Happy Birthday, Big Girl!

Our big kid turned 7 on Tuesday, and like I've always said in the past, time flies by way too quickly for my liking. It seems like just yesterday I was bringing her home from the hospital.... I blinked, and BAM! She was walking, talking, starting school, losing teeth, and now she's 3 years away from needing to use all her fingers to show her age. Okay, time to stop thinking about this before I give myself a heart attack!

We usually throw little parties for the kids on their birthdays, but this time around, things were different. We didn't have time to organize a party for Miss B's 7th, so we just celebrated at home with family. Daddy took her and the boys to the store while I visited my grandmother in the hospital, and Miss B got to pick out a cake to share with everyone (the day was so busy, Patrick didn't think I'd have enough time to bake a cake). Thanks to the upcoming holiday, the store's bakery had a green spider cake available, and I was not surprised at all that she picked that one. Miss B wore her brand new shirt, opened some fun presents all throughout the day, and was smiling from ear to ear from sun up to sun down.


This past year has been filled with achievements and milestones for our little girl. She started Kindergarten right before turning 6, and has blossomed in so many ways from being in school. She has become a model of empathy, and is a natural leader. She encourages everyone around her to do the right thing, follow rules, and be kind to one another. She gets upset whenever one of her friends is feeling bad, and finds it troubling when she can't fix it. Miss B is a popular little one, and luckily, her popularity is due to her kind hearted nature. I know we won't have to worry about her when she starts her new school in a few weeks. She is so sweet to everyone she meets, and is the first to invite others to play with her or sit next to her. Miss B is great at math, loves to read/write/spell, and is always excited to learn new things. She is a chatterbox, and her vocabulary and understanding are getting more and more complex. Her and I talk about all sorts of subjects, and she is just so funny. We love our big girl, and we are so glad she had such a fun day!

Pictures of the Kiddos

School Lunch

I was going to write this into my last post, but felt it needed it's very own space because this is a huge issue for me right now. Our big girl's favorite thing about 1st grade is eating lunch at school, and while I'm glad she's enjoying this fun new aspect of her day, I am disappointed in the quality of what is offered to the students on a daily basis. Why not just send her to school with a home lunch everyday? I can hear this question being lobbed at me, and while it is a perfectly valid and justified inquiry, I take offense to it. Why? Well, because why should I have to pack a lunch for my daughter each and every day just to ensure she's receiving a nutritious and balanced meal? Why can't the school district as a whole improve their menu? I understand budget has a lot to do with it. Let's face it, healthy food is pricey. This being said, though, isn't the extra cost worth it? I'd even be willing to pay extra in taxes or whatever to improve the school lunch program! What about all those families who count on free school lunch? They can't afford to pack a lunch, and their kids are being cheated every day! Burgers, nachos, pizza, chicken nuggets.... These are all some of the most unhealthy foods known to man, and yet or children are being served one or more of these entrees on a weekly basis! My daughter came home one day and when asked what she ate for lunch, she replied: "I had a cheeseburger with french fries and chocolate cake." I knew it was burger day, but she was specifically instructed to grab a salad, fruit, or veggies for a side, not the french fries. Of course, I talked to her about this, and she said they were out of carrots, and all they had left were bananas (she doesn't like bananas, and never has). Now, I realize she easily could have been lying to me, but this is not the first time Miss B has come home telling me her and/or her friends couldn't get the food they wanted because the cafeteria ran out. This leads me to my second issue with school lunch. How in the bloody heck is the cafeteria running out of food? The staff knows how many kids are enrolled, and it's not like this year is their first go around, so I'm very baffled. Running out of food is completely unacceptable, and I won't stand for it! Our children need proper, balanced nutrition in order to grow and develop properly, and we all know how important nutrition is for brain power! How can our kids be expected to learn and excel when their bellies are either full or junk or growling with hunger pains?

