Seven Candles

Birthday season!

Maggie celebrated number seven a little early with some friends.  Her request for her special day?  A spa party.

Her actual birthday was a Friday, so her teacher was able to work her celebration into the morning schedule at school instead of the normal afternoon birthday fun.  This allowed me to attend, and, SURPRISE! Steve, too.

Maggie and I had some girl time getting manicures and were going to go out for a girls dinner celebration, just the two of us, but surprisingly wanted to extend the invitation to her brothers.

Birthday questions:
I am... 7.
The best show on TV is... Elena of Avalor.
My favorite thing about school is... computers...and library.
The thing I'm best at is... reading.
If I could change my name, it would be... Ava.
My favorite colors are... teal and dark pink.
My favorite toy is...blanky.
When I grow up, I want to work... with my cousin.  I'm an illustrator, and she's an author.
I like to take these things to bed with me at night: my blanky.
My favorite book is...Wish Come True Cat.
My favorite movie is... Muppets Most Wanted.
My favorite season of the year is... winter.
A food I really like is... Pop-Tarts.
My favorite animals are... cats.
My favorite sport is... gymnastics.
My best friends are... Leah, Ava, Ari, Avery, and Josie.
My favorite holiday is... Halloween.
My favorite thing I did while I was 6 was... going to Jellystone.

Bode - Ow!  Ow, ow! I just stepped my toe. Why do they call it, "stepping your toe?"

Me - It's stub your toe. I don't know why they call it that.

Maggie - That's just the way God wanted it.

My Favorite Body Part

Last night I had my first appointment with my kids' chiropractor in order to alleviate some knee pain during exercise. Talk about a good adjustment!

Anyways, Maggie came along for some girl time.
We planned to be back for her dance class afterwards, but the chiropractor was running behind and it's a 20 minutes drive back to Stewie. So instead, we had a much needed girls night, eating pizza at CiCi's and shopping at Old Navy. Both her choices. Matching workout pants? Check.

Before you feel bad for the boys, we left them chicken in the crock pot, though they opted for pb&j sandwiches. AND we brought them Dairy Queen. 

I did learn something new about Maggie during our time together.

"Mom, you wanna know what my favorite body part is? My legs, my feet, and my eyebrows."

"I like those, too, Mags. Why are they your favorite?"

"Well, my legs are soft and I like soft things. And my eyebrows are soft and smooth."

Haha. Love the logic.  Here's to positive body image!

Questions About Mom

This post has been going around Facebook lately.  I decided to try it and post it here on the blog, so I can look back at their answers.  

Without ANY prompting, ask your kid (s) these questions. It's a great way to see what they think. Copy and re-post this with your kids ages.
Maggie, age 6
Bode, age 4

1. What is something I always say to you? 
"Be kind." (M)
"Be kind to the little ones." (B)

2. What makes me happy?
"When I'm kind." (M)
"When I obey the first time." (B)

3. What makes me sad?
 "When Brooks poops in the tub." (M)
"Puke." (B)

4. How do I make you laugh? 
"You tickle me." (M)
"Make silly faces." (B)

5. What was I like as a child? 
"You brought a salamander on the bus, and you were embarrassed because you can't bring animals on the bus." (M)
"Maggie." (B)

6. How old am I?
 "32" (M)
"I don't remember." (B)  "It's 32." (M) "No, it's not." (B)

7. How tall am I?
 "As tall as a baby giraffe.  Or like, the age of a Mommy giraffe, but the size of a medium one."  "Wait - change that cuz I actually know now...when I stand on a chair on my tippy toes." (M)
"Um...that tall?" (B, as he points to my head)

8. What is my favorite thing to do?
"Drink coffee at Caribou."  (M)
"Clean up the kitchen?" (B)

9. What do I do when you're not home?
"Watch babies."  (M)
"Um, I don't know." (B)

10. What am I really good at?
"Drinking coffee."  (M)
"Um, I don't know." (B) "Can you think of something?" (me) "My brain is going around and around and around" (B)

11. What am I not very good at? 
"Are you good at skating?  I don't know." (M)
"My brain is going around and around now." (B)

12. What do I do for a living? 
"You're a daycare lady." (M)
"You clean up the kitchen?" (B)

13. What is my favorite food? 
"Salad." (M)
"Everything?" (B)

14. What do you enjoy doing with me? 
"Coloring." (M)
"Building legos?" (B)

And Now We Are Six

Now We Are Six

By A.A. Milne

When I was one,

I had just begun.

When I was two,

I was nearly new.

When I was three,

I was hardly me.

When I was four,

I was not much more.

When I was five,

I was just alive.

But now I am six,

I'm as clever as clever.

So I think I'll be six

now and forever.

It's been six years since our beautiful spitfire made herself known in the world.  And our lives haven't been the same since!  We've come full circle as she was born on a Wednesday morning in 2009 and now this year had her first birthday since on a Wednesday.

