Happy Birthday Baby

My Sweetest Girl,

Happy birthday, baby! You are such a delight to me and I am so happy for you that it's finally your special day. Even though a not-so-small part of me is heartsick over you growing! What a big year it's been for you!

You potty trained in your own specific M way. Stubborn until you were ready and then full speed ahead, no looking back. You, my child who still is such an early bird and who exclaims "I hate rest-es" every day at about 12:30, crack me up. I hope I never forget the satisfaction of watching you sleep. Someday kid, you'll figure out what you're missing. Until then we'll keep sending you back to bed at 4:30 AM.

You love so many things. Llama Llama, Pete the Cat, coloring, crafts, Vamperina, Minnie and Daisy, Panda Bears and Cats. There was no surefire birthday theme this year, though I am glad we went with cats. You love them. You are so happy go lucky and you like so much. You still can't decide what to be for Halloween and I am going to be just as surprised as you!

This year you got to take swim lessons by yourself and once you stopped following the example of Oliver, you were a pretty good listener. Your personality is such that if you see someone doing something interesting, you want to do that too, even if it's not in your best interest. Then you learned to swim! And my heart burst with joy. And you do have good listening ears most of the time really.

You also started school and not for one minute have you been nervous or homesick or anything even remotely related to not loving every second. I hope you continue to grow and make friends because it's a real joy to watch. You are so bubbly and friendly. You ALSO started soccer this year. Your first team sport and honestly it was adorable. You understand the game pretty well but we still need to work on your aggression but I love that your sweet self shines through.

My favorite thing right now is how you love me. You, my girl, love me so well. One day you aren't going to call me "Mama" anymore and it will break my heart. You love to snuggle and hug and know where I am at every second. As much fun as you have at school you still get excited when I pick you up. When I leave the house you usually still get sad and can't let me leave without singing your song (A Bushel and A Peck) and several hugs and kisses. Luckily for my heart, you have stopped the sobbing and clinging when I leave thing--that was rough on both of us I think.

I adore getting pictures art and love notes from you.

It amazes me how well you can write, because not to compare but it's wildly different than your brother. And speaking of him, I love watching the two of you. I hope and pray you always are friends. This past year you have really started standing up for yourself and not being a pushover to your brother. It has not come without some tears but honestly, you're still best friends and you actually like a lot of similar things. 

And now you are four. Which seems so big to me. I love you more than I can explain and I will forever be thankful that you are mine. May Saint Pope John Paul II intercede for you this year and always. 

Happy birthday, 

Mom

Getting Crafty

Let's just ignore the awful backlighting of our kitchen in the afternoon and focus on the fact that I somehow invented two crafts for my kids to make just by going to my craft box! Because that is nothing short of a miracle. 

We made these candy corn people. 

And we made craft foam jack-o-lantern pumpkins. 

Given that I don't really let her use scissors much I was pleasantly surprised by her cutting skills. I mean, she was able to cut, not on the line but she still did all by herself and was happy with it. It's really more about the process than the final product when you craft right? 

And you know what? We had fun together and I am happy we can do that. Any time I can do something with these two that they remember fondly as "fun" that's pretty much a win right? Have a great Thursday!

Mo Soccer

The past two weeks M's soccer games have been canceled. We've had so much rain, like flash flood quantities of rain and the Mississippi is so high that roads are closed that the fields are just soup. I am sad for her, but I kind of don't really mind. Isn't that terrible?

So on Saturday instead of going to the soccer game, Husband took the kids to Barnes and Noble for their storytime. All the Barnes and Nobles do this on Saturday, it's amazing. They read a story and then they do an activity related to the story. Usually a coloring sheet or something. And this past Saturday was Unlimited Squirrels: I Lost My Tooth by Mo Willems.

C was going to go anyway, and M was so excited to join him! And Barnes and Noble outdid themselves!

They read the story, did the coloring sheet, handed out hats, stickers, cookies and a little toy. (The toy was unrelated to Mo Willems.) As fate would have it, C has his first wiggly tooth right now so the book is especially timely. We, of course, have had the book since it's release on October 2, but for my kids, there's no such thing as too much Mo! 

So it worked out that there was no game because both kids had a great time. I had time to myself to write my review. Bless. It was bliss. 

