Spring Updates

It is offically Spring, but, as my photos will mostly attest, it has not yet fully sprung here in Colorado! We have had a wonderful busy month of school plays, TKD testings, operas, surgeries and many other adventures. Here's a peek at the last four weeks of Moeller fun, not necessarily in any order! And here's to Spring ..... please come soon!

Sam is a Black Belt! (First row, second from Left)

Monday night, in spite of the blizzard, he insisted on going to his first Black Belt class.

Buds.

1950's Fellini Don Giovanni with Elvira (in purple). I'm on the far left (aka Waldo).

Minor eye surgery to remove an abcess. Sweet girl was a trooper and is healing beautifully.

Spring hike with SP! (and BF). Our 4th blizzard started the next day.  

Ted (L) and Sam (R) five years ago!

Playing in the snow. Do we live in Alaska? It's April!

Sam asked Ted to tie his black belt at the testing. So sweet!

Please come back, Spring!

1st Assignment

Yesterday, my middle child turned nine years old. After he and his two siblings were all tucked in for the night, I settled down to write this post, my first assignment for September Blog Month. The disparity couldn't have been clearer. 

 My sweet boy enjoyed a day of his favorite foods (cinnamon rolls for a breakfast treat, root beer floats after school, his favorite pizza for dinner) while other nine year olds have rice. Or nothing at all. Children who are sponsored through Compassion get two meals a day at school, breakfast and lunch.

Sam rode to school today, a mile away on his new 24" bike. He played outside with his little buddies at recess in a simple grassy field, because the school is being remodeled and they had to remove all the playground equipment. He learned about rocks and meteorites and how to find patterns in math. He read and spelled and wrote and listened. He loves school.

Many of the unsponsored children are not able to attend the public schools in their areas because of the associated costs (uniforms, supplies, etc.) Sponsored children receive these supplies, which is often what makes the difference between going to school and not going.

Sam had his nine-year well-check visit last week. He was 56 pounds (50%) and 51 inches tall (25%). He's no giant, but he's a healthy kid. Sponsored children get access to health care - sick-care visits, medication and even simple well-checks and immunizations. Not only the children benefit here - the entire family of the sponsored child can enjoy health care. 

When I think of what my $38 is doing to help Peter, our sponsored child, I marvel. How can it be so easy to help? How many more children can we help? Can I sponsor another one?

Once you realize how easy it is, the questions keep coming. How can I help?

Here's how. Click here to Sponsor a child. 

It's easy. It's cheap. It's life-changing. Please consider it. Please?

Sam is NINE!

Well, this is hard for me to take. Sam is nine years old today. Nine! Nine is OLD! Nine is no longer a little kid. Wow! When did this happen?!

1 year old

Here's the Sam I remember.

The incredibly fussy baby with the cutest dimples...

the thoroughly frustrated toddler with a unique accent all his own (Ay nah too = I don't want to.)...

the surprisingly sweet little boy who cuddled and snuggled like no one else...

and now, the silly yet kind big kid who cares about everyone and never wants anyone to feel hurt or left out. His compassion inspires me.

Sam's in the red circle on the right.

Two days before his birthday we all went to hear and see Obama speak at CU. Sam was determined to really see him, while the rest of us were happy with a shady spot on the grass. He pushed and squeezed his way up to the front and actually got to SHAKE THE POTUS' HAND! Well played, Sam. Well played.

When Sam sets out to do something, it will get done. Whether it's writing a book, illustrating a book, mining for crystal in the front yard, or creating imaginary worlds in Minecraft, he is a person that gets things done. What a great quality to have!

We all love you so much Sam-a-lamb! Happy birthday to you!

Eight

Sam, you are eight years old today.

Eight years ago, you emerged screaming in rage from my belly and spent the first three years of your life trying to catch up to your big brother. Those were hard years, for all of us.

The last five years of your life have been easier. You've settled into your own. You are your own person, to be sure.

You love Gogos and Legos.
You love to draw and write stories.
You love "Mama bread" and "family milk."
You love back scratches and "feather touch" on your belly.

Now in 2nd grade, you are turning into a math whiz and a fabulous speller.
You have many, many friends who adore you.

You are such a fun, quirky kiddo.
I am so lucky to be your mother.

I love you, Sam-a-lamb. So very, very much.

Love, Mama

{this moment}

{this moment} For me, a Sunday ritual of reflection. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.


Completely inspired by Soulemama. If you are inspired to do the same, leave your link in the comments for all of us to enjoy.

* * * * * * *

One down...

