Random Thoughts

A few things from this week:

Leah's career aspirations: she mentioned she thinks she may want to work at Crayola.  She thought maybe she could sort crayons and but them in boxes, or maybe she could make markers, because she knows how to make markers (she got a marker maker kit for Christmas).  She had an elaborate plan but also wondered for sure how to make the pink and gray since with her colors, she could make red, but not pink.

Anne's goodnight sentiments:  she's been mimicking me lately in a cute way and repeating what I say. So, she'll usually say, "Goodnight big angel, or "Goodnight my darling sweet pea." It's pretty cute hearing her come up with things to say.

I know there were a few more things, but I can't remember at the moment.

Truth from subconscious thoughts???

Hopefully she doesn't always feel this way about those boys?!

First Day - a New Version

The first day of school rolled around last week.  This year looks a bit different.  After much discernment, prayer, and research, we decided to try homeschooling.  So away we go.  I still had to capture some pictures.  Luke was still sleeping, so he missed out.  Here's the rest of the gang:

 

 

May the fun begin!

Happy 6th birthday, Leah!

So I know I need to post other kids' past birthdays, but why get further behind. Leah had been waiting for her birthday to come for about 364 days!  I think she had a great day.  She wanted olive pizza and cookie cake to eat, so that was easy enough.  She also wanted more dry erase markers, "teacher pens", and a rainbow loom, and among other great things, she has received some of her top picks.  Thanks everyone.  She is doing well in kindergarten and really enjoys reading, playing soccer, and playing school.  Kindergarten has been a big adjustment and does tire her out.  She is a big helper at home and loves to draw and write (we go through LOTS of paper).    She will carry on quite the conversation and has an imagination out of this world. We sure love her and can't believe how she's sure seeming more grown up!

Who are these growing up kids?

Looking good to me.  Can't believe how much older they look in these pictures!

A broken pot?

You may see a broken pot, but I see a broken heart!  On a school day just before Mother's Day, I was picking up the kids from school.  Leah was walking, so slowly, focusing very closely on a bag she was carrying, with two hands at all times, and with both eyes on the bag.  She made it to the van and got in.  She said it was a surprise and that I shouldn't look.  It was my gift she had made for me.  She brought it home and was keeping it safe for Mother's Day.  She did a great job!  She and Anne had also made a gift for me at home and they had put in carefully up on the mantle in the family room to wait for the special day.  

Well, it may have been Friday afternoon or Saturday when Leah decided she wanted the gift bag from school to also be on the mantle.  She reached as high as she could to push it onto the ledge, and in an instant, I heard crying.  She came running, full of tears, to tell me that she had dropped the bag and it fell on the bricks and the gift had broken.  She was so sad that I almost cried!  She was so proud of her creation and so sad that it broke.  Poor girl.  

After a lot of hugs and reassurance, she felt better about the accident and knew I would love the gift no matter what.  I told her I would glue it all back together, no problem.  That made her happy, too.  So this week, we spent some time planting other flowers.  She planted hers all by herself so that we would have the empty pot to glue back together.  I'm sure she'll help take good care of it this summer!  The cute little gift came with this poem:

"My fingers are the petals.

My thumbprint is the seed.

Put them both together - 

A flower made by me!"

The pot has little finger and thumbprints.  Most definitely a happy Mother's Day for this mom!

One of My Favorite Things

Anne is so joyful all the time and she is just so much fun to be around.  She has a simplicity to her that I love watching at her age.  She knows what she likes and she knows what routine she's used to.  She will typically ask what is planned for the following day and whether I have work, Atrium, or whether her dad & brothers will be home or at work & school.  I have to say, though, that one of my favorite parts lately is seeing the joy in her of having her siblings all home.

