Dax Goes To School!

Here he is in front of "the tree" finally he gets to pose in the first day of school spot! He needed to model the back pack...And well, since it took him three whole years of waiting to get the privilege of standing in the first day of school picture spot, Dax felt adequate picture taking time should be taken and he should maybe take some time to sport the shades...Dax is my middle child, I thought no emotions would well up as I drove out of that parking lot! But, alas, I was wrong! He ran into the gate with excitement oozing out of him and there was not even more than a half hearted wave back towards the mama as he was greeted by his buddy Max. No hugs, No kisses. Sniff Sniff

So what did Finn and I do for the two and half hours after I pulled myself together? Good question! I wasn't sure. With an age difference of 22 months between the boys, Finn has not really seen a lot of alone with mom time. We decided on the library ( you know, at 17 months he played an active part in this decision). I took my little puzzle virtuoso and spent 30 minutes doing about a dozen puzzles. He's got skills this boy!

We then moved on to bigger things...
And well, if all else fails, use your teeth! That seems to be Finn's life motto at the moment!

We picked up Dax and met up with his best buddy Max, his sister Maggie, and their Mama, Traci for a first day of school celebration lunch and ice cream fiesta at an outdoor place. It was only 150 ish degrees, but with the breeze and the ice cream it was enjoyable! Finn really got pleasure out of his cone. (yes, there is a cone under there somewhere!)

Here is the whole clan. If you look close you can even see Miss Traci's funny faced reflection in this one! I love how Finn is looking at her like she's a little nuts!

Our guys found some really cool digger doing something really cool! They decided they needed to get a better view so both of them laid down on the side walk to watch. Wonder what passers by on Main Street thought of these two checking out the action?

All I have to say is Mamas of little girls in the 2-4 age range you better watch out! These beautiful little boys might just be knocking on your door some day!

And if the team of Max & Dax can't get them on pure good looks alone, then they will win them over with their incredible sense of humor! Dax said his first day of school was "Really Really Good!!!" And for that I am grateful!!!

A Beautiful End to Summer

Concert Praises...

Last night after hearing it mentioned on our favorite radio station about a million times over the past weeks we decided to head out to their last free concert of the summer...

The boys loved it. They danced and giggled and even though it was way after bedtime when it was over it was so worth staying up late!

I loved being a part of a huge group of people sitting under the stars on an incredibly beautiful Sunday evening singing songs like this...
The crowd was rather big and to me there is something amazing that fills my heart when you get this many people singing "God Songs" as Dax would say.

One thing that was as amazing as the singing was the sky last night. It was one of those sunsets where you can't doubt that God is watching over you, smiling. The funny thing was I tried many many time to capture the beauty with my camera, I mean that seems to be my job lately, right?
Those are nice, but those do not even begin to capture it. It was amazing. The kind of sky that almost echoes with His voice, His Spirit. But, I couldn't get it! On Auto, my camera would not take the picture at all, on no flash, nothing, when I put it on manual I got what looked like a black screen. When I got home I bumped up the brightness full strength and this is what I have...

So, I'm wondering if you had to be there. If maybe this sky was so amazing that it was a bit top secret and you could only really see it's majesty if you were sitting in that field listening to Aaron Shust....hmm, top secret sunsets from God...interesting thought.After the concert ended and we were packing up to head home, they made the announcement that Aaron would be at the merchandise table signing autographs. Lily was pumped. Mike rolled his eyes. Dax and Finn just wondered if there was more food in it for them. Mike and Lily waited in line for 45 minutes. The boys and I watched them tear down the stage, which might just have been Dax's favorite part of the whole night! He insisted I take pictures...Once Mike and Lily made it to the front of the line, the CD's were gone, so Lily had Aaron sign her copy of his Bio.Dax joined them in line at the table. Here is a picture of Dax telling Aaron his name and giving him "five".

It had been a long night for everyone. We were towards the end of the line. I can only imagine how tedious signing auto graphs and posing for pictures must be! I'm sure if it's something you dream of but you don't really do it's seems all glamorous, but I bet if you do it all the time it would get old quick! Aaron looked a little tired but he was great with the kids and they were excited to meet him! (don't you love the belly hanging out here? It was late...he looked put together when me left the house!)

Overall it was an amazing night with my family. Sitting under the starts soaking up an amazing Holy Spirit, while listening to great music, singing, and snuggling my guys! I'd say it was all one big praise! Thank you, Lord!

And on that note, I will leave you with one of my favorite Aaron Shust songs...

Hey, anyone know who was teaching Sunday School Today?

