It’s day four of the big kids being at my parents house and the only picture I got was this one…
Considering that is a tic tac stuck to her front teeth and she is passed out in her car seat, I am going to assume that the kids are running hard, playing hard, and crashing hard!
Happy Fathers Day to my two favorite fathers! And while I didn’t get to spend the day with either of you, I want to remind you that I wouldn’t be the woman I am today without the impact you have had on my life. I love you so much!
Baby E and I hung out at the beach this evening. He has gone from hating the beach to getting excited when we get there. He likes to spend most of his time right on the shoreline where the water splashes up. There he isn’t in too deep, but still can get his feet and hands wet. (And his bottom!) He’s stopped eating the sand, so that’s a plus!
It’s day two of my kids being at their grandparents’ house and it must be going well because my mom hasn’t left me any pleading messages to send them home early! Ha!
Today they went to Dinosaur Land!
Tim and I actually visited Dinosaur Land the year after we got married. (We look so young!)
Dinosaur Land is this random park in the middle of nowhere that is populated with life-size, photorealistic, fiberglass dinosaurs. It’s such a strange little gem, and I am so excited that my kiddos got to experience it today!
Meanwhile on the home front, I had a lovely day with Tim and Ephraim. I’m so blessed!
The big kids left day to visit their grandparents and their Aunt Julie. I’m sure going to miss them, but they are already having a blast!
Nine years ago today, Tim proposed to me on the Brooklyn Bridge.
No regrets…
Only blessings!
Well Baby Girl, we survived!!
Today was your last day of kindergarten and I wanted to take a moment to tell you how proud I am of you. I have seen you grow and change so much this year and you have hit some pretty amazing milestones.
1- You can read!! This blows me away! I hear you sometimes, sitting on your bed reading books to yourself. At first I thought it was because you had memorized them, but I began to hear you sound out words and put the sentences together. Truly amazing!
2- You are getting better at math. You’ve come a long way this year with your numbers!
3- You are a social butterfly. I’ve been to your classroom a few times and I love to see you interacting with your peers. When you started school you were the youngest in your class and I worried how you would fit in and if you were emotionally ready. You have set those cares aside for me as I see you with your friends and your teacher.
4- You survived your first bullies. You had two bullying incidents this year and you handled them very maturely. I love that you stand up for yourself and for the people around you that don’t have a lot of friends. It’s wonderful that you choose certain people to be friends with, even though they aren’t the most popular. That is an incredible trait that I hope you carry through your life!
5- This is the year you accepted Christ into your heart. When I look at your writings from school, so many of them revolve around you praying to God and exploring your understanding of Him.
6- You got taller. When you started, I’m pretty sure you were the shortest kid in your class, but that’s not the case now!
7- Your drawings and artwork always put a smile on my face. You are a creative little girl and you love to express that creativity in so many ways. Your drawings are adorable, and the stories that go along with them are priceless.
I know you are sad to be leaving your teacher and your friends, but summer will fly by (like it is prone to do) and soon, way too soon, you will be back at school as a first grader. Mommy and Daddy love you so very much and we are so proud of you!
Hugs and Kisses! Mommy
We celebrated this evening with a trip to the beach and then a late evening of pizza and cookies!
Tomorrow is C’s last day of kindergarten. Just like that she will be done. Today was Storybook Character Day and she dressed as one of her favorite characters- Pinkalicious.
This past year we have been inundated with papers and projects. Nearly every week her folders were filled with small crafts, drawings, and artwork. There were so many and it was hard to decide what to keep and what to toss.
But tonight we received a veritable treasure in her backpack.
These are her “writers notebooks.” Every morning at the beginning of class time, the kids would sit down and journal in their notebooks. At the beginning of the year, the pages were filled with rudimentary drawings, but as the year progressed the drawings became more complicated, and little sentences and stories began to emerge. These notebooks hold the thoughts, dreams and fears of our little girl. Some of her stories make me smile, some make me sad, and some leave me in awe of her precious mind. Tonight I would like to share a few.
