Preschool Graduation

From this (August 2009)--
To this (May 2010)--

Miss Michelle was patient and loving with our energetic boy. What an angel!

William was heartbroken when he heard that he wouldn't go to preschool all summer. Some consolation came when I talked up next year. Mommy is pretty excited about it too. Next year begins our adventure with Joy School. I am so thrilled to work with a fabulous group of moms in our neighborhood.

Last Day of Preschool

Pajama party theme.

He couldn't believe was being allowed to wear his pajamas and his slippers to school. Top that off with his favorite stuffed animal, blanket, and pillow and life was perfect that day.

Miracle of Miracles

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better ...

William asked for and then devoured a banana for breakfast this morning.

If rice and texture issues are not BFFs, bananas and texture issues are mortal enemies.

After the first bite I thought for sure he would say that he tried it but didn't like it. The second, third, and fourth bites, I was ready and waiting with a bowl. And then his plate was empty and he was asking for more. (I cut the banana into wheels and had him eat it with a fork. No way was I going to let the texture on his hands ruin the moment.)

Somebody pinch me ...

Piano Recital

William's first piano recital performance.

What he "played" consisted of improvisation on the black keys, white keys, knocking on the piano bench, and tapping the fall board with some direction from me. It was not the product of a year of piano lessons (and shouldn't be, he's much too young for piano lessons,in my humble opinion). It was a product of about 4- 5 minute sessions at the piano with me. I wanted to take advantage of his incredible lack of shyness and I needed to add a couple minutes to a rather short recital. (Total time: 15 minutes)

The best part of the performance? When Marie walked up to the piano and started playing on the high keys so William pushed her away and Marie hit him. Yep, all in the middle of his performance.

Wonder of Wonders

Sometimes I make a recipe that sounds good to me with little thought (or care?) about how my kiddos will tolerate it. As I set the Bean Curry on the table tonight that was making my mouth water I sarcastically commented to Brandon,

"This is going to go over well with the kids, isn't it?"

I had already informed William that we were having rice and beans for dinner. I might as well have said we were having brussel sprouts and liver. Rice is not in his top 10 list of foods. It isn't even in his top 100. Texture issues and rice are not BFFs. Never mind the fact that the beans were cooked with a new combination of spices that William has never had before.

After prayer the fight began. He didn't want rice. He only wanted "gravy." Whine, whine, whine. Fuss, complain, whine. Then he noticed the Chapati and grabbed a piece.

"I want to make a quesadilla with this (he points to the curry) and this (he points to the rice) rolled up in it."

Um, yes, of course, for sure! You don't have to ask us twice! Without a second thought he then proceeded to have three servings of chapati, rice, and curry all rolled up into a tasty package. Not since this incident have Brandon and I been so pleased and shocked and ecstatic about William's eating progress. Sure he's made progress, but this is a breakthrough. A new flavor, tomatoes in the sauce, rice, green stuff (cilantro) in the chapati ... all practically inhaled. He didn't even ask for Ranch!

Mommy and Daddy are so proud, Bubba, so proud!

Treehouse Museum Fieldtrip

Mommy: William loves his preschool field trips.He counts how many "sleeps" left until each one starting about a week before.This was Mommy and Marie's favorite field trip to accompany William on.

William: That's me when I was a dog in my hand.
Marie: He's holding a dog.
Mommy: Chosen to be the dog in "The Little Red Hen." Pretty sure he didn't hear a word of the story, but he sure did have fun with that puppet.

William: That's Marie and me playing with the farm. I liked the tractors. The roof can get off. Why can the farm roof get off?

Marie: We're playing with the farm. I'm building the roof for peoples and animals get in. That's me.

Mommy: Enough said.

William: Me building a puzzle of a skeleton. I'm going to like this everyday.

Marie: In the tree house museum. Can I build a puzzle?

Mommy: Breakthrough moment, he actually chose to do this himself, no coaxing from me.

William: It's a skeleton.
Marie:We're standing up the scary people.
Mommy: She wanted to join in on the fun, but lost interest about 2 seconds after this picture.

Marie: I'm getting the lights really good.
William: What is Marie holding?
Mommy: Do you know what you're holding?
Marie: Yeah, that.

William: We're doing that wall xylophone.
Marie: I'm hitting that. Let's watch about that. Please, please, pleeeeaasse.
Mommy: Apparently she thinks I can turn this picture magically into a movie.

