A Letter to Santa

Last night, we took the kids to see Santa.  I've carefully planned our trips to see Santa the last several years, and going on a work night (especially a rainy one) seems to be the best way to go.  There were maybe two families in front of us, and we had a Fast Pass that we didn't even have to use.  It was perfect.

Preparing for the photo was, in itself, something of an adventure.  Hannah didn't want to wear the boots I'd bought to go with her dress, but her back-up pair of shoes didn't look quite right.  There were tears and sweaty curls, and Brad had to bribe her with the promise of a Pokemon card.  As we headed downstairs to leave, she looked at us expressionless, went into her room, and closed her bedroom door.  It wasn't looking good, until she sullenly came downstairs (taking the less traveled path to the kitchen) with her boots on after all.  Jack's picture shoes were a bit too big, and after some frustration about not being able to tie them tight enough, we were finally ready to head out the door.

Both kids looked adorable (they had better, after all that!), and while Hannah was very shy and never did end up telling Santa what she wanted for Christmas, Jack shared his list (which he'd jotted down on a daycare business card for fear he'd forget).

Brad and I joked about the fact that while we've already started our Christmas shopping, both little lovelies had surprises on their lists for Santa.  We're never quite as prepared as we think we are :)

After the kids sat on Santa's lap, we went to have dinner at the food court and the kids played happily on the indoor playground and the merry-go-round.  It wasn't until we got back to the car that Jack realized that not only had he misplaced the business card with his list, but he'd also forgotten to tell Santa about the ever-important Minecraft Lego sets that he was hoping to receive.  I promised to help him write a letter to Santa and he seemed to feel better.

Well, today when I picked Jack and Hannah up from school, he announced that I didn't have to help him write a letter because he'd already done it and he just needed my help sending it to the North Pole.

This is what he pulled out of his backpack when we got home:

There are so many things that I love about this letter.  I love that he just continued their conversation from last night.  I love that he's still learning where to place the punctuation when addressing a letter.  I love that he drew his own stamp and wrote the address as simply as we refer to it.

And then there's the obvious part about a second grade boy who's not quite sure what he believes, but who's smart enough to know what he doesn't want to know.  My ever-practical little boy.

He can make us smile and laugh and break our hearts at the same time.  Hopefully, he can hold onto the magic of Santa Claus for a little while longer.

Fingers crossed.

Non-verbal sarcasm

Tonight the kids rallied to read bedtime stories together.  It was some story about self aware crayons who voiced their grievances to the child who colors with them.  Well, one of the crayons felt overused and complained that he was too short and stubby.  Childhood memories of my own flashed before my eyes of the disappointment of having to use a crayon with a flattened head, and the joy of getting to use a fresh crayon with a perfectly cast writing tip... and then it came to me.  I bolted up, pausing from the story, to explain what I had just invented while reading: crayon heat molded sharpener.

It would look like a pencil sharpener, but instead of a blade to shave off pieces, inside there would be a heated metal mold in the sharpener that would perfectly melt and recast the head of the crayon to it's original, out of the box condition.  You could write with crisp line and you would never waste any of the crayon sharpening it.

Genius, right?  Certainly the best thing I've thought of all day, and the kids were surely to be impressed.  I waited form them to grasp the enormity of my invention, as this would change the quality of coloring-time for children for generations to come.  I was already thinking of how to patent the idea while I waited for them to form an awe-struck response.

That is when Jack, face emotionless, slowly raised his hands in the air and started clapping, but not good clapping.  He clapped so slowly that it was abundantly clear the message was something akin to "fantastic, dad, can we get back to reading the story now".

If you need someone to vet your great idea, look no further than a sarcastic 7-year old to deflate your sail.

Brad

Flu Shots, Cookie Crumbs, and Fancy Footwork

I love Saturdays.  I love that I don't have to get up early.  I love that we don't have to rush through our morning.  I love that the kids get a chance to relax and play.

Unfortunately, today was a day that I'd set aside to be sure that the kids got their flu vaccines.  I do not get a flu shot - every time I get a flu shot, I get the flu.  And so, I'd rather take my chances.  But Brad always gets the flu shot - every year.  And he's pretty insistent that the kids get theirs, too.  Now that they are a little bit older, I was planning on having them get the FluMist to avoid the needles they hate so much.

