First Day of School

Shockingly, I did not wish away most of the summer like I have in the past. Regardless, the first day of school came in August anyway.  I don't take the kids on the first day of school.  It is one of the special daddy jobs to take the kids out for breakfast on the first day and then drop them off.

Ben is a fifth grader, and is having a good year so far.  He told me he is glad he isn't in sixth yet (Me too!).  Will is a third grader, and as you can see, was not thrilled about the first day of school.  Things are going better now though.  Kate is super-excited to be a first grader and go to full-day school!  She is already reading chapter books and acing spelling tests.  

Now that Jack is a big three-year old boy, he goes to school two mornings a week too.  He started in September, and on that fine day he also chose his breakfast wisely.  He loves what he calls, "Ih-ee-lay!"

Jack loves school, where he has the same preschool teachers that Kate had, and he receives speech services.  He comes home everyday trying to tell me what he had for lunch (he always says peanut butter or "sketti," but I seriously doubt that).  And yes, in case you were wondering, I am enjoying my TWO child-free mornings a week.  That's how I found time to blog again last Wednesday.  Although, to be honest, all I usually get done is grocery shopping, a walk, and a shower.  It's the small things.

Love you, kids - I am so proud to be your mama!

Summer Vacation: Hilton Head Island

I seem to be jumping around all over the place in my blogging, but there are certain things I want to remember from the past four months, and recording them seems to be a priority over organization at the moment.

I don't know if my family would agree with me or not, but this year's summer vacation was one of my favorites.  I had been feeling growing stress in our lives and in our relationships with each other, and I really wanted to spend a whole week focused and loving on each other. 

As a kid, one of my favorite places on the planet was Hilton Head Island because my family vacationed there frequently. I have so many precious memories from my childhood there, and Tim and I had been talking about taking the kids there someday.  I found a great deal on a little condo near the beach, and voila'.  HHI here we come.

One of the things I was most looking forward to was the food.  (Hudson's... yum.)  We ate a lot of my old favorite restaurants (Ben liked my favorite pizza place so much that he said he hoped to take his kids there someday), and we found a few new favorites too (hello, Kenny B's fried shrimp).

Much time was spent swimming, jumping waves, and digging holes in the sand.  More than anything, we just spent time together. It was so so good to be free from distractions and to just be.  Together.  We learned new things about each other. We had important conversations.  And we slowed down.  Which was awesome.  Oh, and did I mention that the condo didn't have internet access?  I had no idea how great it would be to be disconnected from the rest of the world.  It was awesome.  (Have I mentioned that it was awesome?)

I wish we could take trips like that more often.  I had no idea how important it would be for me to reconnect with my kids, and I can already feel the stress of the school year, work, and busy schedules pulling at those connections.  But my hope is that I will find small ways to recreate those moments where we turn the phones off, look each other in the eye, and talk.  Plus, I am still hoping for some time at the beach next summer!

Birthday Roundup

Since I haven't blogged any of my kids' birthdays this year, I might as well do it in one fell swoop. 

Let's start with Ben. My eldest child turned 11 this year.  He is in his last year of elementary school, and I can hardly stand it.  I really just want to freeze time right now because I am enjoying him so much.  He is smart, funny, and loves his family so much.  We can have interesting conversations about what he is learning in school, his faith, and his love of his favorite books.  There are days when he is my only contact with sanity.  I am so excited to see the man he is growing into, but I still want him to be 11 forever.  Can I have it both ways?

 

For his birthday he just wanted a family cookout in the back yard and a homemade birthday cake.  I love that he likes things simple.

 

Since Will and Jack have birthdays only 6 days apart, the younger boys agreed to only have one party for both of them again.  We had it at my uncle's house again so that the kids could swim.  Thanks, Uncle Ricky!

Will is 9 now.  He is the one that seems to change the most over the years.  His baby face is gone, but he is still my baby boy (just don't tell him that I call him Baby - he wouldn't like it).  He is crazy smart and creative.  He can draw beautiful pictures, read Harry Potter, and do his math homework, all without trying.  I love him more every day, and I hope he will continue to let me love on him as he gets bigger. I'm not sure if he will be a teacher, and author, or a lawyer (based on his ability to argue over the color of the sky) when he grows up, but whatever it is, he will be amazing.

