Family Celebrations

This "thirty something" mom of two had a wonderful birthday weekend of celebrations. Landon and I enjoyed a birthday date this past weekend while Grandmama and Poppy held down the fort. Nothing like dinner sans kiddos. No one asking for sippy cup refills, or complaining about the meal served. I didn't even have to bounce a baby on my knee and eat with one hand! Nope, just a relaxed, quiet dining experience with the man I love. This was just the luxury I needed. I had to laugh when I started to yawn around 10:00 pm on our big date. Whew! I can't burn the midnight oil anymore.

Tonight, we celebrated my birthday and Poppy's birthday with the whole fam. Miller has been talking about this dinner party the WHOLE weekend. He's our party animal. Miller wondered if I would be having a princess party. I love how he put some thought into what kind of party I would like.

We let Miller blow out the candles on our maple cake. He was sneaking icing samples and jabbing fingers into the cake all evening. The cake really is what birthdays is all about in the three year old brain.

What's a party without a party dress? I'm loving having a live doll to dress. Flashback memories of dressing our kitty cat Bandit in bonnets & dresses and strolling him in my baby buggy down the street. That poor cat! My iron baby carriage now rests in Eliza Kate's room. Look out Jackson! Fokens family outake TAKE six. Uncle Clay was so patient with our crew. I had to laugh at the little miss practicing her toe touches during our family shot. She's really into the splits lately.

Almost a winner besides EK gumming her fingers. It's impossible to get everyone smiley these days!
The evening ended with crazy Uncle Clay and Miller launching parachuting army men off of the catwalk with party balloons. This was the highlight of Miller's party fun!

Baby Num Nums

Grandmama introduced the little miss to baby num num cookies this week. With four teeth and the addition of two more cutting through on top, Eliza Kate enjoyed gumming something to ease the pain. Num Nums need to come with instruction manuals for babies. She didn't get the hang of it at first. EK passed it from hand to hand back and forth like a toy.

What is this cookie goodness? I'm sure that's what she was thinking. With one taste and an awkward look, we just let her do her thing!
She studied the num num intensely before finally sampling it on her own. It did entertain her after lunch of spoon fed pureed fruits. New textures, puffs and some finger foods are my culinary goals for the little miss at nine months. She's mastered the pincher grasp, but needs some assistance aiming for her mouth.

Here's to hoping that the new cuspids on top will not be painful.

Sweet success after a few minutes of finger food fun. Thanks grandmama for the new treat!

Music Class

Eliza Kate and I are enjoying our mommy and me music Fridays. At nine months it was high time that we do something active together out and about. Miller's baby book is scattered with several mommy and me classes his first year...mommy guilt anyone? I've loved this music program with Miller over the last three years. What a joy to include the little miss in all the music fun with Miss Anna. We're joining in with our usual crew of mommies and pals, but this go around the older siblings are at preschool. It took a few moments for EK to adjust to the new faces and scenery, but I could tell that she was enjoying the music and socialization. The shaking egg was her favorite noise maker. It's wonderful at this age that she stays content in one place. No chasing her crawling self around yet.

Then it was dancing with twirling scarves time. Since my tiny dancer is immobile, we sat and twirled the scarves. Eliza Kate enjoyed sporting her scarf as a veil..too cute! I enjoyed the laid back feel of having a baby again in class. Miller was 15 months when we started class and I was chasing him around in circles. EK will learn the inside scoop of class from her sweet friend Maggie with the pink bow. We had a great first class making memories together. Loving one on one time with sweet girl!

Donuts and Dads

Landon got to visit Miller's classroom this morning...solo! Miller presented him with a very special coat and tie invitation earlier in the week to attend Donuts and Dads in the Busy Bee classroom.A daddy and me morning was just what my men needed. All week long, Miller rambled about all the special surprises he had in store for his daddy. I had to teach him how to keep those special plans private and not spoil the surprise.

Landon loved wearing a construction paper t-shirt name tag that read..."Landon, Miller's Dad". At Miller's seat, he crafted a wooden key holder for daddy to take home. The class played a rousing game of I Love You Dad from My Head to My Toes..a Guess Who game of sorts. Miller described his daddy as "big feet tall", "black hair", "three years old, like me", "likes to eat". Of course Landon was so proud of "likes to eat" among other descriptions! At least, he wasn't the daddy that was described as liking to go potty.

A Daddy and Me poem complete with Miller and Daddy's handprint was a nice addition to the morning. Donuts and juice were enjoyed by all. Too bad, the mommy's couldn't witness all the fun. We'll have our date in May!

