Have No Fear, Baby Jedi Knights Are Here!

Like brother, like sister.

The Children

 I am constantly in awe of the children.  Not a day goes by that I don't thank our Heavenly Father for these three little people, exactly these three little people! One of my all time favorite things to do is catching them loving on each other.  It is so sweet, not scripted, pure and loving.  I love the picture above.  Penny perched on top of Charlie's lap having just woke up from a nap and hugging her pink kitty (Uncle Jason and Nicole, this is her FAVORITE animal!!), and looking so peaceful on his lap.  Sure we have moments, on a daily basis!, where the kids are not getting along.  But we also have quiet, loving moments like these everyday too.

 Rituals:  Trent and I go in and check on the boys each night before we go to bed.  I don't know how many times I have stood over their beds and kissed them good night, ruffled their hair and covered  them up again.  They are so sweet and peaceful when they sleep and

 My quiet time buddy:  When Charlie is at school it is Tom, Penny and I.  Penny takes a good long nap in the day time so it is Tom and I for a good chunk of he day.  We amuse ourselves by watchng shows cuddled up on the couch together, taking closeup pictures  ourselves, playing games or taking a nap. This kid cracks me up, I don't know what I am going to do without him next year when he is in full day kindergarten :(

 Little Lady: T.R.O.U.B.L.E, of the sweetest variety.  We need to start preparing now!

 Siblings:  One of the best parts of my day is watching all three of our kids playing together.  Two of them are always together, with the third party getting some one on one time with a parent or some much needed alone time.  But when they all get together they are so fun to watch

 Tradition:  It would only be right if an older brothe shared his favorite show (Yo Gabba Gabba)with a youger sister.  It is so cute to see Tommy taking on the role of big brother with Penny, just like Charlie did with him. 

The kids are doing great!  They are so sweet and funny, all of them.  They keep us on our toes, warm our hearts and make us smile.  They also challange us to be better pearents and to do right by them.  They are true gifts!

May the Force be with you. Charlie turns 7.

The birthday boy on his birthday with his best buddy.

 We did A LOT of celebrating this year for Charlie's birthday.  We had 3 separate events and they were ALL so much fun!  Daddy was unfortunately out of town on Charlie's birthday but Nana came over for dinner, hot dogs per the boys request and cake from Casa Dolce...yum!

Then the following Saturday we went all out.  First we had a handful of school friends over for a mega STAR WARS party.  All boys and one very sweet little girl :)

I made her these cute little Leiah buns (thanks Christina for the idea!!)

Trent made the coolest jet packs out of 2 liter bottles and light sabers out of foam and colored duct tape.  They were a HUGE hit!

We started the party by building spaceships out of LEGOS which the kids were more then happy to do and probably would of kept at it for longer if I didn't have an agenda and time constraints.

Then we headed them downstairs to an obstacle course, ie Jedi Training.  They had to jump through hot lava,




and then climb over an galactic asteroid (2 chairs covered in a grey table cloth), and then crawl through the slimy green swap (crawl through a tunnel that was covered with a green table cloth).  The kids loved it!  Then they headed back upstairs to design their Jedi wrist bands.  I used an old roll of wrapping paper and cut it into bracelets.  I spray painted some old wooden blocks gold and cut out the lets JEDI in foam and made my own stamps.  The kids stamped with ink, JEDI on their wrist bands and then decorated them with stars.

Now they were true Jedi's and had to return to the basement and battle the Stormtroopers that had invaded our home. 

I drew Stormtrooper faces on white helium balloons and Trent taped them to the basement floor.  The kids went NUTS!!!

Even Daddy had a good time!

Then it was time for cake, presents and for all little Jedi's to go home.

We were awaken bright and early by Tommy who was dressed in his Sunday school clothes, v-neck sweater on backwards and all, which he insisted on wearing backwards the entire day.  When asked why he was so dressed up he simply said with his shy little grin, "I wanted to look good for the party".  Adorable, Thomas, you are adorable!!

Then came round 3!  That same afternoon, call us crazy, we had our family and family-like friends over for our traditional birthday party.

Darth Vader even showed up!  Tommy took one look at her and said "Nana!"....it was so funny!

We had a Darth Vader pinata

The kids made paper R2D2s and Galaxy Playdough (black homemade playdough and they added glitter to it)

And then we had to have cake AGAIN!

