Monday, June 17, 2013

This School Year - My Babies are Getting Big

I really intended to link up with Alison and Galit for Memories Captured.  Really I did.  Unfortunately the week got away from me and before I knew it it was Sunday night and the link was down.  And the little window of opportunity to participate had passed me by.

Sigh.

But I really liked the post I had in mind so I am going to do it anyway.

Take that stupid deadlines that I just can't seem to make this spring.

This week is the last official week of school.  So in a few days I will be a proud momma to a rising 8th grader, 6th grader, and 2nd grader.

Gulp.

Who am I?  Can I really be the mom that has an 8th grader, 6 grader, and 2nd grader? 

It appears I can and I am.

My children had great school years.  Fortunately for us they have had more good years than bad.  The good teachers definitely outnumbering the not so good..  My children have also spent the past year growing.  Like physically growing.  There are mornings that I swear to God Golden Boy has grown taller and lost more of his little boy look over night.  I feel like he is changing fast and furious.  And my children have grown and matured emotionally as well.  It does my momma's heart good to see my children growing up to be people I like to be around.    Mostly.  There are still definitely days when I just shake my head, but mostly I like them.  For each of my babies there seems to be a special area of growth.
 
 
TeenStar



My TeenStar has never suffered fools gladly.  She has always had an extremely low tolerance for people who she thinks are wasting her time.  As you can imagine this impatience, this intolerance, can lead to problems when you are in middle school where silly drama and stupid antics reign supreme.   And when you have a younger brother and sister who make it their job (and do the job well) to annoy and waste as much your time as possible.,

Oh my girl.

But I am happy to say that my oldest has matured this year.  Not to say that all of a sudden she is this easy going and happy go lucky kid who doesn't let things bother her, not so much.  She has figured out some strategies to deal with things.  She is now happy to walk away or stay away from an event when it is going to make her crazy because of drama and stupidity.  She is also able to (mostly/sometimes) bite her tongue when people are driving her a little bit crazy.  She saves the ranting and raving for her dad and myself after school. 

And slowly, but surely, she is softening just a little teeny tiny bit towards her brother and sister.

It may be a slow change, but it is a steady change and I will take it.
 
 
Golden Boy



I always think of the change from elementary school to middle school to be a hard one.  My Golden Boy has made it an easy one.  I think SuperHubby and I have always considered Golden Boy to be a leader of sorts even with his goofy sometimes spazzy behavior, but this year truly showed him to be a leader.  He leads by example and he leads by his words.  He seems to have no trouble calling other children out when he thinks they are being a bit of a jerk.  Incredibly enough he does so in a way not designed to embarrass the jerk, but just enough to reign their behavior in.  And surprisingly enough his friends don't seem to mind his gentle prodding to be a better person. 

Because Golden Boy has a sister at the same school he occasionally has the opportunity to hang out with kids a bit older than him, think 8th graders.  When I asked TeenStar if the 8th grade boys mind having him hanging around she said no that when he gets a little too "tigger-ish" (you know in a bouncy and dorky way) they simply tell him to cool it and he does.  I love that (a) he doesn't change his personality to fit in with the older kids and that (b) he has garnered enough respect from the older kids so that even when his 11 year old ness starts to burn brightly they don't tease him, but simply tell him to give it a rest.

I can't explain how much this boy has my heart.
 
 
 
Princess
 

Princess has her nickname for a very good reason.  If allowed to she can definitely rule the roost.  And by ruling the roost I mean bossing everyone around and making everyone do things for her.  As the youngest of three she also has the advantage of two older siblings and their knowledge and experience.  So far things have been pretty easy for my princess for the past seven years.  She breezed her way through preschool and Kindergarten and athletically had never been challenged (definitely an advantage growing up with an athletic brother and sister)

First grade set up a few challenges for my baby, though.  The actual schoolwork wasn't necessarily hard for her, but the amount of work and decrease in the amount of free time and recess were challenges.  First grade wasn't all fun and games. 
 
And my little one tackled lacrosse this year.  Lacrosse is a hard sport you guys.  And my baby worked at it.  She worked hard.  And she improved.  She improved because she put in the time, listened to her coaches, and worked hard.  Not to say that she now wants to get her own glass of water if she is watching tv or sometimes is so lazy that she begs me to brush her teeth, but she has proven that when she wants to this girl is not afraid of hard work.

Oh my Princess makes me smile.
 
 

It has been a good year.   Challenging in many ways.  But full of so many accomplishments growth.

Only two more months until it starts back up again.

Have I mentioned that I will have an 8th grader, a 6th grader, and a 2nd grader?

Ugh.
 
In what ways have your children grown this school year?

Monday, June 10, 2013

Our Baby's Birthday

Princess turned 7 on Sunday.



The baby of our family.

The family's baby.

When you are the baby of the family, your everyone's baby for better our worse.

And now she is seven!

That seems so old.

For a baby.

And big.  Our baby is old and big.

Sigh.

She is...

An almost 2nd grader.

a soccer player

a lacrosse player

a cheerleader

a softball champ

A lover of anything that is happening at THAT MOMENT

Oh yes she is always in the moment

Oh our baby.  She is also ...

 bossy

opinionated

Smart.  Sometimes too smart

A social media maven

Emotional

Loud.

