a conversation important enough for me to post :)

My little boy tells me at least five times a week that he's going to marry me.  It is one of the sweetest things he says to me.  Having two baby girls before him, I was familiar with being told I would one day have to share my husband and I never imagined then that the most handsome little boy I have ever laid eyes on would want me for his wife.  Me?  His old, nagging mother who tells him NO about 500 hundred times a day.  He wants me!  Well, me, with a few tweaks.  The proof:

Levi - I'm gonna marry you, Mommy!
me - Oh, good, Levi!  I'm glad you want to marry me.
Levi - But, I'll only marry you if you have blonde hair and curly hair.
me - Levi, I don't have blonde hair or curly hair.
Levi - Well, then I can't marry you.  If you change your hair to blonde hair and curly hair, I'll marry you though!

I knew he wouldn't want to marry me forever.  I just never guessed it would be for that reason.  The up side is it looks like I'll be getting some cutie blonde, curly-haired grandkids from my little boy! :)

The Kitchen Table's Best Use

One of Levi's favorite things to do is move all the chairs away from our kitchen table to play trains.  He happily reenacts daring rescues from Misty Island or Hero of the Rails sans tracks.

Other times, he lines trains up with their tenders grouping them according to their "families".  I bet you didn't realize that James is a Mommy and his her daughter is Emily.  Do little boys without older sisters bring Family into train play?

Maybe the fruit bowl is Time-Out?!

When Levi is home with me, he could spend hours at the kitchen table.  But, when Daddy's home, he prefers to set up the tracks on the living room floor and have Daddy watch him run his little trains around.  Daddy better not get caught sneaking a peek at the tv when he's supposed to be watching Levi play with his trains.  He will get a swift reprimand by our 3 year old!

First Day of School 2011

The girls started school on Monday.  Addison is in 3rd grade and Libby is in 1st grade.  Amazing!  Where did the time go??!  They both love their new teachers and are getting to know new friends. Homework hasn't really started, so we'll see if they change their tunes once that gets going :)

Of course, I couldn't snap pics of the girls without Brother jumping in front of the camera!  Levi will start preschool in a couple weeks, so I'll post his first day pic then.

A note about Levi's clothes:  He picked them out himself, which is unusual.  While My Boy never complains when I pick out his clothes/dress him, he whines if he's expected to do either of those things!  What a change from 3 year old little girls!  I don't want to completely corrupt him, so I am making him pick out his own clothes and dress himself these days.  Yesterday he wore his too-short Wranglers with an old t-shirt and flip-flops and wouldn't heed my advice about shorts, (I mean, why should he?  It's only been getting up to 105*/106* this week!) so he proceeded to whine most of his ride in the jogging stroller on my 4 mile run.  Amen for an Ipod and earbuds :)

Quotes heard around Disneyland

Pappa: Ethan tell me about that plane ride!
Ethan: You were on it!

Pappa: Levi did you shave this morning?
Levi: No I didn't! I just don't have mustaches! [I wasn't there, but I would bet he had both his arms out to the side with his palms facing up as he was saying this!]

Libby: I wanna ride on a miracle round!

Levi: Don't tell anyone that we're having snakes for breakfast!  [Can't remember the explanation for this one...I'm thinking they had milkshakes for breakfast??]

Rachel: (driving down freeway) This doesn't look like Disneyland to me...

Ethan: I'm so hungry I'm gonna die.
Addison: Ok then, die.

E: One time I held a chick at school.
A: One time I held a bunny.
R: Boooooring.

Libby: One time daddy threw a rock at a bird and hit it's tail and hurt it and I tried to make it better but it just flew away.
Addi: And now Levi won't stop calling daddy a murderer.

Libby: One time at school, an earthworm crawled in my pants. But it didn't crawl in my panties. It held up my panties with it's mouth. And then it crawled out of my pants and we threw them away because they had earthworm stuff on them. And then I almost stepped on Ms. wormy. That's what I named her.  [No explanation for this one either!]

