Thankful

Thanks to my inglorious return to Body Pump, I'm aching in muscles I didn't even know I had.  So I'm trying to stay positive and focus on some things I am thankful for today.

 - The incredible flexibility of my awesome job. 

- My kids' schools.  They love their teachers, and their teachers love them. 

- My girls' night tomorrow.  Hallelujah and Amen.

- Wonderful playdates after school that produce early bedtimes.

- Red wine and Girl Scout Cookies. 

Dusting off the 'ol blog...

Back on January 1st, I thought to myself, "You know, Self, you really should get back to writing the blog every once in a while. It would be nice to have some record of what's going on in our lives right now." Turns out, Self is A) not a good listener B) easily distracted by Pinterest and C) a master procrastinator.

So now it's February 1st. I am totally behind on about 6 months of updates, including a 4th birthday letter to Betsy. Guess I'd better get started now or I'll be working on her 5th birthday letter. I'm just going to start with what we did today, because really, today was glorious.

John and Bill* rode to school with our carpool buddy, which gave me and Betsy enough time to get to the gym and realize how hopelessly out of shape I am and how soon we will be leaving for Mexico** -- and while it was an awesome workout, I'm sitting here snuggled up to a box of Girl Scout cookies. Baby steps, people. Did I mention it's February 1st? You'd never know it from the sunshine and warm air outside. About 80 degrees to be exact, with blue skies. The perfect day to have a puppy.***

Betsy and I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and I let her pick out some flowers for the kitchen. As we were leaving, she said, "I've got a Buddy Buck and pink flowers. It's a beautiful day." We came home, played with the puppy, painted some fingernails, did some crafts, ate some egg-and-brie paninis (see, the cookies weren't that much of a slide from lunch) and then washed the car on the way to get the boys from school. And after school, John made his first solo voyage on his 2-wheel bicycle. He only went about the length of our property line before crashing into our trash can, but it was an exhilarating 30 seconds of freedom. I was so very proud. So that was our day. Any bets as to whether I'll actually write anything tomorrow?
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Yeah, so there are a few details about our current goings-on that need to be expanded on, but I'm not going to go into the appropriate level of detail right now. So here they are in a nutshell:
* We currently have a 16 year old student from Beijing living with us and attending school with John. His name is Bill.
** My little brother got engaged over the summer (yay!) and is getting married in Mexico in late April. Must.Put.Down.Girl.Scout.Cookies.
*** We got the kids a puppy for Christmas. His name is Bucky and he is all the best parts of Lucy with a bit of unknown generic dog mixed in.

QOTD

We have been posting John and Betsy's best quotes of the day (QOTD) on Facebook, but I wanted to share them here as well.

J: (Deep sigh) "I feel like I have been in a war, and I just got defeated."

J, leaving the gym: "Wow, that was more fun than I expected."

B: "Mama, I love you. Do you know why?" Me: "Why?" Betsy: "Because Daddy told me to and because you have money in your car."

J: "Mama! I slept late! I woke up at 6:43 instead of 6:40!"

J, after I asked him to carry his backpack from the car "Ugh! I have to do ALL the work!"

J, making paper airplanes "Dad, I want to tell you about lift and gravity playing tug-of-war"

B: "Daddy - Mama said food makes poo poo"

J: "Dad! Boys don't wear jewelry except for in Kenya"

B, playing dress up: "Sometimes Mama is the queen and I am Snow White and you are the Prince and Bubba is the... the... horse."

J, playing Rock Band: "It's Sunday, so we should probably play Livin' On A Prayer"

J: "Sometimes using words make me hiccup. I'm going to say 'Yes' in sign language."

J: "I'm trying to be patient but it's not working"

J, at dinner, after I asked him what he wanted to pray for: "My friends, our good food .. oh, and I want to pray that you'll remember next time that I like mushrooms in my spinach quiche."

J, after completing a time out: "Mama, I need to let you know that my heart is just a little bit broken because you put me in timeout." And the outburst that landed him in timeout? "Looking at the answer pages is NOT cheating! There are NO winners or losers in WORKBOOKS!"


(I should note here that Betsy really does say funny things, too.)

The Graduate

He made it through kindergarten! (And so did we.)

We couldn't be more proud of our sweet boy and his kindergarten year. He loved school, loved his teacher and friends, learned a bunch, and really made the whole transition to school-age as easy on us as we could have ever hoped.

