Dear Sam,

You are now 5 years old.  I didn't have a chance to get your letter to you on your birthday because we were celebrating in a BIG way.  (I'm over a month late getting your letter to you because...well...that's how I roll these days.  Be grateful I got it written at all.)  You have been planning this birthday for months.  You've been so very excited.  We had a big countdown in the days leading up to your big day.  A few months before your birthday you announced that you wanted a Spiderman birthday party with balloons, a Spiderman cake, and Rescue Bots wrapping paper.  You even had it planned out down to what presents you would get from specific family members. 

This year you started preschool.  I'll admit, I was pretty nervous about it, but you were so very excited.  You never shed a tear...not even on the first day.  You simply gave me a hug and happily trotted off into your classroom.  I managed to keep the tears at bay until I got into the car. 

I can't believe how much your speech has improved.  You tell long, involved, very detailed stories now.  And if I break eye contact with you for even a second during the telling of said story, you have to start over at the beginning. 

You are so hungry to learn.  I mean...you absolutely crave knowledge.  And you're such a pleaser.  One little word of praise, and your whole face lights up.  I'm so excited to see what that combination does for you.  You are so.  stinkin'.  close. to reading.  You insist on me telling you what every sign and label says.  You are constantly telling me, "L is for lollipop, S is for swim, M is for Momo...."  You learned 9 new Bible verses this year.  I think I often don't give you enough credit for what you're capable of...I'm so glad you have teachers at your school who have pushed you to excel.

The one thing you are NOT interested in learning is how to write...or at least write well.  I think it doesn't come easily for you.  I can see you getting frustrated and then your attention drifts away.  You'd much rather recite an entire passage from memory or describe in detail some picture that you've seen. 

You are so full of energy.  I just can't even...  We learned this winter that if you don't get outside for a little while every day, you are much more likely to get in trouble.  God bless your future teachers when the weather is bad.  I feel like some kind of organized sport is in your future for your dad's and my peace of mine...and your safety. 

You grew 4 inches this year.  And I think you gained only 3 pounds.  You aren't so much interested in eating much, which makes you long and lean.  We joke that you eat about every third day or so, so on your "eating days" we try to keep food in front of you all of the time.  You love meatloaf, hot dogs, plain cheeseburgers with nothing on them, all candy, frosting on cakes (you are your mother's son, after all), and pretty much any kind of fruit.  And chocolate milk.  You would drink chocolate milk all day if I would let you.  You have the longest, skinniest legs.  And your feet!  I swear, we cannot keep you in shoes.  You love to tell me, "Someday I'm gonna be as tall as Daddy."  Yep...probably.

Sam, I love how polite you are.  You might not be able to sit still for more than 3 seconds at a time, but you say "please" and "thank you" while you're bouncing off the walls.  I love watching you concentrate as you're studying your Seek and Find books or memorizing every detail of an Avengers book.  I love how you love to play dress up...but only in super hero costumes.  I love that you passed up the opportunity to go the movies (something that I never thought you would do) because you didn't want to go see Cinderella because "that's a girl movie."  I love how when Sydney and I walk into your classroom to pick you up, you proudly announce to your entire class, "Hey everybody!  This is my sister Sydney!" 

I think I've said this every year, but THIS is the year that is the most fun.  I'm so happy I get a front row seat to see you grow up.

Love,
Mom

Springtime Fun

It looks like the Bluegrass is finally green again!  I was seriously worried about Sam not reaching his 5th birthday if we didn't get outside and burn some energy.  Both of the kids need to be outside, but it is especially true for Sam.  If he goes more than a couple of days without getting some fresh air, he just goes bananas.

 

I've mentioned before, but my kids are absolutely obsessed with storm drains and tunnels.  There is a pretty large one down the street from us, and there are usually a bunch of frogs lying around sunning themselves.  Sydney loves to go "see da brogs."  Molly does too.  I'm pretty sure she thinks one of these days, she's going to catch one, but I have my doubts.  My kids make way too much noise for her to sneak up on one.  There is always a mass exodus into the water about the time we top the hill.

 

I'm thinking there is really only one way this can end, right?

 

 

They like to pretend fish too.  Looks like we're going to have to get a couple of fishing poles, soon.  Right now, they just use sticks and stir them around in the muck, then jerk them out saying, "I caught one!"

 

 

 

But so far, all we've managed to catch are a couple of old tires, a stinky shoe, and some crayons.

 

 

These days, I'm thankful for sunshine, kids with healthy imaginations, and soap.  Very thankful for soap.



Feed The Birds.