Sam lost his tooth a few days before Ted's birthday party. We told him it was a good thing because he'd have lost it at the party for sure. Cutie. The tooth next to it isn't very loose so we may not get the double gap in front, but he's still adorable just the same. There is nothing cuter than the front teeth missing!

Seven

Sam turns 7 on Saturday, September 4, at 5:44pm. Seven! How does the time go by so quickly? How can my tiny, early baby be so big? As it is with 2nd (and 3rd) children, I can't imagine Sam's babyhood without Ted in it. And even Ted was so little! 18 months - and a newborn. Lordy. Good thing I was young and energetic. Then. At seven, Sam is still very sweet, very good and very loving. His favorite foods are red peppers, toast with butter and (any kind of) milk. His favorite (screen) games to play are Wii swordplay and Club Penguin. He also loves to play Legos with Ted and to play family with Mae. He is an avid artist and writer, filling pages and pages with complex pictures and stories. His favorite books are the Percy Jackson series, Captain Underpants books and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. He loves First Grade and is a Yellow Belt Decided in TKD. His best friends are Quinn and Seamus at school. He is now used to wearing his glasses and has never lost them! He is an amazing, wonderful boy!
Happy Birthday, sweetheart!!

Fun had by boys

More pics of Sam at HHS. What a goof! Today they baked challah and sang/celebrated Shabbat with the oldsters at Frasier Meadows.

It's too bad the Y doesn't take pics of their campers; Mae's camp experience is not at all represented! Rest assured that she and Zoey are having a great time together!

Sam's recovery

We sent Sam to camp today, a bit worried that he'd overdo it, but confident in his teachers. He had a great day, was a total goof, and is obviously recovered. He still has a big goose egg on his forehead, but no black eye and he says it doesn't hurt, so I think we're in the clear.

Bumps

Today Mae and I were on a short hike with Ole when I got a call from Caroline at KHHS camp. Sam had run into a pole (more of a ledge, really) at the park playstructure and had a huge bump on his forehead- could I please come get him? Yikes. This is Sam's 2nd bump and luckily he weathered it well. He did have a mild concussion, but spent the day with ice, homeopathic creams and tablets, and some Tylenol. Paul and I decided to gift him with his early 7-year-old birthday present: his own Nintendo DS. We had planned to give it to him prior to our drive to Iowa, but this seemed like a good time. He played it most of the day, watched Harry Potter, and generally laid around. He seems to be OK but WOW! that is a lump. (In this pic with Joshua, he had a band-aid over the minute cut. The swelling is hard to see in the picture but pretty substantial. My poor baby!)

In Ted news, their Bunk1 website is up, so I have sent Ted an an email, but there are no pictures up yet. Hope to see some soon!

HHS Camp Fun

While Mae played with Zoey at the Y camp, Ted and Sam enjoyed their first day at HHS Day Camp.

brotherly love

Tonight Ted had an impromptu overnight at Ben's, our neighbor a few houses down. As I walked him across the cul-de-sac, Sam called out in a clear, sweet voice, "Bye, Ted! I love you!"

Oh, how I love this boy.

hellooooo.....

Sorry for the long absence, but I wanted my CF plea post to remain up for as long as possible (i.e., until my mother demanded an update! :-)

It's still a month away, so if you can, please donate to our team. I'll be doing the bike ride in September too, so if the time isn't right, I'll be sure to beg you in the Fall as well. :-)

Training has been going well. I fully admit that I was a complete, yet very happy, slug this winter. I was sick a LOT and when I wasn't sick I was cooking. While I did run, swim and do spin classes, it wasn't with any regularity and I was worried I'd really be suffering when these first few weeks of training kicked in. But I've been fine. And I am so shocked by how fine I am that I can only wonder if it's the iron.

Last year, if you recall, my friend Wendy encouraged me to have my ferritin levels tested. Being vegetarian, it was possible that low ferritin levels were contributing to my utter and complete exhaustion after a long workout. Sure enough, they were ridiculously low. I had one IV (very painful - don't plan to do that again) and began adding meat back into my diet. I laid off the meat in the winter, since I wasn't training, but re-introduced it in April. Now I bake a (Whole Foods! happy chicken!) fryer once a week and eat chicken with vegetables for lunch. I also make chicken soup from the carcass (Rosa showed me a delicious simple chicken soup recipe that I've been using) and enjoy that for snacks. Once a week I treat myself to a LarkBurger, which is Angus Beef and makes me both incredibly happy and incredibly guilty. I may bump the red meat to twice a week in June. I've had no problem completing workouts. I've not needed a 4+ hour nap after a long workout. I have enough energy to stay up til 10 or 11 at night (I was hitting the hay with the kids last year.) I am so happy!

