Oh Andrew

Andrew has had a rough stretch at school. Academically he is a rock star and works very hard. He is extremely hard on himself though and has some serious perfectionist tendencies. There is one area he does not enjoy, writing. Specifically journal writing. Without getting into all the details and mortifying him on this blog (which is a real possibility) we have come to realize that Andrew is incredibly and intensely private. He does not like sharing his thoughts with people that he does not trust and certainly does not want them written down anywhere for just any old person to come and read.

Clearly he will not be blogging about himself anytime in the near future.

The positive that has come out of this though is that Andrew and I have had some great conversations about stuff that he never would have willingly shared otherwise. And I learned that he needed to pack more food in his lunch because every time he melted at school it was right before lunch. He hadn't been eating a snack with the rest of the class.

I am happy to report that, although it has not been completely clear sailing with school, it is significantly improved and I feel like we are going to be able to move forward in a positive direction.

Lucy's 5 Year Old Well Child Check

Lucy had her 5 year old well child check last week. She is growing like a weed and doing great!

Height: 44.25" (83%)
Weight: 46 lbs (82%)

She is about a proportionate as they come. The doctor was happy with all the things she could do and Lucy is starting to get excited for kindergarten. I even remembered to get the printout of all her shots so when I get the kindergarten registration paperwork in a month I can fill it out. It is so hard to believe that she is ready for all these big kid things!

Mellow Afternoons

The day in, day out of our afternoons are pretty mellow. Most days the girls watch a Barbie movie while Reid naps. Once that has finished it is time to play. And they do really well playing together for the most part.

Right now the girls are excitedly using the new art/craft supplies that they got for Christmas and Lucy's birthday. Today was painting with coloring sheets they got for Christmas and Lucy worked on a sun catcher that she received for her birthday.

They are such good friends. With the occasional cat fight thrown in. Currently Lucy is about the coolest thing to walk the earth in Gwen's eyes. She wants to do everything that Lucy does. If Lucy is coloring, Gwen needs to color. If Lucy is playing family, Gwen has to be playing family. If Lucy is wearing pink pants, then we all better hope and pray that Gwen has some pink pants in her drawer or it is the end of the world.

Lucy's 5th Birthday Party!

Lucy wanted a Hello Kitty birthday party this year and I was happy to deliver! We have had a LOT of princess parties in the past few years and I was so excited to do something different.

Lucy only had two birthday requests: PINK and a lemon cake. So we delivered with a lemon cake with pink sprinkles, pink punch and of course the Hello Kitty party gear.

Lucy was so excited to have her party. She had an order of events that needed to take place. First there was a play time. Then cake and ice cream.

Then more play time. And finally presents. I have never had a child with such specific ideas of how their party was supposed to go. It was fine and she was utterly adamant about her agenda. So we followed it. It was her birthday party after all.

I can only imagine how intricate and complicated her plans are going to get in the years to come. She was very cute though and she had a marvelous time playing with friends and opening presents. Happy Birthday Miss Lucy Fern! You are very loved and so, so special!

My Little Ones

This morning we took the big boys off to running club at school. When we got home Lucy and Gwen piled on the couch like normal to snuggle in with some blankets and watch cartoons for a few more minutes. Today though Reid decided that he needed to be part of the pack and he wormed his way right in between both of them.

Then Reid decided he needed a book. Good thing for him Lucy is ALWAYS ready to sit and read to him. She doesn't exactly know 'how' to read but she does a great job of telling him what is on the pages and makes up her own stories. She is very ready for kindergarten and the excitement of reading. I think new baby will get a lot of books read to him when she is in school. Have to love a captive audience.

Happy Birthday Lucy Fern

Tonight we had the tiniest of birthday celebrations for Lucy's birthday. Her party is on Saturday but it went against everything in me not to do something on her actual birthday this year. So after swimming lessons we headed off to Jack in the Box for dinner (fancy, I know) and then we intended to go to ColdStone Creamery for dessert. Unfortunately ColdStone in Everett had closed without me knowing it so we were scrambling for an ice cream dessert. Off we went to Costco for two giant frozen yogurts and a churro for Reid. It was a great plan and Lucy really seemed to enjoy it.