We've been spending a lot of time at our local library lately.  Sometimes if Sydney and I have a few errands to run while Sam is at school, we find ourselves with an hour or two to kill before it's time to pick him up.  Rather than go home just to turn around and go back, we will drop in at the library.  We recently discovered that they have preschooler play time every Thursday, so we've been making a point to go by for that.  They always have a craft and lots of toys out, and the children's librarian is super sweet.  Sydney beats a path to the children's area as soon as we walk in the door now.  Fair warning if you are there when we are...please stay out of her way.  She probably won't slow down.

 

 

A couple of weeks ago, we made a bird feeder out of toilet paper rolls, peanut butter and birdseed.  We hung it outside our kitchen window so we could see the birds coming to eat.  For the first couple of days, we didn't seem to have any visitors.  I was kinda bummed.  But lately, we've been having a couple of cardinals stop by a few times a day.  There is a male and a female, but the female is a bit more skittish than the male.  She never hangs around long enough for a picture.

 

 

I told Sam we should name them, so he decided we should name them Sam and Sydney.  Hey...if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

Baby It's Cold Outside!

We are so. over. winter around here.  We were bundling up and getting outside for a few minutes every day, but lately it has just been way too cold or too wet and messy.  And I can really tell a difference in the kids' behavior.  Sam is like a caged animal right now.  Lots and lots of energy with no good outlet.  So I took to Pinterest to find some new ways to entertain the kids.

 

We made a couple of crafts, but I'm not the craftiest person in the world.  We built an obstacle course out of laundry baskets and kitchen chairs.  We made a hopscotch board out of masking tape on the floor.

 

We also played this Spiderman game.  Masking tape across the doorway, and we threw little pom pom things at it.  I thought it was pretty fun, but Sam wasn't all that excited...

 

 

...but then he put his Spiderman costume on to play, and it was instantly more fun.  I guess if you're going to play a Spiderman game, you've got to go all in.

 

 

 

But the thing that the kids loved the most and have asked to do again (and again....and again) was shaving cream painting.  I mixed food coloring with shaving cream and turned them loose in the bathtub.  They thought it was the greatest thing ever.  I'm not surprised.  My kids are total water dogs.

 

I looked into swimming lessons at our local YMCA, and I think we are going to do that soon.  With an indoor pool, I'm actually considering joining so I can just take the kids to burn off some steam from time to time.  I wonder if they allow a fall and winter only membership?

Cuppa Joe

Come sit and have a cuppa joe with me! If we were chatting over coffee (or tea...or Diet Coke...whatever your poison is), I would tell you:

 

 

I hate to admit it, but I'm glad Christmas is over.  I.  Love.  Christmas.  Really, I do.  But by the time it's over, I'm always glad to pack the tree away and get things back to normal.  And the second all of the decorations are down, I start itching for spring.  I'm ready for sunshine and playing outside.

 

 

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Sydney might be the most frustrating child to dress...ever.  She has been hanging out in that land between sizes since her growth spurt last fall.  One size is just a bit too small, but the next size up is way too big.  (Mostly, the legs are just too long...looks like I passed along my pants curse to her.  I'm sure she'll thank me.)  So my strategy for dressing her is going to be dresses.  Lots and lots of dresses.  Luckily, she looks cute in everything.

 

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I've struggled lately with reading my Bible.  I used to use Journey magazine, but my subscription expired and I never renewed it.  Since then, I've had a hard time staying focused.  I do better with a devotional or plan of some sort, so I've been on the hunt for a good one.  Right now, I'm using a chronological reading plan.  It's designed to read the entire Bible in a year, but I'm not going to do that.  I'm enjoying really taking  my time and working through the reading assignments.  The chronological plan is really helping me make sense of things and put all of the stories I learned years ago into perspective.

 

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 Some parents don't want their children to watch too much television for fear that they will become couch potatoes.  That thought is simply amusing to me.  Am I the only one whose child has to act out the cartoons he watches?  No lying around contributing to childhood obesity numbers around here.  No...if there is a chase scene, Sam must race around the room at full speed.  Slapstick humor?  We of course have to reenact it.  And don't even get me started on the dancing.  My kids have got some serious boogie fever.

 

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A couple of weeks ago, Sam told me that he wanted a Spider-Man cake for his birthday.  (He's been planning his birthday since his LAST birthday, but since Christmas, his planning has gone into overdrive.)  Sydney chimed in that she wanted an Elsa cake for her birthday.  And also an Ariel cake.  And a Dora cake.  (To my knowledge, she's never even seen Dora.)  Each time she made an announcement, I simply agreed. Then, suddenly, without any warning, she was crying. 
"Mommy!!!  I just want caaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkeee!"

No drama here.  No, sir... 

