Early Reader Award

Samantha started preschool in the fall and came home today with an "Early Reader" award! We knew that she was good at knowing her letters and the sounds, but we didn't realize how far she is. (Whenever I work with her, she assumes the teacher role and we don't get too far.) Sam was the only one from her class to get a reading award, so she is very proud of herself. It was a big deal for her to go into the "big kids" classroom and get her award. Daddy and I are very proud of her!

The many sides of Sam

Here's our girl! Doesn't she look sweet? Most of the time she is... except when she doesn't want to be. I've listed some snippets of recent conversations we've had below:

Riding home one night, we were talking about how lucky we are to have a home. I told her that not every family gets to have a home. She replied that we could share our house with another family and that she would share her room with another kid. Awww, I don't think she could have been sweeter in that moment!

One day when I wasn't saying yes to every request she made...

Sam: Mom, you are being naughty.
Mom: How am I being naughty?
Sam, thinking for a minute: You are acting like me.

There you have it!


Here's a video from a few months ago that shows the many sides of Sam.

Leslie

I remember when I was about 5 months pregnant with Samantha that a dear friend (Rene') took me under her wing to help me prepare for parenthood. She introduced me to a wonderful lady who provided daycare for her kids. Since I trusted Rene' and she had known Leslie for 9+ years, I was very hopeful. We met her and felt safe with the thought of leaving our kid with her. When Sam was 7 weeks old, Leslie started having her part-time. Then there was Sofia who loves Leslie just as much as Samantha does. We are very lucky to have found someone so special to look after our kids!

Here's the gang during the summer of 2005 with "Baby Sammy".

That fall Sam went to Emma Krumbees orchard for the first time.
Then came Sofie... this was the summer of 2008.

Sofia's first time at Emma Krumbee's... she loves Nora!

Sofia talking

Here's a short video of Sofia talking... no, I don't know where the accent came from, but it's funny!

Here's a list of words as of today: Mama, Dada, Nana, Papa, milk, more, done, bottle (baba), baby, book and something else that may be "doll" though that hasn't been confirmed.

Hard Conversation with Sam

On a serious note, the statistics on children being molested are staggering. Since a majority of the time the perpetrator is someone the child knows and is usually an authority figure, I took the approach of trying to have some talks about saying no and telling us as her parents now in the hopes that repeating it will help her tell if anything (deep breath) does happen to her. It is painful for a parent to even imagine their child hurt in any way, but I'd rather talk to her now than wish I did later on. I was very apprehensive given the subject matter, but I tried to be nonchalant!

I'm helping Sam get ready for bed.
Mom: What should you do if anyone ever touches your vagina?
Sam: No one touches me there. We keep our hands to ourselves.
Mom: That's good! If someone ever tries to touch it though, then you should tell me OK?
Sam: OK.

Mom (thinking to myself): 'Nuff said. Not bad for a first time!

Mommy makes a big mistake

Before you read this, please understand that I didn't think it wouldn't be a problem and I realize you're not supposed to do this. According to the nurses at our pediatrician's office, I'm not the first or last mom who has broken her own rules.

I gave Sofia peanut butter yesterday and there were consequences. Swollen eyes, runny nose and every size of hives were the physical consequences for her. The emotional ones are for me... The guilt of "I broke the kid and I'm sorry" to Daddy and to Sofia who appears to be fine with Benadryl and calamine lotion. Samantha has been very helpful in emphatically and repeatedly reminding me that we don't give Sofia peanut butter! I did the crime and I'll do the time in taking my licks, even if they're mostly coming from a 3 year old!

The cutest part of my deformed little girl was after I put the calamine lotion on she stopped itching and seemed to know that whatever was in that bottle was good, so after a few minutes Sofia would point to the bottle and say, "A-dis?" until I applied more lotion. This cycle continued until the Benadryl kicked in.

Disney On Ice

Samantha got to see her 2nd ice show today. It was "Mickey and Minnie's Fantasy Journey" and fun was had by all! Grammy and Nana accompanied Mom and Sam and it was a great show! Mine and Grammy's favorite was the part with Ariel (The Little Mermaid) and Nana and Sam enjoyed the piece with Peter Pan the most. What girl doesn't enjoy the occasional ice show? We went earlier this year to the "Finding Nemo" show with Rene' and "Camouflage Clay", who is now 8 and not interested in Disney princesses. We understand and don't take it personally, but we had a great time then as well! There was a point during both shows that I was so overwhelmed by my love for Sam that I nearly cried. I feel so lucky that we do this and spend some time together. I think Samantha's favorite part is getting the souvenir mug with the flavored ice. She kept the straw in her mouth while watching both shows intently!

