Gratitude for Dinner

Last night Mr. A had a baseball game that went until 6:30 or 6:45, DH had Scouts that he ran right off to, and so the kids and I went home and I decided we were having cereal for dinner.

"Cereal for DINNER?!"  "We can't do that, Mom!"  Oh, yes, we can.  Or, oatmeal (as Baby S and Miss M decided to have - or, as Miss S likes to call it - "ewt-meaw" - very cute).

And, then, an hour or so later, here was Mr. A's bedtime prayer:

"I'm thankful that we could have cereal for dinner."

See, I'm not such a bad mom after all.

5 Alive - Happy Birthday, Miss M!

As I look at pictures, it seems my kids are always happy. :)  Generally speaking, they are.  Miss M was a very happy baby.  Looking back at pictures of her tonight on the eve of her birthday makes me appreciate and miss that little one all at the same time. 

Happiest 4 month old around!

Cheeky 1 yr old

Picture Perfect 2 yr old (I still don't know how we got her to sit still for this - she was always moving)

Sassy 3 yr old - love those curls!

Classy 4 yr old

Ready to be 5 yr old (right before she got tubes in her ears a few weeks ago)

More to come tomorrow...I need to get some sleep before the festivities begin - she's got all 3 meals planned out and can hardly wait.  Love her energy and spunk.  She's an awesome big sis to Baby S and almost as annoying as a perfect little sis can be to her big brother. :)

 

Blessed

1.   All kids like to ask questions that you never know are coming.  Miss M popped a good one yesterday morning as DH was hopping in the shower -
- "Dad, why did you choose to have a pe*is?"
- DH - "Why did I CHOOSE to?  Oh, I didn't choose to...Heavenly Father BLESSED me with one."

It had the 2 of us in stitches as she seemed appeased with the answer and walked off to get ready for the day.

Give my DH props for quick thinking on his feet.  I was impressed.

2. Miss M also has had to spend some time at the ER and surgery center as of late.  After 6 ear infections this year, she was blessed with tubes in her ears and her adenoids taken out.  Just before her tubes went in, she had a scary infection in the mastoid bone in her ear that needed some ER antibiotics.  Her sister, Baby S, loved to tell everyone that Miss M had to go to the "hos-table."  I love 2 1/2 yr olds.  Mine speaks really well, most of the time, so it's fun to hear her slip up at times even though her almost 5 yr old sister still calls it "pasghetti."  In addition, Miss M still struggles w/her left foot and her right foot shoes, while Baby S almost never gets them wrong.

Little girls are hilarious!  

And the First Shall Be Last and the Last Shall Be First

I'm terribly off any semblance of a blogging routine at this point.  So, I'll sprinkle in bits and pieces, but I'll start with where we are now. 

1 - We lovingly call her Penelope or Finley (as in THE END)

  

She'll be here the end of August sometime.  Just in time to hang with her brother and sisters and then send them all off to school. :)

2 - Let me tell you how Mr. A took the news:

3- We have tried to psych him up now for all of the awesome activities he'll get to do with his dear dad - his best buddy too.  DH even said to me the Friday before we found out what we were having: "If Mr. A is the only son I have, I'll be ok with that.  He's everything I could have wanted in a son and more."  Amen to that.  We won the son lottery and love our Mr. A dearly.  Tonight he played his baseball game with his dad as his 3rd base coach.  Love these 2 boys of mine. 

The pep talk

Eyes on the Prize

And, so, the last son was the first, and the first son ended up being the last one.  We love him for it. 

Firsts

Today was Mr. A's first day of first grade at a new school.  His first time spending ALL day at school.  First time waiting at the bus stop with other kids.  First time eating lunch at school and having recess 3 times!  First time to try catching the right bus at the end of school.  I'm exhausted just thinking about it for him.  But, you know what?  He bounded down off that bus at 3:58 with a big grin on his little face and a huge hug for his mama.  He handled it all JUST FINE!  Why was I such a wreck?  I thought about him all. day. long.  Couldn't stop.  Would someone sit by him on the bus?  Who would he sit next to at lunch?  Would he remember where his classroom was?  Would he remember where the bathroom was?  Would he make it there in time?  Would he eat enough of his lunch to sustain him for the WHOLE day?  I forgot to remind him what "color" code his bus was.  How would he find the right one to ride home?  Would he have anyone to play with at recess?  Would he sit next to someone nice in class (and not too chatty)?  Would he be punished for not having all of his school supplies the first day (come on...I forgot the 2 red pencils!!!)?  Would his teacher remember his name?

I was a wreck.  He was just fine.  I fed him 4 chocolate chip cookies when he got home and made him tell me all about his day.  Did he have to write about his summer?  Did he have to read for his teacher?  Did he make any new friends?  Did he remember where the classroom was?  Did anyone yell at him for not having his school supplies?  Did he like his lunch?  Did he find the note his mom left him (yes, and he brought it home with him and didn't want me to throw it away.  How cute is that?)?  Did he eat all of his lunch?  Did he have enough time to eat lunch?  Who did he play with at recess?  Did he find the bathroom?  ETC, ETC, ETC.  I'd be annoyed if I were him too.  But, seriously, the chocolate chip cookies did the trick.  He just kept talking and talking and talking.  AND, he was STARVING! :)

So, here's my not so little 1st grader.  All grown up.  Missing some teeth and looking so stinking handsome.  Bring on 1st grade, I say.  But, don't let my little boy grow up anymore.  He's done for now and so am I.

#1!

I've got no teeth!  :)

Happiest guy around

Best buddies

The bus stop walking posse

It's Only Hair, Right?

