Losing another tooth

Ellie was sitting at dinner when she exclaimed, " wow, look how far this tooth moves!" As she wiggled it forward a second time it fell right out!

She was so excited she wasn't even bothered by the blood. 

Max was excited for her too!

Sweetheart

We are both sitting in the kids room silently waiting for Ellie to get dressed and ready for homework and bed. I look up and hear this quiet voice singing sweetly, "twinkle twinkle little star..."

He's sweetly singing to his spotsies. 

Max is such a sweet boy with a lot of love to give. When he's left to his own devices he is either fixing something like daddy or doing something sweet. It really is true.  

Baby grows

It's a delight watching Clair totter around with her hands held high in the air for balance. She's getting quite confident and crawling less. She's quite the big girl now.

 At a party Friday night she spent about 15 minutes sorting ice between the buckets. 

Last night she was determined to walk around the pool as we watched Max and Ellie swim class. 

Her new found mobility comes with end of day exhaustion as well. It's wonderful to see her so still and peaceful at the end of thre night when I check on her 

Ellie's final kindergarten field trip

Today the kindergarten class went to a big farm in Ellicott city. Ellie was so excited that I was able to go with her. When she was told we were in a group just me and her, that made her even more excited. I think that the one on one time was the best part of the whole day. We were surrounded by her classmates, and she enjoyed that aspect. But mostly, she was so excited to have me with her. It's an amazing feeling as a mother when your child is proud of you. I worry that the time of her wanting to spend time with me is dwindling. I dread when she starts to tell me Not to come on her field trips. 

We got to go to the farm and learn lots about the animals. The kids got to feed all the animals and touch many of them. We also spent some time in the garden learning about different plants. our final station was a tractor ride visit to the pond to learn about pond life. The kids were really interested in all, and we're really good listeners. Our tour guide Ernie was the best! He was great explaining things to the kids, and trying to keep them in line. One of my favorite responses he gave today was to the question why can't the email fly. His response "because that's the way God made it."

During the tractor ride Kelly decided she wanted to snuggle. Often, she wanted to hold my hand as we walk. We enjoyed sharing a lunch together. 

It Was a fun morning, and I was very proud of her when she was able to get on the bus and let us leave without any tears. That was quite an improvement from the field trip at the beginning of the year. Ellie has grown so much this year as a kindergartner.

My little adorable cheesy cake

Clair is so cute, even when a mess. I took her shopping with me and let her have her snack while we shipped. By the time we were back to the car, she was an adorable, cheery, mess!  

The best part of it is that she has learned to give me the cheesiest grin when she sees the camera. I actually have a hard time getting a photo of her normal smile. 

First babysitting gig from our son

Tonight Max lost Spotsie and his other night time snuggle friends because he did not eat his dinner and he really didn't even try. I told him he had to sleep without them and he could get them back if he ate his dinner tomorrow night.

He did not cry, because he knows these are the rules. However, they haven't had to be utilized in a long time. After choosing not to eat his dinner and realizing his punishment was eminent he went about enjoying the evening. You see, Max had a plan. Max asks me "mommy, can my animal sleep with you tonight?"

My response "yes next they can sleep in my room. I'm not sure where they will sleep though."

Ask proceeds to move them entire room and into our bed. He comes back and tells me "mommy you get to sleep with spotty. Daddy gets to sleep with Nikki. And blue Blankey's in the middle."

As we snuggled in my bed with his animals while reading a story before he went to sleep, it became clear that this punishment was okay because the animals wouldn't be sad. Once he saw me snuggling them, he was relieved and with ease he was able to go to bed tonight.

He wanted to know if daddy would be shorter snuggle Nikki the way I was snuggling spots. I told him to go ask daddy and explain his job to him. So Max walked into the other room and proceeded to explain to David that he needed to snuggle Nikki all night long.

I told David we officially have been assigned our first babysitting job from our own children.

Max is such a sweet boy. I love him very much.

We have another walker!

Claire has been taking a few steps here in there for over a month now. But today, she seemed to really get the hang of walking long distances across the room. It is so exciting for us all to watch.

Shortly after I got home from work Sarah put her down and told her to walk tomorrow me. My little blonde curly haired Claire bear came tottering across the floor about 10 feet or so waddling with speed right into my arms with a big grin on her face! Giggles even followed. This is one of those moments I wish I could bottle and keep an replay forever. I grabbed her and hug her so tight and she buried herself in my arms. It was wonderful!

Maxism: it's a poop storm

From the powder room we hear, it's a poop thunder storming here. There sits my nearly 4-year-old Max narrating his bowel movement with energy, imagination and exaggeration.

The analogies continued throughout the experience. At one point when he was having gaseous moments he announced that it was very thunderous.

I wish I would've written down more of the announcement at the time, because at this point the rest are escaping me.

My max is something else. His imagination is vivid. Every day he has multiple experiences inside that little head. I only hope it's a sign of good things to come.

Watching Clair learn to walk

Is amazing!

This busy little girl loves to move. She took her first single steps a month and a half ago, and has been moving freely with walkers and crawling for two months. However, she's now moving on to cruising between furniture. I love to watch the focus on her face, arms wide at her side, body stuff, and she wobbles a few steps here and there. It's a beautiful things! 

Ellie and Max really love to catch a glimpse of her walking and cheer her on. Ellie does not hesitate to give Clair and honest to goodness standing ovation for a series of steps. It's adorable and a wonderful event for the whole family.