She loooves birthdays (who doesn't?), so in preparation for today she made a checklist for us:

Wensday Plan:  Poptarts, Mom off (Mom does school drop off), Make cake, Watr (water?), Pant nils (Paint nails)

 So this morning after a breakfast of generic Pop-Tarts (her choice!), a quick shower and a change back into pajamas for the Homecoming week dress-up day, she requested that I do the drop off instead of riding the bus.

After Bode finished preschool, we joined Maggie at school for lunch.  Such fun to see part of her new normal day.

Birthday crown and cape.

She requested a sports-themed birthday party this year, which will take place on Saturday.  But she surprised us a bit when out of all the princess cupcakes available at Target Bakery, she chose these birthday treats to bring to school.

This afternoon, she and I got manicures before coming home to presents, spaghetti and meatballs, and cupcakes.  Then off to AWANA for crazy hair night.

A very full day!

As she opened her first present today, a gift certificate to get a manicure, she queried as to whether the nail salon was in Rochester or Stewartville.  "Stewartville," I replied.  To which she tried to clarify, "Pure Pleasure?"  Ahh!  Pure Pleasure is the adult novelty store located on the edge of Stewartville.  It's flashing billboard has quietly existed along our route to Rochester with no questions from our reading daughter, until today.  Thankfully the questions went no further this time. 

And here are her yearly birthday questions:

I am... 6 years old.
The best show on TV is... Alvin and the Chipmunks
My favorite thing about school is... library.
The thing I'm best at is... reading.
If I could change my name, it would be... Violet.
My favorite colors are... maroon and gold...and violet.
My favorite toy is...my new nail salon set.
When I grow up, I want to work... as a librarian at school.
I like to take these things to bed with me at night: my blankie.
My favorite book is...Frozen Fever
My favorite movie is... Alvin and the Chipmunks.
My favorite season of the year is... fall.
A food I really like is... pizza.
My favorite animals are... cats.
My favorite sport is... soccer.
My best friends are... Ava and Josie.
My favorite holiday is... Halloween and Christmas.
My favorite thing I did while I was 5 was... going to California and Disneyland and when Brooks was born.

Nature Lover

This past weekend, I recruited Maggie to accompany me on a run (you know - trying to instill a love of being active while she's young).  :)  She was more than happy to come along and we ran and walked for a mile and a half together.

We hadn't made it too far into our run, however, when she observed trash along the side of our path.  She seemed utterly disgusted that people would litter our beautiful world and dedicated the rest of her time to picking up the garbage we came across.  Not wanting to discourage her, I did mention that it would be hard to bring it along since we did not have a garbage bag.  That didn't deter her in the least and instead opted to carry as much as she could before we got to a trash can in Kiddie Park and then reload.

While I know we have talked about not littering (I mean, c'mon, Steve calls me a tree hugger), this is just one more example of all that she is soaking up in Kindergarten.  I love it!

First Day

I have a Kindergartener!  I know it shouldn't be quite so unbelievable since I had almost a whole extra year with my fall birthday girl, but seriously.  It's sinking in that it's an end of an era.  I am SOOOO thankful for almost 6 years with Maggie at home with me, both of us learning a lot along the way.

Last week was Meet the Teacher.  An already excited 5-year-old became even more pumped after seeing her locker, dropping off her supplies, meeting her teacher, and checking out a school bus.

After a full weekend at Grammy and Bapa camp, she was up early and excited this morning.  However, in true Maggie fashion, she asserted her independence and tossed out every plan that we had made in regards to her first day.  

Mom drive her to school?  Nope - bus!  And of course, she wanted to walk to the bus stop HERSELF!

Mom lovingly pack her lunch on the first day (so I could add a special note)?  Nope - school lunch!  I did still pack a special note in her backpack.

Eat homemade muffins with the family for breakfast?  Nope - eat with the class for mid-morning school breakfast!

Yes, she is certainly ready.  

We tried to hop in the van and spy on her entering school, but alas it was so busy and I had no idea where to park.  Instead, we came home, and I busied myself in the kitchen getting ready for a Boo Hoo Brunch with some other moms and young children while the older siblings were off at school.

The day seemed to fly by for the most part.  When she hopped off the bus at the end of our street, she raced towards our house.  The first thing out of her mouth?  "That was awesome!"

"The Night Before..." books sent from Grandma and Grandpa

My helper.

Exploring the bus on "Meet the Teacher" day.

In front of her school on "Meet the Teacher" day.

Had to do one last Caribou date last Friday morning before the school year started.

This morning, Maggie ran in to tell Brooks she got to go to school today!

First day of Kindergarten. 8/24/15

Maggie let Bode trail her to the bus stop.

Waiting with the others.

Bode needed a hug, so Maggie came back to where we were waiting.

