Woo Hoo for William

Well, my sweet William, you reached a fabulous milestone today. You were riding your bike without training wheels, and doing it quite beautifully.

You have had the training wheels off for a couple of weeks now, but today was the first time I really saw you riding up and down the street, riding like the wind, without those training wheels. I am so proud of you - you looked so great.

It is so exciting to see you get so excited about such things. I love watching your confidence build and your enthusiasm grow.

Be sure to thank your sister, because Victoria was quite instrumental in this undertaking. Daddy was the one who took off the wheels at your request, but Victoria has been the diligent cheerleader, by your side, holding your seat, pushing you off to go - go - GO ! She has been wonderful and I truly do hope you remember her role in this milestone. Aren't big sisters great?

So congrats to William on riding like the wind - woo hoo.

Love ya -MOM

Growing Family

So, today - at the suggestion of daddy - we drove out to Pearland, which is about an hour from here, and eagerly adopted two six week old male kittens.

James - I am amazed at how gentle you are with these little bitty kitties. You are just a baby yourself, but it's like you have a natural instinct on how to deal with them. You seemed genuinely excited to see these little kitties in our midst.

Thomas - you were not entirely sure you wanted to have new kittens. You have been very concerned about allergies and sneezing. So I told you to just keep an open mind. After we got our new little felines, and had them in the car ... you shouted out to me "my mind is open mama, my mind is open, and I'm not sneezing". You are too cute.

William - you were so shy at the lady's house where we got the kittens. You did not want to hold them or play with them. However; when we got into the car - your face lit up. You had a nice blanket in your lap - and snuggled a kitty right away. You only took a break from kitty-sitting to eat your kids meal from Wendy's.

Victoria - you are the ring leader of enthusiasm whenever animals are involved. You and I named them, kind of together. Their names are Treble and Clef - since our family is so music-inclined these days. You have taken on kitty responsibilities in full force. I will sweetly remind you of your enthusiasm for these duties when it comes time to change the litter box.

So these two new cute little grey and white kitties are adorable and definitely a pleasant addition to our busy little family.

James - are you a dog lover?

Dear James ... you are such a precious baby to me. I absolutely love watching you learn, grow and explore.

Today, in particular, I really enjoyed watching how you played and interacted with our dogs. Nicholas, is a small rat terrier - and Zak is our big old Lab. Both of these animals are so kind and gentle (and tolerant) of you and your attention.

You were petting Nicholas on the tummy and rubbing his tail, and Nicholas was licking your face and making you laugh.

Zak might as well have been your pillow today as you laid your sweet little head down on his belly right in the middle of my living room floor. Zak never even moved a muscle - he just let you lay there.

I think you must be following in your siblings' footsteps - in the fact that you surely must be a dog lover.

I need to remind myself of this fact when I get frustrated by the dog hair everywhere and the muddy paw prints on my newly mopped floor :)

I appreciate you

Dear Victoria ... just a note of gratitude to let you know how very much I appreciate you and how you love to help out - - and how you inspire me. Just the other day you were encouraging me to try and pursue writing professionally.

I love your ideas and creativity. I love listening to your dreams and schemes.

You are very precious to me.

Love, Mom

This-n-That

Dear Kids:

It is a beautiful brisk and cool morning today. I love this cooler weather. Every now and again I kind of miss snow - but really, not so much. I do love a cool crisp Autumn day though. I actually had to search out some jackets this morning.

James - - you are a mess. You are at that ripe old age of approximately 16 months, climbing and running and into everything. If you can't reach it - you build a tower to give yourself a boost. It is about near impossible to baby-proof this house with hurricane James in our midst. But we love it - you are so cute; and oh so smart. You amaze me daily with the things you figure out. I bought you an incredibly noisy and annoying frog animal thingy yesterday. You love it. Maybe you'll get more noisy and annoying toys for Christmas.

Thomas - - you are eternally sweet; yet eternally blunt. You say exactly what you are thinking; the very moment you are thinking it. Maybe that is the beauty of being four. You told Victoria her breath stinks. I said that was kind of rude and then you replied "well, okay - your breath doesn't smell so good". Too funny. Yesterday you told me I was beautiful and gave me the sweetest kiss. Ten minutes later you told me my hair was too curly. A couple of days ago you asked me why my 'boobies' were squishy. That's just weird on so many levels. But we love you and your cuddly nature and animated antics.

William - - you are my deep thinker and the private soul. You don't like to share what you're thinking, but are more than willing to throw a fit when things don't go quite your way. I do love how you are starting to blossom though; and become a bit more social. You have made friends with the kids on our street and play so beautifully with them all. At night, when I put you to bed, you talk to me intimately and say the sweetest things (but you'll only do this in private). You are doing so great in Kindergarten. Your teacher says you are a joy to have in class. You take your time with your work - you are so thorough. You remind me a lot of your father, and I love every inch of you.

Victoria - - oh my sweet and precious girl at the rocky age of 13. Welcome to your teen years. We've already had more drama than we really need ... but I suppose it's all part of the package. I love your passion and talent for music. You amaze me on that piano. I enjoy the artistic and creative nature you have. I enjoy your talent for cooking. However; I don't enjoy your need to have the last word and your eternal debating of irrelevant points; but hey - it's part of who you are - - and I do love who you are. All of you.

So at this point in time - it is now just back to our own family in our household. We do not have anymore foreign exchange students and I am not working with AYUSA right now. Your father and I just want to focus on our family, enjoy each other and have an amazing adventure within our 60 toe team.

Sorry I've been absent from this...

So sorry I have been absent from this blog. So much going on - I could try to explain it all - but alas, I will not.

I will just say that I got this message on Facebook today and I love it - because it fits well with some issues that are going on with our family. It is a nice reminder.

On this day, God wants you to know...

... that it's your heart that knows who loves you, not your ears or eyes. Listen to the words, and you can be fooled. Look at the actions, and you can be fooled. Feel deeply into your heart, and then you will know the truth. Who makes your heart soar now? Well, what are you waiting for?