Guess whose headed to Kindergarten?

 Michael, that's who!

It is hard to believe that my little boy is moving onto Kindergarten.  When I still think of him as a little boy, he's growing into a kid infront of my eyes.

Last week he officially graduated from preschool and from Ms. Stacey's class.

He was so proud and happy...

He introduced himself "Hi I'm Michael!"

He sang songs

and showed off some of his dance moves

and more of his dance moves.

He happily accepted his diploma

and celebrated with the rest of his class.

Michael's preschool class has a moto that Ms. Stacey taught them.  I think it is great and it goes like this..

Ms. Stacey thinks I'm special

As Special as can be.

Ms Stacey says I'm special

There's no one quite like me!"

Believe in YOU!

May 2012

Love

Ms. Stacey

Honey, we echo Ms. Stacey's thoughts.  We think you're super special and love you to the moon and back!

Congratulations Michael!

Love always,

Mom and Dad

My Birthday...

Earlier this week I celebrated my birthday.  I'm getting to the point where I can't remember exactly how old I am. I get it within a year or two but I actually have to think back to what year I was born to remember the accurate age.

So as you can tell, birthday's (my birthday) isn't that big of a deal to me.  My birthday started with me feeding Isabelle in bed early Tuesday morning as the sun was coming up.  Being that the boys are early (and I mean early) risers, they were also just getting up.  Note:  The sun here in the valley comes up in the summers even before the 5:00 a.m. hour. 

Michael came into my bedroom and dropped off his pj's in the laundry basket to be washed.  He paused for a moment and then said, "Mom, is today your birthday?"  "Yes Michael I replied."  "Oh" he said and then walked out of the room back toward his room.  I smiled thinking it was kind of a funny response but turned my attention back to Isabelle eating.

Moments later Michael appeared back in my bedroom, nonchalantly he said "Mom, since it is your birthday, Happy Birthday I guess." and then walked back out of the room.  I started laughing out loud, startling Isabelle, because the manner in which he wishes me a happy birthday couldn't have been with less enthusiasm.  Still though he was sincere and I thought it was pretty funny.

After finishing feeding Isabelle I jumped in the shower and got dressed.  As I walked out of the bedroom and toward the kitchen I saw both boys sitting at the table with colors and paper.  "MOM--- Don't come over here!" I was ordered.  Even though they didn't say it, I suspected they were working on something for me.

And right I was.  Gabriel drew me a beautiful picture of him and I holding hands and walking under a rainbow.

And Michael, he decided to make me a mask,  with a paper plate and some items he found in our recycle bin.  He make it all by himself and I think did a great job.  He said he made me a mask because he thought it would make me look "prettier".

I'll let you be the judge....

I love both of their gifts and will cherish them.  I just don't know how often I'll be wearing the mask.

Until next time,
Angie

Some of the best things...

about Iowa....

 don't need an explanation....

 or a description with words...

  Some of the best things about Iowa....

are the best things about life.

Until next time,
Angie

The measure of a man...

is in the choices he makes.

We are currently reading the Easter classic chapter book "HOP"  for the second time and now that we've read it once, I'm stopping as we go throughout the book to ask more questions of the boys and discuss what is happening.

Tonight in Chapter 2 E.B.'s dad tells E. B (short for Easter Bunny) that the Measure of a man is in the choices he makes. 

I asked the boys, what do you think that means?  Gabriel said, "that he wants to be the Easter Bunny." and at that moment I realized I needed to back up and explain things.

So I said, boys, what he's trying to say is that when you become a man and are all grown up, it is important that you do the right thing and that you make (I paused for them to fill in the blank)... hoping that they'd say "good choices"  since we tell them to make good choices about 50 times a day. 

Instead they just stared back at me with blank faces.  I then said, boys there are two kinds of choices... the choices I want you to make are _______________ , again blank stares.  So I just decided to answer my own question.

There are good choices and bad choices and what E. B.'s dad is saying is that when you are a grown up, it is important that you make good choices and do the right thing.

And with that the boys appeared to have gotten my point.  Gabriel responded, "Oh yeah Mom, I know, like help people and be selfless and that we should do nice things for other people."

Right Gabriel and that you work hard, always tell the truth and...

Michael interrupted me, "Yeah Mom, like drive a girl in your car to a hotel."

