Happy Thanksgiving!

On this day of thanks, I feel so blessed to be the momma of these three little turkeys:

Each one is different in personality and manages to keep me on my toes every single day.  I am enjoying every second of watching them grow and interact together, and hope that they will always be the best of friends.

Jack's first Thanksgiving:

Sporting a turkey bib that once belonged to his sisters:

(No turkey for him this year, but next year ... he will truly be able to experience a real Thanksgiving meal)!

Five

Samantha is five years old today.  I've thought about it a lot lately, and it seems like such a grown-up age to me.  I remember a lot of things from when I, myself, was five years old -- kindergarten, dance lessons, becoming a big sister again ... Some of the exact same milestones that Samantha is reaching at this age.

Five years old means that I rarely have to help her get dressed or brush her teeth.  She runs into school with a slight hand wave now; there is no shyness about her.  She has mastered self-confidence already and makes friends so easily.  That alone just makes my momma heart swell.

She would never hurt anyone's feelings intentionally.  She's sensitive to those around her, and has a heart of gold -- so solid and yet so loving at the same time.  She adores her brother and sister with every ounce of her being and I love watching the patience that she has with each one of them.  (Sometimes I wonder why I can't be that patient?).

I am so proud of the girl that she is turning into, and I make a point to let her know that every chance that I get.  She is so special to her daddy and me.

On her birthday, I made extra sure that she knew how special she is ...

Cinnamon rolls for breakfast (before school), complete with a candle and Sophia and me singing happy birthday to her:

I made dirt pudding cups for her to take to classmates at school to celebrate her birthday:

After I picked her up from school at noon, the kids and I took her to Culver's for a grilled cheese sandwich and ice cream -- her favorite!  And then, as is our tradition, we went into the pet store across the street so that the girls could see all of the animals.  Samantha said that it was the best day ever ...

And we weren't done! 

After we got home, Samantha opened her present from me.  I wanted to be sure that she had a chance to open it while I was there (we were saving the other presents for later that night while I would be teaching).  She was beyond excited over the children's bible that I had chosen for her -- something that she had been wanting.

Jack was a little preoccupied with the gift bag and tissue paper!  Look at that determination!

After the girls' naps, Steve arrived home a few minutes early and Sam was able to open her gifts from Jack, Sophia and Steve. 

Sophia had chosen some licorice and a Doc McStuffins bag that you could decorate:

Jack gave Sam a new dress for dress -up ... and Steve picked out a remote-controlled truck!  Yes, a remote-controlled truck!  I'm not sure who was more excited, him or Sam.  Although Sam was pretty excited.  Her exact words were, "Dad, were you thinking of me when you bought this?  I love it so much!  Thank you!"  Steve was thrilled.

Opening the truck immediately:

Testing it out in the hallway:

Decorating the Doc McStuffins bag:

Overall, I think that it is safe to say that Samantha had a great day.  There is nothing that I want more in this world than for my kids to feel loved and appreciated every day, but especially on their birthday.

A Special Gift

Steve's mother passed away unexpectedly at the end of September.  It has been six weeks now since her passing and it is still hard for me to put thoughts together and do a posting on here that she rightfully deserves. Not a day goes by that we are not reminded of her ...

My girls loved Barb tremendously and knew that Grandma would always have some sort of gift for them whenever she saw them.  And, it would was a given that it would be wrapped.  Every time.  That was just her style.

As the weeks have gone by, Steve's dad is still finding gifts throughout the house that Barb had already wrapped for the holiday season this year.  In typical Barb fashion, there is a little note on each one that serves as a reminder as to who it is supposed to be delivered to and what may be inside. 

This last weekend, Stan brought a Christmas present over for the girls that he had found.  The note indicated what was inside the wrapped box, and we decided that the girls could open it on the first snowfall of the season.  Little did I know that we would only have to wait ONE day for those snowflakes to arrive.

When the girls got up from their naps today, they jumped for joy -- not only for the new snowflakes that were falling fast, but also with anticipation over what Grandma had bought for them before she went to Heaven.

Opening the box out on the back deck with the snowflakes falling:

Bubble wrap is so much fun!

The gift was a special light-up snowman (from Hallmark, Barb's absolute favorite store)!

We are still not sure exactly when Barb would have bought this (or wrapped it).  Maybe it was an after-Christmas purchase last year and she tucked it away for this year?  I guess that we will never know ...

But I'm so glad that she thought of my girls.  I think that this is a memory that they will always have from this year; Grandma was still thinking of them ... even from Heaven.

Jack is 6 Months Old

 

Jack is six months old today.  Six months seems like such a big milestone to me.  It is when most babies start to eat some solids, they begin strengthening their back muscles in preparation to sit up on their own (both of the girls sat up unassisted around seven months of age) and actual teething starts (instead of the excessive drooling adding up to it).

