P.S.

P.S. It's long. I got carried away.

The Girls. . .


MIA is in gymnastics and practices cartwheels wherever she can go. She loves doing "skin the cat" on the high bars. She is a very sensitive girl with a high set of lungs. Mia screams when she's mad. Mia screams when she is happy. Mia just screams. She is well liked in her class. I was volunteering this week in her class, and watched as she set up the listening center for the other 3 people in her group. As the kids came to the table each one shouted, "I want to sit by Mia!" They were fighting over who would get to sit by her. I told Ben later about the incident and how Mia was popular and he shoosed me instantly whispering, "Mia doesn't want to be popular. She told me that the other day." Today, she had a playdate with her friend Hannah. She told me after her friend left that Hannah said her Mom was stupid. I told her that wasn't very nice. Mia then said, "But you're perfect!" My week hasn't been the best and I haven't felt like the best Mom either. That totally melted my heart!

*On a side note. I was watching her friend Hannah write her name in class and I told her that she was doing it backwards (she was going right to left). Hannah replied, "It doesn't matter, it's the same either way!" That was so funny. I then told her that her name was a palindrome. She was clueless, but it felt like the intelligent thing to say since I knew what it was thanks to my sis in law Hannah who taught me that word years ago. By the way, my kids have friends with the same names as their extended family members: Addie, Sam, Livy, Hannah. . . they think it is so cool.

CJ is growing up so fast and is already asking me for more clothes! Where does she get this from? She loves her glasses and tells me that she feels smarter when she wears them. She is in the much coveted Science Club which meets after school on Thursday. They only take 20 students and last year CJ turned in her permission form too late. This year, we made sure we turned it in as early as we could. Ben and I find ourselves saying the words, "I love having a 10 year old!" all the time. CJ is such a big help even though I know she gets tired of helping. The other day she said as she emptied the dishwasher, "I can't wait until I am a Mom and I won't have to do any chores." I explained to her that she will have to do even more chores when she is a Mom. I think it is funny how kids think life is so much better when they are an adult. I remember thinking that too. I keep telling her to enjoy being a kid. CJ picks up when I am having a bad day. She is very observant. She said to me on one of those bad days, "I only want to have 3 kids." Her numbers keep dwindling as she watches me struggle. One day she'll be down to only 1 kid and it will be all my fault!

ZOEY is still the perfect baby even though I can't get her to get back into her nighttime sleeping schedule. Since our trip back from Michigan she goes to bed earlier and wakes up at 4:00a.m. instead of 7:00 a.m. How can I complain? She still sleeps 8 hours at a time. I'm blessed. She giggles and laughs and smiles all the time. She is the most tolerant baby. She gets poked and prodded all day long by Mia and Xander. She endures loud screams and tantrums while she is sleeping. She loves to talk and can grab onto toys. She also loves sticking her hand in her mouth. She also has the yummiest baby rolls on her legs. They are so cute! I love baby chub!

The Boy. . .


XANDER is my man! Xander's favorite movie lately is "Sky High". He'll watch it wearing his superman outfit. He also loves to play with Mia. Mia loves to play school with Xander and Xander loves being bossed around by Mia. Today he told me to bring Zoey in to watch him go potty so "she will know how to do it." He loves it when I read books to him and when I am done, he'll read it back to me (of course, Xander style). He does this really cute thing with his hands that I have no idea where he got it from. He makes a triangle and shouts, "Look a triangle." He loves looking at anything that has to do with Halloween. We will be on a walk and he'll point out the houses and stores that have Halloween decorations up. Reminds me of someone I know.

The Kids. . .

LOVE THEM!