Jack turned 3 this year, but let's face it, he is using this opportunity to have his terrible 2s.  Don't get me wrong, he is one of my favorite people on the planet, but his ability to wake me up by yelling the word "yogurt" in my ear is unsurpassed in its volume.  He also likes to use the phrases, "I DO IT!" and, "MINE!" a lot.  Classic 2.

However, he also loves to use phrases like, "Love you!" and "Where Daddy?" a lot which are every bit endearing enough to help me forgive him for the other two.  His greatest loves in life are riding in Daddy's car and food (rice and pizza are the current faves). He loves to play games and read with his siblings, and he loves anything on PBS Kids.  (And it turns out that it's true - once you hit four kids, the rules about how much TV the youngest gets to watch go out the window.  I can stand a lot of Dinosaur Train for the sake of clean laundry.)

Last, but not least, is Kate.  Kate turns 7 in a couple weeks, but because we knew she was having surgery the first week of October and would be on a restricted diet, we decided that she and I would "trade" birthdays.  So, she turned 38 at the end of September, and I turn 7 in a couple weeks.  We both think we got the better end of that deal.

Kate is growing up so fast - into this beautiful, strong, young lady.  She is one of the bravest people I know.  She is also one of the smartest, most athletic, and silliest girls I know.  She is reading really well, can do anything she puts her mind to, and still loves to snuggle with her mama.  As she gets older, she is getting better at putting her feelings into words, which means our relationship continues to grow too.  I just simply love her and who she is. 

She wanted dumplings, egg rolls, and chocolate cake for her birthday, so that's what she got. :)

Do I have the greatest kids on the planet, or what?

Happy Kate NaNa Day!

Wow. Have I really not blogged in 4 months?  I told a friend yesterday that I can't figure out how to parent four children and write at the same time.  I know people who do it, but I can't seem to get it done.  I could blame it on a lot of factors, but for the next hour I am completely alone, so I thought I would dip my toe back in here and see what happens.  I seriously doubt anyone is still checking in here, which means that if I disappear again for four more months, no one will judge me, right?

Sunday was Kate NaNa Day!  We celebrated that she had been a part of our family for five years.  We went to the local hibachi restaurant and she (and the two big boys) received a fob containing a single piece of rice with her names written in English and Chinese.  (By the way, I could read them when I bought them five years ago in Tongli, and now I can't.  What's up with that? Middle age...)
 

Parenting her is still one of those things where I feel like it was only yesterday we were in China meeting her for the first time, and yet it is as if she has always been with us.  She is ours.  She is still that brave little thing holding back tears when she is frightened.  She still laughs hysterically at her brothers.  She still processes everything very deeply.  She still misses China and grieves the loss her first family, but she refers to us as her "real" family. 

I give thanks everyday for the blessing of knowing her. She is spunky and sassy, smart and compassionate.  She reads chapter books and writes her own stories.  She is crazy good at bike riding and anything involving a ball.  She has recently decided she wants to take up golf, but is looking forward to basketball this winter and soccer in the spring.  She is growing in her faith and often asks questions about God and heaven.  She loves to draw and paint and play with play-doh.  There is nothing in the world this child won't accomplish if she puts her mind to it.

So Happy Kate NaNa Day, baby girl.  You are the best girl ever!

Swim Lessons, Part 2

As I am sure you have already figured out, summer is our busiest time of the year. There isn't a lot of kicking back and relaxing, what with four kids at home All The Time and a husband whose job kicks it up a couple notches when teenagers are out of school. Add to that doctor/therapy appointments, a visiting niece and nephew, and regular summer excitement, and things can get a little crazy at our house (or wherever we happen to be). 

My plan is write about all of these things, but you all already know how that will probably go down.  It may be next May before that happens.  So let's start slow.  Swim lessons.

The three big kids had swim lessons the first two weeks of June. Once again, Kate has been bumped up to the big kids' class because Mama is lazy (ie., the boys' class was at 9, and the class she was supposed to be in was at 11). I don't want to spend 3 hours at the pool chasing Jack, so they all have to do it together. I was worried at first, but she totally held her own, as usual.

The funny one, also as usual, has been Will. You may remember that he and Ben had swim lessons five years ago? Ben loved it, but Will complained pretty much the whole time.  They were 5 and 3 at the time. 

