The next van Gogh

Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but I'm really proud of the picture Joshua brought home from art class this week. He's been working on it for the past five weeks.

Chef Biscotti

This is what Joshua calls himself when he cooks, but he pronounces it Chef Biscottay (and corrects anyone who pronounces it otherwise). He loves to cook and create "experiments" in the kitchen. This is him at work on a surprise dessert for me a few days ago. (He recreated the carrot grating for the picture . . . I was truly shooed out of the kitchen while he worked. He had permission, of course.)



He asked me to slice some apples for him and then said I could not come in the kitchen again until he was done. He put the apples on a plate and circled them with blueberries. Then he topped the whole thing with lime juice and cinnamon and put it in the microwave so it would be warm and juicy. When he took it out, he added a dollop of whipped cream and some grated carrots and said, "Mom, come eat your healthy dessert!"



Chef Biscotti is welcome in my kitchen anytime.

A proud post

In lieu of Quick Takes today - since, let's face it, I don't really have seven things worth writing about - I thought I'd take a moment and indulge in a little bragging today. I apologize if you are not related to me or my children. (And by that, I mean I apologize that you won't find this interesting, but I suppose I could also apologize that we're not related. Yeah, you're really missing out.)

Here are a few things I'm proud of today:

1. Ethan

First, his math skills. Here's what he's been working on lately. He can look at this:



and write this:



(The bottom number is the answer to this one, by the way.)

Here's another math sheet he did the other day.



And, lastly, a reading/writing worksheet.



Not bad for a 4 year-old, I think.

2. Joshua.

When I went into his school to pick him up yesterday, his teacher came over to talk to me. She said, "I just wanted to tell you that Joshua is so good. He is the most obedient child in the class; he obeys me the first time every time."

I took him to Red Lobster for lunch yesterday to use the gift card Grandma sent him for his kindergarten graduation. I think he deserved those crab legs, don't you?

3. My fruit creation. I made my own edible arrangement for our small group party this week.



See, all that time spent watching the Food Network has its benefits.

Soccer begins again

The boys' first soccer practice for Spring season was last week. But, last week I took video and don't feel like uploading it because I'm tired from all the packing. So, tonight at the boys' second soccer practice I took a few still shots. Because it's less trouble, and I'm tired.







This season their coach has them running laps at the beginning of practice, which I think is a hilarious thing to watch.

Joshua, being super competitive by nature (I swear he was aiming for "world's most overdue baby" when he was born), pushes himself hard and finishes at the front of the pack each time. (He may be first each time if other kids didn't cut corners. He's a rule follower, so he stays outside the red line like he's supposed to.) You can see the focus and concentration on his face, and he finishes with very little left in him.

Ethan, on the other hand, is often the sole inhabitant of his own little world, and lap-running is no exception. He "runs" with a grin on his face the whole time. He sort of lolligags around the field, looks around to see if everyone else is still running, waves when he passes me, and couldn't care less that he is the last one finished each time. He's just having a grand old time.

And, I love these things about both of them.

File under brag: Last week, they had a pretty long scrimmage at the end of practice. As I said, it was the season's first practice, and the kids were all pretty beat by then and began to fall out one by one. Joshua, Ethan, and the coach's son were the "last ones standing" by the end of the scrimmage, and the coach rewarded them with a pack of Starburst tonight.

Thankful Friday

I should have saved the "All I Want for Christmas" title for today. Josh pulled another tooth out at school today. That's four so far. He looks way too old now.

• All of my kids are great sleepers. They go to bed easily, and they sleep all night.
  
• I got to spend some time catching up with a dear friend this morning.
• We are all healthy right now.
• Joshua's school. He goes to the same Christian school I went to when I was a kid, and I am just so thankful that we are able to send him there right now. I was just looking at a nativity ornament he made in class and realized how blessed we are that he can be in such a great Christian school.
• BEAUTIFUL weather today! After the past couple of days, it is more than welcome.
• David taking off early to spend the afternoon with us
• I was able to finish shopping for the in-law's today and spend some precious time with my kids while doing so. The weather is so nice we decided to walk everywhere we needed to go at the "new" shopping center. Even stopped in at Atlanta Bread to color someting for Grandmom and Granddad so we could get that box in the mail.

All I Want for Christmas

One more and he can sing, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth . . ."

The other one should be out by next week. It's extremely loose, but he waits until they pretty much fall out from natural causes.

Lauren's Birthday Party in Pictures

Here's the cake. It took all day Friday to make since I made each section in a bowl, and let me tell ya, it takes a long time to bake a cake in a bowl. Even longer to bake four. But, I was happy with how it turned out, and more importantly, Lauren loved it. She said, "You're making it colorful . . . I love colorful!"



Playing a game where they had to fly like butterflies and land on a flower when the music stopped. If the number flower they landed on got called, they were out. Last one in won the game.



Making a craft:



Posing with the cake:



Preparing to blow out the candles:



Listening to her Fisher Price "MP3 player" that she got for her b'day. (It's programmed with like 25 songs; it's not actually programmable.) Is it just me, or does she look way older than she ought to?

