How do I love thee? Let me count the ways (Part 3 in a series)

KESTIAN

How you love your baby brother

How you always stick your tongue out when you are concentrating

How you create your own letters so you can try to spell words

How you can take a picture from a book and make your own beautiful version

How you love to be silly with your sister

How when you don't try too hard to smile, that you have such a beautiful smile

How you have an encyclopedic knowledge of dinosaurs

How you inspect every bug and worm that crosses your path

How you love cheese

How you always find the Thomas table

How you sacrifice your own bed for your stuffed animals

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways (Part 2 in a series)

ADELAIDE

How you love your baby brother SO much

How you are so beautiful when you are having fun

How you love to talk on the phone

How you outshine all the flowers in a garden

How you love art SO much

How when your brother is making a poster, you make one of your own (and it looks awesome)

How you have the best sense of style

How you look so beautiful when you are being silly

How you love playing with your (older) brother

How pink is your color

How every now and then you look well beyond your years

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways (Part 1 in a series)

FENTON

How you chew, chew, chew on your hands

How you have the most awesome hair

How you are content to snooze in your chair when I have a million things to do

How you look so peaceful when you sleep

How bath time is chill-out time

How you love the sling

How you don't seem to mind your brother and sister always in your face

How you take on the task of tummy time with pure joy

How your feet look so small in my hand

How you have the cutest sticky, licky tongue, EVAR!

How you are just such a happy baby

Graduation

Yesterday the kids had their graduation from their pre-K class at daycare. All the kids that are going to Kindergarten this fall were in the ceremony. I'm so impressed that their (awesome) teacher went to all the trouble to make such a special event for them. (Thanks Shannon!) The kids have been talking about it for well over a week. The ceremony was short and sweet (which is best for a bunch of 5 year-olds), but was very nice and thoughtful.

I must say, though, that I am so excited and so sad at the same time. My little babies have reached yet another milestone and are going to big-kid school. Where has all the time gone? But they are so ready to go too, both socially and mentally. This will be a great adventure and I think they will do fine.

Still, after five years in daycare (over two at this place), we have developed such strong relationships with the people who care for them day in and day out. And not just care for them, but have been teaching them. I really like our daycare because it's more than just people "watching the kids." They are actively teaching them so much, so much more than I would have if I were home with them everyday. Sure, some of the stuff I could have taught them, but they have so many resources that I doubt I'd do as good a job. It's not like I'm incapable, but it's just that the daycare has all these well thought-out lesson plans/units that I would never have the time to put together nor execute. Kuddos to them! (I guess that's why I pay them the big bucks!)

So, yeah, I'm excited for them to start school, but I am sad that they are leaving such a wonderful group of teachers and friends. At least our little Fenton ensures us 5 more years of daycare, which if he has to be in daycare, I know that this is the place for him.

Anyhow, here are some pics/videos from their big day. I'm so proud of them!

Here is the program their teach made. So nice!

Their teacher put together a slide show of pics of the kids and where they will be going to school. The kids loved it, shouting out everyone's name when they saw their picture, and I can tell their teacher put a lot of time into it!


This is their graduation ceremony. Each kid got an award for something special and then their diploma. Well done!


All the kids waiting:

Adelaide getting hers:

Adelaide got the "Most Responsible Student" award for always knowing the rules and helping everyone follow them:

Kestian getting his:

Kestian got "Best Scientist." We all know why:

Here are their diplomas. I plan on framing them (and their awards) or hanging them up somehow so they can see them everyday:


Here are all the graduates:

Adelaide with Ms. Shannon:

Kestian with Ms. Shannon:

All right! Let the countdown begin. Kindergarten starts in two weeks!

Side ways

Do all babies sleep like this?


You know, on their side, with their back arched, and head thrown back to make some sort of "7." I thought it was weird when the twins did it, but Fenton seems to do it too...


Maybe the weight of their hair pulls them backwards.

No, I'm not depressed. Really!

"Parenting"

The walls: hard and cold. The floor: marbled linoleum. The air: freezing cold. The lights: harsh and florescent. Only a gently whirring in the vents could be heard. I tried to adjust in the tough, white, canvas coat they had wrapped around my body, tight. I leaned back and breathed relief against the soft, plush chair. Peace fell over me. Peace. At last.

Wham! Suddenly the peace was disrupted. A door flew open. "You have to go back now! You can't be here!" The man's voice was rough and cold. Rough, like my jacket. Cold, like the air.

"But I prepaid for 13 years! I get to be here! I need to be here!" I whimpered.

"Tough. Get back to it. It's yours, you deal with it." He had no sympathy. He would not listen to bartering. He, also, was right.

