Bedtime

Each night before I go to sleep, I go into each child's room to check on them.

I always give Ellie a kiss on the forehead or cheek. She stirs just mildly and smiles as I tell her goodnight. I have no doubt she appreciates this routine, even though she is asleep. This is very much consistent with her need for many last hugs during periods of separation - like the work and school day or a long nights sleep.

I go into Max's room and either kiss him, if I can reach him (because he's now back in that big bunk bed and sometimes hard to get to) or i kiss my hand and apply a kiss to him. He often turns away, as if touching him in his sleep disturbs him. This makes me think he's just like his Daddy. But I kiss him and check on him anyway.

Finally, I check on Clair. I get near her and apply several kisses to her cheeks or her head. She is never bothered. She stays asleep. But she also snuggles in closer to me when she feels me. Even subconsciously she enjoys being close. The kisses and touch do not bother her, she embraces them and turns to them. Many a nights she will roll over and try to snuggle into me in those brief seconds. This is very much aligned with Clair's belief that we should always sleep together and cuddle all night long. She calls me in the night when she needs me and often just wants a snuggle.

I love my little routine with each of them. It's the best way to end a day, happy, healthy, warm kids all tucked in for the night.

Max is playing Basketball!

Max decided in the fall he wanted to play basketball. We signed him up for a skills camp with his buddy next door. It started slowly with one session in December and a big break. None the less, I think Max is really enjoying it. I see so much improvement from the first time he was asked to dribble a ball down the court. Each week they are learning something new, rules, a jump shot, a layup, more dribbling. It's really fantastic to watch. He has fun here too. A couple of his friends from his first grade class are in the session along with Henry.

I'm proud of Max for trying basketball. I hope he continues to enjoy it. It's so fun to watch him play and have fun with sports!

Clair finally gets her chance at sports!

Clair has been watching Mommy coach Ellie in Softball since she was less then 1 year old. She is good at sports and has an inclination for it. She has been asking to play soccer for a while. I finally decided to sign her up for one of those all around sport sessions where she gets a chance to try different sports for a few weeks in a gym in a structured way. We started in a couple of weeks ago.

She only wanted to play soccer when we went the first week. Luckily, we did start there. But she says, "Soccer is hard Mommy." (And I can't help but agree with her)

Luckily, we also did basketball that night. She was really excited about basketball. Max is also playing basketball too and they play it in the basement. She's pretty good at it for a 3 year old. She makes almost all her baskets. She's a tall girl too!

We've had 3 sessions so far and she takes it seriously and has fun too. She did great as tball this past week. She's quite a hitter. She enjoys running with the coach and the other kids. I enjoy the chance to play the sports with her and spend the time together. It's a really nice experience. I'm glad we did it. I think my girl will enjoy sports for many years to come.

A big project accomplished - Kids new swingset

For Christmas, we designed and David built an amazing new swing-set for the kids at the new yard. We tried to think about what would each kid really appreciate the most. We incorporated monkey bars, slide, gymnastic bar, lots of swings and a fun platform swing. David even added a pirates steering wheel at the end. It's been about 2 months in the making. The kids have been patient and excited.

There were squeals of delight when I told them they could go run and play on this! I'm proud of David and excited for the kids. It's great to have this as an anchor as we build out the new back yard.

Happy Girls and boys !

Taking Mommy too seriously

I've been a bit slack on the return of approval to participate in this year's valentines day party. My delay was merely limited by getting a hold of the 6 one dollar bills needed to pay their way. None the less, as the kids started to pressure me about this, I decided to joke with them that I wasn't going to approve their participation this year.  I thought of course they knew I was joking, as there's no reason not to participate. Apparently, however, Max thought I was serious. He asked his teacher what happens if my Mommy won't approve me participating. He came home from school all upset that he would have to spend the time sitting in the office. He was distraught.

Poor boy, I need to joke with them more often. This is my mommy lesson learned!

Clair's fear of death

A couple times a month Clair will come out with some deep statements showing she's so worried about dying. I'm really not sure where this comes from; perhaps after dealing with my Grandpa's death.

Yesterday at breakfast she proclaims to her brother and sister, "When Mommy and Daddy die, Max and Ellie, you will take care of me, right?"