R: (the weenie falls out of her corn dog) Awwwww man! But at least I can use it as a telescope!

A: We're going to burn a lot of calories today!!

Libby: Disneyland is not like I thought it would be.
Kelsi: How did you think it would be?
Libby: Like...lots of fun. [Classic Libby!]

A: Kelsi, I think you're going to be a good mommy. [ :) ]

Libby: This is making me seasick! I really really like it!

Libby: There's blood on my ear. And I know it's not ketchup. How would I get ketchup on my ear?

Libby: Ethan, did you know that Rachel is crazy?
E: Yup!

Libby: I wanna ride the rabbits! [rapids]



Bryan's parents took the kids to Disneyland with their two cousins, Ethan and Rachel, and with help from B's cousin, Kelsi.  *Everyday, I hear how they want to go back :)  Kelsi recorded funny things she heard and sent a lot of picture texts.  That combined with the detailed descriptions we got from Addi made it seem like we were there.  Only, we didn't have to wait in any lines.  Sweet!

San Francisco on my mind...

We've been home from CA less than 2 weeks and I'm ready to move there :)  The weather was amazing!  I was wearing a jacket 90% of the time.  And, sometimes I was still shivering!


I think Texans like to pretend the heat really isn't all that oppressive.  At least, we pretend for non-Texans who always find out you're from Texas and automatically talk about the uglinessflatness, the lack of trees and/or the heat.  But, really, it's bad.  This summer has certainly been the worst since we've been back, if not the worst in my memory.  We're 40+ for how many days in a row we've hit triple digits.  Plus, we haven't had a drop in rain in probably longer than that.  Our flower beds have never looked worse :)  


Anyway, the clouds rolled in this afternoon.  I hear thunder, but no rain, yet.  I've got the girls doing their rain dances :)  Not really, but we've certainly prayed for just a little relief.


We were out this morning and you could feel the extra humidity hanging in the air.  The temperature was getting up there, but hadn't reached 100*.   I'm not sure if we made it there yet today because now it's in the 80s.  I was so excited when I saw that!  Until, I saw the predicted temp change between 3 and 4 o'clock today.  Oh, well, I guess I shouldn't complain about the little relief we're getting now.  In fact, I should be outside enjoying it!

Thu
Aug 11

2 pm

82° F

Precip:
50%

3 pm

84° F

Precip:
65%

4 pm

102° F

Precip:
20%

5 pm

101° F

Precip:
10%

6 pm

101° F

Precip:
10%

7 pm

100° F

Precip:
10%

8 pm

98° F

Precip:
10%

9 pm

95° F

Precip:
10%

Boogers

(more icky boy-stuff...or maybe this is kid-stuff, 'cause while this incident did not occur exactly the same way with the girls, similar ones did)


Set-up:  Since I have a ton of things to accomplish today, I decided I'd waste a little time rearranging my dining room. 


Levi walked in and I asked him if he liked the [table] lamp where I'd moved it. (Just like a boy, he looked up at the ceiling and said, "Oh, the kitchen lamp is in the dining room!  How'd you do it, Mom??!")  


I pointed to the lamp to explain and walked out of the room to start lunch.  A few seconds later, he comes running into the kitchen and very excitedly tells me, "I wiped TWO boogers on the wall!"


Sure enough, he showed me exactly where TWO dragon boogers sat smooshed on a wall in our entry-way.


So, I had to add, "Please, don't wipe your boogers on anything" to "Please, don't pee on anyone and only spit when you are outside away from people.  Oh, and, if you insist on pee-ing in the backyard, keep it to the grass and leave the trampoline and patio unmarked."

Is there a difference?

When I am out with my 3, I cannot tell you how often I'm asked if I have already noticed a difference in boys and girls.  Aside from the obvious gender differences noticeable from birth, we didn't notice any thing for a while.  I mean, a baby's a baby.  Especially, newborn babies.  Within the first half-year of Levi's life and the onset of his personality, we noticed behaviors not exhibited by our girls.  As he grew older, his boy-ish-ness increased.  And then, today...today, well,  he urinated on his sister.

