KJ is 3!

Wow, our little Care Bear, Our Krazy J-Z, Our Kerri Jean, is 3 years old. And she is going on 6. Tonight at dinner Sean asked her to ask politely for some more chili (she loves chili). She said, very clearly, I do not want to say that. I will not say that. And that is our Kerri. She knows what she wants and knows what she does not want. And you are sure to know it too. With all her stubbornness, she is still a cutie.

She loves to snuggle and will rub your face, hair, back, etc if you lie down beside her. She loves her sisters and especially loves playing with Bridget when they are home alone. I love hearing her call to her sisters and ask them to play with her. The other day, she was at my parents' house; when we called to say goodnight she first asked how I was doing (really the first time I had a coherent two way conversation with her on the phone) then asked about each of her sisters. It melts my heart when they love on their sisters. It breaks my heart when they fight (which is often!).

Kerri loves Dora; she loves to color; she is always ready to go somewhere. She loves going to school, but still clings to my legs when drop her off. She LOVES her pacifier (I know, she is three!). Kerri is not easy to make smile or laugh, but when she does laugh, it is a great belly laugh, and you can't help but smile when you hear it. She will ask for waffles, then say "Actually mom, I'll have pancakes." She loves the word actually and I think sometimes says the wrong thing first just so she can say "actually." She takes her time and really seems very unaware of any sense of urgency in anyone else. It takes her especially long to get in her carseat. I think the more of a hurry I am in, the longer she takes! She picks out her own clothes the night before and notices if I make any changes at night (trying to match or make weather appropriate) and insist that I change it back to what she put it out. It is usually pretty comical!

Kerri is a funny kid and she makes me laugh everyday. She loves to read books and line things up. She loves blocks and building things. She loves her friends Gappy and Jimmy and gets along great with them.

We love you Kerri and hope you strong personality serves you well in life. Keep walking to your own beat and enjoy the view!

Maggie Mae

Thank you Maggie, my sweet darling 6 year old Maggie. Thank you for being you. feel very lucky to have you in my life. You are my little partner in crime. I love spending time with you; I love shopping with you; I love decorating the house with you, setting the table with... really, just about everything with you! I am amazed by all the style you have. I am amazed by your fashion sense and by the way you see things. I can remember when you were so shy and bashful, not anymore! You are full of spirit and full of life. You have friends that you really love being with, and they love being with you. And I so happy to see you playing with your friends and love seeing how happy your friends are to see you and be with you. I love that your truly care about your sisters and try your best to make them happy.

You are starting to read, and that is so fun to see. I love having you read to me at night. You love reading too.

You are playing soccer, and are pretty good too! You scored a few goals this season and will start your indoor soccer season soon.

You are still dancing. You are doing great in class too. You are always so excited to go and really so excited to do anything.

You skip off to school every morning. You love it and your teacher said you are doing great. She said if there was one thing to change (and there was only one thing) it would be for you to slow down a bit! It runs in the family!

You help me set the table and do the centerpieces all the time... and you are really good.

You are very emotional. Lately you have returned to having full blown tantrums again. We are trying to figure out the cause, but not sure yet.

You are great on the playground... climbing especially!

I am sad to see my little fashionista growing up, but so excited to see what is in store for you!

Maura is seven... how did this happen?

I have resigned myself to the fact that at every birthday of every girl, I will ask, "How did that happen?" I now know what those crazy "old" people were talking about when they said, enjoy it, it goes so fast (and I scoffed in their faces). Holy moly. It DOES go by so fast. And I am honestly tired just thinking about it let alone living it. The good news is, it is all good news right now, so for that I am grateful. Everyone is loving their lot in life right now. Everyone is basically happy and content, dare I say, even thriving!

Sean is busy at work, which is a good thing, but is still able to coach two of his daughters' soccer teams, make it to Donuts for Dads, go to Back to School Nights, and sign up to be a mystery reader here and there. Yeah for him. The other night I emailed KJ's teacher to tell her what fun Sean had and the Donuts for Dads and how excited Kerri was when Sean came in the door after work "still" wearing the tie she made him at school earlier that day. Her email reply, really made me stop and fall in love with Sean a little bit more (I know, sappy). She said: "Well, your family truly is special! When a daddy knows how to make his daughter's day that is something to be revered!" And you know what. She is right. Now, if only Sean read this blog so her could enjoy the compliment.

Maura's birthday party was a carnival theme. We had a clown do balloon animals and a magic show, we had carnival games (in the basement due to rain) and a homemade pinada. Lots of prizes. lots of candy. lots of fun. lots of relief when it was all over... oh, and one of Maura's favorite things... lots of presents.

