Thursday, September 11, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Hello Kindergarten
Well, the day finally came... I had to send my baby boy off to school. All summer I've thought about it. In the last week leading up to Malachi's first day of school, I've broken into tears over the thought of not having him with me all day. I couldn't sleep last night, because all I could think about was that my little baby boy is heading to school.
I tried to prepare Malachi for spending his days in school. I told him that he would be getting up every morning and he would go to school. He would eat lunch there and he wouldn't come home until the afternoon. "Yeah, Mom, I know," was always his response. This morning I thought for sure he would be nervous. But he wasn't. I made him whole wheat pancakes with strawberries for his special first day of school. Every few minutes I would ask him, "Malachi, how are you feeling? Are you nervous?" "Nah," he would reply. How could it be that I was the only one feeling this sort of separation anxiety?
Since we live right by the school, I was able to walk him to school this morning. He looked so cute in his little uniform. As we approached the school, we could see a line of anxious 5 year olds waiting to file into the school. We got into the "boy" line and I willed myself not to cry. Malachi just grinned and pointed out the fact that every other boy had a Spiderman lunchbox just like his.
I helped him get situated in his classroom. Once he put away his backpack and lunchbox, he sat down to color a picture of Winnie the Pooh. He chatted with the other children sitting at his table and suddenly the urge to cry had gone away. Although it's unbelievably hard to not be spending my days with the little boy who has been by my side for the past 5 1/2 years, I realized that this is the beginning of something great. I'm so excited to see Malachi learn in the next year. I guess Kindergarten is kind of like the first year a baby is alive. So much happens in such a short amount of time.
So I survived sending my firstborn off to school. It's a very bittersweet experience. I know that this year will be amazing for Malachi. And maybe next year when I send Aylah off to Kindergarten it will be easier... but I doubt it!
I have to admit, these were the best whole wheat pancakes ever!
On his way to school!
Daddy fixing his hair.
Malachi and Daddy walking home from school.
I tried to prepare Malachi for spending his days in school. I told him that he would be getting up every morning and he would go to school. He would eat lunch there and he wouldn't come home until the afternoon. "Yeah, Mom, I know," was always his response. This morning I thought for sure he would be nervous. But he wasn't. I made him whole wheat pancakes with strawberries for his special first day of school. Every few minutes I would ask him, "Malachi, how are you feeling? Are you nervous?" "Nah," he would reply. How could it be that I was the only one feeling this sort of separation anxiety?
Since we live right by the school, I was able to walk him to school this morning. He looked so cute in his little uniform. As we approached the school, we could see a line of anxious 5 year olds waiting to file into the school. We got into the "boy" line and I willed myself not to cry. Malachi just grinned and pointed out the fact that every other boy had a Spiderman lunchbox just like his.
I helped him get situated in his classroom. Once he put away his backpack and lunchbox, he sat down to color a picture of Winnie the Pooh. He chatted with the other children sitting at his table and suddenly the urge to cry had gone away. Although it's unbelievably hard to not be spending my days with the little boy who has been by my side for the past 5 1/2 years, I realized that this is the beginning of something great. I'm so excited to see Malachi learn in the next year. I guess Kindergarten is kind of like the first year a baby is alive. So much happens in such a short amount of time.
So I survived sending my firstborn off to school. It's a very bittersweet experience. I know that this year will be amazing for Malachi. And maybe next year when I send Aylah off to Kindergarten it will be easier... but I doubt it!
I have to admit, these were the best whole wheat pancakes ever!
On his way to school!
Daddy fixing his hair.
Malachi and Daddy walking home from school.
Monday, September 1, 2008
August
Once again, it's been way too long since I updated this. We've done a lot in the last month. We celebrated Aylah's 4th birthday. And of course, we did lots of things outside. Here are some highlights...
Thursday, July 31, 2008
We're Lake People
Today we visited Nathan's Aunt Janet. She lives on Coldwater Lake in Michigan, about an hour and a half away from us. Spending the day on the water only confirmed to us that we absolutely must have a house on the water one day.
The best part of the day was when Nathan and I took Malachi, Aylah and Gabs out on a paddle boat while Zeke napped on a swing with Aunt Janet. This was definitely one of the best days so far this summer!
The kids in their life jackets
Zeke upset because I kept shooing him away from crawling down the stairs.
Don't we look like we belong on the lake? And this is evidently my natural hair color now. When did it turn red?!?
The best part of the day was when Nathan and I took Malachi, Aylah and Gabs out on a paddle boat while Zeke napped on a swing with Aunt Janet. This was definitely one of the best days so far this summer!
The kids in their life jackets
Zeke upset because I kept shooing him away from crawling down the stairs.
Don't we look like we belong on the lake? And this is evidently my natural hair color now. When did it turn red?!?
