An Update

So yet again, time seems to pass too quickly for me to take the few moments to sit down and type out a post about one of the many many things that I think each day would make a great blog post. To my defense, life has been very very busy and exhausting lately. I'm continually hopeful it will slow down, but as usual, the pace only seems to gradually be picking up. I've got no idea how parents with four or five or more older kids keep up with all that must be on their schedules. I'm having trouble keeping up with two and one is still in preschool!

One of my recent, and on-going, adventures involves the preschool we attend. This year I am serving as the admissions officer and have been spending a lot of time on the phone and at the school answering questions, giving tours, and basically being a full-time cheerleader for the preschool. Which I love doing. It's been a lot of fun to meet new families and convince them as to why the school would be a great fit for them. We had our open house last week, which is when we open up registration to new families for next year. I had been hoping that my role would slow down after that night, but no such luck! Now we get to follow up with everyone who has applied and start the paperwork process required to get all the kids enrolled for next year. Oh, what fun! It is truly fun and I have enjoyed it, but it has taken up more time than I had expected.

The kids have also been busy bees. Swimming, gymnastics, playdates, and various princess parties have overtaken Kara's quite busy social calendar, in addition to her 3 mornings of preschool each week. John is keeping busy with schoolwork, sports activities, ice skating, losing teeth, and dressing up as Thing 1 for Dr. Seuss's birthday last week. He's reading like crazy and has recently started getting an allowance. We'll see if the money goes towards a sports item or a new book. He's also continuing to challenge himself with new math skills. They're both growing like weeds and already are looking forward to all kinds of adventures this summer.

With the warmer weather we've started getting out and about. Seeing neighbors emerging after the super-cold winter we've had is nothing short of wonderful. All the kids have grown, lost teeth, gotten a new baby sibling, or had other adventures they're dying to share with each other. It's a fun time of year and we're so ready to embrace it.

Speaking of which, I think it's time for me to get to the bus stop! Hopefully I'll post again soon...but if I don't, you can probably find me at the playground instead. ;-)

Another Week of Firsts

So last week was a big first - John starting kindergarten. This week was also full of firsts for us....

1. Kara's first day of preschool - went GREAT and she loved it. (and I loved it too!)
2. Kara's first day of ballet - also went GREAT and couldn't have been cuter.
3. First (of many) Back-to-School Nights for Matt and I - we enjoyed it and learned a lot about what John's days are like and are looking forward to a great school year for John.
4. First time I had to talk with John about bullies. A bus-ride incident with a neighbor kid resulted in a big conversation that I wasn't really ready to have so soon into school. But all seems to be okay for now.
5. First time John cried when the bus came. Wednesday morning, out of the blue, he cried when the bus pulled up that he didn't want to go to school. After so much excitement about school, I was baffled. Got in the car, drove to school instead, and all was better...for now. Today again had a bit of hesitation, but no tears, and got on the bus without a problem.
6. First preschool board meeting of the year for me - oh joy....
7. First drop-off birthday party that John will be going to (tomorrow) - should be a lot of fun. Matt's going to do a Daddy-daughter activity, so I'll get an hour and a half to myself on a Saturday morning. Ahhhhhh...Not sure what to do, but I'll enjoy it!

Anyway, you get the point. It's been a crazy, stressful, and fun week around here. But we're all really wiped out. The weekend ahead is almost as busy and will undoubtedly be fun, but I'm having a bit of trouble gearing up the energy for it! Thus my mantra right now is Power Through!!!!

And We're Off...

The first week of school has been a true success. Besides some issues with the bus schedule that seem to be working out gradually, everything has gone very smoothly. And John couldn't be more happy. While walking home from the bus on Tuesday afternoon, I asked him the standard, "So, what did you do today at school?" His response - "I'm so excited about going back tomorrow, that I can't even talk about today." What pure joy! It didn't give me the slightest clue into what had happened during the almost 7 hour school day, but it let me know that he was happy and had a great time at school. Any worries or concerns I might have had about things were quickly dissolved with his enthusiasm. The last two days after school, he's given me the same response, so I'm gathering that things are continuing in the same happy trend for him during the day.