If she realizes it's the weekend and her brothers & dad will be home, she is SO excited.  She really loves to have those boys around her.  And they, too, are very happy with her.  Each of them plays with her in their own way and it is so fun to watch.  Lately, she has even wanted to have her bedtime books read to her by Leyton instead of me. She wants Leyton to lay by her.  Jacob is so good at imaginary play with her no matter what the topic of the moment is.  Nathaniel will talk so gently to her and get her anything she needs.  She just seems so happy with all of them.  It's as if that's what makes her day complete.  Don't get me wrong, she really enjoys playing with Leah & Catherine, too.  She & Leah are upstairs right now playing dentist.  I can hear them taking turns calling the next "patient" and they also needed napkins to unfold and put on their shirts like they do at the dentist.

Watching these siblings is so much fun.  If getting to enjoy watching my children with each other is the reward for sweeping the kitchen floor twenty times a day and mopping up milk spills over and over, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Advice from a 3 year old girl

This morning I was loading the dishwasher after we took the boys to school.  The girls were sitting at the table.  Leah told me she was going to paint Anne's nails.  They sat and discussed their color options.  The next thing I heard Anne say was, "You can NEVER go wrong with PINK!"  With her tone and inflection, it was the cutest thing.

Things We Say

we have sure been in the basketball spirit lately. It has made the girls act more like cheerleaders. Leah has been saying that she wants to be a cheerleader in college and asks if that's ok. I've said, "We'll, I don't know. Let's just wait and see. (Aka highly doubtful, but I won't crush your thoughts today)" then the next part has a preface...the boys have asked what I would give them if they make it in the NBA. They have asked if I would give them $100. Well, I figure that's a pretty good deal. I've even said I'd give the, $500. They obviously haven't thought about that the last thing they'd need if they ever get to the NBA is $500 from dear old mom. But, it makes for a fun conversation. So then back to Leah. She asks abut being an NBA cheerleader. "Mom. If I be an NBA cheerleader, will you give me $100?" I reply, "Sure." I then have another child running off blissfully at the idea of a little cash that will never materialize under the current agreements.

After all of this talk, Anne calls out, "Mom, when I grow up, can I be a Princess?" ... And this is with a little grin and big eyes and much expression.

The other interesting comment comes from Catherine and Jacob. She's really been chatting up a storm. I'm sure she has her mind running and we are all left to wonder what the babbling means. It seems very intentional. I recently heard her say what I thought was, "hi." Jacob, however, disagreed. Thanks to his reading and English teachers (I should tell them, too), Jacob said, "No, Mom. She said 'oi', you know, the vowel diphthong." Oh, pardon me, how could I have misunderstood. What a funny guy (although her was quite serious).

The girls on their recent "wedding day"

Little girls.  So much fun to catch their little moments.  We had some flowers recently and they decided to dress with heels on and carry flowers around and say that it was their wedding day.  Precious girls.

Happy 5th Birthday, Leah!

We celebrated Leah's 5th birthday in October.  As she is older for her class, she is also one of the tallest.  She is head and shoulders among some of her classmates.  We've also figured out she's kind of an "old soul."  She looks forward to being a mom and seems to really enjoy being a teacher when she's playing in her room.  She's picked up on reading pretty well for her age and is also a very imaginative girl.  It is not surprising at a party with adults and children that she wants to hang out with the adults.  She's a playful girl at home, but still sticks pretty close when venturing out.  She does like to be in charge, which is sometimes a good thing and other times leads to a few tears.  She plays dolls, does TONS of paper crafts, has become quite a little helper around the house, and a great big sister for Anne & Catherine.  We love you, Leah!

Happy Birthday to...

...well, all my children.  It seems I missed posts for all of their birthdays except I caught Catherine's first.  SO, time to catch up.  We'll get Anne, then Leah, Jacob, Leyton, & Nathaniel.  We are into our odd year of ages.  Anne turned 3 in July, Leah 5 in October, Jacob 7 in December, and Leyton & Nathaniel 9 this month!  Wow. 

What a great name for an outfit...

