Picture This and proud momma

Last night Adam was laying on the couch & Morgan was laying in front of him. She glanced up at the pictures hanging on the wall and said, "Baby". I told her that baby was her when she was younger.
Adam: There's Lella
Morgan: Lella
A: and Braly
M: Braly (she is so cute when she says his name which only happened last week)
A: Mommy
M: Mommy
A: Daddy
M: Mommy
A: and Daddy
M: and Daddy
A: and Morgan
M: paused then said, No, No
A: and baby
M: baby...
Then they went through it again. I tried to get her saying Gabby & Braly's names last week but she'd only say Braly's name with the camera not in her face.

This girl can say well over 50 words I'm sure & she's putting 2-4 words together for sentences. She's amazing! Sure helps with so many teachers in the house I guess. At least she didn't get that baby syndrome when the youngest won't talk b/c everyone else talks for her. I'll try really hard to get a short video of her talking. She's so cute.


I had parent/teacher conferences yesterday for Gabby and the first thing her teacher said was,"WOW! Gabby has come a long way this year." I agreed and we talked about how she meets all the requirements for going to first grade next year. sigh! Gabby still needs to practice with her numbers a little just for speed and the only concern her teacher has (which is a valid one btw) is whether Gabby will be able to adjust to the faster pace & stay with the class b/c she is often known to dog it, lollygag, putz, whatever word you might use. Both her teacher this year & last year & I myself agree that this is part of her personality where she takes her sweet time & tries to get things perfect. So I'll be trying to get her moving a little faster this summer. But her teacher said that she'd put in Gabby's file for the 1st grade teacher, that if the teacher communicates with home (uh, mainly me :) ) that we will be sure to work on things to get her to achieve all her requirements.

So on Wednesday June 4th we will be watching our petite little girl graduate from kindergarten & I'm sure I'll be crying. I'm so proud of all that she's accomplished, not only for her class like reading, writing, learning so much math stuff but for her growing as a person, sticking up for herself (b/c mom & dad won't be right with her all the time now), and for her being compassionate & kind to others. Definitely a proud momma I am. (sorry, couldn't help a little Yoda speech, kinda hear it a lot with the Star Wars fans we have here in this house.)

An Hour of Quiet

Adam was planning to take Braly & Gabby to the 'BIG' park after church today but since it rained a little and is really windy & cold (Adam & I always joke that this is really the Windy City & Chicago just gets that name b/c its a little bigger than Escanaba lol) he changed plans & brought them to the mall. They always enjoy going to the bookstore and walking around looking at people & checking out the toy section at Shopko. Morgan is down for a nap and I finished the dishes about 15 minutes after they left so now I'm catching up on emails, blogs, etc... I don't know what it is about being able to stay at the house & just have some quiet time. It has been a crazy week with us all getting used to Adam's full time work schedule & he had school for several hours on Fri & Sat.

Gabby wrapped up her last Golf class last week and her last Soccer class on Saturday. She really gave me a hard time about playing but one of the coaches was able to get her to go into the gym while Braly, Morgan, & I left to walk around the college campus. I had actually planned on watching her play but that all changed when she was 'in a mood' and threw a few temper tantrums. Kinda wondered if others thought I was being mean to my child but really, I was just trying to get her to complete her program. She is the one who wanted to sign up for the program & I believe it is important to finish things that one starts. Here's the really crazy thing, she was really excited that she participated in the last class AND then when it was time to leave, she didn't want to go. Go figure right? I was able to sneak back to the gym & watch her almost score a goal when they were playing as teams at the very end. And while Braly, Morgan, & I were walking, we put some dandylions on Daddy's car window and then ended up seeing him sitting in his class & waved to him. Braly thought that was really neat and was doing great following directions. He was pretty sad that he couldn't play soccer and when I told him he can play next year when he's 4 he was happy again. They better still have this program next year or I'm going to be in trouble.

Well instead of spending my entire quiet time on the computer, I'm going to work on reorganizing my photos into Stacy Julian's Library of Memories (LOM). I'm going to slowly change over to her system b/c it seems like it will work so nicely to be able to scrapbook more memories rather than just b/c I feel like I should. I'm really excited about it and will probably be sharing more as I get into it more. I have to take it slowly b/c there are many parts to her system & the components, although essential in my opinion, are costly and I'm trying not to spend tons of money right now.