I am glad to know that we will have a chance to get more of a glimpse into his daily life next week, when Matt and I get to go to Back-to-School Night. We'll get to meet his teacher (again), and explore the classroom, and hear from her more about what kindergarten life is really like. But until then, I'm just thrilled that he's having fun and enjoying his days at school. How cool is that?

The BIG Day

So our world is going to change tomorrow. Not only is summer officially over, but my oldest child goes out into the world, gets on a big yellow school bus, and goes to kindergarten. I knew the day would come, yearned for it even. But now it's looming over me like a dark cloud and I'm not particularly thrilled with it.

He's totally ready for this step. If he had to spend another week at home with me and his little sister, I think we'd all go nuts. He's ready for a schedule again, ready for new learning opportunities, ready to see some friends, and ready for everything else that goes along with this step.

Me? I thought I was ready. Maybe I convinced myself that I was ages ago, so that when the time came I would have brainwashed myself into believing it wouldn't be so hard. I was wrong or maybe I didn't do a good enough job with the brainwashing. I'm a mess inside today. Mostly I'm proud - proud of my son, who is strong, confident, caring, and sweet. But part of me is also nervous - nervous for all the changes that come with entering elementary school - all the social upheaval that we're heading into, all the many things that he'll be exposed to on the bus and in school with kids that are so much older than him. He's still my little guy and I hope he'll always be that for me. He's still so young and innocent (mostly). But that will change tomorrow when he gets on that bus. It may not be an instant change, but it will gradually shift for him and for us. I guess I am ready for the academic challenges of kindergarten, but not so much for the social challenges.

John is a great kid and I can't imagine him being any more ready for this step, but I just wish I felt more ready. Although truly, I'm not sure I'll ever be fully ready to let go. Fortunately the time comes regardless of my readiness.

Always Learning

One lesson I've learned during my parenting years is that if you pay attention, you can learn something from your kids every day. Some days I learn multiple things, other days I learn one thing, but maybe it's a big one. Today was a big day for learning around here. Time will tell what the kids came away with after today. All I know right now, tonight, is that my kids taught me two big lessons today.

1. Kara had a horribly cranky, fussy, grumpy day. Starting at the moment I walked into her room this morning to get her out of the crib (she just grunted and didn't want to be touched, but also didn't want me to leave the room...lovely...) and ending at bedtime when she melted down after a tantrum she was throwing resulted in the loss of bedtime books for her. She managed to pull it together enough for a few snuggles before getting into the crib, so at least there was a moment at the end of the day that wasn't filled with her screaming or grunting or crying or making other hysterical noises.

The lessons I learned from Kara today were twofold. First, the quickly approaching age of three is going to challenge every level of patience that I have and I anticipate it being a very very long year ahead for us all. Second, and more important, is that even through the rough spots, there were quite a few moments of her sweet tender side today, and I need to remember to cherish and enjoy each and every one of those every single day.

2. The second lesson was from John. This weekend we went to the pool each day with Matt, who doesn't get to come with us very often. For some reason, I got it stuck in my head that John really needed to work on getting more comfortable with going underwater. The kid has started going down the slide and can swim (doggie-paddle) across the length of the pool, and here I am pushing him to get that face in the water! I realized at the end of the second pool trip that John was getting way more anxious about the whole thing and was never going to be comfortable with the idea, much less be able to do it with me forcing it on him. After he was in bed last night it occurred to me how ridiculous I was being and that I needed to just back off. The summer and the pool should be about having fun and hanging out with friends, which is what we've been doing and loving so far this year. I intend to continue that trend for the next four weeks.

So with that lesson learned yesterday, I started the day off today with John by apologizing to him for my inappropriate behavior at the pool. I told him that there would be no more pushing for the underwater stuff and that he should enjoy the pool and have fun. Go down the slide, swim across the pool, and play games with your friends. And go underwater only if you want to, and only WHEN you want to. It was not exactly easy to give a very sincere and heartfelt apology to my son, but it was so necessary and I felt so much better once I had done it.

