Graduation Day

Can you believe I have a child old enough to be going to kindergarten? I can't! Seriously, this last 5 1/2 years since Aidan was born has FLOWN by. That is probably (due in part) to the fact that I have been pregnant most of that time, but it's crazy to think that almost six years has past since he came into our family. And Emma--almost four!! They are growing up so fast...

Aidan and Emma had a GREAT year at pre-school this year. I was blessed to have them both at the same pre-school, at the same time, just with different teachers. Emma had Sister Willard in the 3/4 year old class, and Aidan had Sister DeGomez for his pre-kindergarten class. Both teachers were so wonderful to my kids. Emma learned a lot of social skills as well as how to write her name, all of her letters, and about 30 sight words. She loved doing her homework every week and I have seen a great desire to learn in her. She is always asking for paper and a pencil to practice writing and loves to do her flash cards with Daddy every night. Aidan has matured by leaps and bounds this year. He too, learned how to write his name, letters, numbers, and sight words. He is having a harder time with the sight words than Emma, but then again he is not a visual learner. I think is going to be very well prepared for Kindergarten. Speaking of which we were able to get Aidan into the Vail School district!!! He will be going to Mesquite Elementary, and starts July 18th!!! It is only half day, but weighing that with the level of education he'd be receiving at Mesquite, it was really a no brainer. I also think that Aidan is a bit "young" for his age still, and half day will suit him well for the upcoming year.

I tear up when I think of how proud I am of my two older children. They are becoming little people with thoughts, opinions, ideas, and imaginations. I love listening to them at play and in discussions with each other about the things they observe around them. It does my heart good when they are kind and respectful of each other (something we are still working hard on!) I love them very much and am grateful to be their mom. I know there will come a time in the not so distant future when the last thing in the world they want is to hang out with me, but I am so grateful to be at home with them during these years. I have to give the credit for that to Matthew for how hard he works at both Raytheon and with his own business, so that we have enough to meet our needs and some of our wants.

Congratulations to my little graduates!

Sister time

Lately, Olivia has really been enjoying spending time with her big sister! A few minutes before this picture was taken, Aidan and Emma were watching Up. When Aidan got up to go to the bathroom, Olivia high tailed it over to his chair, climbed in and hung out with her big sis.

Aidan is off to the side trying to get her to get out of his chair by sweet talking her--coaxing her to go to him. By the smile on her face, she wasn't fooled!

Watching intently...

...very intently. Check out Emma's face. It must have been a "high action" part of the movie. Anyway, Olivia spent the rest of the movie sitting next to Emma. They were holding hands at one point, but I didn't get to the camera in time. I hope these two grow up to be the best of friends. I never had a sister, but always wanted one--I hope for my girls to be as close as two sisters can be!!

Make believe--with flair

Aidan and Emma like to act out scenes from their favorite movies. And ever since they got dress up clothes for Christmas, they've taken it to a whole new level. Can you guess which movie/character Aidan was pretending to be?

Yup, he was Shrek. Emma was playing princess Fiona and was all decked out in a princess costume and Aidan wanted to have something distinguishable, too, so he went into the toy box and got the nurf bullets from his gun. He licked them and stuck them to his forehead. I found him checking himself out in the mirror as I passed by the bathroom and couldn't help but snap a picture. I love that my children have such great imaginations and love to play pretend.

The impossible shot

With four children, I have learned that getting a decent shot of one, let alone all four together, is virtually impossible. As you will see from the pictures below, this attempt was no different!

This one of Aidan and Emma was actually pretty cute. I love Emma's face and smile in this one. The crotch shot however, not my favorite!

When we really ran into trouble, was when we tried to add Olivia to the mix. It only got worse as you will see...

getting mad...

and, yup, there we go, full on baby cry! Oh, well. One day we'll get some decent shots of everyone, until then we'll have fond memories of trying!

You need to read more

That is what my loving husband told me recently. He swears it "didn't come out right," but really, I think he truly does wish I would read more. I wish I would read more, too. But, honestly, by the time 9 pm roles around and we finally have all four kids asleep in bed, all I want to do is crawl into bed myself. However, I have taken on my husband's challenge to read more and am starting with the above two books. We had a coupon for 70% off at Barnes and Noble dot com, but when we finally decided on a book to buy (thanks Amanda and Melanie for the suggestions) our coupon wouldn't work. Figures. SO, last night for our date night we went to the library and checked out a few books instead. I went with an old favorite to get me back into the swing of things, The Witches by Roald Dahl. I love all things Roald Dahl but The Witches was always on the top of my list! Then I thought I would delve back into Dan Brown. I haven't read his newest (well, old by now) book The Lost Symbol. The books I wanted, two suggested by my sisters-in-law, were of course either checked out or not at our library. I have them on reserve though and am really anxious to read both Dealing with Dragons and North and South. We also checked out some Madeline books--our kids latest obsession, and Harry Potter and the Soceror's Stone on CD for Aidan. He LOVES listening to books on tape at night as he is falling asleep. Anyway, if any of you out there have any other suggestions for me I would love to hear them, because, well, apparently I need to read more :)

Dance, Dance Party Baby!

My little guy

I love this kid! Of all of my children, he is the most attached to me--and because of that, I feel a special bond with him. From the moment he was born, he was mine. Maybe it was the weeks of bed rest before he was born getting to "know" him, or the slightly traumatic, very spiritual natural child birth, or the months and months of physical therapy and worry over his torticollis and plagiocephaly. I am not sure why, but he's always wanted me, rather than daddy. Something I am not used to since all the rest of my children, Olivia included, prefer Matthew. But not Parker. He wants me for everything--and as daunting as that is at times, it is really nice to be the preferred parent. Don't get me wrong, my kids like me, and I certainly love them, but there is just something about Matthew that has them all smitten--I mean I get it, I am smitten, too. But there is also something to be said for Mama's boys--and that is certainly what my Parker is!