He wasn't trying to be gross.  He thought he was being funny.  In fact, he told on himself.  Apparently, he and Libby were running around playing some game doubtlessly imagined and thoroughly explained by Libs.  She may have even said something to the effect of, "If you don't _______, I won't be your friend!" (She's such a girl!)  And, Levi, being the boy he is, decided to take it up a notch by claiming he was gonna pee all over her.  If that wasn't enough, he decided he'd really up the ante by actually doing it!  He pee'd all over Libby's clothes, his swimsuit, the carpet, and, (the whole reason he told on himself-what bothered him about the whole thing) his own leg.  Disgusting.

So, yes, there is a difference.  And, yes, we've already noticed the difference between our son and our daughters.

Pictures?

I'm going to attempt to get back to this blogging-thing again.  No promises.  I've wanted to for a while, but I think my pride's been keeping me away.  What if I make the claim that I'm back and then I fail?!  Then I realized that anyone who ever read this blog has given up all hope that I'll ever return, so I'm only really letting myself down if I don't keep the blogging up :)

I was going to add some pics from the last day of school...maybe even comparisons from the first day to the last day to see how much older my girlies looked, but then I had to google our blog address (wow, if that's not a clue that I've been away to long... really, it's because we got a new computer and I don't have my bookmarks on it) and all these past pictures of my kids came up as saved by other people.  What??!  I didn't investigate too much, mainly 'cause I'm a little freaked out about it.  It's probably no big deal.  I do have a big imagination.  (Just ask Mr. Parker about that!)  But, I don't know.  I'll check it out a little more and talk to Bryan before I post any more pictures.  Whew!  My writing is gonna have to get a lot more interesting if I'm not gonna be posting any more pictures! :)

So, a quick recap of the end of the school year and our summer, so far.

 Addison finished 2nd grade and I truly think that's the end of my denial that she's growing up.  She keeps talking about being a 3rd grader now - Not so fast, Addi!

Reagan (if she was reading this, she'd roll her eyes and remind me, "It's LIBBY!") finished kindergarten and is happy to have some time off.  She's a young one with her August birthday and kindergarten was a little more trying for her than it was for Addi.  She ended up doing well, but, man, was she ever tired at the end of school days.

Addi is such a first-born, over-achieving, perfectionist that school has been truly stimulating for her.  Libby is not a first-born, obviously.  She over-achieves at anything social.  I have seen some perfectionist tendencies lately, when it comes to accessorizing her outfits.  I'm only sort-of joking.  Actually, Libby is Libby.  She's go-with-the-flow, loves to be with people, is always ready for fun, enjoys any activity, if it is her idea (stubborn?), and is passionate.  I did notice over Spring Break, she started asking how many more days until she got to go back to school because she missed her teacher and her friends.  Any break before that was met with resistance the night before it ended.

Addison had such a neat group in her class this year.  I so hope she gets to have several of them in her class again next year.  The girls school is busting at the seams.  This is  the case with every school in this growing city where we live.  I did see today where they've broken ground on a new elementary school in our neighborhood (it's less than a mile from our house/our school), so that will take some of the pressure off our school, but it won't be ready this school year.  In the meantime, our school has added 2 new portable classrooms this summer.  All that to say, there are usually 7 classes of each grade.  Or, at least that's been the case since Addison's kinder year.  So, she only had 1 kid in 1st grade that she'd had in kinder and 2 this year from her 1st grade class.  On one hand, it's nice because she gets to know so many kids, but she's heartbroken when one of her best friends is in a different class.

Libby's best friend changed every other day, so she'll be fine.  I do hope she gets a couple of the "sweeter" girls in her 1st grade class, just because she'll be more comfortable the first week.  But, it won't be a big deal to her after the first 20 minutes of the first day if she doesn't know a soul in her class.

