Our little Graduate

I cannot believe our little man has already finished his first year of pre school!  He has been going this year on Monday and Wednesday mornings from 9 - 12 and has been learning so much.  I was debated for a while whether or not to enroll him because it is hard to watch your baby grow up, but I knew it would be a great thing for him and great for Calli to have some one on one time with Mommy.  I am definitely glad we enrolled him and now we are excited for a long summer break to have lots of fun with our little man before the fall.

On his last day of school they had a little program for the families and they each got their certificates and little presents from their teacher Miss Angela.  It was super cute to watch them perform some of the songs they had been working on during the year.  Calli of course wanted to be a part of the show and sat next to JJ which of course he loved.  I didn't get a picture of it, but at one point they were standing and he had his arms around her it was so sweet.

A few days before his preschool graduation he took some lunch bags upstairs and filled them with some of their toys and then brought them back down and said he was going to give these presents to his friends and teacher at preschool.  I hadn't even thought of getting little gifts but I thought it was such a sweet idea I suggested that we could go to the store and he could pick some presents out and use his money to buy them for his friends.  He has a jar of coins that daddy usually drops his change into and JJ LOVES it.  He plays with and counts those coins ALL the time.  He loved the idea of buying presents for his friends but he wasn't so sure he wanted to use his coins so he said maybe we should use dad's money!  So we talked about how one of the great things about giving gifts to people is sacrificing from ourselves.  I told him it was his choice and we didn't have to buy any presents only if he wanted to.  So he thought about it for a long time and then said maybe we could find a store where you buy gifts but they don't take your money.  :)  I told him I have been looking for that store for a LONG time.  I also told him that mommy had a long list of chores for daddy when he got home from his trip and that I bet he could help daddy and earn some more money for his jar.  He liked that idea but still needed to call daddy and confirm that there were some opportunities to gain back his money.

So we headed out to the store (the dollar store) and he had his bag of money in hand.  It was a bit chaotic trying to leave without the whole store in the cart but he found some bug catching kits and picked out one for each of his class mates and some dry erase markers for Miss Angela.  He said she loves her board so she would love those markers.  So we counted all the coins and he was so excited about what he had purchased.  He bought one for himself as well.  After we got home I grabbed some more of the lunch bags and put the names of his friends on them so he could pick which color he wanted to give to each friend.  The next day was his party and he was SOOO excited to give out all of his presents.  It was the best part of the day for me and I think for him too.  He is such a sweet boy and so sensitive and kind.  He has always been so good and giving and sharing and wanting to make others happy.  Every time he gets a snack or a treat from baseball or some where he will break it in half to share with his sister or he will always get two suckers if we are at the Dr. to bring one home for daddy.  Every Wed. at school was treasure box day where they got to bring a little treasure home and I can't tell you how many times instead of picking something out for himself he would bring home a bracelet for me or for Calli.  His teacher said she had never had a child do that before.  She also told me that when they had their easter egg hunt as a class they were each supposed to find 6 eggs but they lost 3 and one little girl only had 3 and was sad so they all looked to find the missing eggs and couldn't find them so JJ on his own just walked over to her and picked up 3 of his eggs and put them in her basket.  I was so proud of my little man when she told me that.

Here is their class picture minus one who was being shy and one who was sick that day.  And then one with their teacher of course.  After the presentation part was over we had a little swim party down the street at the community pool.  It was a super fun morning celebrating my favorite little 4 year old boy in the whole world.

I can't believe how much he has changed and developed this last year.  It was a bit of a struggle to get him to want to go to school at the beginning of the year but by the end he would go just great and always seemed to have a great time when he came home.  I can't believe that Kindergarten is just over a year a way.  I am soo NOT ready to let my baby head out into the big bad world to fend for himself but I know he will be amazing he is such a responsible and good boy I am excited to be a part of his growth and development.  Way to go JJ we are so proud of you!!!

Pirates and Fro Yo

While daddy was out of town for 8 days we planned lots of fun little activities to entertain ourselves.  On Saturday we decided to go see the Pirates movie and then get some frozen yogurt afterwards at our favorite shop, yumilicious.  The movie was pretty cute, JJ loved it and Calli liked it pretty well but she has never been one who wants to sit still for a whole movie.  I got them each their own little snack pack which they love of course and that keeps Calli still for at least half of the movie.  The last 30 mins she just had to stretch her legs and walked up and down the stairs and sat on a few of them.  I didn't mind as long as she was in sight and not being loud.  There were only a few other people there so it was great.  

My kids sure do love ice cream, I can't ever get a good picture of them because they won't pay any attention to me while they are devouring their delicious treat.  It was a fun afternoon and then we headed home.

Oh what a day!