He completed the full year -- all 175 days -- with green check-plus reports for behavior, which we are pretty happy about. At the year-end awards night, he was presented with two certificates from his teacher. His Academic Achievement award was for Critical Thinking (for all those Apollo schematics, I'm sure), and his Christian Character award was for Acceptance. His wonderful teacher told us that he was a good friend to all of his classmates, and that makes us the most proud of all.





Today, the Lower School celebrated with a really awesome swim party at a local pool, and then we kept the party rolling with a LONG stop at Chick Fil A (along with the Parkers and a good number of his classmates). Tonight he told me that he could give me a big "First Grader" hug goodnight, and he fell asleep quickly, ready to tackle the summer.

Unfortunately, he has never known the meaning of sleeping in, so I'm afraid I'll still have early wake up calls. I wonder if First Grade is old enough to start making the coffee each day ...

Congratulations, Bug! We are so proud of you!

Skeetos

I was snuggling with Betsy last night as she was going to bed, and after she was quiet for a few minutes, I thought she was almost asleep. Then all of a sudden she spoke up.

B: "Mama, what is God going to do about the skeetos?" (mosquitoes)
M: "Um, I don't know, sweetheart."
B: "I think he's gonna kill 'em."

Ah, my sweet girl, drifting off to dreamland. With visions of sugarplums and mosquito annihilation.

Six, Going on 60

To John, on his 6th birthday --

Happy birthday to my sweet, funny boy. Oh, you are funny. And oh, you are sweet. You make us smile and laugh and melt each and every day.

Today was cool and sunny and gorgeous, much like I remember this day 6 years ago. Or like I choose to remember it, since I was in the hospital from before sunrise until two days later and really have no idea what the weather was like. It was the perfect day to celebrate a birthday.

We started off your morning with Star Wars pancakes -- I hadn't told you about buying the molds, and have been saving them for today. Then Betsy and I came up to school with Chick Fil A for lunch, and I came back in the afternoon with cupcakes for your class. We had dinner at home (more on that in a bit) and ice cream cake, followed by the presents you couldn't wait to open. I think you had a pretty good day.

I feel like you have grown up so much this year, and I'm sure that I've said that every year, but this time it really does seem like you have crossed the line from babyhood to young childhood -- real, school-age stuff.

A quick recap of some of the things you've done since turning 5:
-- You moved back to the U.S. and took the whole repatriation process in stride. You didn't bat an eye about leaving China and arriving back in Austin. You just walked right into Kerbey Lane at 2 a.m., looked around, and got right back to life in Texas.
-- You spent the summer doing all kinds of really cool things like traveling to Destin, attending Family Camp, and really working hard at learning how to swim (and you're almost there!)
-- You made new friends and reconnected with old friends
-- You began making your way through an impressive reading list -- Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, The Hobbit, and the first two Harry Potter Books, not to mention a huge stack of Magic Tree House books. Your appetite for reading is incredible!
-- You started Kindergarten, and you rocked it. :-) You love school. You've only missed two days because of illness, and at least to my knowledge, you have never once complained about getting up and going.

I'd say it's been a pretty busy year. And it has been a lot of fun. There are just a few things I want to note, in hopes that you'll laugh one day to think about yourself at 5-turning-6.

You are so exact in the way that you speak, carefully choosing each and every word that you want to say (and sometimes starting and stopping several times before getting a single sentence out in entirety). But the best part is that when you do finally manage to spit it out, it is most often a very kind and thoughtful thing that you're saying. Especially to your sister, and to me and your daddy. You have always been sweet, and now you just have more vocabulary to express it.

You are certain of what you want. Case in point -- your birthday dinner this evening. For the record, it was YOU who decided that your big meal would be a rotisserie chicken, broccoli, and plain noodles. Not me. I was all set to take you to Chuy's, Phil's, whatever you wanted. But you wanted rotisserie chicken.

You spring out of bed each morning as soon as the alarm goes off. We joke that you throw off the covers with one hand and smack the alarm off with the other. You are often dressed and in our room before you are really awake. Saturday mornings are the best, because you get yourself into your full uniform -- including shin guards -- before the sun is up. Even if your game isn't until noon. We love this about you but sometimes wish that you would apply the same initiative to getting ready for bed, when it takes you 30 minutes to change into your pajamas.

Your obsessions are fierce and a wonder to behold. This time last year we were knee-deep in Transformers and I truly never thought I would see the end of it. But then you discovered Star Wars, and I thought, no, this might be worse. You found a Star Wars Visual Dictionary at the library and digested each and every word, making us laugh (and thoroughly annoying your friends) as you insisted that you use proper form in your light saber battles. ("No, you're supposed to use Parry 4. PARRY 4!!!") And then, then -- I let you watch a shuttle launch, and your love for NASA was born. I've stopped saving each and every Saturn V diagram that you've done at school, because MY WORD there are a lot of them, but I love that you love them. I love watching you learn everything you can about the different things you love, and listening to you tell us about them.

