Poor Baby

Life is so, so hard when you’re the second child. See?

Aubrey’s complaints:

• “My nose has been running for 2 seconds and you have not taken me to the doctor!” (AHEM – I know who you are and what you are currently thinking – her nose running is NOT related to any visits we’ve had!).
• “I want to eat my grapes whole and you insist on cutting them.”
• “I NEED to sit at the table and throw all my food on the floor. I NEED to.”
• “Abby already made it through one kid – certainly she won’t mind if I pull her tail just a little bit…”
• “I would like to be playing soccer. Why does he get to have all the fun?”
• “I would like to have a lollipop after I am done with my haircut. Why does he get the lollipop?”
• “Strollers are for babies. Who wants to ride in those?”
• “Yes I have fallen 37 times today, hard. I have bruises all over my head. Yes, I just cut my lip on a toy. Again, you haven’t called the ambulance yet – what are you thinking? Oh, hold on, I have to go run and jump off something again!”

Kid number 2 is different, for sure. Mostly we are just a LOT more laid back – and she is the opposite of laid back! This girl has some serious spunk. But you know what she also has? The absolute best cuddles in the world. She still snuggles right down with her ear on my heart before bed and we rock and sing, and it is so, so cute. When we’re finished she sits up and says, “mmmmwahhhh”  (that’s a kiss).

And then I melt a little, every single time.

The Best

Excuse me while I just get sappy for a minute.

Do you know what’s totally, unbelievably, spectacularly awesome? Living 15 minutes away from the person whose been your best friend forever. Who you’ve known since you were ELEVEN. It’s just beyond amazing. And even more amazing is when you get to raise your kids together. So awesome. I love, love, love to hear Aubrey say Baby Bestie’s name. It just makes me smile so big!

We had a fabulous night with the Bestie family last night, park time, dinner time, good stuff. It’s always a bit of chaos, but we’ve learned to just roll with it!

The little ladies however, have not learned how to coordinate their smiles with ours…

Um, also awesome is that I can go to her house after a day where my hives were raging and I had on almost no makeup.

This though? This is the true us…

Shhh, I don’t think the girls have realized how totally insane we are yet. Don’t worry, plenty of time left for that!

Oh, and never fear, Logan had TONS of fun last night. He had a whole lot of stuff to tell Mr. Bestie, who listened very attentively. He also got to make his own dinner!

Good, good times!

And now, to bed to get ready for the week. 5 days, that’s a loooong week!

Goooooooal!

YOU GUYS…Logan is a soccer star! Okay, okay, I am totally kidding. But it was a great morning! I was really apprehensive about how it was going to go. He’s done the classes, but those aren’t really games, and he’s often unsure in new situations.

Not today! It helped a TON that his coach is our neighbor and friend, and another neighbor is on the team too. That ball started moving and the kid went after it! He gave it a fabulous try and I was so proud of him.

Getting in some warm up shots!

I’m pretty sure he was supposed to be listening to his coach, but he’s smiling for the paparazzi instead!

Getting into the groove of things…

Wait, did you see that?!?!?

GOAL! GOAL! GOAL! Logan scored three goals! Okay, it’s possible that two of them were in the wrong goal, but hey, he’s 3, any goal is the right goal!

Getting some congrats from dad (who was the official timekeeper!).

Action shots!

Then he posed for me at the end of the game. Seriously, it’s not that I expect him to be some big star. It’s just that I am a bit floored by how hard he tried out there today.

Way to go buddy. You had fun and played your heart out. And you made this mama so proud!

Thankful on Thursday

• I am super thankful I get to look at my beautiful children everyday, since you poor people are just not getting your fill of pictures, I’m sure. Sorry, we’ll try to remedy that!
• Oh, you guys, my class. My lovely, imperfect, but NICE class.
• Peter found this tool that pulls weeds out. It’s awesome. I’m thankful that it’s hopefully saving his back!
• Soccer starts again on Saturday – but a new one! No more plain old lessons, it’s game time! I am ready for complete hilarity to ensue. Did I mention there will be more pictures?
• BLATS. Have you ever had avocado on a BLT? It was a suggestion from my message board and oh my word it is delicious. Also a nice quick weeknight meal!
• Bestie family time this weekend! Wahoo!
• Jeans. Did you know I get to wear jeans TWO times a week this year? Have I mentioned how awesome my new principal is? Elementary teachers get excited about crazy things.

Happy almost Friday!

First Day–Hurray!

Last year I was so, so, so tired in June. I had a rough year, a difficult class, and I was burnt out. I didn’t exactly question leaving teaching, but that’s mostly because there’s nothing else I want to do – I feel like I’m meant to be in a classroom. But I did wonder how in the world I was going to keep going. Every day felt like it was harder than the last and nothing, nothing, nothing was working. I tried so hard to make them all feel loved, but I’m not quite sure I did that. It was tough.

Today? OH WOW. Let’s talk about a 180. Were they perfect? Nope. They’re chatty. Were there tears? Yep. And one lying on the floor by the coatrack for a while. But you know what? They were NICE. They were EXCITED. And they made me so excited!

Are they better than last year’s kids? Nope. They’re a different mix, they come together differently. But they are ready, and I am ready. And it’s going to be good, good, good. I just know it.

Because you know what? I have to enjoy what I do. It’s too hard to leave my kiddos and not feel like it’s for a purpose. I love what I do – and now I feel like I’m totally back in the game again. Love.

I teach first graders. They’re babies. They need love and encouragement, and all I need is their best. I do the rest.

Happy New Year, teachers! Let’s do this!

33!

Oh boy am I old! Whew! It was a great day, with lots of messages from friends, a shopping trip to the mall by myself for some new clothes, lunch and cake with my parents, and then dinner here at the house with Peter after the kids went to bed. Logan and Aubrey even gave me a crown to wear!

This will be short and sweet, since I have to get ready for the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL tomorrow. But know that I appreciate all the birthday love, and feel so, so blessed to be living this life of mine. I just know it’s going to be a great year!

River Fun

Happy long weekend! Time to grab the last few minutes of summer I suppose. We decided to take the other Z’s up on their offer and headed down for our second Labor Day weekend at their river house!

Logan is becoming an old pro at the river. He is completely and utterly obsessed with it. Yes, the kid loves being outside. So that is definitely part of it. But he also loves playing with the big boys, for sure. This time they took us to a new spot right near their house, a little beach! The kids loved it.

“BEACH? DID SOMEBODY SAY BEACH??? I’M IN!!!” said dear Logan, the beach obsessed child.

Racing with his buddy, Conner.

Aubrey wasn’t quite sure what to make of all this. But, um, she still managed to get a TON of sand in her bathing suit!

The boys, just chillin!

So I know it looks like Samantha is trying to take this from Aubrey, but she is not at all. She’s just checking on her “baby.” She took care of Aubrey like she was one of her dolls all weekend, it was too cute! Handing her food and drink, all that stuff. Adorable.

Clearly she approves of Aubrey learning that cups float.

I took 17 pictures of the 5 grandkids together. This was the best one!

Back from the beach, time to wash off! The girls are taking lessons from the big boys.

Then, this morning, boating fun! Apparently when you are 9 you get to take the kayak out by yourself. I predict my children will be 8 and 364 days old forever! But Aidan did awesome! They were right with him in the canoe too.

There’s the canoe crew! Logan had the BEST time, as usual, out on the water.

Such a fun time, as usual! Always too short, but fun to catch up. And watch Aunt Kim and Grandma unroll and reroll yarn. And laugh, a lot. Thanks so much guys, we had a great time!