Slow down sissy...

I'm sure I've mentioned before that Laurelei is pretty much five going on fifteen, but it's never been more apparent to us than lately. Where do I even begin?

Perhaps I'll start with the scary part of her growing up, boys. Ah, preschool love. Matt and Laurelei had a detailed conversation on the way home from school about it the other day, and they were both excited to fill me in on the details over dinner. From what I gathered I imagine the initial conversation went something like this...

"How was school today?"

"Good. I need to pick a boyfriend."

"Excuse me?"

"There are three boys at school who love me and want to be my boyfriend. I have to pick one to be my boyfriend."

(Stunned silence, a few stifled giggles...yes I'm sure it was giggles)

"I think I'm going to pick soandso. He loves me so much."

"How do you know soandso loves you so much?"

"He tells me I'm beautiful. He thinks I'm really pretty."

Don't worry. As any good mom would do I squashed the whole idea of preschool love real quick.  I was sure to tell her that only big people get to have boyfriends and girlfriends, so she would just have to pretend until she was of a more appropriate age, like 20.

To my surprise her preschool whims have come with a fair amount of wisdom. The other day I was making my very first fabric doll and getting incredibly frustrated. I may have mentioned to Matt that I was about to quit-and-throw-my-sewing-machine-out-the-window and L overheard me. As she scooted up the table she shared her five year old words of encouragement with me.

"Don't quit mommy. You can do it. You can change your story"

"What do you mean?"

"You know mommy, like in Super Why? The duck wanted to swim but he couldn't so he quit. Then Super Why came and changed duck's story and made him not scared and he learned to swim. You can do that too mommy. You can change you story."

I kid you not. I felt about two feet tall. I had been told. By my five year old. I'd like to thank Super Why and the PBS community for teaching my child more important lessons that she has apparently learned from her parents example at home. 

How do they grow so fast? You turn around and your tiny five pound baby is five years old. She is beautiful and smart and ready for the whole wide world. And you pretty much know you had nothing to do with her growing older and you just want to tell her to slow down.

best friends and new years

So I'm going to jump out there and just admit that for the last 5ish years Matt and I have had some pretty lame, er I mean quiet, New Year's eves. Mostly the kind where you do all things parentish like stay home all night, watch movies on the living room floor, and set your alarm for 11:58 just in case you fall asleep before the ball drops.

This year, however, we had lots of fun prospects. We were invited to two, yes I said TWO! different parties. Matt was pretty proud of this, it seeming to up our 'cool parent' status a notch or two. So you know what we did to take advantage of this different year? We.....stayed home again!

What? I know. Even with two pretty great parties with pretty great people who we love a lot, we decided to stay home because we had the opportunity to host one of my very best friends in the whole world, and her sweet little family! Once again the plan was dinner and pj's before 8pm, and it was the best! I made some ridiculous party hats that I insisted we wear. We put the kids to bed and played games until close to midnight.

We even popped open the champagne and almost made it until midnight! Sure there was a baby crying here or there, kids who really didn't want to fall asleep, the fact that half of us didn't make it to see the ball drop, but it was about as close to perfect as New Year's eves get!

Abbott

So, Abbott is growing up pretty quick. I remember even when he was a teeny tiny baby we said he had this 'old man' spirit. While he cracks me up on a daily basis with his hee-hawing cowboy antics and his lovable little cuddles, I can't help but look into his big eyes and think that he knows a little more than he lets on.

Christmas 2013

I had thought about back tracking all the way to Halloween, but I've decided it's an insurmountable effort. So, I'll just start with something slightly more recent. Christmas!

This year we made the usual rounds for Christmas...my family, Matt's family, more of my family, and some more of Matt's family.

We spread out the celebrating this year, and cut down on our traveling to and from, and it made for a nice relaxing few days with family. It was nearly perfect.

We've really struggled recently with the awareness that mostly our celebrations of things have become more 'us-centered' and less 'Christ-centered.' I think this year our hearts were much more full this season with more constant reminders to ourselves and to Abbott and Laurelei about the true importance of Christmas. Our church shared the book, The Sparkle Box, this year and I love the idea behind it.

