Celebrating Lucy

Lucy, ready to come home from the hospital, March 2007

Lucy, ready to rock out to her new iPod, March 2015

This weekend marked our Lucy's 8th birthday. We've enjoyed watching her grow from a tiny baby into a sweet, tender-hearted girl in what feels like just mere minutes. As most parents can attest to, "time flies" and all of a sudden their little ones are no longer so little. While Lucy is still "little" (don't tell her I said that!) it is amazing to me to watch her personality grow; her sense of humor coming out when she is finally comfortable and has warmed up. It's takes her awhile to do that, to get comfortable around new people, but once she does she is silly and loves you with her whole heart. She is sensitive and good to her friends. She loves her big brother enormously; this I hope she continues to hold dear to her their whole lives. What a great team! She loves animals and books and music and dance. She loves baking cookies with me, loves watching her brother navigate through Minecraft worlds, loves reading and kayaking with her dad. Honestly, she's a pretty great kid!

This weekend we had a birthday party for her at our  house. (her idea, I was totally committed to taking her and her friends OUT to bounce, or play, or paint, or skate...)  She wanted an art party so we made our plans and had 11 of her friends join us for painting, sand art, yarn sculpture and scratch art fun. And of course cake! It was another joy to watch her play with her sweet friends that afternoon. These girls are so great and I loved listening to them talk about their creations. The paintings were on framed canvas with acrylic paints. Animals, monograms, fireworks, rainbows, and sunsets were featured on their paintings. Beautiful!  Her friends gave her wonderful gifts with the best homemade cards! We ate "big yellow cake with pink frosting, 'Lucy' in cursive with white frosting and white flowers and candles" along with ice cream. They giggled, they told knock-knock jokes, they sang and just enjoyed being together. A great day for being 8!

In our family, the birthday person gets to choose The Birthday Dinner plan. Adam chooses something different every year, but it is often someplace for seafood. Lucy, however almost always sticks to Noodles & Co. for mac and cheese, and always with family invited. This year, like with her party, she wanted to stick close to home. She wanted to invite her grandma and she wanted her Godparents. And she wanted BREAKFAST. Her plan was lovely: Butterbraid coffee cakes, fresh fruit and yogurt dip, mini muffins, bacon and sausage, and scrambled eggs. Great plan, quick and easy to prepare for mom, and who doesn't love breakfast for dinner???  What a great night with her friends and some of her family together! I am so thankful to God for placing her in our care, thankful for her friends and our family, thankful for Michael's art supply coupons, and for Mark and helped me bring this little girl into the world. Love you honey. Happy Birthday Lucy!

racing through the weekend

This weekend was one of those weekends that just wipes you out. There was so much planned, activities with our family...as well as things unplanned that I just feel so grateful for today, Monday, so I can stop.  Don't get me wrong, I had a fantastic time with my family this weekend, but I am really wiped out from racing through it all!

Starting with Friday: The kids had no school due to a Teacher Institute Day. I decided to take them to the zoo! It was such an odd experience to be at Brookfield during winter weather without other people there. We usually go at night for the Holiday Lights at Christmas, but this was amazing and I highly recommend it to everyone. We parked the van and I was car number 12. Yep, that's it. 12 cars in the parking lot!  There were times we just didn't see ANYONE else and walked through exhibit houses without anyone else except zookeepers who were only too happy to talk to my kids and I about the animals. We were also able to observe animals playing in the snow, wrestling with each other, and chasing prey through their environment. Watching the wolves run together as a pack was downright creepy and amazing!   We were able to take our time and never once got pushed, shoved, or had to wait in line to see something we wanted to see. And we took all the time we wanted at each exhibit. The QUIET was so strange and very good. We were also able to spend time with a newborn giraffe and wait quietly for another to have her  baby. No baby came yet, but was expected to deliver by yesterday. Watch the news!

Saturday brought Adam's STEM class at NIU. He spent the morning constructing a Popsicle stick bridge with a team. Next time, they will break the bridges to find out how  much weight each can support. They had to use a variety of engineering skills to build the strongest bridge. He's so excited to see what happens to it!

Late that afternoon, Mark took us to Johnson's Mound in Elburn to join a forest preserve program. They showed us how to tap maple trees using a spiel to collect the sap used to make maple syrup  It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed spending it outside. But we really enjoyed watching them cook the sap over the campfire and then sampling the syrup! Yum! The newspaper was there. Here's the article from the Chronicle and picture about the whole program. You can see Adam's coat sleeve! :)

Saturday came to a close with delivering Girl Scout Cookies (which means a chance to catch up with the neighbors) and finding that our oven has finally bit the dust! So our yummy dinner get put into the fridge and a pizza was order quickly.