Two big lessons learned today. All in all, I love my kids and all the lessons they have to teach me about love and patience and life.

Tennis Camp and More

So this week is John's tennis camp. Not an intense thing, just half and hour of some kids learning some of the basics of tennis. He enjoyed it yesterday, but it was hot. Today is going to be even hotter, so it could be brutal on the courts by 10:00. But our plan is to go pretty much straight to the pool from camp, have lunch there and play with friends until Kara poops out and has to have her nap. Then the afternoon will be more relaxed with the only requirement being to get our bag of CSA veggies.

My non-athletic kid has picked up some athletic interests of late, much to my surprise. He continues this summer to surprise me with his increased swimming skills - swimming the length of the pool, going down the slide unassisted, cannonballs, etc. And now he's signed up to do soccer in the fall, and seems to be enjoying the tennis this week. It's funny to me how much he's doing and enjoying all of it. I can tell he's getting stronger through all of it too, as he keeps trying his skills at the monkey bars at the playground and he's able to do more and more each time.

At this age my focus has been to expose him to lots of different activities and see where his skills and interests land. It's been an adventure, almost bordering on being that mom who is running her kids around crazy without any downtime...but not quite to an extreme...yet. We'll definitely slow down in the fall with John starting full-day kindergarten, giving him time to get adjusted to the new schedule and demands. But it's great to me to see his growing interests in athletic activities and I'm going to do all I can to encourage and support that. I'm just so proud of my little man, who doesn't seem to be so little anymore.

The Games We Play

We are a game playing family. And by that I do not mean electronic, video games, I mean board games. Before the kids came along, Matt and I would often spend a Friday or Saturday night playing games, just the two of us. We don't do that so much anymore, but we have recently started to pick it up again a bit. But the neat thing is now that the kids are a little older, there are a lot of board games we can play with them. Even Kara is getting into the gaming action. We've got a few that are just her speed, a few more that John can play on his own and we have to help Kara with, and a few that are just beyond Kara for now but that John loves.

The last few nights after dinner there has been enough time before bed to squeeze in a game or two. Monday night it was all of us playing a game called Bendominos. Then last night Matt and I were still finishing dinner and chatting, while the kids started to play checkers. I keep a careful ear out when the kids are playing a game by themselves to make sure all parties are being involved and no one is taking over or getting upset. Last night I heard John saying that Kara was winning and he was clearly going to lose this game. But it said it in sort of an awestruck kind of way, not like he was upset about it at all. Then on her next turn, he was still helping her out and suggesting moves for her to make. It was so great to listen to him willing to try to help her win the game, knowing that would result in his loss. I know that won't last much longer before his "help" becomes sabotage instead, so I really enjoyed hearing him being very sincere and trying to teach her the skills of checkers. By the way, he ended up winning the game anyway, but it was all amicable in the end. :-)

A Couple of Noteworthy Items Today

1. Yesterday while we were at the pool celebrating a good friend's birthday with super yummy cupcakes (thanks Heather!), John actually swam the entire length of the pool on his own. We've been practicing the swimming in shorter lengths, but this time I kept moving back and he kept going. Pretty soon we were almost the entire way across and so we kept going and he made it - no swim vest, no help from me - all on his own. I was so proud of him. I think he surprised himself even! Now if he can just start swimming with his face in the water he will be all set! Each time we go to the pool lately he's been trying new things and doing great, so I have every confidence that by the end of the summer he'll be more comfortable with the underwater aspect too. For now I'm perfectly happy to celebrate his big doggie paddling successes!! Yay John!!!

2. Today we pick up our first bag of summer vegetables from our CSA. We split our share with a neighbor again this year, so they actually picked up the first bag last week and now it's our turn. I'm very excited to see what yummy veggies will be in our bag. The kids always get excited too, even if it's not always stuff they're going to eat. But they are often willing to try things that come in the bags, more so than if it's something I just pick out at the store. Ohhh goody!

