Cheek-Squeezin

I'm so grateful for another year of squeezin' these cute little cheeks. Happy New Year!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

We've been busy, busy, busy:
decorating
making a gingerbread house
shopping for the angel tree
listening to Christmas music
baking treats and making cocoa
drinking egg-nog
co-hosting a neighborhood sing-along
going to zoo-lights
hosting Christmas Eve dinner (aka Jesus Supper)
cooking our first turkey with stuffing and a lamb
wrapping presents
opening presents
playing with new toys

It was a wonderful Christmas! My new camera didn't fit in my stocking, so Jer got me one. Now I'm learning how to use it...which means lots of pictures to post. I also got photoshop, which I have no idea how to use, but I'm excited to figure out.

Merry Christmas

P-Day

Forget B-day, Friday was P-Day at our house. P for Paul of course. It was a day filled with Paul's favorite things. The morning started out with pancakes and presents. Green decor abounded. Dad met us for lunch at MacDonald's. Then on to Mom's surprise--an hour of free play at Gymcats. We headed home for naps and quiet-time and then got ready for friends to come for a pajama party. We made teddy bears, built a fire, roasted marshmellows, ate smores, drank cocoa, opened presents, played sleep dance and flashlight charades. Thanks to all who celebrated his special day with us!

A Whole Hand

December 18, 2004

Five years later

Paul is five! Now to catch up on his recent happenings.

Last summer with Dad home Paul learned to ride a two-wheeler (in seriously like 2 hours) and re-discovered his love of biking. Every day he begged to go on rides.

Last fall he took a football class. He learned how to throw and catch and played a flag football game. He earned his first little trophy.

Paul is a full-fledged Ute fan. At church someone said, "Go Cougs!" to him and he looked at him in all seriousness and said, "I'm a Ute." He told his preschool class that the girls in his family are Cougs and the boys are Utes. Then he asked each kid what they were (most didn't know). He likes going to games with Dad.
He's taken an interest in drawing and writing (finally). Almost every morning he draws a picture of our family and writes our names on it. The other day it was quiet and I found the boys at the table coloring. (Gasp!) I'm proud that he is finally trying, otherwise Kindergarten is not going to be much fun.
Paul is still a great worker. He can always be counted on to work in the garden, rake leaves, shovel snow, vacuum, or set the table. One day he shut himself in his room and then said he had a surprise for us. He cleaned his entire room himself!
Paul is a wonderful big brother. He (usually) plays well with Sam and he adores his sister and loves to talk to her and help take care of her. This makes him mom's big helper too.

Paul has many friends. Apparently he's very popular with the girls at school. Sometimes he says they fight over him. We thought he was pretty oblivious to the whole thing (being a boy), but then he told us who he is going to marry. I think the drama is subsiding now and we just hope he can be a good friend to everyone.
Paul's a thinker and asks great questions. Once he asked, "What do babies think about?" He's a little overly concerned about death and the resurrection. He's still very interested in bodies and how they work with some new interest in skeletons. He knows a lot about dinosaurs (thanks to PBS' Dinosaur Train). He has an awesome vocabulary and loves to learn new words like inaudible and perturbed. He also likes to memorize Dr. Suess books which the boys read at bedtime.
We just love our Paul and all the fun and energy he brings to our family.

Moments {In Prespective}

Being a mom of three little kids, life happens in moments. I'm trying to keep it all in perspective. I tell myself almost daily that this time won't last forever--partly in consolation that I won't be stuck at home dealing with poop and tantrums for the rest of my life and partly to remind myself that one day my kids will be grown and gone and I will miss these days. There are moments when I feel that motherhood is everything I dreamed it would be: surrounded by my little ones reading stories or Paul giving me a picture he drew of us with a heart at the bottom because we love each other or listening to Sam play make believe or Jer wrestling the boys after work or catching one of Audrey's cute smiles. Prespective is important. For example when Paul tells me his bad behavior is because Grandma's not here and she's more fun than...I was proud because he must have thought he'd hurt my feelings if he finished the sentence which means he's learning some empathy and self control, right? Or as my boys touch every knob/button/dial and open every cupboard/drawer/door in the hotel room I think how great it is that they are so inquistive. Plus I got to play dress up today with this little ensemble that I couldn't resist buying (it came with a matching dress coat). Really, life is beautiful.