I called to schedule the lessons last month, and Will overheard the conversation and freaked out. I eventually calmed him down enough for him to tell me why he didn't want to take swim lessons:

Will: Swim lessons are scary!
Me: What is scary about them?
Will: I don't know, but last time I remember I was scared. They asked me to do things I couldn't do.
Me: Will, you were 3 at the time. Do you remember what they asked you to do?
Will: No.
Me: Well, they wanted to you put your face in the water, and that scared you. Are you still afraid of putting your face in the water?
Will: No, but...
Me: And they wanted you to swim in areas where you couldn't touch. Are you still afraid of being in the deep end of the pool?
Will: No...
Me: They also wanted you to jump off the side of the pool, and you were scared of that. Aren't you diving now?
Will: Yes (smiling)
Me: So do you think you can handle swim lessons?
Will: I guess so.

He now informs me that swim lesson are soooo booooring, because he knows it all. He doesn't actually know it all. For example, he has now learned to tread water, do the elementary backstroke, and bob to safety in an emergency. But he knows everything.

(And sorry I don't have a picture to share.  My camera spent the first half of the summer broken, until the good people at Canon sent me another one.  Thank goodness for warranties.)

This Moment

Life as a mother of four has not slowed down in the past year. I don't know why I thought it eventually would, but I did.  And maybe next year when Jack is in preschool, I might possibly have a child-free moment in my day, but for the moment my free time is often measured in seconds instead of minutes or hours.  Which means you are much more likely to find me on facebook than Blogger.  But that is ok for now.  I will take my adult connections where I can get them.

I honestly do miss blogging, and I frequently have moments that I want to capture, but the space in my brain that holds such things is currently occupied with swing set sale ads, online courses I need to take to keep my teaching certificate current, and vacation ideas.  Not to mention school projects, IEPs, and speech therapy appointments.

But right now, in this moment, I am having a moment I want to remember.  A moment when the children are not fighting over video games or whining about their supposed boredom.  And I want to write it down instead of making dinner or folding socks.  Because I make dinner and fold socks all the time, but how often do I get a moment like this?

For the past two hours, my house has been wonderfully argument free.  Will has decided to organize his younger siblings into an afternoon of playing school.  I can hear Will announcing that it is math time, leading them in singing their ABCs, and telling them to line up for recess outside.  (He even sang praise songs while he was "lesson planning". And right now he is reading them a story.  He has taken them on learning adventures all over the house, and they are having so much fun.  The only angry sound I have heard was when it was "lunchtime" and Will made them milkshakes, and Jack loudly insisted that his should be 'NANA!  (He really likes bananas.)  Jack and Kate adore their big brothers, and so they are just soaking up all of this attention. 

Meanwhile, Ben has a massive science project due on Wednesday. I am a terrible mother who used to try to help with such things, but found that this quickly devolved into frustration and yelling.  And so now I just watch.  His dad graciously takes him to the hardware store to pick out wires and switches for his circuitry project, and then helps him to test it all and make sure it works before Ben finishes it off.  The project is almost complete.  Ben just explained to me the difference between parallel and simple circuits, which I also learned in the 4th grade but have long since forgotten. I just go out to the garage every so often to "ooh" and "ahh" and pat them on the back, literally and figuratively. 

And so I want to remember this moment.  When all is peaceful.  I know that soon there will be hungry children to feed, tired children to put to bed, and more socks to fold.  But for right now, in this moment, all is right with the world. 

Happy Jack Yintao Day!

One year ago today I met my son, Jack Yintao. We celebrated tonight with Chinese food and home movies from Nanjing. (He was so tiny when we met him!)  His gift this year was a set of beginner chopsticks, which his siblings quickly claimed as their own.  Which was only fair since when I showed them to him he screamed, "NO!", which is is favorite word.  (He is two, after all.)

 

He is still as funny, cuddly, and sweet as he was then.

He is a charmer - even though he greets everyone he sees with a hearty, "NO!" people still seem to think he is adorable.

Even though he is a total mama's boy and every time his brothers or sister (or anyone else) tries to talk to me he screams, "NO! My Mama!", his siblings still love him and attempt to hug and kiss all over him.

And apparently he still makes ridiculous faces when the camera is on him.  It is his, "What do you think you are doing with that camera?" face.  (Five shots, no smile? I promise he does generally like to be with us!)

 

And if you want to revisit that wonderful day, feel free to go back and read about the day Jack joined our family.