Snow Day

We had a snow day today!  And when I say we had snow, I mean we had about 11 inches (and counting) of snow.  I got up thinking I was going to have to try to ski to work, but thankfully our administrators closed the clinic.

 

Sydney started asking to go play in the snow at exactly 6:58am.  Sam ate two bites of breakfast then disappeared.  He came out of his room wearing his snow bibs and declared it was time to go outside. 

 

 

 

We started the process of getting everyone dressed and bundled up.  The kids and the dog stood pacing and wriggling by the door while I wrestled them into hats, mittens and boots.  And FINALLY, we were ready!

 

 

Bonus points for Shawn for buying us a new sled just last night.  Sam loved it...Sydney fell off on her first trip down the hill and she was so over the sledding.

 

 

The snow was too powdery to make a snowman or snowballs, so we just had to make snow angels.

 

 

Even if the wind chill is -7, when you get smiles like these, it's totally worth it.

 

Personally, my favorite part about snow days is warming up with some hot chocolate in front of a fire and taking a long winter's nap.

 

 

Dear God...

There are times when I'm convinced that God has a sense of humor.  I'm most convinced of this when I listen to our children pray.  I imagine God listens to them and has to stifle a chuckle or two, just like me.  Here are some of our favorites as of late:

Sam during bedtime prayers:  Dear God, Thank you for my birthday. (His birthday was 8 months ago, but we still thank God for it every night.)  And thank you for my toys.  And thank you for letting Nana and Bap come to my school.  And thank you for my next birthday.  Amen.  Oh....and please help Mommy and Daddy pick up my toys.

Sydney before eating:  (Singing)  Thank you Father....thank you Father.  I wanna play Mommy's phone.  Amen.

Sydney at bedime:  (I had started praying, and she interrupted me.)  Mommy!  I say prayers!!!  Dear God, I wanna go Nana's house.  And I take brother to school.  Amen.

2014 Recap

January

 We played in the snow...and we reminded ourselves why we don't live up north.

February

We tried snow cream.

We cheered for the Cats.

March

We ushered in Spring.

April

We planted a garden.

Sam turned 4!

We celebrated Easter.

May

We took the kids to the UK Spring Game.

We got our swim on.

June

We went to the zoo.

We grew stuff!

We celebrated 14 years.

July

We made our first trip to Great Wolf Lodge.  I think it was a homerun.

Sydney turned 2!

Aaaaand...she had a little accident.

August

We helped Daddy cheer for his alma mater.  (They have a pretty cool mascot, after all.)

Sydney totally rocked the cast.  You can make anything look good with some good accessories.

September

Sam started school.

October

We visited the pumpkin patch.

We went to a football game.

We went trick-or-treating.

November

We spent Thanksgiving with some really cool people.

Sydney got glasses.  Just when I thought she couldn't get any cuter...

December

Christmas was SO. much. stinkin'. fun this year.

Happy New Year!  We can't wait to see what 2015 has in store!

Sing We Now Of Christmas

Sam's school put on a little music program last week.  This was our first of many, I'm sure.  Nerd confession:  I LOVED our school music programs when I was a kid.  Seriously.  And I was so excited to go to Sam's.

I convinced the kids to stand still for approximately 15 seconds so we could snap a couple of pictures.  Photo tip:  tell the kids to yell boogers.  It gets lots of smiles and giggles.  (And a few disapproving glances from other parents.)

The program was fantastic.  When the children started marching in, I felt this weird lump in my throat.  My eyes started tingling, and I had to take a few deep breaths.  Yes...I am THAT mom.  But once they started singing, I couldn't stop beaming.  Yes...I am also THAT mom.  I'm not sorry.  

Sam did great.  I was a little bit afraid that he would act shy and not really sing, but he totally rocked his performance.  And he even looked like he had fun.

Funny story:  after all of the classes had marched in, the teachers started directing the older classes to sit while the younger kids performed.  But Sam and another little boy remained standing.  I started to get really excited:  Maybe he's going to do some kind of solo or something!  Nope...I guess he and his friend just wanted to make sure they were seen.  They stood (alone) while their classmates sat until it was their turn.

Sydney wasn't as impressed with the program as I was.  Some might have even called her response rude.

My dad even got to come up.  I can't be sure, but he might have chuckled a little at Shawn snapping pictures like a crazy person while I craned my neck for the best possible view.  But I know his secret...I saw that proud look on his face too.

I can't really explain how happy it makes me that Sam (and Sydney) love music.  It's something their dad and I both love, and it's nice to have that connection with them.  I'm looking forward to all of the concerts and recitals in their future.  I'll be the mom with the tissues.