I just realized. I mentioned it above but never properly told about it on here. Adam was promoted from his part time supervisor position to the On Car Supervisor which is a full time position. He has to wear dress shirts, ties, & dress pants to work & I love seeing him all decked out. ;) And in about a month he'll be done with his last college course and will have a Bachelor degree in Business Administration. I'm so proud of him for all of his accomplishments. God has truly blessed him in many ways & we look forward to the day he doesn't have to 'go to class' anymore. This week the kids have been asking me, "Is Daddy at work or at class?" "Where is Daddy?" I feel bad that they aren't used to not seeing him & missing him but we will adjust.

Our Perfectly Petite Girl

Gabby has always been small for her age, I think she's only in the 5th percentile on the growth chart for girls her age but that's actually up from when she was a baby & early toddlerhood where she was making her own growth curve well below the real one. She's been playing soccer on Sat monrnings for a few weeks now and has 2 more but she recently started up 4 sessions of golf. This girl had a hard time connecting the club with the ball at first but she's improved quite nicely. On Monday she brought her new golf clubs to the class and said they were heavy to carry so a mom of one of the other kids helped her carry them. Gabby told her "I'm just a perfectly petite girl is all." I laughed when the mom told me that she said that. I've been grooming her to know that even though she's small, or petite, she's just how God intended her to be and that's perfectly ok. I adjusted her strap on the golf bag & she was able to carry it herself the whole time yesterday.

That same mom told me yesterday that Mr. John took the kids over to the sand trap to let them hit a few balls. They were all laying in the sand & writing their names & he got a total kick out of it. The mom said that it was so cute seeing all of them laying in the sand. I laughed but a part of me was sad that I missed it. It isn't that the teacher minds that parents watch but Gabby seems to pay attention & do much better if I am not around while a class is going on that she's participating in. It's like she sees me and gets all shy. So like a momma bird pushes her baby out of the nest in order to learn to fly, I push Gabby a little in order for her to 'fly' on her own. Like I said, this letting go stuff is a little hard.

Oh and Gabby has a new nickname. I've called her Muffin for a long time & sometimes add Sweet Muffin but now she's my Noodle Muffin. Her teacher gave each of the kids a golf ball and hers says Noodle on it. She was so excited when she was telling me after class. I said, sounds like we need to call you Noodle Muffin now. She laughed & thought that was funny.

On a side note, I have the best family! My parents came over early to my house to help me out with picking Gabby up from school & then watching Braly & Morgan while I took Gabby to golf class & even finished making dinner. And then Auntie Nat watched Gabby & Braly while I took Morgan to my LLL meeting. Thank you so much for helping me out. I really appreciate it.

I think it's Spring

The calendar says that it is Spring but when I go outside or look outside it reminds me of fall. We still don't have green on our trees (just small buds forming) and the wind is whipping around like crazy. It actually hit 60 today so that was nice but the wind makes it feel cooler than it is.

Here's a really old poem I wrote. Keep in mind I was in 5th or 6th grade when I wrote this. Now don't ask me what kind of poem it is, I can't remember that but I thought I'd share it. Not even sure if this was the 'whole' poem but its all I can recall.

Spring:

Spring is so slushy

I like the sweet sound.

I must say that our spring didn't seem as slushy as it usually does. Maybe for some but it really wasn't bad here at our new house. How long can one use the term 'new' anyway? At the end of this month it will have been a year since we signed the papers for our 'new' house. We're definitely still lovin' it too. Wish I could work on getting some of this outdated wallpaper to disappear but I'm being told to put it on hold. Now would be a good time to do it though, not too cold, not too hot for the steamer & all the scraping, washing, & then painting.

La Lou

This phrase was coined when Gabby was just a little one & learning to say "I Love You". It actually made its way down the line and was used by Braly and now by Morgan. And Morgan sure is using it to make her momma's heart melt. About 40 minutes ago I took Morgan up to her room to read her a story (10 Little Ladybugs), sing to her, and lay her down for her nap. She is so adorable that I nearly started crying (I know I'm a big sap, I can't help but enjoy my sweet baby). While I sing to her, she often puts her face really close to me so we are cheek to cheek or her cheek is very close to my mouth as I sing. Well she also does this cute thing & pushes that sweet cheek to my mouth so I will kiss her and then she keeps doing it throughout the songs that I sing. She has the biggest, grandest smile on her face while she is doing it & her giggle makes me laugh as she enjoys momma's kisses. Sometimes she pauses for a little bit so I actually make it through part of the song before she smooshes that cheek up for kisses again. I totally love putting her down for naps now. The special time with her is so meaningful to me.

