He knows how to write???

I am very guilty of letting a lot of things slide with children #2 and #3. Please tell me that it is normal so I will not lay awake at night feeling totally incompetent. I remember life with M. He knew all his shapes, colors, numbers, how to spell his name, etc by the time he was 3. This is just not the case with the others. I am pretty sure that it is just my lackadaisical attitude and not the abilities of the children as I learned this week that B can actually write...and that was without any kind of crazy "teach your three year old to write if it kills you both boot camp" that I may or may not have done with #1. We were writing on a birthday card for a cousin and B insisted on writing his name. I decided that he could pretend so I helped him with which letters to write and I was totally blown out of the water. With ZERO help from me, he can write almost all his letters. It was a wake up call to me...I can't put any of my kids in certain boxes...because they will prove me wrong time and time again.

The BIG Snow Storm

As far as extreme weather goes, we are pretty much limited to serious summer heat as far as I can tell. It is very cute to see how excited the kids get when anything falls from the sky around here. Today (this is MANY months after the fact as I am trying to catch up on posts) B asked, "Mommy, can we go to the snowy country sometime...you know, where the penguins live?" I know there is something magical about it. I have to admit that I am totally fine without it. It does make me feel kind of like the Peter Pan character in Hook. He grows old and totally looses touch with the magic of life until he sees it again through the eyes of children.
The boys were so excited. They scraped all the snow they could muster and worked long and hard to create this adorable mini snowman. By the afternoon, he had proper arms and everything.

Marathon Kids

Austin schools do this great program called Marathon Kids. It's aim is to get kids active and excited about physical fitness. It didn't take much to hook M (since he loves to run) but it also got B really psyched too...it might have had something to do with the promise of a medal...but who's counting.
How it works is, throughout the school year each child runs a marathon (pretty much one lap at a time). In the beginning of the year, they had a big kickoff ceremony to do the first lap and then this weekend we participated in the final lap.
On "race day", we met at a track to complete the marathon. I had a long run earlier in the morning and (since I was already totally sweaty) it was decided that I would run ahead with M while B raced with daddy and E in the stroller. When the gun sounded, M was off. He ran his little heart out and finished with the top few children across the line. B also ran most of the lap and was so proud when he got his first medal. I think they are hooked!

Goodbye Rolla...Hello Swagger Wagon

We decided that, before she died on us, and before we drove to Florida and before the tax refund sweetness in TX for cars older than 10 years expired...it was time to get rid of the Corolla. She was such a great car...good times and memories for all. Marc and his sister shared the car at BYU when we met, dated, and graduated. She drove us safely across this country and back many times.
Since the state was just planning to scrap her for parts, I thought it would be fun for the kiddos to paint her before we turned her in. I mean, come on, what kid wouldn't want to legally paint a car, right!? They loved it. I am sure they would have painted all night if we didn't cut them off to go to sleep. It was the perfect ending to a great legacy.
On the flip side...we joined the ranks of mini van drivers. We are officially a family now I suppose. The kids think it is the coolest car we could possibly own. We wouldn't go that far...but it is remarkable how much easier it is to tune out certain things when they are sitting so far away! After seeing the YouTube video , they totally call it a swagger wagon. I love it!

For the Love of Star Wars...

Anyone else love Star Wars as much as my boys? I kind of love that they like it so much. Our days are filled with Star Wars books, movies, legos, make believe, etc. I'm never quite sure who to be when they ask me to pick someone...but they always have a suggestion.
It could be a lot worse!

IS IT WRONG...

to love your kids so much that you just want to squeeze them all the time? Just wondering...

One Year Older and Wiser TOO?

It was lots of fun to have a quick visit from my parent's on my Dad's birthday. This is the last year in his 50's...and we didn't want to kill him off with 59 candles...so we just let him do 5. Happy Birthday Dad!