Max and Ellie were both shocked by this and taken back.

I quickly stepped in to remind them all they would be very old grown ups before this happened. Clair still wanted assurance from Max and Ellie they would take care of her, tears welling up in her eyes.

I gave her a big hug and told them all to always take care of each other and quickly tried to change the subject.  Poor girl, I wish she didn't worry about this so much.

Hanging out with Ellie

I try to spend time with each kid doing special things. I had this idea that we should do date nights with each kid. I have been doing okay with it I guess. I wish David was able to find more one on one time with each kid. I hope that gets easier soon for him.

Tonight Ellie and I went out with a plan to paint a water and food bowl at the pottery place for Lady Grey. We also managed to sneak in some frozen yogurt and quick shopping for socks. It was a nice evening.

The painting was most of the evening. Ellie decided to take on the water bowl and attempt to paint a dolphin swimming in water. That is hard and takes lots of details. She was mostly patient and only a little frustrated once. She loves art and it's fun to watch her design and use colors.

My bowl was fun. I enjoy the relaxation of creating things as well. I look forward to picking them up in a couple weeks and having them as a reminder of time together always.

We chatted some about school and life, but mostly focused on our art. I hope we managed to do this more often. She's an awesome girl with a kind heart who wants to do good in the world. I love my Ellie Grey!

Oh Peppa

Clair is fascinated with Peppa Pig these days. It's really amazing. She watches Peppa and she plays Peppa all the time in her doll house, zoo, barn and make believe. I'm not sure what it is she loves about Peppa, but she loves it.

I'm sitting here watching her admire and enjoy the show on TV. She is obsessed. She watches the same 12 episodes daily! Luckily they are quite short. It's a bit much TV time in my opinion. But she surely is persistent!

I just asked Clair why she likes Peppa pig. She responded by saying exactly what they are doing on the show at this very moment. That they go to the Dentist. That Peppa says, "Waiting is boring" So, apparently, she's very in the moment with Peppa. Oh to be 3!

Clair's school friends

Clair has managed to establish a couple good friends through her time at Wee Folk pre-school over the past two years. Sarah and Clair spend some time with them outside of school now. Clair loves this extra time with her friends. It makes her feel like such a big girl. I am so grateful that she has built these relationships.  I have decided to keep her at Wee Folk one more year, instead of enrolling her closer to home.

Today she went to an open gym with Lilah and Olive. From the looks of the pictures Sarah sent, they had lots of fun. These girls enjoy their time together. Clair was so excited this morning about the opportunity.

I am sometimes sad that I didn't manage to make relationships with the moms, but that's okay. Clair is getting what she needs and I'm thankful Sarah is able to help her with this.

Big girl project

This month Ellie had to do an immigration project in school. She decided to do it on Scotland, which was an easy and natural choice. She spent a lot of time on the phone with Grannie collecting stories and photos. She spent time with David learning. She spent a lot of time preparing posters and thinking about what she would say. I'm so proud of her.

The night before they were due I asked her if she would volunteer to go first. Her initial reaction was no way, but after was talked about it a bit, she decided she wanted to volunteer to go first for the first time ever. I was so proud of her.

It turned out she got to go second. I'm so proud of her energy and her hard work on this project. She really did spectacular and really did most of it alone. Well done Ellie Bean!

Here are a couple photos.

A growing boy

I've noticed for the past few weeks that Max doesn't always have Spotsies right beside him in bed. Sometimes, he doesn't even ask for him before going to sleep. Last night, Spotsies was on the floor and Max was in his bed alone.

He is a growing boy. He's growing up. He's getting more independent. We make him responsible for many things. I love that he can do things for himself, but I also don't want to rush his childhood.

It's a little sad seeing his Spotsies lying at the end of his bed abandoned. Poor Spotsies. I think they make movies about this stuff, kids outgrowing their lovies.

Max is a sweet boy with a sweet heart. He means no harm. He is so focused on playing with friends these days and hanging with the boys, other priorities are slipping and he's growing up.

Middle of the night

Clair likes to have company in bed, when she's falling asleep, when she can't sleep, when she's awake.

