Project 365: Week 21

Tuesday, May 21

I have an addict on my hands.  She is addicted to Puffs.  Addicted, I tell you.  She squeals until I give her more!

 Wednesday, May 22

Maybe it's just me, but I'm in L-O-V-E with the new "mint trend."  I bought myself a shirt from the Limited, and a dress from Target. I found this outfit for Reese at Target.  Actually, the capris were in the toddler section, and the shirt was in the big girls section, but I matched them up.  I love this little outfit on her!

 Thursday, May 23

The day before "the change."  I'll elaborate more on our decision to cut back dramatically on screen time around here soon, but we did.  Like, these two have watched 10 hours of TV in the last week (max).  They still love their Jake jammies, though!

 Friday, May 24

Hudson showing off his middle finger...ha!  Reese slammed it in the front door by accident on Thursday, and it looks gross...but he's a trouper.  He didn't even cry.  But I sure did!  And so did poor Reesie!

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 Saturday, May 25

Reese begged me for a tea party, but I suppose a large downside to having a bunch of brothers is no one to "tea party" with.  Wyatt was a champ and decided to party with her!  But there was no TV...what else was he going to do?

 Sunday, May 26

Wyatt and Hudson were playing cornhole with Matthew and Ava.  They always have so much fun playing when they come visit!

 Monday, May 27

Memorial Day baby!  I loved this little dress on her!  Reese wore it first, but it looks equally adorable on her little sister.

And two more from this week, just because I don't want to leave them out...

Reesie dressed up like Tinkerbell on Thursday after she slammed Hudson's finger in the door.  I guess whatever it takes to cheer her up?  Well, and justify the amount of money we spent on her Halloween costume!

 And she loves Doc...and she loves these jammies!  She was so excited to wear them for the first time!

Sports Catch Up: Part Two

Reese's last soccer game was last Wednesday.  The massive amount of rain this spring resulted in cancelled games for the Dragons, so we had a make up at the same time as a baseball game.

She was focused.

 She was aggressive.

 She was excited.

 She was distracted by the other team's coach with his child in a back pack (wait...that was just me).  

 She loves soccer.

 But she loves getting her medal more!

Project 365: Week 20

Tuesday, May 14

On our way to the big kids' conferences.  They watch the kids while we meet with the teachers, and Hudson insisted on taking his backpack with him to school.

Wednesday, May 15

On our way to baseball.  Wyatt moves like a baseball player as soon as he puts his uniform on.  He cracks me up!

Thursday, May 16

Hanging out while we waited for Reese's soccer pictures.

 Friday, May 17

Wyatt still loves playing with his hockey guys, and he came out of his room after I put him to bed with this Lego creation to use with them.  It's a bench/penalty box combo.  Hockey.  Obsession.

Saturday, May 18

Story time!  He was actually reading to her.

Sunday, May 19

Jack's birthday party!  I thought it was freezing, but these kids jumped right in the pool!

 Monday, May 20

Hudson slid this helmet on her little head - and she could use it!  It gets a little crazy around here!

Sports Catch Up: Part One

We have had a very wet spring.  I feel like at least two nights of games a week were cancelled because the fields were soaked.  Poor Brian has to handle the make up schedule, and it has been quite a task this year!

This little guy gets pretty upset if a game gets cancelled.  Of course, it's also been a pretty cool spring, so he's been acting like he's on the verge of heat exhaustion on warm evenings!

I love this picture because these two have always worked together so well on the ball field.

 They kind of move in the same direction.  Like it's a sixth sense!

 Brian has been busy getting the park ready for the season to start, so I was tasked with a week of practices.  I haven't gone to many practices because Brian usually handles them, but it was fun to go and see Wyatt and Reese at practice with their teams!

She is a lot more aggressive at practice than she is at games.  She looks like she's about to run a kid down!

 Wyatt likes to go to Reese's practices because Coach Jeff usually lets him scrimmage with the team.  Of course, he also tells Wyatt to take his skill level down to "50% Wyatt."  Ha!  There were littler kids on Reese's team this year, and I don't think they could handle him.  This is him giving 50% in the goal!

 The girls on Reese's team are really good.  Scrimmages at practice usually involved games of girls versus boys, and let's just say, the girls always won.  And it usually wasn't close!

