Preschool James, Erica gets her wish, and a mildly extreme backyard makeover

James in August: I want to go to a real preschool.

James in September: I never said I wanted to go to preschool.

James in October: Why do I have to go to preschool again?

James in November: I hate preschool.

James in December: Preschool is boring. I don't even learn anything.

James in January: I want to be done.

James in February: We don't do anything fun.

James in March. I'm not going to tell you what we did.

James in April: Everyday we do boring stuff.

James in May: How many more times?

James yesterday: I'm bored.

Here are some photos his teacher sent me throughout the year. I've asked James to tell me about the pictures as the captions. Enjoy!

"This is supposed to be an explosion with vinegar"

"We are playing kings and queens"

"I don't know why I'm raising my hand."

"We're playing Candyland!"

"We are painting on the tape."

"We have turns stirring to a song. I think it was the one where the person has a shoe and so many kids."

James got all bashful about this photo. He's dancing back there but he doesn't know why.

"We're doing like an obstacle course."

Wednesday was his graduation. "I don't want to go to school today," he said then broke out into a grin. Consistent to the end.

The kids filed in, sang a few songs with actions then the teachers presented them with their portfolio of the work they've done this year then they showed a video of photos and interviews.

This photo I took only to remark on the weird pant styles of high schoolers. Where's the flood?

They had a big spread of treats. James went right for the chocolate cupcake of course.

Even though he says he didn't learn anything, I think it was good for him to get out the house and ease into school. Plus I was able to get errands done during that time which he appreciated.

* * * * * *

Nothing like finding out your kid needs braces and glasses in the same week. Erica has wanted glasses for months but because she thinks she'll look so cute in them. She told me a month ago she has a hard time seeing the board at school but maybe this was just a ploy. Since both her parents and all 4 grandparents have glasses I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. She began trying on pairs before they even called us back. This was the first pair she tried on and even though she tried on all the kid glasses, these are the ones she wanted.

She does need glasses but as the doctor put it, "She doesn't need to wear them all the time, just during class time." All Erica cared about was that she was finally getting a real pair of glasses.

We have a scary looking fence. It looks like it belongs bordering a haunted house. I desperately wanted to do something about it a year ago but we were a little busy with inside and projects. But this year is the year of the backyard!

One can see where the fence got sprayed with the sprinklers for the last 34 years.

I'm pretty sure the only reason the fence is still standing is because the other-side neighbors took care of their side.

After an entire day (April 30) of spray washing we had to let it dry. And then it rained a couple of times so we had to wait some more.

We finally were able to spray half of it on May 7 and then finished it up this afternoon.  Here are the after pictures.

It makes the backyard feel so new!

Our neighbor to the north said he didn't think the fence had ever been stained.

A special shout-out to my dad for letting us use his airless sprayer. We had to refill it every 1 1/5 panels but it worked like a charm.

Combined with our improved view and firepit---our backyard is where we want to be.

We are ready for summer evenings.

*Next up is repainting the shed but it needs some siding replaced but I'm hoping we can get it done next month.

Tomorrow is Henry's birthday. The kids are decorating the dining room tonight!