Except when we got to the doctor's office, there was a sign saying they were out of the FluMist.  So we turned around and headed to a local drugstore to see if they had the FluMist.  They did not.  They also did not give flu shots to people younger than eight.  At this point, I'd done a lot of driving back and forth, and now my poor, little people were going to have to have a shot that I'd tried to prevent in the first place.  Nobody was happy.

Hannah whined and fussed a bit, but she was brave and volunteered to go first.  With a few snuggles, it was done and she was fine.  Jack was a different story.  The nurse nearly had to call for reinforcements and there was a lot of crying, screaming, and restraining in order to give Jack his shot.  I was a hot, sweaty mess by the time it was done and it was only 10:15.  Not the best way to start the weekend, that's for sure!  My favorite part, by far, was when the receptionist offered my little lovelies a sticker.  They usually assume that Hannah would like a princess sticker or a pony sticker.  And then when she doesn't say anything, they'll continue to list the other choices.  Today it was Spiderman or Jurassic Park.  Hannah's eyes lit up and she quickly echoed, "Jurassic Park!" which made me smile.  So her and Jack both got a dinosaur sticker and we were off.

Luckily, everyone seemed to recover pretty quickly.  In the afternoon, the kids invited some neighborhood friends over to play, and they ended up playing a game of hide-and-seek.  Our ever-clever Jack decided to purposely mislead his friends by laying a trail of dinosaur fact cards up the stairs to his room, and then deftly hiding somewhere else.  His plan worked swimmingly :)

The kids watched movies in the basement and I had a chance to take a late-afternoon nap, which was lovely.  In the evening, Hannah wanted to have a sneak-attack dance party with Daddy.  So she and I climbed the stairs, crawled into our room, and played a little Meghan Trainor and Justin Bieber.  We danced our little hearts out while Daddy watched, and then we caught Hannah's fancy-footwork on video because we just couldn't resist:

Happy Saturday, Folks!

Not So Soft

Tonight we were all excited when Daddy came home from work.  It's Friday, it's been a long week, and take-out was being delivered any minute.  Hannah and Daddy were snuggling on the couch until she decided to get up to go do something.  So I came on over and started to snuggle into the spot she'd left.  She turned around and looked at me like I was encroaching on her territory when Brad informed me that I'd taken her spot.  I sat up and made room for the both of us, and then I pulled Hannah up and said, "You know...before you were born, I was Daddy's girl...who's Daddy's girl now?"

She smiled a great big smile with her little chipmunk cheeks, giggled her tee-hee laugh, and said, "Me!"

Brad was rubbing on her tummy and remarked that she may even be softer than me.  Since, whenever I ask the question, "Why do you love me so much?" Brad always replies, "Because you're soft," I knew he was trying to tease me.

So I said, "I'm pretty sure I'm just as soft as she is."

And precisely at that moment - Hannah reached up and ran her fingers along the wrinkles on my forehead.

We had a pretty good laugh at my expense, that's for sure.  How can little ones be so perceptive?

A Proud Boy

Today, as soon as I picked Jack and Hannah up from daycare, Jack had a story to tell.  It seemed he was just bursting at the seams to share something about his day, and he just couldn't wait to tell us a story.

Apparently, the Jamestown visitors came to Jack's second grade class today.  They come every year and they bring artifacts from the Jamestown settlement and share with the children how the settlers and the Powhatans survived way back when.  They always use student volunteers, and the children are always engaged and enjoy the presentation.

Jack was chosen to de-hair a deer skin.  The presenter allowed Jack to choose between two tools: a rock and a clam shell.  Our smart, little man quickly chose the clam shell and set to work, and he told me later that the presenter was very pleased with his choice and that he was able to remove a lot of hair from the deer skin with his tool of choice.

When Jack told the story, he was grinning from ear to ear.  He was so pleased with himself, and as soon as he finished telling me and Hannah, he announced that he couldn't wait to tell Daddy when he got home.

And he wasn't kidding.  Usually the kids run to greet Brad when he comes in the door.  But typically, storytelling doesn't follow until dinner or bedtime.  But tonight?  As soon as Jack ran to greet Brad, he blurted out his story as fast and as accurately as he could - he wanted his dad to be proud of his choice.  And, of course, Brad was impressed.

