Take-Me-Back Tuesday: Baylor's 2018 Talent Show Submission

Here is the Lego stop-motion video Baylor made for the 2018 talent show at their school.  He made it it all by himself, and I am so proud of him for all his hard work!

Two Little Divers!!

Well, it's official!  We have two divers!  Baylor finally got the hang of it.  This isn't his best dive - he had a couple really good ones - but you get the idea.

Amalia was having a little trouble diving too deeply, so I tried to teach her to dive like Olympian swimmers do when they go off the blocks.  She thought that was just the best idea!

They are still learning, obviously, but it is a great start!  I'm so proud of my little divers.

Little Diver!

Yesterday while we were swimming at my parents' house, I asked Amalia if she wanted to learn how to dive.  She took me up on it, and after a little more instruction today this happened:

Aside from the dive in this video, she has a tendency to dive rather deep, but she's certainly getting the hang of it.

Baylor also is interested in learning to dive and said he would keep trying until he got it!  I can't wait to post his video on here soon.

I'm so proud of them both!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa E!

Today is my dad's birthday, and since he is so far away, the kids and I thought we'd make him a little video greeting before we headed off to school today.




For those of you who don't know, not only is this super cute (I'm biased, I know), but it's also a huge accomplishment for Baylor; he hasn't liked the Happy Birthday song in any form since his second birthday, and for the longest time would dart out of the room (often crying) whenever he heard it.

So happy birthday, Dad!  We can't wait to celebrate with you when you get home!!  Love you!!

Baylor at Bat

I am so sorry for how little I have been posting lately.  Things have gotten unbelievably busy since before last Christmas and they haven't let up since.  One of the things keeping us busy as of late has been baseball.  We signed Mollie up for tee ball and Baylor up for coach pitch baseball this spring, and with both of their game schedules we have been up to our ears in bats, balls, and bases.

Mollie has had success playing tee ball, in no small part because they cannot strike out or be thrown out ... ever.  Each kiddo gets to swing until they hit and then run to first base, then second after the kid after them hits, then third, and so on until they go home - or until the last one in the lineup hits a "home run" and they all come home.  So it'd be tough to do poorly playing tee ball.

But coach pitch baseball is a lot different.  They do the usual three-strikes-and-you're-out rule and can get thrown out at any base.  Needless to say, Baylor, who had never played a game of baseball in his life before this spring, has struggled a bit.



Getting hit in the head during one's first batting practice doesn't make for a particularly good start, mind you.



More than that, he has struggled with this more than he has with anything else in his entire life.  The thing is, struggle is good for a person; it builds character and teaches perseverance.  But too much struggle, like an entire season of it, and the fun can drain right away.  We were starting to see improvement in him at each game, but I was also starting to notice here and there that he wasn't enjoying it; he was dragging his feet when getting ready to go, he was a lot more emotionally volatile on game days, and he seemed a little more dejected when walking away after striking out each inning.  We were all hoping he'd finally get a hit and start enjoying the game a little more.  Even his coach, who had seemed to give up on our boy a few weeks back, started pitching a little closer and giving him an extra pitch here and there to see if he could just get one hit.

And then it happened.



He got a hit!!!  You can hear and see just how excited the coach is that he finally did it, and at the end of the video you can hear his teammates say, "Baylor got his first hit!!"

And even more than that, he made it around the bases!  He ran for home with one out left, running better than we've ever seen before, and only got out at home because the other team made a very heads-up play at home plate.




It was a big day for the little man, and his team even voted to give him the game ball because of his efforts!

Hopefully this will be the beginning of more hits for Baylor, but even if it isn't, I am so incredibly proud of my little guy for sticking with it and working hard to achieve something that is so tough for him.

Way to go, Baylor!!

Baylor's First Grade Concert!

Here it is, at long last ... the video of Baylor's first grade concert (the bulk of it, anyway).  To say I am proud of him in light of his performance (and mere participation) in the event is an unbelievable understatement.  When he came on, looked happy and confident, and started singing I started to cry.  Our little guy, who would not participate at all in his preschool graduation and never once danced along during music and movement time in kindergarten, has come such a long way.

Such a long way.

And didn't he look super dapper?!  I might have to try getting him to wear a tie every day.

Enjoy!