Not expecting that response I wasn't sure exactly what to say, so I just said, "Okay yeah I suppose."

And with that story time for tonight was over.  I'm still asking myself, now 3 hours later, where in the world did that come from?

Until next time,
Angie

Dandelion Wishes

This past week, we went back to Iowa to visit family, celebrate the opening of my Mom’s Bed & Breakfast and my parents 35th Wedding Anniversary. It was a crazy jam packed 5 days and I think it is honestly going to take me a month to catch up on sleep and regain my normal level of energy.

As usual it was a wonderful time, and with each visit, we all experience a level of depression as we return to the hectic crazy schedule that “going home” brings. The boys begged, pleaded and wished many times to stay in Iowa forever. It is a constant struggle we all feel. If only we could be two places at once.

So speaking of wishes, as you can imagine the boys spent a great deal of time outside enjoying the wide open spaces, the great Iowa soft grass and the myriad of insects, animals and things waiting to be discovered. Just one of the things they discovered was Iowa’s great dandelions. Now most Iowans would probably disagree with me and suggest that they are more of a weed than a beautiful flower, but to Gabriel and Michael they were a pretty “sun flower” As I showed them the difference between an in-bloom dandelion and one that has gone to seed, I told them to grab one that had gone to seed and to make a wish.

As a child, this was something I remember doing in our backyard all the time with my brother and sisters. I guess we had a lot of dandelions in our yard. I told the boys, just like finding a penny, old dandelions were the perfect thing to make a wish. And so they did…

Michael went first and said, “I wish I had my very own 4 wheeler, like my uncle Jonas.” And then he blew the seeded weed and off it went into the wind.

Then Gabriel went… “I wish that I have a very good life.” And very soon thereafter his dandelion was blowing away too.

As I heard Gabriel’s wish I started to ask him what a “very good life” looks like, but before I could take the 3 seconds to finish my sentence Michael interrupted me…

“Mom, see there’s no 4-wheeler (as he shook his head in disappointment). Mom, dandelion wishes don’t work.”

Guess maybe I should have added the clause that your wishes may not come true immediately.

Until next time,

Angie
PS: More Iowa stories (and pictures) coming soon.

Skateland

Gabriel's elementary school had a fundraiser event at a local roller skating rink.  Although most of the time we forget or don't get to make it, this event we actually went to. 

It was the first time the boys had been roller skating and went I bribed them with the possibility of going, they were amazingly on their best behavior.  So as a family we went after Dad got off of work. 

The boys were so excited and I secretly was interested to see how well they would do.  Thinking back to when Jarrett and I learned how to skate and all the Friday nights we spent at the roller skating rink in our small hometown.

As we visited the skate rink last night, we quickly learned a lot has changed.  As we picked out the boy's skates and looked out on the rink we noticed a lot of kids with some pvc-pipe contraption that looked like a walker with wheels.  Immediately I looked at Jarrett and said, "We need to get one of those for Michael (our coordination-challenged child, thinking he'd be the one who'd need the most assistance) and so we rented a "Skatemate" as we were soon schooled in our skating terminology.

After helping them get all strapped in and realizing we probably should have brought their helmets, we set them free on their own balance.  In less than 5 seconds both boys were on the ground, one doing the splits and the other falling flat on his toosh.  It was so funny to see, I couldn't help but laugh, which I think set the tone that falling was okay and something that if it happened, just to laugh off and push on.

As Dad and the boys set out around the rink, it took them 10 minutes to make a full circle.  To give a point of reference, the rink was no longer than 2 school buses parked back to back.  But continue to try they did and the boys were all smiles, no matter if they were on all 8 wheels or on their knees or bottom.  They were having a blast and it was fun to watch dad get to share it with them.

They continued to go around and around and every once and a while they'd get off the rink to come check in with me and tell me how much fun they were having.  It was great to see their confidence grow with each lap and Jarrett and I were very proud.  And impressed, not only was Gabriel doing great, but Michael, the one were were worried would struggle, instead did amazingly well.  He was able to, with this help of his skatemate, whiz around the rink with ease and confidence.  Even Gabriel, who has a competitive nature at heart and thinks he a master at sports, complimented Michael and said, "Wow, Michael is a really good skater."