Defeated by a gas can

Old man winter blessed us with about 3 inches of snow last night so I thought this would be my opportunity to chip away at the feminine stereotype by using the snow blower. Outside is generally Daddy's area, so I was strangely excited about my upcoming adventure. I ran into an issue when I couldn't get the gas out of the can to fill up the manly snow blower. As I shoveled the snow myself my only thought was I can't wait until Daddy comes home so I can learn how to operate the gas can! So help me, my girls will know how to use this and power tools too!

Friends and Family to the rescue!

As they say, you gotta have friends. Your family (blood or otherwise) definitely counts too! My friends are part of my family and without them, my life would not be as rich as it is. Thank you to all those (family or not) who have helped me this week... it's nice to have some sanity back! And those of you who know me well should understand that sanity is a relative term!

Thank you so much! Your support is priceless and gives me strength!

Thanksgiving

Daddy can cook a great meal! The kids had a great time entertaining our guests (dancing on our coffee table) and we enjoyed having everyone over!

I am filled with gratitude because my life is better than I ever thought possible.

Challenges

With both kids having colds, Daddy being gone and me being run-down, I'm struggling to be patient and understanding. Since I realize that attitude is everything and usually decides whether you have a good or bad day, I'm focusing on the positive and the fact that it won't be like this forever and that in spite of the fact that it gets crazy in the not-so-fun way, this time is precious and I need to appreciate it. This too shall pass.

Both Sam and I had timeouts this morning for yelling at each other. Yes, I set the timer and faced the wall with my daughter because I made a bad choice and had to deal with the consequence. After calming down, we built a fort with the exercise mats, got out nearly every blanket in the house and set up the play tent. We took turns being the "Big Bad Wolf" and blowing the house down. That was a nice change of pace.

We have a few errands to do, so it will probably do everyone a bit of good. Sam has agreed to my "special helper" like she does for Daddy which should be fun!

Slip Sliding Away

Sofia is now going on the slide by herself (climbing up and sliding down) and from my perspective at least, it's pretty cute. She is so proud of herself and has been practicing a lot!

Here's a short video I took of the girls that epitomizes sisterhood. Please excuse my comments as I try to parent!

Sam's day with Mommy and Daddy

To reward ourselves (Sam for increasingly good behavior and us as parents for increasing patience), we asked Nana and Papa if they would take Sofia for a night so we could have a day with Sam. We went out to lunch followed by the train museum and came home to rest. Then we got to take Fonzie out to Mom's office and run around while Dad made us dinner! After that we played a marathon game of hide and seek, which Mom lost since Dad and Sam were such great hiders. Daddy had to go work for a bit so Mom showed Sam some computer games and a little bit on how to work it. It wasn't bad for a first lesson!

It was a great day and I'm glad that we are able to do it! A bonus is that Nana and Papa are having a wonderful time with Sofia!

Conferences at Preschool

Earlier this week we had conferences at Sam's preschool. Does that sound strange to anyone besides me? She's not quite 4 years old! Of course Daddy and I went full of questions, concerns and pride for our oldest baby. She knows all the letter sounds, which is great! She's still getting a lot of social time, which is even better! (My thought is that she can have all the book smarts in the world, but if she doesn't have people skills her world will be very limited - read: no friends!)

From the teachers: "Samantha is a joy to have at school. She's eager to participate, very social and at times so focused on a task that she's immune to distraction." (We've seen the immunity to distraction when we have to yell, "Sam!" to get her attention. She's not ignoring us, she's just really focused. Realizing this has helped our patience level!)

Way to go Sam! We are so proud of you! You are a wonderful combination of smart, silly and sweet!

Sofia is 1!

Our baby is one year old! She's walking, climbing, pointing and learning so much! Her vocabulary consists of: up, down, baby, mama, dada, done and she signs "more".

Here's a recap of our parties...


We had our family over for lunch and had a lovely day! Thank you to Melissa for a fabulous cake!

