Strike!!

We took the kids bowling for the first time ever a few weeks ago.  They were so excited to go!  Pat and I had gone bowling on a date night the weekend before so the kids were thrilled to have the opportunity bowl as well.  We invited Grandma Rita to join in the fun - it is always a good time if Rita is around!!!

It started well.  We all got shoes and a special dinosaur thing that the kids used to bowl.  Then Evie had a meltdown because 'Mitch is better than me!'  Sorry girlfriend- I'm pretty sure you inherited your mama's stellar bowling skills!  Mitch was mostly interested in the arcade that the bowling alley had.  He pretty much only stayed put because I promised him he could play a game when we were done.  At one point, Evie decided not to use the dinosaur to bowl.  I wasn't sure the ball would actually make it down the lane.  I actually had time to ask Pat (and ponder) that question since the ball almost stopped moving.  I could not believe it when she threw a strike a little while later!  Maybe she has her father's skill at bowling after all!  I managed a gutter ball even though it was bumper bowling (I'm just that talented).  And Rita and Pat were in a heated competition that Pat eventually won.  Sorry Rita!  You still beat me and the kids!!  Mitch and Evie are basically convinced that Pat is gifted and knowledgeable at all sports!  We had a great time and the kids can't wait to go bowling again!!

Titi

For over 5 years, Evelyn has gone to our babysitter Titi’s house while we work.  In that time, she’s grown from a tiny three month old to a smart and sassy girl full of enthusiasm and energy (and plenty of attitude too!).  Our girlie starting kindergarten is the end of an era for us.  She’ll be going full day which means that today is last day she will spend at Titi’s house.  She may still go from time to time if school is closed, but it will never be the same.  I can’t believe we are already at this to point.  CRAAZY!!

 

I’ve been reflecting a lot on the past 5 years and how grateful I am that we have Titi in our lives.  The fact that we only ended up sending Evelyn to her because our original sitter fell through at the last minute makes me believe that God had hand in it.  I was so nervous to go back to work and leave my baby girl with a stranger.  And at that time, that’s what she was.  A stranger.  Pat and Rita knew her though and she came highly recommended.  She had been watching children for over 30 years so I wasn’t worried about her not having experience.  What I was worried about was if she would give Evelyn the love and attention that I wanted her to have.  I remember meeting Titi.  I was immediately struck by how warm and kind she was.  I felt more at ease with the situation and, even though I still struggled with going back to work, it didn’t take me long trust Titi and to see that Evelyn was fine.  Better that fine – she thrived!  And she absolutely loved Titi.  Two years later, when Mitch came along, we didn’t hesitate to leave him with her.  Over the years, we have been impressed with Titi’s endless patience and the genuine affection she has for the children in her care.  We love how she can see the best in our children, even when they are being little stinkers.  There have been times I doubted myself as a parent because of something, and she has always reassured me that the kids are fine.  In fact, she regularly tells Pat and I how lucky we are to have two such smart and caring children.  That makes me feel so good, especially considering I don’t always see that with them once we get home.  I mean, let’s be honest, my kids can play very well together, but I spend a great deal of time telling them to stop aggravating each other, to play nicely, to quit beating each other up.  It is incredibly good to hear that the kids can behave!!

Being a parent is hard, and being a working parent comes with its own set of challenges.  I feel incredibly blessed to have had Titi’s help for the past 5 years.  Evelyn is excited for her next adventure, but she will miss Titi and Titi has already expressed several times how much she will miss Evelyn.  Luckily, they will still see each other once in a while since Mitch will still be there.  Hopefully that will help ease the transition.

The 2017 Solar Eclipse

As with the rest of the country, the eclipse was a big hit in our house.  Evelyn class talked about it in the week leading up to the eclipse.  Pat and I realized too late that we should have gotten glasses way ahead of time because everyone was out of stock and, if a place did have them, the upcharge was ridiculous.  Evelyn’s school purchased glasses for each of the children in her class so that they could watch the eclipse.  They attached paper plates (that the kids got to decorate) to the outside so that the kids couldn’t look around the glasses.  They also incorporated the eclipse in to the lesson plan.  I’m pretty sure Evie knew more about what was happening than we did!  She was very excited to witness such a cool event and from the looks of the pictures, all of the kids had a great time!