Consoling.

Best friends.

Here we go!

She's off!

And she's home!

First day of school snack.  Tradition copied from my bro-in-law and sis-in-law.  Stewie colors.

Pomp and Circumstance

Congrats to the graduate!  The preschool graduate, that is.

After her class sang a couple precious songs to an adoring audience, Maggie walked across the stage to receive her rolled-up coloring sheet, wearing a miniature mortarboard.  Adorbs.  The program finished with a slide show recapping their year.

Cookies and juice were awaiting us in the lobby, and Maggie picked up the alphabet book that she had constructed over the course of the school year as they learned about each letter.  The teachers also had wrapped books for each of the children as a graduation gift.  Maggie's package contained three chapter books (have I mentioned she is a voracious reader?).  More than her academic proficiencies, however, I am most proud of how her teachers talk about the kindness she shows to others.  While we, as parents, are more aware than anyone of our children's shortcomings and weaknesses, we give thanks for the way we see their character being refined by God.

On to Kindergarten!

Sisterly Love

The other day, I overheard Maggie inform Bode,

"You made me a big sister.  Did you know that?  I wasn't a sister before you were born."

Awww, they really do love each other.

Future AFV Star

One of the favorite shows at our house is AFV ("America's Funniest Home Videos," as it used to be called).  Maggie desperately wants to be on this show and is planning how to make it happen.  Today she gave Bode permission to "be mean" to her so they could be on the show.  She just had a few stipulations:

"You can't push me out of a chair.  You can't push me off the swing."

"I know!" exclaimed Bode.

And that was that.  We'll see what comes of their scheme.  I'm a little nervous.

Broken Eggs

Thursday while I was working online with a student, my sweet children opened the door to play outside and our cat bolted for freedom.  This feline becomes quite adept during warmer weather at making escapes. If he was a normal cat, I'm sure this would be no big deal, but once outside, Toby turns into crazy demented demon cat. In the past I've decked out in protective clothing from head to toe and gone after him with a fishing net. Lately, however, I've found that I can simply chase him with a rake until he dashes back inside, with a puffy tail and the most horrible howl I've ever heard.  In fact, it's not uncommon to see me out two or three times a day working to corral this monster despite my constant reminders to the children to "Watch the cat!" as they open the door.

Well this time, since he escaped while I was preoccupied, I couldn't immediately retrieve him. So after I finished with my student I put Brooks in the Baby Bjorn and walked a couple blocks around the radius of our house. Even though I didn't find the cat during this walk (he returned later), the children and I did discover something else -  two broken robin's eggs that must have just fallen out of a nest onto the edge of the private drive leading to the town homes behind our house. As we observed the beautiful blue color of the shells, we thought they would be a perfect addition to the nature table at Maggie's preschool.  Since they were yolky and I was carrying Brooks, we opted to come back later with a Ziploc bag to gather the treasure.

When it came time for school, we went back to find a car had run over the eggs. The shells were completely shattered. Maggie was disappointed, but managed to hold her emotions somewhat in check as we instead gathered violets to add to her class's nature table.

When she came home from school two and a half hours later, she was proud to show me a picture she colored, chronicling our saga, which clearly was fresh in her mind.

A modern piece, it shows the eggs falling from the tree while simultaneously being shattered.  Also, in reality, I did brush my hair that day...I think.

I guess, as Maggie showed, art really can be healing, no matter how small the tragedy.

Baby Names

Yesterday morning before I dragged my large and weary self out of bed, Maggie was asking me about the names of the bones in our bodies.  As I gave her the rundown of bones in her leg, she paused when we got to the kneecap.

"Patella," she mused. "That's a pretty name. If the baby was a girl, I'd name it Patella."

Where is the third one going to fit during cuddle time?

Princess For a Day

This week is Homecoming at Stewartville High School, and Maggie was asked to be the princess. (It helps to have a connection at the school.) ;)
Rehearsal found her quite apprehensive, but after donning her new dress, her confidence shone through as she escorted each of the five king candidates to their seats on stage. She and the little prince got to chow down on popcorn and recline center stage while the rest of the program was underway.

Under the Sea

Ever since Maggie commissioned Grammy to sew an Ariel costume, Maggie's fascination with The Little Mermaid has grown. Fascination turned to obsession when Grammy and Bapa took Maggie on a very special date to see the musical at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater in August. Therefore, Maggie requested a mermaid-themed party for her birthday this year.

Eight little girls can make a lot of noise and tire a person out! But it sure was fun to see them enjoy themselves. We are so thankful for such wonderful friends for Maggie.

We started with a craft - painting treasure boxes.

After a treasure hunt with clues, the girls were ready to eat.

The hungry crew.

Bode wanted me to take a picture of him, too, but I didn't quite catch a smile.

The princesses and mermaids (minus Lily).

Present time!

And finally, cake!