I rejoined the TriBabes last week (to encourage myself to stay true to the schedule and not skip things.) So far, so good. I feel like my biking is a little weaker than last year, as I have more trouble on the hills, but that might be due to lack of spin classes (the spin classes at FAC are at 6am - maybe when we're in Boulder I can make them.) My swim is as it was and my running seems slower yet easier. Not sure what's up with that but I'm sure Andie's killer track workouts will help, anyway. My first 5K of the year was a dismal 32:50, which leaves plenty of room for improvement! (It was windy. And cold. And at night. And it was my first one of the year. Oh, who am I kidding - I need those track workouts!)

Here is the basic schedule:

Mon: recovery day
Tue: swim/track
Wed:bike
Thu: swim/run
Fri: off or bike/swim
Sat: long run
Sun: Brick

(Saturday and Sunday workouts may flip around. In June, Sylvie and I want to start riding with the group, but at this point don't feel quite up to it.)

We've made great strides ourselves, doing a lovely loop around my neck of the woods. I'm going to try Old Stage this Wednesday and see how that looks. We start swimming in the Rez after Memorial Day (brrr...) and I have to remember to sign up to volunteer at the Summer Open. Watching Wendy complete that last year is what motivated me to sign up. It will be fun to watch again this year and help out. (There is NO WAY I would race this early. Brr!!!)

In kid news, Ted's play is this Wednesday night and we are all very excited about it. He is very in to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series right now and I love-love-love that I have to yell at him nearly every single night to stop reading and go to bed! It's the best. :-)

Sam loves OT and wears his glasses like a champ, when he remembers them. Yesterday he had a little tummy bug but didn't tell us because he wanted to go to Sunday School. He loves Sunday School so much - it is so sweet. Heather was going to bring my kids home and ended up taking them with her, after picking up their bikes, and Sam and Eliot had a great time together, biking from Heather's to the ice cream store and then doing laps around the park. As babies, they spent nearly every day together, so it is very sweet to see them reconnect.

Speaking of bikes, Mae is ready for the next size up. She was whipping around the park yesterday on Sam's bike like a pro. She is also an amazing pumper and can go for a loooong time on the swing. I am very curious to see how it all plays out for her - whether she'll be the athlete or the scholar - the artist or the actor - etc. She is getting ready to give up her bedroom for our beloved babysitter/good friend Heather for May & June. She'll room with the boys - she is so excited about that! She's signed up for summer camp with her little friend Zoey at the YMCA in Boulder and I think they are starting preparations for Graduation at preschool. She is very excited and ready to be in Kindergarten. While it will be a rough transition for her, I think she'll love "being one of the big kids." As of now, I plan to keep her in half day as I've done with Sam. Sam loves school but also loves our one-on-one time together when I pick him up at 12:15. Mae already talks about her mommy day (no school on Fridays for K's) so I think I can handle one more year of half days. Everyone in one school - priceless!!!

All 3 kids are doing TKD and seemingly having lots of fun. I'll have to get a picture of them with their doboks on.

Well, that is our update. We are loving spring and hoping the house sells soon - showings continue so we are just cleaning and hoping - hoping and cleaning... :-)

Tarantino or Manson?

Is Sam a budding Quentin Tarantino or Charles Manson? You decide:

here we go again!

Exciting Weekend

A week shy of listing, we looked at houses today. I had seen them before and had 4 to show Paul that I thought we should consider. Two were in Gunbarrel (nixed by Paul - we are tired of driving) and two in Boulder. While both houses in Boulder were great, the smaller of the two (3 bedroom rather than 4) backs to open space, has amazing views, and is our favorite. The other one is great too, but it is a corner lot and doesn't have as much privacy, but much more space. In either case, it feels good to have "an area" to look - it is so early in the season that even if these fall through before we sell our home there will be more. We are busy fixing little things this weekend (light switches, boing-oing-oings (door stoppers? what is the name for these things?), nail hole filling and the like. Good stuff. The carpet comes on Monday.

Ted received an in-school suspension on Thursday and Friday. He and a 3rd grade friend were peeking in the girls' bathroom through the window (right outside at pick up - in full view of everyone, teachers, parents - obviously they didn't realize they were doing anything wrong.) It was a big deal and very traumatic for him, but as Horizons always does, they handled it well. They met with the principal, talked a lot about why it was such a big invasion of privacy, got their suspension, and spent their recesses doing community service for the school. Phew.

The boys have spent many hours making stop motion Lego films lately. I'll have to have Paul help me take their "slideshow" and turn it into a movie so I can post it. Some of them are hysterical. I love the creativity and the working together. Plus they don't need my help with it. Perhaps we have future Peter Jackson in the family - have you seen District 9? Really good.