At least that's what I'm trying to tell myself anyway.  After bawling my eyes out for the better part of an hour, I've decided that Miss M was merely trying to stick it to her baby sister for truly having better hair than her.  Here's a shot taken literally the DAY before the Massacre occurred...

Big shoes to fill, girls. :)

The next afternoon after they'd both woken up from their naps, Miss M asked if she could cut paper and eat popsicles outside.  So, Fely kindly granted her wishes and took all of her things outside.  We've had the conversation numerous times about what to cut, etc.  But, when in the moment, you know?  You just have to be like Aunt Megan, I guess.  Here's what happened in mere minutes...

Seriously.  Doesn't that make you want to cry??

And the next day, we marched everyone down to the hair dresser and ordered transformations for all.  Some much more drastic than others.

The "stylist" - She chopped the front of her own hair, so she needed a big cut too

Somebody got some sass with her new 'do

Cheeese

Trying to get all 3 smiling and looking...next to impossible

Just a Run in the Park

I've had a great 4 days in NYC with some of my dear friends from Philadelphia.  We engaged in all sorts of must-do activities as well as spent tons of time eating, laughing, and catching up.  I miss them already.  I was able to swing a few meetings on the end of my trip, so had a little bit of time after my meetings this evening to go for what I thought would be a quick jog in Central Park. 

Something about seeing the forest through the trees?

I got a little carried away, however, and found myself starting to get tired before I'd even turned around to run back!  I realized I was at 97th St. and needed to find the path back across the park to run back on the West Side.  Fortunately I had my phone with me so I stopped to see where my turn was.  I also stopped to take in the view.  I love running through Central Park - even when it's stiflingly humid, overcast, and sprinkling ever so slightly. 

Wish I knew someone standing on the bridge - would have been a great shot!

Spellcheck

Mr. A had a great year in Kindergarten.  He flourished in reading, excelled in Math, and rocked it out at writing.  All of the words he learned to write were done the "non-dictionary" way.  Since school ended, though, he has become so concerned with the "dictionary spelling" of every word.

In addition, he has started spelling out everything he says.  I'll give a few examples:

• To end his prayers, "In the name of Jesus Christ, A-M-E-N"
• "Hey, M-O-M, can I have..."
• "D-A-D, I'm trying to talk to you"
• In reply to my question of did he brush his teeth, "Y-E-S"
• "Are we going to C-O-S-T-C-O?"
• "Do I need to wear my C-L-O-T-H-E-S?"

It cracks us up.  I admit to being a pretty particular speller in my own right, so maybe I'm wearing off on him at an early age?  Poor guy!

B-E-A-C-H

P-E-A-C-E O-U-T

Somehow...

So big! 

Lovin' on her momma

...this little lady turned the ripe, old age of 2.  The baby of our family yet she makes herself known in every circle she enters.  We seriously cannot resist, though, her succulent cheeks and her perfectly formed lips.  We just want to eat her up!  She has awesome blonde hair with all sorts of body and gentle curls at the bottom.  She jumps and hops and pops her way through our lives.  She is spunky and sassy and saucy and so stinking cute!  She narrates for all of us all day long.  If I am brushing my hair, "Mommy brush hair?!"  If Tyler is walking out the door, "Daddy fy airpanes?!" Or, if she wanders in on an unsuspecting toilet-goer, "Andrew go poopy?!" 

She loves to play "So Much" - you know the game, "How much does Mommy love you?"  But she only does one "this much" with her hands close together and then the next step is "Sooooooo Much!" and a big snuggle. 

My favorite are some of her cute sayings - when I put powder on her after her bath, it's always a big breath in followed by, "Mell good!"  She forgets the s, of course.  She always asks for "milkies" and she has to have a binky in her hand and her 2 blankies by her side before we read stories.  Her favorites right now: "Goodnight, Moon" (because mousie, mousie, mousie is super important) and "Mommy Hugs."  She loves to have "Twinkle Star" as she calls it and "Sunbeam" sung to her before bed.

She only gets her binky in her bed so in the morning she'll usually go back in her bed for a 1/2 hour or so and read books in her bed just to have her binkies. 

Big thumbs up for the 4th

Accessorizing is important when you're at the beach - matching floaties and bows

See the curls?

Loves to play with her sissy - whom she has finally stopped calling "Sissy" all the time and calls her "Mow-gan" more often than not

Her fishy face - see what I mean about the lips??!

She wears Miss M's dress up heels around the house (with Miss M) and loves to be just like her sister.  Mr. A makes her laugh uncontrollably and if T goes in the shower, she is there. 

She is so busy and she moves so fast.  The minute one mess is made she is on to the next without any of us realizing that the first one has been made. 

She's trying to become so independent.  She's even started taking her plate to the sink after a meal (just like her siblings do).

Sure love this little fireball.  Happy Birthday, Sadie-boo, Lou, Sadie Boo-Loo, Lady Sadie, Sadie Lady, Sadie Kate Cakes, Sadie Kate, Crazy Lady! 

Birthday - Shmirthday

DH, or T as I'd like to now refer to him, thinks that birthdays are for the birds.  He doesn't like them, so why should anyone like his?  Unfortunately he married the wrong woman then!  I just can't let them slip right on by without anyone noticing.

This year he just wanted his family around him and to eat his favorite foods.  I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was a little busy. :)

WT Cake take 13 (I make them every year - this year, though, he changed up his ice cream preference and went for Tillamook Wild Mountain Blackberry!  Always keeps me on my toes, that guy!

Baby S loves to help "bow cannles"

2 cakes and I went easy on the candles

 Happy Birthday, TWS!  Always glad you were born!