Growing Up

The little ones in my life finished their school year a few days ago.   They started the school year thinking they would be in the South for who-knows-how-long...and finished the year in the Midwest. 

They grew and changed and embraced change and made me one proud momma.

T-Man took the changes in stride.  He smoothly transitioned from one climate and culture into the next.  He is a helper, a leader, a reader, and radiates positivity.  Ironically, his name means "long-winded talker" and "cheerful".  Both of those meanings fit our little T-Man perfectly.  And I love him to pieces for both of those qualities.

Fearless had the hardest time with the changes--he is one that loves the routine and anticipating what is coming next.  Moving and starting over with new school rules, new friends, new climate...it took awhile for him to adjust.  But being the little rock star he is, he realized he was having a hard time and every night he would pray that he would be happy.  And each day he tried hard to choose to be happy. 

That attitude is pretty grown-up for a five year old.  I'm so proud of him for pushing himself to grow and embrace the change. 

And this little lovey?  She's still my doll-baby; but she's grown-up too.  She loves her independence and is communicating what she needs and wants like a champ.  And although we lovingly refer to her as our little F5 Tornado (or just F5 for short) I love her curiosity and her sense of adventure.  I love hearing about what is going on in her mind. I love learning what is important to her, so it can be important to me too. 

Having them all home everyday means that our home is full of ruckus & chaos at any given moment--and surprisingly, it doesn't bother me.  Just having them close and deepening our relationship is worth all the noise and Lego messes.

Yay for 3 months of uninterrupted time for me to spend with my little ones!!

Bring on summer!!

Graduation: Cue "End of an Era" Tears.

Ok, I'll admit it.

Since having kids, I've turned into a sentimental gusher.

(Whew, there. I said it.  Admittance is the first step on the road to recovery, right?)

Don't you love the flip-flops?? 
Wearing sandals just about all the time to just about every event is one of my favorite perks of living in The South!

It's predictable and cliche, but when my middle child, who is about to turn 5, got all dressed up in his cap and gown for preschool graduation, I busted out with the teary, "When did he get so big?" and "It goes by so fast!" statements that the pre-children version of myself would have found ridiculous.

Whoever came up with the graduation-clothing get up designed it with a some sort of psychological guarantee that mothers would cry when their children are wearing it.

 
And what end-of-an-era ceremony is complete without some Pomp & Circumstance?  I have a love/hate relationship with that inescapable graduation music that flashes me back to my own various graduations and at the same time, flashes me prematurely forward to my childrens' high school and college graduations.  It forces me to review the past and to see the future that I'm not ready for yet. 

Can't I just keep them little?!?

 (P.S. If I'm ever in charge of a graduation planning...they're all marching in to Darth Vader's music. And then, to help speed things up, Flight of the Bumblebee. Just sayin'.)

Despite my sentimentality, Fearless was quite the proud preschool graduate. 

His little sponge-brain has soaked in all it can from Miss Daisy's class, and he is ready for Kindergarten.

Congrats, my little love!

{cue tears}

Fearless with Miss Daisy

T-Man: The Kindergarten Graduate

Last week, T-Man finished kindergarten.  When did he get so old??  When did  I get old enough to have a child finishing kindergarten?!?  This post is for him.

T-Man on the first day of kindergarten.

                                         

T-Man on the last day of kindergarten.

T-Man,

You are truly an amazing child.  When you started kindergarten last fall, I was a little worried about you.  You were (and are) the absolute youngest kid in your class.  A lot of people told me I should wait to put you in kindergarten.  We were in a new place where people spoke with an accent that was hard for you to understand.  Your sister was still new and you were still recovering from the stress of her birth and heart surgery and the cross-country move.  But I knew you and your ability to learn easily and work hard.  So off to kindergarten you went. 

