Little Guy: (while sitting in the chair with me, nothing going on) Mommy, do you want to be happy?
Me: Sure, baby.
Little Guy: Then go for it, Mom! Be happy!
**Good advice there, I think I'll take it!**
Big Guy: (while watching an escaped birthday party balloon float up into the sky) Man, I wonder how many balloons God has up there!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Growing Miracles
What a week. My Big Guy entered the national PTA Reflections art contest back in October. He loves to draw, but he didn't give the entry the attention I hoped he would. He turned in a completed visual arts entry, but I wasn't expecting to hear anything else about it. Well, this past Thursday was Family Arts Night at his school. We went to the school knowing that he would be recognized as a participant in the Reflections program. What we learned that night is that he was the ONLY kindergarten student in the ENTIRE school who had chosen to participate. As such, he won first place in visual arts for kindergarten! Now, some people might think less of this award, since he technically didn't have anyone to compete against. However, we look at it as a reward for his work, for his completion of a task, and most importantly, as motivation for next year's contest. He is already planning the story he wants to write and enter in the fall. So proud of my big man!
On Friday, we also learned that Big Guy was given the Good Citizenship award for his class for the second nine weeks in a row. We are so happy to see that he is getting along well with his classmates and making good choices.
I just put the boys to bed, and I can't describe my pride as I sat in the rocker with them both and listened to Big Guy flawlessly read his little brother a bedtime story. He made Little Guy laugh with the expressive voices and different tones he used as he read. These two miracles are growing closer to young men every day. I don't know what I did to deserve these guys in my life, but they sure do make every day sweeter.
On Friday, we also learned that Big Guy was given the Good Citizenship award for his class for the second nine weeks in a row. We are so happy to see that he is getting along well with his classmates and making good choices.
I just put the boys to bed, and I can't describe my pride as I sat in the rocker with them both and listened to Big Guy flawlessly read his little brother a bedtime story. He made Little Guy laugh with the expressive voices and different tones he used as he read. These two miracles are growing closer to young men every day. I don't know what I did to deserve these guys in my life, but they sure do make every day sweeter.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Snow Way!!!
Wow...this year has gotten off to a crazy start! The boys went back to school for exactly four days before this huge winter storm moved in. We got about seven inches of snow...so extremely beautiful and peaceful. The boys were beside themselves! We had luckily purchased snow saucers for our trip to the mountains last month, so they were totally prepared to sled. Big guy loved every minute of it! Little guy only enjoyed it if someone was sledding with him...he was pretty nervous to do it on his own!
Monday and Tuesday, the boys loved spending their time sledding, throwing snowballs, and making snow angels. By Wednesday, everything had frozen over, and the novelty was wearing off. By Wednesday night, we had all pretty much lost our patience with each other. The roads were too bad to drive, so we were stuck at home, and we knew that school was not going to resume for a while.
A funny thing happened Thursday, though. We seemed to hit our stride as a family! Little guy discovered an old train set of Big guy's in the basement, and he spent hours setting up the track and driving the engines. Big guy invented a card game that we played over and over again. We watched some of my favorite kids' movies from my childhood. It seems like once we surrendered to the idea that we were stuck at home, we all decided to make the best of it, and we made some memories that I will always cherish. This is NOT what I would have said last week if you had told me we would be snowed in all week!
We are all ready to get back into our routine, but I really am glad that we had this little surprise "vacation" and were forced to sit back and amuse ourselves for a few days!
A funny thing happened Thursday, though. We seemed to hit our stride as a family! Little guy discovered an old train set of Big guy's in the basement, and he spent hours setting up the track and driving the engines. Big guy invented a card game that we played over and over again. We watched some of my favorite kids' movies from my childhood. It seems like once we surrendered to the idea that we were stuck at home, we all decided to make the best of it, and we made some memories that I will always cherish. This is NOT what I would have said last week if you had told me we would be snowed in all week!
