Happy Father's Day to these two rockin' grandpas as well.
And happy FIRST Father's Day to Uncle Jeff (or "Daddy" to cousin Lily)!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Happy Fathers Day!
Happy Father's Day to the man who made me a wife and mother, who keeps our family together, and who is the light of love in these children's eyes.
Happy Father's Day to these two rockin' grandpas as well.
And happy FIRST Father's Day to Uncle Jeff (or "Daddy" to cousin Lily)!
Happy Father's Day to these two rockin' grandpas as well.
And happy FIRST Father's Day to Uncle Jeff (or "Daddy" to cousin Lily)!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Mystery Reader
A few weeks ago I wrote about the bluebonnet flowers that blanket Texas each spring over on Midwestern Girl. I mentioned in that post that the most well-known Native American legend about the origin of the bluebonnet had recently been turned into a children’s book called The Legend of the Bluebonnet, and that our local library didn’t carry a copy of the book. Turns out Germantown Hills Elementary School, where Sara teaches second grade, has a copy though, so she and I put together a plan and just a couple of weeks later I was sitting in her second grade classroom reading The Legend of the Bluebonnet to her students.
I didn’t travel all the way from College Station, Texas to Germantown Hills, Illinois just to read The Legend of the Bluebonnet to 20 second graders. My mom, Will, Hallie, and I were already planning a trip to Illinois to baby sit Lily for a day, and it worked out perfectly that during that visit I could read to Sara’s students.
I read The Legend of the Bluebonnets for the first time the night before my Mystery Reader debut, therefore I didn’t know the story well and was nervous when my mom, Will, Hallie, Lily, and I arrived at school that morning. Sara had just presented the students with the clues about me and they’d made their guesses, and when I walked in they clapped and cheered (probably because they’d guessed correctly, but I pretended they did so because they were just so excited about the book I was about to read). We moved to the reading rug, and I told them a little bit about what it was like living in Texas and why I’d chosen to read them The Legend of Bluebonnets.
Will sat in the “special big boy chair” next to me, and paid considerably less attention to the book I was reading than he did to the second graders. That boy wants to go to school like you wouldn’t believe. He was particularly thrilled to discover that the second graders were reading Magic Tree House chapter books, which are his favorite books right now.
Hallie wouldn’t sit on the rug or in the “special big girl chair”, so she colored by herself in the arts and crafts center.
And Lily somehow ended up here. She looks kind of abandoned, but was actually quite safe (Grandma was right next to her) and very happy.
After The Legend of Bluebonnets we moved on to Puff the Magic Dragon, complete with singing. The first line of the song lured Hallie to the rug – she LOVES Puff the Magic Dragon, and just couldn’t stay away from the rug once the singing had begun.
And finally, as a thank-you to us for visiting their classroom, Sara and her students sang to us – a Sara-original song called Doubles, which teaches kids about numbers and their doubles.
I always knew she would be, but being in Sara’s classroom that day confirmed for me that she is an AMAZING teacher. I’m very, very proud of her, and proud of the difference she’s making in the lives of her students. I would give anything for my kids to have teachers like her (or her!) once they reach elementary school.
Our visit to Sara’s classroom was just fantastic. I had a great time, Will and Hallie loved getting to hang with the “big kids”, and I’d like to think the second graders enjoyed their exposure to a Texas legend.
I didn’t travel all the way from College Station, Texas to Germantown Hills, Illinois just to read The Legend of the Bluebonnet to 20 second graders. My mom, Will, Hallie, and I were already planning a trip to Illinois to baby sit Lily for a day, and it worked out perfectly that during that visit I could read to Sara’s students.
I read The Legend of the Bluebonnets for the first time the night before my Mystery Reader debut, therefore I didn’t know the story well and was nervous when my mom, Will, Hallie, Lily, and I arrived at school that morning. Sara had just presented the students with the clues about me and they’d made their guesses, and when I walked in they clapped and cheered (probably because they’d guessed correctly, but I pretended they did so because they were just so excited about the book I was about to read). We moved to the reading rug, and I told them a little bit about what it was like living in Texas and why I’d chosen to read them The Legend of Bluebonnets.
