Pre-K Kid

I have a little while before I have to pick Nathan up from his first day of school so I'll try to get a post out quickly. Nathan has been so excited about starting school this year and getting to be the new kid again. He thinks it's so cool being the new kid. Yesterday we went to orientation so the kids could meet their teachers and so I could meet my class. Nathan was disappointed that it wasn't a real day of school, but lucky for everyone else he was only in their presence for a short while. He ate fried onions the night before and they give him really bad breath that you can't do anything about for 24 hours. Needless to say, I was completely embarrassed as he went into his class talking to his teachers. You know he's a talker now. Here they are before orientation yesterday.
Here they are hanging out in my classroom before orientation started.
Here is the big pre-kindergartener before his first day of school. I'm going to dress him in designer clothes for the next couple of weeks to make up for him being the stinky, gross kid at orientation yesterday. I'm going to try and turn his image around.

Stick Figures Don't Lie

Nathan shocked me by his drawing skills yesterday. His drawings convey a very clear picture of what life is like in his household. I wonder how long it takes for the school to set up an investigation into his home life once he starts drawing pictures at school.

I always ask him to explain the picture to me, without putting any ideas in his head. As he was drawing this one he explained what he was drawing. I wasn't expecting this one. "This is a picture of Daddy holding a bottle of beer to is mouth with drips coming down. He's spilling it." Nathan's school teacher translation: "Nathan's Daddy is a sloppy drunk."

The figure in the top left corner is a picture of me. It's a picture of me getting mad yesterday. (It looks like a smile, but it's actually me getting mad.) Then the rest of the people are Mr. Norm, Ms. Shelly and Reagan.

To continue on with calling out Steve on his little "quirks" that drive us all nuts, Nathan drew a picture of him carrying trash around in both hands. To make sure Daddy didn't get in trouble Nathan immediately looked at me and said Daddy wasn't going to leave the trash around the house though. He was going to throw that trash away. There you have it. Nathan picks up on me yelling at Steve to throw his trash away instead of leaving it all over the house. I guess he's not called Pigpen for nothing.

That's a picture of me today. I'm happy today because Nathan and I came to an agreement yesterday that he wasn't going to be mean and bossy and rude anymore. He drew the mad picture yesterday because I yelled at him in the car because he asked for a CapriSun, but I told him I couldn't get him one because they were in the bag in the backseat (and I was driving). He proceeded to tell me he wanted one NOW. I'll admit, I was well-deserving of that mad face drawing yesterday!

Watch yourself very closely with Nathan around because you might end up in drawings!

Destination

I made the mistake of driving Nathan down Highway 98 though Destin in the evening. He couldn't resist all the neon lights and attractions. He has lots of plans for us in the near future. Kathryn can thank her brother for all the fun she had tonight.
Kathryn cried when the ride ended.

Kathryn and Nathan both rode the train.

Steve tried changing Nathan's mind about his choice of seats, but Nathan wouldn't move. He wanted to ride in the backseat.
He wasn't so sure about riding the airplanes, but once he got on the ride he loved it. He said that was the best part of the night.

He rode it again and switched seats to make his daddy happy.
At least we can still get away with sticking Kathryn on a game without putting money in and she doesn't know any different.
The other part of Nathan's plan was to go out for ice cream before we went home. He comes up with some pretty good plans. He's already planning our next outing, right down to vehicle seating arrangements.
You can expect to see more posts similar to this one in the near future. Nathan and Kathryn had a lot of fun.

Back to School Preparation

It's almost back to school for us beach bums. The best way to prepare for the new school year is to make sure you have a really good tan. The kids and I are definitely prepared.
I think these kids feel right at home down here in Florida.
I'm pretty sure where ever Steve's next assignment is, if it doesn't have a beach we're not going with him.
We're not cut out for life inland.
Nathan always keeps an eye out for Kathryn's beach toys and dives in the water when he sees one carried off by the waves.
Posing next to the dead fish that washed up.
This fish kept Nathan and just about everyone else who walked by entertained throughout the day. Nathan rushed over to talk to anyone who stopped to watch the fish. I'm telling you, he's a talker.

Boomba is claiming her spot in the sand.

So is Nate Dogg.
You can mark Panicky Smurf off the list. Nathan has a personal goal to collect all 16. It's serious business. He called a Skype meeting with Paw-Paw and Lady to discuss their efforts in his Smurf collection. I'm not even joking. Really. I'm not. Paw-Paw and Lady showed him which Smurfs they had for him. Mace can thank Nathan for the abundance of Happy Meals lately.
Other serious business... playing at the beach. I asked Nathan where he wanted to go, the splash park or the beach. He jumped at the opportunity to go to the beach. He said the beach is better than the splash park. Thank goodness. It's way more enjoyable for me to hang out at the beach.
Here we are eating another Happy Meal dinner.... at the kiddie table nonetheless. I swear we do have a grown-up kitchen table, we just don't use it. We have pretty much given up on anything grown-up for the next several years.
We ended the evening by hanging out on the front porch. People are going to stop walking by our house if Nathan doesn't leave them alone. He jumps at any opportunity to talk to neighbors. He has become the friendliest, most talkative kid I have ever met. He wants to tell everyone who makes eye contact with him his entire life story. He actually interrupted Steve's conversation with a neighbor to tell him that he wanted to talk to the neighbor now. Not only did we move into "that" house, but now we have "that" kid.

Mommy & Babies

I have wanted a picture of me with my three babies for a long time now. I finally got one. I actually got a lot of them, but in every picture someone is doing something to mess up the picture.

Mace and Nathan wouldn't leave each other alone.

Sweet siblings.

This picture reminds me of old pictures of Joe and me.

Nathan looks like he's bossing Boomba around, which is what the situation looks like most of the time.

Past Several Weeks

I'm not even going to try and play catch-up with everything we've done lately, but here are a few pictures from the past few weeks for your enjoyment.

Who needs a pool when you can just get sprayed in the backyard with the water hose.
Kathryn didn't want to wear her diaper so she wore Nathan's underwear.
No more toys for these kids. They got more excited about a new rug than they do with new toys.
Now they have a nice soft, spot to play with all their toys.
We went to Pensacola last weekend to help New School Haggerty move to a bigger house to make room for baby #2. Without planning, Kathryn and Jessica were wearing the exact same color.
It was a family affair. Paw-Paw drove to Pensacola to help with the move as well. I went on Friday by myself. About 30 minutes after I left Steve in charge of them overnight, he had to take Nathan to the ER for a busted forehead. The doctor glued him all up and they made their way out to the new Haggerty homestead.
The move wore Kathryn out.
We frequent the children's park here. It has a playground and a splash park.
If we're not at the beach soaking up the sun, we're at the splash park.
After the splash park, Nathan always asks to play on the playground.

Kathryn was being a grump so I gave her an Oreo on the way to the beach. How is it even possible to make this big of a mess with one cookie?
Back to the beach.
Couple of beach bums.

They took turns getting sick too.
You know something is wrong when you see Kathryn curl up on the sofa and fall asleep.
Same for Nathan. It was so sad seeing these kids so sick. Hopefully they're building their immune system before school starts.
Kathryn is trying to make her scary face, but she has her hands full.
This is her new funny face. Remember when this was the only face Nathan would make for pictures. Too funny!
Bedtime snack. (I'm well aware of my wrinkly drapes. Lady is going to fix that when she comes to visit next time.)