3. The last notable item for today is that Kara will be having her first haircut. That's right, her first EVER haircut. Yes, I do realize that the poor girl is approaching three, and she's got a seriously crazy mane of hair. But it is beautiful hair and until now I haven't been able to bring myself to have any bit of it cut off. Finally now though, it is time. She's got a ton of dead ends that are only continuing to get worse and tangle more and more. And with our beach trip next week, the wind will not add good things to her hair situation. So I made her an appointment with my hairdresser for her very first haircut. I have been going to my hairdresser for over twenty years now and she also cut John's hair for his first haircut (of course, he was 5 months old, and had a full head of hair). We talked a little bit at dinner last night about what the haircut experience would be like for her. Kara asked if it would hurt. :-) I told her no, that other than a little bit of combing her hair out, the cutting part would not hurt at all. I'm excited to watch her go through this rite of passage, but the reality is this truly will only be a trim. I'm not quite ready to cut it short or anything so dramatic, but hopefully it will make the brushing process easier for us and maybe we'll even get some more of her lovely curls as a result. My baby is really growing up.

Soccer isn't so bad afterall

This week John is doing a sports sampler camp through the Herndon Community Center. He's doing it with a good neighbor friend and it is in the mornings from 9-11am for just this week. Yesterday, and again today, they focused on soccer. Other sports they might do include: t-ball, basketball, golf, and football. In the spring of 2008, John participated in a popular kids' soccer program and hated it. He had been really excited about it, but then when there were too many new kids all at once, it was awful. Ever since he's been pretty much against any efforts to play or try a different (a.k.a. smaller) program. But after two days of soccer exposure at this camp, he's very interested in it again. Today, on the way home, he even asked why we don't have goals at our house. Really? Well, probably because you hated soccer three days ago! Anyway, now I'll have to be creative about finding new ways to engage this interest on his part and see if I can keep it going. He's also very interested in t-ball, so I'm hopeful that they'll do that one day this week too so he can give it a try. Camps are such a great way to give new things a try!

Rainy Day Memory

This morning my father-in-law provided me with a little break and took John for the morning (thank you Grandpa!!). I took advantage of just having one child and went out to run a bunch of errands, even in the rain it's easier with one kid! Anyway, as Kara and I were driving around I remembered a funny day a few years ago with John. He must have been about Kara's age now, maybe a bit older. We were in the car and we started telling jokes. I remembered an old classic knock knock joke.

Me: Knock Knock
John: Who's there?
Me: Banana
John: Banana Who?
Me: Knock Knock
John: Who's there?
Me: Banana
John: Banana Who?
Me: Knock Knock
John: Who's there?
Me: Orange
John: Orange Who?
Me: Orange you glad I didn't say Banana???

We must have done the joke 10 times over and he was laughing hysterically. The best part was that I was laughing too, even though I'd heard the joke so many times before, mostly due to his cute little voice and the inflection he gave it when he said "Banana Who?" The "Who" part went up about 4 notches in pitch to make this funny little question when he said it. I couldn't stop laughing at how cute it was and he couldn't stop laughing because he just thought the joke was so funny. It was a great day.

Busy Saturday

Today has been productive and busy and fun already and it's only 2:45! We so rarely have a full weekend with hardly any plans, it's very nice. I got up early and went to our farmers market with a neighbor, without our kids. ;-) The weather was perfect and there were so many beautiful fresh veggies there. So yummy. Once I got home, we got the kids geared up for a walk/bike ride down to the preschool. John's getting much stronger with all the bike riding lately, and his confidence is growing as well. It's great fun to watch him learning and figuring it all out. Anyway, then we had an easy lunch all together and while Matt and Kara took naps, John assisted me out in the backyard. I've been wanting to take out a much-too-happy butterfly bush for some time now, but the rain and our schedule hasn't given me an opportunity. Today was the day! I started clipping it back only to discover that the ground was soft enough (thank you rain!) that I was able to just pull out the bulk of the roots! Yeah! I was able to do a lot of other work on trimming rose bushes and weeding that I wasn't thinking I would get to today. It all left me feeling very productive and pleased.

