Note to Self

How many times do I need to miss out on priceless pictures before I learn???

Sarah, check your memory disk and your batteries each time before you go to one of your children's school performances.

Tonight my memory disk was faulty. I couldn't take any videos on my camera of Caroline's kindergarten program. Man, I so missed out on some GOOD stuff.

At least I was able to take a few cute pictures of my sweet little girl...

Here she is with her favorite Kindergarten teacher, Miss Pierson.


Can you spot my favorite daughter?

Her sweet dress and bonnet came from her cousins, Anabel and Nadia. She was so happy to be able to dress up like this for school!

Here's Cooper and his girls! :)

4 sweet friends!

I'm falling asleep at the computer...Off to bed I go!

Sharing books with my children

One of the things that I loved about my job as a school teacher was being able to connect with my students through books. My absolute favorite times of the day, and my favorite memories of teaching came from the moments where my students and I shared a powerful emotional experience together when I read aloud to them. I remember my teachers and principal reading aloud to me as a child (Thank you Mrs. Samples, Mrs. Taylor and Mr. Mesecher!), feeling those magical moments with them and my classmates, and so being able to experience those same moments with my students was something completely priceless to me, and something I will treasure forever.

And now experiencing those same moments with my own children...WOW, I reach sheer joy at times, and I am savoring these moments at a new level. Please forgive me if you think that I am "over the top," but tonight was one of those nights that I felt one of those moments with each of my children, and I definitely am on a high. :)

With Henry, we are reading the Percy Jackson series. He wanted to reread the series with me, and that is such an honor. He adored those 5 books, and I love that he wanted to experience them with me again.

Seth just had his First Communion, and received several children's Bibles. The past few nights, he's wanted to read one of them. Listening to his questions and seeing him make new connections tonight honestly almost made me giddy. ;)

Caroline is in the midst of an absolute explosion in her reading level. Her decoding and fluency have completely taken off, and thus I was in complete amazement of her tonight as she read "Diary of a Worm" and "Diary of a Fly," gifts from her sweet Uncle Jim and Aunt Karen.

Evan is in the throes of a love affair with the book, "Henry and Mudge: Puddle Trouble." We read it every night. Dave and I laugh at how he knows most of the words of the book, and how much he loves reciting them to us. I eat up precious moments like that with a spoon.

Sharing books with the children I love is one of the sweetest blessings of motherhood. (Can you tell I am a happy girl tonight?!)

Tadpole Delivery

Henry went over to Ian's house today for a playdate. They decided to go to a pond in our subdivision. It was a beautiful day, so they took off their shoes and socks to wade in the water and catch tadpoles. They were so excited that they walked 5 blocks to our house with their bucket to show us their catch.

That set off a little bit of a tadpole frenzy around here. Seth, Caroline and Evan twisted their dad's arm to take them on a tadpole hunt of their own. Of course, their dad obliged.

Ah, the simple pleasures of childhood!

Soccer Socializing

Evan and I went to cheer on Caroline at her soccer game today. She was so excited to have Evan there, and was telling me on the way to the game that she wanted to play really well today for him. She thought that he could watch her and learn some good soccer skills. I think that he definitely inspired her. She usually is pretty hesitant, keeping at least 5 feet between her and the ball most of the time. ;) She was more aggressive today, getting closer and kicking the ball a lot. And she ALMOST scored a goal! I told her that we're bringing Evan next week too, LOL.

She has a lot of fun playing soccer. However, her favorite part of it is not the actual soccer part. She probably likes the SNACKS and the SOCIALIZING part a little bit better. Today the Red Hot Fireballs played the Golden Eagles, which meant that Caroline and her friend, Elyse, got to play with their friends, Jane and Lauren. Caroline was a happy girl!

Makeover by Mary Ellen

One of my happy little memories from when I was a little girl was when my mom would rearrange my room. I LOVED it...everything was new and different, and because my mom has such a decorator's eye, it looked FABULOUS.

Today my parents came over to watch the kids while I had a doctor's appointment. While I was gone, Caroline and my mom made big plans to rearrange the room. Caroline actually drew out a plan of the way she wanted her room to be. By the time I got home, we went into action.
When we were done, Caroline was so ecstatic with the results that she immediately put on her pajamas and announced that she was going to bed after dinner. :)

So, without further ado, here's proud Miss Caroline giving us a tour of her newly rearranged room...

Laughingstock

That's me.

Occasionally, I'll write a little note to the kids and stick it in their lunchbox. The kids kind of get a kick out of it. So on Monday, I enclosed a little note to Henry. In it, I wished him "Happy Birthday" and reminded him of our little shopping trip to Gamestop after school where he would be able to pick out some birthday presents. Here it is... Notice anything funny about it? Henry and his friends at the lunch table sure did. Take a closer look at what I wrote to him at the bottom...

That's right...I couldn't wait until after SCHOO. Oh, those fourth graders thought that was hi-LAR-ious, Henry informed me. That's ok, I'm glad to provide a little humor to brighten their day. :)

But really, most people can't wait until after schoo.

It's been a week and a half...

...since Seth's first Communion. Up until yesterday, we still had the dining room table in full extension set up for the party. The table is still not in it's normal position, and I still don't have the table pads put away...
...but how can I when they make for such good entertainment for the kids?
Seriously, such is the pace in our household right now. S---L---O---W! I don't know if it's the weather (cold and rainy) or a little bit of sickness (some kind of stomach bug the kids have had) or finishing the basement or what, but I am extremely tired and unmotivated. That's not to say that I'm not doing things. I am. There's always laundry and decluttering and shopping and cooking and swimming and scouts and soccer and homework and reading...you know, everything that goes with a house and kids. I am getting the basics done, but not much more.

So, right now, I'm just trying to listen to my body. I'm falling asleep with the kids after reading to them (ok, sometimes while reading to them). I'm trying to take a little down time in the afternoon when the older kids are at school and Evan's napping. Hopefully I'll soon get my energy back. I'm trying to remember that this busy period of time is transitory, that school and the basement will be done soon. Just in time for the puppy to come. :)

I think I'll go take a nap. ;)

Moxie Update!

Our wonderful breeder emailed us a new picture of her dog's litter of puppies. She said that they are growing nicely and they've moved them into a crate were they can come and go, but she doesn't think they know that yet. The puppies are about 3 1/2 weeks old now. Our kiddos were so excited to see the puppies again. It's hard to believe that Moxie is one of them, and that we'll be meeting her in about a month! (To see what the puppies looked like at 2 weeks old, click here.)