Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!

Have you made these before?

I remember making these with my mom when I was younger and today I decided to make them with the kids! My favorite is the one on the left that A made-it looks like it has hair!

We had all of our supplies...candy corn, fudge stripe cookies, chocolate stars and caramel.

Oh-and frosting, too. That's what held our turkeys together! I was in charge of the frosting and the kids did everything else on their own. It was very fun to watch them do it all on their own!

So, here's to turkeys, cookies and anything else you might be making for tomorrow!

Gobble! Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!

Your own rooms!

Dear A & C,
        Tonight you are sleeping in your own bedrooms. It is the first night you will have slept in separate rooms when you've been in the same house. Are you really that old already?
        I remember bringing you home from the hospital and having you sleep right next to me in the room. Although it was a good set-up, I couldn't do it for long (only 2 weeks) because I woke up to your every sound. So, then it was into the nursery to sleep in the same crib. That lasted until you both became too long for the crib to be able to sleep the short way, side-by-side, so then it was into your own cribs in the same room. That lasted until the February before you turned 3. Since then you've been in toddler beds which worked out well. That is until I would come in to check on you and C's feet would be sticking out through the slats at the end of the bed. Time for something new!

So tonight you are in your own big kid beds. A, you are sleeping in the bed I slept in for lots of years.You have all of my old furniture.

I look around your bedroom and think I could sleep there too because it's so familiar. C, you're sleeping just on your mattresses.

Your "bed" hasn't come in yet, but we're making this work.

You loved sleeping in them for a nap this afternoon (yes, you both took a nap!), and snuggled right in tonight.

       I thought for sure you would put up a bit of a fuss tonight when we tucked you in, but you were both so tired and excited to sleep in your own beds that you didn't mind. A already said, "C, when you wake up in the morning if it's light outside and the clock says 7, you come into my room and let me know. Then I'll wake up too." Each of you have already called it A's bedroom or C's bedroom, which I found so cute. It definitely didn't take you long at all to figure that out. 

       I love that you are this grown up that you already have your own rooms. It's just another sign that you are growing up and getting to be big kids! We love you, Mommy & Daddy

Sassy

If you have a little girl, you probably know they can be sassy. Even at 4 years old, we have a sassy one on our hands. What's a mom to do? Good question. Any helpful hints would be much appreciated.
You see, A has become a little bit outspoken a bit. She's always said what she thinks, but she seems to be doing so with a bit more sass than before. She's been saying things like, "You're mean," and "Ugh" with a certain look on her face. Our hope is that she isn't treating other people like this, especially at school, but it might not be the case-you never know.
As parents you hope that you are doing everything you can in order to raise your children to be good kids. You hope you do everything you can to help your children be polite, kind, empathetic...the list goes on. I just keep telling myself this is a phase, right? This too shall pass? She really doesn't mean that I'm being mean to her, does she? She really does want to give me a hug, right? I'm sure she does, and that tomorrow it will be a bit different. I know she loves us. I know she wants to do the right thing. I know she loves everyone around her. It just seems to be all about her lately. Oh the joys of a self-centered 4-year-old.

I'm thankful for a lot!

We were getting ready for bed and C was waiting his turn for a bath. I went into the playroom to see what he was doing. At first I thought he was just writing words. He had his name written and had started writing his next word: dinosaur. Being the teacher I am, I'm always trying to get the kids to think about the sounds they know when they're trying to figure out how to spell a word. So I helped him with dinosaur and then he starts to write the words "tede bar." (teddy bear) Then he wanted to write tree. H got the t-r-e and I helped with the last e. Finally I asked hime what he was writing.

He said, "I'm writing the things I'm thankful for." Just like that-all on his own.

Can you see what the rest says? If not, here they are:

dinosaur

tede bar (teddy bear)

tree

car

Mommy

That was the original order and then he went back to the top and stopped. I asked him who else he was thankful for and he said, "Murray." Murray is Uncle Dan and Aunt Denise's dog whom C & A love to play with. So instead of writing Murray he wrote dog. Too cute!

So the last 2 words at the top are:

dog 

Daddy.
I love having something like this from him. It's so sweet and true. They are the things he's thankful for and he did it all on his own. At 4 years old. Pretty neat, don't you think? I guess you could say I'm one proud Mommy!

And just like that...

...winter is here! This morning we woke up to a land of winter white. The kids tromped up the stairs around 7:00 and stood at the top of the stairs in our bedroom, looking out the window. Comments heard were as follows...

"Mom! Did you see it?! It's snowing!"-A

"Can we go play in the snow?"-both

"Look at those gigantic snowflakes. They're huge!"-C

"C, did you see the table? The snow is even on the table outside!"-A

"Can we go play outside in the snow? It's wake-up time, isn't it?"-both

"I can't believe how much snow there is. It's even stuck to the window!"-C

"Where are the sleds? You know, the ones that Mamma and Papa got us for Christmas last year? Yeah, where are they? Well, can we sled on them today? But there's snow out there so we can go sledding!"-A

Of course we went out and played in the snow right away after breakfast. J & I hadn't even started putting our things on and I turned around and A was already dressed, head to toe! Again, what a difference a year makes. They both asked for all of their things and got them on by themselves! It was great, and good for them to know how to do it all when they're at school.

We already have 2 snowmen made in the yard, too. That's something we haven't ever made before because the snow never seemed to be just right to do it. So it was very fun to be able to do that already. Snowballs have been thrown. Snow angels have been made. Shoveling has been done. We're headed outside again later this afternoon to do some more playing, and I suppose, some sledding too.

J and I said to each other that we forgot how much the kids really do love winter. They love everything about it. Welcome winter...I suppose you're here to stay!

It's my birthday!

Yes, today is my birthday! It felt like a regular day, really, but special all at the same time. We started the day with cinnamon rolls (thanks J!) as a family. Nothing beats that. The kids each picked out their own present for me: a Kings of Leon CD was the choice of C-rock n' roll music from him, and from A it was jewelry-3 pairs of sparkly earrings-no surprise there, either! I love that the kids are able to pick out their own things that they think are perfect for us.

At school my kids greeted me with, "She's here! She's in the room! She's here!" Upon them coming into the room I was surrounded by hugging arms and smiles. I also had cards on my desk, a necklace, pictures and an apple. They really are so sweet. No other job could bring that kind of response, that's for sure. It was a good day to be at work.

The evening ended with dinner at Mom & Dad's-thanks Mom!! My favorite...chicken, cheese & stuffing. Of course there couldn't be a birthday dinner without birthday cake-chocolate and chocolate...teaching my children to take a lick of frosting before getting your piece of cake, too.

Lucky for me, Mom & Dad gave me some shopping money, so off we went to shop for a bit. I do love shopping...After some shopping we went to meet some friends for a birthday dessert. Yes, more dessert. I think I counted and I had a total of 5 different sweet treats. Enough already, right?! Yummy all the same.

But one of the best parts of the day was coming home with J and opening his birthday present. It was a cookbook (GASP!), a fleece coat and a photo shoot. Now those may seem like regular gifts, but there was definite thought that came into these presents. The photo shoot is what got me. It is a shoot with our friend, Emily. The note said, "Just you and me." I don't know why it got me, but it did. J kept asking me, "Are you ok?" as I had tears on my face. It was because it was just for the two of us. It is such a thoughtful gift-to think of just the two of us for something like that. I told him that what I was thinking about is that it's so much about being a mom or a teacher or a daughter. It's not so often that it's just the two of us thinking about just us. I love you, J, for thinking like that.

Another year, come and gone...Happy Birthday to me!