Changes

Well, I'm sure that you can imagine a few things have changed since Halloween. I'm surprised it's been that long since I've posted, but not super surprised. The beginning of November begins the busy season for our family (as with a lot of families). Between November 1st and December 31st, my side of the family has 8 birthdays and 4 wedding anniversaries, not to mention Thanksgiving (which is sometimes Leah's birthday), Christmas (which is also someone's birthday), and New Year's Eve thrown in for good measure. It gets just a little nuts around here. That's my excuse, anyway, and I'm sticking to it for now. ;-)

Leah is now 5! It's really hard to believe. This age has really struck me hard for some reason. It's probably because she's now in preschool and seeming so much older by the day. I'm starting to wonder what it's going to be like to have a kid in kindergarten. I'm feeling stubborn about turning her over to the public school system, not because I'm morally opposed to public education, or anything. I just can't believe how short my time having her all to myself has been!

Leah (and us, of course) got to have a nice visit from her birthmom, Kellie, the week of her birthday. We did a lot of fun stuff like the children's museum and birthday party stuff that week. We hadn't seen Kellie for about 4 years, so it was a great time to catch up. Leah had her very first "friend-only" birthday party. It was a blast! I was so glad that we were able to have fun with some of her new preschool friends.

My brother Eddie and his family also visited that week (since it was also Thanksgiving), and it was fun to have them staying at our house. Kelly (my sister-in-law), was sweet enough to make Leah some awesome cupcakes for her family birthday party. Grandma and Pop also came into town for a few days, so we had a house full of guests for about a week. :-D

Christmas was fun, and we had some more family with us during that holiday. Grandma and Pop came a week early and celebrated with us so that they could be with Jaci on Christmas (and then head down to SC for their annual visit with John and Mary Lou). My sister Becca and her husband Dave stayed with us for a few days, including Christmas day. My sister Rachael was also home from college and hung with us for a bit before heading back to school. We certainly did make a lot of family memories during this holiday season!

Jeff and I celebrated our 20th anniversary of knowing each other and 13 years of marriage on December 30th. It's hard to believe we've known each other that long! He surprised me with some great gifts (namely, some diamond earrings and an awesome mix disc/video compilation). We went out to eat while my sister Rachael watched the kids. Pretty laid-back, but still enjoyable!

The new year has been pretty quiet after all the family and celebrations, but it has brought some changes in our family, mostly for David. He finally "graduated" from nursery at church into primary. He did great the first couple of weeks, but we experienced a few problems yesterday. He spent a fair amount of the time upset because "primary is just so different." I'll admit I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out what is so different (they still give the sunbeams snack, but there is no play time; I guess that could be the issue). He hasn't been very specific about what is bothering him. :-/ Hopefully, this is just a small blip and all will be fine. He also started preschool at Leah's preschool this week (though on opposite days), so it's been a big week of adjustment for him. He seems to love preschool, so hopefully that continues to go well.

I think that pretty much brings us to now. Things should stay quiet for a little bit as we get used to the new schedule with both kids in preschool. Looking forward, I personally hope to get a little more organized this year. I have already begun this process and hope to keep chugging along with it. We, of course, also hope that this is the year we get to add another child to our family. :-D

Halloween 2010

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and Leah and David are my favorite kids. Put the two together, and this is what you get:

If you're unfamiliar with the children's show Yo Gabba Gabba, Leah is dressed as Foofa (described in the theme song as "pink" and "happy," a pretty good description of Leah anyway) and David is dressed as Plex ("a magic robot"). If you haven't seen the show, you should tune in sometime. It's an acquired taste for some, but the four of us appreciate its good values and quirkiness.

We now have enough candy to last us until next Halloween (unless we do something creative like regift it to other unsuspecting trick-or-treaters or try to pass it off as Christmas candy for the stockings).

Playing With Food

I'm the kind of mom that doesn't mind too much if her kids play with their food as long as a) they're still eating it in the process and b) they're not making a huge mess I have to clean up later. So, this morning I wasn't too fazed when the kids were making shapes out of their mini waffles at breakfast. A bite here and a bite there created such exciting things as a fish, a snowman, and a truck.

Leah's final creation was a bit more difficult to decipher. I could only describe it as looking something like a llama doing an interpretive dance (Jeff thought I said Obama doing an interpretive dance!). I told Leah so, and she was quick to inform me it was a boat. I could totally see that after she started moving it around the surface of the table and making boat noises. ;-) I only wish I'd gotten pictures of their creations.

A Little Too Gunshy

I hope to have pictures from our vacation to share soon, but until then, I thought I'd share a story from our vacation.

Both kids are going through that lovely stage right now during which they blurt out their observations about the world around them before censoring them (because, hey, they just haven't learned to censor, yet). I, for example, have been informed more than once recently that I have a big butt and belly. I don't mind that so much as when the observations start branching out to people outside our immediate family.

We were at a restaurant recently, and David made one such observation. A man wearing ill-fitting clothes passed our table, and David cheerfully exclaimed "Someone has the biggest belly of all!" Thankfully, the man didn't seem to hear him, but we had a little talk about how it's not nice to talk about how people look.