Sunday was  Adam's big District Pinewood Derby race in Oswego. He was Grand Champion from our pack, beating over 140 cars. Sunday's race wasn't as successful and he didn't place at all. But he had a great time and it was exciting to participate in a different race. He did get a participation trophy because going to district is a big deal! AND it all took place in my old junior high building...Traughber Junior High. Very surreal for me!

We wrapped up our Sunday by shopping for a new stove. And a miracle happened...we fell into a deal! Not just a good sale, but a ridiculous, once in a lifetime, too good to be true, can't pass it up, "make you an offer you can't refuse" deal. So we took it. And now my kitchen will feel like a new one. Can't wait to bake!  But for now, I need to rest a little. It's been a busy weekend and I need to slow down from the race.

play dates--the big switcheroo

This week both of my kids have had friends over to play after school.  On Thursday  Lucy was able to bring two little girls home on the bus with her, twins in fact. I enjoyed having them over and everyone had a great time the whole visit.  Friday, Adam had a friend from class come home on the bus too. He stayed the afternoon, had dinner with us, then we took him home. Everyone had a great time on this visit as well. All the kids gave me a great insight to my own children and  how they "play" at different ages. I just completely had an incorrect vision as to how each of these days were going to go!

I thought for sure the three little 5 year olds would be quietly playing dolls or dress up and doing what they do. I thought the boys would be out of control wildness, aggressively enacting some sort of military operation. ABSOLUTELY NOT. :)   I couldn't have been more wrong. Let me repeat that I enjoyed having ALL of these kids together and I will have them over again in a heart beat! But....such a different experience than I had anticipated.

The girls DID play dress up and dolls and kitchen, but they did it with absolutely every single piece of dress up taken out of the closet for close inspection first. They chose every single doll and put them into families laid out on the bed and floor. They took out every single stuffed animal and toy horse and led them into a giant animal toy parade. ALL AT THE SAME TIME. This all took place in her bedroom, then continued on into the playroom where a full on 7 course meal of plastic food was created and served in the toy kitchen. In between these activities, there was My Little Pony video watching and a game of "catch the cat". All done while singing of course. It was beautiful bedlam.

The boys were a different story. They came in and went straight to Adam's room where they discuss the finer points of Minecraft and what they needed to do to create the best world. They came down for cookies, ate them quickly and quietly-all business- then retreated for some Tom and Jerry on TV while talking about how they can set up "chat" on their iPods with each other. (not that I was listening in...)  Moving on---Legos, Furby, general silliness and laughter, but all in his room,  the family room or the playroom. There were no battles, shooting sounds or even ONE farting armpit!!  (do I sound disappointed?)  At dinner, they took a booth by themselves and invited Lucy to sit with them at the "kids table". They ate while they played and laughed and talked more about the best apps and homework. (Minecraft and Angry Bird BTW, and homework stinks-they have it now that the the big Immigration research project is done) And then moved on to planning the next time they could get together, but this time a sleep over so they would have more time.

I enjoyed ALL of these friends and loved how these siblings included each other and were kind to each other while they each had their own friends over. I loved that they all cleaned up after and were polite to the parents! What a great week these kids have had together. Can't wait to have them all over again!!

ballerina dreams

Lucy has recently completed a ballet class taught by a wonderful young woman named Miss Jenny. She has really enjoyed her time there, twirling and learning and wearing pink tutus. Some of her favorite things! Her class at Dreams Dance Academy has been good for her. She learned that sometimes it will be hard and she will have to work at it. It is not "just twirling and looking cute" although she does that just fine! :)  I'm excited for her as she tries something new and fun for her. Last night was her last class for this session and she was allowed to bring a friend. There ended up being several girls from her kindergarten class at this night and it was crazy giggly! When the class was over there was the promise of McDonald's for all and off we went. Walking in with another mom from class, all the girls piled themselves into one booth! More giggles and lots of  pink and sparkles! Both Lucy and her friend quickly fell asleep on the way home, not even making it out of the main road before closing their eyes. I say falling asleep dreaming of ballerina poses isn't a bad way to end an evening.