It was a great evening and we had a lot of fun.  For Dad and I, we reminisced about those old days when we were young friends, and how special it was now that we could share another new experience as a family.  These are the moments that life is truly about.

The boys were so excited to get their skates on...

Michael was first to his feet.

and then Gabriel tried practicing a bit on the carpet.

And with Dad and Skatemates help.

While Michael practiced some on the carpet...

and spent some time looking at the ceiling.

 Showing me his skating skills

Gabriel's arms really got a workout helping him maintain his balance.

But in the end they were off and both doing great.

And all smiles!

Until next time,
Angie

Kindergarten Concert...

This past week Gabriel's school had a nursery rhymes concert.  It was really neat and it had been obvious Gabriel was practicing at school.  For the last several weeks after school he'd come home singing Jack and Jill, or Hey Diddle Diddle, or Humpty Dumpty and so on. 

So this past Wednesday we all went to the school to watch him preform.  Although we thought we were they to see him show us how well he knows he nursery rhymes, we also got to see how he preforms around the ladies.  In three words, IT IS SCARY!

It is scary how goo-goo for girls he is and how the girls are around him.  From the moment we arrived, we noticed three girls following him around and asking him to do certain things. He's race around the room pretending he didn't want them to follow him but when they'd stop and get distracted with something else, he'd circle back to get their attention and flirt a little bit more.  I gave Jarrett "The look" of oh my goodness, what is going on (honestly I don't think we started that behavior until 5th or 6th grade).

Then we saw that in the concert he was near the three girls.  We knew we were in for a entertaining concert from the moment it began.  Below are some of the highlights...

Here is Gabriel and his three girls...  Alexa, Trinity and Hannah

He insisted Dad take several pictures of him and the girls.

and by several, I mean several...

And then the concert began and he continued to watch for the girl's attention.

Example 1..

And again...

And again, (keep in mind this is the girl who advises him to dress a certain way, and he does because "she likes it")

He wasn't showing off at all. :-)

Meanwhile Michael sat quietly and took it all in.  Then about half way through the concert he tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Mom, why is Gabriel acting so weird?"  I said quietly, "That's what happens when hormones kick in."  (Thankfully, he didn't hear me)! :-)

And before wrapping this up, I had to show a quick video that will probably haunt Gabriel in 10 years.  But I had to share, isn't that my job as his mother to embarrass him?
http://youtu.be/9j9gB3blbp8


Until next time,
Angie

Michael's brain...

Yesterday Michael came up to me holding his head and hanging it to the side of his head.  I thought instantly that he had fallen down, ran into something or hit his head.  I asked him, "Michael, whats wrong?"

He responded, "Mom, my head feels like I don't have a brain."

Thankfully, I feel this way most days (however I think mine is due to lack of sleep), so I was able to help.  I said, "Here Michael, have a piece of candy do you think that will help?"

Immediately he propped his head up, "Oh yes Mom" as he's unwrapping the piece of candy, "My brain already feels better.

Until next time,
angie

No training wheels!

The other night dad got home from work earlier than he usually does and we had some extra time before bedtime.  We decided to take the boys out and give Michael a chance to practice riding his bike without training wheels. 

Jarrett and I have been feeling bad that Michael's had to wait this long to practice, between having Isabelle, Gabriel, and the long hours Dad's been putting in at work, it seems each night it has been too late.

So we were all excited to give Michael a chance to show us his skills and practice with his 2 wheel bike. 

Here's short clip of how it went. 
http://youtu.be/HY9mnXdS_KQ
We were very proud of the fact that Michael was able to balance on 2 wheels.  Sometimes, and Michael will admit this himself, he lacks coordination.  We are happy to report that he's doing great.

We are very proud of you honey and look forward to you mastering the skill of stopping the bike.  I promise it will be better for your knees and arms if you learn to use the breaks instead of just crashing it.  I know you like to "crash it" becuase it makes you feel like a motorcycle rider but trust me honey, brakes were created for a reason.

Great Job Michael!  We are proud of you and are excited for you to be able to ride like a big kid!

Until next time,
Angie

3 Months...

Isabelle is three months.  It is crazy to think that she can already be three months old.  Where have the past three months gone... oh that's right they've been filled with lots of diaper changes, continuous feeding and some sleep(less) nights.  In a way, it has been a blur.  But a blur filled with many highlight moments, many many hours of smiling stares and so much love that my heart hurts.

