Letter to My Children-February

Dear  Children,

This month has been a month of being bitter sweet for me. I am sad you are all getting so big, but happy to see you grow and develop your personalities more. We have been a little cooped up with winter weather and had a bit of cabin fever. Some days your craziness has brought me to near insanity. I then remember you are only little for so long. I stand in the kitchen for a moment praying nobody comes in yelling for something or crying from being hurt. Then I realize one day I will be standing there wishing little footsteps would come pounding in crying or yelling my name. Everybody always says it goes too quickly, and it really does.


Eli, I am so proud of how well you are doing in school. You are spelling!! I can't believe how quickly you have picked it up. In two days you will be five. This has to be the hardest birthday for me yet. I have no idea why 5 is that number, but it is. Thanks for being my wonderful helper and responsible boy.

Lilliana, 

You have hit 3! I know I should worry as 3 was so hard with your brother. Thankfully at this point I don't. You have been so helpful and love doing your chores since we started chore charts I don't need to worry. I think your favorite thing to do is brush your hair on your chore chart. Today, I caught you with a cup of water and comb. You were getting your hair wet to bring your curls back. You then were very upset when I brushed them out. I love that you have fallen in love with your curls. They are your beautiful gift. I hope you always enjoy them. Thank you for being so helpful and caring. 

Oh Ari, 

My little Lion. Your name has served you well. Thankfully you are sleeping a little better. You still have your nights, but have had some good sleeping through the nights so I can't complain too much. As I watched you tonight when we went to Jumpin Jax, I realized you are the most determined child I have seen. I think more so than your brother. It is your strength and sometimes your weakness. You get an idea in your head and you will not stop until you have completed it. I pray that we can work with you and direct that for positive. I am grateful for it and I know it will be a huge blessing to you. At this point we have to work on it because resulting screaming and crying is not going to help in the long run. Regardless we love you no matter what. You are that kid that is happy excited or mad/sad there is no in between. I laugh because it is like a faucet you just turn on. The result ends up with pictures like this..... 

18 month photos and being determined. After you cried for me to take your picture this is what happened when I went to do it. It is you and for that I will always laugh. One day you will hear how you cried and screamed so much even your brother and sister told you to put a sock in it. 

I love all your little personalities and quirky spirits. I am proud and thankful to call you mine. I love you. 

Mom

3rd Birthday Celebration

As I did with Eli I started the favorite questions with Lilliana this year. 

Three Years Old

1. What is your favorite color?  Pink
2. What is your favorite toy? Hedgehog Stuffed Animal

3. What is your favorite fruit? Pears
4. What is your favorite tv show? Super Why 
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Peanut and Jelly Sandwhich
6. What is your favorite outfit? Blue Corduroy Dress with Snowmen on the Bottom
7. What is your favorite game? Hungry Hungry Hippos
8. What is your favorite snack? Fruit Salad
9. What is your favorite animal? Cat
10. What is your favorite song? Jesus Loves Me
11. What is your favorite book? The Very Hungry Caterpillar
12. Who is your best friend? Daddy
13. What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios with Honey from the local beekeeper
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play in the Sandbox
15. What is your favorite drink? almond milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? Easter
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Eli's blanket that Aunt Di made....she has basically claimed it. 
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Blueberry Pancakes

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Pizza
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? This was funny..... She said a goose. We told her no something like what people do a mom, teacher, astronaut, etc. She said to play with her hedgehog. We explained it again and this time it was an Astronaut. Then she changed her mind to a Teacher. 


I did something a little different with the photos from the day. I am working on videoing things a little more. So, I made a video of everything. I need to practice more so forgive some of the blurry video footage, but for now it works.

                 

     

Happy 3rd Birthday Sweet Girl

My Dear Sweet, Smart, Beautiful Girl, 

Today you are 3! I can't believe it. You are growing into such a beautiful, smart, little girl. We have been so blessed with you and your sweet spirit. You are easy beyond belief and just a joy to have. I laugh because of how silly you are everyday.

I can't say I am ready for you to be 3! It has come way too quickly. I can't wait to see how much you change even this year. You are not that same chubby little girl we brought home from the birth center. 

You have grown into the rolls and chubby cheeks. You have kept your beautiful blue eyes for another year and the curls that I so wanted in a little girl. 

 I couldn't be more proud of you and how loving and caring you are. You love to bake, help me clean, play dress up, and of course dance your "ballet." It is fun watching your personality come alive. Your fierce love for your brothers is wonderful to see. They are lucky to have you as mom and dad are lucky to have you.  I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!! 

Happy Birthday my SWEET Girl! You are LOVED!!

Enjoying Winter

The last couple of weeks have been warmer. It has been nice. Warmer I mean 20 degrees out. I should laugh, but it makes a huge difference. The kids can go out and play and enjoy all the snow we have gotten.  Eli has burned off a lot of energy and would play out in the snow for hours if I let him. Sadly, it is still cold so he can't be out for hours. 

Last week we built a tunnel in the snow. He has asked to be outside in that tunnel every day since. 

It is hard to believe the snow is waist deep for these guys.

We played for a long time and they loved it. Anthony spent time throwing them into the snow. That was fun to watch. Ari would sink into the snow when that happened. 

The icicles are a bit long this year. It is supposed to warm up this week and rain. We might be in for a big mess. It is getting warm so I can't complain!!

 

These three monkeys have been working on chore charts and helping with more chores. It has been a success so far. I am glad I finally was able to get organized and get them done. They like having a set of things to look at so they know what they have to do before they can play etc. It has also taken some of the burden of cleaning up after them, which I desperately needed. 

Since it has been blah outside I have been working on inside light and black and white photos. Anthony kindly let me take some photos of him. These are special to me even if he hates them. This month I have pretty much taken photos with the thought of converting to black and white. It is a project a group of ladies and I have been working on for our 365. It has been fun. I have a few favorite so far and these probably hit the top. 

I even did a couple of their Valentine's photos in BW.

The last one is Ari's view on Valentine's Day. 

I can't believe how big they are getting. This sweet girl turns 3 tomorrow!! I can't believe it. I am off to do her photos. She has picked out a pink/purplish background and outfit for herself. I will just go with it. It is not what I would choose, but she loves it so we will enjoy it.