the Santa party

Every year our dear friends, The Reilley's, invited us over for their annual Santa Party. It started as a get together for the daycare kids and their parents--maybe about 6-10 families. Over the years, the Reilley's have grown this event (yes-I've said it...it's an EVENT) to include other of their friends, family and of course now that our kids our older....school-aged friends and their families. It's an event that we look forward to every year and really is a permanent part of getting our Christmas on!
  This year was no exception.  Here's the drill. The adults all plan to bring some sort of appetizer or dessert. This is great because then Katie and Rob do not have any cooking to do. They can circulate and chat, snack and visit with everyone. As it should be! While Katie and Rob also have beverages out to share, the adults usually bring a little "cheer" along with them to share with others.
  As for the kids, Katie thought ahead about this too. Happy kids mean happy adults. We feed them first with some fun pasta, fresh fruit, crackers, chicken strips, and a juice box. They are happy, fed, and they move on to play with each other. This frees up the adults to enjoy their adult beverage of choice, and catch up with each other. This year the first chat I walked into was a very intense conversation about tech options in our homes. Bundling, cable, Dish, wireless, streaming, home phone/no home phone, ....it was really something.
  Anyway, the kids play, the adults play, everyone eats. Just a note...there was a moment of silence held this year as our friends, the Sears family, were unable to be with us due to sick kiddos.. We missed them...and their Cookie Crumbs cookies. Actually, it was unusual for us this year too as Lucy was saying she didn't feel well either. No fever, vomiting or ANY symptoms at all, just tired...so we went because it's tradition. Mistake! She was asleep on Daddy before Santa even showed up. Wait, I didn't talk about Santa yet! It's a Santa party....so......
   Katie's dad, Bob, is Santa. He has the beard and the belly and the bag. We all sneak a wrapped gift for our kids into the Santa bag hidden in the garage, and Santa makes his appearance every year to pass out presents that make our children smile. Even though Lucy was tired and cuddled up with Mark on the sofa, she was the FIRST to see Santa. She spied him peeking through the window and her eyes have never been bigger!! She was so excited and sat straight up "Look! It's Santa!! He's really here! Daddy! Mama! Santa!" Priceless reaction that only someone so young and believing can have. I wish I could bottle that innocence and bring it out when I needed to feel great about the world again.  Santa comes in  ringing his bells and the kids go cuckoo! They surrounded him at his feet and we all laughed at how perfectly still, quiet, on their bottoms, angelic they all were waiting for Santa to speak. Awesome. Every year Santa greets the children and before he does any presents he asks the kids to sing a song with him. I think this is my favorite part. They all believe for that moment, even the bigger kids who may have questions in their heads about him being "real", they all love this moment, and it's pure Christmas. Thanks Mr. Praeger!
   Of course, this moment is shaken up a bit later as Santa has passed out all of his gifts and he's counting down to allow them to rip the paper open!  An interesting thing happened this year. Adam will be 9 years old in just a couple of weeks. He's on the border of whether he believes or not, hearing stories on the playground, bus and lunchroom. He hasn't quite asked us yet if Santa is real. When he does, I plan to share this letter I found as I feel it really says what I want him to know. Santa passed out all the gifts and asked if everyone had a gift. Adam started looking around and then realized that he DIDN'T have a gift. He looked quickly around and Santa was starting to count...he had a bit of shock, and hurt, and "oh no" on his face as he turned to look at me. Of course, I asked Santa if he could look in his bag again and of course there was  gift for Adam there way at the bottom. He thanked Santa then turned to me and said " I was nervous there for a minute, I thought I wasn't getting a gift. That meant I was too naughty this year!"  We left soon after to take Lucy home to bed. In the car on the way home Mark asked him about that moment. He said, "Dad, at first I was really sad and thought Santa wasn't going to give me anything. After he gave me my present I realized something. The elves made MY gift first. First gift IN the bag, last gift OUT of the bag. I was just at the TOP of the list this year...not the bottom!"
   And in truth, that's the best of it.  Last year was so different than this year--for him and for all of us. What a different a year can make. What a difference a DAY can make. Things change and kids grow and people leave us. Babies are born, new friends come into our lives and Santa is there every year--to make our eyes wide and to invite us to sing with him. Thank you Reilley's! Thank you Santa!

Reilley's Santa Party 2010

This year! 2012

May Top 10 List

Top 10 Reasons I Love Being Their Mom
(in no particular order)
1. The sound of their laughter is infectious.
2. I had to work to get them, that makes my motherhood earned and a reward even more than usual.
3. dandelion bouquets
4. I'm always the most important person in their life...along with their dad.
5. made up songs about me
6. I see myself  in their eyes, their toes, their imaginative stories, and the way they play together.
7. dress up in costumes and perform shows for me
8. shmoodling
9. When someone gives them something they really do appreciate it.
10. They have love in their heart for Jesus.

the airplane

We arrived at the airport to check our bags in and these kids were totally excited!