First and foremost, Jack is consistently sleeping through the night now.  After not getting much success just simply by introducing some rice cereal into his diet, I made the executive decision to let him 'cry it out' one night.  I knew that it was going to be hard -- I listened to him cry for just over an hour in the middle of the night.  As much as I wanted to go to him, scoop him up and let him nurse, I knew that it would only be undoing everything that I was trying so hard to accomplish.  I folded laundry and put dishes away -- at 2:30 in the morning -- while listening to him finally lull himself back to sleep.  Then I snuck into his room, covered him up and stared at his peaceful resting state. 

The next night ... he slept right on through.  It has been two weeks now ... Occasionally he will make a little noise in the middle of the night now, but he just goes back to sleep on his own.  He seems so much happier in the mornings now (and this momma is too!).

It did not take Jack very long to master the use of a spoon.  He definitely knows as soon as I put him in his high chair that he is going to eat.  He's very serious about his food.

At this point, Jack has tried homemade pears, applesauce, carrots, peas and acorn squash.  He loves all of them and typically has one fruit and one vegetable two times a day.  The serving size is an ice cube of each.  The only thing that Jack isn't too fond of is bananas (to this day, Samantha is not a fan of them either). 

Sophia absolutely adores her brother and is constantly talking to him, kissing him and including him in all activities.  Samantha loves him too, but she is more of a mother hen.  She wants to feed him and hold him for me all the time.  And I welcome all of the help that she is willing to offer.

Sam was fresh out of the bathtub and came running to the kitchen to help feed Jack some dinner"

Jack is a pretty happy baby as long as he has access to his toes and someone is giving him attention.  He is not shy to offer up smiles and he has started just giggling right out loud.  I love that about him.

Spending some quality time with Grammy:

Both of the girls had little bear suits that they wore during their first winter (and home from the hospital because they were born during the colder parts of year).  I wanted Jack to have something a little warmer to wear now that the weather is turning cold, and I was so happy to find a similar bear suit.  It definitely keeps him warm while we are out and about!

Jack officially rolled over by himself (both front-to-back and back-to-front) on November 12th while he was playing on the floor in his bedroom.  He has been close to doing it on his own for a while now, but with two obliging older sisters to fetch his toys for him, he hasn't been too motivated to work really hard at it.  Now that I know that he can roll, I have to keep a closer eye on him. 

He is also pretty close to being able to sit up unassisted on the floor.  His balance is pretty good side-to-side; he just has to realize that he can hold his back upright and doesn't have to fall forward (belly to his knees).  I suspect that he will have this mastered in less than a month.

I am looking forward to the holidays this year with Jack and the girls.  Jack's old enough to be excited about seeing the twinkling lights on our trees and I think that the wrapping paper will also be a big hit with him.  There will be a lot of memory making this year ...

Beginning of the Week Randoms

I watched a small video today that was put together by a church, and has now spread all over the world wide web.  It was designed to debut on Mother's Day weekend this year as a tribute to all mothers to show them just how special they are to their children.  In the video, several mothers were asked to come in and do one thing: Describe yourself as a mother. 

 

It was a revelation just how many of them described themselves in a negative way -- how they lack patience, how they have a short temper, how they don't cuddle enough with their kids, how they have their doubts about whether they are doing a good job raising their children day in and day out; the list went on and on.  

 

And then ...

 

Their children were asked to come in and describe their mother.  Behind the screen, those moms got to watch the video of their children saying the nicest, most wonderful, heartfelt things about them.  Everything that they described was POSITIVE.  They didn't have the same view about their mother that she had about herself and her parenting.

 

I was so moved by this video that I decided to ask the girls the same question.  I waited until they were snuggled in their beds for naptime today and then I asked them to describe me and what their most favorite thing to do with me was ...

 

Sophia told me that she loves to make dinner with me.  That comes as no surprise.  The girl thinks about food 24/7. 

 

Samantha told me that she loves do projects with me.  Yes, we do a lot of projects in this house.  And I am so pleased to know that she appreciates them.

 

In honor of some of those projects ...

 

Working on a Halloween pumpkin before the holiday:

 



This was actually a project that we did with one of Sam's friends that came over to our house for a play date.  It turns out that her friends enjoy a nice project too.

Decorating Halloween balloons.  Samantha did the pumpkin, Sophia did the purple cat and they worked together on the ghost.

Samantha's 5th birthday is next week.  How is that even possible???  We will be celebrating her birthday the following weekend with family and a few friends at our house.  I always do birthdays up BIG in our household, and this year will be no exception.  Her birthday has a fairy theme and the projects are well underway, including this fairy hut.  Frankly, the glue gun has not made its way back into its rightful location in the junk drawer for a week now ...

