Things that make you go, hmmm...

Remember that song from the 80's?  "Things that make you go, hmmmm ~ things that make you go hmmm, hmmm."  Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller?  (Can you tell I love my 80's references?)

How often do you walk into the room, that your children are playing in, or have just vacated, and thought - what the heck were they doing in here?

Case in point. - I just went upstairs to turn off the classical station that Caleb sleeps listening to at night and discovered his plastic hamper on its side, with an afghan in it.  The average person may assume he took all of his clothes out to look for his favorite shirt.  Not my son.  He was complaining at bedtime last night that he wanted to sleep in his sister, Madelyn's, room.  I said not tonight, because it is a school night, but you can "camp out" in her room with your sleeping bag all next week because it is Fall Break and you are both out of school.  *Insert crying and wailing and "I hate my room" rants.*  Fairly typical for a tired, cranky boy.

 I walked outside to this discovery last month

Well, my assumption is that Caleb took matters into his own hands and decided to make an "igloo tunnel" out of his bright red, insect, plastic fabric, 3 ft tall hamper.  My guess is he dumped all of dirty clothes on his real bed, grabbed his pillow & afghan and curled up for the night in a hamper that he has been using since he was born.  Niiiccceee.  Sounds delightful & comfy right?

Everyone has had those moments.  Right?  I LOVE those moments.  When your child's sense of wonder and imagination can not be contained to their parent's "strict & silly" daily routines.  I love that they see the delight in doing things slightly out of the box.

Like Madelyn wearing her totally rad (again the 80's) Hello Kitty bowler hat to school today.  Even though she knows she can't wear it in the classroom.  But, it makes an Awesome statement on the way in and out of school.  (As evidenced by her school's PE teacher shouting out "nice hat Madelyn" as he was directing car line this morning).  :)

The bowler hat modeled by Papa

Or Leah, putting together her own outfit ensemble and calling out "I'm ready for ewe to see me now Mommy!"  She, like her brother, marches to her own drum.  It can be more frustrating to try to change your child into something they are not, then just go with the flow and ride along with them.  Not that I would let them do anything dangerous.  Say, like letting them attempt to do a real life Frogger video game in downtown traffic.  *You get the idea.*

This is my Absolute favorite part about being Caleb, Madelyn & Leah's Mommy.  All of the fun, spontaneous things that fall in between the "planned learning & fun" of school, extracurricular activities, play dates and parties.  This is the stuff I hope they remember.  Cooking and baking with Mommy, snuggling on the couch and reading books waaayyy too late at night, building forts out of sheets in the living room on a rainy day, wrestling on the floor with Daddy and receiving endless piggy back rides from him.

It's all this "little" stuff that makes the "big" stuff (trips to Disney, blowout birthday parties) seem a little trivial in the end. 

Here's to enjoying the little things in life..... (As Leah would say - "Cheers!")  Thank you once again, Mom & Dad, for teaching my 2 year old that term, complete with the clinking sippy cups.  ;)

Let me introduce my kiddos....

I thought is was appropriate to introduce my 3 precious little ones if you are following this blog.  I know when I am blog hopping in the wee hours of the morning (when I should be sleeping) that I always wonder -"who are these people?"  I love to know the background after I have read all about their current lives.  Lots of pictures are always a bonus.  :)

I will start with my eldest, my son Caleb, who is 7.  I have affectionately called him "Caleb Boo" pretty much from the minute he was born, due to the fact that he was born on October 27th.  Get it?  Boo, as in Halloween.  Hey- it was pretty clever for a sleep deprived new Mommy.  :)  What a joy he was as a baby - always happy, smiling & content.  I had prayed for a boy first and my prayer was answered.  This dates back to my childhood longings for an older brother to protect me.  Plus, we got the whole "carrying on the family name" thing checked off with the first kid!

This is Caleb working on his 1st grade summer reading project

He was the easiest baby!  We could take him anywhere and secretly glowed inside that we must be natural parents because he was so happy all the time.  After a rough start with nursing, and getting his "tongue tied" tongue clipped at 9 days old, he was a great nurser and slept through the night at 9 weeks.  Then Caleb turned 3.  Our once easy going boy was now a stubborn, tantrum throwing mess.  Every day at home, much less preschool, was a stressful tightrope walk.  Would he have a good day, did he have special needs, was this normal?  I like to say his 3rd and 4th years were a constant battle that I couldn't let him win.  And I wanted to, out of sheer exhaustion.  See, I had another baby by this time.  He was still so loving to his family and close friends.  It just broke my heart that he wasn't adjusting well to new places and things.

I took him to our state run early intervention department and, shocking at the time, they stated that he was probably "gifted."  I learned what consequences and rewards worked and we made it through the rough years.  Now, Caleb is my darling boy.  Yes, he can still be extremely stubborn and unreasonable - but what kid isn't?  He loves his mommy, daddy & sisters with such a fierce devotion.  He still kisses me, Madelyn & Leah goodbye every morning in car line.

Our first darling baby girl, Madelyn, turned 5 in May.  Madelyn has been a ray of sunshine from the moment she was born.  Always laughing, hugging, smiling and giving away kisses.  She was my squishy, chunky Michelin Man baby.  How I loved to kiss all of those fat rolls on her arms and legs.  Madelyn absolutely adored her big brother - even when he bonked her on the head with a toy.

 She started talking, very clearly, at a young age.  I remember Matt coming home from work one day when Madelyn was 15 mo old.  She looked up at him and very clearly said "Why, hello Daddy!"  Crazy, and a little creepy.  ;)  Madelyn has talked non-stop from that moment on.  She was asking to have her ears pierced before she was two.  "Mommy has earrings, I want earrings too..... pleaassee Mommy?"  So, as part of her birthday gift, she did get her ears pierced after her 2nd birthday party.

Madelyn loves to help others and has such a kind, compassionate heart.  She is a peacemaker and never is intentionally mean spirited to anyone.  Honestly... she is a very sweet child.   She LOVES kindergarten and actually cries when she doesn't get to go on the weekends.  Her new passion is ballet.  Madelyn took Fairytale ballet when she was 4, but was "too shy" to perform much in class.  Now a little more mature, and having one of her closest friends in her class, she is so excited to be in the winter performance of The Nutcracker.

Which brings me to my baby, my little Leah.  She is our tiny little, doll baby - and our last child.  We knew we wanted at least three children, and after Leah was born (and proved to be our most stubborn child yet) we knew our family was complete!  :)  She was our first child that resembled my husband, with her dark brown eyes and brown hair.  She had such a beautiful golden complexion (unlike my pale self).  Leah has been petite from the day she was born.  She was my fussiest baby, with reflux and colic that lasted almost a year.  But, oh, what a personality!  Her extra large personality lets you know she is in the room!

Leah is either Jeckyl or Hyde.  She is either completely happy, or completely ticked.  She can melt your heart when she hugs you and says "I love you too Mommy!"  Leah is a super talker, just like her sister, but didn't take of vocabulary wise until right after her 2nd birthday.  Now, she compares models in advertisements and says "this lady is blonde, my Mommy is blonde."  What?!?!  I tell ya, she misses nothing.  I love that God gave me my little petite girl last, because I still feel like I have a baby - even though she is almost 2 1/2.

Leah loves to play with her beloved "Ladoo" (aka her lovey), read books and watch Dora over and over and over.  Her number one love is playing outside and she worships the ground her brother and sister walk on.  She also appears to love school as much as her sister, because she cries when she doesn't get to go to preschool too.  Leah attends the preschool where I teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Very convenient!

So, that is a somewhat Cliff Note's version of my precious kiddos.  In case you wanted to know.....