We were reading one of Leah's little pink girlie books and it was naming things, one of which was a leotard.  Leah stopped her motion, looked up, and asked, "What did they say?...a Leah-tard?"

The little mommy

I so enjoy watching Leah being creative and imaginative when she's at home playing.  These days she's just so much about being a mom and taking care of her babies.  I'm amazed sometimes at all the things I now take note of that she has probably seen me do.  So, it is true..."someone is always watching."

We of course have regular instances of her nursing her babies.  She will sit on the couch with the Boppy and her baby and a blanket over all.  Then she will just sit there a while, peacefully.  Very sweet.

Earlier this summer (although less motherly but still like her mom), I saw in her bag to take to the pool, a toy phone in a ziplock bag.  At first I took a minute to think and then I recalled that in weeks just before that, I had put my cell phone in a ziplock bag to put in my swim bag.  I didn't think she even would have known or noticed I did that, but she did.

Most recently, she was talking more about some day when she hopes to have a baby.  Last night before bedtime, she was asking about how I knew and how the doctor knew that I was going to have a baby.  She told me that someday when she's going to have a baby, that she will call me to tell me "when she's due." I was really surprised at her terminology and everything.  She will either call me or maybe she will "send a message." Then there was even more discussion tonight.  She said that when her baby is ready to be born, that her husband will take her to the hospital (by the way she cried last night because she said she wanted to go with Patrick and I to the hospital when Catherine was born), and then when her baby is born, she will call me to tell me what she had and that she hopes I will come visit her and her baby.  Or, she might send me a message, or she said if she can't call, then her husband will call me.  Such a detailed plan, I couldn't help but relish the moment.

Patrick always talks about those commercials where the girl is driving the car with her dad and she's old enough to drive, but the dad just sees a little girl sitting there talking...he is pretty sure he feels that will be him someday (and he's living it somewhat now with her talk).  She has asked him about whether he will come to her wedding...little does she know that these are all moments of her life that her parents would never miss!

She's a precious little girl, and I'm sure she'll make a great mom when her day comes.

Do you know what today is?

Well, if you don't, I'll fill you in. Had you spent the day at my house, you would know for sure. It is Leah's 1/2 birthday of course! She's officially 4 1/2 and she couldn't be happier. To clarify, we haven't typically celebrated half-birthdays, but they do at school - primarily for the summer birthday children. In any event, Leah's birthday, being October 11, leads to today's half birthday celebration. She was so excited and has been looking forward to the day for some time now. She'd ask me, "Mom, when is my half birthday?" So this morning, I told her the news and she was pretty much glowing all day. She had told Grandma Sally about it coming up, and Grandma Sally sure pulled through - she called Leah & left a message singing "Happy half birthday to you..." Leah just glowed. It was as if it was her actual birthday. She asked about going to the store to buy something, but when I told her it wasn't really a present receiving kind of day, she was just fine with that and kept on smiling. She wanted to pick dinner for today, and surprisingly, she didn't pick chili, but she did choose breakfast (a definite popular birthday choice at our house). She told everyone she saw today about it and I just had to enjoy the pure joy she found in this celebration of her. Tonight, Patrick actually met up with us at baseball practice and got off work "early" around 7:30pm. He surprised her with some jelly beans. And there she went again, with the biggest smile about her special day.

You know, maybe she actually has all this figured out - to always find a reason to celebrate. I'm so appreciative of each gift of life in our family and so it did give me a chance to enjoy the spirit of my 4 AND 1/2 year old and all she brings to our lives. And, she really does seem to be growing and changing a lot...she's grown taller and some days, I have a hard time thinking that she's only in 3 year old preschool! Sure love her!

"Can I sing my goodnight song?"

Leah likes to sing a song each night before she goes to bed. She calls it her "Goodnight Song." It goes like this:
Good night, oh good night, oh goodnight everyone.
Good night Anne, Good night Catherine, Good night Jacob and Leyton and Nathaniel.
Good night Mom and Dad.
Good night everyone in the whole world, except bad guys. Good night, oh good night.