Leah, as I mentioned, is going through the same thing. On our way to NJ she said, at the top of her voice, "Ewww, cigarettes!" as we passed a man smoking at a rest stop. I don't know how he couldn't have heard her. Eek! So, I again took this as a teaching opportunity and explained that, yes, cigarettes are yucky, but that it was rude to talk about it in front of people who are smoking. I explained that while I hoped that she would never choose to smoke because cigarettes are unhealthy, sometimes people do choose to use cigarettes and that we shouldn't point out unhealthy choices that people make. On another occasion, we were in a store, and Leah noticed a young man dressed in some traditional Middle Eastern clothing. We were far enough away that he didn't hear her, but she said "That boy is dressed silly." Again, I explained that people all over the world dress differently and that it wasn't nice to talk about how people dress.

It is no surprise that I was a bit exasperated when we were sitting at a restaurant on the way to NJ and Leah made another loud and rude observation. She said, "There's a girl over there with a crazy tattoo on her face!" Jeff and I were both seated so that we were unable to see said girl, but we quickly shushed Leah and reminded her that it wasn't nice to talk about how people look. In my mind I was envisioning a young woman with a lot of body art on her face. A couple of more times throughout the meal Leah said things like "There's the girl with the crazy tattoo again." I was starting to get really frustrated that Leah just couldn't seem to drop the subject!

We went on to finish our meal, and as we got up Leah said loudly AGAIN "There's the girl with the tattoo!" As I started to remind Leah again not to talk about how people look, I looked over where she was pointing. It turns out that the whole time she'd been talking about a little girl, probably about 7 years old, with her face painted! I felt just a bit sheepish. I still think it was important to remind Leah not to talk about the way people look, but I also see the importance of having all of the facts instead of making assumptions. Honestly, I had cut her off each time she was trying to tell me about the girl because of the assumptions I had made. Had I just let her explain a little more, we probably could've avoided having multiple outbursts about it.

That's the great thing about parenting, both the parent and child can learn from the experience. ;-)

See Jeff and Anna Run

Jeff and I did a 5K this past Saturday. It was Jeff's first one, and he seemed to have fun. It was my second official one, and I was happy to see that my time was a little better than last time. We had hoped to do better, but we had several things working against us. Mainly, I'd been laid up much of the week with a horrific toothache. Thankfully, I was MUCH better by race day, but I had lost a lot of sleep earlier in the week. I just didn't have the stamina and energy I'd been enjoying in the weeks leading up to the toothache. The race was also held later in the day than Jeff and I tend to run, so the sun was higher in the sky. This made for one hot run! We're still proud that we finished, though, and it was a really fun and different thing to do as a couple. My sister, Becca, also ran, so it was fun hanging out with her before and after the race. She's been at this a lot longer than we have, so we didn't stick together during the race. Anyway, I hope this is the first in a long line of races Jeff and I do together.

Reflections

Nothing makes me feel better than the squeezy hugs and sloppy kisses my kids give me each day. There is nothing more sacred than the love and trust I see in their eyes. There is nothing more awesome nor more terrifying than being the center of an innocent child's world. I feel so blessed and privileged to be a mother to these special children. They are my world!

Adventures in Garage Sale-ing

What's crazier than trying to run a garage sale with two preschoolers? Not much! LOL!

Seriously, we did have a good time doing our garage sale last Friday and Saturday, but I do think I earned a badge in Heat & Humidity Survival and Leah earned her badge in Young Sales-Laydship with the lemonade (and cookie and freezer pop) stand. David earned new pins for a badge he already earned long ago: New and Creative Ways to Make Your Mother's Heart Stop. This mostly had to do with him messing with things he had no business messing with and doing all he could to make sure said item made it almost into the road with him on it/in it. That's David!

Little kids amaze me in their ability to get excited about just about anything. The kids were thrilled to do their lemonade stand, including all of the steps to get it set up and going (they're good cookie baggers). Several people asked them what they were going to spend their money on. This question was generally met with a "deer in the headlights" stare. I'm not sure it had ever occurred to them that they'd get anything out of the stand beyond the joy of serving their customers.

As I mentioned above, Leah was quite the little sales lady. She had no qualms about asking our customers if they would like any cookies or lemonade. After a while, however, she got a little discouraged at hearing so many "no, thanks" (I was a little surprised so many people could resist my sweetheart….), so she got a little too aggressive in her approach for my liking. It was totally cute, but I chose to use it as a lesson in social skills. She took to following people down the driveway and asking if they were sure that they didn't want any lemonade. I'm sure people recognized that she's 4-and-a-half and cut her some slack for that, but I don't want to raise an obnoxious, pushy person, so I gently stepped in. I told her it was fine to ask people once if they'd like anything from the stand, but she needed to wait until they were at least in the vicinity of the stand to ask. Being the intelligent child that she is, she caught on right away. She didn't return to sweetly asking people if they'd like something, though. She took a more manipulative approach; when anyone cared to glance at her or came close to the stand, she'd make sure she said loudly enough to be heard, "Boy, that lemonade sure looks good" or "Man, it's hot out here. I'm thirsty!" or "Cookies are a good treat on a hot day." I couldn't help but giggle. I figured she'd had enough of a social lesson for the day, so I let it slide.