Giving a gift back to God each Christmas through selfless acts and the way that you treat those around you. I hope that as a family we can follow the model this book gives throughout this year for next Christmas. I think that giving a gift like that would just be icing on the cake, and make for a truly perfect celebration next year!

snow days

So, in an attempt to #1, stay off of facebook and #2, still post all of the family pictures and updates I am crazy about I am going to try to relive this under utilized blog. I refuse to make promises on consistency, and I am fairly-more-than-certain that no one is any longer reading this so they won't mind, but I will make a good effort if for no other reason that it makes me sad to not have documented anything from September through January!

I have some back logged posts that I would love to fill in at some point on our Halloween, Christmas, and New Years. But seeing as how it is our sixth/ seventh? snowday of the this month, I thought I would just start with what we have been up to for the last few days.

one...

We have done a lot of waiting at the window for daddy to get home from work. Since the little ones and I haven't left the house since Monday, we've been anxious for him to get home and entertain us each day!

two...

Sleeping. We have done a fair amount of sleeping. A nap here or there never hurt anyone, and I for one can say that I am going to miss these come the  harsh reality of back-to-school!

three...

We even once got out to play in the snow! This is Abbott's first official snow play, and he had mixed feeling about it. All he really wanted to do was build a snow man, but the snow was a little to fluffy to pack well. Every time he sat down in the snow, he got stuck. That was probably my fault, since he waddled out of the house like the kid in the Christmas Story. In the end I think he mostly enjoyed it!

 

Laurelei definitely loved it the WHOLE time. She is a true little snow bunny! She dove right in the second she stepped out of the door. I'd say if we could find a way to keep her fingers warm she probably wouldn't ever come in!

 She especially loved when Matt would pull her around in the baby sled. It is so small and they could pick up some serious speed! Abbott liked it at first too, but didn't so much like gaining any speed. He's not quite as big of a daredevil as Laurelei.

Too bad its 10 degrees outside today, or we might just be out there again! It looks like Saturday calls for more snow and 35 degrees, so maybe that is a better idea?

So that's that. Those are my very grown up kids. My two year old and my five year old. I can't believe I am saying that, a lot has changed since August.

back to school & other things

Back to school time, enough said. It has us busy as ever. Although, I obviously hadn't been carving out time on any of my long summer days to update much anyway, so I know school is not a very good excuse. But alas, its the only excuse I've got.

The long days at school and work for all of us has left slim amounts of daylight to enjoy as a family.

Because of that, we've tried our best to relax in the evening hours, eat a few more dinners at home, and play as much as we can with the kids.

To be completely honest, I spent most of this weekend feeling sad about going back to work. I complained to just about all my friends, the ones that would listen anyway, about how badly I wanted to be a stay at home mom. Which, if you know me very well, is a little out of character. I love my kids, but I also love my job. And I love the cuddle time, but I also long for the adult conversation time too. I guess I don't know what had come over me.

I went in to work feeling very weary on Monday morning. But just as it always seems to happen, I just felt a blanket of peace over the whole situation on my in. I was reminded that I have some great coworkers to get me through the day, and some pretty awesome 9 year olds too. I had some friends remind me that I wasn't alone in my blah either.

We all feel it sometimes. We all wonder why we leave our own kids to go love on someone else's for the day. But most importantly, I remembered that I was here with a singular purpose. A kingdom one. And that, if I didn't have all of those other amazing reasons to keep going, makes what I do worth everything I give, which still isn't nearly enough.

I know this is really just a jumble of my own thoughts, and mostly likely makes very little sense to anyone who is still reading. I guess I was just hoping that it might be an encouragement to someone else. It might be hard, day in and day out, to do what we are doing. But no matter where we are, or how much we wish we were somewhere else, we are exactly where we need to be, right now.

And in the end, God will bless us there, if we allow him to.

Summer Days

It has been a fast summer for us over here. Days have been filled with pools, friends, beaches, and trips. May favorite days this summer though have been the lazy in between days.

 The days when the kids and I play and snack and sleep and watch a show...or two.

 

 They are at such a fun age.

 They know so much, communicate so readily, but still love a good cuddle.

I love everything about these days.