After waiting nearly an hour for the doc to show up at the hospital, Sofie was out in one push. I still remember the labor, her being just hours old in the hospital and the sense of calm and serenity while I held her. Now with both girls being active the sense of calm isn't usually there, but it still returns occasionally. I am so blessed beyond any of my dreams. I never thought I could love someone this much! Daddy is my partner and we're in this together. Samantha is a wonderfully creative and amazes me constantly. Sofia is full of snuggles and I love to watch her in this huge stage of learning!

Daddy had a good birthday!

Daddy's birthday was last weekend and we had a great time! Antie and Uncie stayed with us, Nana and Papa brought their famous ribs dinner over, we had more family over to celebrate Sofia's birthday (strangely on Daddy's birthday) and it was a lovely (and relatively calm) day.

While I know Daddy appreciated the Collector Lego set, I know he loved the book and the Seinfeld trivia game! I'd say he did pretty well this year!

The hardest part was watching Antie and Uncie go... we miss them so much. Samantha even said that she wished they could come back tomorrow. It was very cute and very sweet! We love them so much!

My girls

Here is what I woke up to Tuesday morning...

Both kids have been very well-behaved so far this week and very patient with me while I'm constantly moving! It's exhausting being on my own, but the kids have been so great!

Halloween

(Continuing my parenting "high")

I'm a little late with the Halloween pictures, but here is a snapshot of all the Halloweens for our family...


Daddy's cheerleader for his team


Tigger (she still loves her baby Nora)

I was so proud of my girl who chose to be a dragon and then told people not to be scared because she was a pretend dragon, not a real one.

And then there were two... the lion and the lamb. I think they both possess more of the lion qualities than the lamb, but I love my adorable monsters!

Good day

Daddy's trip wasn't cancelled, so I'm single parenting. I did good today! No losing patience while accomplishing tasks like giving Sam her medicine with the nebulizer, baths and the grocery store. I usually try to minimize the things that need to be done when Daddy is gone so I can focus on the kids and have a little left over for Fonz. I'm proud to say that both kids (and the dog) were wonderfully well-behaved. Everyone wins when Mom stays calm! I have been struggling a bit with patience, so it was a great reminder for me of how attitude really is everything!

Thank you to the store cashier who took my groceries after Sam needed an emergency potty break, the neighbor who held Sofie while I attended to Sam and Grammy for walking the dog so he's not left out. It really does take a village and I appreciate the help from everyone, including the kids!

Emmy

We lost you 4 years ago today and will never forget you.

Mommy gets to stay home!

I don't have to get on a plane tomorrow morning, so I get my whole weekend! My trip has been cancelled! There were joyous screams in the house by all of us when I found out. Even better, the girls went to stay with Nana and Papa tonight so I get Daddy all to myself. We are very happy!

Faith definitely has its rewards!

Absence makes the heart fonder?

Next week both Daddy and I will be gone for most of the week for business. I'm heading to south Florida and he's heading to Dallas. Both of us tried to get out of our trips, but luckily the grandparents have stepped in and will be looking after the girls (and dog).

I'm still not okay with being gone. I'm not okay with this at all. I've never been away from Sofia or Sam more than 3 nights, which is usually my threshold for a business trip anyway. I don't want to go and I know that there is no way to get out of it without quitting my job, which isn't realistic right now. I know that is the case, but I still want to cry just thinking about next week. I'm trying to be optimistic. At least I don't have to do this often. Maybe I can take time to read and take care of other things that have been put off. Maybe I can sleep through the night!

Daddy has 2 other week-long trips before the year is out. I know he's not happy about it either because he misses us just as much as we miss him when he's gone.

Happy Birthday Billy!

For those of you who don't know, Bill is my big brother by about 16 years. He was almost out of the house by the time I was born, but he's been there for me when I need him and I love him! He's an easygoing guy who will viciously tickle you until you (almost) pass out, the kids love him and he's very tolerant of all the annoying little sister things that I still occasionally pull. Below is a shot of Bill and Sam fooling around earlier this year...



I hope it's a great day for you Bill!

Sever's

We went to Sever's last weekend with the Murphy's and had a great day! We love the Murphy's because it's always a great time! We didn't get far into the infamous maze before the words, "Mom, I have to go potty" came out of Samantha's mouth. Needless to say, we didn't make it through the maze. Namaah and Sam were also enjoying running way ahead of us, which was not okay for the mommies. I got to see the pig races which was great to pay homage to my childhood, a wildlife show for all, the Super Slide for the girls, cheese curds and cookies and the best thing ever, the corn pit! I stopped counting after finding 20 pieces of corn doing laundry the next day. There was so much to do and see, I hope we make this an annual tradition!