I ended up getting to see the eclipse at work because my co-workers were kind enough to let me look through their glasses.  Pat and Mitch were able to catch the tail end of it using Evie’s glasses when he picked her up from school. 

All in all, it was a neat experience! 

School Days

This was a big week in our house… the first week of school!  And for the first time ever, both kids will be attending LCC. 

Evelyn is in Kindergarten this year.  Eek!!  I cannot believe we are already at this point.  She is in Mrs. Parry’s class and if the first day is anything to go by, she is going to have a fantastic year.  She could not wait to leave in the morning and get to school.  She saw a friend from last year immediately and ran off, saying “Bye!” over her shoulder as she went.  Her day went great - she absolutely loved it and could not wait to go back!  She’s attending Monday – Thursday (9-3) for regular Kindergarten class and on Fridays, she will go for Enrichment.  Enrichment are themed days that are optional, but will build upon what the kids are learning each week.  She showed me all of her papers from school when I got home from work and told me that she loved her teacher and all of the new friends.  On her second day, she say a new friend in the parking lot and they walked hand in hand into the classroom with barely a glance back at me.  I hope this enthusiasm continues all year!!

Mitch is in the Panda Class (3 Year Preschool) this year.  We are super excited that he had Miss Teri as we loved her when she taught Evie.  She’s fantastic with the kids!  I wish I could say that his first morning went as well as Evie’s, but it was a little rough.  For one, his class doesn’t start until 9:30 so we had a half hour to kill before we could drop him off.  We walked around the school and attempted (with very little success) to get him to let us take a picture.  He had no interest and the one smile we got out of him was the result of a bribe.  We tried to get him to use the potty at school, but he refused.  As a result, he went to school using a pull-up because we couldn’t be sure he’d tell Miss Teri when he had to go potty.  Drop off went about as well as I expected.  Mitch clung to me like Velcro and would not let me put him down.  When other kids arrived and I exclaimed “Mitch – Look!  Here are some new friends!”, he shut his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see.  I finally peeled him off of me and we walked around his classroom a little.  This wasn’t his first time there.  They had an open house last week.  Not to mention he’s been to LCC to pick up Evelyn many time before.  Regardless, he took no interest in anything.  We didn’t want to drag it out any longer than necessary so I finally handed Mitch to Miss Teri and we ran.  I HATED doing that, but he is the most stubborn kid on the planet and I know he never would have given in if I hadn’t forced it.  Pat called me when he picked him up at noon and told me that Miss Teri said he ended up having a great day.  He kept his eyes shut for a few minutes in the beginning and refused to look at anyone or anything.  Finally though, he opened his eyes and, according to his teacher, he had a great day!  Thank goodness!

He really didn't want to go to school.

Finally got a smile after 25,000 tries (and a bribe).  PS - he doesn't have wedgie!  It's the camera angle.  Both hands were on the wall!

So now we are parents to a Kindergartner and a Preschooler.  I’m in a little bit of shock.  Please excuse me while I jump for joy that we’ve survived up to now and simultaneously sob that it has gone so quickly.  My babies aren’t babies anymore!!  

Strength

I'm watching a movie on TV (Where the Heart Is).  It was made in 2000 so I makes me a little nostalgic right now.  I long for those days in so many ways.  It was so much simpler.  All I was really worried about was school and grades (I guess...to be honest I can't even remember).

