Sammy is SEVEN!!

Sweet Sammy. Sammy is seriously the sweetest, most supportive, sincere, smiley kid ever. (Mrs. Nelson would be so proud with my use of alliteration!) Seriously though - he wakes up happy and stays that way most of the day. Don't get me wrong, when he gets upset he usually lets us know by saying "You're the worst mom in the world." But, he quickly gets over it.

His birthday landed on a Saturday this year, so we really debated just going out to dinner for his birthday dinner. However, he really had his mind set on what he wanted for dinner: Shepherd's Pie. No, I'm not kidding. Shepherd's pie, Caesar salad, and fruit cocktail. We did try to talk him into steak or salmon - even pizza - but we had Shepherd's pie.

For his birthday he had only one request: Anything Star Wars. So he got Star Wars coloring items, a Star Wars ship, Star Wars figures, and a soccer ball.

This year Sam gets birthday party, but he decided to have an unbirthday party this summer so we can do some outside activities.

My favorite moment came when he saw his birthday cake. Nothing fancy, but his name was written on it and when he saw it he said, "Hey, Mom! My name is written just like Star Wars!!!" Not too bad for the worst mom in the world. :)

Happy Birthday sweet seven-year-old!!!

Tessa turns three!

At our house we have birthdays every month beginning in November clear to March, and it has been making Tessa crazy that none of those birthdays were hers. So on the eve of her birthday was she ever ready. She had been talking about everything that she wanted: pretty much everything she saw on TV which ranged from Bendaroos to chia pets - SHE WANTED IT!

She had the birthday cake planned - princess, pink, and a million candles.

She had her outfit planned - her princess dress.

She had her day full of activities planned including swim lessons, and she was going to swim like a fish.

She had her dinner planned: candy and milk.

She was so excited! Her day was going to be perfect. She even had me practice singing "Happy Birthday to Tessa" so that I would be sure to get it right.

The big day finally came.

She didn't get to wear her princess dress (at least not yet). She had to settle on a pink sweatshirt instead.

Instead of going to Disneyland to meet the princesses she had to go to the gym with mom. She did get to go to swim lessons, but instead of swimming like a fish she squealed like a pig, and not a happy squeal. This was a "this person is trying to drown me!" sort of a scream. It wasn't pretty.

Sadly, she didn't get any Bendaroos or chia pets. Instead she got a doll bed, some doll clothes, a cute bag, and bubbles. She also got a toy cell phone and she did enjoy pointing out to Lincoln that she got a cell phone before him.

For dinner she had yet another disappointment - chicken tacos (hey - if nobody makes a specific request then I go to one of my fallback dinners!).

Despite the fact that the day didn't follow her plan she had a great time. We sang Happy Birthday at least 30 times.

( Sorry for the picture, Emma)

As for her cake: it may not have been princessy or pink, but it WAS covered with candy and she ate it with milk!

Happy birthday, Tessa!

2010 Snapshot

So I saw a friend do this on her blog, and I thought it was a very clever way to capture the memory of what life is like right now (since this is the ONLY form of scrapbooking I do!!). Here is a brief snapshot of what life is like right now:

• We are finally a diaper free family. I would say that I don't have to clean up messes anymore, but we still have a dog.
• We are finally all skiing now. Tessa can go down by herself, but the fact that she doesn't left versus right makes it hard to tell her which way to turn. She does know "pizza" and "french fries" though!
• Emma is amazingly diligent about getting all of her schoolwork done on her own. I never even ask about her homework because she just takes care of it herself. She is a great student with the grades to show it. (hopefully this will continue!!)
• Lincoln is a great student but hates homework. His philosophy is to do it as quickly as is humanly possible. Lucky for us he loves to read, so when he is reluctant to do homework we can threaten to take away reading time and this motivates him to get it done.
• Sam wakes up happy every day. He is dressed, room cleaned, and ready to leave for school before he even comes downstairs.
• Lincoln will contemplate getting out of bed by the time Sam is eating breakfast.
• Tessa loves to play with Jack and pretends he is Bolt and that she is Penny.
• Tessa hates nursery at church.
• Tessa loves the 11-year-old boys class at church (the one Ted teaches).
• Emma loves cooking - especially Sunday mornings.
• Lincoln decided his new motto was going to be "A day without reading is a day wasted," and now his entire class says it too.
• Sam loves anything and everything Star Wars. You can never have too many light sabers or clone helmets.
• Ted gets up between 5:30 and 5:45 every day to work out.
• Although I do get up early, I wait until the last possible second to finally exit the warmth of my bed. I love sleep.
• I love that we do "Best and Worst" at dinnertime each night. It's the only time I hear about some aspects of my kids' lives!
• Every Sunday we take turns picking which family activity we will do together. The hands down favorite is playing Peas in a Pod in the dark.
• I love a dance aerobics class at the gym - and although I love it, I realize I was never meant to be a dancer. :)
• Emma throws all clothes in the wash to avoid having to put them away. The boys never think to wash anything.
• Tessa has to eat off of pink dishes only.
• Our kids will only eat Caesar salad.
• I threaten to get rid of the dog at least once a day.
• I have decided that the kids will now fold their own laundry. For years I have believed that if I folded their clothes they would keep them neatly in their drawers. This has NEVER been the case. From here on out they fold their own clothes. If they won't keep them folded in their drawers then why am I wasting my time?
• I love vacuuming.
• Tessa loves vacuuming with me.
• I love photographing my kids. I could wallpaper my house with their photos. I love seeing their personalities shining through candid photos.
• Emma has been swimming twice a week through the winter, and now all the kids are swimming until soccer starts.
• Tessa just started swim lessons this week. Each session I find myself calculating how much it cost to pay for her to sit on the side of the pool with her feet dangling in the water. That is all she will do.

I find myself wondering how much will change by next year's snapshot. I hope that by next year at this time Jack will be a trained and happy part of our family. I also hope Tessa will have actually gotten in the pool for swim lessons. Hey, it never hurts to dream, right?