work day, but Riley asked really nicely and told me I was going to be the only mom that wasn't going to be there.  With the guilt laid on that thick, I popped over to Hoover to watch the parade, only to have Riley see me, ignore me and pretend that I wasn't even there!  He was happy to have me there, I know, but it was funny to see him try to be too cool!

With Chris in Israel this year, we put snacks on our porch and headed over to Bibi and Zee's house to maximize our trick-or-treating experience.  We know where the lights are all on and the big candy bars are handed out!  After shoveling down some green monster mac and cheese, we donned our outfits and headed out.  It drizzled a little here and there but nothing that we couldn't handle.  At the first house, they were giving out foot long pixie sticks.  Asher asked what it was, I told him sugar, and for the next 10 houses, he asked if they were giving out sugar.  He made his candy selections very methodically and I had to speed him along a little here and there or we would have only made it 5 houses in an hour and a half.

We got back in enough time to help Bibi hand out the last of her candy and go through our stash to pick out the one piece that they could have that night - another challenging concept.  Last year, the Halloween candy made it almost through to the next year, but we will see how long it lasts in the candy bowl this year!