I scooped up my sorry self, changed into regular clothes, and handed back the jacket that had offered me the safety and security I so much needed. I sighed deeply as I slogged through the door. Back. Back to where I had once come from. Back to it all.

My arrival was uncelebrated. Piles of laundry. Stacks of dishes. Kids screaming. Everything I had tried to escape from. It was all here. Here for me. I started running the water, waiting for it to heat up. Slowly the dishes were washed. Soon the laundry was processed. Still the kids screamed.

"She took my cup!" he yelled. "He took my book!" she protested.

I soon started dreaming about the place I just was. The peace. The freedom. The aloneness. Gone. All gone.

I focused on my task at hand. "Give back the cup." "Give back the book." Soon they found something else to argue about. The twitching above my left eye started again. I pondered my existence.

The day continued as such. More arguing. More twitching. More attempts to restore what was so fleeting.

Then night fell. Or was it day? The small beings that once drove me away from peace suddenly catapulted me back into it. There was no more screaming. There was no more twitching. Instead, there was order. There was harmony. There was peace. It wrapped around me like that tight, white jacket that I needed so much. I was back in my world. A world where I could function. A world where I could survive. Perhaps even thrive. A world where I could continue to be what I was meant to be. A world where I could be a parent.

And was happy to.

Editor's Note

The awesome desk that I thought my Dad built was actually built by my MOM! Now, I think I am pretty handy and all, but I don't think I could make a desk!!!!


That was an awesome desk. Thanks Mom!

Another step towards becoming "People"

I don't know about where you are, but already I have seen the "Back to School" signs at the stores. Fayette county schools have been out for just over a month, and already are less than a month away from starting again. And this year, that includes my precious little babies.

How can this be already? Where has the time gone? They were so little, so innocent, so still my babies. Now they are all grown up, asking questions, absorbing everything, and teaching me stuff!

So Kindergarten starts in less than a month, and obviously I have mixed feelings about it. But clearly they are excited. I told them, once, that they will be going over to the school on August 2nd for their "testing" or whatever, and that they will start at their new school on August 11th. Now, just about every day they talk about it, wanting to know what day it is and how many is that from the 2nd or the 11th.

And seeing their excitement makes me excited too. But it is strange. This will be their first real big experience that Damon and I are not a major part of. You know what I mean? Starting kindergarten will be the first big thing they do without us. Sure, they "started" daycare, but that was at 6 weeks old. Not the same. Sure they started at a "new" daycare at 3 years old, but it was just "more daycare." This is on the level of learning to ride a bike, drive a car, or going to college. A new experience for them, and one I can only observe and hear about.

And that makes me sad. It's not that I want to be the center of their lives. It's not that I don't want them to become strong, independent people. After all, that's what my job as a parent is! It's just that I can really see that they are one more step closer to growing up and being "people" and one more step away from the little newborns that I held in my arms. As a parent, I still want to hold on to their littleness, their babyness, and yes, their needing me. It's all just sliding away.

So anyway, as they continue to develop and grow and learn, I take comfort in the fact that we must be doing something right. They are already pretty good at adding/subtracting, can do a bit of spelling, and are so close to starting to read. Every night they busy themselves with art projects and Lego construction and tea parties. And let me just say, that while we encourage all of that, as Damon often points out, it's really more of an expected thing. Not like "We expect you to draw every night!" but rather more of "drawing is just something we do all the time"... like eating dinner or reading stories before bed. It is part of everyday life and nothing out of the ordinary.

Now you're probably saying, "Yeah, big deal. Lots of kids like to color." Tru dat! But, I have a suspicion that our kids tend to color a bit more than a lot of other kids. I've referenced before the volumes of art that they bring home from school each day, and after talking to their teacher at daycare I found out that most of the other kids there do not spend nearly the amount of time at the art table as our kids do. They would spend all day there if they could.

Now, that's not to brag or nothing. Some kids like to do some things more than others, whether it be sports or dancing or art. But since our kids do love art so much, and our designated "art area" is grossly inadequate for their needs, (and we needed to repurpose their current art table for dinner time), we ended up getting them each their own new desk. (No they are not the most attractive, but they were on sale.) As if our kids didn't already spend an inordinate amount of time doing art, now we can't get them to do anything but.

And that's fine with me. I once got a desk when I was about their age (that my Dad built and my Mom painted) and I LOVED it. I used it for years. I can totally understand the kids wanting to use their desks all the time. And hopefully this will be the place they continue to make beautiful pictures, do homework, and learn and read and contemplate. While I can't watch them learn to become People while they are at school, perhaps I can while they are at their desks.

And that will do just fine.