Mother's Day 2013

I love Mother's Day.  I know it's hard for some.  I love the weather, the special music, the talks about motherhood, and the special day to reflect upon my own mother.  It's a chance for me to be reminded of the great blessing that my kids are to me, and much like New Year's is a celebration and a chance to renew and restart, I find Mother's day that same opportunity to feel inspired, invigorated and rededicated to my role as a mother.  

The kids were really sweet this year.  True to their word, they were "quiet as mice" in the morning, and let me sleep until 7!  It was wonderful!  Lots of yummy foods and favorites, and a few small presents, thanks to Josh.  

The thing I love the very most is the little gifts they create at school.  Gosh, those teachers know how to do it!  

Yaks made this little acronym of Mother's Day.  I love his spelling!  "Obedient", "Accessories", and "Awesome" are my favorites.  

This little fingerprint flower bookmark.  I said, "Oh, I can use it to mark my page in my book!"  He lit up and said, "That's EXACTLY what it's for!"

Sweet little handprints and carefully cut-out flowers.

Boo made this little folder with cupcake flowers on the front, with jewels and buttons.

The older ones know me pretty well.  All except that my hobby is swimming, but she did insert as I was reading, "Well, you don't really swim, but you really like to WATCH us swim."  

Darling kids.  It's a great job, and I love them.

Spring Soccer

Josh sent me an email one day in March, letting me know that he had signed Yaks and Boo up for Spring Soccer.  Spring soccer in our neck of the woods can be unpredictable, weather-wise.  Most people prefer Fall soccer, because the skies are a little less gray, the snow flurries a little less "side-ways blowing", and the grass is a little less soupy.  However, I think it was a great experience for the kids.  They seemed to enjoy the excuse to get outside, be with some friends, and burn off our severe case of cabin fever!  

Boo is a pretty good player, I think!  For her first season ever, I can see a lot of potential there.  She's got long legs, can run pretty fast, and she's quite coordinated for her lankiness.  Her team was made up of 2nd and 3rd graders, and mostly boys.  She did a good job holding her own.

Boo's wardrobe choices crack me up!  I couldn't bring myself to buy the Parks and Rec shirt for 20$, unsure if they would ever wear them again, so we made do with the white t-shirts and blue (ish) shirts already in their drawers.  Little did I know, EVERYONE had the team shirts except us!   

Of course she wouldn't wear the only clean blue shirt we had because it was long-sleeved!
 Purple with a butterfly?  Close enough. 

Boo's coaches were a couple sorority girls who were coaching as part of a class requirement.  The kids loved them, and they had a lot of energy and enthusiasm.

"I'm open!" 

One of the moms captured this shot right before she scored her first game goal yesterday.
It was pretty awesome!  

 Yaks was on a team with several of his classmates and a Kindergartener, which made it really fun.  His coaches were the parents of one of the players, and they had a real emphasis on team work, learning skills and just having fun!

 Yaks is still finding is feet, as-it-were.  He kind of panics when he gets the ball, and instead of looking ahead for a teammate to pass, or driving to the goal, he'll do this wonderful little fleet-feet footwork routine:  pull-back, turn the ball, shuffle-step, dribble right, pull-back.  But, his coaches are fantastic,"Great pull-back, Yaks!  That's the way to do it!  Beautiful!"  Bless them.

He's doing it right now.  You can tell the two girls don't know WHAT to make of it.  

Yaks and his British teammate.

Almost as entertaining is his little British teammate, pictured above.  He's like a little whirlwind, and never holds still - his strawberry blonde hair sticks out every-which-way, and he's so cute when he talks!  "Pass me the bowl!  I'm on the pitch, Mum!  Wayers my watuh bottel?"  His parents are equally charming, and it's so fun to watch them cheer him on with GREAT enthusiasm, as soccer a big part of life in England.  Yesterday his Mum was drinking a cup of tea while watching - I kid you not.  So awesome!

I think Yaks mainly enjoyed it because he had a good group of pals on his team.  When they were on the sidelines, they were creating grass sculptures or doing dog-piles.  I asked Yaks if he'd like to sign up for Fall soccer with the same group, and he surprisingly said, "No, thanks."  Ha, ha.  