Both girls did gymnastics and soccer this past year.  Addison took gymnastics classes the entire year, but I made Libby give up gymnastics during the Fall soccer season.  I just didn't know if it would all be too much after spending her days at school.  It would've been.  She could've come home every day during the first 2 9-week periods and taken a nap.  Addi wasn't interested in soccer until she saw Libby playing, so she started in the Spring.  Levi also took Mommy-and-Me gymnastics this past year and has just started an independent class this summer.  He loves it!  He just loves expending energy :)  The girls gave up gymnastics for the summer.  Addison says she wants to go back once school starts, but Libby wants to do cheerleading, tap, and ballet :)  They'll both be back in soccer (as much as I'm dreading Saturdays full of soccer games!)  At least I'll just have to worry about 2 games this season, even though B would love for us to also sign Levi up.  He's old enough, but I'm already crazy without adding another soccer practice a week and another game on Saturdays.  I don't think he'll be too behind waiting to start until he's 4!

June has been pretty busy for us.  We spent one week with both girls in soccer camp, Levi in swim lessons, and then vbs at night.  The next week just held swim lessons for Levi and this week the girls have had their swim lessons.  Yes, I know we have an 8 year old in swim lessons.  That we paid for!  She begged and now regrets it because she's bored.  But, it's been kind of good for Libby because I insisted they be in the same class, so it's them with another little boy and Libby is really having to step it up in the class.  The boy is 7 and Addi is a really good swimmer (she better be since she's taken swim lessons for 6 summers!), so she's always the "example".  I fought her about taking swim lessons last year and then it happened again this year.  She only won because she got B on her side :)  I don't forsee having to argue about it next year.  We have next week off and then Levi has one more week of lessons. I'm thinking next year, we might get away with no lessons for any of them!

Alright, only time will tell when I'll be back with another post.  Hopefully a better formatted post with pictures!  If I don't post before, have a great 4th of July!  We've got a baseball game, picnic, and fireworks all planned for the long weekend.  Can't wait!

Nice and Shiny Armor

{a paraphase of a conversation from a couple weeks back about Halloween and between all 5 of us}

Libby  I want to be a princess for Halloween this year.  Or a fairy!
Addi  You always want to be a princess or a fairy!
Levi [jumping in place and yelling - his normal method of communication]  I want to be a nice and shiny armor!
me  What??!
Bryan  [laughing 'cause he got it]
Levi [at the same time as the girls]  A Nice And Shiny Armor!
[while both girls]  He's talking about a knight in shining armor!

I think he picked it up from Tangled?!

Spark-ly

Miss Libby was given a "You Sparkle" award at school this week.  Her teacher nominated her because "she is always there to be a friend".  We will be at the assembly this week to watch her walk up on stage in recognition for her award and Bryan and I couldn't be prouder of her!

Here's our little Sparkler perfecting her latest goofy face.  She was delighted that I caught her crossed eyes after only the third attempt :)

Levi, again

*So, I really had intentions of turning this whole blog-pause around.  I have a million excuses as to why posting is not happening (who doesn't?), but why bore you with everyday details?  Instead I'll just write down a somewhat worrisome conversation I had a few minutes ago with my little boy. 

Background first - he'd begged me all morning to set up this race track that Libby got for her birthday a few years ago and never plays with anymore.  I thought it was basically set up in the box, so I told him that I'd get it out for him as soon as we got home from gymnastics.  But, I didn't think about the errands I needed to run before we headed home and how late it would be by the time we finally made it home.  I also didn't realize the track was completely taken apart and the instructions were long gone.  Here's how it went down.