I didn't know if Lucy was going to be up for opening a present originally. She fell asleep in the van on the way home but she quickly perked up once she heard the word present. She was thrilled to get two new shirts and two new pairs of stretch pants. She will get the rest of her presents from us on Saturday. Happy Birthday Lucy-Lu! You are one loved little girl!

One of THOSE Learners

Me to Lucy: Don't touch the stove, I turned on the wrong burner a few minutes ago and it is still hot.
Lucy: Which one? The big one?
Me: Yes, don't touch it, I don't want you to get burned.
Lucy: OUCH! That IS hot.
Me: Did you just touch the one I told you not too?
Lucy: yes

And then Lucy and I had a conversation about how sometimes she is just going to have to trust me when I tell her something isn't safe. She shouldn't try and learn it for herself and that I will let her do everything I can that I decide is safe for her and not coddle her. 

Sigh. I don't know if she believed me.

Early Morning

There is a rule at my house about mornings. No one out of bed until the clock says 6:00. Usually this rule is followed by everyone but Gwen this morning must have forgotten what a 6 looks like because she was up at 5:40. Funny thing with Gwen though, she is really quite terrified of the dark and insists on having someone go downstairs with her to turn on the lights. Since Lucy is the nearest person to help she usually gets woken up to go downstairs. I heard Lucy stop by the bathroom and get a drink of water and say to Gwen, "Stay right here, don't be scared sister." and after her drink, "ok Gwen, let's go now." Some days they fight and bicker, but most of the time they love each other a lot and take care of each other. Melts my heart, even at 5:40 am.

Zane's New Specs

Zane had a bad run with glasses with several pairs breaking, then getting fixed and breaking again. Because of some insurance changes we ended up getting glasses at a different place this time around. We are crossing our fingers that they will be a little more sturdy and not break nearly as often. At least this pair stays up on his nose better. The granny look was not my favorite for him!

Father Daughter Dance

For the past several years the high school has hosted a Father Daughter Dance. Last year we found out about it too late for Eric to take the girls but this year they advertised it in the boys school newsletter so we made sure to add it to our calendar.

Lucy was very excited to go to the dance. Gwen was really mad about going and wearing the dress that she wore. I don't know exactly what she wanted to wear but I didn't know if she was going to get out the door with the fit she was throwing.

Funny enough though, Eric said that once they got to the dance Gwen was thrilled to get up and dance and Lucy made it through one song before she wanted to go home. Late at night is not Lucy's best time of day though. She had gotten up at 6:30 so being out and about at 6-8pm was not the best fit. Regardless Eric said it was a nice time and that he would end up going again.

Stamping Time

Gwen got a stamp set for Christmas and the kids are having a lot of fun playing with it. It is a wonderful rainy/snowy day activity!

Reid isn't exactly sure what he is doing but he likes it that the girls are involving him and letting him participate in the activity. He keeps telling Lucy where to put the stamp on his page.

That works well for Lucy since she is horrified when Reid gets ink on his fingers. So until he figures out that he is actually missing out on 99% of the fun of stamping we are going to have a fun activity.

Zane's Pencil of Power!

The boys school celebrates excellence in writing by awarding a pencil of power to good writing assignments. Zane received his first pencil of power for his letter to Santa this year. (Letter transcribed below, spelling and punctuation are all Zane's)


Dear Santa,
I what a ipod. I have been relly relly good. I have ones made eggs weth bacan. And some pancake for my family. thet is how I have been helpfol.
Love, Zane

Sadly Santa did not bring Zane an ipod for Christmas, but maybe some year soon he will!

Mr. Fix It!

Reid got a cute little power drill for Christmas this year. He has had a lot of fun practicing with it. He is always ready and willing to help any time there is a project involving tools.

He loves to follow Eric and the big boys into the garage and 'work' with them while they are busy. Occasionally we have to worry about what he thinks he is fixing but most of the time he just stays cute.

He has found a few other uses for the drill as well. Future dentist? Or possibly we need to make an appointment to get his ears cleaned out!

2013: Starting Off Rough

2013 started off with the appearance of the flu in out house. One after another the entire family fell ill. It was not the way I wanted to end 2012 and bring in 2013. But life moves on and we are hopefully back to normal blog programming!