I was excited we got to watch both of their games as a family yesterday (we often have to divide and conquer), and that they each scored a goal in their game!  They were pretty excited.  It's been a fun way to spend a few hours together on Saturday mornings, and for the kids to get out after school and burn off some energy at practice.  Surprisingly fun!  We'll see if one or both of them wants to continue!  

Moving On

This was a big week!  Diddles started pre-school!  I'll tell you what, she may have a Cognitive delay, but when you tell her she gets to go to school on a schoolbus, you'd better believe she understands it, and will ask you about it 175 times a day, until it happens!  We've been counting down since our IEP last week:  "Four more night-night sleeps...three, two, one".  Finally Monday came, and it was school time!  She was so excited!  I was SO anxious!  This was different than any of my other kids going to school.  She still seems such a baby to me, even at three-and-a-half.  

Much like when Diddles was born, there was no time to savor the sweet moment in time, and reflect on the past.  We found out the day we left the hospital with her that we were moving in a month to Idaho!  I had no time to sit and soak in all the new baby-ness, and nap when she was napping (ha,ha).  Every nap she took I immediately put her down in the crib and got to work:  Organizing, sorting, tossing, packing.  This time with Josh starting grad school on Monday, and his Ironman training in full-swing,  this job is resting heavy on my shoulders.  I'm grateful for the extra time.  Monday after she rode away on the bus, I allowed myself about 15 minutes of "Oh, my little baby is away from me for four hours..." and tears and reflective self-pity, then I got straight to work:  Laundry, organizing drawers, making lists, and selling things on Craigslist.  This is also quite a life-changer for me, friends.  Suddenly all my kids are in school.  My "mother-of-young-children" has abruptly and unexpectedly come to a close.  More reflections on that when I get the time!  

"Going Coo" (School!)

She's got her "pack-pack"!

 Diddles had her "pack-pack" packed since Friday - she opted for Boo's old Princess backpack that grandma gave her years ago.  I tucked in a change of clothes, in case of an accident, and at the last minute, she insisted on taking a lunch (like the big kids), although they provide breakfast and lunch at school.  We hurriedly packed a go-gurt, cheese stick, and a slice of bread in a ziplock to appease her, and rushed out the door to the waiting school bus.

The bus is punctual.  They always arrive at 7:20am on the dot, and the route takes in a large geographic area, so they've got to stay on schedule.  Diddles climbs aboard to a friendly hello, and the aide gets her buckled into her booster seat and off they ride!  She went on the bus with no worries, and a quick, "Bye, Mom!  I going on duh coo bus!"  So cute.

After school they bring her home, around 12:00pm, and off she climbs, all-smiles, and so excited that she just rode on the school bus!  The older kids are pretty envious she gets such a cool ride.  They've only been on a bus for field trips!  

A couple times a week, they send home this communication report,  called a "short and sweet sheet", noting where she did well, and where she struggled.  I was happy to see this note, as I was unsure how a child with a language delay would be able to answer my question, "What did you do at school today?"  At the bottom there is a little prompting question that has something fun that she did that day that would elicit some conversation at dinner.  This allows us to participate in her education, which is so important!  

Here is the lesson plans for next week!

In addition to this letter, the teacher sent me a nice e-mail the first day, telling us what Diddles did that day:

"Love her already and today she colored some fish, tried her best to cut them out, went fishing in the sensory table for Upper case letters (was reluctant to put on the plastic apron but did) put two wooden puzzles of fish together with very little help. Learned to walk in a line with other students, drew a picture on a white board with markers. Made a new friend Melina who held her hand and helped her go from center to center.  She played in the doll house and with snap together blocks. Although she was pretty quiet she did talk when asked to and did ask me about you a couple of times but I reassured her she would see you after school and the bus ride and that satisfied her.  She sat still in circle time but had to be reminded to sit on her pockets so others could see.  Fun, typical kind of day and I know she will fit in great with this class."

Isn't that just wonderful?  It's easier to let your child go, when you know where they are going is so GOOD for them, you know?  What a great experience for her.