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With winter coming, Steve has been working on building up our wood pile on the back patio.  With close supervision, the girls are always excited to help him.

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Samantha is doing so well in school.  She made the "All A's" honor roll in school this last quarter (she actually got a 'B' in penmanship, but it doesn't count as one of the subjects so she still got "all A's").  The reason that she received a 'B' in penmanship is because she needs to improve a little more on her handwriting.  She still has not chosen her dominant hand -- right or left -- and until she does, her writing cannot be perfected.  In the meantime, she switches back and forth.

With her thriving in school, she has become quite motivated to do her homework and extra activity books at home.  She even "plays school" with Sophia, implementing some of the things that she has learned.

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Ah, tea parties ... They take place regularly in our house.  The other day, the girls set up this one on their own, complete with a tablecloth (aka blanket), napkins and their own cups from the kitchen.  And apparently, the ladies needed to wear their hats for their lunchtime tea.  I even heard Samantha refer to Sophia as "darling" during the event.

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While Samantha is at school and Jack is taking his morning nap, Sophia becomes my little helper.  It is her own personal job to put stamps on all of the orchard bills that need to go out that day.  She takes her role very seriously ...

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The Detroit Lions played football yesterday (and won!), so the men in our house were showing their team spirit.  Jack's shirt read, "My First Lions Tee."  Daddy was pretty proud ...

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Go Spartans!

Today is the Michigan/Michigan State football game, so my babies are sporting their Michigan State gear!  It's going to be a tough game, but we know who everyone in this household will be rooting for ...

(The picture above depicts things perfectly -- Sophia is nearly in tears because she is two and didn't get her way, and Jack is holding onto one of his feet ... a natural pose for him these days).

(Once again, note the foot pose from Jack).

(And Samantha ... when did she get so big on me?)

Halloween - 2013

We had a fun-filled day yesterday crammed with all kinds of holiday activities.  While Samantha was in school for the morning, I had a special project for Sophia to help me with.  Together, we made witch hat cookies.  It was a very simple and easy thing and she enjoyed every second of it!

Unwrapping all of the Hershey chocolate kisses:

We worked as a team and assembled a Hershey chocolate kiss on top of an upside down fudge-striped cookie using a bit of orange cookie icing.  It was a complete success.

And what kitchen project would be complete without a little taste-testing from my helper?

My mom came to be with us for the spooky holiday and came bearing gifts (of course!).  The girls got to open theirs after Sam came home from school.

Sophia received a singing owl, which I thought that she was going to end up taking out trick-or-treating with us because she couldn't stop carrying it around ... she loves it that much:

(Sophia had a gummy candy in her mouth while I was trying to take her picture).

And Samantha received a moving/singing witch hat -- that happened to match her shirt just perfectly:

Every time she put it on, she did a little jig with it.  It was so adorable!

The excitement of the nighttime activities was almost a little too much for the girls (and even Jack) because none of my kids seemed to take a decent nap.  I'm so thankful that my mom was here to help me finish up all of my chores and get everything ready for the arrival of our guests.  Steve's dad joined us (as it is an annual tradition) and this year, we invited our friends and their two girls to be with us as well.

We had beef stew, biscuits, salad and many desserts so that our bellies could be full for our night of trick-or-treating.  Unfortunately, like so many Michigan Halloweens, the weather was uncooperative.  It had rained ALL DAY here.  By evening, the rain had slowed to a slight (and annoying) mist, but at least the temperature was hovering around 60 degrees.  This was significantly more bearable than last year when it was even more raining and downright cold.

After dinner, we all got dressed in our costumes -- even the adults.

My family on Jack's first Halloween:

I love these kids so much:

Samantha was a tooth fairy.  She chose this costume idea about two months ago, which gave me plenty of time to pull it together.  I made sure that her crown, wand, and fairy dress (we had all of these already in her dress-up basket) all had a tooth on them.  Then, I found an inexpensive bag at the store that she could use to collect her candy in and put a tooth on each side of it.  She loved it!

Around the same time that Samantha chose to be a tooth fairy, Sophia declared that she wanted to be an ice cream cone.  Such a random idea ... but it wasn't going to stop me from making sure that she had just the costume that she wanted!

And I chose for Jack to be a tiger because it would be nice and warm for him.  And we love the Detroit Tigers in this household!

Trick-or-treating in the rain:

After exactly two houses, Sophia decided to stop in the yard and open one of her pieces of candy.  Steve had to explain to her that she needed to wait until we got home!

Even though the weather did not work in our favor, we still managed to make it to at least ten houses (our close neighbors) and the kids had such a great time!  Once we made it back home, the kids were anxious to strip off their (wet) costumes and enjoy a few goodies.  And Jack was ready for some dinner and a bath -- Halloween can be fun, but it can be exhausting for a 5 month old!