This morning at our last day of church in the park (hallelujah! I'll miss the beauty, but love the nursery!) Dax went to Sunday School with Lily. When he came back wearing a Hawaiian lei, I asked him who was teaching Sunday School this morning he replied, "Some big kid, and me." Wow, would have loved to have heard that lesson...wonder where the lei came in?

Praises for Moms

Yesterday I blog hopped into a discussion about the "cat fight" between working and stay at home moms. There is one particular author who seems to take the position that working moms are happier and that those of us at home are bowing down to the man and tossing away our identity, a major mistake. She feels this trend "backwards" towards more women giving up careers to be stay at home moms is just ludicrous. I have to say, at first I wanted to throttle her. Who does she think she is?? I'm pretty secure in my choice to be home. Are there days I think it would be fun to really get dressed and go to a place where there were grown ups and such and noone played with ketchup, cool whip, or their own feces? absolutly! I know a lot of moms. I know working moms who love what they do and wouldn't have it any other way. I know working moms who hearts break every time they leave their child with the babysitter. I know stay at home moms who delight in every day they spend with their little people. I know stay at home moms who feel like they live in a box and have no life. I know stay at home moms that although they are not working they volunteer so many places for so many hours that someone should be paying them. Bottom line, me wanting to trap this woman in an alley somewhere and forcibly tell her why she's an idiot isn't going to change the crap she's spouting. Plus, it's not nice to hit. (at least I hear this falling out of my own mouth several times a day). All of us moms are in this together. We all love our kids. We have to follow our hearts. I don't buy the whole I can't afford to stay home bit unless you're a single mom. I say, stand up proudly and say, I want to be a working mom or I want to be a stay at home mom no matter if it means giving up lots of material things. Why can we not encourage each other to follow our hearts and love our kids for all they're worth? If you are dreading everyday at home or at work, maybe it's time to make a change, pray hard!

When I was still thinking about throttling the above mentioned author I decided to document a few moments that I would have missed if I hadn't made such a feminine mistake by staying home...

The boys and I decided that rain was not going to keep us in all day. Yesterday we headed out with clothes on, which quickly came off, and the camera to "dance in the rain".

Drawing with Dax. Dax is always asking us to draw things on his magnadoodle. Usually it's things like "a twain, a zebra, an airpwain, a hot doctor (helicopter)" etc... Usually I do ok, but this time, he asked for a family portrait including the dog. So, I don't do people. I tried, really, I thought, how hard can stick people be?" See...they are horrible! And the clothes, wow, I think Stacey and Clinton will be running in any minute with those ill fitting, transparent clothes. Dax and Finn didn't even get clothes. Heck, Finn didn't even get arms! Dax was not to bothered by the people, but the dog, he was bothered by that poor excuse for man's best friend. He looked at me with those big blue eyes and said, "Sophie needs furry knees. Dogs have furry knees." I told him he was right and he should try drawing Sophie. He did! And I must say his "Sophie" (at the top) is far better than mine, furry knees and all!

Building a cool tent/tunnel with my guys.Sometimes I do put clothers on them.For me, being at home is the only choice. No matter what we have given up to do it. For our family it is the right thing and everyday, even the hardest ones, even when I'm waiting on my porch for 10 minutes to be picked up for a girl's night out, I love what I do and I wouldn't trade my moments here for the world. For every other mom out there working in or out of the house, part time, full time, pajama time, if your heart is full, I want to say, you go girl! Today is a day for mamas!

I'm not one to talk politics on my blog. In all honesty, there really isn't a party line I fit with. I've often thought of creating my own party, but I'm thinking it would be more trouble than it's worth and I'd never be able to choose the colors for the buttons, let alone a running mate. Since moving to Illinois a few years ago I have felt pretty useless as a voting member of society because honestly, in Illinois, if you live south of Chicago you have no voice. Your vote might as well be written with crayon on a bathroom wall. When I lived in Ohio voting was important! In Ohio everybody counts. You never know which way things might play out in the end and it is exciting! So, for this election whether I like Obama or I don't doesn't really matter because my state it his state. If only I'd held on to my residence status in Ohio!

This election will make history, no matter who wins we are about to change the course of our nation. That is something pretty amazing. I have been kind of in a blah spot with this election, not really excited. Today changed that. Today a real, honest to goodness mom joined the game. Not a life long politician, not married to a life long politician, not an attorney, not a polished ivy league grad, but a mom. A mom of five, yes five. These are not grown up, out of the house five, but some little guys. Not perfect, styled GAP model kids, but real kids. She's a military mom, a mom of teenage girls, a mom of an elementary aged little girl, a mom of a baby with Down Syndrome. She doesn't just say what she believes she walks it. Even if I don't agree with all her politics, I respect that. Like her or don't like her, this is something that excites me. This says to my daughter you can really do anything and you can do it as a woman, not a man wanna be.

