My children are growing

Life featuring Will and Grace is a life I would not trade. Each new day in my life as a parent there is a "moment". A moment where I stop and give thanks for the love I share with them, or a moment where I take a deep breath and remind myself that being a parent is not always easy but it is always worth it. Lately the moments are shared with my children in a new way. Both Will and Grace have reached an age where our communication is expanding. Will, bless him, is at the "why" stage. "Why" does something work that way. He does not like my answer. And I know he does not always understand. But Will is Will and is one curious little bugger. Grace also wants to know "why" but her questions have more depth to them. It really amazes me the way kids minds work,, and the questions they come up with.
I have two small children, and only one of them is in school, for a couple of hours a day, and yet I feel like I can not keep up. We could have so much more on our plate, but I don't see how we could accomplish anything more in a day. In the two in a half hours a day Grace attends preschool they actually cover quite a bit. I want to make sure that as her mother I stay as involved in her learning process as possible do I can positively assist her in her growth as a student, and a little lady of course. A couple Fridays ago she attended her kindergarten roundup. And let me tell you that I can not even believe I am saying that. My father in law Bill, used to always tell us that we would blink and before we knew it we would be taking her to her first day of kindergarten. You can hear that and think sure it will go by fast, but you really can never be prepared for how fast life really does sneak up on you. And, sadly, I could not go with her. We planned a trip, a d without thinking too far ahead we didn't realize her roundup would be the day we were gone. Lizzy, my sister tool her, and to Grace that is absolutely the next best choice ( if not first).
Grace made it clear to both me and my sister that she does not want a boy teacher. She said she just doesn't like boy teachers. Cracked me up since she only had ever had one teacher in her life. But by the end of the roundup she came around and said she would be fine with either teacher.
And as we all know along with school and education comes a social aspect and friends. Well Grace wasted no time in preschool of making friends and even developing a little crush. If she knew I said that she would be blushing. I am just shocked that at five she had already grown to be "okay" with boys and not grossed out. I know for me, I did not let it be known that I liked a boy until I was in 3rd grade. So what is going on?
So we are on to a new chapter of our lives soon where we have children who are in school. Our little buddy is going to preschool this next school year for three year olds. Adorable isn't it?! Will could not be more thrilled because he has seen Grace going to preschool everyday and wants to do what she does.
I have to end this with...my babies are not babies anymore

Oh that's right, I have a blog to update

Life has gotten away from me and I have not taken the time to blog. Grace has been busy in preschool, learning about butterflies and boys. Her first crush, at least her first crush on someone that is not on tv. It's cute to listen to her talk about him and why she likes him but it is also freaking me out a bit. I have a five year old don't I?
Anyway, it is sweet and innocent so I just have to leave it at that.
I am adding some pictures we have taken recently. We went to a wedding at this Victorian Mansion and I couldn't help but take a couple of pictures of the kids. And Grace recently allowed me to chop off her long but stringy hair. After much coaching and persuasive conversations she agreed. She always loves it afterwards but getting to that point takes awhile.
And the kids got their faces painted on Cinco De Mayo at Tachos. This was their first time and I am so glad they did it together.
Hopefully my next update will be sooner than the last and more focused.
~ Em

A Sunny Day at Bullwinkles

Here are a few pics from our day at Bullwinkle's this last Saturday. We randomly decided to head out there and I am so glad we did. We did miniature golf, and go karts, and took in the sun. We couldn't talk the kids into going on the bumper boats while we were there, but now that is all Will is talking about. Grace made a little friend her age in the playhouse and she looked for him every time we were moving. It was pretty cute because they learned eachother's names and were yelling out to each other across the walkway. Oh, and Will somehow managed to lose one sock while he was in the play house. They searched for it, but to no avail. So we left minus a sock. All in all it was a great family activity. Hopefully the sun will start to visit us more often so we can take advantage of days like that again!

~ Em

Grace's Pre-School Pictures

I love how they were able to get her natural smile to shine through! Grace has come a long way with getting pictures taken. Maybe a little too far actually, she loves the attention.

So this is her first official school picture. I can't wait to watch her grow and change through the years. I remember when I was younger how big of a deal I felt like school pictures were. I just love looking back at mine and seeing all the funky clothes my mom put me in, or my crooked bangs. Grace will most likely experience some of those same things. I will try to minimize that.

Anywho, just wanted to share these pics. This girl gets nothing but love from me!