And these girls liked to celebrate!

 But you know, they also take it pretty seriously!

Conference Time: Reese

 We met with Reese's teacher after we met with Wyatt's.  She is having an outstanding year at school.  

Here is her handwriting sample from the first week of school.  Looking at her "S" just reminds me how hard she worked to get her "S's" written correctly.  She started by stacking a c on top of a backwards c to get the form, and then she just progressed to doing it the right way!

 Her writing sample from last month. 

She finished her second phonics book the same week we had conferences.  She's not going to start a new one before the end of the year, so she's working on math and her worksheets.  And her readers of course. 

She's on her eighth reader now, and she loves to read.  She even tries to pick up Wyatt's to "see what she knows."

 

The teachers ask the kids these questions for their progress reports.  Reese's answers have evolved over the last year since they involved McDonald's and Wendy's as her favorite place to go and what makes her happy.  Ha!

She definitely has her sights set on being an artist though - this little girl creates from the time she gets up until she goes to bed.  It's one of her very favorite things to do.

I can't believe that she's almost completed this year of preschool!  I'm excited to keep her learning throughout the summer, and to see what Pre-K holds for her next year!

What I Love About You - Hudson

Hudson.  Oh my sweet boy.

You are the sweetest, cuddliest, most loving little boy.  You love to be held and squeezed, and you willingly give hugs and kisses away.

It's probably terrible (and completely biased), but your Dad and I have always (since you were teeny tiny) said you were the cutest little boy in the whole world.  Your big brother is obviously adorable, but nothing about him has ever seemed "little."  Even his voice has always been kind of "big boy-ish."

And your voice is the sweetest thing ever.  You're gaining more and more confidence with your vocabulary, and you can talk my ear off.  About everything.  But my favorite things that you say are, "Um, no."  And "siwwy goose."  And "oh, sowwy."

You like your routines.  Like, you really, really like them.  You wake up every day and you want to know the plan.  "Mommy, we take kids to school and go to YEA?"  You love to have a routine, and you always want to know what's next!  In fact, as soon as I pick you up from the kids' room at the Y you shout, "Momma!  Go home and have veggie straws and watch Dinosaur Train!"  And once we're home you immediately ask, "Momma, we're gonna go get the kids?"

At bedtime you want everything a very specific way (just ask your poor grandmothers who tuck you in when Mommy and Daddy go out)!  You will not part with your sleep sack, and adding anything else to your crib is basically out of the question.  No blankets.  No stuffed animals.  Just you and your sleep sack.  In the van, you don't like to have your Captain's seat pushed too far back.  When I slide it back so that I can buckle you in, you always remind me to slide you forward.  You just prefer your way for basically everything!  And you're definitely going through a shy phase.  You're not interested in new and uncomfortable situations.  You like your way!

Speaking of your routine, well, as cute and adorable and lovely as you can be, your temper can also be a challenge.  It's the typical two-ish stuff, but so difficult.  I love it because you are showing your own personality and strong will, but oh man, can it be frustrating.  And loud!

You are a great little brother.  You look up to Wyatt and you love to play with him.  You want to do what he's doing.  And sometimes, you want him to go do something else so that you can play with his toys by yourself.  You love to watch him play sports, and you're becoming quite the protege.  He loves to teach you to kick the ball past him, or to play catch!  And Reesie, well, she is probably your favorite playmate.  You are the Hallie to her Doc, you are the Clover to her Sofia.  Right by her side always.  But your favorite thing to do is play puppies.  I love it when you play doggies and you get on all fours barking behind her, but you always pause to come tell me, "Mom.  Mom!  Reesie my mom now.  My momma dog."

And you're a sweet big brother.  My biggest fear was that adding Finley to our family would be hard for you.  You are my boy, and I thought it would hurt you to have to share me with someone littler.  You love your Momma, but you also love your baby sister.  I love it when you hear her wake up before I do and you shout, "Mom!  Finney waking!  Baby Finney waking! Have to go get her! Come on!"

I'm learning with you that just because I have two boys, it doesn't mean that you're going to be exact replicas.  Your interests do match Wyatt's, but your personality doesn't.  And that's perfect.  Because who you are is just exactly who you're supposed to be.  And gosh, I love you!