We are all ready to get back into our routine, but I really am glad that we had this little surprise "vacation" and were forced to sit back and amuse ourselves for a few days!
Friday, December 31, 2010
2010...Over and Out!
Happy New Year, everyone! I am so excited to embrace 2011. The complete and fulfilled feeling I spoke of in my last post has only grown through this holiday season. My boys bless my life every day. I am feeling like life is pretty much perfect, and so my family has made an important decision...we are complete. We are good enough just they way we are. It feels so good to be starting a new year with this weight off my shoulders. We are planning vacations with our boys, we are planning "just adults" getaways, and I know this year will fly by just like the last one, filled with happiness and memories...if I allow it to be that way. I have finally decided, that is what I want. Peace, contentment, joy in my already abundant life. Who can ask for more than this?
Happy New Year to one and all. My prayer for you is that peace is in your life this year as well!
Happy New Year to one and all. My prayer for you is that peace is in your life this year as well!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Another Year...
Looking back on the year, I have not written as much as I wanted or needed. However, I think that these eventful past months, as well as the closing of another year in our family's life, is a good time to look back and spill a little of what has been on my mind.
My baby has turned three! This is absolutely unbelievable to me. He just got here! How have three years passed so quickly? I looked back on my post on his birthday last year, and I had expressed a wish that I could freeze him at two, because he was so precious, happy, and perfect at exactly that age. What I never could have expected is that I love him even more infinitely now at three. He is still such a cheerful, adorable child. In the past year, he has also become one of the funniest kids I have ever known. He knows how to get a laugh, and every single day is made brighter because he's a part of it. I can't even put into words the way I feel about him. He has been the most remarkable gift to our family. I am so blessed to be his mother.
Big guy is halfway finished with kindergarten...something else I simply can't believe. The kid lives for school. He has turned into an awesome reader, and he still loves to draw and write. His dearest wish is to be a published author. He is more like me than I ever could have imagined! He has made so many friends this year, and I see him blossoming into a confident, smart young man that I am so proud to call my son. I adore him more every day. His precious smile and excited chattering are so much a part of my life now. He is a child I love, but more importantly, he is a kid I really like to hang out with.
We went to the North Carolina mountains to ride the Polar Express this weekend. The boys are at the perfect age for this experience. My beautiful sons became so thrilled as we approached the "North Pole," and it really was overwhelming to come upon Santa in his sleigh in the snow. Big guy was once again sure that this was the real Santa, since our train ride had taken us to his home, and we got the most wonderful picture of him looking up at Santa in awe. It was hard to take that train ride and not believe! :)
This year has been a tough one in a lot of ways. I have so many things that I want to work on within myself. I have felt myself going through stages of anger, bitterness, and jealousy, and these are qualities within myself that I really, truly hate. However, at the end of this year, on this wonderful mountain adventure with my husband and sons, I didn't feel any of those things. I felt peaceful, I felt blessed, and I felt almost...almost...complete. My prayer for 2011 is that those days become the rule rather than the exception. I have so much! I have so much it is almost overwhelming to me. My resolution is to live every day for what I have already been given, not for what I may (or may not) one day receive. My family is a gift of inestimable value, God has blessed me so very richly, and I am humbled by the great privilege of having these boys in my life.
My baby has turned three! This is absolutely unbelievable to me. He just got here! How have three years passed so quickly? I looked back on my post on his birthday last year, and I had expressed a wish that I could freeze him at two, because he was so precious, happy, and perfect at exactly that age. What I never could have expected is that I love him even more infinitely now at three. He is still such a cheerful, adorable child. In the past year, he has also become one of the funniest kids I have ever known. He knows how to get a laugh, and every single day is made brighter because he's a part of it. I can't even put into words the way I feel about him. He has been the most remarkable gift to our family. I am so blessed to be his mother.