Crazy

Sassy. Sometimes too sassy

A social butterfly

She has a huge sense of who she is and she only just turned 7

Our baby

She is constantly running, running, running to catch up to her brother and sister.  And just when she thinks she has caught up they take off ahead of her again.

Sigh.

But that's what happens when you are the baby in the family.

The baby who...

still manages to score an occasional piggy back or carry upstairs from Daddy

is the only one who can play her older brother and sister like a fiddle

has no problem using a few tears to get what she wants

at least once a day finds a way to wiggle her way on to my lap even though she is way too big

Our baby is 7.

And even though she is 7 she will forever be our baby.

Happy Birthday Princess!


When you are the baby of the family there are no "great" baby pictures of you.  In every picture you are either being photobombed by your brother or sister... or a doll put there by your older sister.   When you are the mother of three there is just a certain amount of relief that there is some sort of documentation that the 3rd child was actually a baby once.

She is also determined to stretch this birthday celebration as long as she can.  With a celebration planned for next weekend when Grandma comes to visit and a party with friends planned for the 21st.  She will get the most out of this birthday celebration!

Friday, June 7, 2013

Get To Know Me From A-Z


I am Old School Blogging it today.  Which is awesome, because I have about 85 half written posts and seem to be having a hard time finish one to completion.  It's that whole feeling like I am going in a million directions, soooo distracted. 
 
Anyway so  Old School Blogging was a perfect anecdote to my distractedness.  Thank you Jennifer and Elaine!

 
A. Attached or Single?   Attached.  Married for 15 years in November.  Holy Moly.  15 years!
 
B. Best Friend?  I have two besties from college.  The best kind because even when you don't talk to them everyday when you do get together you just pick up where you left off. 
 
C. Cake or pie? Pie.  Always.  I'm not much for cake.  Or frosting.
 
D. Day of choice? Any day when we all wake up in pleasant moods and can spend the majority of the day together.  Happily spend the majority of the day together.  In other words a rare and hard to find day.
 
E. Essential Item?  My phone
 
F. Favorite color? Purple.  Always purple.
 
G. Gummy bears or worms?  Gummy Bears.  The worms are weird.
 
H. Home town? I don't really have a specific hometown.  I spent the first 12 years in a small town outside Watertown, NY.  We moved, spent a couple of years in transition, until we eventually settled in a small town outside of Rochester, NY and that is where I graduated high school.  So yeah.
 
I. Favorite Indulgence?  Candy Crush.  It is a complete waste of my time.  And I really can't afford to waste time, but...sometimes you just have to.
 
J. January or July? July.  Always July.  I hate winter says the girl who spent the first twenty two years of her life in places where it snowed from October to May.
 
K. Kids? Yes.  Three gorgeous, smart, crazy kids.  A girl (13), a boy (11), and a girl (7 on Sunday)

This was not one of the days where we were all happy.  See Princess's face. 
 
 
L. Life isn’t complete without? my children, my husband, books, and sunshine
 
M. Marriage date? November 21, 1998
 
N. Number of brothers/sisters? I am the oldest.  I have a sister who is 3.5 years younger and a baby brother who is 16 years younger than me!
 
O. Oranges or Apples? Definitely apples. 
 
P. Phobias?  I like to pride myself on not having any real phobias.  I like to think that I could definitely fight through any fears.  With that being said I am really not fond of vermin with long skinny tails.  Yuck.
 
Q. Quotes? "Excuses are the tools of losers."  This is one that we use a lot with our children and one that SuperHubby and I try to follow ourselves.
 
R. Reasons to smile? My children laughing together.  My children doing things they love and accomplishing things they are proud of.  Making plans for the future with my husband.
 
S. Season of choice? Summer.  No question about it.
 
T. Tag 5 People.   How about 3.  Julia, Sarah, SMS,
 
U. Unknown fact about me? When I was in 5th grade I started complaining about a pain in my left arm.  Because I have an unnatural tolerance for pain, I didn't make it a big deal.  Eventually my parents did take me to the Pediatrician where it was discovered that I had a rather large tumor in my arm.  Thank goodness the tumor was non-cancerous, but back then (30 years ago) any sort of surgery was a little more complicated.   I spent several days in a hospital located in a city a couple of hours away (I told you I grew up in small towns) and the tumor was removed.  Unfortunately my surgeon was in no way a master of his/her craft and left me with a rather sizable scar on my left arm.  A scar that I spent most of my teen years trying to cover up.  Obviously in 30 years the scar was faded considerably, but it still is noticeable.  I barely ever think about it now, but at the time and in this first 5 years or so afterwards it was AWFUL.
 
V. Vegetable? Zucchini
 
W. Worst habit? Finishing people's sentences.  I try very very hard not to do because I know that it is so annoying. But I confess that sometimes I do fall into that bad habit.  *cringes*
 
X. Xray or Ultrasound? Ummm x-ray?  We have had a lot of x-rays in our family.
 
Y. Your favorite food? I love pizza.  So much.  I also love pasta.  Pasta with fresh veggies in olive oil and garlic.  *sigh* Yum.  All carbs all the time.  It's a problem.
 
Z. Zodiac sign? I consider myself a Pisces, but my birthday is on the cusp between Aquarius and Pisces.  Is that weird?  Does that make me some sort of hybrid?

Check out Jennifer's and Elaine's link-up.