Saturday, July 26, 2008
The Best Summer Yet
I don't know why, but this summer has been amazing. We've done so many outdoors things, which is by far our favorite thing to do as a family. We go to the beach about once a week and we've found all kinds of fun spots on the river.
We also celebrated Ezekiel's one year birthday. We took the kids to the zoo for his birthday and enjoyed some family time at home. It makes me sad that my baby is already a year old... I guess that means we're due for another one! haha
These pictures are random, but they sum up what we've been doing in the past month...
My big boy!!!
So handsome!!!
We also celebrated Ezekiel's one year birthday. We took the kids to the zoo for his birthday and enjoyed some family time at home. It makes me sad that my baby is already a year old... I guess that means we're due for another one! haha
These pictures are random, but they sum up what we've been doing in the past month...
My big boy!!!
So handsome!!!
Gabs and Daddy on the 4th of July
Having fun at the zoo
The other day, I took Malachi and Aylah to the grocery store. As we were walking out, I let them each pick something from the quarter machines. This is what Malachi chose.
Nathan made the best pizza ever. All from scratch! We often talk about one day opening up our own restaurant and making up recipes for the menu. We put black olives on the whole pizza, and 1/3 pepperoni, 1/3 mushrooms and onion and 1/3 artichokes and sundried tomatoes. It was sooo good!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Mi Familia
The summertime is especially fun for us as a family. We've already been to just about every beach and lake there is around here. Being anywhere near the water is the kid's absolute favorite thing. As fun as it is in the summer, it's also unbelievably tiring. So this blog will just be a little update on all the fun we've had this summer.
Ezekiel splashing in our awesome backyard pool
Gabs love the water, but for some reason, it scares her.
So she always just plays in the sand.
Our family picture in the backyard.
Showing off the raspberries they picked. Notice Malachi being
silly behind Aylah... two seconds later, Aylah was in tears as
Malachi laughed hysterically.
Ezekiel splashing in our awesome backyard pool
Gabs love the water, but for some reason, it scares her.
So she always just plays in the sand.
Love!
Our family picture in the backyard.
Showing off the raspberries they picked. Notice Malachi being
silly behind Aylah... two seconds later, Aylah was in tears as
Malachi laughed hysterically.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The Perks of Being a Mother
A couple of weeks ago, my shoulder started to hurt. I couldn't figure it out. I do stretches every day and I jog and do pilates a few times a week. So why in the world would my shoulder be killing me? And then it struck me, for the past 5 1/2 years, my shoulder has supported the weight of a child. My hip has a permanent indentation of a child.
So I started to think of other ways my life has changed since having babies. I'm a master at doing things with one hand, I can change a diaper in seconds, I have a super-natural ability to know exactly what's going on in the other room. Being a mother is exhausting. But it's the best kind of exhaustion I will ever feel.
I always think it's funny when I take the kids out by myself. People always smile when they see four little heads with faces that look so similar. "Aww, they're so cute!," they'll say. And then they realize how many little faces they're really looking at. A look of shock and confusion comes over them, "Are they ALL yours?" they ask. And when I tell them yes, the response is either, "you must be very busy!" or (my favorite) "how do you do it?!"
A few months ago while we were all out for the day, a woman came up to us and talked about how cute the kids were and told us that she raised four kids who were all close in age just like ours. She told us something that I will always remember: "the days are long, but the years are short" How very, very true! Right now the days seem longer than anything. But soon they will fly by. But I will always cherish the perks of being a mother!
Beautiful artwork Malachi
and Aylah made me for
Mother's Day.
Ezekiel relaxing with Daddy.
The kids watching E.T. for the first time. It's now their favorite movie.
So I started to think of other ways my life has changed since having babies. I'm a master at doing things with one hand, I can change a diaper in seconds, I have a super-natural ability to know exactly what's going on in the other room. Being a mother is exhausting. But it's the best kind of exhaustion I will ever feel.
I always think it's funny when I take the kids out by myself. People always smile when they see four little heads with faces that look so similar. "Aww, they're so cute!," they'll say. And then they realize how many little faces they're really looking at. A look of shock and confusion comes over them, "Are they ALL yours?" they ask. And when I tell them yes, the response is either, "you must be very busy!" or (my favorite) "how do you do it?!"
A few months ago while we were all out for the day, a woman came up to us and talked about how cute the kids were and told us that she raised four kids who were all close in age just like ours. She told us something that I will always remember: "the days are long, but the years are short" How very, very true! Right now the days seem longer than anything. But soon they will fly by. But I will always cherish the perks of being a mother!
Beautiful artwork Malachi
and Aylah made me for
Mother's Day.
Ezekiel relaxing with Daddy. The kids watching E.T. for the first time. It's now their favorite movie.
Gabs being Gabs.
Crawling and getting into everything! :)
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