I loved talking to my own mom tonight and hearing the same excitement in her voice. Mom's are pretty cool you know.

So, after I Googled Sarah Palin this morning and read her bio and more, and learned about her five kids would you like to guess what I Googled next? Those who know me well will only smile, there will be no surprises for them. "Sarah Palin's children's names" Yeah, there is that name freak part of me coming out. Let's just say I was not let down here...Track, Piper, Willow, Bristol, and Trig. And those aren't blog names ladies. This lady has got a bit of spunk.

The adventures of Dax & Finn and Praises...

At about 10 till 8 this morning while I ran to the basement to get clean laundry I left these darlings playing happily together on the family room floor. When I came upstairs, I heard no noise. I came up and peeked in, they were gone. I ran through the house calling for them, thinking maybe they were playing a game.

No noise.

We've been trying to keep the doors locked so Dax can't open them. Usually though, if he opens the back door it gets left standing open and the dog is running around the neighborhood. Not today. I stuck my head out the back door and yelled.

No noise. I ran to the front, yelled, no noise.

I ran to my room, threw on a pair of pants and ran out the back door. There was Dax running around the side of the house with a big grin on his face. He said, "Hi mommy! It's really nice outside, we wanted to come out!"

All I could say was a very panicked, "where's Finn??" As I scanned the side and back yard.

"He's upfront, but I keep him from the street."

I take off running. The front? By the road? Dax is in the back...so Finn is alone!" As I made it to the front and at first glance didn't see him, but then caught him dancing around barefoot in his jammies, I'm not sure if I ever felt more panicked and then more relieved in my whole life.

I scooped him up under my arm and escorted the boys back into the house. I preceded to give Dax a huge lecture about all the horrible things that could happen to a baby outside without a grown up. In Dax's words "he could get smooshed?" I then started to cry while I spoke...not exactly my intent. Finn climbed up and rubbed my back and hugged me as I talked. If only they could understand even just tiny little bit of how much I love them and how much one moment could change everything.

Praises...

These two little boys in their matching "crabby" pajamas are safe & sound and continue to make my life a little more "edgy" after their disappearance this morning. I will continue to come up with new ways to harness Dax's stealthiness for good and not evil!

My tea and quiet God time this morning was somehow better than all other mornings.

Our extra daughter/babysitter, Hayley, has babysat for both tonight and last night's meet the teacher meetings. I've enjoyed our "drive home" conversations! You know, teenagers are really pretty cool (although I'm sure "cool" isn't really "cool" anymore).

Meeting the teachers. Both kids seem happy. I always love the chance to meet and spend some time with the important people in my kids world. With Lily when she was little I always worked in her classroom. I'm hoping this year I can find a way to spend some better time in her class than last year, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to spend sometime in Dax's room too. Lily's preschool was a co-op so even before I went back to teaching I got to spend good classroom time in there. I loved getting to know the kids and the flow of how things worked. Seems around these parts I couldn't find a co-op type program. I really like the place he's going, I just hope I get a chance to spend a little time! Ok, now I think I'm rambling...

And on a preschool note, Dax was super excited after going to his open house! He was even ok that he and his best buddy, Max are in different classes. He really likes the idea of going to school. On the way home he asked, "mom, am I a preschooler now?" Yes. baby, you are a preschooler now! Weren't you just a baby not so long ago? I wonder how his teachers feel about ketchup, yogurt, and whipped cream painting?

Friends who will keep your mini man so you can take the big one to school on his own!

Little brothers and their friends who request to be the friend of somone who feels too old to be joining facebook! Honestly I just wanted to see what the inside looked like! So far the only people who have requested to add me as their friend are all guys in their early 20's. They've made me smile!

The Baby signing time DVD which my boys think is the coolest thing ever and are actually starting to use!

Blogland. A place that lets you peek through the windows into other's worlds, sharing their joys and praying for their sorrows. watching miracles happen. There is a lot of bad stuff out there but there are some amazing stories that are much more fulfilling to read than my dishes are to do!

Have I mentioned lately how blessed I am to have the mom I do...that women, she sometimes amazes me. In the midst of her own "stuff" she always thinks of everyone else.

Beautiful end of summer days!

We have Sand!

Finally! you wouldn't think sand would be so hard to find in August! After 5 stores, two weeks, and one really agitated 3 year old, Toys R Us came through for us and we are happy campers!