Now if I can get to the pool, menu plan for the week ahead, and get a shower in before dinner, this day would be just about perfect. Oh yeah, I guess I also need to figure out what dinner is going to be! Well, I'm not going to rush into these things!

1 is Almost Done

With preschool, that is. He finished up the season of swimming lessons yesterday, with the grand result of being "graduated" up to the next level - after a lot of hard work. It was really wonderful, but hard to say goodbye to the wonderful instructor he's had for most of the winter. I'm hopeful Kara may get her when she starts swimming classes in the fall.

The bigger event though is that today is John's last day of preschool. It's so hard to imagine that he's all done with preschool. Our school experience has been SO positive. I just can't say enough to praise our school and teachers and school families for making this be such a wonderful place to start our schooling. John has grown socially and academically there (even though academics truly aren't their main focus). I keep feeling like I'll miss the school, which is just silly since Kara will start there in the fall and I'll continue to be on the board of the school. My involvement is nowhere near being over, but John's is, and for some reason I'm having a bit of a hard time with that.

John is totally ready for kindergarten, and is finally getting pretty excited about going to school too, which is great. Last night I went to a gathering of the preschool class moms with the purpose of assembling scrapbooks for the kids of their year at the preschool. I had so much fun chatting and laughing with these wonderful moms. And the pictures, whoa! These kids have grown and changed so much over the year. I never did a book for John from last year's class, so I was starting at the beginning, 2 years back. It was so funny to look at how young he and his classmates looked from the previous year. Amazingly I got through all of year 1 and started on year 2 before we all got tired and called it a night. But the fun was immense and I'm hopeful that I will actually finish the project with John's help over the summer. I also think we'll have enough room in our book to include a few artwork pieces, of which we have SOOOO many. I'm excited that we'll have this great collection of pictures, projects and memories of his days at the preschool.

Thank you to Hunters Woods Preschool for all that you have given to my son and my family and countless others. It's been a wonderful two years for John and I look forward to the coming years with Kara.

Our First Crush

There was a girl.... Isn't that how it always starts? I can't believe I'm already starting a statement about my own child that way. But...well, there is this girl...in John's preschool class, named Cristina. She's positively charming and adorable. She was in his class last year and this year and John has been buddies with her all year, but it seems to have stepped up a notch or two over the last couple of months. They're inseparable now, holding hands, hugging, making pictures for each other, and even professing love and planning marriage! It's so sweet. They both have been known to cry and moan for the other when they're apart and awaken before they should in the morning if it's a day when they'll be seeing each other before school. Don't get me wrong, they're not a mushy-gushy-in-love kind of pair. But they are definitely more than the buddies they used to be. They play very well together, are interested in similar things and also respect each other's divergent interests too. They're pretty good about including other kids in their play, but they will also stick together when they're ready to move onto other activities.

The hardest part for me is that this all has developed at the end of the school year. We're a little over a week away from the last day of school. And while they do have a school picnic the following week, their class time together is coming to a close. It's kind of sad for me to think about it. But the positive thing is that Cristina's younger brother will be in Kara's preschool class next year. So our contact with her family is guaranteed to continue and hopefully we'll be able to keep them connected in some way. I can't imagine the relationship will stay at this intensity for long after school's over, but it is good to know that it won't entirely fade away either.

My little boy's growing up. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's scary, and sometimes it's just too darn sweet. Thank you Cristina for seeing the good in my son and being such a good friend to him. He loves you too.

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!!!

It's been raining here for many, many days straight. I'm starting to wonder if the sun will ever come back out. Well, I guess I know that it will, but it's been hard with two young kids to be trapped indoors all this time. Keeping the kids entertained and getting them enough exercise has been a challenge of epic proportions. This afternoon we're supposed to get a bit of a break in the rain and I'm hoping that we'll get out for awhile, for a walk at least. This has made me start thinking about what I'll do this summer when I don't even have preschool time to myself during a rainy day.