Will sat in the “special big boy chair” next to me, and paid considerably less attention to the book I was reading than he did to the second graders. That boy wants to go to school like you wouldn’t believe. He was particularly thrilled to discover that the second graders were reading Magic Tree House chapter books, which are his favorite books right now.
Hallie wouldn’t sit on the rug or in the “special big girl chair”, so she colored by herself in the arts and crafts center.
And Lily somehow ended up here. She looks kind of abandoned, but was actually quite safe (Grandma was right next to her) and very happy.
After The Legend of Bluebonnets we moved on to Puff the Magic Dragon, complete with singing. The first line of the song lured Hallie to the rug – she LOVES Puff the Magic Dragon, and just couldn’t stay away from the rug once the singing had begun.
And finally, as a thank-you to us for visiting their classroom, Sara and her students sang to us – a Sara-original song called Doubles, which teaches kids about numbers and their doubles.
I always knew she would be, but being in Sara’s classroom that day confirmed for me that she is an AMAZING teacher. I’m very, very proud of her, and proud of the difference she’s making in the lives of her students. I would give anything for my kids to have teachers like her (or her!) once they reach elementary school.
Our visit to Sara’s classroom was just fantastic. I had a great time, Will and Hallie loved getting to hang with the “big kids”, and I’d like to think the second graders enjoyed their exposure to a Texas legend.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Italian Hallion
For some reason Hallie adds an “a” to the end of verbs:
“I bump-a my head!”
“Don’t touch-a my dwess!”
“You paint-a my toe-nails pink!”
“I hit-a my bwa-der (brother)!”
(Yes, most sentences spoken by Hallie end in an exclamation point.)
She may not look Italian, but she certainly sounds like one!
“I bump-a my head!”
“Don’t touch-a my dwess!”
“You paint-a my toe-nails pink!”
“I hit-a my bwa-der (brother)!”
(Yes, most sentences spoken by Hallie end in an exclamation point.)
She may not look Italian, but she certainly sounds like one!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Two
Hallie is two. Almost two and a quarter, actually, which is exactly how old Will was when he hit (pun intended) the first of two awful bouts of terrible two-ness. Hallie is following in her brother’s footsteps with regard to this stage, and is, quite frankly, pretty unpleasant to be around a lot of the time.Hallie must do everything all by herself all the time. I pity the poor soul who offers a helping hand as she’s pulling on her shoes or trying – in vain and for 47 minutes – to buckle her car seat belt; hell hath no fury like a two-year-old helped.
When the fury takes over her tiny body (approximately 157 times each hour), watch out. Literally. Hallie scrunches up her face, squints her eyes, takes aim, and hits anything and anyone near her with the strength and precision of a child twice her size and age.
And when placed in timeout for hitting (again, approximately 157 times each hour), the combined pitch and volume of her screams make ears bleed and grown men cry.
And once she’s been set off, the screaming NEVER. EVER. STOPS. Tears streaming down her cheeks. Snot pouring from her nose. Kicking. Hitting.
To give you a better idea, here’s a snapshot of yesterday, a day I would call “average”:
- 30+ minute tantrum surrounding getting dressed (these days she will wear ONLY “piddy dwesses”), eating breakfast, brushing teeth, brushing hair, and putting on shoes.
- 15-minute tantrum, triggered by my accidentally touching her dress (YOU TOUCH-A MY DWESS!”), which she interpreted as me trying to help her, while she was climbing into her car seat.
- 20-minute tantrum, triggered by an oddly shaped animal cracker, during Will’s swimming lesson. Tantrum led to hitting, hitting led to timeout, timeout led to tantrum…which led to us nearly being kicked out the swimming pool spectator area.
- 10-minute tantrum, triggered by Will and I switching CDs in the car and track “numba sits” (number six) NOT being Animals by the Dalton Academy Warblers, in the car on the way home from swimming lessons.
- 40+ minute tantrum prior/during/after dinner, triggered by who-the-heck-knows-what, during which she laid face-down on the dining room floor underneath her chair.
- 15-minute tantrum in timeout after throwing Mickey Mouse at Daddy, Daddy taking Mickey Mouse away, and then hitting Daddy.
In the cup-is-half-full vein, I recall this stage only lasting about a month for Will.