You give everyone you know tons of love and tons of smiles.  Your squeezes are fantastic, and I love your kisses!  You are my favorite two year old in the whole world!  We love you Huddoo!

Conference Time: Wyatt

We had parent teacher conferences last week.  I can't believe how close we are to the end of the school year.  I feel like this year has flown by, and I'm reminded of it every time I look at Finley and remember that she was born the day before school started!

I am so surprised when I read other blogs and see that school years are ending.  Ours doesn't end until mid-June!  We also don't start until after Labor Day, but I can't imagine getting out of school in May.  

Our conference with Wyatt's teacher went so well!  His reading has definitely progressed this year....

Readers 1, 2, 7, 8

 Readers 10, 12, 17, 18

 Readers 19, 20, 21

 This little boy is ready for 1st grade! He's come so far this year in Kindergarten.  Here's a picture he drew of his family on the first day of school (top), and one he drew last week (bottom).  Apparently he didn't completely erase the LARGE body on the bottom left, or the floating head before proceeding :).

 And his alphabet has improved drastically since the first day!  His most recent writing is on the top.  I can't believe how tiny his writing is now!

Every day he comes home with worksheets filled with words he's sounded out and written himself, or he's practiced his vowel sounds.  But I think his favorite is math.  He likes to show me how he can tell time, or do addition and subtraction, or measurements.  He really likes fractions.  He'll sit down with his dry erase board and fill in the appropriate number of segments based on what I tell him to do.  And then he asks, "Want to see more, Momma?"

We still need to register him for First Grade next year.  It's so hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that he is going to be gone until 2:30 next year.  I don't even know what I'm going to do with my time (except shuffle to drop him off, then drop Reese and Hudson off, then pick them up, feed them, find time for them to nap, and then pick him up).

Wyatt's kindergarten year has seriously been so good for him.  We were worried about how he would acclimate to the lack of play time, but he learned he needed to do his work first.  We were worried that he didn't have any friends in his class, but he made great friends.  We were worried that he would still miss his teacher from last year (and he does, he asked me about her again today), but he still loves his new teacher!  I think for next year we need to just learn to be at peace with things at the beginning of the year, to let Wyatt be Wyatt, and just go with the flow.  It will probably make for a less stressful year!

What I Love About You - Reese

Reesie. Reesie Piecey. You are the sweetest, kindest, funniest little girl in the whole world.

You are a great sister. But not just in a "you don't start fights" kind of way, but in a genuine, "you want everyone to be happy kind of way."  You put up with so much from Wyatt, and you fight back for sure, but you really just want him to be happy.  We're working on that, because we would like to see you stand up for yourself a lot more. You dote on Hudson and Finley. You try so hard to be their little mommy. You've actually convinced Hudson that I am his "Mommy Mommy" and you are his "Doggy Mommy." You both go around the house on all fours, barking, and he runs up to me and says, "Mom, Reesie my mom now, okay?" You want to hold Finley and love on her all the time!

You love soccer and dance. You love to color and create. Giving you a box with 48 crayons was probably a highlight of your week!  You color pictures and assign them to people - Mommy, Daddy, Didi, Pop Pop, Mimi, Baba. I honestly have no idea what to do with all of the paper!  But you put so much work into every single drawing.  You give me TONS of information about your reasons for choosing each color.  You go through a picture before you color the whole thing, and you leave a little dot on each piece with the color you want it to be so you don't forget.  Genius!

Your favorite shows right now are Doc McStuffins and Sofia the First. You play and pretend you're Doc all the time, and you're begging me for a Sofia dress.  What I love about it is that you have set your sights high for the future. You want to be an artist, a princess, and a doctor!

You are a sweet little girl.  You love your Daddy.  So much.  You would be with him all day, every day if you could.  You love your Momma, but "Dada" is your favorite.  You try your best to prolong him leaving the house in the morning.  First you ask for a hug and kiss.  Then you stand in front of the door and ask for the "password" (which is really another hug and kiss).  And then, at some point during the day, you have a "Dada" breakdown.  "I miss Dada."  A song on the radio will make you cry out of the complete blue, and when I ask you what's wrong, all you say is, "I miss Dada."  And the tears start falling.