Isabelle now weighs 10 lbs, 08 oz!  She cracked the double digit mark and she is on her way to catch up with the percentile curve the doctor always talks about.  In the last few days, it seems like her stomach just can't get enough.  When we brought her home from the hospital all I felt like I did was change her and feed her and in a way, as I prepare to go back to work, I feel like we are in repeat from the first few days of her life.  Just this morning, I prepared bottles, fed her, showered, changed the load of wash, quickly ate a bowl of cereal and she was hungry again.  So I fed her and then raced to the grocery store.  On our way home from the store, she woke up and decided it was time to eat again.  So I fed her, and then I started making lunch.  Now she is up again, and I'm feeding her as I type this.

I'm guessing with all of this eating she is getting ready to grow again.  Jarrett and I were just commenting last night how long she is.  So we measured her, she's over 2 feet tall.. yep 24 1/2 inches at 3 months.  She is going to pass up her mom in height probably before she is 10. 

She continues to be an excellent cat napper sleeping no more than 35 minutes at a time and only a few (3, maybe 4) times a day.  This is not something her daycare teacher enjoys hearing but I'm okay with it as long as the nighttime routine continues.  It also means though, I get very few things done each day.  Within the past two days of her eating non-stop, she has also developed a new pattern of wanting mommy to hold her all the time.  Maybe she can sense the fact that I'll be going back to work and our weekdays together are quickly coming to an end.  Or maybe it is just that mom has spoiled her in the first two months and how she is used to it. Everyone tells me they grow up quickly and since Isabelle will most likely be my one and only experience of having a baby of my own, I admit I hold her as much as I can.   I keep telling myself, there will be time to dust and clean the house when the kids are all grown.  Until then, the dust bunnies will be a frequent sight in our home I'm afraid.

Isabelle continues to be such a wonderfully happy baby and as long as she is fed, changed and around others, she is happy.  She has been smiling for several weeks, but in the last couple of weeks her smile has grown into huge full, face smile.  She stretches her smile from one side of her cheek to the other and although she doesn't have big cheeks, when she makes her BIG smile, it looks like she has her cheeks filled with food as they puff out.

One of Isabelle's other favorite things is taking a bath.  She seems to love the water and plays/splashes like there's no tomorrow.  In fact most of the time I have to refill her little tub because she splashes water all out of it.  When bath time is over I'm covered with water, the counter is covered and the floor as well.  I guess she has learned very quickly from her brothers and their bathing experiences. The other reason why I can tell she likes her bath so much is because she talks nonstop when she is in it and smiles when she takes a breath and break from talking.

Speaking of talking, aghee continues to be her favorite word although she's added some new vocabulary into the mix.  She likes to gurgle her saliva and then makes high pitched screams.  We think she's learned this from her friends at school or maybe she's realizing that if she ever wants to get a word in between her brothers talking, she is going to have to be louder than them. 

And her brothers, they love her and she loves them.  Besides smiling at Jarrett and I, she loves to smile at the boys.  They've been great helps at feeding her, getting her binky, getting her burp cloth (which they now finally call a burp cloth instead of her throw up towel) and help with running to get me something when I'm trying to help her and forget an important item.  They love her so much, they constantly ask me if we get to keep her forever and they talk about how they are going to help her do fill in the blank when she gets older.   Just yesterday Michael, Isabelle and I had to run to our adoption agency to drop off some paper work and as we walked in Michael tugged at my pants.  I looked down and he whispered, "Mom, are these the people who say if we get to keep Isabelle? " and before I could respond he said, "I'll be really good in here so they know I'll be a good brother for her."  Just an example of how much they love her too. 

I feel like there are so many things I'd love to record about her in the last three months that I find myself running out of memory in my brain to capture them.  I've taken thousands upon thousands of pictures, and videos to recount it and I look forward to the day when I can post them here to share them with the world. 

We continue to wait and pray that God blesses us and allows us to finalize her adoption into our lives as soon as possible.  We have a court date coming up in July and so until then we pray that she will remain forever in our lives.  Hopefully in July, we will get the courts approval that she is free for adoption and then we can issue our papers and petition to adopt her.  If things were done under our timeline, we would have finalized the moment we found out about her, however one main lesson I've learned in life, is that things don't go according to my timeline or wishes.  We follows God's plan (and in this case the courts plan). 