Along the same lines, your memory is incredible. (You get that from me and from your Nana, I'm sure. ;-)) I am always shocked at the details you remember. Over Thanksgiving, we had a short layover at DFW on our way home from Minnesota, and you and Betsy stopped to play in the little airplane-themed playground. You climbed up on top of the play airplane and proceeded to give the pilot announcements and safety demonstration, very nearly verbatim. Tonight you reminded us that Conner, a little boy in your 3-4 year old class in Shanghai, shared your birthday.

You are an amazingly patient big brother. I know I have said this before, but I am just more and more impressed with your love and consideration for your little sister. Because she sometimes can be a pain, I'll give you that. (And sometimes you deserve it.) Thank you for taking such good care of her.

We are so thankful for you, and so thankful that we get to be your parents. You really are, as your daddy often calls you, our special little boy. I can't believe you're 6.

We love you.

J&B, April 2011

What a pair, these sweet kids of mine. I am incredibly blessed to have such funny little people living with me, especially since they truly seem to cherish each other. (of course, they bicker. And argue, and sometimes make each other cry. But they also take time to say "I love you" to each other, and to do sweet things for each other, and there are few things sweeter than watching them together.

(And yes, maybe I'm just a little wistful right now because I am getting on a plane to Shanghai in 6 hours -- without them -- and impending absence does make a mother's heart grow fonder.)

John, my little big guy -- oh he is a hoot. This child who seems so big and tall all of a sudden and yet is the very, very smallest in the entire kindergarten. I can't help but think of him as so young and little, until the opens his mouth and tells me some minute detail about some distant solar system, which he memorized from some library book. Space is the current obsession right now (admittedly, one I have encouraged, and yes, brought upon myself) though he is still very into Star Wars and Legos. We are treated to daily hand-drawn diagrams of the Saturn V rocket, with explanations of the various stages of the launch and illustrations of trans-lunar injection. (And yes, he writes that on the drawing.) He can tell you the history of the lunar missions and the relative core sizes of all the planets. He makes me smile, especially when he tells me that he can't decide whether he wants to be an astronaut or a bone doctor. And oh, he is so sweet. So thoughtful and so considerate of other people, especially his friends and his sister. He will still insist on hugs and kisses each night before bed, and will still snuggle with me when he's tired, and lucky for me he has been playing so hard lately that he is very tired almost every single night. I can't believe he's almost 6.

And then, there's the girl. My sweet Betsy, our Twinkle, 3 going on 16. If this year is any indication, we are in for a wild ride come her teenage years. Her loves right now are her friends, her teachers, dancing (though you'd never know it by the protest she puts up each Friday morning before ballet class), dresses, and having her toenails painted various and hideous shades. I am tempted to call her manipulative, but that seems unfair, especially when her most effective tactic is to wrap her arms around my neck when I'm kissing her goodnight and say, "Mama, I need more of you. Will you please sleep with me? I'm sad when you go away." And then I turn to mush in her room and give in. How can that much sweetness be manipulation? ;-) We are having so much fun this year, doing our little routine while John is in school, and I know that it won't be long before she's off in school every day with him. She has more personality in her little finger than many adults I know, and the most expressive face - she has us laughing every single day with the things she says and her very effective way of communicating exactly what she's thinking.

Pictures of both of these cuties coming up soon ...

April 2011

Um, wow. Three months. I'm not sure I've ever let this thing lapse that long.

(Crickets)

Well, we've been having a lot of fun, and that will be my official excuse for not posting. Let's see, since my last post we:
- had our first Christmas in our new house, where I hosted my first Christmas dinner and no one gagged (at least in my presence) or suffered from food poisoning
- welcomed Alix, Tim, Owen, and Austin to town for a wonderful week of catching up and playing Angry Birds
- spent most of February and March criss-crossing southeast Texas for various wedding and birthday related events, plus the rodeo!
- enjoyed lots of fun weekends with friends, playing with the kids in the yard, talking walks and scooter rides, cheering on the YMCA NW Austin Tigers 2.0 in soccer, and gearing up for a busy summer

I'm going to try to give some highlights of each of these individually, but it may take me a while, and I seriously doubt they'll be in chronological order. Bear with me ...