Party Like a SuperHero

The shroud of secrecy over Super Hero's has been lifted in our house. With upcoming plans to attend a good buddy's superhero party, we exposed Miller to the whole concept of Batman, Spiderman, and Power Rangers. Sure, he's seen superheros before at Halloween, but has never asked who or what they represent. Miller's questions were hilarious when we slipped on a borrowed Power Ranger costume.

The conversation went something like this:

He asked, "What do Power Rangers do?"

Umm, they fight evil.

"What is evil mommy?"

(Oops..shouldn't have said evil) They fight off the bad guys.

"How do they fight?"

They just make sure everyone is getting along:)

It clicked and light bulbs went off in his little head. High kick moves were accompanied by the new awareness of superheros. Miller must have been inspired from his super strong padded six pack and biceps. After getting comfy in the whole getup complete with mask, Miller was all suited up and ready to party like a superhero.

Guess who was in the neighborhood keeping the peace? Batman! Batman came to the party and taught superhero moves and painted faces.

Who knew that superheros were schooled in the arts of face painting? Miller chose a black spider out of a sample book for his face. He sat perfectly still while Batman worked his magic.Happy fourth birthday Caden!

New Semester

Hurray! One semester down with three year old preschool. We just got Miller's preschool pictures back before Christmas. I think they turned our precious for a school picture. Another picture proof showed Miller sitting on a stool with his feet crossed and his hands innocently clasped in his lap. How did they ever get him to sit still for a photo op?

After 5 months of being away from mommy three days a week, our little man has grown and changed by leaps and bounds.

Our 3.8 year old has:

-made lots of sweet friendships

-learned all about classroom structure

- put on his "listening ears"

- grown to love Jesus and memorized scripture

-"stops and thinks"..most of the time about decisions

- aquired a love of potty talk from all the boys- blah

- developed a tolerance for crafts and coloring (this was a goal of mine)

- learned what "scribble scrabble" is and how to take his time coloring

- solicits an object for each letter (even Q!) and makes each letter sound

- had no potty accidents to my dismay..I thought he'd go to kindergarden in pull-ups

- mastered the Pledge of Allegiance and the word "indivisible"(precious!)

- knows a handful of opposite pairs

- likes to group objects that are similar and different

This momma has:
-loved her one on one time with Eliza Kate
-fallen in love with volunteering in the classroom
-learned you don't have to plan the party to attend:)
-prayed harder than ever for our boy when he's away
-realized he's growing up way too fast
-loved every story Miller retells about school
-affirmed his teachers for all their tireless work developing Godly character in our boy

Congrats on completing fall semester little man!

"I thank my God every time I remember Miller.....Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in Miller will carry it on to completion. Philippians 1: 3 & 6

Snowglobe Shaking

Snow globe shake up in Georgia! We heard all the weather buzz and took it to heart. After all the preparations were made... flashlights reloaded with new batteries, candles corralled, and two meals cooked just in case, we were finally ready last night. Grocery shopping before an anticipated storm in the south is an undertaking. Some of the aisles were cleared out. What is all the hysteria about bread in a snowstorm anyway? If I'm stuck inside for a few days, this girl wants Chili, hot cocoa and a pot roast, not my old stand by of peanut butter on bread. I guess I take for granted that even if we lose power, we can manually light our gas stove for cooking.

We watched, waited and stared out the window all last night to spot the falling flakes. I brewed hot cider with mulling spices to add to the coziness. Snow in the south is a big deal! Finally, it came and within an hour we had accumulated a few inches. This morning we could admire the full beauty of the winter wonderland outside over breakfast. After snowing through the night, we have 5-6 inches at our house. It's a thick blanket outside and is being coined a "blizzard" in Atlanta.

Snow brings out all the neighbors on our block. It's exciting for wee ones and adults alike as both groups are playing hooky from work & school.We got such an accumulation that everything will be shut down for a couple days at least. So, we're enjoying each other's company and slowing down a bit for family time.

The only thing we couldn't find in a pinch were waterproof gloves for Miller. Miss Ambrea shared her little tip of plastic medical gloves under the fleece mittens. It seemed to do the trick!

Sweet bundle of pink enjoyed the view atop her perch in the stroller. She got a front row seat to all the street play in her safe zone. I parked her out of way to avoid a missed snowball. She's really getting a taste of snow this first year! I used pink socks to cover her hands. We had to do a lot of improvising as we don't get blizzards in these parts very often!

We went back out this afternoon for round two after naps. Miller played his little heart out sledding down neighborhood hills until his fingers and toes could take no more. Looking forward to new adventures tomorrow. This snow is going nowhere in a hurry.

Happy Snow Days to you!