it must be halloween

another halloween came and went with all the typicals...
school parties,
trick or treating,
french dip sandwiches,
too much candy,
and adorable kids in self-decided costumes.



sam: indiana jones
he cleaned the salon for weeks to earn money to buy the satchel, whip, & machete.

will: incredible hulk
he was a little undecided this year. he normally invents something like flopsy the rabbit or a circus monkey with a red hat. i think that is his preference. he never cared to wear the hulk mask or the hulk smash gloves. essentially he had an expensive body suit.

maggie: she was a pink "meow meow", her choice.
she loves pink, and she loves cats. if anyone called her a bunny she corrected them and said "no! me pink meow meow!"

worth remembering

sam turned 7 today.
(and, yes, i didn't stutter. 7!!??)
all years are worth remembering,
but there was just something different about this one.
he seemed to really make the leap from little kid to "now i'm turning into a real kid".
i've always suspected that i will really excel in my mothering as my children get older.
i love babies,
but i think my parenting style fits older kids better,
so now here we are,
and i think it's working.
i enjoy having the logical part of the brain develop more,
and that is noteworthy of sam.
logical he is.
total side note to illustrate.
last sunday when we got home from church the children were climbing the walls more than a typical day.
in an effort to not blow up i calmly suggested to sam that he go outside and pick tomatoes.
he went his way and calmness prevailed.
he came back in empty handed.
pete asked where the tomatoes were.
he said he didn't pick any.
pete said "your mother asked you to pick tomatoes."
to which he calmly replied,
"no she didn't ask. it was a suggestion."
can't argue with that.
i have to choose my words wisely with him.

some of the things that are worth remembering about sam in this very moment are....
1. how much he loves school,
all of it,
the school work, homework, reading, chinese, recess, walking groups, lunch, etc.
he is a self-motivator.
like how he wants to read 100 minutes every day so he can get more reading tickets than he did before.
aside from that though,
just a self-motivator.
you don't have to tell him when to get out his homework every day.
chances are he is telling within 30 minutes of being home.

2. he is a soccer boy.
he LOVES soccer!
pretty much lives for it.
he's pretty sure he's almost a pro.
he works really hard and does well.
he loves to score and loves to win.
he loves to be the scorer, but he is equally happy when someone else on his team scores.
sometimes he accidentally steals the ball from his own players,
but i know it's not to be a ball hog.
he loves his team.
i once overheard another teammate complaining about another player's skills
to which sam responded "that at least he could kick the ball and that is all that matters."
he added that everyone on the team adds something different.
he loves to block and to score but never play goalie (which i am totally ok with).
every time he scores a goal he gets to choose a treat for the family after the game.
he almost always chooses a hamburger.

3. he loves long hair.
he decided this summer he was going to grow it out.
he got a tiny trim when school started,
and it has been growing ever since.
he is certain that when it gets long it will be as curly as his dad's.
not there yet but maybe someday.
it does have some wave,
and i actually think it's kinda cute.

4. he has re-discovered his love for building.
he likes to build things out of legos and boxes,
but he really likes to manage building projects and drawing up designs.
would that be considered a project manager?
like how he decided we needed a tree house.
he moved a piece of plywood to the tree to make a ramp,
and he was telling his brother and sister exactly how to push the playhouse that was on the ground into the tree to make a tree house.
he liked managing that,
and he's a natural manager if i must say so myself.
he also draws up plans for pete to build things,
like his chair that he needed to reach the top drawer of his dresser.

5. i adore spying on him at night.
he always has some project going on in bed.
oftentimes it is reading or book,
but it can also be creating a book,
or drawing in his notebook.
he has drawn pictures of him as a professional soccer player.
that precious time in bed seems to be when his brain really oozes out,
and that's when i feel i get to tap into the inner workings of that boy.

6. his 7 year old party will go down in history.
it was pretty awesome.
he wanted a halloween costume party with a spook alley.
this boy is a dreamer and planner
(as am i),
so i do all in my power to make it happen.
i say we nailed it,
in a 7 year old world at least.
who can complain about a spook alley complete with black light spiderweb hallways,
bat & spider tunnels that you have to crawl through,
spiderweb obstacles,
ghost alleys,
dead bodies in coffins,
bone graveyard,
and body parts table?
there were no complaints,
and i hope he always has the memory.