Everyone took their time in the sandbox, but Daddy and Dax, they really enjoyed themselves!

Finn got a little bored so he decided he'd try some other things...

Like sticking his head out the high hole on the climber over the blacktop to scare mom. He did look cute doing it...

Sunbathing in an empty pool...

Picking Mommy's flowers. Here is a sample of his collection of petals...

The best alternative activity, giving picked flowers to his mommy with a big, sweet, smile!

A Beautiful Day for a Polo Match

Today I did a little bartending for a good friend at a charity event. It was family oriented (well, not the bar) so I took the whole clan. The kids got to bounce in bouncy houses and see horses and watch Polo. Mike enjoyed his first live polo match. I wasn't with them most of the time, so I didn't get many pictures but I had to have a least a few!

Another segment of Marci trying to get a good picture of all three kids in one frame...

This one would not have been horrible if you like side view and don't mind the faint beckoning of the port o lettes in the background.

They are all in this one, but the glare makes it almost hard to tell...

And finally we finish with beautiful shot of Dax with his finger up his noise... success I say!

Praises...

No rain for this event. Even though it rained all around it, which I'm sure kept many away, never a drop fell here.

A very slight breeze when I was working, which was an improvement over the earlier shift!

Getting to work with friends!

Enjoying meeting new people too!

The fact that no one asked me to make anything more difficult than a Margarita. (which was poured out of a bottle, so how hard can that be?)

My husband spending my two hour shift with my kids all by himself and never once complaining about it or the heat.

Stopping by Toys r Us afterwards and finding sand!! And seeing the new geotrax pieces...although this did cause a small tantrum.

Favorite moment while in toys r us... Dax really wanted to take home some new geotrax. We talked about putting them on his Christmas list, he said this was not a good idea. Once we'd stopped debating, and i thought he understood that we were not buying anything he simply picked up one of the boxes put it in the cart and said, "ok, lets go" and started walking. My ever constant little observer, Finn, was sitting in the cart. He reached out grabbed a little people item of some sort, tossed it in the back of the cart and nodded his head to say "ok, lets go". Poor guys, they didn't even see it coming when we got to the end of the isle and the cart was somehow miraculously empty!

The crying only lasted a minute.

Gymboree gave me my 30% even though I'd left all four of my friends and family coupons at home.

Lily got the footless tights she needed and as much as I wanted to buy some good bargains for next summer I refrained and only purchased what we came for. Mike was happy about this, but still perplexed on how 30 minutes in Gymboree can be called just "running in".

The amazing fact that even though I did not have the Gymboree coupon with me, I did have the Cold Stone Creamery gift card and stopping by for a special treat that cost $0.79 made it a great ending to the evening.

Even better ending, all three kids were asleep when we got home!

Praises...

Talking to lots of faraway people this week. It seems like since the big kiddo went back to school the phone has been a permanent fixture on my ear. This can have it's down falls like extra "Hi-5"'s on the On Demand, half the 14 framed photos I have being dropped behind the million pound piano, a certain 16 month old learning he can climb into the computer cabinet and toss out the monitor, not to mention pull all the thumb tacks out of the tack board in the back of the cabinet. Which leads to it's own special list of praises...

Having cable TV with a DVR for rerunning the same show as needed as well as noggin, discovery kids, and pbs sprout on Demand.

My piano weighing so much that there is no chance of it tipping over with a 3 year old and 16 month old sitting on top.

I did not hear any breaking glass, so I think all pictures behind piano are intact.

The fact that I mostly cleaned out the computer cabinet not so long ago so there wasn't as much to pick up off the floor as their once might have been. (although it's probably due to it's clean state that he thought he could climb in!)

The thumbtacks did not poke him before I was able to pry each one out of his tight little grip.

The computer monitor still works and is in one piece.

The boys have gotten along very well and have been so much quieter since school started, could be they are simply in stealth mode without the extra set of eyes present!

Finn took off his diaper before climbing into the damp sink to brush his teeth.

My boys have the cleanest teeth in town. They are averaging 3 to 8 brushings a day...is this a good obsession?

Lily has successfully ridden her bike back and forth to school this week. This is the first year we're letting her do this and I'm just a little nervous, but she seems to be doing well.

She is also enjoying fifth grade so far! Prayers that that is a year long thing!

Finn's amazing hugs..they make up for a multitudes of climbing adventures.

Dax explaining to me why every night he must climb on me and wiggle his way into the middle of mommy and daddy in bed. "it's warm and it's safe and I like to be in the middle of you twos."

An evening out with friends, both business and pleasure! I greatly enjoyed my evening out with grown up chatter!