It's not always been like this but naps have always been better than betime but now both times for bed are looking good and maybe that's why I am reveling in all the 'loves'. Oh and this little girl keeps telling her momma, I La Lou, I La Lou, over and over and over again. I don't think I could tire of hearing that. It's too bad she won't stay this little for much longer. Sometimes I think time should just stand still so I can enjoy every moment more and more. I think the hardest part of being a mom is not the picking up after, the putting away, or the disciplining but rather the letting go and always moving forward. Maybe that's why I enjoy scrapbooking so much. It gives me a chance to mull over the memories a little longer as I watch my sweet 3 grow.

Braly is funny

I've been having some challenges with Braly the last 2 weeks and it just dawned on me that on top of me going on my scrapbooking weekend & him coming down with a cold, he's been without his head teacher at school for the last 2 weeks while she's been on vacation in India. I didn't think that it would have affected him the way it has since he's only in school 2 half days a week but I am beginning to think that was all the wrong thinking.

Braly is like most boys I know, full of inquiring thoughts and a little bit of mischievousness. Add that to the things I've listed above & you've got a recipe to drive a mom to the nut house. I've been trying to be patient with him but its one thing after another where he's getting himself into trouble or making a mess. I've told him many times to leave the toilet bowl brush & plunger alone in the bathroom b/c for one, I don't need things broken and for two, its kinda gross to go into the bathroom & have to clean the seat off from all the gross toilet water that's dripped all over it. The other day Gabby got her sock wet & when I asked how I didn't expect to have her respond with the toilet water all over the floor. I then found that not only was there a mess but the toilet bowl brush holder was in pieces on the floor. I'll give ya one guess how that happened....so Braly ended up having to buy me another one since I'm tired of things being broken and him not learning a lesson. He's going to count the money out of his piggy bank to see how much it takes and maybe that will help.

Then while at the store, I took just him with me, he went & stood behind the register, right next to the cashier. When I went around to get him, he took off running away from me laughing. I ran, that was probably a funny sight, and caught him & put him in the seat of the cart & finished loading the belt with my stuff. He stood up & jumped out of the cart onto the conveyor belt until I grabbed him & buckled my almost 4 yr old into the shopping cart until we were finished. whew..the shopping was finally done.

So here is what I think to be the funniest part of the whole story. I can't remember if it happened before or after the trip to the store (I think it was before), Braly was upset with me for putting him in timeout for the 100th time in the last few weeks and told me that he thought I should go back to scrapbooking. I paused for a minute and said, that would be nice wouldn't it. You still have to go in time out & make better choices.

This little boy is sweet as pie, is very loving, & full of energy & intelligence. I think he may have needed a break from me & me from him so I arranged for him to have a mini vacation with Grammy, Papa, & puppy Sasha for a few days. Before he left he packed his suitcase all on his own. He asked if he was going to church with Grammy & Papa & when I told him no he'd be coming home before then he said, well I packed church clothes. I told him I repacked & took them out but he could wear them on Sunday from home if he wanted. He also told me he wanted to go for 3 days, then upped it to 5 and then to 10. Do you know what he said when he called today? He wanted to come home. This is his first time being without Mommy, Daddy, or Gabby. His best bud Gabs, is usually always with him when he goes to stay somewhere so this is new territory for him. I think he'll do just fine and perhaps have enough time away from home for me to get these messes cleaned up & for him to enjoy everyone (mainly mommy) when he gets back. And if not, maybe I should head somewhere to scrapbook for another day. LOL

I won, I won!!!

If you haven't figured it out by now, I really enjoy all things scrapbooking. I love the paper, the embellishments, the pictures, the journaling to tell the stories and the scrapbooks themselves. Well I often read several scrapbookers' blogs and they've had some contests/drawings for some of the new books and kits that have been coming out lately. Well I answered a trivia question correctly and won a really neat looking kit. I'll take some pics when I get it but here is the site that I won it off of. http://www.lisabearnson.com/blog/ Really cool isn't it? The kit I won is the CKU in a box kit. http://www.lisabearnson.com/products/item.ihtml?idx=754 I've never had the opportunity to sign up for CKU (Creating Keepsakes University) so this will be a little taste of it. Yipee!!!