Ollie in Preschool!

A couple of weeks ago, Ollie had his first day of preschool... a big day for him and for his mommy!! We waited longer than most people, but it seemed like a good time - and he certainly didn't have any trouble with his new routine. On his first day, he ran in and started playing with all the other kids right away, and after I took some photos, he waved at me enthusiastically and blew me kisses... and off I went. Awwww! This first photo is from that day, during the "Name Dance," so at this moment everyone is singing, "Oliver, Oliver, welcome Oliver!" We chose Elements of Learning in Oak Ridge, which is a bit far away but several of Ollie's friends go there and we really liked the owner/head teacher when we visited, so it wasn't a hard choice. He only goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-3. Just this week they had "Pajama Day" at school, and Ollie wore his favorite "ornament suit," his slippers, AND his cool fleece bathrobe. Our friend, Jenna, took a great photo of him with her daughter, Claire, and their friend, Brandon. Look at these cuties!!!

On Fatherhood and Snowball Fights

Despite the beautiful smiles you see here, Maddie is still fairly ambivalent about snow, although she loves any excuse to get outside and walk around. But big brother Ollie is now a big fan of snow, and of every possible use for it -- making snowmen, shoveling with his "baby shovel," sledding, tromping through it instead of using a perfectly good path right next to him, and, more recently, snowball fights. He is slowly learning the intricacies of snowball fights under the expert tutelage of his all-knowing father. When I point out to Andy that he doesn't have to aim quite so precisely at Ollie's neck -the only exposed part of his son's body as it runs away from him in a frantic combination of glee and horror - he replies with a glint in his eye, "He loves it!!" And it's true, Ollie will yelp out a protest after being pelted yet again, then will quickly dash to prepare his next round of ammunition and attempt a valiant retaliation... I think I was the only one to notice the injustice of his return fires mostly landing at Andy's lower back, not a particularly sensitive area. Therefore, I ocassionally tried to wollop Andy's head or neck on Ollie's behalf, and only once had a halfway decent (albeit immensely satisfying) result. You can follow the general chain of events in this photo selection: Andy tosses a huge mound of snow at his 4 year old son, Ollie runs around like a happy crazy boy and gathers tiny snowballs in his little boy hands to try to throw back at his dad, all the while avoiding the very real threat of the next huge snow-mound that's headed in his direction (see final photo, with snow in mid-flight). Never let it be said that this boy is coddled!!

Cuties at the Transportation Museum

Over the holidays, one of our fun outings was to the Owls Head Transportation Museum, a favorite haunt of ours and especially of Granddaddy's! It was a good choice for a cold afternoon... the kids had fun running looking at the old cars and planes, going up and down the ramps, chasing each other, yelping loudly to great effect, since the huge hangars are perfect for amplifying sound... I was glad we were nearly the only ones there!!! I mostly ran around taking pictures - Maddie looked so insanely cute in her little dress and sporty Mary Janes - see for yourself!!

True Story

Right around New Year's Eve, we were at my mom and dad's house for a few hours, and Grandma was showing Ollie her big kaleidoscope. He looked through it for a little while, then lowered it and asked her, "Is this wireless?"