Brad has instilled a love of all things survival in Jack, and it's good to know that should we ever be in a survival situation, my two boys will take good care of me.

Samurai Sunday and Low Probability

Even though Jack is getting older and doesn't dress in multiple made-up costumes each day like he used to, he still surprises us every now and then with a really great costume he made all on his own.

Tonight, he and his sister spent time playing together and decided to dress up like ninja masters.

{We were impressed with the Samurai cape.}

They keep us on our toes, that's for sure!

*****

Also, in celebration of rainy, chilly weather, we decided to make Taco Soup for dinner.  Jack and Hannah are not fans of taco soup, and usually we make quesadillas for them and offer them a tiny bit of soup to try.  Today Jack and Hannah earned three Pokemon cards each for helping Daddy to clean up the house, and after showers, he offered them a fourth if they would eat their dinner without complaints.

Jack turned to Hannah and said, "Our probability of success is low on this."

To which our jaws promptly dropped.  And then we laughed at the vocabulary and forethought that goes along with such a statement.

Surprisingly, both kiddos earned the fourth card.  Jack mostly dipped his quesadilla in the soup and managed to squeak by without eating too many beans.  And Hannah whined a bit and then finally tried a taste.  She shyly looked up and announced that she'd like a little bit more.  It's amazing what can happen when you give something new a try :)

Inspired

Let's pretend that I haven't been away for the last two months.  And we'll assume that I'll go back and fill in the gaps.  But for now...I'm feeling the urge to write.

When we started school a few weeks ago, and I was getting ready for Back to School night for my first grade class, I put a small sheet from a notepad down on every student's desk.  I gently asked parents to leave a little love note for their first grader to read (or hear, in most cases) on the very first day of school.  It's hard to be a first grader - to be dropped off by Mommy or Daddy with a near-stranger and be away from your parents all day.  But it's even harder to be a mommy or a daddy and drop your baby off with a near-stranger for the entire day - this much I know is true.  The love notes help.

I gather them up and then before the kids come in that very first morning, I make sure to put the note on the desk they've chosen for themselves.  The notes are always very sweet - wishing that kids have a great time, meet new people, and try their best.  But this year, one of those notes stopped me in my tracks.  This mom, who I knew I would love the moment I met her, wrote all of those same things everyone else writes, but then, in large letters near the bottom she wrote, "Be an AMAZING Friend!"

What a wonderful way to send someone out into the big, wide world.  What a moving message.  I can't remember exactly because it was three weeks ago, but I'm pretty sure I got goosebumps just reading those words.

So I did what every rational mom would do.  I learned from this wonderful example, and then shared that message with my own kids.  When I dropped Jack and Hannah off that first morning, I gave hugs and kisses, told them to have fun, and then finished it off with, "Be an amazing friend!"

Just like that.  No big discussion.  No lecture.  Just simple and almost as if I'd been saying it forever and ever.

Don't get me wrong - this is certainly a lesson I've shared with the littles along the way, but never in such a powerful way, it felt.

Since the first day of school, I've repeated this message.  Not every day, and not in the same exact words, but there's an undertone that is present now that wasn't before.  Be kind to people.  Be gentle.  Make others feel better.

Today, on the way home, we were talking about our days, as we usually do.  And then Jack shared this story:

     Mama, today I was playing with all of the girls and {so-and-so} came up and asked to play and the      girls said no.  He walked away kind of sad, so I went up and said, "They don't want to play, but I'll      play with you."

You guys, right then and there - my heart exploded.  The tone of his voice and the fact that he was so proud of himself...he knew he'd done this amazing thing and that I would just be so happy to hear about this moment.  He couldn't wait to share it, and I just smiled.  I told him that he must've made {so-and-so} feel so much better and that I was so proud of him.

And then, I thought...

How lucky am I that I was able to get this sneak-peek into this other mother's way of leading her children to do the right thing?

Four simple words.

That's all it took.

You'd better skedaddle

{Video: You'd Better Skedaddle}

This girl - I don't even have words.  Really.

10 years.