Light Saber cupcakes

C3PO Hydro-Oil

 Trent made a lot of really cool graphics for the party.  He made the water bottle covers, the signage for the center piece, Edible Ewoks that were used with gummie bears as a favor and a light saber sign for light saber favors that were pretzels dipped in red and blue chocolate.  He also made the invitation and the sign for our Yoda Soda, green sherbert and 7up.

I totally cheated on the cake this year.  With everything else that we did to prepare, I just wasn't into making a big cake.  So the night before the party I called the local market and went and bought an undecorated cake straight from their freezer.  They sold me a bucket of frosting and I was off.  Unfortunately, they didn't give me enough frosting to cover anything but the top.  Thankfully, I had left over grey frosting from the cupcakes and a can of chocolate ready made frosting in the pantry.  Tada!!! Charlie picked Anakin's Skywalkers flying machine to put on top, I threw miniature R2D2s and his friends around the cake and called it a day.

I think that Trent and I had a lot of fun putting all of this together for Charlie.  But the most important thing was that Charlie had a great birthday surrounded by old and new friends and people that love him.

I can not believe that our boy, our baby, is 7 years old!!

Dearest Charlie,

We love you beyond the moon and back.  You are the sweetest, funniest, most loving boy and we are blessed to have been chosen to be your family.

Happy Birthday Charlie Barley Bear!

A Servant's Heart

 For the last 2 or 3  years we have filled boxes for Samaritans Purse, Operation Christmas Child. And with each year that we participate we are blessed even more.

 Over the year I had saved odds and ends of little toys, party favors, extra crayons, etc.  It really helped to fill the boxes to the brim this year!  Each year we also go to the dollar store and the boys pick out several items for "their" buddies box.  This year the boys had been saving some of their chore money for this exact purpose.  I think they each had $4 dollars to spend and they were very careful on their choices.  Tommy knew right away that his "buddy" would love a truck and a Spider Man tooth brush.  Charlie choose a purple squigey porcupine ball and a tooth brush pack that had 2 tooth brushes in it.  He reasoned that his "buddy" would probably like the Spiderman tooth brush better, but this way he would have a toothbrush to share or just an extra one.  I was amazed at how thoughtful Charlie was this year.  He really got it!

This year we also included a letter to our "buddy" and our address.   We were told that often the children will write back to the family that donated the box.  We also registered our boxes online so we will know what part of the world our boxes went to.

I love doing activities like this with our children.  To teach them that it is always better to give then receive.  To show them how privileged we are as a family and a nation and that most of the world does not live like we do.  That we need to be mindful of those around us, help when we can, even if that means to say a prayer for someone. 

These are the moments that I hope are etched into our children's hearts.  These are the memories that I pray they will one day cherish for I know that I truly do!

Magic Whooloween 2011

It wouldn't be Halloween without a trip to the Magic Whooloween Event at Penitentiary Glenn Park.  Penitentiary Glenn is part of our amazing Metroparks and it offers so many different activities through the year.  Magic Whooloween just happens to be a family favorite and we wouldn't miss!  This year Daddy and I packed up the boys while Penny stayed home with Nana in her nice warm cribbey.

This year the craft was making spooky trees out of toilet paper rolls, tissue paper and stamps.  Simple and fun!

Waiting for our train ride

The BEST part of the night is the TRAIN ride through the not so spooky forest that is decorated with Jack-O-Lanterns.  It is sooooo fun, even for us grown ups!!

Tommy holding our train sign, we are next in line!! 

Tommy was old enough to ride by himself...He was SO excited.  I was sitting in front of him and heard his little voice "Hey Dada, you doin ok back there?".....SO CUTE!!!   He did great!

Charlie and I had fun getting spooked by all the pumpkins and hanging ghosts. 

After our train ride it was time to grab some hot chocolate and donuts and sit by the campfire for a bit.

After we ate and drank our fill we decided to call it a night.  Within minutes we had little people sleeping in the back of the van.  Something that NEVER happens, so you know they had fun and were worn out.

We can't wait to take Penny with us next year!  I know the boys will enjoy showing her all the fun stuff.

Perfect Bliss

This morning I woke up to a small boy standing next to our bed. He was bending down as close as he could to my face, binki in mouth, he tried to whisper (the boy did NOT come with a volume control button!!), but try he did.  "Mama, is it twime to go to Wicoles (Nicole's). I wanna put on my costume.  Can I wear the mask AND the cape?"  It was 5:30am.