~ Em

My little girl is getting so big

We went to my first parent teacher conference today. And man I can not believe I already have a child old enough for one of those. I realize that in all reality a lot of people are thinking, why is she acting like this is a big deal, or so what? For us, in our little family it is one of our "firsts".

Grace only started going to this preschool the beginning of February. Before that she was in an at home daycare/preschool. At first she had trouble with the change and was scared when we left her. It only took her a few days though and she was asking us when does she get to go see her new friends at her new school. She is such a social butterfly that girl.

A couple of things have happened since she had been there that have just melted my heart. First thing was, she had school pictures taken. She cracked me up because she hadn't actually been to the preschool yet (The pictures were the Thursday before she started), so when she took her class picture she didn't really know any of the kids. When she was standing in the formation to have the picture taken she was in the back with one big cheesy smile glued to her face. All of the other kids were moving from where the photographer had placed them and talking to their other classmates. She was the only one, like a frozen statue, waiting for him to take the picture. And he was still situating everybody. It was hilarious. I wanted to get my camera out and snap a picture myself real quick. I guess now that I am writing it, it doesn't sound as funny. Maybe it was one of those things where you had to be there to fully appreciate the hilarity of it. We get the pictures back March 9th I believe. I will post a picture for sure. 

Next was, Grace made me a little bracelet. So cute! Unfortunately  the "bracelet" was made for a newborn so I can not wear it. But it does have yarn attached to it so I am going to hang it from my rear view mirror. My first little school present made by Grace. I love it! And next was the one that I thought was so cool. The school asked me to provide a stamped envelope because they were mailing out a letter. They didn't give me any more details. Then on Valentines Grace received a letter in the mail. It was from her little classmate. It was handwritten by the other little girl, and it said, "Dear Grace, I am glad you are my friend." And then she signed her name. That is most definitely going in her baby book. And this is just the beginning of Grace's "school days".

The parent teacher conference went well of course. The teacher did not have as much time to evaluate Grace as she did the other kids but she still was able to tell us where Grace is developmentally. And she said she is ready for kindergarten! That made me happy to hear because since she was going to an at home preschool I was concerned she might not be where she needed to be. They said her social skills are really good, like listening to the teacher when she is giving directions. Also, when other kids are distracting, Grace will still focus on her work. The teacher did say Grace does get down on herself easily and is always comparing her work to the other kids but once the teacher reassures her she is doing fine then Grace will accept that. She is like this with most things, and it is something we have been working on for awhile now. Overall she said she is on track and has made a smooth transition into the class. That makes me very happy to hear. I was hoping that would be the case, and it was.

I just can't believe in six months she will be in kindergarten! Unreal! I think there will be a lot of changes between now and then for her. And I am sure I will be sharing those changes with all of you!

~ Em

I like Owls these days

As you can see I have changed my Blog Template. I just wanted something different. I won't be changing my blog too often I don't think but just when I find a new blog that makes me smile. I have Terran to thank for giving me the motivation to look for a new one. So thank you Terran!
And I have a preschool parent/teacher conference for Grace on Friday so I am sure I will be updating my blog then to share with everyone how Grace is doing. I realized that a lot of my blogs have been about Will and not so much about Grace. That girl has a lot going on in her life too so I need to keep everyone current.
Thanks for keeping up with us through my blog.

~ Em

Will's Birthday party with his friends

As always we had Will's birthday party at The Sellwood Community Center. My sister works there and it is a great place to have a low key birthday party. First of all, there is no cost to me, how could you turn that down? And then, we get the entire building to ourselves. There is a gym upstairs where the kiddos can play basketball, or drive the toy cars. Kids love open gym. A ton of open space for them to run around and get all of their energy out. And there is a mat room. Now, that is the room where you see the kids really let loose. 

We were so happy to see everyone that came. Will does not get to see his peeps as often as he would like so this birthday was a great opportunity to do that. Now we just have to make a point of having play dates more often.  

The gifts Will received were spot on. Even though he wanted his birthday themed Spongebob, everyone must have known that his true love is Thomas the Train. One neighbor gave him a Thomas zip up sweatshirt hoodie. And another gave him a Thomas pillow pet. Holy cow, that was a big hit. He also got a pair of Nike sandals that he immediately put on.

Will is one lucky little man to have such good little friends. Thanks to everyone that came. We really enjoyed everyone's company!

~ Em