So in an effort to not have to travel right after the baby comes, John decided to leave for 8 days right before the baby comes, which of course is the lesser of the two evils especially since it is the beginning of the crazy, busy summer season, but I still was a little nervous about him being gone that long.  One because I didn't want to go into labor with him gone and two because I just don't have quite as much energy as normal and my children are the energizer bunnies!  Well, we made it through the 8 days just fine and daddy got home last Wednesday and baby still hasn't come so we are all good!  However we did have a couple of "interesting" experiences to say the least.  :)  

Thursday's are typically my most interesting days anyway because I wash my hair usually for one and I don't have lots of fun things planned to entertain my children I sort of want them to entertain themselves happily playing together without making any messes while I get things done around the house.  Well, even though I don't vocalize this they some how know when it is Thursday this is the day mom is going to try and ignore us so we are going to make it very difficult for her to not notice us.  The funny thing is that on most every day when I don't ignore them or have much to do, they get along great and are playing just fine by themselves we don't even need to have something fun planned.

Well after there had been numerous quarrels as I was trying to get the kitchen cleaned up after breakfast.  I went to take a shower and wash my hair and shave my legs heaven forbid.  When I opened the bathroom door I found JJ with a bowl of cereal in my room watching a cartoon.  I thought to myself how is this scene possible, so I walked into the kitchen and this is what I found.  I was encouraging independence but this isn't exactly what I had meant.  I couldn't believe how he just thought to himself ya know I am still hungry mom can't help me so I guess I will just help myself and he sure did!

We need to review a little more about how to put things back once they are taken out I guess and how important it is to NOT leave the refrigerator open AFTER you ask mom first if you can have something to eat.  But I have to say I was pretty proud of his problem solving skills he showed.  And its nice to know my children won't starve if I ever decided to never get out of the shower.

I decided since I had practically ignored my children all morning in a desperate attempt to clean my house that they deserved a little fun that afternoon and then I could keep my house in order if we left.  So we headed out to Chuck E Cheese.  THis is one of our favorite places to go but with all the nice weather and fun outdoor activities we have been enjoying lately we haven't' been in a while.  So the kids were excited and had a blast!

Calli has become so brave over the last year and loves to ride on all the rides now.  It is so cute watching her.  

JJ on the other hand has decided he has outgrown all the rides and is now on a mission to play more of the games and get as many tickets as possible.  Here he is showing off all of his hard work.  He was so cute because he kept walking off on his own trying to achieve his goal.

And of course there is always time for some family fun with air hockey.  JJ and I were playing first and then Calli came up and took over my spot.  I love this little table it is so perfect for their size.  

I was thinking how cute and fun these little munchkins of mine are and how good they were being and then about 2 mins. later Calli told me that while she was playing up in the play scape tunnels that she had decided that would be the most appropriate time to pee her pants.  AWESOME.  The crazy thing is is that she hardly ever has accidents seriously ever, so I don't know what happened.  I figured since it was a Thursday after all that it was just how it goes.  My apologies to any other moms and kids who played up in the play scape that day.

Happy Mother's Day!!! By John Merris

This post is dedicated to my best friend and a truly amazing mother!  Almost five years ago Cindy gave birth to JJ and ever since he was born, she has been chasing him.  It was a big adjustment when he started walking, but Cindy had things well under control.  Two and half years ago things got a little trickier when Calli was born and she added a new dimension to our world.  Instead of chasing, Cindy was dragged everywhere she went, many times in different directions, simultaneously.  In a couple weeks, our sweet little Cambri will be born and we are starting to think that, maybe, we are in a little over our heads.  Bless Cindy's heart.

But I must say, Cindy is the most amazing mother to our children and I am the luckiest man to have her as my companion, my friend, and the mother to our children.  JJ and Calli adore their mother; they cry every time she leaves and when it's Daddy's turn to put the kids down at night, they won't fall asleep until Mommy comes in and sings them a song.  I have not ever met a mother that spends more time exploring with her children than Cindy does.  The Dallas Zoo, Children's Museum, Aquarium, Planetarium, Beach (at the lake), Pool, and Duck Pond are frequent stops for Cindy and crew.  She mentioned tonight that they have been to the Children's Museum eight times this year already!  When it comes to holidays, including birthdays, in Cindy's world time stops.  She take every opportunity to make each holiday magical for the kids and it works every time.  The kids light up when Cindy's master plans unravel on special occasions.

During her most recent pregnancy, Cindy has been extremely uncomfortable (more than she was with the other two); Despite her difficulties, she has not slowed down a bit!  I am amazed everyday when she tells me all that she did and accomplished with the kids while I was taking a break (meaning, while I was at my day job).

I am so glad that Cindy chose to be a mom for her job.  She is one of the most intelligent, hard working people I know; when we met, she was preparing for law school and could have had her pick of careers.  I've never heard her complain once; on the contrary, she reminds me, even on her sometimes frustrating days, how happy she is to be a mother.  The sacrifice she makes for our family is one of the greatest blessings of my life.  On this Mother's Day I pay tribute to her: My sweetheart and the BEST mother my kids could ever ask for.  I love you baby.

John

First and last visit to the Planetarium

So when we bought our annual pass to the children's museum we were given a few free passes to the Planetarium.  Well apparently the Planetarium is only open on Saturdays and we normally hit up the museum on our Friday adventure day so we have never been able to use the free passes.  Since daddy was in school this weekend I decided we should hit up the museum and use our passes to the planetarium.  