We walk in the door and Levi reminds me of my promise.  I tell him, as we walk up the stairs, that he can play with it while I fix his lunch and then he'll have to eat and take a nap.  He's a-okay with that plan.  (Of course he is before I've actually implemented the parts of the plan he won't like: eat and take a nap.)  Once I realize the track is in pieces and I've no idea how to make it a workable track again, I tell him I'm going to make his lunch and then set it up while he's eating so he can play with it for just a little while before he goes down for a nap.  I'm sure you can imagine the drama I got from that idea.  I did win the argument though and it wasn't long before he was trying to play with the track.  I say trying because there was about as many pieces left over as put together, so it wasn't too stable.  So, finally I made him quit playing and took him upstairs for naptime.  As I'm getting him ready he tells me,"When Daddy gets home from work, he can fix the track and then he can be the yellow car and I'll be the green car and we can RACE!"  I said, "Would you let me play with y'all too?"  He responds, "No, you can fix Daddy lunch.  I think he'll be hungry."

I think my 3-year-old is a male chauvinist and I'm not sure what to do about it!

At 2

Levi is two for about 25 more hours.  Unless God has some other plans, this will be the last 25 hours of a two year old living in my home.  It makes me sad.  He's growing into a little boy more and more each day.

I love that he communicates so well, except when he won't stop talking for even 30 seconds!  I love that he is potty trained, except for when he sleeps and apparently wouldn't wake up (or care?) if he was floating in urine.  I love that he wants to do everything his sisters do, except when it's something too old for a two year old to be doing like asking to play games on my phone and telling me we should go to Sonic and "get a coke". 

Today I asked him a few questions to get a glimpse of the Two-Year-Old Levi.

me  Levi, how old are you?
ldp 2.  I'm 2, Mom.  I'm 2, MOM!

me  What's your favorite color?
ldp Puhple!  I told you...puhple!  *It's been green forever, but he told me last night he wanted to paint his room purple ;)

me  What's your favorite food, Levi?
ldp Orange!  Mmmhmmm.  No!  Crackers!

me  Who's your favorite person?
ldp Zoe because she sees me and says, {in a high-pitched squeak} "Oh there's Levi.  He's my favorite friend to play with.   Come play with me, Levi!"

me But Zoe is a dog.  Who is your favorite person?
ldp {silence, taps on chin}
me {whispering} Mommy?
ldp Yeah!  Mommy!

me  What's your favorite thing to do at gymnastics?
ldp Jump on the trampoline!

me  What are you going to be when you grow up?
ldp A cow!  But, who will be the farmer to feed all the farm animals?

me  When's your birthday, Levi?
ldp March 4th.  It's soon!  I'm excited!

At last! A new post!

I wish I had a great excuse for not posting in almost 4 months, but I really don't.  Thankfully, we are all fine.  We haven't moved or gotten pregnant or given birth or changed jobs or experienced any other major life event that might keep me from posting.  We've just been experiencing life.  I'm actually probably, on average,  busier now than I was in the last 4 months.  But, I would like to do a better job of keeping up with our blog and, for that reason alone, I decided to post something today.  I think I'll even be back later with some pictures.  And, I might even be back tomorrow because we have a very important birthday happening tomorrow - my Baby's turning 3!

You're the reason God made Oklahoma

Oklahoma gets a bad rap,  I think.  Sure, it can be windy and dusty and HOT and COLD and full of red dirt and flat.  (Hey, sounds almost just like North Texas :)  But, there are parts of OK that are, well, okay.  Better than okay, really.  There are beautiful parts of Oklahoma. 

We lived in Lawton when Bryan was stationed at Ft. Sill.  Now, Lawton is an Army town.  While it's the only military town I've ever lived in, it's not the only one I've visited, so I think I can generally describe military towns.  They aren't beautiful or fancy or cheerful.  They can be so run-down parts of them are scary.  Most everyone shares a common bond...service to our country...current or past.  No one really puts down roots.  Businesses, like the residents, are somewhat transient.  Businesses that do well are barber shops, dry cleaners, pawn shops, used car lots, and Wal-Mart.  I don't think in our 4+ years in Lawton we ever saw any of those close down.  Many homes look old beyond their years.  It isn't that no one cares.  It's just that homes change owners/renters every few years and many times residents aren't actually occupying their homes much.