One Year Older and Wiser, too!

Five days before my birthday I realized that we hadn't put any thought or discussion into it whatsoever. Strange for us. Usually, by that point, I would have the birthday banner up, a baby-sitter scheduled, and I am counting calories in preparation for guilt-free birthday indulgence.

This year my birthday was squeezed between my brother's wedding and an upcoming trip to visit my parents. I almost forgot I was having a birthday. Not a terrible thing really, except that I LOVE birthdays and can hardly let one pass by unnoticed.

Once I finally sat down and thought about the day I decided all I wanted was to spend time with my family. Bowling and a meal together were added to the agenda. Brandon made the plan even better by announcing that he would take half the day off. Now we could go out for breakfast ... my favorite!
And William completed the plans by informing me that I needed to have a cake with white flowers on it. Not just any flowers, white flowers.

It ended up being a perfect day, I couldn't have asked for anything to be better. Well, my bowling score left a lot to be desired, but other than that, perfection! I didn't even have any contractions all day. Woohoo!

In Love With The Sunshine

To be a child again,

spend one day of my life,

running through green meadows,

catching butterflies,
chasing rainbows,
building castles,
climbing trees,

life came so easy,

God was there beside me,

and He knew my name.

*Posted by Bethany
** The poem is lyrics from a song I heard in my childhood. The words came flooding into my mind this morning as I was watching the kids play. If only I could remember the group that performed it so I could give proper credit ...

William-ese: Two Things

While racing back and forth in his grandparents hallway William explained to his Uncle Brett that he can go so fast because he has blasters on his bum. He is obsessed with rockets. Obviously.

Fast forward about a month.

William is playing with his Aunt Sara. He is laying prone across her lap, trying to escape, and exclaims, "Sara, my blasters are blowing on you!"
______________________________________________

After dinner one evening William was sitting at the table and whining about something. What? Who knows. Who cares. Brandon and I were in the kitchen and we proceeded to whine back at him. We whined. We fussed. We complained.

William just stared at us with wide eyes and said, "Mommy and Daddy, stop it. You are being bad examples to me."

Life Recently

My little brother was married this past Saturday in Houston. I went to the wedding by myself. Hubby and the kids held down the fort here in Utah. It wasn't much of a fort when I left. Regular contractions and sick kids for the 5 days before I left resulted in one chaotic household. I don't think my home has ever been as messy as it was when I gave one last glance over my shoulder before loading into the car. Good heavens. Let's not even dwell on the thoughts of what it would have looked like without the help of my incredible husband leading up to my departure. *shudder*

Despite the chaos I had to leave behind and the scare of more contractions we knew that the best thing for me was to go on the trip.

It was wonderful to be with my parents and siblings, even while missing my own little family. What was even more wonderful was coming home to a calm and clean house complete with flowers and cards and lots of hugs from three people who missed me tremendously (almost as much as I missed them, almost).

The evening was not without its temper tantrums, time-outs, or trials; but I am OK with that because I am rejuvenated and rested (6 straight hours of sleep each night versus 6 broken hours of sleep each night, *sigh*) and am right where I want to be.

This mother who was on the verge of breakdown 6 days ago is now ready to conquer her little world again.

Thanks, honey, I needed that.

Summer Music Workshop Preview

As an educator and a parent I place great value on interdisciplinary or cross-curricular teaching. Tie that into the the fact that I am specifically a music educator and naturally, I am an advocate for bringing music into all core subjects and vice versa.

That being said, a main goal of mine as I have developed the curriculum for the Summer Music Workshop is to incorporate quality children's literature into my lesson plans. My willing subjects (namely William and Marie) have thoroughly enjoyed the influx of books that have come from the library recently as I have sifted through different book possibilities.

We have found some definite treasures

and are relying on some old favorites.

Add to that songs, games, and crafts related to these books and more and it is going to be a great week!

Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun

You know, I really don't mind cloudy days. They are en excuse to cuddle up on the couch, watch movies, play games, read stories, drink hot chocolate, and generally feel guilt-free about not going anywhere.

Today, however, I am wishing my kids were outside doing this. I have too much to do today to just cozy up inside and without the sun my motivation is seriously lacking.

Hence the fact that I am sitting here writing a blog. I really should be at the grocery store.

Whining done. Off I go to attempt to be productive!