It sounds like a great idea right?!?  Well, apparently children really are not wanted there.  There were only two other couples there but they did NOT appreciate the questions or comments my children had to make about being in a totally dark room with lights and all sorts of things they have never seen before flashing above them on the ceiling.  I mean really the nerve of a 2 and 4 year old to be a little excited about that!  I do feel bad about disturbing other people especially those who clearly don't have children of their own, but to me it is one thing if they are fighting or crying or being naughty and it is another if they are just being a little louder then anybody would like because they are discovering new things.  So no I didn't get up and take them out and make them feel bad after one of the men said SHHH in a really loud voice for the 10th time, I just continued to encourage them to whisper as their little minds discovered new things.  However, I don't plan on going back anytime soon.  :) 

Then we headed next door to the museum where I didn't have to shush them if they breathed a little too loudly.  They were able to be free and have a good time.  It was funny because normally we hit up all the different rooms and stations together and I don't feel divided but today for some reason JJ decided to spend his time at really only two places where he played for like 30 mins at each place and Calli felt the NEED to hit up every station 10 times practically running in circles.  I am not going to lie it was a little exhausting for me the prego and a little overwhelming trying to keep track of both of them.  But we made it through and probably won't be back for a couple of months so I was glad we made the outing.  We were all excited for daddy to come home from school that night.

Rainy day at the Lake

We had SOOO much fun at the lake last week that we thought we should repeat our visit.  However the weather didn't quite cooperate.  We were for reals this time the only ones there and the only ones that got rained on.  Our friends the Gaskell's met us there a little later and were spared the rain but the sun never really came out.  The kids still had fun but we didn't stay nearly as long because they were all shivering after a little while.  At least I didn't get fried this time.  I am sure we will have many other opportunities to get some sun and play at the lake with Summertime quickly approaching us.

Our Random Happenings in May

Here are some of our latest happenings:

JJ and Calli have a new infatuation with doing the dishes.  I know you are thinking that is awesome right? Well, it is sort of amazing and sort of not.  Because, it gets water everywhere and half the time they are so excited to wash their dish that they don't finish eating and are washing their food down the sink.  It is so tempting to discourage "helping" mom sometimes, but I know it really is a great thing for them to learn to be independent and self sufficient and responsible it just takes patience from me and a willingness to foster their growth.  My kids really are great helpers so even though I may quietly grit my teeth when they are "cleaning" or "helping" I really am proud of them.

They both are really in to looking at the blog lately and seeing all the pictures I take of them.  One day Calli was looking at a picture I had posted of her by the front door with her princess outfit on and then she ran up stairs and told me she wanted to put on her princess clothes then she told me to take a picture.  So I tried to take a picture of her upstairs but she said no not here and ran to the front door to reenact the picture she had just seen on the blog.  It was so cute I had to oblige.

One of our big happenings every week is grocery shopping every monday while JJ is at preschool.  In my opinion the less children you have with at the grocery store the more likely you are to not end up living at a crazy person institution.  When JJ and Calli both come with me I swear they team up against me and are throwing things in the cart faster then I can take them out.  With just one of them it is much more manageable.  However sometimes little lady gets an idea in her head about something she thinks we "Need" that isn't on my list.  Most of the time I don't oblige but this time I had too because her request was too cute.  I had told her that Grandpa and Grandma were coming over for dinner on Mother's day so she was so excited and told me we needed to buy these straws for dinner.  I figured since they were like a $1 I could make it happen for her, and she needed the pink juice to drink with the straws of course.  Well after we got home and were unloading the grouches she felt it was necessary to make sure the juice and straws were working okay I love how she put all of them in her drink at the same time.  So funny.  And don't worry when Sunday rolled around she remembered her straws and got them out for everyone to use with their pina coladas I made for dinner.  We actually really did need them she was right!

When JJ came home from school that day he had a Mother's day surprise of his own.  He had a present he had made, he was so excited that he wanted me to open it right then and not wait until Sunday so we did of course.  Or he actually opened it for me while I took a picture of him doing so.  :)

It was the cutest little tile of his hand.  I love it and what it says is so true.  I will treasure it forever.  While we are talking about Mother's day I have to say on Sunday while we were at church the primary children were asked to go to the front to sing a song to their moms and it was so cute because Calli was adamant that she go with JJ even though she won't be in primary for 6 more months and she didn't know the song but she was SURE she was supposed to sing for mommy too. So we let her go up holding JJ's hand and crossed our fingers she didn't get trampled on and luckily she didn't but it was so cute and JJ was so proud to be the big brother and protect her.  

Another big thing JJ has been into lately is playing school and teacher.  He LOVES to be creative and make and collect things.  So for our family night activity JJ taught us all how to do a craft he had been working on at school.  He would make a good teacher because there is nothing he loves more then paper and being in charge!  It was so funny too because daddy got a work text during it and JJ said, "oops sorry daddy no phones at school," and then took his phone away and put it on his desk.  I think we need to play school more often. :)