Okay, now that I've officially ranted, I will clear something up: Miss B has a cute lunch box we purchased before school started. She often takes a cold lunch to school with her, and always returns from school with a nearly if not completely empty lunch box. We let her pick a day or two per week to eat school lunch with everyone else because it's fun for her. I just wish the school made better choices....

Another Update?..... Really?

It's official: I am horrible at keeping up with this blogging thing. I used to be so good about posting, and now.... I don't really know what happened, but I'm going to stop pretending it'll get better because chances are, it probably won't ha ha ha. I lost my camera cord (you know, the one used to connect my digital camera to the computer) for the longest time. I always used to keep tabs on the thing because I was always uploading photos and posting them here (ha), but once I practically dropped off the planet, I misplaced that vital piece of wire. I was frantic for about an hour this morning looking for it, and was not amused when I discovered the cord in the computer bag. Honestly, how did I not think to look in the most logical place? Well, anyway, here are some recent pictures and yet another little update.

 Let's talk about my kids and their "swimming" for a minute.... Their definition of swimming is standing in the water splashing. Miss B will get down in the water, but she doesn't actually swim. She just sort of propels herself forward and pushes herself back, and that's only if the water is as shallow as a bathtub. If the water level is higher than her knees, she won't even venture into it. Buddy loves the water, and is always the first in and last out, but swimming? Fahgitaboutit! He'll stand on the side splashing and screeching and giggling. P Man is strange about the water. He gets so excited to go in the water, but rarely wants to get in. He'll be in and out and in and out. Now, I know what you may be thinking... Why don't they already know how to swim? Why not enroll them in lessons? Why not teach them yourself? Well, the answers to these questions are simple: First, we don't want to push the kids to do anything they aren't comfortable with. I know lessons would probably help with this issue, but for as often as we DON'T go swimming, the lessons wouldn't really be worth the money. Patrick never learned to swim, and it's never been an issue in his 28 years of life. I do know how to swim, and have no problem teaching those skills to the kids, but it's not really a priority seeing as how we almost never go swimming.

 Patrick and I celebrated our 5th anniversary last month on the 12th. We didn't do anything too special, just went to a movie, but if you knew how our dating life is, you'd know just how fortunate we were to finally get an opportunity to go and do something without the Minions in tow (yes, Minions).

This is just a really cute picture, and it shows just how grown up these kiddos are getting. Once again, I must ask: Has anyone discovered or invented a pause button for time? These little ones aren't so little anymore, and it's driving me insane!

And She Dropped off the Face of the Planet

Yes, it seems like I dropped off the planet, but really, I've just been overly busy and overly stressed, and just plain overwhelmed. A lot has been going on the past couple months (including the loss of our home internet), and I just haven't been able to find the motivation to update at all. Now, this lack of updating doesn't mean there isn't anything to report.... Where to begin though.... How about with Easter?

Easter Sunday was a tough one for us. P Man was so, so, so, so sick, so we postponed the festivities until the following week. The Saturday after, we went to an egg hunt at a friend's house (my camera decided not to work for me that afternoon, so sadly, I have no pictures from this event). The kids had a blast searching for eggs in the big yard. The following day, we brought out the kids' baskets, and let them go crazy!

Miss B finished up Kindergarten on the 6th, and there were some mixed emotions that entire week. I was both ecstatic and deeply saddened by the event. I was so excited to meet with her teacher and hear about all my smart girl's progress this past year. She has changed so much and learned so much, it's nearly impossible to believe. Although, as always, the thought of my babies growing up nearly cripples me, but I managed to make it through.

Buddy is almost completely toilet trained! We started training him about two months ago, and boy am I glad we put it off for so long! He has done a fantastic job, and we are so proud of him. He is in big boy pants all day long, and only has to wear a diaper at night. He is gaining confidence in using public toilets, and we hope to switch him from his training potty to the big person potty soon. We are so proud of our little man!

I hope to update more, but no promises!