Here's a video of Namaah and Sam enjoying the corn pit...

Here's the "babies", Sofia and Kian checking each other out...


More of Samantha and Namaah, including the corn pit!

It was a perfect family day!

Life with two kids (more than twice the work!)

I recently took the girls a Halloween party. With Sofia moving at high speeds and Sam being everywhere at once, I learned a lesson on how life is going to be with 2 active daughters. Both had their best friends to play with and seemed to be on the opposite sides of a very large room ALL the time. I didn't think ahead to eating dinner (booster chair needed!). I was almost as messy as Sofia with her on my lap! I didn't really eat anything since I didn't have enough hands and Sofia kept taking my food. Sam ending up mostly eating cookies and meatballs for dinner, but as long as it's not the norm, I think we'll all live.

Witness Sofia after having "Slime Cake"...

I have a feeling though that it's going to be like this from now on. There is never a dull moment and hopefully I'm being realistic in not expecting one! As a smart woman once offered, "Parenting is one big game of whack-a-mole. You think you've got it, and then another one pops up.'' It's a good thing I love adventure!

All in all, I cannot believe how blessed I am to have these wonderful monsters...

Birthday parties

With Jason and Sofia's birthdays coming up, we were discussing plans and options we would like. Then we asked Samantha what she would like to do for her next birthday.

Dad: Would you like to have a party this year?

Sam: Yes!

Dad: Who would you like to invite?

Sam: Ella, Ava, Naamah, Angelica...

Dad: What about Clay?

Sam: No boys Dad. Only girls can come to my party!

Dad: Oh, really? What about Papa?

This went on for some time. Sam finally relented that her dad could stay, but he would be the only boy.

Is it just me, or is she really growing up fast?

Sam's song

I couldn't resist this one! Watch for Sofia!

Sam is singing a sing that goes like this...

5 little monkeys hanging from a tree
teasing Mr. Alligator, "Can't catch me!"
Along comes Mr. Alligator, quiet as could be
then SNAP goes the monkey right out of the tree.

Orchards 2008

In the month of October, we went to 2 orchards. Sam missed the daycare and preschool trips, but we still went on our own!

There was Emma Krumbee's with one of Sam's best friends and her family...

And then off to Afton with the Mewes family for a hayride, raspberry picking (mostly eating), lunch and a quest to avoid the crowd in pursuit of Honeycrisp apples.

(I didn't get many pictures, but it was still a good time!)

Explaining death to Sam

Almost 4 years ago, our friend's daughter was killed crossing a street. It's every parent's nightmare and to their credit, our friends have shown courage and strength unlike anything I've ever seen. Emmy is never forgotten and will always be terribly missed, but somehow our friends still live their lives.

Samantha knows that her former "heerio" (hero) Clay had a sister and that she died. I've reminded her about it as an explanation of what can happen if you go into the street without an adult and why we hold hands in parking lots. (This is not to say that his sister was at fault because it was an accident.) She asks where Emmy went after she died and I say I'm not really sure (because I don't really know), but that some people think she went to heaven (a really warm and peaceful place), of course to which she said she wanted to die and go to heaven. At that point, I took a deep breath and another. I told her that I would be really sad if she died because I would miss her and so would Daddy and Sofie, her grandparents, Leslie and so on.

My parents never taught me to fear death, it's inevitable and you usually don't have a lot of choice in how you die, so I choose not to worry about it too much. I'm trying to instill that in Sam too because as the saying goes, you can't fight death.

Sam has brought it up a few times that she's not going to die and that she doesn't want me to die either. I casually tell her that I will die someday because everyone does and that doesn't change. I also tell her that I'm not afraid of it because what matters to me is how I live, not how or when I die. I need to make my time here and now count. Needless to say, this is an ongoing topic but I hope she understands the message as she matures.

Again, it's how you live that's important, not how you die. Emmy is a great example of that, being passionate in her variety of interests and accepting of those around her without judgement. I aspire to be that way in my life and I hope that Samantha and Sofia choose to do so as well.

When Daddy is away...

