Ace Speller

The boy continues to ace his spelling tests!

Poop

Poop talk happens a lot in this house. Thankfully, that's all it was this time around, severe constipation.

Gymnastics

First Day of School

Jackson's First Day of 1st Grade and Addie's First Day of Pre-K.

Jackson is excited to ride the bus but nervous that his whole day will be in Spanish!

There he goes!

Addie can't wait for a day filled with friends!

Jackson's return.  The verdict: School isn't so bad!

Addie's 4th Birthday Party

Birthday Girl

It's hard to believe that Addie is already four. She's a lot of fun and keeps us laughing. This last year has been kind of rough with her... She's in a bit of a whiny stage that we hope she grows out of in year three.

Addie is a smart, daring and easy going kid. She's up for trying anything and is braver than her big brother these days. She's been spending a lot if time with Grandma Jan, while mom and dad are at work but will start preschool full time come next month.

Birthday Breakfast

Birthday Dress

Opening Jackson's gift

Look Smurfs!

Addie and Mom

Birthday Dinner and Dessert at Washington Square Bar and Grill with Dad, Mom and Jackson!

Baileys Chocolate Cake! Yum!

Addie's Birthday Quiz

What's your name? Addie
How old are you? Um, four

What's your favorite food? macaroni and cheese

What's your favorite color?orange

What's your favorite tv show? Uh, Spongebog

What's your favorite superhero? Batman

What time do you go to bed? 8:30

What's your favorite book? Panda Bears

What's your favorite movie? Panda Bears

What's your favorite kind of cake? chocolate

What's your favorite thing to do outside? Play beach ball

What's your favorite thing to do with mom? hmm. Watch a movie

What's your favorite thing to do with dad? Watch a movie

What's your favorite thing to do with Jackson? Play Spiderman

What are you going to be when you grow up? A cookieman

Who is your best friend? Gracie and Hannah, Elena and Leah and my brother

Who are you going to marry? I don't wanna marry anybody

What's favorite thing to do at school? Play

Where do you like to go in the car? To a movie theater

What's your favorite toy? Batman

What's your favorite flower? Lemon

Where do you like to shop? Target

What's your favorite song? ABCs
Where do you sleep? In my bedroom
What's your teacher's name? Lauri
What's your favorite animal? A giraffe
What's your favorite thing to wear? A dress
What's your favorite kind of ice cream? Strawberry

Bus Stop

A letter from the school district came in the mail today, I was excited to open it as I'm thrilled for the start of a new school year.  Jackson will be attending the local elementary school that now has a Spanish Immersion program.  He'll be starting in first grade, while his classmates all started in Kindergarten.  I'm incredibly nervous for him, but I know that he will excel. 

As I opened the letter, I quickly recognized it as his bus assignment.  He'll be picked up down at the corner and will ride the bus to and from school daily.  I was giddy as I read the letter to our boy -- he's riding the bus! Alone! To school! And back home again!

But... Oh my!  Is he ready for this?  (Of course he is, but am I?) I mean, what kind of parent puts their kid in a moving vehicle without seat belts, with a stranger???  Wait, do they have seat belts now?  He's only 6... surely not old enough to take care of himself.  Will he be scared as he boards that bus?  Will he make friends? How will he know where to go when he gets to school?  My baby will figure this all out, I know but there is a very large part of me that feels like I should be by his side every step of the way.

My boy is growing up, he's riding a bike and riding a school bus and I will do my best to let him open his wings without a hovering mom by his side all of the time!

Tball

Jackson participated in t-ball again this summer. He's improving his skills year over year and is much more aggressive this year out on the field. It's been fun to spend our Saturday mornings at the field and Roseville's program in top-notch!

Having a six year old.

So far in being a parent, every year I have declared “this is my favorite age.” For the most part I was not lying, they were my favorite of the moment.  But I’m going to guess that age six will forever be my favorite year. 

This year, Jackson learned to ride his bike, started reading books – chapter books… ones with big words and a commitment of days to finish, learned to tell time, earnestly started doing chores and has his first loose tooth.  The year has been marked with many milestones that I have been able to stand aside as a proud parent and watch. 

I have been waiting since I read Harry Potter, before even a thought of children to have a child of my own to read it to.  I look forward to every evening, snuggling up in bed and sharing the magic of Hogwart’s with Jackson.  He’s intrigued and excited to hear the next chapter and when we are done for the night, he begs for more!  I’m not sure it can get any better than the joy of watching the world through a six year old!  And I have another year like this one ahead of me in just two more years!

