Gabriel's end of the year!

This past week was CRAZY with baseball games and school activities every day and night.  One of the activities we went to was an award ceremony for Gabriel's grade.

He was recognized for making the honor roll for his Jaguar Academy, a cohort of students that are in advanced classes and demonstrate leadership skills.  

He couldn't look at mom to take his picture because then he'd actually have to admit that I'm with him.  He's too cool for me now.

After the ceremony he came up to me and said hi before telling me it was okay to go and that he'd see me at the bus stop (even though parents were allowed to take their kids home).  I smile because while he might not think I'm cool now, someday he'll realize mom and dad really aren't that bad.

Before walking out, I stopped to see where he had disappeared to and of course I found him in a circle of girls.  :-)   

The next day at school (their last day) the teachers organized a water day at the park next to the school and I decided to surprise him by volunteering to help.  It was so classic because I didn't tell him and he had no idea.  When they showed up and he saw me, he was shocked and immediately tried to pretend he didn't see me.  As he walked by, again with girls on each of his sides, I waited til he got about 5 feet away and said, "Hi Gabriel, don't you want to say hi to your mom?"  of course in a voice that would embarrass him.  Two can play this game. 

He smiled and said, "Hi mom!" Knowing I was joking.  And then he went off.  It turns out his rotation in the order made it so he came to the station I was working at last.  I was able to snap a few pictures of him at the other stations with his friends.

And then they came to ours.  They had to fill up a cup with a squirt bottle.  He thought it was awesome to squirt his friend Emily. 

After they took a turn they had to switch and it was finally my time to get Gabriel.  As Emily tried to fill up the cup, I aimed completely at Gabriel's head to get him super wet.  At one point he said, "Emily you have terrible aim." 

She said Gabriel that isn't me, its your mom!

I should have realized it was on then.  As soon as they were done and we started cleaning up as it was time to go home, Gabriel ended up coming up behind me with the water bottles (which happened to be filled with ice water) and dumped the entire bottle on my head. 

He then thought he was so cool as his friends laughed that he had gotten his mom "so bad!"

The kids trotted off, Gabriel looked and thought he was so cool. 

And I thought about it for a minute and thought... I'm not going to let him have the last laugh.  So I took two other ice cold water bottles and ran up behind him, right in front of his teacher, I got right behind him and dumped both bottles down his head and his shirt!  He screamed a high-pitched scream and all the kids started laughing at him.  "OOOOOHHH Gabriel, she got you!!"  Then his teacher said, "Yeah, way to go Gabriel's mom! Bet you waited all year to do that!"  She may have been right!

That afternoon when I picked him up from the bus he said, "Mom you got me good.  I had to sit in a wet pants all afternoon! And mom my friends said, you are cool!"  I didn't want to act too surprised or shocked by it, but I'm not going to lie... it felt kind of good.

These pre-teen years are a new uncharted territory and while we have moments where I wonder where my kid went and how this crazy person got into my house, there are moments like the water day that remind me, deep down he really does love us.. even if he can't be seen at school with us.

Until next time,

Angie 

Madelyn's 2!

This past Monday Madelyn turned 2 and I can hardly believe my eyes when I see my baby is now starting her 2nd year.  Wow.  Didn't we just celebrate her being born?

Madelyn is a true doll and we love her so much.  She has the sweetest personality... is completely easy going.  Is happy seriously almost all the time, except when she's over tired, getting her 2-year molars in (seriously they all just came in last weekend right before her birthday) or sick.  Other than that she is the best, easy-going, happy-go-lucky toddler one could see.

Seriously at her daycare they all tell me how they fight over who gets to play with Madelyn and cuddle with her.  The teachers, and she has so many it seems, all stop Jarrett or I when we pick her up or drop her off and say, "We LOVE your daughter!"  "She's just the cutest and so happy, and easy going!"  The other thing we hear so often (maybe they tell all the parents this) is how smart she is.  We openly admit, we are biased but strongly agree.  She gets this from her daddy too.  Madelyn is able to pick up on new things she learns right away, often we read something one time and she remembers the word.  Perhaps it's being the youngest and with 3 older siblings she's hearing them say things and trying to catch up.

