Love

We had three days of Valentine's Day celebrations with the actual holiday happening on Sunday this year. Friday there were school parties with friends. Saturday there were more friends and a neighborhood bake sale. Today there was us.

What did I get for Valentine's Day?

Little smiles
Giggles
Feet running up and down the hallway over and over and over again (and it's a LONG hallway)
"Mommy" "Mom" and "Ma AHHMMMM"
"What's for breakfast," "Can I have a treat?" and "Cookie? Please cookie."
A brisk walk around the corner to church with a little body tucked into my coat
Tears and clinging fingers at the nursery room door
Dirty diapers
Stories about hearts and valentines, and one about a moon that I can recite from memory
An afternoon nap with Tinker Bell playing in the background
Toys on the floor in every room in the house
Beds made by little hands
Shampoo and Ivory soap
Lavender Lotion

Too many parents have sent their children to Heaven lately.
I'm sorry for them and their loss.
I'm grateful for the time I had with mine today.
They are my LOVES.

Gearing up

Jade's science fair is a little more that two weeks away and her project this year is going to be a GOOD one... stay tuned!

Precious

Sometimes I find myself wishing my kids would hurry and grow up. They require so much. It tries my patience. But then I remind myself what we all hear so much from others, "childhood doesn't last, so enjoy it while you can."

It's good to be reminded about the good in life. My kids... definitely good. Here's a quick taste of what I love about them.

Jade:
She absolutely loves science. She thrills in learning about the world we live in and the creatures that share it with us. Her favorite pastime is reading. So many nights I'll put her to bed only to find her later curled up in front of her night light with a book. The library would be on her top ten list of favorite places to go. She's easily pleased. A cooking lesson with Mom or an outing to the Home Depot with Dad is just as exciting as a trip to an amusement park. She has an AMAZING imagination. She and Logan prefer making up their own games with their toys to watching TV. She LOVES her brother and sister. Whenever she comes home with treats she always offers to share.

Logan:
He has such an infectuous laugh and smile and it doesn't take much to get him to share them. He gets along well with others. He's trustworthy and obedient. He's helpful with Aeris. If I'm teaching piano lessons, he'll take her into her room and play with her. He builds towers with her and reads her stories. He takes time to do his best. Sometimes this means coming home with unfinished papers from school because he wants to make it look just right. He has BEAUTIFUL penmanship! He would rather do just about anything instead of watch TV or movies. He loves to build his own lego creations and train tracks. He loves to eat bread. Sometimes he eats 4-5 pieces in one day. When he wants a snack, that's the first thing he goes after.

Aeris:
It's funny to me how different she is than both her older sister and brother. She definitely came with her own personality. She is an early riser and won't do anything until she's been given her breakfast. She's totally insulted if we try to put her into bed with us. She loves her blankets. Once she found out I was keeping her extra blankets in the closet, she insisted she have them all in her bed to sleep. She can't sleep without her music playing and lotion on her hands. She LOVES lotion! She's my pickiest eater. It's not that she doesn't like to eat, she can probably out eat most toddlers it just has to be what she wants. If it isn't, she won't even touch it. When she gives kisses it has to be one on each cheek. She loves clothes, jewelry, and shoes. She has sharp little mind. She already knows the colors black, white, red, orange, yellow, blue, purple, green, pink, and brown. She can name all the basic shapes. She loves to sing and can copycat a tune she's heard.


I keep a journal for each of my kids, recording everything from big occasions, to the everyday excitement. This wonderful idea came from a dear friend of mine when Jade was a baby. I write in them as often as time permits, hoping someday they'll have fun reading and remembering. I also love to look back. It's easy to see how each child is unique, hitting milestones at their own pace. Eventually I'll include some of these fun memories in their scrapbooks if I can ever find the time to catch them up!

Did you know

Logan just came out of his room. "Mom, I just heard on my radio that someone will clean your drains!"
When you're 5 so many things are exciting!

Feasts, Noise, and Toys

Christmas came and went with its usual excitement. There was plenty of snow, a few parties with friends and family, and pounds of yummy food.


The third grade at Jade's school put on a pirate themed Christmas program before she went off track.
Nate's mom put on a snowman themed party for the kids. They ate gilled cheese sandwiches drank hot cocoa. She gave them each a new pair of pajamas and a bag of goodies to open until Christmas.


We made a trip to Gardner Village to see the elves. We completed a scavenger hunt rewarded by a candy stick at Sweet Afton's and finished off the afternoon with hot soup and bread at the Naborhood Bakery.


Grandma and Grandpa came over for a baking day. So we all donned aprons and broke in the new kitchen.

We spent Christmas Eve at home with Grandma and Grandpa where we enjoyed good music, food, and a few gifts. My mom wrapped up each of our favorite foods and we had fun guessing what it was. The kids left out a plate with Twinkies and a Cherry Coke for Santa and headed to bed. Nate assured them that Santa would enjoy the menu change. For the first time, Logan seemed to really understand what would happen in the morning, and kept peeking out his window hoping to see Santa.

There were a few surprises in the morning. Santa forgot to take the training wheels off of Logan's new bike. It sure did make it easier for him to ride it all over the basement though. It's a whole lot taller than his little 12-incher!

We went to Nate's parents' house in the afternoon where their cousins' puppy was about all the entertainment needed.

Letter to Santa

Well my job is certainly easy this year!

I'll try to be brief

Since it's been a VERY LONG TIME since I've updated this blog and it's not because we haven't been doing anything worth writing about, but rather that we've been so busy that I haven't written, I'm going to make a list of all the noteworthy events in our household.


1. Jade ran in a 1-mile race and won 1st place in her age group, 3rd overall for female racers.


2. We celebrated Halloween with parties, parades, and trick or treating resulting in so much candy that Logan told someone we'd been to every house in the whole world and that he had about a million treats.


3. We closed on our new home.


4. We scrubbed our new home top to bottom and painted the cement basement floor. Now our kids can roller skate down there all winter.


5. We moved into our new home.


6. We enrolled Logan at his new elementary school.


7. We unpacked and put our house together in less than a week. I can't stand to live in disorder.


8. I started teaching piano lessons again.

9. We put a water softener into our new home. Hard water is the WORST!!! I've used a TON of Lime Away and haven't even made a dent in some of the hard water build up on the counters and in the master shower. The toilets and sinks are clean, thanks to a pumice stone.


10. My grandmother passed away peacefully at 90 years old... the last of my grandparents.




10. We enjoyed visits from all of my siblings who came into town from out of state for the funeral.



11. We celebrated Thanksgiving with visits to Nate's parents' house and mine. It was nice to visit my parents' house without all of our stuff cluttering it up! Aeris really misses them and she was so thrilled to be there that I let her skip her nap.

12. We decorated for Christmas. The last few years, I've struggled to find space for all my decorations, and now it feels like I don't have quite enough. I LOVE THIS HOUSE!!!


So that brings us to today, where we are trying to create some routine after a pretty crazy year. I hope it won't be so long before you hear from me again.