Running

In an effort to keep myself in good shape and to encourage my children to get out there, exercise and take good care of themselves I have made a bigger deal about my running activities.  When possible the kids come out and watch but at the very least they see pictures and hear about the running events I am participating in.

Running for me has also allowed me to be a better parent.  In addition to being a good example for my kids, I take time out for myself and create a time for me to think and blow off steam.  I wish my body was able to cooperate a bit more and that the weather was 60 degrees year-round so that I could continue to run outside!

Ron and Sara at Mpls. Torchlight Run

Sara and Diana at Mpls Torchlight Run

Mary and Sara at The Color Run

Diana and Sara at the 4th of July 4 Miler

The whole crew at The Warrior Dash

Happy 4th July!!

Artscraps

A trip to ArtScraps is a successful one! Addie isn't quite there yet but Jackson is a crafter.. He enjoys being adventurous!

Allergist

In an effort to see what is going on with Addie and her snorting and annoying throat clearing, we took her to the allergist.  She did so well, was attentive to the doctor and extremely patient. Thankfully, she only has a few minor sensitivities to tree pollen, mold and dairy. However, this doesn't answer our questions and will likely bring us back to the ENT doc.

Constipation

This was just heard in our house:

Addie: "What's that?"
Jackson: "A prune."
Addie: "Do you like them?"
Jackson: "Naah, but mom says they will help me with my pooping problem."

Kindergarten Graduation

Jackson has been such a great Kindergartener.  He's learned to read at incredible speed, even being the top reader in his class!  His teacher, Julie Boggess at Children's Discovery Academy has been amazing with our boy.  He comes home every day with new skills and facts he's learned.  Watching this boy grow into a smart, thoughtful and well-rounded kid has been an absolute joy for his parents.  We are so incredibly proud and know that our kid will grow up to do amazing things for this world!

Parenting thoughts

Addie is in her room saying her alphabet. She breaks into "A is for Addie, B is for Beer, C is for Cat, D is for Dog,"

Oops, did we do something wrong?

Being a better parent

Look at me... two posts in a row!

I'm reading up lately on being a better parent. At the end of a long day at work I don't always have the patience I need to be the parent I want to be. So I'm on a quest to find some helpful tools to keep in my toolkit. Random parenting thoughts:

If you want them to stop, you have to stop what you're doing, walk over to them, and tell them that. No parenting across the room. It Does. Not. Work.

I was talking to a coworker about Jackson's summer science program and how he was learning about matter. My coworker asked how he explained it and I had to say I tuned him out. Why did I tune him out? I'm sure I was busy trying to get two kids settled into dinner or something else was taking my attention, but I hate that I missed this important moment. I know I can't always give the kids my full attention but I want to be better about listening to their stories.

Addie is getting in the habit of wanting to sleep in my bed again. We seem to go through stages. Last night I decided to put my foot down. She cried in her room for 20 minutes... I went in a few times to try to calm her but left. What I should have done is what Ron did stay with her until she fell asleep. It didn't take that long and I could have avoided the 20 minutes of crying. I know I should be teaching her but really these moments are so few and far between that why shouldn't I just enjoy them. Before I know it she'll be slamming her door and telling me to leave her alone.

It's always a learning process and not always fun!

Too Long Between Posts

It's possible that the weather is getting me down or maybe I've not been relaxing enough or maybe life is just taking a lot out of me. Whatever it is, it's not allowed me to enjoy things that I once did. I haven't baked a cake since Easter, I've yet to take out my sewing machine, we've had ham and cheese sandwiches two nights in a row for dinner and I'm still scrapbooking Addie's first year -- she'll be four in two months!

We are still taking time to enjoy life and the kids are having a ton of new experiences. We've taken them to the zoo, they've been in theater classes, gone to movies, gone on bike rides and eaten plenty of ice cream cones. But I've not blogged about it because I've just not been excited about blogging.

I don't want to miss recording these events so I hope to get caught up but I want my loyal readers to know why I've been MIA here for much of this year! I'm just not feelin' it. I need something new in life to get me excited again. Here's hoping I find it this summer.

Until then we are riding bikes.

She rides!

Like mother, like daughter