Last night I told her it was time to go to sleep and she was in the middle of playing with her dollhouse. She was not pleased and wanted more time. When I declined, she got very upset, stomped her feet and proclaimed, "She did not want anymore hugs from me ever!"

I proceeded to tuck her in and tried to make up with her, but she was mad. I let her go to sleep and did give her a kiss and tried to hug her.

Fast forward to the middle of the night and I hear her calling me. I go in. She's sitting up in the middle of her bed. She looks at me so sincerely, "Mommy, I'm sorry I said I didn't want to hug you anymore. I didn't mean it." She reaches for a hug.

I sat beside her and held her, hugged her, and proceeded to snuggle up beside her until she fell back to sleep.

I love this girl. I love her crazy energy, her demands, and her fast mind. She's adorable. And most of all, I love her snuggles and her hugs!

January is the sick month

Since new years, we have been very busy. We started the year off going back to school and work, then following it up with having the kids Christmas Play at Sunday school. Max and Ellie participated, and I ended up letting Clair sit with me.

After that, Mommy was off to New York City for a two day work trip. Along with a box of treats, I brought home the respiratory flu as a nice little treat. I came down with it first and tried to stay out of circulation. I managed to keep it from everyone except Ellie. She came down with it about 3 days after me, unfortunately. Ellie is a trooper when she is sick. She stayed pleasant and enjoyed time confined to her room with her kindle, books, drawing and food brought to her. Two prescriptions of Tamiflu needed, found and purchased. Thankful for this medicine that helped us both reduce our symptoms and length

After I recovered, I had another trip to Philadelphia where I was presenting at a conference. It was hard for me to leave again. I hadn't spent much time with the kids for over a week, trying to keep from getting them sick. Clair was particularly upset by this and started to rely heavily on Daddy. David was a trooper about it all, calm, steady and taking care of everyone. He did end up getting a little run down, but recovered after about 2 days as well.

Clair caught a cold again and started with the runny nose and cough again. She gets these all the time. They say it's because of her allergies. I'm not really sure. At least I think this one is clearing without antibiotics. I hate putting her on them on the time.

Max wrapped up the month with a nice cold leading to a double ear infection. Poor thing. At least he hasn't had one for a while.

So, as we wrap up the month and head into David's 44th birthday, I am looking for a energy filled, sick free month of February for my family. One can hope! The year of positive attitudes....

Looking out for each other

One of the things I want most for my kids in their lives is that they look out for each other. I love when I see evidence of them doing it, even if it's ganging up on Mommy and Daddy.

Max got a coveted triple light saber for Christmas. It broke within 30 seconds out of the box. I glued it. Max had it for about a week, before it was broken again. I didn't know about it the second time until I went in to go to sleep and found the broken light saber lying on top of this note.

I love that Ellie was trying to help Max out, even if the light saber doesn't get fixed with glue.

New Years Eve 2016 to 2017

This year we were going to host the small party with the Latimer's and Neale's, but the Neale's were hit by the stomach bug, as were many in the area this year. We had a lot of food and a lot of excited kiddos, and some tired adults who didn't want to stay awake. I have to say that it wasn't our smoothest evening. In the end, all kiddos made it to midnight and we toasted the ball drop with bubble juice before bed. Even Clair made it and had a very nice evening. We played a few games, ate lots of food, and got everyone into bed by 12:15.

New Years Day was a fun time with the Perrotta family party. I enjoyed seeing them after many years and the kiddos enjoyed hanging out as well.

2016 was a good year and we had a good discussion as a family about all the exciting things that happened this year:
* Our trip to Scotland and Iceland was memorable for all, even Clair
* Our move to the new house was trying, but good. Watching the house get built was exciting for everyone
* Clair loves school!
* Max now loves writing and is enjoying reading.
* Max is starting to enjoy sports and really looking forward to basketball continuing into the new years.
* Ellie is quite happy with life.
* Ellie and Max love living across the street from Henry and Elizabeth. This has been a great change for us as a family.
* Clair really needs a friend nearby.... I hope someone moves in around us soon with a good friend for her.
* Christmas break was exciting and Christmas day is always a hit with the kids!
* We are looking forward to what 2017 brings for us all.

Happy New Years and we are excited to see what 2017 will bring the family.