And her memory is better than mine.  Just this morning I was trying to find her toothbrush  and couldn't find it in any of the drawers.  I said, "Madelyn where is your toothbrush?" mainly as a way to pretend I was talking to her instead of to myself.  Madelyn who was playing with a toy near my bed, got up and said, "I know."  She then walked over to the shower, pointed inside to the ledge where I had left it the previous night when I was trying to multitask and shower her and brush her teeth at the same time. "There it is!"  She said, as she opened the shower door all by herself, walked in, grabbed it and brought it to me.  Seriously, I need some of her memory ability!

Some  of  the many things she loves is her family.  She lights up at the end of each day when she comes home from school.  She gives each of us a hug, smiles and laughs with pure delight and love.  She has perfected the act of kissing and loves to say, "hug".  I love how lovable she is.

She likes many of the shows Isabelle likes, perhaps its because Isabelle is always in charge of the tv although some of her favorite are Bubble Guppies, Paw Patrol, Mickey Mouse Club House, Pepa Pig and Frozen.

Her favorite foods are bananas (seriously the girl would eat 4 or more bananas a day- if I'd let her.), toast, orange juice, blueberries and anything with sugar.  I gave her that trait- thank goodness she has her dad to balance out all the bad traits I've shared.  She LOVES cookies, candy, Popsicles, anything with sugar.

In the last few months we have really seen Madelyn starting to change looks and become a little kid, more and more signs of the baby/toddler stage is gone.  She's wanting to be more independent, saying "NO I do myself" more and more and when she does become mad she's not happy at all.  I guess I can claim the sharing of that quality too. :-(

There are so many things we love about Madelyn.  She now sleeps through the night- with the exception of the 4 am water request.  And while she main sleeps on my head or completely on top of me, we have hope that by the age of 4 she might be sleeping in her own bed.

How she wanted to dress at her party!

 Just as in  the older three kids, some of the things I find the most joy in is getting to see life through her eyes.  Seeing her get so excited about a banana or getting to go swimming, see her family for the first time at the end of the  day.... the  simple moments  in a day we often take for granted as adults.  Probably because we are too busy trying  to take care of so many things.

When I was pregnant with Madelyn just over 2 years now I prayed so hard that she would be okay, born healthy and be able to come home with us.  I still live with the fear every single day (you should see how many times I check on her in the middle of the night to make sure she is breathing), that something terrible could happen and I could lose her too.  I think it's my heart and minds way of being extra on guard after suffering loss before.  I look at her sometimes and think... I wonder if Noah would look like you if he was here.  I guess the grief never ends, it just changes.

So  I guess as we celebrate Madelyn's 2nd birthday that is what  I'm most thankful for.  That she is here, that she is healthy and that I've gotten to have this time with her.  I hope so much for a lifetime more, to get to watch her grow and thrive.

Madelyn saved me from a horrific life of sadness and grief after Noah died and I am oh so thankful she is here.

It is such a joy to be her mom and we all love her so so much.

Happy birthday to the cutest, smiley, happy-go-lucky little girl around.  We love you always and forever and even more Madelyn.

Until next time,

Mom and Dad

End of another school year...

This past Thursday was the last day of school!

Here are a few pictures to compare the start of the year to the end and how much they've grown.

COMPARISON PHOTOS...

Hard to believe school's out for summer.  I'm afraid I'll blink and it will be back to school!

Until next time,
Angie

Michael's 11th year

Over 2 months ago Michael celebrated his 11th birthday.  How can it already be he's 11 years and 2 months.  The days, weeks and months have been insane and I simply didn't get to finish this posted I started back at the beginning of February.  But late is better than nothing at all so here's my recap of my middle boy's start of his 11th year.

First off.... how can it be that my little boy, the one who was the same size as Madelyn is now, when he first came to us, is now 11.  Seriously.