By 6:30am both boys were up and I strategically placed them on opposite ends of the couch with cups full of milk and a fruit bar.  I figured it would buy us another thirty minutes of sleep, as long as little sister kept on snoozing.

8:15am came with the hustle and bustle of book bags, coats and school shoes.  One last check to make sure the costume was in the bag where I said it would be and that the treats were ready to go.  Three carseats buckled, Daddy at the wheel, coffee in hand and we were off.

The air was cold, frost on the car windshield.  The sun was peeking out from behind a handful of clouds and the trees sparkled in jewel tones.  It was beautiful and I wished out loud that everyday could be like this.

Trent and Tommy spent most of the day on search of a last minute STAR WARS costume for Daddy.  After a few attempts they came home empty handed. But with a little imagination and a few yards of fabric we had a cape that would make any Emperor proud!

After a quick trip to Wicoles :) for Tommy to show off is Darth Vader costume, we were off to the Halloween parade at Charlie's school.  I don't know who was more excited, me or the kids!  Penny was a good sport and let us squeeze her into the cupcake costume that I had picked out for her a few weeks back.  Seems our little cupcake has had a growth spurt since :)

How fun it was to watch all the little kids come parading out of the school and around the park.  Charlie looked so proud when he saw us.  He immediately started posing and acting like the real Luke Sky Walker.  Light sabers weren't allowed at school, but that didn't keep Charlie from acting as if.  He was adorable!  We were so happy for him.

After our Halloween fun for the day it was time for party planning. While Penny napped I set to work making tasty treats for Penny's birthday party and putting on the last minute touches for our not so scary Halloween party.   When she awoke from her slumber she joined me in the kitchen while we finished up.  Daddy helped put the eyes on our ghosts and whipped up that last batch of cupcakes.  There is something about being in the kitchen with my family, especially with Trent.  I love it.

After a long day I started to feel my energy drop so I headed upstairs for a quick rest.  I laid there snuggled in between our flannel sheets, my head resting on Trent's pillow.  Downstairs I could hear Trent preparing dinner for the boys.   Tommy fussed that he had mustard on his hand, Trent got a wipe to clean him up and spoke sweetly to Penny from across the room.  Charlie's laughter filled the house, some show had him going.  My heart was full.

I gave Penny her bottle and snuggled her close.  Her hair is so soft and fuzzy against my check.  She reached up and patted my face then grasped my hand with her fingers.  When she was done she buried her face in my neck and gave me a hug, something new for her.  She then proceeded to "zerbert" my neck and blow raspberries.  A new trick and we both laughed.  She is the sweetest girl.

The boys needed second and third warnings.  Tommy held my hand and tried to keep sleep from his eyes.  I rubbed noses with him and he smiled underneath the bink.  I know he is too old, but I don't care.  He has one left and then these sweet last bits of baby will be gone.  I am going to hold onto them for as long as I can.  He quickly drifted off to sleep.

Trent carried in dinner.  Our Friday night usual, Chipotle.  After a few bites a small voice came from upstairs "Mama, I can't sleep.  Dada?"  I snuggled with Charlie for a few minutes and listened to him as he spoke about what costumes his friend wore, a video they watched about needs and wants, and HOW excited he was the Ben H. was coming to the party tomorrow.  I rubbed his head and settled him down a bit.

And now I sit with my honey on the couch.  He is watching another horror Halloween flick, and I am taking the opportunity to jot down the memories of a perfectly blissful day.

Today I choose Joy, it was an easy choice.
*written on Friday, October 28th

Top 10 Things You Need To Know About Charlie

One of Charlie's homework assignments.

10. I love school

9. I love my cat.

8. I love trains.

7. I love orange.

6. I love numbers.

5. I love my sistu.

4.I love LEGO.

3. I love STAR WARS.

2. I luve Mom.

1. I love my famley.

This is pretty much our boy to a tee.  There are a few things I know we could add, like his love for Jesus, his obsession with taking things apart, his curiosity with science and learning new things, his passion for all things silly, and the comradery with his brother.  He is such a sweet boy and I just love the things that he wrote down about himself.

Random thoughts on Charlie: Fall 2011

While eating Sunday brunch, crispy bacon in hand, Charlie spouts out loud "I never knew a pig could be so dirty and taste so good!" ....has to be the quote of the month!