Of course, there are good parts of Lawton/Ft. Sill:  the people, many of the restaurants, the memories, it's close to TX(!), the ability to be on Post each evening as the Flag is taken down, the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.  The Refuge is just beautiful.  And, it's not flat! 

All that to say, sometimes I miss Oklahoma.  I am thankful for Oklahoma and for my time there.  I was priviliged to experience life in the military in Oklahoma and I was priviliged to become a mother in Oklahoma.  Those two events probably contributed most to molding me into the person I am today.  Oklahoma is indeed dear to this Texan's heart!

Today, as our little Okie turns 8, I am so thankful God made Oklahoma!  You see, I do believe God has a plan for everyone and I believe God made Oklahoma for me to birth our sweet, loving, beautiful little first born.  Most family members, and even we, were skeptical about delivering an Oklahoma-born child a mere 40 miles from the Texas border.  We may or may not have even inquired into insurance coverage if we had happened to be at the Target in Wichita Falls, TX when a fast and furious labor began.  However, neither the birth location change nor the fast labor was to be.

Looking back over these 8 years, I wouldn't have changed a thing.  Well, maybe I would've had Addison pick up the pace a bit or had someone anyone figure out she had twisted her little self around so she could have a peek at all those faces as she was forcep-ed out of my loins before it was too late to do anything about it other than grab some huge salad tongs and use them to pry my sweet baby out of my birth canal. (tmi much?)  Okay, so I wouldn't change much.  I certainly wouldn't change the location of her birth.  As much as I love Texas, I wouldn't change that she identifies herself as an Oklahoman and a Texan, and probably a North Carolinian too. :)

Addi's an Okie.  It's part of who she is.  She's fiercely loyal to her birth state, even after only visiting once since we moved away soon after her first birthday.  Some might even find her description of Oklahoma to be exotic.  Her favoritism of Oklahoma is just a part of who she is though.  She is also so kind and loving and funny and clever and thoughtful and sensitive and dependable and stubborn and dramatic and easily embarrassed.  She is a perfectly placed member of our family.

I love you, Addi Pie.  Happy Birthday!  You are my reason God made Oklahoma. ;)

on potty training

Potty training and I are not friends!  I used to say it was the worst thing I'd had to deal with in parenting up until now.  I'm not sure that's true anymore.  (I think sending my babies off to school and missing them so much for so much of the day is way worse than potty training.  But, of course, I used to make that oh-so-wise statement before I had any school-aged children.)

I don't know if it's because I've done it a couple times before or because of the gender difference, but Levi has been a piece of cake compared to his sisters.  Most likely, it's a little of both.  Or maybe it's because my worst-parenting-issue-to-deal-with-up-to-now has changed and potty training now seems like small potatoes.

We're a few weeks in and he's still going strong.  Pee-ing came pretty naturally to him.  Maybe I should clarify, standing up to pee in the potty and then pee-ing again all over the bed while sleeping came naturally to him.  Oh, and, of course stripping down and pee-ing all over the trampoline while his sisters squealed came naturally to him. 

I used diapers/pull-ups while Addison was sleeping when I trained her, but I went straight to panties 24/7 when I trained Libby.  It seemed like Addi's training dragged on and on and on.  So, after we got past Libby's extreme stubborness, the initial training was much easier with her.  Of course, she's Busy, so we went through years (still going through?) of her not wanting to stop whatever she was doing to go potty and then not being able to make it in time.  I opted to go the no diaper/pull-up route with Levi.  The problem was ("See, the problem is..."Makes no sense to anyone, but B :) he never woke when he went in the bed.  And, then when he woke from his nap or in the morning and he was soaked (and sometimes dirty), it didn't bother him!  Not one bit!  In fact, sometimes he would argue and whine while I stripped him down and cleaned him up. 