A little snuggle with Mommy while we waited for boarding

Can't believe there are tables to work on and still SO SO excited

Ready Mom!

The parts of the airplane ride that are least pleasant for me are always the take-off and landing. For Adam's and Lucy's first flight, I wanted them to be as comfortable as possible with the least amount of worry; especially for the little girl aka Worry Wart. We talked about the procedure at the airport for security and check in, the amount of people at an airport, how they should behave on the airplane, what they should expect to see, what to do if you have to go to the bathroom, etc. I guess we did a good job, and they are just really great kids, because they acted like pros. Both kids were so filled with anticipation about the flight to San Antonio that they enjoyed every minute of it. Lucy felt "like I'm flying like a bird! I'm higher than the clouds!" Adam couldn't believe all the lights he could see and how fast we  must be going.
Now they say they are totally ready for Disney. Let the planning begin!

back to school

It's that time of the year. We've gone back to school.
Adam started 2nd grade this year. It's very difficult for me to see him as this "big kid" when truly what seems like just a few months ago we were learning letters, teaching him to write his name, and trying really hard to make sure he had matching clothes on. While we still work on matching the clothes, now he can read at about a 3rd grade level, has quite an imagination when he writes amazing stories, and really IS a big kid. Lucy also went back to her routine. But even that isn't quite the same. This year she started her pre-K program. She will go to kindergarten next year (shhh--I'm not ready for that blog yet) and she is loving it. The best part for her is that she has a new teacher, Miss Sara, and she gets to skip a nap after lunch most days. I also went back to school. You know that I teach 4th grade and moved to a new classroom this year. I am really enjoying my new batch of students, but I'm yearning to get home to my own kids. I miss their faces, their laughter, their stories and their words. (Most of them.)  I also really enjoy the summer because I get some extra time with Mark. We are able to have lunches together, Gmail chats, ice cream treats, and just more hours of the day together. Now that school has started, I'm feeling that nostalgia for the hours of daylight we all spent together. Of course it will feel better soon, but right now I'm feeling the back to school blues from schedules, paperwork, rushing and mostly.....time away from my family that I enjoyed so so much this summer.

sweet singing

My daughter is 110% girly. She dreams in pink I do believe. As well as dresses in pinks, purples, poofy twirling dresses. She also is in love with love. She watches the princess movies, and any other movies for that matter, with a soft, tender heart. She cries at the music. She wants to be "dipped" when she is hugged and kissed. She wants the "happily ever after" each and every time. And I love that about her. What I am loving right now is her sweet singing. She makes up these little songs about her toys, her hair, her mama, and currently: her cat Mable. She is singing in the kitchen to Mable the cat. She is singing to her about the sweet whiskers on her face and her soft fur. She is singing to her about how much she loves her. And...Mable is listening attentively. Of course, her attention drifts and now she is singing about Pop Tarts. But it's all sung with love and the occasional dance step.

Eloise

I'm pretty sure that most of you that read this blog already know that we moved Lucy to a new preschool this year. She absolutely loves her school, and we love that she is learning and thriving and is excited to go there each and every day. She shares with us her stories of her new teachers (Miss Michelle and Miss Julie are her favorites), her classmates (sweet Caeden, Julia, Sawyer and Samantha), what they do (walking trips and painting), where they play("we went on the big playground today!"), and even what they have for snack(cupcakes decorated as turkeys, pigs in a blanket...new favs, different blog). Well, most recently she has started daily stories about Eloise. Lucy and Eloise enjoy painting together. They both love when they have breakfast for dinner, they both help set the tables for their moms, they both have long brown hair and they both have big brothers. I thought this was so cool that she has found a new playmate to be a bestie! I asked her more about Eloise and asked when we could meet her! Maybe we could have a playdate sometime. Her response was that Eloise stays "at the workshop. She as a pink race car like me but she has to stay at the workshop to feed the fish. Eloise has very pretty red shoes and I very like them. I wish I had a pair of red shoes like hers. Eloise works very hard at the workshop and sometimes she even makes the dinner for us."  You see...Eloise is a make-believe friend. I love this about my daughter! Mark has 3 big boys and we have our super cool Adam and never with any 4 of these boys did we ever have the imaginary friend experience. I absolutely love this because it shows the amazing imagination and creativity my sweet girl has. I want to foster this in her so there will be no question about discouraging these stories. Just once in a awhile we ask her "How's Eloise today?" and we are rewarding with great stories, and a little peek into what our daughter thinks about and finds important and how she defines "being big."