Totally Random Friday

Oh my goodness, I am ready for Friday! Tonight I go see a show (The Crucible) which is my last paid show for October. And I know what you're thinking, we're not that far into October, but last Friday I saw a show (Henry VIII) and I squeezed in a show on Tuesday of this week. (The Laramie Project.) So there's been a lot of work writing and not a lot of blog writing. Sorry!

Last weekend I panicked because I saw the forecast and buckled down an bought the kids their winter coats. And it's a good thing I did because it snowed this morning. Just about a half hour of spitting snow but clearly, it wasn't overkill to order coats. (They arrived on Tuesday luckily.) I had to turn the heat on today. I try to wait as long as possible but I was thwarted. October 12 seems early.

We used to take an art class on Friday mornings but this year they didn't have enough people sign up so it got canceled. But my kids were disappointed by that. C because being in Kindergarten meant he couldn't go at all. And M because she likes going on "adventures" special with me. Admittedly, I really loved the class too so since Wednesdays are early out days (the school day is an hour shorter)  I decided we could do "at home art" on Wednesdays. Not like a full class, but one or two projects or activities. This week we did Play-Doh and a fall leaves Q-Tip painting.

They turned out cute and we had a nice afternoon eating up that extra hour.

In other news, I've found some funny things on the internet. And I will share one of them with you.

Last night after the kids went to bed I made banana muffins for breakfast. Then I cleaned. I don't really know what got into me, but I cleaned the living room and playroom and got it neat, tidy and vacuumed. Then ran the dishwasher and folded laundry.

And when we woke up this morning... a clean house. It was the best. 10/10 would recommend.

Okay everyone, have a great weekend.

Today

Today was school picture day for my kiddos!

I hope they both smiled sweetly for the photographer. 

After preschool, some friends were going to the park to play and have lunch so M and I joined them. Today is in the 80s but it is supposed to thunderstorm this evening and cold weather will be upon us by the end of the week! 40s! It was so lovely to get outside in the sunshine. 

But look at this beautiful tree! The fall crashed with the summer and there's something very poetic about one tree being within two seasons. 

I wish you all a wonderful Tuesday. 

My Week With My Girl

Holy Cow this week went fast!! I will tell you a little about my week with my best gal.

We became ladies who lunch!

At the fanciest joint in town! It was a real treat for her to go inside. Check out that illegal cheese I had them add to the "hamburger." I still think that move was dumb. 

Yesterday was super crisp but GORGEOUS. M was invited to a party for her friend. I feel like the unicorn masks hide the identity of the kids enough for me to post this picture from the party. It was the sweetest party at a park, they made unicorn masks, ate lunch and cupcakes and played on the playground. It was perfect. This isn't the whole group but it was darling!

At preschool this week they worked on the letter C! M loves cats! 

Check out her new jammies! 

I don't know if you can tell but there are cats on the knees and the shirt days "Feline Sleepy." I can't stand how grown up she looks in these jammies. Practically a teenager. 

She is so smart! She's really taken off with writing her name and other words. She asked me how to spell water yesterday and then she wrote it! Slow down, kid. But really, life is good. And we are ready for a weekend!

Cross your fingers that soccer isn't awful tomorrow. (So either let it be dry or thunderstorming, because playing in the non-thunder rain seems less than fun.)

October!

Holy October Batman!

We had a soccer game on Saturday. M's poor team. It keeps raining on Tuesday so they barely practice. And the team is pretty small with only 10 kids. (6 play at a time.) And two kids honest to goodness flat out refuse to play combined with at least someone missing on game days... makes for a long game where most kids play the whole game. They get so tired! And we are not a super aggressive team to start with so, yeah. Good thing it's a learning experience!

Yesterday was a pancake breakfast after church and then there was a big group picnic. It was a dreary day but it felt very British. Boots and sweaters, a bonfire, good food made it so the kids had a bunch of fun. They got to dig potatoes out of the ground, see horses, go for a tractor ride... it was a blast and the kids slept so well!!

And now it's October!

I have no shame when I tell you I've been listening to Christmas music a lot lately. It's so fun! And I am not in full blown skip over the other holidays, it's just that Christmas music makes me feel cheerful. But we will switch to our Halloween playlist here I am sure.

And I have no pictures to share... so...

here are some pumpkins. Because it's October.