Caroline and I went to a tea today with her Grandma Nosek, Aunt Vika, Aunt Nacibe, and cousins Anabel and Nadia. Once she confirmed that she did not, in fact, have to actually drink tea there, Caroline reveled in the fact that she did not have to share Grandma, aunts and cousins with her brothers. :) We dined on scones, the sweetest assortment of mini sandwiches, cheeses, fruits and desserts. Yum!
Because none of us wanted the fun to end, we headed over to Aunt Nacibe and Uncle Mark's house. The girls jumped in a huge pile of leaves that Uncle Mark had raked, which Caroline loved because our leaf piles are quite a bit smaller. :)
Seth brought home from school a book about making paper airplanes. Wow, was that a treasure! They read the book, built and flew many many models of airplanes. I was so impressed! I was also impressed by how long it kept them entertained, and how long they all played together. Really, who needs expensive toys?
Oh, the stitches they might have gotten. And really, is that how they should treat the furniture?! Yes, instead of taking pictures, I definitely should have been correcting them.
I was weak today. I caved to their cuteness. But...I did get great pictures... ;)
When Seth was born, I can remember being so excited that Henry would have a brother. I prayed that they would be close, that they would consider each other friends, that they would always be there for each other.
Now, I won't lie and say that they don't have their moments, but on the whole, they are very tight. They are blessed because they have something that's very special. I pray that they always treasure their relationship.
...by the sweet little friends in her life. Tonight as I tucked her into bed, I asked her what her favorite part of her day was. She told me, "I got to play with two of my favorite friends, and I love them!"
I've felt rather spent lately. I know that its largely due to the fact that I'm a mom of 4 kids, and we've had a lot going on in the past few weeks. You know, on top of all of the regular stuff (school, soccer, swimming and scouts), adding Halloween, the flu and training Evan to sleep in his big boy bed kind of took my tiredness to the next level. :) And on top of that, when there's a lot going on with the kids, I don't sleep well at night.
So today I took a nap. The stars aligned where Evan was napping, the kids were at school, and I was sufficiently caught up with housework so that I didn't feel guilty for laying down.
I slept for 2 hours! I felt like a new woman...refreshed, less emotional, energetic. Sleep is a miraculous thing, and I've decided that I need to do more of it. ;) I'm a fan.
On another note... The kids brought home their first report cards of the year tonight. They did such a good job! My favorite comments from their teachers were: Voracious reader!! Such a good listener! So enthusiastic! Strong in math! Well-liked by classmates. Noticable improvements in organizational skills. Polite. I am so proud of them! (I'm on the verge of popping, Dad, just so you know.)
Here's the latest example I have of Caroline's writing. I love watching a Kindergartener learn and grow. It never ceases to amaze me. (You can click on the picture to see it bigger.)
Finally, here's a little duet by Caroline and Evan, Days of the Week sung to the tune of the Addams Family:
The kids were oh-so-tired from all of their Halloween gallavanting, but they managed to drag themselves to the living room so that they could gaze lovingly at their sweet candy treasures...
Then they "woke up"...and they were bouncing off of the walls. To burn off some of their Halloween candy sugar buzz, Dave took the kids on a hike through the woods behind our house. I married a very wise and compassionate man. God bless him! They hiked. They climbed. They exploded milk weed pods! And, most importantly, they came home a little less energetic. After a short rest, and a little Halloween candy snack, Henry and Caroline went out to rake our leaves. These two small piles were all we had (the result of living in a young tree subdivision), but the kids were pleased nonetheless.
Happy November!
Seeing that I pretty much blog every day anyways, I figured I totally could do this... ;) I'm signed up, and I'm up for the challenge!
