Dear Ellie at 9 years

Dear Ellie,

Happy 9th birthday!  You were so excited for your birthday last night.  As I was tucking you into bed, you told me that all you could think about was presents and that made you feel a little guilty because it seemed greedy. I told you that I should be getting presents since I was the one that gave birth to you! But, seriously, you know how much I love your birthday.  I always tell you that it is my favorite day of the year because it is the date I first became a mom.

I stayed up late last night decorating the kitchen in various shades of green party decorations since you are currently obsessed with the color green.  Your main birthday gift was a basket full of green goodies. You also had some gifts from your daddy, who ignored me when I said you already had enough presents and went and bought you two more on his own.

Ellie, you are growing into such a lovely young lady.  You are funny, smart, kind, pretty, and witty.  You still love to read and always have your nose in a book.  I find your books all over the house - in the bathroom, kitchen, playroom, everywhere! And while I get after you for not picking them up, it reminds me so much of myself when I was your age. Actually, I still leave my books everywhere, too, so I can't get after you too much.

You are really excelling in school.  You have yet to receive anything lower than an A on your report card and you are going on your 3rd year of perfect attendance.  I am actually surprising you today by checking you out of school so we can go celebrate your birthday, but I have to wait until 10 because I don't want to ruin your perfect attendance!  I am proud of your grades, but I am even more proud of your behavior in school.  Gone is the girl who came home from kindergarten every day with marks on her conduct card.  Your teachers love you and always comment on how helpful you are.  You recently went to your art teacher and asked if you could be her helper before school since you are there so early.  You now go in and sharpen pencils and clean up for her.

Another gift you have is with the little ones.  Kids love you.  You are so sweet and gentle with babies and young kids. You told me you were famous at school

and I thought you were joking. But then I went to an after school function and kid after kid kept running up to you for hugs.  When we are at your brother's practices or swim clinic, you entertain the younger siblings of his teammates.  I love watching you with the little ones, especially with your brother Sam.

Ellie, I often get after you for not cleaning up after yourself, for talking back, for questioning me, and for not obeying the first time. But I hope you also know how thankful I am for you and how amazing I think you are.  You are my Ellie-belly, my little Choo-Choo, and I will love you forever. No matter what.

Happy birthday, my sweet girl.

Love,
Mom

Weekend recap

This weekend was awesome because Tom did not have a track meet!  We had a family movie night on Friday.  We watched "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." Yes, the same movie based off Jack's favorite book that I took everyone to for Jack's birthday.  I think the movie is really cute and I like their family dynamic and overall message of the movie.

Saturday was our crazy day.  My church was hosting a Teacher Appreciation brunch and Ellie had invited her teacher from school. So, Ellie, Sam, and I went to that while Tom took Jack to t-ball pictures.  Then, Tom swung by and grabbed Sam who was not happy about being at the church on a Saturday.  Or maybe he was just terrified I would try to stick him in nursery.

  Jack was supposed to have practice, but it was cancelled due to wet fields.  Then, Ellie had a game at 2:00.  They continued their losing streak, but Ellie looked good. She is definitely improving each game.

And then, being the awesome wife and mother that I am, I left Tom with bedtime duty and went out with my friends to dinner and a movie.

Yesterday was church as usual and then Tom and I trading off naps in the afternoon.

A Thursday

Yesterday I took a half day from work and went to Jack's preschool for the Mother's Day Tea.  They do such a cute job and Jack was so happy to see me. He had made me this bracelet from ribbon with a flower glued to it and then we did a craft together. Afterwards, we went to this cute cafe they have in the school for our luncheon.

Then, I took Jack up to the elementary school to register him for kindergarten.  It was kind of anticlimactic for Jack since it was just a lot of waiting in lines and filling out paperwork.

Tom had a track meet that evening so I took the kids to their practices.  I was trying to keep Sam entertained by letting him wear Jack's helmet (he called it a "hat"), but when it was time for Jack to bat he took his helmet back from Sam. Sam followed Jack back onto the field, screaming bloody murder, and I had to drag him off.  At least the picture I got before the fit was cute.

Ellie and I were talking before she went to bed and she asked me to take a selfie with her. She told me to post it with the caption along the lines of, "This is how crazy Sam makes us when he throws his fits."