Feeling a little freer after handing over some church duties that I have greatly enjoyed for the last two years to a good friend who so kindly stepped up to take a turn at the reigns. Thank you Nicole, Traci and I are loving you right now!

My kids friends. Lily got to go spend some time watching the big premier of Cheetah Girl's One World with her friend, Bayley. Dax got a sweet phone call from his buddy Max. I love that these friends are good kids with parents I like!

A 3 year old that loves his sister so much(at least tonight) that he tried to convince us not to "make her go to Bayley's" because "Lily doesn't want to go to Bayley's, she is scared of Bayley". Truth be told the kid wanted to watch the Cheetah girls with his sis. At least he didn't think it was as cool to watch it alone... good cover little guy! Is it sad to admit we watched it even though she wasn't here?

God is answering prayers through people who don't even know it. Now if I will only open myself up.

A husband I enjoy talking with anytime we have quiet moments where we can actually hear each other!

Another first week of school that has gone well. It's the beginning of fall, probably my favorite time of the year...the smells, the leaves crunching, the football games echoing from the High School, new shows coming back on, being able to where long sleeves, shorts sleeves or anything you want! I know this year fall is a little harder without my Dad, especially for my mom. I pray that the memories that circle around us will be good ones that make us laugh. I pray that my mom know just how grateful we are to have her in our lives and how much we miss being close enough to hug her.

I am so grateful for unlimited long distance and bloggy connections!

It was going to be...but it's not

It was going to be just a short post with a few words and two pictures. I think you've figured out by now that I have editing issues with both words and pictures. I've just uploaded 7 pictures instead of 2. I was simply going to state that today was Lily's first day of 5th grade. Fifth grade? That seems impossible. I was going to show you a picture of my shy little girl on her first day of preschool when she was three and follow it by a picture of this same girl this morning. But, well, on my way to find the preschool picture had to go through the album and the summer that led up to preschool and I couldn't stop myself...I had to share...it's a sickness really.

This was Lily's very favorite 3 year old dress. It actually had a name. It was two words like cha cha dress or something. I wish I could remember. It may not have been important at the time, but it seems like info I'd like to know! You mom's of little people, write this stuff down, you will care later! I remember it was some hoity toity European designer dress we bought on eBay and she wore it as often as I would let her! Notice I black & whited the first two so they wouldn't blind you, but it would be an injustice not to include at least one color picture!These are "boing boing" curls. They required a night of sleeping with her hair in rag rolls. She loved this! Somehow, I can't seem to get her to do this now!

It's hard to believe this cute little thing is the same child who at three put both hands on her hips one morning before preschool and told me in a very dramatic voice, "You just don't understand me! No one will ever understand me!!! Although that was a much more accurate prediction of what was to come than hats and boing boing curls!

So here they are the two pictures I've been getting to...

Look how terrified she was. She was so shy! I know if you know her now that is hard to believe, but she was. She used to clutch the back of my pants legs and hide behind me if anyone dared to say "hi" to her. People at our old church weren't even sure she spoke. People at our current church wonder if she ever stops! =) She was fine that day. Once she made it to school and saw her buddy, Joe, life was good. I cried a little, but not too much. I knew she was ready, and I knew it was good for her.

This morning her daddy dropped her off at the door early, before the doors even opened. She happily waited on her friends and loved socializing. She came out with a smile and tales of a wonderful day and wonderful days to come. I think i even had an outfit a bit similar to hers back in the '80s when I was in the 5th grade.

That first day and this day and every first day of school in between I picked her up, we went to lunch and then a movie. We threw in a bit of shopping for girl things that I couldn't even have imagined shopping for when she was three. I sat across the table from her at lunch and listened to her first day tales with the same intense curiosity as I did all those years ago. I found myself wondering when did she grow up so much?. All of the sudden this girl is talking about things I'm enjoying talking about, she's running out of the theater to get popcorn and soda refills without even a thought of shyness, she's reading my mind before the words can even come out when it comes to helping with her brothers. The past few years have been hard. For 7 years she was an only child of parents who wanted nothing more than to be her parents. The boys have changed things. They have made me less patient with her. They have made me expect more of her. They have taken away her spotlight. These things have their pros and cons. I think she will be a better person because of them, kinder, more responsible, but that doesn't mean I don't miss that little girl that she was. I value these girl moments, they don't come nearly as often as they once did. When did she get so beautiful? She was a beautiful baby and little girl, but it seems the last years are hazy for me. Today, for the first time in a long time I saw her. This incredibly beautiful girl who was once my baby and who will one day be my friend, but for the moment is just the child that God made her.