The summer has all of a sudden filled up. We now have four weeks of various camps (sports, nature, tennis, oh my!) scheduled and a week at the beach. Starting at the end of June through July and into the start of August we are going to be busy. Well, at least John is going to be busy. I hope he does okay through it all and maintains the excitement he has right now about these camps. Kara and I will have to find ways to get her some activities too. And then I'm hoping to add swim lessons in to the mix as well. We'll see.

And then I'm looking forward to having some free time in early June and in August to just play around and enjoy some lazy summer days before John starts kindergarten. My goal is to make as much of these days as I can. I feel like a chapter is going to come to a close in September and while I'm so ready for school to start, I'm also sad to see our flexible, less scheduled days come to an end. John's been an amazing kid to watch grow and learn. He's funny, curious, loving, and so very enjoyable (well, most of the time).

I had someone recently tell me they thought my kids were so even-tempered all the time. I was surprised, since I see the intensity of their tempers regularly. But I also realized that clearly, while they feel comfortable expressing things with me (which is great), they also know that in the classroom or other public places, other expectations apply. That's a hard thing to learn, even for adults. And it's something that is hard to know whether your kid has learned or not, since they'll always behave differently around their parents. I am crazy for my kids, while they sometimes do make me crazy, but they are mine and I am so proud of them both.

Most summers have come with a sense of dread as to how I was going to fill all those many summer days. This year I'm looking forward to finding new things to learn with John and Kara and the many days of fun with family and friends.

Swimming Again

So John started swimming lessons again this morning. This will be the last session of classes before the summer and John's loving it. He's made so much progress this winter with his skills. I'm constantly amazed by him. He's had great instructors and it's been a great winter of classes for him. I'm so glad I kept him in classes for most of the winter. His instructor, Miss Linda, told me today that he's very close to being ready for the next level of classes. We'll see. He has to jump into the water on his own and swim back to the wall in order to move up. When I told him that after class today, he said that next time (which will be Thursday) will be the last day of this level for him! What enthusiasm! I don't think they'll move him up mid-session, but I don't know. The other three kids in his current class are much further behind skill-wise than he is. So it would be nice if they could move him up, but I don't know if the policies at the community center will allow that. Anyway, he's excited and enjoying his swimming classes and I'm so proud of him. I learned yesterday that our neighborhood pool will be offering swimming lessons this summer and so I'm hopeful that we'll even be able to keep up our classes over the summer too.

Pool season, here we come!

Helmets and TV

Who knew that it's better to watch morning tv cartoons with bike helmets on? Well apparently my kids knew this tidbit. They are both currently watching "Little Einsteins" and are wearing bike helmets! Kara started it, but John thought it was a good idea as well and immediately put his one helmet on too. It's too funny.

We have been outside enjoying the wonderful spring weather the last few days and that has also meant several opportunities to ride bikes. They definitely need the practice, so it's been good for them. And thus the helmets didn't quite get put away last night when we came in from outside. So upon seeing the chance to wear the helmets again, they insisted on putting them back on. You never can be too safe! Hee hee.

Happy Spring!

Fishing

So one of the favorite activities John was able to do with my Dad last week was to go fishing. They went twice and caught one fish the first day and two the second time. John's very excited about being able to keep the fish, instead of having to catch and release them. So Dad made sure they went someplace where they'd be able to keep the fish. I'm not quite sure why John's so insistent on keeping the fish, since he's not all that interested in eating them. But like any good grandfather, Dad kept the fish, per John's wishes, and brought them home.

Instead of eating them, John was apparently interested in dissecting them. I was not much into biology as a child, so this intrigues me. But John was very excited to relate to me upon our return how they had taken apart the fish's eyes, head, and body. For example, the fish eyes have black "gooey" stuff inside them - yuck! Anyway, John was very scientific about the exploration of the fish insides and was thrilled to find that one of the fish had egg sacks inside its belly, and that the egg sacks had "thousands" of eggs in them.