This is the first picture in her notebook. I think the tall one might be me, or perhaps it is her teacher. Either way, the tall one has awesome hair!
This is C standing between me and Tim. It appears we are all flowers.
This is a drawing she did after she dreamt that there was a bee that stung a boy. In the drawing she is laying in her bed and the arrows are pointing to her dream.
I have no idea what this one is, but it makes me smile.
I think maybe is this Baby Jesus, but it could be her or one of her brothers.
I love Mommy
I love Daddy
The Manger
The kid on the left is covered in germs. Germs on her hands and feet and in her stomach (as illustrated by the magnification). She then washes her hands and is clean and happy.
This might be her singing in the choir at church.
This is my pet. She likes to sleep with me. She likes to play. There is nothing more than a dog.
When I pray I fold my hands and pray to my Father.
My brothers are sick. (I particularly enjoy that her brothers are green in this picture.)
This is a map of my house.
“I love you God.” “I love you too.”
The horse jumped over the flowers. His tail smelled like flowers. Then he jumped over the moon.
I like pirate ships.
Brush your teeth once a day. (I like the food stuck in the teeth and the added ‘yuk!’)
The news of what happened in Orlando yesterday has been weighing heavily on me. I remember before September 11th, horrible things happened all the time… but they happened from a distance… Oklahoma City, Columbine, the Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta. They were tragedies, horrible events that destroyed lives and uprooted families, but there was a comfort in knowing they were happening hundreds or thousands of miles away. But September 11th taught me that it can also happen literally in your back yard. And even if it doesn’t, the years since that day have shown me how quickly the news and the images are plastered across our screens and etched into our memories. And like the proverbial train wreck, we just can’t take our eyes off of it.
The stakes get raised when you have kids. You see everything though the filter of parenthood and suddenly those tragedies carry even more weight because even if it wasn’t your kid, you know it was someone’s kid and that’s enough to make you hurt.
Thankfully my children are young enough that this tragedy will go over their heads. We don’t have cable at home, and we aren’t on computers in front of them. But I have no doubt that one day I will have to explain a similar tragedy to them. I will have to remind them that there is true evil in the world, that there are people that harbor such hatred and wrought such destruction. It is the reality that we live in.
But I will also remind them that there is incredible good in the world too, not because of us, but because of what Christ did on the cross. His death and resurrection mean that tragedy isn’t pointless, and it isn’t forgotten. God cares deeply about people and therefore, so should we. If we see people only through the lenses of race, religion, gender, orientation, (or any other measure we divide ourselves by)- and not through the lens of God’s grace, then we aren’t seeing them at all and we cannot love them. But when we choose to see people as Christ sees them, then each person is valuable and each life is worth protecting- and when that happens amazing things start to happen!
Dear Big E,
Sometimes four year old emotions are so big… the kind of big that makes you want to turn around and punch the person next to you, or lunge at them to bite. They cause you to scream and cry and shriek with such abandon. It’s hard because the world is big, and it doesn’t always go your way. There is so little that you can control and so many decisions are made for you. The adults in your life don’t always give you all the information, and often it wouldn’t make sense to you if they did. You know emotion and you know reaction. But as you grow, you will also learn discipline and control. It will come, but while we wait, I promise to sit with you and help you learn along the way.
Love, Mommy
48 hours post stomach bug and I’m starting to feel like a normal person again! Yay! We woke up this morning and had a lazy morning of eating breakfast and then heading to the beach for a little while before it got too hot. Baby E renewed his disdain for sand and water, as he fluctuated between eating sand and screaming while sitting on the beach. The big kids and Tim built a sandcastle and the kids took turns burying and digging up treasure.
This afternoon we ran some errands and finished the day with dinner on the deck.
We closed out our day with playing a game that C had created. She made a die and a board and we used pieces that she made herself.
The kids got ahold of some sharpies and decided to decorate their picnic table. In their defense, they didn’t know it was permanent. I’m just glad it was the picnic table and not the walls or our furniture!! (Meanwhile, these are C’s aliens.)
eatingwithsavages 