In the cup-is-half-empty vein, I also recall that three-years-old was way worse than two-years-old. Heaven help me.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Baby Lily
While visiting the Midwest, the kids, my mom, and I drove down to Washburn, Illinois, where Aunt Sara, Uncle Jeff, and Cousin Lily live, to baby sit Lily for the day. Words cannot express how excited I was to see Lily in person, so I won’t even try. I will, however, post lots and lots and pictures of her in this blog post, which might help you understand how thrilled I was to be in her presence. I met and spent a week with Lily at Christmas (she was born on December 17th), but hadn’t seen her since then. Too long, people.
We arrived in Washburn in the evening, right before Lily’s bath time. Instead of helping Aunt Sara give Lily a bath I took pictures.
The next morning, after Lily enjoyed breakfast round #1 with the Dairy Queen (Aunt Sara), I fed her breakfast round #2. And then I took more pictures.
As Lily falls asleep she pulls Zeke the zebra (cousin to Will’s Roar the lion and Hallie’s Bo the monkey) over her face. When we went in to get Lily up from her morning nap she – adorably – gave us her biggest smile but left Zeke on her face. I love that you can tell she’s smiling even though you can only see her eyes. Aunt Sara’s eyes.
After Lily’s morning nap we walked to the park, which ended up being a ridiculously hot, stressful, and comical excursion. We stepped outside into a SAUNA, but since we’d already promised Will and Hallie, we headed to the park anyway. We only had one stroller, so I carried Lily in the Bjorn, Grandma pushed Hallie in Lily’s stroller, and we made Will walk the 11 miles (it may have only been about a ½ mile, but to hear him talk it was 11 miles) to the playground. In 90 degree weather and along the side of the highway, because in Washburn there’s no sidewalk on the route to the park.
We had to be at Aunt Sara’s school, a 20-minute drive from Washburn, by 11am. Unfortunately, because of a miscalculation on the park of the grown-ups, once we arrived (drenched in sweat – I actually had a Lily-in-a-Bjorn-shaped sweat mark on my chest) and looked at our watches we realized it was already time to go home. This was of course very upsetting to Will and Hallie, who both, because of the travesty that was their minimal playing time at the park and the wretched heat, had meltdowns. Lily, on the other hand, was totally happy to be part of the chaos. She grinned ear-to-ear while Will and Hallie cried and Grandma and I tried to bribe them to start heading home. We knew we wouldn’t make it on time if Will walked, so we put him in Lily’s stroller first and then put Hallie in Lily’s stroller on Will’s lap. They both complained/cried the entire way home, and yes, you guessed it, Lily just grinned while Grandma carried her in the Bjorn and earned her own Lily-in-a-Bjorn sweat mark.
The one highlight of the park was Lily’s first slide ride with her cousin Will. Though you can’t necessarily tell from the pictures, they both had a good time and went down more than once.
Back at home we had exactly seven minutes for Grandma, me, and Will to pee, to change Hallie and Lily’s diapers, to pack two diaper bags, make one bottle, and strap three children into car seats in the back of Grandma’s Buick. We accomplished all of these things, sort of, despite a screaming baby (who had suddenly decided she was very hungry), a dawdling toddler, and a less-than-helpful preschooler. After we were all in the car we asked Will if he could give Lily her bottle (he was sitting next to her in the backseat, and we figured he could just hold the bottle in place while we drove), and he said “I’d be happy to!” He took the bottle from Grandma, literally handed it to Lily (who of course dropped it and screamed louder), and said “Here you go, Lily!” Grandma ended up having to reach from the front passenger seat to hold the bottle while we drove to Aunt Sara’s school.
To see the discombobulation that was Grandma and I taking care of the three children one would have thought that neither of us had ever been a mother. Or even a babysitter. Or even met a child. (Don’t worry, Sara and Jeff – despite the chaos everyone was safe and happy! Please let me baby sit again!)
After afternoon naps, Will and Hallie entertained Lily by dancing around her in the living room and showing her how to work on the toys on the ‘Stein. They did this for nearly an hour – Lily was thrilled with the entertainment, and Will and Hallie were equally thrilled with the audience.
At one point I asked Hallie to give Lily a kiss for a picture. Lily loved the kissing, so as Hallie pulled away Lily grabbed Hallie’s hair and hung on for dear life. “Mama, Baby Yi-yee puwl my hay-yah!”