Miss Mollie at Two

I was combing through some of our old vacation photos when I found this gem of a video.  It's hard to believe she used to be this little and say so little when she is growing taller by the day and talking up a storm now.  It's a sweet memory, and I thought I'd share it this afternoon.  Enjoy!

A Year of Gratitude: Day 364

Today, my 32nd birthday, I am grateful for this.  Oh my goodness, this.  

I tried really hard not to cry because I knew that if I did, even if it was a happy cry, it would upset him.  So I teared up behind my glasses and smiled as big as I could.  The same for Mollie, my sweet girl.

Not to down play the awesomeness of the other gifts I got, but these were the two best gifts today.

Have a wonderful night!

Mollie Moving!

Miss Amalia is a bit of a mover; where her brother, particularly at her age, would be content to sit and read a book or play with Legos for an hour or two, Mollie is on the go most of the day.  Yes, she has her quieter moments where she'll "read" a book to her babies or plunk down and play with some Legos, but quite often she's moving, and adorably so at that.

A month or two ago we were at my parents' house for dinner and visiting, and Mollie decided that, a.) she needed every bow at their house in her hair and b.) she was Cinderella on her way to dance with Prince Charming at the ball.  Baylor quickly declined the Prince role, so I volunteered Bryson to do the honors.



The kids have been in swim lessons for a while now, but my parents' pool is shallow enough in the shallow end that both kids can touch and avoid practicing or showing off their skills.  And that's what they did almost all summer ... until Mollie decided enough was enough and it was time to bust out her skills.  (Baylor still phones it in a bit in their pool but does quite well in class.)



As I mentioned last night, in addition to getting a couple awesome videos of Baylor actually singing, I took a couple of Mollie singing as well.  She saw the attention her brother was getting and wanted a little for herself, and I can't blame her; Baylor's been getting a lot of attention now that he's in school, and that has been a bit difficult for her.  So here's her version of the numeral song Baylor sang last night.  Clearly she needs to work on her numeral formation skills a bit.



Then things got silly and she made up an even wackier version of the numeral song, which she adorably titled, "The Ding Dong Song".




She certainly keeps us on our toes.  I love all her energy and enthusiasm; it brings a lot of excitement to our day.

A Year of Gratitude: Day 333

Today I am grateful for what happened tonight during and after dinner.  Baylor, who has never willingly sung a song from school or with others in general, broke out in song tonight and made my day, my week.  I asked him if I could tape it - something so huge and happy needed to be documented - and he agreed!

So here it is, Baylor and his sweet little voice singing the color songs he learned in school and reciting some of the poems they use in his classroom.



Then I asked him if he'd sing the numeral song for us, a request that sent him into a complete meltdown after his second week of school, and he told me that he would, but only if he could do it in the living room to be able to do the hand motions with it.  Um, okay!!!




I can't stop smiling.  For most kids this comes easily, but for Baylor this is a big deal and I couldn't be prouder of him.

Have a wonderful night!

Oh, and I have a couple videos of Mollie dazzling us with her singing abilities, but they aren't uploading as quickly as I'd like so I'll have to post them later.  Until then ... enjoy!

A Year of Gratitude: Day 301

Today I am grateful that I was able to hold myself together and not cry as Baylor went through waves of worry about his first day of kindergarten tomorrow.  Even when he said he was worried no one would love him, I still managed to keep it together and calm him down.  I don't know where that strength came from, but I'm sure glad it stepped in today to help out.  Let's hope it hangs in there for tomorrow.

I will tell you, though, that after the kids went to bed and Bryson and I settled in to watch a little television before bed, this commercial broke me.  I had it all held together nicely, no tears, no quaking heart, and then this came along:





and broke me to pieces.

Here's hoping my strength comes back overnight, and I make it through the morning dry-eyed.

Have a wonderful night!

A Year of Gratitude: Day 276 (horribly late, as usual)

Today I am grateful for my daughter.  Yes, she is beautiful, adorable, as cute as can be, but she's also incredibly tenacious, super strong, and genetically disposed to be very stubborn.  I know that, though she loves princesses and thinks the color pink is the living end (sorry if there's judgement there ...), she is going to grow up to be an amazing young woman with moxie to spare.

Have a wonderful night!

A Year of Gratitude: Day 274 (again, very late)

Today I am grateful for this ...



