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.