dance.

 It is no secret that Ashley loves to dance. In her room. With her friends. All by herself. In dance class. With music. Without music. ballet. tap. hip-hop. Dances from class or choreographed all on her own. We can always find her twirling around. 

May brings dance recital time, which Ashley loves. Mostly for the outfits and the time with her girlfriends. But topping the list this year were the flowers grandma brought to her recital. Although her performances are far from flawless, Ashley is always delighted. And that's the real purpose anyway.

Mitchel.

On Monday, May 17 Mitchel turned 10. At his request, Josh made him biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Grandma picked him up from school and took him to Jimmy Johns for lunch. Dinner was on the run as he had baseball practice and Justin had a game. After Justin's game, we all went out to Sub Zero for ice cream and then back to our house for presents. It made for a late night, but it sure was fun.  To complete the celebration, our family went to the theater the following Saturday and saw the new Shrek.

Anyone who really knows me knows that Mitchel is my hardest child. He was my infant that cried for no reason. The toddler that could not be away from me. even for a minute. The child that cried for more than half of his Kindergarten year.  My one and only impulsive child. The child that loves to annoy his siblings, just for the reaction. The child that's always bored.

However, there are lots of things about Mitchel that I love. And the fact that more people know about his weaknesses and not his strengths is my fault. I need to work on my complaining....

So, here you go.  10 facts about Mitchel. 10 things I love about him...

1. He is the hardest worker.  He can work his siblings and his mom right into the ground.  He can mow our yard, vacuum out a vehicle, load/unload a pick-up full of wood, unload a dishwasher, and shovel snow like no other. And he enjoys working. He gets a great sense of accomplishment from a physical job well done. He really is amazing. It is fun to watch b/c physical work comes so naturally to him.

2. He is creative. He can build and draw and put puzzles together amazingly well. He just has an eye for it. He has been into puzzles lately and puts together 2500 piece puzzles in a very short amount of time. He is also a good fort builder and loves to construct all types of forts for Ashley and Coleman.

3. He is affectionate. I don't think he will ever outgrow back rubs at night.  And that is okay with me. He lights up when given a hug. When he is worked up about something, usually some sort of affection from me can calm him right down. I'm probably guilty of short-changing him on the affection he needs.

4. He never forgets his personal prayers at night. Never. He bears his testimony at church with absolutely no prodding from us. I'll never forget the first time he just got up off the pew and walked himself right to the front. Could this really be the boy that at one time suffered from social anxiety?

5. He is thoughtful. He always thinks of his siblings when he gets a treat at piano lessons or has an auction at school. There are lots of times he comes home with only things for them.

6. He loves music. He can always be found listening to the radio, computer, or an ipod. I swear he knows the words to every single song. And he sings out loud with sheer contentment written all over his face. I love watching him in the rear-view mirror....He also is learning to play the piano and has picked it up quite naturally. When he learns a song he enjoys he plays with such intensity. I love it. He's not too shabby at sing-star and rock band either!

7. He is care-free. He states his opinions without being overly concerned about pleasing others or being the same as others. These qualities need balance of course. but with it, they are oh so good.

8. He thrives on structure and routine. He likes to know what the day holds.

9. He is task oriented. He likes to have things to do.  Items he can check off his list and feel satisfied at having completed.

10. His natural athletic ability. His sparkly hazel eyes. His smile.

Man do I ever love this boy. He really is a good boy and I should be more thankful every day that he is mine.

make-believe.

I seriously delight in overhearing the conversations that occur between Ashley and Coleman when they are in the midst of some make-beleive game they have come up with.  Ashley has always had a good imagination. And man oh man has she ever done a good job of teaching Coleman how to make-believe too.  They seriously entertain themselves for hours.  The other week they kept themselves occupied at the freezing cold baseball game running around playing make-believe.  They would come up to me occasionally (as I sat wrapped in a blanket freezing to death) and would ask if they could go to the party, or go ride horses, or go see a new baby that was just born.  Seriously, these were topics this particular day.  And I kid you not, they did this in the freezing cold, for just over an hour. At that time they decided to go warm up in the van with a movie. It was Ashley's birthday after all, and they were headed to the theater....

Last Sunday as Josh and I were in our room after church, we could hear Ashley and Coleman in the hallway outside our room.  They were playing some kind of fairy game. At one point we heard Coleman say I just broke your wing.  Apparently Coleman had a pet dragon, and the dragon broke the fairy's wing. Later Ashley was Star the horse and Coleman was her owner. Some days she is a dog, some days they are both dogs. Other days they are parents and they have children. 