Finally, this week, I'd had enough.  Enough changing clothes and sheets 3 times a day and enough laundry!  I had two diapers left and I stuck one on him Monday night.  The other one was used during naptime on Tuesday.  We made a quick trip to Target to buy our last (fingers crossed) box of diapers and he's set for a while.  I was so afraid I'd get him "hooked" on diapers again.  It doesn't look that way, but we're only a few days in.  And, you know, it will still be years before he starts sleeping over with friends, so as long as he's out of diapers by then, I think it's fine. 

The moral of this story:  each child is truely unique and what you do for one, you really can't do for all!  Mothering sure would be easier if you could treat them all the same, but it wouldn't be nearly as interesting :)

clutter on the fridge

See the purple paper on our fridge?  It's new there. 

Addi met me with a huge smile on her face yesterday afternoon and a hushed, "I have something to tell you, but I'm not sayin' until we get home!" About 5 steps later she broke down and told me she'd earned a You Sparkle!  She'd picked to surprise me after school rather than let the vice principal call me during the day.  It's been super-busy for B at work, so he wasn't able to see her on stage at the assembly this morning, but the rest of the 5 Texans were there beaming.

Her teacher wrote that she was always kind, respectful, and could be counted on to lead.  Of course, I know those things, but it's always nice to hear how she's acting when I'm not around.

In other Addison news, she got her first official progress report with real number grades.  She's doing her best work and learning a lot.  Bryan and I couldn't be more pleased!  Now if I could figure out how to make sure she keeps earning these same grades through high school, we wouldn't have to worry about saving for college for her :)

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History

One HOT day this summer, the 3 and I met Ethan, Rachel and Aunt Lisa at the Museum of Science and History in Fort Worth. The kids had never been before and it had been many years since I'd been. While it's a little expensive, it was a great experience. Thankfully, Levi was free and we were able to use 2 of the Aunt Lisa's passes, so I only had to buy 1 admission. We also bought tickets for a movie in the planetarium. My kids still talk about that movie!

Around lunchtime, we headed for McDonalds. Then we went back for a little more fun, including digging for fossils. We let the kids play (in their clothes!) in the fountain before we left. I think Levi's wondering what his silly sisters and cousins are doing while they posed for the picture below. :)

R I - part 2

My sweet Addison left me a surprise on the first day of school. After I got home from dropping the girls off, I found this note she'd snuck by my coffee. I love, love, love my seven year old!


Things to notice (aka things that make me smile since I get to be her mom):

1. the correct date written in the correct form
2. the comma between "Dear" and "Mommy"
3. the transposal of letters in "shcool"
4. and, of course "thang"!

She is a dear child and I am blessed. I think I'll go write her note and stick it on her pillow for her to find after shcoolschool ;)

resolving issues - part 1

Since I can't seem to post anything these days, I thought I'd start with a babystep. This morning, I actually uploaded pics from my camera to my computer. Wow! That was a tad overwhelming. I'd completely forgotten about things we did this summer I've yet to blog. So, this will be the first of whoknowshowmany posts devoted to catching up. I haven't decided the order: chronological from most recent, chronological from least recent, or willy-nilly. I'm sure you have your guesses ;) Anyway, today, we'll start with the most recent event in the 5 Texans household. Libby has started soccer. Her team is the Lightning Bugs and her coach is her daddy. We had a total of 2 practices before the first game this past Saturday and now that we had another game last night, we're 2 for 2 ! We can thank Hermine for our lack of practices. Not that I'm complaining about rain.

Things have run pretty smoothly, thanks to an awesome team manager the Lightning Bugs were lucky enough to acquire. Right, B?! Now I'm starting rumors! I've actually done very little work. Bryan's been the workhorse. If you have a child in sports with a volunteer coach, you need to thank that coach. There is a lot of behind the scenes time spent on coaching. All the little girls adore him and, besides all the crying, I think I can safely speak for him when I say he is absolutely enjoying coaching 4 and 5 year old little girls.

Here are some pics from the first 2 games where we smeared the other teams! Not really, there's no score keeping, except by older sisters and brothers.