In celebration of our ten year wedding anniversary, I put together a little video.  Take a peek, if you're interested.  Marrying this man was the best decision I ever made...it's been a great decade, and I can't wait for many more happy years to come.

To Brad - you've made all my dreams come true.  Our days our busy, and you might think I forget, but I love you more today than I did 10 years ago.  

If there were ever any doubt

This morning I was getting cleaned up in my bathroom when Hannah came in to join me for a "Bad Blood" dance party.  After busting out a few dance moves, she proceeded to share some of her thoughts...

"Mommy, you're special because you took care of me when I was a little baby.  Daddy's special because he's my favorite in the whole wide world.  Jack's special because he's my big brother, and I'm special because I ate watermelon when I was in your belly."

"What makes me special?" I asked again, just to clarify.

"You took care of me when I was a baby."

"What is it that makes Daddy special?" I asked.

"Daddy's my favorite in the whole wide world."

Oh, okay, Baby Girl.  Just checking.

Pool Party

Yesterday, we had Hannah's pool party to celebrate her birthday.  This year was the first year she's had a party with some of her friends, and she was so excited.  We had to make a paper-chain to count down the days to her actual birthday and also to her pool party - she was having a hard time wrapping her head around the birthday celebration schedule :)

Anyway, Sunday was the day.  My sister and I got to the pool early to reserve our birthday spot and to set up prior to the birthday girl's arrival.  Brad got there with the kids a few minutes before Hannah's friends were scheduled to arrive, and she was so pleased to see so many balloons all set up for her.

It was a beautiful day (thank goodness, because I'm not sure what I would have done if we'd had to host at our house), and everyone seemed like they had a great time celebrating Hannah and enjoying some fun in the sun.

Hannah and her friends from school

I love that when I asked these two to get close for a picture, this is as comfortable as they could get!

This little man loved the water so much that he skipped most of pizza time and didn't even stick around for a cupcake.  And he eats more than anyone I know!

Dylan and Uncle John

Aunt Jess and our little lovelies

  Pizza time

Before Dylan left the table :)

Birthday wishes

Cupcake faces with her besties

I'm blaming this blur on the heat!

Girls in orange goggles

Birthday Girl and Brother

It was a fun time all-around, and we're hoping that we can organize a pool party every year for at least one of our little lovelies!

Silent Sunday

Hope you had a fun pool party, Baby Girl!

One of the best.

Yesterday was such a good day.

Hannah came in bright and early to announce that it was her birthday - she was so excited.  After she told me, she rushed into the bathroom where Brad was taking a shower and told him she was four.

Then she chattered on about how she would be 4 tall on our measuring stick and how she could run faster.  Since she turned four.  And it was her birthday.

It was the cutest.  Normally, people ask you if you feel different on your birthday, and you never really do.  But Hannah?  Hannah was definitely feeling different, from the moment that she woke up.

We got up and made blueberry muffins for breakfast and cupcakes for her pizza party.

Then we ran some errands and picked up her birthday balloons.  We snuggled and took birthday selfies.

We spent the afternoon at the pool and Hannah perfected her "canyonballs".

And then we came home and got ready for a family celebration.  I set up a little birthday table, we ordered some pizza and salad, and we just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves.

{Yes, we had a Ninja Turtle themed party :)}

{She couldn't wait to wear her birthday badge!}

Both families came over and it just seemed like everyone had such a lovely time.  We watched Hannah open presents, and then sang Happy Birthday twice...once with a sparkler and once so Hannah could blow out a birthday candle, ever so important.

{Jack gave some of his Pokemon cards to Hannah and wrapped them all by himself.}

{Such balance!}

As the evening was winding down, we headed outside to play with one of Hannah's presents.  We bought her (and Jack, too) a light-up bow and arrow that we had seen while we were at the beach.  Everyone had so much fun shooting the arrows and chasing them down.  We even held a few contests, and I'm pretty sure both of my brother-in-laws ordered a set of their own after they left :)

Hannah was a sleepy peanut by the end of the night, but I know she had such a fun, happy day.

I will say that all of that fun, late-night excitement made for two grumpy, sleepy kiddos today.  It was a little rough, but we made sure to get them to bed at a decent time tonight so that everyone will be well-rested for Hannah's pool party tomorrow.