Both kids wanted to hold Lily, so of course we orchestrated this. Will held her for a few minutes, until she tired of his amateur baby-holding grip. Hallie held her for approximately seven seconds, until Hallie saw Will grab a toy she wanted. Hallie literally tossed Lily to the side (thankfully Grandma also had a hand on Lily when this occurred) and jumped off the couch. You can tell from the pictures that Lily is much more comfortable in Will’s lap than in Hallie’s – Lily knows that two-year-olds are trouble.
Lily has super-human core strength. When you put her on the ground on her tummy she lifts up her arms and her legs and “flies” until someone moves her to a new position.
I just can’t stand how cute she is.
We arrived in Washburn in the evening, right before Lily’s bath time. Instead of helping Aunt Sara give Lily a bath I took pictures.
The next morning, after Lily enjoyed breakfast round #1 with the Dairy Queen (Aunt Sara), I fed her breakfast round #2. And then I took more pictures.
As Lily falls asleep she pulls Zeke the zebra (cousin to Will’s Roar the lion and Hallie’s Bo the monkey) over her face. When we went in to get Lily up from her morning nap she – adorably – gave us her biggest smile but left Zeke on her face. I love that you can tell she’s smiling even though you can only see her eyes. Aunt Sara’s eyes.
After Lily’s morning nap we walked to the park, which ended up being a ridiculously hot, stressful, and comical excursion. We stepped outside into a SAUNA, but since we’d already promised Will and Hallie, we headed to the park anyway. We only had one stroller, so I carried Lily in the Bjorn, Grandma pushed Hallie in Lily’s stroller, and we made Will walk the 11 miles (it may have only been about a ½ mile, but to hear him talk it was 11 miles) to the playground. In 90 degree weather and along the side of the highway, because in Washburn there’s no sidewalk on the route to the park.
We had to be at Aunt Sara’s school, a 20-minute drive from Washburn, by 11am. Unfortunately, because of a miscalculation on the park of the grown-ups, once we arrived (drenched in sweat – I actually had a Lily-in-a-Bjorn-shaped sweat mark on my chest) and looked at our watches we realized it was already time to go home. This was of course very upsetting to Will and Hallie, who both, because of the travesty that was their minimal playing time at the park and the wretched heat, had meltdowns. Lily, on the other hand, was totally happy to be part of the chaos. She grinned ear-to-ear while Will and Hallie cried and Grandma and I tried to bribe them to start heading home. We knew we wouldn’t make it on time if Will walked, so we put him in Lily’s stroller first and then put Hallie in Lily’s stroller on Will’s lap. They both complained/cried the entire way home, and yes, you guessed it, Lily just grinned while Grandma carried her in the Bjorn and earned her own Lily-in-a-Bjorn sweat mark.
The one highlight of the park was Lily’s first slide ride with her cousin Will. Though you can’t necessarily tell from the pictures, they both had a good time and went down more than once.
Back at home we had exactly seven minutes for Grandma, me, and Will to pee, to change Hallie and Lily’s diapers, to pack two diaper bags, make one bottle, and strap three children into car seats in the back of Grandma’s Buick. We accomplished all of these things, sort of, despite a screaming baby (who had suddenly decided she was very hungry), a dawdling toddler, and a less-than-helpful preschooler. After we were all in the car we asked Will if he could give Lily her bottle (he was sitting next to her in the backseat, and we figured he could just hold the bottle in place while we drove), and he said “I’d be happy to!” He took the bottle from Grandma, literally handed it to Lily (who of course dropped it and screamed louder), and said “Here you go, Lily!” Grandma ended up having to reach from the front passenger seat to hold the bottle while we drove to Aunt Sara’s school.
To see the discombobulation that was Grandma and I taking care of the three children one would have thought that neither of us had ever been a mother. Or even a babysitter. Or even met a child. (Don’t worry, Sara and Jeff – despite the chaos everyone was safe and happy! Please let me baby sit again!)
After afternoon naps, Will and Hallie entertained Lily by dancing around her in the living room and showing her how to work on the toys on the ‘Stein. They did this for nearly an hour – Lily was thrilled with the entertainment, and Will and Hallie were equally thrilled with the audience.