Look at that cute (and not-so-innocent) face.  :-)  He's still got the same smile and the not-so-innocent look as well. 

Michael keeps me on my toes.  While we don't share the same blood, we share so many similarities, mostly that we are as determined as stubborn as an old mule.  Therefore we sometimes go many rounds debating or arguing about certain things, and while sometimes we agree to see eye to eye, and other times not, in the end we always come back together with love for each other at the base of our core.  

While I am always proud of Michael, there are some things I've seen this year in Michael's growth that make me shout from the mountain top of just how proud I am.  Michael has shown tremendous leadership growth this year at school.  Not only was he selected to be a part of his school's student council but he was also the one student from the school selected to be on an advisory committee with the districts Superintendent.  Monthly he goes and meets with the other representatives from all the schools in our district and proposes certain changes and ideas he thinks will be best for their school and the students.

To be selected for this role is such a huge honor and Michael has truly stepped up in his leadership and desire to be a positive influence for others.  I couldn't be more proud of him.  

I've also seen him grow more confident in being who he is.  He often tells me he hangs out with the people he likes because they like him for who he is.  I hope he can hold onto that as he enters middle school.

 

One other story I wanted to share is about how caring and considerate Michael is to one kid at school who often is a loner and can be teased by other kids.  Sometimes as a result this student can lose his temper and get very angry.  Michael has found a way to connect with him and bond that as his teachers says, "No other student has done."  They have such a great relationship that when Michael was running for student counsel against this other student, Michael was truly impressed with the speech this boy had prepared.  He said, "Mom, he must have worked really hard on it."  Michael then went onto tell me that when he stood up to give his speech he said, "After listening to his speech, you should vote for him.  If you decide to vote for me, I want you to know that I will talk to "Chris" and collaborate with him and you to make changes, but you should really consider voting for him.  He did a great job." 

I'm not sure how it worked out but Michael was picked to be the class representative and that afternoon when I picked up him from school, his teacher came up to me and I immediately thought, "what happened?"  As Mrs. Crosby got closer, I could see her eyes were welling up with tears.  She said, "I have to tell you, in all my years of teaching I have never been more proud of a student.  The compassion and kindness Michael showed for "Chris" was unlike anything I have seen.  Where most kids don't understand and aren't the nicest to him, your son shows him nothing but friendship and care."  As she finished talking, she had tears streaming down her face that matched mine.  I too was (still am) so proud.

From that moment on, Michael's fifth grade year seem to soar to new heights.  He thrived on getting to be a leader, he loved the challenges of pushing himself and enjoyed being the kid the younger ones looked up to.  Finally, it was his time to get to show all his talents and skills. 

I'm so proud of him.

This past Thursday Michael finished his elementary career and as I picked him up on his last day I asked him what he thought.  I said, "Michael can you believe your life in elementary school is over?  How does that make you feel?"  He answered right away, "I'm so glad."  and then he paused, "Actually I'm kind of sad, it was a really fun year." 

Last morning drop off in 5th grade!

The last day of school for the 5th grade class there is a celebratory kick ball game of the teachers and parents against the kids.  Here's Michael up to kick.  He was the first to score for his grade!

Michael and some of his buddies.

Michael and his best friend Bella.  They've been friends since 1st grade and will be going to middle school together.  I told them to always remain true to themselves and to stick together and middle school will be okay.  It's hard to believe they have grown up so fast!

Here's a picture Bella's mom shared with me of them..

Babies... to grown up kids!

And here he is from the first day to the last day of 5th grade.  My how he's grown.

As I think about sending Michael to middle school this fall, I secretly want to hold him back to keep him from all the craziness I have thus seen middle school to be. 

I keep telling him to always be true to himself, don't be someone your not and to keep your good friends close.  

While he may be going on 11 1/2 and 6th grade... in my eye he'll always be this little guy filling up his shoes with rocks.

Wishing him the happiest 11th year. 

We love you always Michael and are proud of the person you are growing up to be.

Always stay humble and kind... 

Love you always, 

Mom and Dad