Charlie is doing so well in school.  Each day he comes home and proudly reports "No card flipping today Mama!", their method of discipline at school.  Heck, if I knew that keeping my kids in line was as simple as flipping a card from green, to yellow or red, I would of made up this card flipping thing myself! 

From the time he gets home to the time he closes his eyes at night we get snippets of the happenings of the day.  Out of no where he will tell me about his reading group and how he got to sit next to his "favorite" friend Ben H.  or how Mrs.G got all grumpy because her smart board wasn't working.  Bedtime is usually when he tells me the important things, like how he is afraid that a little girl told on him to a teacher at recess but that he didn't do anything wrong.  He is scared he will get in trouble and I assure him that if he has good behavior and does the right thing that all will be ok. 

I miss him terribly, sometimes it pulls at my heart strings.  I still crave to have him here with me, teaching him.  But I also know that he is thriving at school and is really happy.  He is also really trying to be a good example and I hear about how he often will help someone or go out of his way to be a good friend.  What more can a Mama want, right?!

He eagerly does his homework and can't wait to play with his brother afterwards.  Whether they are playing LEGO Star Wars on the Wii or building LEGOS in the basement, I see more and more how their friendship is being cemented.  I also see the almost sad look on Tommy's face when Charlie declares that he has a favorite friend at school.  But we are quick to remind them that they are best friends, and always will be.  Even Charlie pipes in that Tom is his bestest friend. 

Charlie is so sweet I love his big hugs each morning and every afternoon.  I love that he still wants me to sing his night night kitty song to him before bed every evening and how he snuggles up to my hand, holding onto it tightly.  He is growing up so quickly, but there is still such an innocence to him that I just love and cherish.

Love you Charlie Bear!

Tender Mercies

 When Charlie went off to first grade, one of the things that I worried about was the relationship between the boys.  They are a a little over two years a part and for the most part have done everything together, and that is the way they like it.  Yes, one minute they can be throwing each other down on the floor or trying to decapitate each other with their fierce pillow fights.  But I think that is how they show each other their "love" if you will.  Because the other will be the first to stand up to a rude friend it he doesn't allow all brothers to play in their game, and they run to each other's rescue over big tumbles and scrapes. 

 There are tender moments too between brothers.  Whether they are snuggled up watching a show together, loving on their sister together or playing their favorite Lego Star Wars Wii game.  These two love to spend time together.  So, my worries of if these two would remain best friends was proven to not be a worry at all when on the second day of school Charlie came bounding in the house with two new library books in hand.  A Clifford Kitten book for himself and a Clifford "mimi" fire truck book for his brother.  Charlie went on to tell me how he had been thinking of  his brother and how he just knew that Tommy would love a "mimi" book.

Tender mercies....Thank you God!

Falling in Love

These two are too much! Look at Penny's little smirk.  She is a spitting image of her biggest brother!

   Penny has many Lovie's.  The boys picked out a pink elephant that Charlie named Ellie, before Penny was even born.  It was the gift they gave her at the hospital after birth.  Her cousins also bought her a lovie.  A white bunny with a soft pink blanket.  And then there is Teddy, or Ted.  A very small white-ish teddy bear.  He was the first thing I allowed in her crib with her and choose him because he was so tiny.

 But despite having all her lovies, she does favor Ted, she hasn't really formed any real attachments with them.  She has however, fallen head over heels for Charlie's Lovie!  She squeals when she sees Lovie and clasps him in her chubby little hands.  Charlie allows her to play with Lovie, but always laughs and says "Oh Penny!", because Lovie always come back to him covered in a blanket of Penny slobber :)

When I bought Lovie for Charlie, before he was born, I also bought a replacement Lovie.  Yes, it is true, there is more then one Lovie!  I hid second Lovie deep in my dresser and he is identity was never revealed.  Until the other day.  Charlie was playing with Penny in the kitchen and commenting how he wished there was another Lovie that Penny could have, just like his.  I asked him how that would make him feel if he knew there was another Lovie.  I didn't want to spoil the love he has for her because it is so sweet.  It didn't phase him at all and he was more then excited to find out that he could give his little sister a Lovie that she loved.

In fact, when he placed the brand new looking Lovie on Penny's highchair tray and she grabbed him up like she was going to devour his blue velour, Charlie explained "Look Mama! She is falling in love!".