In the end, we did make a little money, and we got rid of some things that have been sitting around for a while, including our air hockey table. We were thrilled to sell it to some friends from church since we know their grandsons will really enjoy playing with it. As I like to tell everyone, it had been relegated to a laundry folding table here. :-/ I cried like a baby after a couple of ladies (one obviously in the third trimester of her pregnancy) bought the kids' Intellitainer (kind of like an exersaucer). I just had to keep reminding myself that we weren't getting rid of it because there will be no more babies in our home. The kids had just worn out the electronic part of it, and it was silly to keep it if we could have something just as good that would take up less space. *sigh*

The weekend would not have been complete if we hadn't taken some time to peruse the other garage sales in the neighborhood. As such, I'm not sure we didn't actually increase the number of toys in our home, but maybe the kids will at least play more with the items they acquired than they did with the things we passed on to someone else. ;-)

It's The Little Things

Many times it is the little things that I find to be most special about the relationship I have with Jeff. A knowing look here, a finished sentence there (although, I'm usually accused of interrupting him!).

One of the things Jeff has done for me over the years is make me various mixes of music. They started off as mix tapes, but we've since moved on to CDs. ;-) One of these mix tapes was actually one of the first gifts he ever gave me when we were dating. We're now approaching 30 of these creative compilations, the most recent of which I just received a couple of weeks ago.

I appreciate how much thought he puts into these projects. It's not simply some of his favorite stuff thrown on a CD. Oh no; nothing of the like would ever satisfy Jeff's appetite for creativity and perfection. He painstakingly creates artwork for each CD, and the music itself adheres to some kind of theme. Recent examples include one on which each song represents a different genre and one on which each song is somehow related to the previous song. The latter was a fun one because I got to try to figure out how each one related to the previous.

Of course, I enjoy the music, and I enjoy getting presents, but the most significant part of it all is how much time and effort he puts into these mix CDs for little, old me. He loves making me smile and laugh. I honestly think some of the best moments in his life have been seeing my face the first time I see what he has made for me, and that makes me feel more loved than probably anything else in the universe.

Mother's Day

I feel blessed every day to be a mother, but it was nice to have a specific reason to celebrate today. The absolute highlight of the day was getting to hear Leah sing in church today. I was afraid she was going to miss the opportunity because she announced that she needed to go to the potty right before (or at least what we thought was right before) the children were supposed to go up for the performance. Thankfully, she said she could wait for a little bit. I normally don't make her wait, but there were clues that she was just bored and trying to get out into the hallway. ;-)

The kids first sang "Mother, I Love You" in Spanish. I know her Spanish wasn't perfect, but Leah sang out loud and strong, without hesitation. The sincere look on her face is one of the most precious things I've ever seen. The children moved on to "Mother, I Love You" in English. Leah didn't miss a beat. The children finished up with "A Child's Prayer." For those unfamiliar with the song, it has two parts. The first part serves as the first verse; the second part serves as the second verse; for the third verse, both parts are sung together (the children's choir split in two groups to do this). This type of song can be challenging for children, but Leah held her own. I could tell she was very focused on singing her part just right. It brought me to tears. I just couldn't believe that I am the mother to such a precious, talented little girl! After the song finished, a lady from two pews back said loud enough for us to hear, "Anna, you have a star there!" I couldn't do anything but giggle at that point because I am so happy to be Leah's mom.

In other Mother's Day news, the kids made me some lovely gifts. One was a flower with a tootsie pop in the middle of it and Leah's little handprint attached to it. Leah informed me that the flower and the handprint were for me, but the candy was for her! :-P David thought the tissue paper flower arrangement he made for me in nursery was a toy for him, so we had a bit of a tantrum on our hands when I explained it wasn't a toy at all. I guess we need to have a little lesson on sacrifice and giving cheerfully! ;-)

Family Activities

I love it that the kids love being involved in our family activities. They cheer when they realize it's Monday, and they get to participate in Family Home Evening. Usually, they get to pick the songs ("Follow the Prophet" and "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" are some favorites) and say the prayers. Leah has even taught the lesson a couple of times (imagine a 4-year-old trying to teach about the Resurrection; it was quite touching, but also quite humorous!). They love to help plant and water the flowers and vegetable garden. David especially loves to help mommy make dinner, and sometimes pulls a few extra ingredients out of the pantry. ;-) It makes me so happy that they love being together as a family. I hope this love runs deep so that it extends later into their childhood and teen years. A girl can dream. ;-)

Anna's Birthday

All four of us had a great time on my birthday. We spent most of the day at Turkey Run State Park, which included a gourmet picnic lunch and hiking. We, of course, had to get Dairy Queen on the way home. We also tried to go to the local zoo, only to be disappointed when we walked through the gates a minute after it closed. Apparently, their evening hours don't start until after Memorial Day. The kids had a great time playing at the huge playground at the park instead. We finished up the day with a delicious meal at Cracker Barrel. I love spending time with my three favorite people!