I love how they can use their imaginations to entertain themselves. I love watching them interact with each other.  Coleman always declares Ashley as his best friend and nothing could make me happier.

friday morning.

Every Friday morning we have cinnamon rolls. Nothing fancy, just 2 packages of pillsbury refrigerated ones. Its easy. The kids love them. Its how we celebrate making it through the school week. It's been a tradition this whole school year. I'm sure we missed a Friday or two, but for the most part, Fridays have been cinnamon roll day as Coleman calls it. Well, when Josh and i went to bed last night, we remembered we didn't have any cinnamon rolls. No problem, Josh said he would run out in the morning and get some. Then we decided he would go and get donuts from our favorite donut shop instead so there will be nothing to come home and cook....(we usually do donuts on saturday mornings...but why not Friday....the kids will love it!)

Moments before Josh walks back in the door one of my children (whom I'll keep anonymous) said something like "where are the cinnamon rolls?" I was not sure what to address first: the rude comment or the fact that there were not going to be cinnamon rolls today. As I am thinking, I hear the back door open and so I say to this child, " dad's home and he brought donuts". I am waiting to see excitement and instead I got, "But its friday and I wanted cinnamon rolls". I repeated myself, Dad went and got yummy donuts. Again I hear, " I wanted cinnamon rolls." (with a slight edge to the voice) I was dumbfounded and also highly annoyed. Seriously? my thoughts went something like this: You are mad that your dad just got up early and went and got you donuts? really yummy ones. You ungrateful little thing. Who taught you to be so rude? As I walked out of the room I muttered something about being upset and hurt by the comment. A few minutes later I went into the kitchen and saw him eating his favorite kind of chocolate donut. The words you should have to eat cold cereal slipped right out of my mouth before I could catch them. Its okay. I have a long list of ways I'm trying to become mom of the year.... The child of course snapped back with a "Fine, I will." I then proceeded to say to unnamed child that I wasn't serious. I apologized for making a sarcastic comment. and then said I didn't appreciate his rudeness over what he was being "served" for breakfast.

Jessie - maybe this child can visit your behavior bootcamp when you get it all figured out, because it doesn't look like my teachings of gratitude and respect are having too big an impact.... apparently I've lost the correct instruction manual. If someone has taken it, please return it.

Mother's Day.

Mother's Day always gives me much to think about. It sends me back in time thinking about my mom and how good she was at mothering. Nurturing, patience, love, selfless, organized. She was all of those things. Not to mention she was super good at all the basics too - you know, cooking, cleaning, etc. I'm pretty sure so much of why I wanted to be a mom more than anything else in this world had a whole lot to do with how good she was at the whole mothering thing. It inspired me. It came so natural to her. It was who she was. I wanted to be like her. I often think of her example and then check to see how I am measuring up. I fall short in lots of areas, but I'm trying. And I do love it. Man do I ever love being a momma. I am the first to admit that my dreams of motherhood were full of me and babies. Sometimes toddlers. But always babies. school-age kids - not so much. But now that is where my real life has taken me. My youngest is 4 and my oldest is 11. We are clearly in school-age mode. I am out of my element. Out of what my mind had all planned out. Good thing my heart does a decent job of guiding me. I find myself depending lots on that heart of mine to help me be the mom that I need to be. The mom that my amazing kids deserve. And I think I'm starting to get it. Slowly. And, I really am enjoying the ride.....well, on most days!

mother's day pictures...may 9, 2010

14 years.

From the moment I began dating Josh, I knew I wanted nothing more than to spend forever with him. However silly that sounds, it's the truth. I love to peek back through my old journals and read my thoughts from back then. my thoughts about how much fun I had just being with him. How my heart leapt when I saw him or held his hand, or better yet danced with him. (man I can still hear the music from those youth dances). How when we were apart all I could think about was him.

I love being able to say that if I had to do it all over again, I have no doubt that I'd choose Josh again. I love the life we've made together. It may not be the exact life we envisioned 14 years ago, but that's okay. I am happy that we still love just being together. I love that we have nightly dates. I love that we still talk for hours on end. I love how Josh still makes me laugh. I love that I am married to my best friend (cliche but true).

Man I love the memories we have packed into these 14 years. Can't wait for more....

wedding day 5/3/96

today 5/3/10

time to spare.

The best mornings for Coleman are when there is time to spare; time to watch a little PBS before heading out the door for school. Extra time makes for a good morning for everyone. Unfortunately it doesn't occur very regularly around here.