Sweetest boy ever! And now Penny has her own true Lovie.

The First Week and Missing the boy

 The first week at school has gone better then we all expected.  Tom or Thomas as he introduced himself to his new little friends, he is pure cuteness!, fit right in to his new routine.  The mornings that he is at school literally are a blink of an eye and then he is back at home.  The big news from Prek is usually what snack they had.  They sure know the way to my boys heart!  The rest of the day he is my right hand man, and thoroughly enjoying it!  He is eating up all the attention and one on one time.  The change has been good for him.

  Charlie has done well too.  He aced his first ever spelling test, woot! woot! and his handwriting has improved immensely this week.  He had a bit of homework which he finished in no time at all, and with no complaints!  He also seems much more relaxed,  and his "motor" seems to have settled a bit.  I think the day is long for him though, and he is usually pretty tired when he comes home.  But that makes for good snuggling time with Mama!!!  He has LOVED riding the bus and has had some great teachable moments.  He has had the opportunity to teach others how to be a good friend and our little evangelical even talked to a boy in the bus line about God!  The conversation went something like this:

Charlie:  "God is the BEST!"
Boy in bus line: "No, my Dad is the BEST!"
Charlie: "God made the WHOLE world!  So He is the best!"
Boy in bus line: "My Dad made a world too"
Charlie:  "Your Dad isn't God, so he only made a pretend world.  Like a globe"

Love it!!  I couldn't get out of him how the conversation started between him and the bus line boy.  But it doesn't matter! And what was even cooler what that he connected what he said to the boy about God with the lesson he learned at Sunday school last week. Which was about how we shouldn't keep Jesus to ourselves, but give him away to others so that they will know him too.  He told me all about it at bedtime, sweet boy! I told him that talking to that little boy about God was the greatest thing he did all week and that I was very proud of him.

But I can't help but miss the boy something terrible!  And I am not the only one either!  The day is just too long for all of us.  We are all carrying around Charlie's Lovie during the day, even Penny.  Tommy told me that Lovie was crying for Charlie, then patted Lovie on the head and in the sweetest voice said "it okay Lovie, Charlie love you and be home soon".  Pitter patter my little heart!

And after we dropped Charlie off this morning I hear a little voice from the backseat,
Tom: "Mom, I miss my Charlie"
Me: "I know buddy, I do too.  But he will be home soon"
Tom: "I all alone back here.  I need Charlie to sit with me.  Mom, when you grow up you sit with me back here?"  Too cute!

So the week has gone good.  We are all adjusting.  There have been no tantrums or tears, expect on from me...tears, not tantrums :)  But each day is a bit easier.  And I can tell you that I have never looked more forward to the weekend then I do today!!! I don't want to do anything but all climb in our bed, snuggle up with the boys and stay there all day!

Boys, we are so proud of you!  You guys are doing great at school and we are excited to see all the fun stuff you will learn!!  Love you tons!
Mommy

First Day of School

 The boys started school today.  Charlie is in first grade and Tommy, PreK.

 After we told the boys that we would no longer be homeschooling we had two days of major complaints.  Charlie took it the hardest. But after two days both boys turned a corner and started to get really excited for the new adventure that lay before them.  I think the matching Mario Kart backpacks and light up Spider Man shoes helped :) 

 Tommy was ready to go to school last week.  In fact when we went to church on Sunday he loaded up his backpack and had it in the car ready to go.  He thought we were going to school, not church.  On his first day of school he had a great time.  He told me that he wanted me to take him first in the morning because he was so excited.  Then when we got there he said he wanted to walk in by himself :)  Even though he had so much fun, he said the best part was at the end when I picked him up.  What a sweet boy!

And this little stinker had a good day too.  I love his new little smirk!  I think the adjustment will be the hardest on him since he is older and going for a longer period of time.  But he has a great teacher and she is more then happy to help him transition.  In fact, she emailed me 2 times the first day with updates.   Charlie did have a great first day and talked in detail about some projects they made, games he played with the other kids etc.  They also tested him on his reading skills.  This is something that they do for all new students in the district.  Our boy who doesn't love reading, scored very well and his teacher was rather impressed ;)  So proud of our little guy!!!

So, the first day went better then we expected and everyone had fun!  The house was strangely quiet and by 10am I was calling Trent telling him how painful the silence was :)  I truly missed our boys but I was so happy that they were happy and doing so well.