Amazing dancer my little lady is.

Have a wonderful night!

A Year of Gratitude: Day 255

Today I am grateful for this ...



... and this.



The kids' dance parties are pure awesomeness!

Have a wonderful day!

A Year of Gratitude: Day 245

Today I am grateful that the kids and I got to do some yoga together.  I thought it might be nice for them to do some structured exercise, for a variety of reasons, and they both seem to enjoy it.

Here's the one we did today in case anyone wants to try it with their kiddos!



It's not super strenuous, but there are a lot of good strengthening exercises in here, all set to a lovely story.  Not too bad for fifteen minutes of fun!

Have a wonderful night!

A Year of Gratitude: Day 225 (a day late)

Today I am grateful that my children seem to have developed a true love for books and reading.  Our library books were due tomorrow, so we made our way to the library and checked another twenty out.  Yes, twenty.  Then we got home and they did what they do every time we get new library books; they sit on the couch and proceed to devour them in perfect silence.  It's amazing. 

Baylor chose mostly superhero and Star Wars books, but I snagged a science book for him about weather; he loves reading for information and I think he would have gotten more books like that had he not headed for the chapter book area first.  During the silence after we return from the library, I'm pretty sure he skim reads all the books he's gotten because he always comes away with a bunch of pertinent questions.

Mollie tends to grab a variety of books, from Wonder Woman to fairies to Arthur this time, and though she can't actually read yet she loves to look through them and make stories up about all the pictures she sees.

For example, after nap time Baylor really wanted to play Star Wars with Mollie.  She wasn't really into it, but she was so hoping I'd read her the fairy book she checked out.  Sadly I was making dinner and couldn't, but I suggested she ask Baylor to read to her.  He's never done that and typically refuses to.  This time, though, I told her to sweeten the pot by telling him she'd play Star Wars with him if he read her the book.  After skimming through it, he declared that he would not read any "girl books".  They bantered about a bit, and finally he agreed to read a book to her after she "read" one to him.  So she did.

And, as I guessed would happen, he reneged on his agreement and wouldn't read to her.  *sigh*  But they had fun anyway and ended up playing Star Wars for a bit before dinner.

I digress.

I love reading and spent many hours of my youth engrossed in books, and I'm thrilled that my kiddos seem to have an affinity for it as well.

Have a wonderful day!

Things We Need to Work on This Summer

Only two weeks into our summer vacation and I've come to realize there are a few things we need to work on this summer.  For starters ...

Not calling "Mommy!  Mommy!  Mommy!  Mommy!  Mommy!  MOMMY!" to alert me to the fact that you'd like to get up.  (Mollie, I'm looking at you on this one.)  I get it, you're up.  Calling like this too early in the morning will get you a cranky mommy, particularly when you emphasize the "MOMMY!" part every five or six mommys.  (Yes, typically when I actually get into her room and see her little face smiling at me I forget the rage I was in just seconds before, but it really gets my heart rate up and starts the day off on a shaky foot.  Having said that, I realize how lucky I am to have two amazing kids who want to see me so badly.  I really shouldn't complain ...)


Not wiping our hands on whatever surface/article of clothing is available.  You can reach the tissues, you can reach the sink and have access to the soap (for better or worse), heck, you can even ask for my help if you're stumped.  But please, for the love of my sanity, don't wipe your hands covered with who-knows-what on your clothes, the couch, the table, your sibling, ... okay?


You have three responsibilities at our house: putting away you shoes and coats after having been outside, picking up and taking care of your toys, and setting the dinner table.  None of these things take much time and all of them are within reason for us to ask of you.  Want me to list out my responsibilities again?!  Or, better yet, want me to stop doing some of my responsibilities?  None of these things warrant flopping on the ground and screaming at the top of your lungs; you guys are smart and know that won't get you anywhere; it just ends up taking up more time and letting us do fewer fun things.  (And it pushes Mommy ever-so-close to losing it on a daily basis.)  Please help things be more peaceful in our house and just participate with a smile.  (Yes, I know they are 3 and 4 and this might be too much to ask of them, but I still want to work on it.)