Just Jack

Jack is my sensitive child. He is so loving and says the sweetest things.  He wants so much to be a good boy and has a strong sense of right and wrong.  Which is why the events of yesterday caught me so off guard.

On Sunday, my mother-in-law gave me a $20 to buy something for Ellie. That night, I took it out of my pocket and placed in on the bathroom sink. Monday night, I remembered it and went to go put it in my wallet, only to find it missing.  I asked Tom if he picked it up, but he hadn't, so I assumed Ellie grabbed it since she knew it was for her birthday.

Tuesday morning, I asked Ellie about it and she was like, "Mom, I would never take money without asking. What if it had been Daddy's money?" I then asked Jack and he told me no.  A few moments later I felt like I should question him a little more, so I asked him again and told him that I wouldn't be mad as long as he told the truth. He told me no. I asked again, and again he said no. We then left and as I was dropping the boys off at the babysitter's, Ms. Donika asked Jack if he had left some money at her house yesterday.  I asked her if it was a $20 and she said yes.  I had to get to school, so I just told Jack how disappointed I was and that we would talk that night about his consequences.

I think it weighed on his mind all day because as soon as I picked him up, he apologized and called himself a liar.  I told him that his Dad and I wanted to talk to him about it later, but that he was grounded from all electronics for two weeks and he would have to do extra chores each day.  We talked a little about trust and how hard it is to regain it once lost.  With Jack, he takes things so much to heart that I have to be careful when disciplining him because he will often beat himself up more than I ever could (not literally, obviously. I try not to beat my kids).

Both Ellie and Jack had games yesterday.  Ellie's game was later than Jack's, so I brought the boys home to give them baths and put them to bed. Jack told me he was nervous about his talk with Daddy and I told him to go wait in his bed for Daddy. Well, Ellie's game lasted later than I thought and Jack was asleep before Tom got home.

The whole thing really bothered me because it seemed so out of character for Jack. Also, the fact that he lied straight to my face three times over and I totally couldn't tell he was lying.  Hopefully, he learned his lesson. It seems a little silly to write it all out, but I just love that kid so much and I know what a good heart he has so it kind of breaks mine to see him make a bad choice.  Clearly, I am not going to handle the teen years well.

Easter weekend

This past holiday weekend was so fun, but so busy.  Tom had track meets (of course he did) on Friday and Saturday.  A friend had asked us to go with them to the beach on Friday, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to deal with Sam at a beach.  However, she talked me into it and I am so glad she did! Dianna and Sabrina came along with their kids, as well. Sam hated the sand. He kept wanting me to wipe off his feet and hands with wet wipes because he was "dirty." And the ocean terrified him at first. Every time the waves lapped over his feet, he would scream. So, initially, he just sat on my lap and watched the other kids play.  Ellie was going way out with the boogie board and scaring me to death because the waves were rough.  Jack and Naomi stayed close and had fun trying to jump over the waves.  Sam finally got over his fear, but then he would not leave the water. He wanted to stand there holding my hand for hours while the waves hit his feet. He was the happiest I have seen him in awhile.  All the kids were and it made me wonder why we don't do this more often.  Galveston is only 90 miles away, but the last time I went there, I was pregnant with Jack!

Saturday morning, I watched Sabrina's kids for a bit and the Saturday evening Dianna brought her kids and a movie over.  My kids are always happiest when they have cousins around to play with.

Sunday morning was Easter and General Conference so we didn't have to rush to church.  The kids had to hunt for their chocolate bunnies instead of eggs since we didn't actually get around to dying some the day before.


Our friends had invited my family out to their golf course for dinner and an Easter egg hunt like we did last year.  I asked if I could also make it Ellie and Sam's birthday party and invite Tom's family. They were more than happy to oblige.  I went with a green theme since green is Ellie's favorite color (she is obsessed with it) and also kind of Easter-y. I didn't take any pictures, though, of all the green stuff I bought.  Sabrina brought all green veggies and Rosie cut up limes in the water. I had dropped off 175 Easter eggs they day before for our friends to hide. I also had green party favor bags filled with green candy and a green Easter egg with a dollar bill.  That was about as far as my creativity extended.  Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun and it was the easiest birthday party ever.  I should always hijack other people's invitations with my kids' parties.