Easing my Mind

Today when I got Briggs up from his nap, his right thumb was all wet.  I said, "Briggs, were you sucking your thumb?"  He replied, "Yes, but I didn't crooked my teeth."

Well that takes a load off.  Guess I can stop trying to break him of the habit.  Apparently he engages in the type of thumb-sucking that is not bad for your teeth.

Love this boy and his very straight teeth!

Soccer

Adelie just finished up her first season of playing soccer.  Although she was disappointed that she didn't score a goal, she really enjoyed herself and was always excited about playing.  And she's quick to point out that she almost scored a goal.

Adelie improved with her skills as the season progressed.  She was not the fastest or most aggressive kid on the field, but she played hard and had a good time.

Her league did not have enough parents volunteer to coach, so I offered to help.  I have never played soccer and don't really know the right technique or the rules.  Luckily, the kids on our team were 4 and 5.  I reminded them not to use their hands and tried to help them remember which goal we were going to, so I feel like I did my job.

Adelie was very sad when her season was over.  She enjoyed playing, made some new friends, and it was a good outlet for some of her energy.  We are already looking forward to next season!!

New Perspective

I was in a little fender bender yesterday in a parking lot.  Everyone was fine, but Adelie was very interested in all the proceedings, asking lots of questions as I exchanged information with the other woman.  Last night at dinner, Adelie said, "You exchanged phone numbers with that other woman.  What's your number now?"

Her interpretation of exchanging numbers is probably truer to it's actual definition, but it's so amusing to think about the confusion in the world if everyone was truly exchanging numbers all the time. 

I love how this girl always gives me a new perspective...and a good laugh.

Who Is He?

This morning, the kids were playing Disney.  The girls were putting on princess dresses to be princesses that I could come to meet at Disney.  Briggs said, "I want to be a princess too!"  I told him, "Hey, buddy.  You could put on your Buzz Lightyear costume or one of your superhero costumes."  He said, "No thanks.  I want to be Elsa."

And he was...all morning long.  He did decide to later accessorize with some pink fairy wings.

The other day, Briggs was telling me about boys and girls.  He told me that Adelie is a girl and Staley is a girl and I'm a girl.  I asked him, "What are you?"  He replied, "I'm a race car!"

I know just who this little guy is.  He's my snuggly, sweet, vehicle-loving, train-playing, princess-dress-wearing, happy, loving, adorable boy.  He's my Briggs!

Are You Ready for Some Football??

Today was the official start of the Bear's season.   Opening day is like a holiday at our house. 

There are decorations...

festive holiday wear...

and lots of excitement.

Unfortunately, sometimes there is also heartbreak.

Through the highs and the lows, we love our Bears and are so glad that football season is here.

Confidence

Staley has never lacked for confidence, and I love that about her.  She auditions for solos in plays and perseveres whenever she's trying to learn a new skill and faces challenges head on and is always willing to try new things.  She has a mind of her own and isn't afraid to follow her own path.  She is confident in her abilities with anything she tries.  Lately there have been some conversations that really illustrate the self-confidence that Staley has.

The other day, Staley was telling us about a race they did in PE.  She said, "I did really good!  I was 7th from first."  When I asked how many kids were in the race, she said, "I'm not sure, but I was 7th from first and 5th from last." 

Staley was talking about playing games in her classroom.  She told me,  "I'm really good at Connect 4 but no one in my class knows it because I only play with Zoey and she is great at Connect 4 so she mostly wins."

I love Staley's perspective.  Instead of thinking that maybe she's just not very good at Connect 4, she deduces that Zoey must be great.  Or rather than feeling sad about being closer to the back than the front of the race, she focuses on the fact that she was 7th from first. 

The other night, Adelie asked me about what we can pray for.  I told her that praying is just talking to God.  We can tell him thank you for all the good things we have, we can ask him to help people who are sick or hurt, and we can ask him to help us.  Adelie asked what God could help us with so I said we could ask him to help us be kind or be good friends or not be scared of something.  Staley piped in and said, "I don't need God to help me with anything."  I responded that everyone needs God's help because we all make mistakes or have things that we could be better at.  Staley retorted, "Well, I don't need help with any of things you said."

Maybe humility.  She could probably use a little help with that.

I know that life and reality will knock Staley down at times.  I know that there will be disappointments and discouragement and realizations that she is not as good at certain things.  I know there will be parts she doesn't get or teams she doesn't make or awards she doesn't win.  I know that she will figure out what she is best at and what she is not.  I just hope that she always keeps that self-confidence, that willingness to try, that perseverance.  And I hope that she realizes she could use a little help from God along the way.

I love this girl and her confidence.

Silence

Staley is at school.  Adelie is at pre-school.  Briggs is napping.  My house is silent.

IT.IS.AWESOME!!!

I love my kids.  I love spending time with my kids.  I love that I get to be home 3 days every week with my kids.  But with 3 young kids, someone always needs something.  Always.  Someone always has a question or a need or wants to show me something or needs to tell me something.  Someone always wants me to be their playmate or needs me to be their referee or requires my assistance to inform them when they are making a bad decision.  If I'm trying to accomplish a task, I have "helpers" that sometimes make it not worth trying.  Or so many interruptions that it never gets done.  I love being a mom, but it's exhausting.

And now I will have 2 afternoons each week.  One of them will probably be spent volunteering at the school.  But the other one?  It will be gloriously silent.  I will have 2 hours. Two hours each week where I can do what I want.  I have a huge list of things I'm planning to accomplish.  Photo books and cleaning out and organizing school papers and planning vacations.  I have big aspirations for my 2 hours, so I'm off to enjoy the silence and get some things done!

First Day of School...Again

 After anxiously awaiting this day since Staley started school several weeks ago, Adelie officially started 4 year old pre-school today.  Although she will be going 3 afternoons each week (as opposed to the 2 mornings each week that she went last year), she is going to the same pre-school with the same classroom, same teacher, and some of the same friends as last year.

No first day of school jitters for this little one.

Adelie was excited to have one of her good friends in her class this year.

We all loved Mrs. Ferguson, so we very happy that Adelie was in her class again this year.

I love this girl.  I love her confidence.  I love her enthusiasm.  I love how excited she was to start back to school.  I have no doubt that it will be another great year in pre-school...and I love that!

Hmmmm...

Zach was reading an abridged version of "Black Beauty" to the girls.  If you are not familiar with the book, it's a first-person narrative of a horse detailing his life, including his life as a colt, being sold, being ridden, cruel owners, pulling carts, wearing a saddle,...  Both girls listened to the whole book.  When the book ended, Adelie asked, "Was Black Beauty a horse?"  Zach responded, "Yes."  Then Adelie laughed and said, "I thought she was a girl."  Zach said, "Nope.  It's a boy, and it's a horse."  After a long pause, Adelie finally said, "Read it again."

It's a little confounding that she missed the fact it was a horse for the entire book and a little amusing to wonder what she must have been picturing.

Three Strikes...

...and I'm out of ideas.

I came in to get Briggs up in the morning and his shirt was like this.  I said, "Briggs, why is your arm out of your shirt?"  He replied, "I wanted to suck mine thumb."

I thought "knot hand" was a great idea.  I thought it was going to work.  I thought maybe we could say good-bye to thumb sucking.  I thought wrong.