Books and Blogs...

I was thinking about doing a wrap-up post for Kaylee's Kindergarten year tonight, but since she still has to finish up tomorrow, I'll wait. I'm hoping to get a picture with her teacher and her to include. Of course I was at school today and completely forgot to do it. Along with getting back to blogging, I also recently started reading again. I have always loved to read. I'm excited Kaylee loves it too! I had seen a book in Pinterest a while back and then found it at a local discount store. Kisses from Katie. Maybe it's because it's just an excellent book, maybe it's because there was so much in it I needed to read right now, maybe it's because my soul has been longing to get back to my love of reading...whatever it was, it was good. And good for me. As soon as I finished the book, I started reading it to Kaylee. It will be our first summer book we'll read together. While we aren't at the point we can pack the gang up and go to a Third-World country, I long for my children to realize how blessed they are. It's easy for kids (especially in their generation), to be self-centered, oblivious to the needs around them. I suppose that's not just their generation, but all generations. I'm looking forward to the discussions we'll be able to have as we read the book. I'm finishing another book that has been almost-done for a good while. I'll probably need to read it again, too. Tomorrow I'll pick the next book. It feels so good to be reading again.

Four More Days!

There are four more days left for Kaylee in kindergarten and she'll be done! It's going to be so fun to have her home...just have to think of things to do to keep her busy. I have already bought her several books in the Boxcar series to get started. I have a few workbooks we can do. I know, I know...she's going to be done with school, but she's a kid who LOVES workbooks! Today during coloring time, she was asking to do a workbook. I hope this thirst to learn continues for years. We have VBS planned for next week, which the kids absolutely love. Samantha isn't old enough to be in a class, so she will go hang out in a nursery class, and I'll help in the craft section...at least that's what I'm hoping to do. My kids look forward to this week all year, but by the end they are normally pooped. Hopefully this year will be a little easier on them since they are now both used to school. I'm hoping to have more of a schedule this summer to avoid boredom and bad attitudes. So...what do you like to do during the summer? Ideas? (that's a picture, just for fun, of the kids and Mammaw)

Samantha

Samantha...my spirited, dimple-faced, smiling, mischievous, two-year-old. I can barely look at her without smiling. She loves to run around and yell, "A-prize!" (surprise) One morning, while Adam went downstairs to feed the dogs, she ran into my room with her plate of breakfast and yelled it. Waking from a deep sleep, I certainly was surprised. Mostly though, it's not surprising (as she yells it over and over and over), it's just cute. Her favorite past time is stealing my purse while I'm not looking and ransacking it. A close second would be stealing my phone, followed by playing with her baby dolls. She is obsessed with Mickey Mouse, something neither of the other kids have really cared about. Of course they get to see their fair share of the show now, so maybe it's a good thing. :) Her Bible memory verse is, "Jesus loves the little children," and oh my is she ever the cutest thing when she recites it. I need to give her another one; she's long overdue, but somehow I just can't bring myself to "change" it. A funny little thing she does is when asked if she is crazy, silly, a mess, or anything, her response is, "No, I'm Samantha." Well there you have it, folks. She's not crazy. She's Samantha. Sam is also my heart-attack kid. She's the one who started climbing to the top of the kitchen table as soon as she could get on the chair, has more than once escaped the house and made her way to the yard. She also likes to hide (usually in a closet), quiet as a mouse while we run everywhere looking for her. Once I find her, she's usually crouched down as tiny as she can get with the biggest grin on her face. The other kids can't keep quiet for a planned game of hide-and-seek, but this kid knows how it's done. It's sometimes hard having three kids, but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. Being a mom is what I was made for. I've known it was my calling since I was very young. It's the hardest thing I've ever done, for sure, but it's the most humbling, rewarding, amazing task I'll ever have in my life.

Logan

Logan...my little cuddly, crazy, energetic, sensitive, CRAZY boy! This past year he was in a little preschool two partial days a week. He loved it, and I loved it, too! The school is only about two minutes from our house, so it made for very easy pick up and drop offs. His teachers were wonderful, and really worked hard with him. He'll go again next year, even though he is technically old enough to start regular school. Being right on the cut-off line, we decided it best for him to have more preschool, which wouldn't be all day every day. I have a feeling we are going to be very glad we made that choice. Logan is awesome, but has a shorter attention span, and doesn't have the drive and desire (yet) to do school work. He's more content playing outside, running, playing with his cars, or just hanging out. He also played on a little tee ball team...the Yankees. He has one more game left, and the season has been both fun and a struggle. He went into it having zero concept of what baseball was. Some games he was on and some games he was off. I suppose when you're four, that's the way it goes. I think overall he enjoyed it. Now we have to decide if he might try it again next season or go onto trying a different event. Time shall tell...

can't remember...

I can't remember how to change my header and that area...work in progress.

That's a picture of my big girl right before her first ballet performance. So what if she forgot half the steps?? She had fun! She may have been a little...ahem...distracted by a certain family member(s) who decided to WAVE at her! (Not me; I'm too much of a ballet snob to do that!) She is almost done with her first year of school, and I'm so proud of her. She helps others so well. There's a little boy who sits beside her, and she almost always gets him started on his work and helps him through stuff. Her teacher told me she thought about moving them around, but didn't think she could move him away from her because of how helpful she always is. That's the kind of thing you hear and it just warms your heart. Her teacher said it's not common for kids that age to do that. I'm okay with my kids not being common. ...more to come. :) baby steps here. And Liz! Yeah for me being back and reconnecting with you!! :) Big hugs to you!!

I'm Back!

Hey everyone! (Or no one, whichever the case might be.) I'm back. After a long two years of not blogging, I feel I need to get back to it. I'm not an eloquent writer. My posts aren't all that exciting. My blogs won't make the news. I'll probably never have more than 5 comments. And that's all okay! It's journaling at its finest for me, and it's time to start it back up. Life is full right now, so it's not necessarily the time to be adding something else, but sometimes at it's fullest is when reflection must come. Or something like that. Hopefully I'll be able to remember how to do this and change pictures, but for now, it feels good to be back. It's like reuniting with a good friend who you haven't seen in years. You just pick back up where you left off, talk for hours, and somehow you can go on without noticing the time you spent apart. I'm excited to move back into the blogging world. :)