Happy Birthday, Lauren

I can't believe my baby is three years old. When she woke up this morning, I said, "Lauren, do you know what today is?" She answered, "Christmas??!!"

As I type, it is 8:42 pm. This time three years ago, Lauren was exactly 20 minutes old. I didn't get to hold her until 8:35. Always wanting to do things her own way, she wouldn't warm up right away, so the nurses insisted on putting her under a warming light. I thought that was a dumb idea and that she just needed me to hold her. Finally, 12 minutes (that felt like hours) after she was born, I held my beautiful daughter on my chest.

My, how the years have flown.

She did it

Sometime Sunday evening Lauren had a breakthrough. Apparently the light bulb finally flashed, and she figured out how to use the potty and has not had a single accident since. I know in light of the significant and unprecedented events taking place in the world right now, this seems like a trivial announcement, but trust me, in our household it's the top story.

Now to figure out how to find some balance. She seems to have gone from one extreme to the other. Three days ago she wouldn't sit on the toilet without crying that she didn't want to and couldn't go. Now, I can't get her to wait more than 10 minutes without going potty again. A good problem to have, I suppose.

Two conversations from yesterday:

While I was making lunch Lauren came up to me out of the blue and said, "Mommy, I'm really proud of you." "Why," I asked? "Because sometimes you go on the potty, too!" Sometimes?

As she's exiting the bathroom after her 37th trip yesterday, I hear a rustling sound. She has her hands behind her back, so I think she's holding something.
Me: Lauren, what do you have?
Lauren: Nothing
Me: What is that noise? Show me your hands.
Nothing in her hands, but I see something sticking out of her pants.
Me: Did you put a diaper on?
Lauren: No.
Turning her around, I discover she has stuffed a, um, "feminine napkin" into her underwear. Trying not to laugh hysterically, I ask her why she has that in her pants.
Lauren: I need it because I'm a big girl now!

Thankful Friday

1. Beautiful weather and healthy, active kids. Joshua got a new bike for his birthday last week. Yesterday was the second time this week we've ventured out into the neighborhood for a walk/bike ride with the new 20" bike. He rides it so well. Even more relevant to my thankful list, David came home early yesterday and today and was able to accompany us on our afternoon walk/ride.





Ethan is hoping to retire his training wheels soon. We'll see.



2. Eager helpers. On Wednesday Lesey spent the afternoon with us, and I decided to let all of the kids help me make some homemade cinnamon rolls. I told them to pull a chair up to the counter and they could take turns doing each step. When I turned around, they had pulled four chairs up in a line, and each time one of them took their turn, they would all four rotate to the next chair.














3. Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

4. An extra day to have all of my men at home this week.

Joshua's birthday

Of course, the birthday begain with opening the gifts from mom, dad, and the siblings. He liked the gifts; he loved the card. The gifts elicited smiles and thanks; the Darth Vader musical birthday card elicited this dance:





After school I took him to Toys R Us because he wanted them to announce his birthday over the loudspeaker like they did on Ethan's birthday. He also got a balloon and a crown:



In keeping with his tradition, he picked Red Lobster for his birthday dinner. I wish I'd taken a picture of him with his snow crab every year to track his growth. He's been choosing them for his birthday dinner since he turned three. Yes, that's right. Snow crab. Since age three.





That was all Friday on his birthday. Saturday was the party. This is how Joshua greeted his guests:



The party began with two challenges the kids had to complete to earn their jedi badges: a balloon challenge and an obstacle course:







I forgot to take a picture of the table with all the food on it. The kids dined on star and moon shaped sandwiches, wookie cookies (animal crackers - plain for the light side, chocolate for the dark), grapes and canteloupe balls (planets), lightsaber pretzel rods, and yoda soda (green sprite).



They topped it off with light saber cakes. I must add as a disclaimer that when I decided to do lightsaber cakes, I failed to take into account how much more surface area I would have to frost by cutting the cakes lengthwise and placing them end to end. My hand was so cramped from squeezing the frosting bag that the instead of nice, pretty star shaped frosting, I pretty much striped the frosting onto the sides. I've made much more difficult cakes, but the sheer surface area this one created was a nightmare - took me almost 4 hours.





After eating, the kids enjoyed playing outside with their lightsabers (aka, dollar store bats with duct tape wrapped around the ends).





Opening the gifts:




The Darth Vader cape was not reserved for Joshua alone (my niece):



Neither were the incredible hulk gloves (my dad):

Happy birthday to my 6 year-old

Being my first, I had no idea what to expect from pregnancy when I saw those 2 lines after getting pregnant with Joshua. I had naive ideas in my head of that "glow" I thought would magically eminate from me for nine months. In my imaginings, that glow did not include nausea, vomit, multiple hospitalizations for severe dehydration, gaining about 600 lbs despite said dehydration, being induced 11 days after my due date, pushing for 2 hrs and 20 minutes (while STILL throwing up), or contractions that made my sister-in-law cry just from hearing them over the phone. Nope, none of that.

But, boy was he worth every minute of it.