Another two months has gone by without me writing anything. I am always disappointed in myself when this happens. It doesn't mean that there are not memories I wish to preserve forever, it only means that life has been so busy that I haven't had time to breath more less think about writing.
Halloween was another success. The bigger kids were missing the old neighborhood a lot and wishing we would go back there initially, but they ended up meeting up with people in the new neighborhood and having fun. Ellie was a spirit, and wanted to be something much more gruesome. Max was a ninja again, this time a real one instead of a Ninjago one. Clair was Poppy Troll from the recent movie and was adorable. Max and Ellie ran around fast with friends and were hard to keep up with. Clair took her time. She even enjoyed riding between houses in the stroller. I have a feeling that will be my last stroller Halloween.
November proved busy with work trips, a family trip to Disney and Ellie turning 10. I've now been a parent for a decade, one quarter of my life. However, as hard as that is to believe, life pre-parent feels extremely distant. My work trip to London in November was a success at home and abroad. I won an industry award and David and the kids did great without me at home.
The family trip to Disney was compliments of Great Grandpa and Gramma to celebrate his life with the grandkids. Katie and her crew went. Connie also joined us a bit as well. It was a lot of work and the kids really had a good time. I did manage to capture some photos from that event. I will attach them at the bottom. Each kid had special things they enjoyed and moments of frustration, as did the adults. Disney is hard work, but I am thankful for the time we had.
I rang in December with a 10 day trip to London for work. This was the longest I had been away from the kids. I was nervous, but we all really did well. David and the kids were champs at home. Clair really let me know she missed me and was unhappy with me. I did read her a story over facetime and that helped one evening. I came home better rested then I've been in a decade. The kids had a good week with Daddy and they had established some of their own more relaxed routines.
Once back home I rushed to prepare for Christmas in the midst of all the activities. Max is doing baskeyball this fall. He is playing on a team. He's not loving it, but we want him to have the ability to play a sport if he wants to. It's such an important social skill in the US and especially for boys. I hold hope he will pick something up. Max has also recently started drum lessons and is doing very well with them.
Ellie is still taking Piano lessons, she has also joined the chorus at the school and is taking saxophone lessons at school as well. Her music inclination and skill continues to grow. It has hit a hiccup when her piano teacher left the school and she has had to find a new one. We are on our third one and I'm hoping she can pick back up with Allie, but we both miss Ms. Nancy. She had a way with Ellie and she was really pushing through things. Ellie is now trying to learn Pachabell's Canon in G. It'ws not an easy song and she is working hard at it. She still loves to play something daily and I'm so happy to see her picking up singing again. Her holiday concert at school was cute. Thankfully Grannie was in town to see it as well.
This fall Ellie also entered two extra contests at school with success. She entered the art contest, reflections. Her work was one selected to be sent off to the county to participate in the broader context. We are waiting to hear back about that. She also entered a poem and a short story into a writing context at the school. Her short story one first place in the school and was sent out to the county contest. It was really amazing. She writes with such detail and description. She really does excel in writing and reading.
Clair has also started doing dance on Monday afternoon's. She is in preschool 3 days a week and just loves going to class and being busy. She is enjoying her dance class which is both tap and ballet. This is something she's wanted to try for a while. it's a small class and she's picking up a lot. I enjoyed parent observation day with her a week ago. She kept her eye on me during her show to ensure I was watching her at all times. We went out to McDonald's for cheeseburgers after the show to celebrate and have a special lunch together. She is such a joy to spend time with at this age. She tells me often I'm the best! We enjoy each other a lot at this stage in our lives.
This brings us to Christmas. Ellie is 10. Max is 7. Clair is 4 and a half, which matters at this age.
Ellie had gotten what she wanted for her birthday, so her Christmas list was not too elaborate. She wanted Harry Potter stuff, Rocks and squishies. Max wanted a lot of Pokemon cards and Ninja-go stuff, along with about half of everything else he saw in the toy magazines we had him look through. Clair was the same; everything looks like fun and she wants it, but especially Peppa Pig, which is still her favorite in the whole world.
They all got a lot of stuff. We spent 4 hours in a present opening marathon on Christmas morning. Grannie has joined us for Christmas for the first time since Max was born. The kids have loved having her here. I hope that as they age they can continue to appreciate all she does for them and really spending time with her.
Katie and the kids have joined us for the week. they will be at mom's but we will get to spend time with them. I have 5 more days off before returning to work. I'm still stressed out a bit, but not as much as I am when working. I hope that during 2018 I can continue to spend time with the kids and find a level of peace and sanity that allows me to be the mom they need. This is my continual wish and hope.
Ellie is brilliant, athletic, can be so helpful, a good cook, an artist, great musician, and generally good at everything she tries. Max is funny, he can build anything, he has so much energy, he plays great with Clair and really loves interacting with other people. They are both doing very well in school this year. Ellie's teacher is harder on her then any she has had, and she's still rocking it. Max's teacher really is great for him this year. She appreciates what he is good at and also wants him to focus on the couple things that will go a long way in helping make life better. I am so thankful for Miss Smith this year.
Clair is busy, she knows what she wants and doesn't usually stop until she gets it, she is smart and focused on counting, adding and spelling these days. She's very creative and spends a lot of time making up elaborate stories with her various dolls, houses, cars, and legos.
As I move into the new year, I will do my best to keep this blog up to date. I love to write the stories down and see them printed out each year. The yearly prints keep getting shorter and shorter, but life keeps getting equally more complex. The kids are a hoot and the loves of my life!
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