We are knee deep in soccer season with Maura and Maggie both playing. Maggie is really loving it. She loves having all her girlfriends on the team with her. She even scored a goal at the last game. Maura is still in love with soccer too. We are now working on modesty with her. She seems to really excel at it (last game she scored 17 goals!). She is not at all bragging to her team or the other team, but wants a "prize" or a "treat" from me. Not sure how to handle that one. Really, I do not know what to do. When she only scored a goal or two, or sometimes did not really touch the ball, we would say, you can get something from the snack bar (or something small like that) if you score or block a goal (even if she did not we still gave it to her). This year at her first game, Sean said he would give her a dime for every goal she scored. I think she scored four. The next game she scored 7... now 17. I know a dime is not much, but it is probably not a good lesson. Really, again, I am torn.

Mags and B are doing dance again this year. They love it because it is with their friends Eva and Marin. It is nice because KJ goes to babysitting and I get to work out during it.

Daisy meetings start this week. I am Maggie's leader this year, so that will be pretty neat. It will be interesting to see how she acts with me around.

Again, all is good, and that is good!

GOAL!

Just a little bragging... Maura scored 7 goals at her soccer game today! Way to go Maura. The best part... she had a smile on her face the whole time!

Some more firsts.

Well, this momma is exhausted from all the firsts that have happened round these parts for the last three weeks. Maura started school August 31, then Mags started September 7, then B started September 12 and KJ started September 13. Won't it be nice when one day they all walk off at the same time... hopefully hand in hand, smiling and loving each other fiercely!

Well EVERYONE is doing great. I was most worried about B. She is definitely momma's little girl, and cried a lot even when I leave the house with Sean at home or one of our parents, so I thought going to school this year might be tough. Not the case. She is really doing a great job and feels very proud of being in pre-K and of all the new things she is learning. I am sure it helps that she has an awesome teacher. M and M both and her and I just adore her. She made such a big deal out of Bridget writing her name and cutting her circle at the "lifestories" (aka meet the teacher), she really made B feel so proud of herself. And me so proud of her too. B is definitely starting pre-K at a different skill level than M and M (she is almost a year younger than they were and has a different set of interest (and had a mom that was very busy with two older sisters and a baby sister on the way-poor middle child). I am just so happy for her though. She really is doing great and feeling great about herself. She is asking for playdates and wanting to have her own social life. Another thing that I think got neglected as the middle child. I am going to love watching her grow this year, and hate it at the same time. I am ready for a "freeze in time" I love the kids this age and would keep it ere for a while if I could.

KJ also is loving school. I kind of knew she would. She was so excited to hold her book bag. If you asked out loud in a room who was starting school tomorrow, she would excitedly raise her hand and say (in her deep voice) "ME!" She calls her teachers Miss Cammy (which is right) and Kristen (which should be Miss Mary Chris. Oh well. She loves them and loves school. SO far no tears and no accidents. Yea Kerri. I hope you fall in love with school this year and never look back!

We have another kindergartner

Yes we do! Mags started kindergarten today. It really just kind of went like any other school day would. She wasn't nervous, not really excited, just ready. At the last minute yesterday, they added another kindergarten class to her school and moved some kids around, so I wanted to be sure to take her up to school today and make sure she went to the right spot, alas, I was met at the door by the "escort" who stole... I mean, took, her away from me and walked her to her classroom. I still have a hard time adjusting to our elementary school and the lack of every day communication with the teachers, but I am trying.

3 hours later I picked Mags up in carline and she had a huge smile on her face. She was happy. She said she had fun with her friends, got to color and her teacher was nice. I guess that is really what it is all about. After last year's experience with kindergarten, I am looking forward to a fresh start and a whole new perspective (mine) on things.

Mags, I am very proud of who you are growing into. I can't believe the little girl who cried every day at drop off and would not go in front of the classroom for the holiday show, or even talk to your teacher for months, just two years ago, now runs off to kindergarten without a thought. Your confidence and willingness to try new things (with a dear friend nearby of course,) is a pleasure to watch. I am looking forward to this exciting new chapter with you!

School Days

We officially have two grade-schoolers. Holy Moly! Maura started first grade last week without a hitch. Despite her pleas to homeschool, she is back in the public school system. She seems to be liking it a lot. She did, however, mention that second grade she is definitely going the homeschool route because school is interfering with her social life, and by social life, I mean 5 day visits to Oba and Grandad's house!

Her teacher seems nice, although I have not really met her, which does bother me a bit. She has class with two of her "BFFs" from last year and two boys she was in class with too (not BFFs, but friend none the less). She will be playing soccer this year, which she is ecstatic about.

After the first day of school she informed me that the next day she wanted to ride the bus too and from school (she would not ride the bus at all last year) and wanted to buy lunch. Little Miss Independent. Maura has actually always been a easy child. She was an easy pregnancy, and easy, easy baby, easy toddler and now is a easy, I don't know, what do you call a 6 -almost 7- year old, young girl?!?! I sure am proud of my girl and everything that she does.

Mags will be starting Kindergarten tomorrow. She is super psyched. She has her lifelong BFF Eva in her class and her newest BFF Marin in her class. We even noticed that all three are sitting at the same table! They will be psyched! We met with her teacher today. She seems very nice and very friendly. She mentioned numerous times that it was kindergarten and we could relax a bit. So much different than last year's experience. I am looking forward to a great year.