Please understand that Mommy is a human being and does not always want to sing along to every last word of every last Beatles' song on their number ones CD.  Sometimes my throat hurts, sometimes I've been talking and really just want to give it a rest, and on rare occasions when there is another adult in the car I'd really like to talk to that person.  John, Paul, George, and Ringo would probably be appalled at my singing anyhow; wouldn't you rather just hear their fantastic, professional voices?  And, at the very least, if I'm going to be singing could you sing along, too?  I know you know the words.  It'd make it that much more fun if we were singing together.


Baylor, this one's for you.  You need to stop reading over my shoulder.  Yes, I know you can read and love to do it (and I'm very proud and amazed at how great you are at reading already), but it's not really polite and quite frankly you're too young to be reading anyhow.  There are far too many things in this world that are NOT appropriate for you to be reading at the ripe old age of four, and sometimes those things pop up on Mommy's computer whether she knows it or not.  (Thank you, Facebook.)


As the summer moves on, I'm sure we'll add more things to this list.  *sigh*  Hopefully by fall we'll have made at least a little progress on each of these items, though some I have more hope for than others.  We'll see!

A Year of Gratitude: Day 182

Today I am grateful for this ...



Yup, that's right.  Baylor "graduated" from preschool.  (He's the last one who walked in and the one all the way to the left as they've lined up.)  This is a big deal for him, for the progress he's made since that first time we tried taking him into a classroom and he broke down in tears.  No, he didn't come down the aisle alone or sing along or do the motions to the silly song, but he showed up, he smiled some of the time, and he walked over and got his "diploma" himself (in the cutest way possible, by the way).

I'm proud of him for the progress he's made and for the amazing kiddo he is.

Happy preschool graduation, Baylor!  Here's to many more happy school years ahead!

Love you, love you, love you!

And to the rest of you, have a wonderful night!

A Year of Gratitude: Day 169

Today I am grateful for one Ms. Christine Maxey.  Twenty nine years ago today, she made me a big sister and changed my life forever ... for the better, of course.  She's an amazing person, awesome dresser, whip smart, an amazing aunt, and a whole bunch of other good things.  But one of my favorite things about Christine is her sense of humor; it is very similar to mine, so over the years we've had some amazing laughs.  We both have a tendency to quote our favorite movies and TV shows, and sometimes we'll be the only ones in the room who'll get it but we'll be laughing until we cry anyway.  I love that I have that with you, Christine, and, beyond that, I'm so lucky, so grateful to have you as my sister.

So this one's for you, sis!  Indulge in some kosher yog and a little charcuterie and have a very happy, very fly 29th birthday!



I love you so much!

The rest of you (and Christine, of course) have a wonderful day!

Busy Little Bees

The kids are busy little people.  Even when we're just staying home, they always have something up their sleeves.  Mollie, for example, likes to do "gymnastics". Here's an example of that:

Yes, it's more running back and forth over cushions, but it gets her moving and tires her out.  This is what happened after the video:

Baylor was still tired because he had actually fallen asleep during rest time and I woke him up prematurely.  Mollie, on the other hand, just plum wore herself out.  And she wanted to be like Baylor, as usual.

They're not always tired, though.  Sometimes they've just gotta dance!

Lots of circles when they dance.  I have no idea how they don't get dizzy.

Mollie found this diaper box in the living room (I keep them to store stuff/fill and donate to Goodwill/etc.) and turned it into her own personal car.

Mollie also likes to jump wherever she can.

She's pretty good at it, too!

The kids don't mind taking their show on the road, either.  Mollie, eschewing dessert for a bowl of salsa and "a lot" of chips, likes to feed them to her babies every now and then.  (But don't ask her to share them with you!)

Her babies also get to play games with her; Jenna, the doll in the picture, even got to flip down the pictures while they played Guess Who!

I know a lot of this post has been about Mollie, but usually Baylor is right there with her playing and just doesn't want to get his picture taken.  (Or the picture turns out blurry, and he won't let me snap another one.)  The next picture is a perfect example of that.  Baylor brought up the bear and moose that typically reside in the downstairs bedroom at my parents' house where Baylor takes his rest.  He started giving the bear, his favorite, a piggy back/top-of-the-head ride, and Mollie jumped right in and gave a shoulder ride to the moose.  They spent a while squealing and galloping and smiling with their stuffed friends.  It was wonderful.

Life with a nearly-three year-old and a nearly-four-and-a-half year-old is a lot of fun and very busy!