She is a big girl!

Caroline is going to a birthday party tomorrow, and spent the afternoon today getting ready. She loves to write now, and is constantly asking me to help her spell words, even sounding out many herself. I am so proud of her, and just marvel at the process of a child becoming literate. She had the idea of decorating a purple gift bag for her friend with her puffy stickers. She was so pleased with the finished product that she wanted to keep it. I persuaded her to give it to Maddie tomorrow by telling her that she could take a picture of it that we could keep forever. :)

Meditating on Seth

One of the reasons I have liked blogging so much is that it gives me an opportunity to meditate and think good thoughts about my kids, especially if we've had a rough day.

Today was a little "iffy" for Seth. He was a little tired and cranky (much like his mom), and truthfully tucking him into bed was kind of a welcome thing tonight. So that motivated me to focus on him in this post.

Seth...words to describe him (usually!)...sweet, gentle, reflective, analytical, loyal, endearing, hard-working, funny...I saw this picture tonight and it reminded me of one of my favorite moments with Seth.

We were at the lake. Dave was outside with the older kids and I was inside putting Evan down for a nap. Seth came to me and said, in his deep voice, "Umm...I've got something for you, Mom." He handed me a little doodle board. This was when he was just learning to write, and he was obviously so proud of himself. I looked down at the board and saw the words, "I lov Mom." He told me, " I wrote that myself!"

I am so proud of him, of how hard he works, and how far he's come. I love you too, Seth.

The boy has to earn his keep, doesn't he?!

My sister, Lisa, and I have had an ongoing conversation about encouraging chore responsibility in our children. She found some great chore charts, and made some up for each of her 4 children. She was telling me where she got them, and then joked that I would probably only have to prepare three as Evan is probably not doing too many chores yet.

Actually, Evan is mainly responsible for our "anti-chores" around here. Need a box of Cheerios dumped? Evan is your man. Do you prefer your rolls of toilet paper to be completely unrolled and on the floor? Again, Evan can handle that for you. Want to vacuum the living room? Oh, don't worry, Evan can do that and it will only take 5 times as long.

Did I mention recently that he's 2? Yup, and then some.

Caroline's First Friend Sleepover and her Favorite Socks

I honestly don't know how long its been since Caroline has been begging to have a sleepover at a friend's house, but she finally got her chance this past weekend when she slept over at her friend Maddie's house. They had been planning for it ever since they found out about a week ago. And did they ever fit a lot in! They did a little hairstyling and dress up, playing doctor with their stuffed animals and dolls, making cookies, washing dishes and sweeping (!) and watching "girly" movies. They had such fun that Caroline wanted to stay a second night! Should we be a little insecure about that? Does our daughter not miss us?! :)




My dad came over today to watch the kids for me while I ran some errands and got a hair cut. (Thank you SO MUCH, Dad!) The kids loved having him over. Evan, I believe, talked to his Grandpa non-stop (aside from his naptime), and Caroline drew a lot of pictures and played some games with Grandpa. My mom sent Caroline some special fuzzy socks...Caroline had admired a pair that my mom had given me, so her Grandma promised to find some for her. She delivered, and two pairs at that!! Grandpa brought them to Caroline today, and Caroline loved them so much that she went to bed with a pair on her feet and a pair on her hands!

Caroline modeling some clothes (and the bag) I got when I was out shopping for her today!

A close-up of Caroline's favorite socks!

The Atomic Gumdrops!!

Today we went to a birthday party for our cousins, Charlie, Jamie and Jake. Their parents, Aaron and Mary Beth rented out a room in a Community Center where we had a great time dancing to a fabulous new "for kids" band called The Atomic Gumdrops. They had the kids play acting, dancing in trains, trying out instruments, and generally just having a ball.

In amongst many other kiddos, you Noseks might be able to spot Henry, Seth, Caroline, Charlie, Jamie, Jake, Anabel and Nadia. (Then again, you might just have to take my word for it as the clip is rather small and the kids are moving rather quickly!)

A Shout Out to One of Our Loyal (and Youngest) Readers

I'm posting a little late today...Dave and I got back late from our date night...we went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and wow, was that a LOOOONNNNGGGG movie (but very good!) Our babysitter, Kelsey, laughed at us because normally on our date nights we're back by about 10, but didn't make it home till midnight. Much past our bedtime.

Anyways, at the pinewood derby, I learned that one of Henry's best friends is a regular reader of our blog. And we think that's great. We love Dylan. Always have since "way back" when the boys met in Kindergarten. And take note of him...he'll either be either be a famous actor (he's already well-known in our area) or our president someday (he's already posted a petition to run in 2036, and is an expert on U.S. presidents.)

Hi, Dylan! (This picture was taken right after Henry went to see Dylan in one of his plays. Dylan played the part of Ralphie in The Christmas Story.)

The Pinewood Derby!

What an exciting night!!! The boys raced their cars that they made with their dad in the boy scouts' Pinewood Derby!

Seth's car raced first, placing two second and two first places in four heats. Overall, his car placed seventh out of about 40 cars for tiger cubs.

Henry's car placed 2nd, and then three 1st's in his 4 heats. Overall, he placed 6th out of 30 bear cubs. They both were sooooo excited!

Here's Henry winning 1st in one of his heats! Wish I had the same footage of Seth!

Home Improvement and Sad Fish News

My parents had given Caroline a dollhouse last year...it actually had belonged to my sisters and I when we were growing up. It was well-loved and in need of some home repair, and definitely needed some updating. So the mother and daughter designing duo started work on it today, in lieu of doing laundry. (All we have left to do on the outside is the shingles on the roof, which I had halfway done today, but I had to remove them because I messed up!) Having never refinished a dollhouse before, we didn't really know what we were doing. But in the end, our inexperience really didn't matter. She is happy, it is freshened up, and the yellow and green colors we chose go well with her pink room. :)

Next we tackle the inside. We have carpet, tile and wallpaper all picked out. WALLPAPER. Now that should be interesting.

BEFORE

AFTER

On a sad note, we have one fish left. I am frustrated because I want this to be a good experience for the kids, and really have tried to follow the directions for the tank and the fish. I am unsure that if we started from scratch (emptying and cleaning the tank, setting it up again) as was suggested by the people at the pet store, would the same thing happen again? I know they are just fish, and my husband reminded me tonight that I might be getting too emotionally involved in them :) , but they are our kids' pets, and I want us to be responsible caretakers. Should we just scrap it and go for a different, easy-type first pet (ie, hamster, turtle) ? I would so appreciate any comments, on the blog, or email or phone!