And you breezed through the year with no problems.  You made friends.  You learned how to read, and read well.  You learned how to write, and write well.  You learned how to count money and recognize different patterns.  You learned how to add, subtract and even some multiplication.  You learned about good manners--including the Southern "yes sir/yes ma'am"--and then you have tried to be more of a gentleman at home too.  You were the "Terrific Kid" twice.  You even picked up some of that accent that you didn't understand at first.  Your love of learning blossomed as you grew.  Your constant quest for knowledge is exhausting to me sometimes, but I love how eager you are to learn everything about EVERYthing...even though I don't know the answers to all of your questions.  I love that you think highly enough of me that you think I should know everything!

You have a tender heart.  You set a good example for your brother and sister of cheerfulness and kindness and generosity and inclusion.  You are quick to forgive others of their faults and you like to have things be peaceful and happy in our home.  You are a great helper and I love how I can count on you to be obedient when I ask you to do things.  You try so hard to do what is right!  You have a light that shines brightly and draws people to you.  You have more wisdom and understanding about the purpose of life than five years of life usually allow.  You are a joy to be around.  You are a great blessing in my life.

On graduation day, Mrs. Stegall told me that she thought this would be the first of many graduations for you.  And I think she is right.  You will go far, Little Man.  Nothing can stop you from achieving whatever it is you want to do. 

I love you!

Love,

Mommy

Getting his "diploma" from Mrs. Stegall and Mrs. Cork.

The Happy Graduate

(We tried to get a good graduation-jump picture. Not quite what I was hoping for, but we went with it.)

T-Man and Mrs. Stegall--his fabulous teacher!

Pictures Galore--Part 1: Fearless Turns 3 and First Days of School

Lately my blogging time has been taken up by another new hobby: couponing. Did you know that you can find coupons for pretty much everything?? In a few short weeks I have learned that you should never pay full price for anything and that it feels great to walk out of the grocery store with everything you need and have saved $70. Anyway, it does take some time, so my blogging time has suffered. We have done a ton of stuff lately though, so this post will be long with a ton of pictures. Here you go!

These ones are of Fearless's 3rd Birthday. Happy Birthday, Fearless!

A new tool set--a three-year-old-boy-must-have!



These are from his "Green-Nature Party". Green is his favorite color so he wanted a whole green party. Since this was his first "friend" party, I let him call all the shots--including requesting that everyone wear green.



Fearless had his first day of preschool a few weeks later--he was so excited! And I was excited for him, but sentimental about it too...isn't that the way moms are supposed to be?

The next day, T-Man started Kindergarten...which was even more exciting/sentimental since he is my first child. He loves it though and has even slipped and called me "Mrs. S" and slipped and called Mrs. S "mom". I think this would hurt my feelings a little if I weren't so grateful that he has a good teacher that he really likes.

Early Intervention Straight Talk and T-Man Starts Kindergarten

Today we met our new Service Coordinator...a man named Richard who's son is 17 and has Ds--they were the first family to go through our area's EI program, which, at that time, was awful. So Richard filed formal complaints with the state for not helping his son and got things changed. In the process of getting everything changed, the state asked him to just be in charge of the program, so he went from being an industrial engineer to a service coordinator for Early Intervention. How cool is that? Anyway, I really think I'm going to like this guy because he has been through it all and seems so willing to hold our hand through the whole process of getting signed up for services and who to talk to, where to go, what to watch for, etc. Plus, he's a pretty funny guy--which always makes two hours of paperwork go much much faster. Quote of the day from Richard (in a thick southern accent), "People always say it takes a special parent to raise a special child. Shooot, I don't feel like I'm special and I don't wanna be special, I just wanted a baby."

T-Man started kindergarten today and I'm proud of the fact that Dr. Corn and I were able to get all three kiddos dressed, fed, and out the door by 7:07AM in order to get T-Man to school by 7:30. That's got to be some sort of record! I've got to figure out what to do about the carpool lane though...we were in line to pick him up at 2:45, and didn't actually get him in the van until 3:20. Rediculous? I think so! He seemed to enjoy his first day, he earned three "star sticks" which he can use at the end of the week to buy something from the class treasure box. Other than leaving his brand-new lunch box at school, he came home whole and happy, and I didn't cry at all. Pretty good I think!