It was one of those stories that as a parent you think it's a great experience for your child to have, clearly he's interested in science-type things, but you're SO glad you didn't have to be the one to experience it with him! Thanks Grandpa!!!

Silly Putty

Yesterday we had a first around here. There was a silly putty in the hair experience! Yes, I know, it's hard to believe, but it did happen. Late in the day, as I was about to start making dinner, the kids were playing nicely together and I was puttering on the computer. Then all of a sudden they come running over to where I am and tell me that there is silly putty in Kara's hair. I looked and it was a big chunk of silly putty now nicely wrapped up in a sizable section of hair. Lovely.

Her hair is finally long enough (and occasionally she's willing) to put it up into pigtails or headbands. Cutting it now would likely take off her beautiful curls and make it short enough to not be able to pull it back. I was about to cry when I saw how much hair was being affected by the silly putty.

After a few declarations of amazement and frustration directed at John (who truly felt very badly for what had happened), I then got Kara to sit down and I gently pulled out as many strands of hair as I could in order to avoid having to resort to the scissors. I was actually able to get out most of it, but it took 15-20 minutes and was very challenging to do. Kara was a super champ through the whole process and John pretty much sat quietly and watched me. He went and got everything I asked him for and was very cooperative for the rest of the day. Anyway, I was able to whittle it down to just a small section of hair that was thoroughly entangled in the silly putty and then the scissors did have to come out. I was VERY thankful I only ended up having to cut a tiny bit of her hair. It really could have been much much worse than it was.

In the end no one will be able to tell it ever happened, except for me. But it was quite the surprise that I really was not in the mood for yesterday afternoon after what has been a very long week. I hope today is a quieter, less eventful, day!

So Big, So Fast

Okay, so this will be two totally unrelated stories about the kids and how big they seem to me today....

First, Kara. This will seem like a small thing to many people, but to me, it's big! I realized this week that she's now able to wash her hands all by herself. I can tell her to go wash her hands or she can tell me that she needs to wash her hands, then she can go into the bathroom, turn on the water, do the soap, wash the dirt away, turn the water off, and dry her hands ALL BY HERSELF!! This is a big step for her (and for me). I am so glad to have one less thing that I have to stop what I'm doing to help her do this. And hand washing is something we do a lot, so to be relieved of having to assist each and every time, is a big deal. But at the same time, it's also the next thing that my baby girl doesn't need me for anymore. I want her to grow up and stay small at the same time. Is that fair???

And second, John. He impressed me today with his fine motor skills. He has off school today and tomorrow, so I was pressed into service to keep him occupied during Kara's naptime, which is typically my time for either a little mommy-break or to get a few things done around the house. I wasn't sure what I was going to be able to come up with for him that would keep him engaged on his own today. But I remembered some small craft projects that I bought before Christmas and tucked away for a rainy day. Well, they came in handy today, even without the rain! The project involved placing these small tubular beads on a plastic form and then ironing/melting them together to make a cool shape. The first step of the project is to place all of these tiny beads into a design. I honestly wasn't sure if John's fine motor skills were going to be up to doing much of this before frustration set in and he wanted me to do it for him. But I was way wrong! He did not just one of these all by himself, he did two whole projects and they turned out great! He's very proud of his new star projects and they kept him busy for quite awhile so that I could work on some other tasks of my own. Win-win for us both! And I was most impressed that my kid was able to sit still and work for so long with small beads and be content. He truly is getting older and it's so cool to watch him do new and fun things with his growing skills.

Not snowing in Alaska

This is a short funny thing John just said to me. As we're watching our morning cartoons and also watching the snow come down outside the door, John declared it is only snowing in Virginia. I said "Oh really, and how do you know that ?" He replied, "Well, I went to Alaska this morning and it is not snowing in Alaska." With a completely comical look on his face. It was too funny. What a cutie!

So it is snowing this morning, not supposed to amount to anything and eventually will change over to rain and just be a yucky day for us. But it sure is pretty while it comes down now.