Take your kids to work day 2023!

Finally after many years gap due to Covid, the big event was back. Clair and Max were both able to join me for the day. Unfortunately missing a day of high school is too hard for Ellie. 

Today we celebrated Take Your Child to work day on campus in Gaithersburg with many fun activities for the kids. Not only do they enjoy a day away from school, but they have fun with science. This is such a great opportunity to inspire exciting careers. 

I’m thankful for the effort my colleagues at AstraZeneca have put into this event. 

Some of the kids favorite activities were making DNA with candy, curing cancer by removing the bad cells with their targeted treatement sticks, and making a rainbow with Pipettes.

Clair was tired and told me that she didn’t get to fill her energy battery when she slept. Getting up at 630 am was hard for her. 

Clair’s new artwork!

I love Clair’s latest art work!

Max had a hat trick at Soccer

A very exciting day on the soccer field occurred from Max last Saturday. At the beginning of the game he was the first one the score for his team or anybody on the field. About five minutes later, he followed it up with a second goal. I was proud of him because you could tell he was so happy, but he didn’t celebrate like a fool on the field, unlike the way some people behave these days. 

Finally, another five or 10 minutes pass and he gets a third goal. I was really proud of him. He seem to be working quite well with his teammates at that game.

He was pretty happy with himself after the game. He deserve to be proud! 

No celebration! Good sportsman here!

Piano struggles

Max and Ellie have tried to continue piano with a new piano teacher after Miss Nancy retired. To be straightforward it is not going well. Neither of them are very excited about the new teacher and neither of them are making great progress in the instrument. It makes me very sad. Both of them have talent for music and I hate watching and give it up.

There’s an upcoming concert in May, and they’re both preparing for it with very little practice. I doubt it will go well for them, but sadly, I don’t think they care that much. I hope when they get older, they don’t regret quitting and not leveraging the opportunity they were given to learn the instrument.

Ellie talks about just giving it up for good. Max talked about potentially taking different music classes at Lincoln or when he makes it there.

Gramma and Clair are learning Italian together

In advance of this summer’s trip, Gramma and Clair are both taking Duolingo very seriously and learning Italian. Clair got some how to speak Italian books for her birthday and her and Gramma were comparing notes to see who could decipher the story book. It’s cute watching them. 

Happy 10th birthday Clair!

Yesterday we celebrated Clair turning 10. She had been anticipating this day for a long time. Despite being given the opportunity to request something special, she really did not have any special request for the day. She had certain food she wanted and a small list of gifts she was interested in. I think she was mostly interested in a day of us, celebrating her as a family. She did note that she wished there would be no fighting, especially with her siblings. 

She got up around 745 and came in to snuggle me and we had a nice birthday morning snuggle. We then got up and made homemade waffles with blueberry compote and fresh whipped cream for breakfast. We all had breakfast together and watch church from home. This was a choice. She made to try to please her sister and let her have as much sleep as possible.

After church, she opens her presents. This included calling, granny and having a chat with Granny. 

After present, we headed into Frederick to have her requested lunch at pizza pretzel creation. After lunch, we had a soccer game for Max. It was a cool breezy day at the field. There were snuggles to keep us both warm. She enjoyed using one of her new electric charges for scorekeeping at the game.

After the game, we headed home to hang out for a little bit where I made macaroni and cheese for dinner as requested and she had a facial with her sister.

After dinner at Latimer’s and Gramma and G came over with some presents and to have birthday cake with us. She had requested I make a homemade ice cream birthday cake again this year because she really liked but I made her last year. Everyone enjoyed the cake.

I think Clair had a good day. Can’t believe she’s double digits. She was emotional when I was putting her to bed last night. She asked me why sometimes she just feels so emotional these days. We had a talk about Harmons. There’s a little pesky buggers are hard to explain.

Here are some pictures from the day. I can’t believe all my babies are in double digits. I am thankful for every day and every year with them.

 

This is pure joy! I love this look. 

Heart breaking

Clair announced this morning her first memory is with miss Sarah picking up max from preschool

And proceeded to break my heart

Then, when I told her I was sorry that I spend so much time working and could not be home with her when she was a baby, she places her elbows on the counter and hands on her face and says “yah, I think about that a lot”

All I could do was hug her and tell her I’m sorry. 

If there is one thing, I wonder if I’ve done right in this world it is focus on my career instead of quitting work and staying home and raising the kids and homeschooling them as a full-time job. I know that I would’ve question making that choice as well because I would be giving up a lifestyle that we all enjoy. It is a no-win situation. But it is so sad to hear my child. Tell me that when I know in her heart, she just really wishes we had more time together.  

Tomorrow, my youngest, baby turns double digits

Clair is very good and anticipating the fine things in life such as birthdays. She has been enjoying the anticipation of the day. She doesn’t even have any special big wishes for the day. She asked for a few specific food items and she gave me a few ideas about things she might want over the past couple months. But really, she just wants to have a fun day with her family. 

Tonight I was asking her if she would rather watch church online or go in person. She wouldn’t tell me what she wanted. She told me what she wanted to do to make the most people happy in our family. We are staying home and watching church online so that Ellie can get as much sleep as possible because for her birthday she just wants her family to all. Have a good day. I’m not sure if I should be proud of her or sad for the state of our family because that’s all she wants for her birthday. She sounds like a mom on Mother’s Day. 

This girl is something else. She brings me so much joy each day of my life. She knows how to just enjoy being with somebody she cares about. I am lucky enough to probably be her favorite person to spend time with Still. I know that as each day passes that is becoming less likely. I am so grateful for the time we have and the love that she has. That girl loves to snuggle and she just really loves to enjoy spending special time with people. She is thoughtful. She is smart. She is kind. She has a heart for God. She still wants to be a pediatrician when she grows up. She’s sweet to animals and other living things. She has a very busy mind and sometimes she gets caught in her mind instead of the hearing now, she hates to make other people upset. She loves to be helpful.  I am so lucky to be her mom!

After granddaddy’s party, I came home and while she got her shower I wrapped all the presents and David put up the decorations. I hope she’s happy when she sees her birthday tree in the morning.

Granddaddy turned 70

Today we celebrated dad turning 70. Katie held a nice party for him and surprised him by inviting friends that he hadn’t seen for a while. It was a nice evening at their house with family and friends.