7. he is just as precious to me as he was on this day 7 years ago.
from the second i laid eyes on him
i felt like i had always known him.
year after year that feels so true.
he is so much like me,
therefore, i can relate so well to him.
he is a treasure.
each year becomes more exciting than i ever could have imagined it would be.

if you've got it, then you've got it

if you like pink,
if you have a keen sense for style,
and you embrace it,
then this is how you will go to bed at night.
(and fall sleep.)
oh, to be a bit more "maggied".

home school

will has a summer birthday.
i've worried incessantly the last year about whether or not i should send him to kindergarten this year or give him 1 more year at home.
i did all the research and questioned soooo many mothers that had done both.
in the end, all of that work and worry just helped me to listen to what my mother heart had been saying all along.
keep him home.
it was the right choice for us.
i have seen a side of him that i haven't really seen before and may never have seen.
he is happy to be home.
he is an easy kid to have home.
there will be one more layer of that special kind of security that only home can provide.
for various reasons he didn't go back to preschool either,
but we have started "baby kindergarten" at our house as he calls it.
(he thinks it's school for maggie, and it may as well be for how excited she is about it!)
it's very casual,
but we treat it with importance.
we had the official start day as if he were really going to school,
and every day since he has inspired the planning, selected his recess friends (and sometimes that's only panda, but he's ok with that), and participated as if it was the real deal.
it is the real deal.
just the right deal for him
and for me.
i wil never regret this decision.

the 4th week

sam has been in 1st grade for 4 weeks.
just as expected....
he LOVES it!
"way more than kindergarten."
no nerves with this kid.
just excited.
the best part of 1st grade is 3 recesses.
apparently he is still "1st captain" for those that are still playing that game.
it is no longer really captain of the sandbox,
(however, sam told me he dug a hole so deep it got to the black dirt.)
it's now captain on the basketball, soccer, or football field.
1st recess is basketball,
2nd recess is soccer & football,
3rd recess is kickball or just playing around.
i think playing around involves playing chase with the girls,
a game i wasn't quite expecting sam to want to play yet.
he has a girlfriend already.
she asked him,
and he said yes.
her name is izzy.
i asked what she was like,
and sam told me "just like him."
i asked in what way,
and he said "she is quiet, smart, never gets in trouble, and is fun."
glad he found such a perfect match.
i'm guessing his heart is set on someone else though.
he has been bringing home papers that say "i love helle".
i like helle a lot, too.
i like that they both get fruities everyday for being quiet.
sam lives for being the best behaved in the class.
often the 1st thing he shares upon arriving home is how well behaved he was and who else was and wasn't.
i'm ok with that.
he's not so sure about school lunch this year.
he only wants to eat it when they have mac & cheese or pizza.
he accidentally chose the wrong day & got something else.
he said it was "super disgusting".
home lunch it is.
and a recess snack from home.
apparently they can have a snack at 1st recess if they bring it from home.
snack size sour cream and onion pringles are the preferred choice.
that snack may well be what gets him through the long days.
the long days haven't been bad,
except the 1st day.
he came in and went right to bed.
when he was finished in that bed he got into mine.
every day since has been fine.
he adjusted quickly.
i'm still adjusting a bit though.
already i'm having to just remember the days when i used to get to walk sam to & from school.
that lasted about 1 week before he begged to go with a walking group.
i agreed because i know how good it will be for him.
he loves the independence and the chance to be with friends a little longer each day.
i do watch him everyday for the 1 1/2 blocks he has to walk alone.
he doesn't need it though.
i know he would be fine walking to school alone,
(perhaps he will win that battle by the end of 1st grade, but i won't tell him that.)
but i still need it.
i still want to watch him as long as i can
just because i love him so.
i still love being a part of his world as much as possible.
i can see now how your kids grow up so quickly once they start going to school all the time.
sam has definitely grown in 4 weeks,
but it's the fun kind of growing.
i love seeing him so happy,
and so social,
and to have such a love for learning & a determination for it.
i'm so fortunate that he still so readily invites me into that part of his life.
i hope he always will.

another typical night

that's what i say to myself when i go to bed with a kitchen that looks like this after the nighttime clean up job.

i'm slowly learning it's not me, it's not the children, it's just life.

and it's pretty wonderful.

(and oftentimes messy.)