Isn't She Lovely?

This is a recent picture of R. Isn't she just adorable?

They Never Perform When You Want Them To

(This is M's new favorite place. He likes to climb on top of the table and dance...insert joke here! )

I've wanted to get this on video for a little bit now, but since kids never perform when you want them to I am writing it down so I won't forget.

Everyday when I put M down for his nap I blow him kisses as I leave his room. It's more the kiss at the end of the song "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home" than blowing kisses. At any rate, last week I was holding M and asked for a kiss. He responded by putting his hand up to my mouth and then pulling it away a la "a great big kiss! mmm-wah!" Then he just threw his head back and laughed.

Ever since, I've wanted to get it on video (or at least show others how cute it is) and it's pretty much a no-go. I think N has seen it once or twice now, but no one else. Maybe one day...

We Have a Graduate!

Last night H "graduated" from kindergarten. They had a Hawaiian theme. All the kids tie-dyed shirts and wore leis. They sang a few songs and then we watched a video slide show of pictures from throughout the year. Then was the moment we'd been waiting for...she received her certificate and a gift (the tile where her hand print has been turned into a pineapple).

H has had quite a year. She started kindergarten with a wonderful teacher whom she just loved. She also loved riding the bus. Three months into the school year we moved to a new school with a new teacher and no bus. She enjoyed her class and made friends (and boyfriends!) quickly. Around December we found out that her teacher was moving and when H went back after winter vacation she had another new teacher.


She loves her new teacher and has really thrived despite all the upheaval. She is reading and doing basic math. She loves to learn. I think the only thing that could make this school year better would be if there was a bus for her to ride.

This Was So K and Me Tonight

Addendum to Mother's Day Post

I wanted to mention that I am making a word cloud for my family. But, since we only have 6 people in our family I'm using filler words to make it look better. So far I have:

est. 2002
family
forever
mother
father
brother
sister
husband
wife
love
eternal
happiness
joy
friends
fun
home

I'd like about 10 more or so, but I'm having a very hard time coming up with any. Any suggestions?

Our Night Out

We went out to dinner tonight with the kids. We told them that if they were good at dinner we'd head over to the mall and go to "play-day" (their name for the play area). They agreed and we were off.

As we are driving, H is in the back seat reading every sign she can see. Then, K says, "Hey, there's I Hop." N and I looked at each other stunned. We have never taken them to IHOP nor have we ever talked about taking them there. I asked how he knew it was IHOP and he said he saw it on the TV. Can you say too much screen time?

Our kids were so good at dinner. We actually had a nice time. I guess the bribe worked. So, like we'd promised, we went over to play-day. We have an unwritten rule that if the kids don't leave when we say it's time to go we won't come back. Ever. They ran right in and started playing. This was actually M's first time playing and he loved it. He was downright giddy. He giggled any time he went near one of the play structures. I was kicking myself for not having my camera with me. And, miracle of miracles, when we said it was time to go the kids actually left. Without complaining.

We might just have to go out again some day.

Happy Mother's Day

This year for Mother's Day we made these pictures for our moms. I saw the idea here. I used the wordle website to generate the layout, but since I wanted to color code the families I recreated it in Elements. I really like it and think it turned out great. In fact, I am making one of my family to hang in our house.

This:


Kinda reminds me of this:

Yesterday, I came out of my bedroom and found M trying to feed R the bottle she had just finished. He is always trying to "help" her in some way.

As for the original picture...I am the one having my mouth pried open by one of my older sisters. She claims I ate her jelly beans and she just wanted them back. I'm not so sure, though.

I Was Proposed to Yesterday!

My kids think I am the smartest person alive ever since I made Ritz cracker and peanut butter sandwiches. Previously, they thought you could only buy them...and mine were bigger since I used regular sized Ritz crackers. They think this alone should get me the Mother of the Year Award. Seriously, that is how much they love them.

So, yesterday K thought he'd make himself some all by himself. He started struggling a little with the peanut butter so I asked him if he wanted help. He said yes and I started to make them for him. He looked at me and said, "Will you marry me?"

I guess it's true...the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

Reading Is Fun!

So H is reading up a storm lately. She reads all the signs as we drive along (she now knows what Dairy Queen is). Yesterday she happened to be looking at a map of the Greater Metro Area. These are a few snippets from our conversation.

H: Mom, they forgot the L in Temple.

Me: Huh?

H: The L, mom. They forgot it. They spelled it T-E-M-P-E.

* * * * *

H: Mom, I found Scott-doll (I'm spelling phonetically so you get the full effect).

Me: Actually, it is Scottsdale. The A is a long A because of the E at the end.

* * * * *

H: Mom, I found ebelin hooey.

Me: You found what?

H: Ebelin hooey.

Me: Spell it.

H: E-B-E-E-L-I-N-E-H-W-Y.

Me: The E at the front is an abbreviation for East. Then you have the word Beeline. Then, Hwy is an abbreviation for Highway. So, it is East Beeline Highway.

I love that she is picking up reading so fast. She is so eager to learn. She recently had to stay home from school for almost a whole week and was so glad to go back on Monday because she loves to learn. What are we going to do over the summer?