This Minivan Life

Dear Zach or Sassafrass as I prefer to call you,   This has been a challenging year. I know I said it last year too, but man you are a HANDFUL! I am amazed how every day you turn the smallest thing into a fight. No really, you have a fighter's spirit my sweet son. If there is something you are passionate about (and there are a LOT OF THINGS) then you are willing to fight tooth and nail for it. This can be as simple as fighting with your brother over a lego arm (I wish I was kidding) or fighting with a big kid you think has somehow endangered Grace. I hope that you are able to put this energy to good use some day. I could see you fighting to end childhood asthma, bring running water to underserved communities, or fight political injustice around the globe. Please channel this energy for good- you can do amazing things! You love Grace. You claim to dislike Michael, but I think deep down you're just annoyed he thinks he's too cool for you. But Ace, you love her. You rush

Happy Birthday Mr. Michael, I can't believe you are 7! The last 7 years have flown by! The days have been long, but it seems like I blinked and you're almost grown up. This year you were diagnosed with ADHD and that has explained SO MUCH of our life for the last 7 years. You're learning what it means to have ADHD and practicing controlling your impulses. You have made great progress! We are learning that ADHD can be a blessing. You still love to read. This year you started reading on the bus so you could check out a new book every morning. I love that you can't get enough of books. We finished the Charlie Bone series and jumped right into the Septimus Heap series (and the follow up). We read about 10,000 pages this year. Reading with you at bedtime is one of my favorite parts of the day, I'm not sure who enjoys the books more- you are me. I hope that we can keep this tradition up as you get older. You got serious about sports this year. You played two seasons

  Written July 8, 2018 Happy Birthday my sweet Gracie girl! Your second year went by in a blur! I have to admit that I am excited to see you every single morning, you are hands down one of my very favorite people on the planet. You learned a lot this year, you started the year not walking or talking, and ended it a little chatterbox to spent most of her time running to keep up with her brothers- so much has changed in one year! You love your brothers. I can't decide which one is your favorite, but I think it might be Zach. You have both boys wrapped around your little finger. You always make Michael "fetch" your "mamos" (pacifier) and night night (blanket) for you. This morning I heard you count to three after asking him to get it for you- yes you are a little bit bossy. You can't stand your hair in your face and are usually willing to sit still (while watching Peppa Pig) to get your hair done. You discovered TV this year, not great. We watch

We graduated from the crib!!! Grace is the very last Suker child to need a crib. I thought I would feel a little bit sad... but I didn't. I felt happy that now she has more space in her room. So no we're done with cribs and high chairs, I can't wait until we graduate from diapers. The transition from crib to bed was a bit harder for Grace than the boys. She loved the crib, but she kept crawling out of it... so that had to end. She has finally decided to sleep in the bed, surrounded by a library of books.  The first few days she slept on the floor, it was pretty sad. Zach briefly tried the toddler bed , since that went so well (nope), we skipped that step with Grace. Mikey loved being a big kid so his transition went super easy. 

This kid is going to turn me into a crazy person. He is so energetic, full of life, and crazy... all the live long day. Zach has one volume- football stadium loud, and he talks all.day.every.day. He also loves to be silly. While I am fairly certain I am going to lose my mind, he is still so fun. He loves to take silly pictures, make everyone laugh, and say crazy things.  He said "Mom, I'm a pudding pirate!"  He just started his latest season of baseball, he was thrilled to meet the coach, and can't wait for the next practice.  He loves to take pictures to send to Uncle Brandon. I think he is going to meet his favorite person ever when we head to the family reunion this summer.  Angry faces are his favorite. he says he's trying to scare the bad guys.

All of a sudden Gracie is all grown up, it seems like she went from baby to little girl almost over night. She walks, talks, has opinions, and bosses everyone around. She also has pigtails, eats real food, and has ditched her crib.   She recently decided she likes dolls, she often uses them as weapons, but she likes to carry her "bebe" around.  She likes to be right there with the boys. She makes them hold her hand so she can keep up.

Grace loves Grammy, and Grammy loves Grace. Grammy recently came to visit and Grace was thrilled. Grammy likes to sing to Grace, talk about Princesses, and let's her use the iPad... she's almost as great as "Uh-OH!".

Grace likes to show us (on an hourly basis) why she is meant to be the youngest and only girl forever. She follows me around all day like she is on a leash, doesn't like anyone else to help her or hug her, and screams when Brian comes near her. She will relent and let Michael help her, and sometimes Grammy, but that is about it. She is a true Mama's girl. Zach loves to mess with her and tries to sit on my lap as frequently as possible just to tick her off (yes he is this generation's brandon).   This is Grace's face when Zach acts like he might  sit with me.  This is her face when he actually sits on my lap.  This is her reaction when screaming about it doesn't work. This is her new thing, when she doesn't get her way she throws herself on the floor. She has learned that it is better to throw yourself on a soft floor, so she will scoot towards the carpet to throw her fit.  And when throwing herself on the ground and screaming doesn't work, she g

Michael is about to finish his second season of basketball! He LOVES basketball, and it has been so fun to watch them go from this  to where they are now! Brian is coaching him again this season, and his best friend, Tyler, is on the same team (they are also on the same baseball team).   Michael scored two baskets a few weeks ago- half the points for his team. We love basketball and will be sad when the season ends next weekend. Way to go Cobras!

Grace recently reached the age where she feels the need to sit on my lap all day every day (or at least when I happen to sit down). This means every time I sit down to work she sits with me. She likes to hit the keys, scream to watch Frozen, and shut the computer. Working from home just got a whole lot more complicated!

For the last month or so, Michael has had basketball practice on Friday nights. Zach is always super bummed because he can't go to practice (Brian is the coach) and Mikey is gone. We've tried to lessen the pain of these evenings by playing Dupolos. Zach's imagination building the city and then playing with it is so cool! This was his hospital, bank, and jail. He wanted to make sure and have a mad face so the bad guys would know that if they stole from the bank they would go to jail. He also made sure the jail had a secret passageway so the bad guys could sneak out and steal more money. 

Grace's absolute favorite game right now is "dishes". I think both Zach and Michael enjoyed playing in the sink at this age too. As soon as she hears the faucet turn on, she runs and grabs a chair and jumps right in. Most of her "help" involves pouring water on the floor and counters, and spraying the innocent passerby with the faucet, but I keep telling myself these are all signs that some day she is going to enjoy actually doing the dishes. 

Due to a slight scheduling conflict, I ended up teaching three sections this semester. It turns out three sections is a lot of sections (what is it with 3?) and sweet Grace ended up getting sent to school one day a week.  I hate that she has to go to school one day a week, and she hates it even more... lucky for us both she's been bumped up to two days starting in March. Her sweet teachers reassure me that she does just fine once I leave, but the initial drop off is always really traumatic.  She was all smiles the first and second week, but by the third week she caught on and screams and yells "home!". Brian says she needs a little bit more time away from it, it's sad but I think we will both make it through ok.  First day smiles. She walked in sat down and said "Bye Mama!".  Zach loves the she goes to his school. 

Michael is always so good with Grace. The other day I found them upstairs playing like this. She wanted to be a princess and made him get her dressed and then made him be a princess too. He wasnt thrilled, but he will do almost anything for her. He followed her around singing "we're pretty pretty princesses!" she was THRILLED.   He helped her accessorize with necklaces and a purse. Eventually when that game ended they read together. Whenever she needs anything and I can't or won't help her, her first reaction is to yell "UH-OH! HELP!!". She calls Michael Uh-Oh, and she views him as her savior. He will almost always help her, play with her, get her what she wants. He is the best big brother to her.