Big guy is halfway finished with kindergarten...something else I simply can't believe. The kid lives for school. He has turned into an awesome reader, and he still loves to draw and write. His dearest wish is to be a published author. He is more like me than I ever could have imagined! He has made so many friends this year, and I see him blossoming into a confident, smart young man that I am so proud to call my son. I adore him more every day. His precious smile and excited chattering are so much a part of my life now. He is a child I love, but more importantly, he is a kid I really like to hang out with.
We went to the North Carolina mountains to ride the Polar Express this weekend. The boys are at the perfect age for this experience. My beautiful sons became so thrilled as we approached the "North Pole," and it really was overwhelming to come upon Santa in his sleigh in the snow. Big guy was once again sure that this was the real Santa, since our train ride had taken us to his home, and we got the most wonderful picture of him looking up at Santa in awe. It was hard to take that train ride and not believe! :)
This year has been a tough one in a lot of ways. I have so many things that I want to work on within myself. I have felt myself going through stages of anger, bitterness, and jealousy, and these are qualities within myself that I really, truly hate. However, at the end of this year, on this wonderful mountain adventure with my husband and sons, I didn't feel any of those things. I felt peaceful, I felt blessed, and I felt almost...almost...complete. My prayer for 2011 is that those days become the rule rather than the exception. I have so much! I have so much it is almost overwhelming to me. My resolution is to live every day for what I have already been given, not for what I may (or may not) one day receive. My family is a gift of inestimable value, God has blessed me so very richly, and I am humbled by the great privilege of having these boys in my life.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Not a Baby, But Not a Big Boy Quite Yet
My sweet big guy has been in kindergarten now for 2 and a half weeks, and it's going about like we expected. The work he is bringing home is excellent. He is writing up a storm, adding creative touches to his worksheets, and his neatness is improving by leaps and bounds. He is also loving the social side of school, as he attests that his favorite things about school are "playground and lunchroom." We're having a few behavioral struggles, though, and they are exactly the ones we expected. He is a bit too talkative, he has trouble following directions without reminders, and if something doesn't go the way he wants, he is prone to crying and tantrums. In talking with him and his teachers, it appears that the tantrums seem to occur more at the end of the day, when he is tired and ready to go home. I'm not surprised. Kindergarten is a huge transition for little kids. He is gone from home for almost 8 hours every day, and he's spending most of that time hard at work. We're working on the behaviors and he knows our expectations, but for these first couple of weeks, we have cut him a little slack.
Big guy has always been social and not very much of a homebody, but he has told me that the worst part of kindergarten is that he misses me. Each day the class has free-choice centers, when they are allowed to go to whichever center they like. He usually chooses drawing. Most days, he has brought home a sweet homemade card for me that he drew during this time. The one from yesterday said, "My Mom Rocks! Yay!" and inside, he wrote, "I love you Mom, you're the best." He said it helps him to draw when he misses me. It's helping me with this adjustment, too. I look at his sweet work on the refrigerator when he is gone during the day, and it makes me smile. He has grown up so much, but he is still my baby in so many ways. In many ways, he always will be!
Big guy has always been social and not very much of a homebody, but he has told me that the worst part of kindergarten is that he misses me. Each day the class has free-choice centers, when they are allowed to go to whichever center they like. He usually chooses drawing. Most days, he has brought home a sweet homemade card for me that he drew during this time. The one from yesterday said, "My Mom Rocks! Yay!" and inside, he wrote, "I love you Mom, you're the best." He said it helps him to draw when he misses me. It's helping me with this adjustment, too. I look at his sweet work on the refrigerator when he is gone during the day, and it makes me smile. He has grown up so much, but he is still my baby in so many ways. In many ways, he always will be!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Kindercamp!
Big guy started his orientation at the elementary school this morning! He loved it and can't wait to go back tomorrow! Doesn't he look like such a little man???
Of course, I will always think of him more like this. :)
Sigh. Time goes really, really fast.
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