Life right now is hard.  My mom relapsed and we almost lost her twice in a week.  I was literally on my knees at the hospital begging God to save her.  By some Miracle God did, but she's by no means out of the woods.  She's on a really intense chemo regimen that we are hoping will kick the s*#t out of her cancer.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared...I am scared, but I REFUSE to lose hope.  Tonight, as I watched this movie, I felt so nostalgic for the past. Maybe it has something to do with the wine I've had .  We all do what we have to do to get through I guess.  It's SO much more complicated with the kids.  I wish could scream and cry, but I can't.  My kids need me to be strong.  They need me to tell them it will all be okay.  And no matter what happens...it will be. Yes, there are moments that are hard, but overall the SO many more moments are precious and amazing and I am endlessly grateful for that.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers...we can use as many prayers as we can get.

P.S. - I hope Kiki doesn't mind me posting these.  They are amazing pictures to me that display the strength of my mom and my kids.

Saying goodbye to 4 years old...

In my mind, I had a post written apologizing for neglecting this blog for so long.  But tonight, something else is on my mind and in my heart.  Tonight, I'm thinking about My Girl.

4 years ago, I was anticipating meeting my daughter for the first time.  I wondered who she would look like.  I wondered what being a mother would be like.  I was scared, anxious, excited, nervous and so completely happy.  I had no idea what to expect, but I could not wait to meet my baby girl.

Tonight I kissed my sweet girl goodnight for the last time as a 4 year old.  As I kissed her lips and brushed the hair from her eyes, I told her that and her eyes filled with tears.  She said "Mama - I don't want to get bigger.  I always want to be your baby".  And I told her, as I have so many times before, "You will always be my baby.  No matter what.".  Evie looked at me, with those big beautiful eyes and said "Mama...what happens if you die?  Will I still be your baby?"  I'm not going to lie - it was a punch in the gut.  Even now, it hurts to think about it and type the words.  But it has been a very, very rough year for our family and it's been impossible to shield her completely from the pain and the heartache that we've experienced.  So I told her and Mitch the truth.  I told them 'No matter how old you are - even if you are 105 years old and you can't see me anymore - you will always, ALWAYS be my babies.  I love you more than the whole wide world and back again".

Tomorrow, at 3:25 PM my baby girl will be 5 years old.  I am simultaneously euphoric and heartbroken over this.  Euphoric because we've made it 5 years and I think Pat and I have raised (with a tremendous amount of help) a pretty kick-ass kid.  Heartbroken because - hello - how in the world is she already 5?!  I've always been extremely sentimental, but being a parent has put me over the edge.  I'm pretty sure Pat thinks I'm crazy (but if I am so is he because he's just as bad!).

Sleep well my sweet Evelyn.  Tomorrow you will be 5 and a whole new adventure will await you.  I hope and pray that life is kind to you and that this year brings you so many blessings.  Your daddy and I have no idea what we are doing, but I promise you that we are doing our best.   We love you so much and we are so happy and proud that you are ours.

Halloween 2016

A little late, but Happy Halloween from our fox and turtle!

The kids had a great time trick-or-treating this year.  Evie wanted to be a sneaky fox.  I’m not very crafty, but she seems to like what we came up with for her costume, and I thought she looked great.  Mitch was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and he looked adorable!  We went to the annual neighborhood hot dog cookout and then walked around with some of the other neighborhood kids which was a lot of fun.  

 This was the first year that Evie seemed to really care about trick-or-treating.  In years past, we went to a few houses and then she wanted to go home and give our candy.  This year she lasted over an hour and her bucket was over-flowing.  Mitch really surprised me.  He was bound and determined to keep up with Evie and he lasted almost an hour.  He was little shy, but he told everyone thank you.  After we got the kids in bed, Pat declared to was time to ‘inspect’ the candy and taste test some of our favorite kinds.  Parental prerogative!  Evie made out like a bandit.  People were seriously generous with the candy!  And Mitch got a ton of good stuff too.  Pat also found a leaf and a rock in his bucket.  Lol.  Guess he was channeling his inner Charlie Brown!  The kids have been a sugar high since that day so the buckets have been put on a high shelf so that we can monitor their candy intake. Ha!  All in all, it was a great Halloween.  Perfect weather and lots of fun!