I guess I could continue to ramble on and on about how much we love our little Isabelle and how she is a blessing to so many in so many ways, but as I look down with her, drinking a bottle that I hold up with my chin, I can tell it is time to burp, so I best close this post.

We love you Isabelle Grace and are so happy to have spent the lat three months with you.  We look forward to watching you grow and that we can be together for our entire lifetime.

Until next time,
Angie

Puppet and Poopit...

Now that the sun comes up around 5 the boys are up and ready to sieze the day... Jarrett and I do everything we possibly can to squeeze every last minute of the night/morning into our sleep routine.  Even though Isabelle is a great sleeper at night, she wakes up most mornings between 4:00 and 4:30 to eat.  Needless to say, we now let the boys get up on their own, while we sleep in the next room

We've taught the boys, after many many mornings of reminding them to be quiet and threatening to send them back to bed, that if the want to get up that early, they had better be VERY QUIET!  And so usually they are quiet, or what quiet means to them.  To find a quiet activity, most of the time, they find a coloring book, and color pictures or draw pictures on blank pieces of paper.

This morning when I finally crawled out of bed and propped my eyes open, I found them hiding behind the couch working on a coloring art project.  I saw markers streun out about the floor, colors spread as far as I could see, and two pairs of sissors.  Behind the boys was a pile of paper scaps, it was clear they had been up for a while, as evidence by the mound of scraps.

I asked them what they were making and they said, "Puppets" for you, Isabelle, Jack and Dad.  See, here's one for Isabelle...

See Mom, it is as big as she is...

And here's her head, see it is tiny like hers.

And then there was Dad and my puppet...

In case it is hard to read it says, "Gabriel and Michael will remember you.  (heart)"  As Gabriel gave it to me, he said, Mom it is so you can keep it and know I will always remember you, even when I'm grown up and move to my own house. (This is from a conversation we had many months ago when I told them I wanted them to always know how much I loved them and never to forget it).

As Gabriel finished telling me what he had wrote, Michael said, "Mom, I didn't make you and Dad one, because you'll never forget me, I'm never going to move into my own house, I'm just going to live with you." Isn't that nice to know he says now he's never going to leave. :-)  We'll see if he changes his mind when he's a teenager.

And then it was time for the boys to show me what "puppet" they had made for Jack...

As they showed me his puppet, I admit I looked at them a little confused, I don't see the puppet part boys, I said.  That is when Gabriel explained it to me... "See Mom this part (the small thin end) goes over his head and this end (the thick part with the V points) goes on his bottom and he can wear it when we go for walks.  And this part (the pointy V end) will hold his poop when he goes." 

I started laughing of course, and he said, "Mom isn't it great?"!

Of course I responded and thought to myself, I'm not quite sure they understand what a puppet is, but oh well.  And as I told Nana the story about Jack's puppet  today she said, "Well it might not be much of a puppet, but they could call it a poop it! "

Until next time,
Angie

Wearing pants...

For the last several months Gabriel and I have been having the same conversation every morning. 
Gabriel yells, after finishing his shower... "Mom!  Can I wear short today?"
Depending on the weather I respond yes or no.  See when he first started asking to wear shorts it was the middle of winter, and although it doesn't get as cold as it does in the mid-west, it is still too cold to wear shorts.  Despite it being winter, Gabriel saw each morning as an opportunity to beg, plead, and state his case for why he should get to wear shorts, despite the cold temperatures.

After several minutes of discussing, bargaining and batting proposals back and forth, we'd come to an agreement that when it was warmer than 75 outside he could wear shorts.  For the last several weeks it has been shorts everyday and every morning, as sure as the sun comes up, Gabriel will yell from the shower... "Mom!  Can I wear shorts?"

You can guess my surprise this afternoon when I picked Gabriel up from school when he announced that tomorrow he was going to wear pants to school. 
"Really Gabriel, you are going to wear pants."
"Yes Mom, I am."  He continued, "See Alexa says I look really handsome in my grey pants.  She said you look like Justin Bieber.  So that's why I'm going to wear pants mom."

I'm so glad to hear it really doesn't matter what the temperature is outside.  Next winter, I'm going to go for the stance that the ladies will like him a lot more with pants on.

Until next time,
Angie