There are times that I know you want to do "big girl" things.  You ask about nail polish and make up.  Daddy and Mommy just think you have your whole life to be a grown up girl, so we're not rushing (and definitely aren't encouraging) you to grow up any faster than you need to.  The world around us shows us that little girls are growing up faster and faster.  But you won't if we have anything to say about it (and we do)!  It may make us unpopular sometimes, and you may want to fight it, but we think it's for the best.  And you'll definitely grow a thicker skin against what everybody else thinks if you're dealing with it when you're little!

You are the silliest, funniest little girl.. You make the silliest faces.  You make up the craziest dances and songs.  I can't even describe how truly funny you are.  I always say that you're going to be on Saturday Night Live one day.  And I'm only half kidding. You love music.  You make us laugh constantly. Constantly.  There is no one on this planet who makes your brothers laugh like you do.

You question everything.  In the last week I have been told by three people that you ask millions upon millions of questions.  I already knew that of course (and it drives me bonkers sometimes), but I hope you don't lose it.  You'll learn by questioning things.  You might break the mold by questioning things.  It's a form of discovery that a lot of people are scared of, but I hope you aren't.  Ever.  

You are such a lover.  You give out hugs and kisses to everyone.  Your family is filled with lucky recipients of your love, but your favorite person to hug (besides Daddy) is probably Teddy.  That bear is your BFF.  You wouldn't dream of going to bed at night without him!

You present your challenges, just like Wyatt. Sometimes I have no idea how to respond to you when you cry over small things (which is ridiculous, because you get that from me), and I get frustrated.  And you're so good that when you're bad, I have no idea what to do.  It's like I'm ruining your whole life!  But the vast majority of the time, you're the little girl that greets us with the biggest smile and hug (or silly face) when we walk into a room.  Every single day I think about how proud and lucky I am to be your Mommy.  And I pray that I teach you to be a compassionate, joyful, kind, and patient little girl.  And I know that your Daddy wants to teach you the same things.  You are our favorite four year old in the whole wide world.  We love you Reesie Piecey!

Project 365: Week 19

Tuesday, May 7

We joined the Disney movie club, and our movies arrived.  My very favorite movie of all time is on top!  I'm pretty sure that I watched it every day for a year when I was 11!

 Wednesday,  May 8

Finley rolled over!  She has known how to do it (she's really up on all fours a lot now), but it's not something she likes to do.  She does it at her leisure.

 Thursday, May 9

I was under the impression that Brian was tucking Wyatt and Reese in.  And then I looked out the window and saw this!  He snuck out and they followed him!

 Friday, May 10

Ready for school!  She cracks me up when she insists that I take her picture in her new spring outfits!

 Saturday, May 11

Aden, Wyatt, and Hunter.  These are two of Wyatt's best buddies!

 Sunday, May 12

Just hanging out at Mimi and Baba's house!

 Monday, May 13

She hasn't been sleeping well.  At all.  I was so happy when she finally fell asleep Monday night!

Mother's Day

We had a low key Mother's Day - which is just how I like it!  Brian and Reese went and got breakfast, and then we spent the day hanging out at home.  I did a little work, did the laundry (Brian is not allowed in the laundry room), and cleaned the kitchen.  During quiet time, Brian and I caught up on TV shows.

Once we were all finally ready for the day, we decided to run a few errands and head over to Brian's parents' house.  

But not without a picture of me with all my kids first.

This is real life, folks.

 ...and this is 24 pictures later!

No trip to Mimi and Baba's is complete without a baseball and some catch.

Wyatt has been playing catch with Hudson a lot lately, and this little guy loves it!

 Seriously love this picture of Hudson!

 And this one of Finley and I!  Thanks Brian for picking up the camera - ha!

Once we came home, we got the kids ready for bed and settled in to watch the season finale of Survivor.  We are obsessed with it STILL after 13 years!  This season ended just how we wanted it to: traditionally with pizza (we do it every year at the beginning and end of the season, which is better than it used to be - every week when it came on!), and we seriously cheered each time something went in Cochran's favor.  So satisfied with this season!

I had a great Mother's Day, but any day that I get to spend with this family of mine is a blessing!