I love the melody and I really love the part "except bad guys." She's a hoot.

Tonight, after we had our family prayer time, she also wanted to spend a little time "reading" her princess book. She has such an imagination. She had her princess book and was reading "the gospel of Aurora" (Aurora is a princess). She didn't want me to look at the book, but she was saying, "The gospel of Aurora is that...[I only wish I could have recorded her]...and the mouse was being mean and Aurora said don't be mean, but you must love one another....and that is the gospel of Aurora." There was more, but I just wish I could have captured all of it. Sure love her.

Aspirations

Last night when I was at work, I had a lot of emotion going through me and was really contemplating a lot. I have decided to cut back my hours at work and I am feeling much peace about doing this. I enjoy my job, but I really enjoy being home, too. So I was visiting with one of my fellow pharmacists who was talking about his wife finishing her second pharmacy residency and interviewing for a job. I was also talking with another pharmacist who will be interviewing for a different position within the department. In all of this, I was filled with thoughts about career aspirations and wondering what these individuals had in mind for their careers all along...whether this was their plan, whether it was different, how high that ranked on their life goal list, etc. Thoughts of basically what did they want to be when they grew up. And as these thoughts went through my mind, I then became focused on thoughts of my family and how much I love them. Thoughts of although I do enjoy my work, that I really love them so much. And truthfully, the thought that really stuck out to me was about Leah...so often we carry on such great conversations when her imagination is full of hope and her eyes are as wide open as can be as she tells me about "her kids" and how she spends her days. She just tells me that when she grows up, she wants to be a mom. So different from this work conversation, yet so special and sweet. I think she has huge aspirations about her future. I just love that being a mom is what she always says. Maybe it's a girl thing, but I sure love it. Being a mom is such a wonderful gift. Being a pharmacist is great, don't get me wrong, but I sure thank God every day that he has given me the privilege of being a mom.

$2 well spent

Recently when I stopped in Gymboree to check out their clearance sale, they had some fun things for just $0.99. The girls were with me and really wanted to get something. So I told them they could pick from the bins - a cute hat for Anne & Leah's pink glasses & scarf (she's actually been wanting glasses for a while and has been wanting to see the eye doctor in hopes she might need some - I'm sure she doesn't, but this will appease her for awhile). Quite a look, don't you think?

Conversation with the Girls

Leah on Sunday when getting ready to go to the store with Patrick:
"I know where Patrick is. He's getting a new pair of socks."
"You know what? Patrick is cute."

Anne on Sunday during the same time frame:
"Dad, are you ready to go?" Dad said, "I'm almost ready." (or something like that)
"OH, grrreat!"

Anne when asking for her second dose of vitamins for the day:
"Dad, can I have my vitamins?" Dad said, "You already had yours today."
"OH, POOEY!"

They just crack me up!

Leah the runner - a Second Hand Story

Yesterday, Beth, Robert, & Mya kindly let Leyton, Nathaniel, Leah, & Anne come over to play while I took Jacob to a birthday party. They were all excited to go play at Mya's house. So Beth told me today that they went over to the high school track and they ran a lap or two. Apparently as Leah approached the finish line of her second lap (which she'd pretty much ran the whole way), the bystanding family members started to cheer for her. Beth said you could tell a very obvious look with Leah that she was really kicking it up a knotch - that the cheering really got her going. She buckled down and ran in an all out sprint. I wish I could have been there to see it.

Then back at the house, Beth said Leah was running circles in the yard. She ran around Robert and came to report, "Beth, I just ran around your husband!" Then she ran off again saying, "I'm going to go run around Mya's dad."

I tell you, she is a free spirit. It doesn't at all surprise me, but I would have loved to have seen it!

To top it off, we all got invited to stay for Chicken Pot Pie dinner which was enjoyed by all - especially me since I got a night off cooking when Patrick was out of town already! Thanks, Beth, Robert, & Mya!