Daddy has to travel a bit for his job, so tonight it will be a girl's night (and Fonz.) It's rainy, so we'll probably turn on a CD for dancing (always fun) after dinner and maybe have a game of chase with the dog (always loud). Sam usually ends up in bed with me at some point and Sofia hasn't been enjoying her room all night at all lately, so we'll end up with a slumber party of sorts. Musical beds, anyone? We make the best of it and have our special time!

We do miss Daddy when he's gone though because we love him so much! Have a good trip and sleep while you can!

St. Louis Road trip

Yes, we're nuts and this should not be news to those of you who know us! Due to airfare being so expensive, we opted to drive to St. Louis for a family gathering. Door to door, it's about 8 hours with one stop. It took about 9.5 hours to get there and about 8.5 to return home. Sofia did not appreciate the car seat as expected and Sam was edgy so I ended up in the back seat smushed between the two car seats for most of the trip both ways. Other than a couple of bathroom breaks, we only had one stop (McDonalds with a PlayPlace, of course.) Mom finally had an idea to keep Sam entertained while Sofie slept on the return trip by using our imaginations! We took a magic carpet to Egypt since she's been learning about ancient Egypt in preschool.

Here's a strange tidbit... both times we stopped at McDonalds there was the same girl that Sam and Sofie got to play with. How weird is that? Dorie, we'll never forget you and thanks for playing!

These were taken at the beginning of the trip home. I love the expressions here...

Shana Tova!

St. Louis - Part II

Highlights of St. Louis: Ted Drewes for lunch (and nearly getting lsot with Nana afterwards), Bounce U (Sam and I got the top of the elastic climbing things 2 times and Sofia's love of bouncing on a ball), Papa's cleaning stamina, Sam showing Dad flips at Skyzone and the buggiest walk ever after leaving the kids with Uncle Todd and Aunt Shelly! Thanks for watching them!

Here's a few pictures...

Uncle Bob with the smallest Cardinal fan!

Nana helping Sam get CRAZY hair at The Magic House (awesome place for kids!)

Awww... we are so blessed with our wonderful kids!

I had to throw this one in... aren't they cute!
Sofia knows what she wants and she's probably strong enough to lift it! I hope we go back with both girls next year to this pumpkin patch.
Our family about to head home...

St. Louis - Part I

We got to stay with Antie and Uncie again, along with Nana, Papa, Uncle Todd and Aunt Shelly. It was fun to see everyone and we are grateful again for Antie and Uncie's unparallelled hospitality!

The T-shirts read: "If U think I'm cute U should see my Aunt!"

Antie is the most humble person we know and we love her and Uncie so much! We miss them both already!

The biggest highlight is finally getting the cousins together! All the kids had a blast and thanks to Jennifer for organizing the "Duck, Duck, Goose" game! Sam had so much fun over the weekend!

The 2 babies are Sophia and Sofia, born 4 days apart!

We finally got to meet her and as you can see, both Sophie/Sofie's are beautiful!

Sofia takes on The Fonz!

Fonzie is our very large Siberian Husky. He's 10 years old and definitely is the coolest dog in the world, at least as far as our family goes.

Sofia had already taken Fonzie's new toy (the ball in the picture), so I gave him another toy.

Followed by Sofia seizing the opportunity to amass more toys...

Witness Sofia's triumph and Fonzie's concession!

Sofia does this constantly while Fonz follows her around hoping that she'll drop the toy so he can grab it back. He tolerates it well thankfully!

Sam's apparent dislike of yogurt

Dad: "Why didn't you eat your yogurt?"

Sam: "I didn't like it."

Dad: "What didn't you like about it?"

Sam: "The eating part."


I guess we can't argue with that logic even though she has enjoyed eating yogurt up to this!

Mom's weekend away 2008

I took my turn at getting away with a friend too! We headed to Lutsen for some great fall color, exploring Grand Marias and hiking. The place we stayed was alright once we got over housekeeping's apparent fear of vacuums... let me just say I did not go barefoot.

Here's a few highlights: Buying "The Daring Book for Girls" for my girls and I at Drury Lane books no less, the Rustic Inn and Cafe's lunch combos (unbelievable pie with meringue crust), watching "A Philadelphia Story", the fall colors viewed from the Oberg Loop (including a stare-down with a squirrel) trail and the observation deck in Lutsen, the Alpine Slide, the sauna, a never-ending playlist, good wine and great company!

Being landlocked in Minnesota means that the closest thing I get to an ocean is Lake Superior, awe-inspiring as it is. It was magical with the reds and oranges peeking from the forest.