That's out little #2 warming up. (Okay, I just got the potty-humor as I typed it!)

I only added this pic because, if you look closely, you'll see one of the two girls who are talking instead of paying attention to the ball! is none other than our sweet (social) Libby Lu!

It's week 3 of the school year

and we're surviving.

Here's the breakdown:
Addi(son) is still her name, but this year she has another Addison in her class, so she goes by Addi at school. In the past, about half her friends and teachers called her Addi anyway. She was created to go to school...always wanting to please, always trying her best, always disappointed if she didn't do as well as she'd hoped, obedient, thoughtful, cooperative, happy, rule-following to the letter, excited to work on homework, thrilled to see friends, fiercely loyal to every teacher that's ever taught her. She is the model Responsible, Respectful, and Ready to Learn student her school expects. She's still going strong in gymnastics and recently moved to a more challenging class. Our living room is still her makeshift gym! Addison's my child who would like to sleep in and has had trouble waking with a pleasant attitude in past years. So far, this year has been different. She's usually up before I even stumble up the stairs to wake her. In fact, this morning, she had Levi dressed and his bed made before I rolled out of bed. Addi relishes her new responsibility that includes picking Libby up from a designated area after school and then walking out with her to meet Levi and me. Second grade may be her best year yet!

Libby is her name of choice in kindergarten. Although she still answers to Reagan or any of her nicknames without complaint! If she could really have her way, she'd be called Elizabeth because she claims she was named after Queen Elizabeth! I wonder if the real Elizabeth she was named after realizes Libby thinks she's a queen?! Honestly, I'm not really sure how she's doing in kindergarten. I know she is beyond tired and is a tad cranky. By tad, I actually mean ton! I think by the time 3 o'clock rolls around she's done. She's had it. She doesn't even want to think about school, much less answer any of my questions about it. Socially, she's great. Libby is not my shy child. She was stressed out that she'd get her folder signed, but I think we've calmed her down. She did tell me a few days after school started she finally had kindergarten figured out. "It goes, 'Blah, blah, blah', go to playground, 'blah blah', go to lunch, 'blah, blah, blah', bathroom, rest time, 'blah, blah', snack, 'blah, blah, blah', go home." As emotional as Libs is, she really hides her feelings. On any walk home from school she can be all over the place with her emotions, but when we make it home, I still have no clue why she was excited and then crying and then laughing and then pouting. I'm chalking up most of this to being overly tired. Hopefully her little body will adjust in a few weeks. I am doubting our decision to start her a mere 5 days after she turned 5. There's nothing to be done about it now, but stick it out and see how she does. I'll be anxious to talk with her teacher at conference day in October. The good news is she's her old self on the weekends! We just have to get through 5 days to see the real Libby for 2 days! Libby stopped gymnastics for a few months because she wanted to try soccer. Bryan is her coach and she's having a great time so far even though every practice but one has been rained out! We have another practice scheduled for tonight and her first game is Saturday. That should be interesting :)

Levi is much better than he was the first week of school. He understands now that we pick "his girls" up after his nap. Usually the first thing he utters after I wake him is "we go pick up my girls now after nap!" He is delighted to see them! One day he even let Addi hold him like a baby for a good 30 minutes. She sat in a comfy chair and sang to him while he stared at her and was perfectly still. He's settling into a routine of taking the girls to school and coming home to watch Clifford. Most days we take a walk and some days we have to run errands, which is torture on both of us. I wouldn't hesistate in taking both girls on errands rather than just him! Both girls and Bryan. We I took Levi out of preschool for this year. I really enjoy having him around and he's got enough social interaction through sisters, church, and playgroups for now. I'm starting to wonder if I'll put him in preschool at all. I really don't think it's necessary. My tune could drastically change in the next year though. And, part of this rebellion may be aimed toward new teaching standards in public school kindergarten. But, that's a whole other can of worms. I think it will be good year for Levi and me. He is already telling me, "You're bootiful!" How could it not be a good year :)