At one point I asked Hallie to give Lily a kiss for a picture. Lily loved the kissing, so as Hallie pulled away Lily grabbed Hallie’s hair and hung on for dear life. “Mama, Baby Yi-yee puwl my hay-yah!”
Both kids wanted to hold Lily, so of course we orchestrated this. Will held her for a few minutes, until she tired of his amateur baby-holding grip. Hallie held her for approximately seven seconds, until Hallie saw Will grab a toy she wanted. Hallie literally tossed Lily to the side (thankfully Grandma also had a hand on Lily when this occurred) and jumped off the couch. You can tell from the pictures that Lily is much more comfortable in Will’s lap than in Hallie’s – Lily knows that two-year-olds are trouble.
Lily has super-human core strength. When you put her on the ground on her tummy she lifts up her arms and her legs and “flies” until someone moves her to a new position.
I just can’t stand how cute she is.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Preschool "Graduation"
At the end of May, Will’s preschool held its annual graduation and end-of-the-year program. While Will didn’t actually graduate from preschool – the kindergarten cut-off date in College Station is September 1st and Will’s birthday is October 4th, therefore he will attend preschool again next year – he did participate in the program, and he did a fantastic job.
All of the kids (one 18-month-old class, three two-year-old classes, three three-year-old classes, and three four-year-old classes) filed into the church singing “This Little Light of Mine” and holding up their pointer fingers up like little candles. The 18-month-olds cried and the two-year-olds wandered, but the three- and four-year-olds were FOCUSED. You could see their little minds working so hard – trying to stay perfectly in line behind the child in front of them, remember the words to the song, and hold their fingers like perfect little candles.
Walking in with his candle
Looking for Daddy
After the procession, a welcome, and a prayer from the church pastor (Will’s preschool is at Christ United Methodist Church in College Station) each age group performed two songs. The three-year-olds (Will’s group, even though he’s been four for most of the school year – see the kindergarten cut-off mentioned above) sang “Opposites” and “Jesus Loves Me”, both with hand motions/sign language. Thanks to a few very short kids in Will’s class, his class got to stand in the front row, which made it much easier to get pictures of their performance. It was fabulous, and Tom, Hallie, and I were so very proud of Will.
Opposites: "Up and down, up and down, up and down, give a little clap."
Jesus Loves Me: "Yes, Jesus loves me..." (sign language for Jesus)
Jesus Loves Me: "...but He is strong." (sign language for strong)
After the singing performances, the pastor spoke to all of the kids (think commencement address for four-year-olds), and a terrific slide show of pictures taken throughout the year was shown. The younger kids went back to the classrooms, but the four-year-olds actually “graduated” with caps and a walk across the stage – next year that will be Will!
All of the kids (one 18-month-old class, three two-year-old classes, three three-year-old classes, and three four-year-old classes) filed into the church singing “This Little Light of Mine” and holding up their pointer fingers up like little candles. The 18-month-olds cried and the two-year-olds wandered, but the three- and four-year-olds were FOCUSED. You could see their little minds working so hard – trying to stay perfectly in line behind the child in front of them, remember the words to the song, and hold their fingers like perfect little candles.
Walking in with his candle
Looking for Daddy
After the procession, a welcome, and a prayer from the church pastor (Will’s preschool is at Christ United Methodist Church in College Station) each age group performed two songs. The three-year-olds (Will’s group, even though he’s been four for most of the school year – see the kindergarten cut-off mentioned above) sang “Opposites” and “Jesus Loves Me”, both with hand motions/sign language. Thanks to a few very short kids in Will’s class, his class got to stand in the front row, which made it much easier to get pictures of their performance. It was fabulous, and Tom, Hallie, and I were so very proud of Will.
Opposites: "Up and down, up and down, up and down, give a little clap."
Jesus Loves Me: "Yes, Jesus loves me..." (sign language for Jesus)
Jesus Loves Me: "...but He is strong." (sign language for strong)
After the singing performances, the pastor spoke to all of the kids (think commencement address for four-year-olds), and a terrific slide show of pictures taken throughout the year was shown. The younger kids went back to the classrooms, but the four-year-olds actually “graduated” with caps and a walk across the stage – next year that will be Will!
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