And .... it's melting

Tonight was the TKD Halloween party. We went with the zombie look for all 3 kids (some "Vulcan Zombie" Star Trek *may* have been at fault...) Our crazy snowstorm with over 22 inches of snow is perfectly melted: dry streets and big heaps of snow on the grass. Perfect for trick or treats!

The boys had their conferences today. Sam is still too shy to fully "let" his teachers know where he's at - she thought he only knew 19 letter sounds. Ha! He can sound out words better than Ted! But til he loosens up, he refuses to read in class, so they can't adequately evaluate him. Luckily he's my 2nd and I'm not worried! His math is pretty amazing. They are doing things like "what are the different ways you can make 10?" and he'll reply (using his fingers, heaven forbid he SPEAK!) "5+5, 2+8, 4+6" etc. I think that's so cool. All in all, he's happy and doing fine. Cutie.

Ted's conference was intense! He had picked out 3 selections from each notebook to share with us. They have writing notebooks, journals, math, science, and probably more. I was overwhelmed. I am most impressed with how MUCH writing they do. In K/1, the only writing, other than a one-word reply, was the 15 minutes of journaling they did in the morning. Here in 2/3, it's all writing, all the time! He is still reversing letters but his writing is MUCH neater and cleaner, which is a direct result of his teacher gently encouraging to do his best work at all times. I LOVE this teacher! We set goals together (Ted, his teacher and parents). They included working to make sure the letter reversals are corrected, always using neat writing, esp in homework assignments, agreeing to check over his work in timed tests (they do Fast Facts and he'll usually have about 3 wrong (out of 100) that was just carelessness - since he finishes those tests early, use that time to re-check, not to pull out a book.) All in all, he is ROCKING. We've had private meetings about his reading and I feel confident that between his teacher, his tutor and his DAILY reading group (!), he is getting the support he needs.

I came down with a cold yesterday and spent last night and most of the morning in bed with the aches. I feel better tonight and the post-nasal drip is helping with the sore throat. Oy!

Tomorrow is pumpkin carving, soccer and Trick or Treats!

Update!

I should rename this blog "The Update Blog." Oy!

Sam's 6th birthday party was last Saturday at the pool, which was a blast. We joked that it was the J party. He invited his buddies from preschool: Jason, Jacob, Jocelyn, Jonah and Joshua (plus the odd boys out, Adam & Alex). The kids all had lots of fun in the water (last year it seemed that no one was comfortable enough in the water but Jason which was a bit of a bummer for the other kids), but this year everyone was all over the place. We need to do thank you notes this weekend - Legos, Bakugans, K'Nex and "Lil' Squirts markers" - terrific presents for this little guy!


We did some fun crafting this week, while enjoying a respite from the brisk Fall weather. I've been working hard on my knitting this week and the kids wanted to knit too. So, since I can't possibly figure out how to teach them, we made stuffies. They drew a picture on red felt, cut it out, punched holes, and then sewed them together with yarn and added stuffing. Worked like a charm and kept them occupied for hours. I got this wonderful idea from my new favorite book (and accompanying blog) on the planet, The Creative Family.

My knitting is coming along. I've had 2 disasters but luckily I have two friends who knit who have bailed me out. I'm about half finished with my scarf. I'm so excited! I really do enjoy it, although at my beginning level I can't do anything else but watch what I'm doing. It will be fun when it's automatic and I can whip out a hat while watching Star Trek. Someday! The scarf is a lovely autumn shade of burnt orange. The kids are arguing over it, so I plan to take them to the yarn store with me and have then each pick out a skein for themselves and I'll make them each a scarf too. I am touched by how enthusiastic they are with this new little hobby of mine, and how proud they are of my work. Cuties!


And Ted was in miner mode, after a week of post-Keystone science at school. This week he started twice per week tutoring with his tutor plus the reading group he's in at school (each child is in a reading group based on level. Ted's level is with the para, who just happens to have a degree in Special Ed! Love it!) They are putting him on an IEP for reading, with the expectation that he will catch up by the end of 2nd, and SURELY by the end of 3rd, with all the extra support he's getting. His reading homework is twice that of the other kids, since he has to do his "reading homework" (which is reading a book and commenting each day in a reading log on what new developments are going on) as well as his tutoring homework (sight words, phonics and lots of "easy" reading aloud.) Ted is such a trooper and takes it all in stride. He brought home some pretty nifty algebra homework that left me in awe. He has his father's math brain for sure. He is SO HAPPY at school. Tonight he's at a sleepover at a 3rd grader's house. They went to Dave & Busters, then home for a movie, then scheduled sleep time (we'll see!) and then out to breakfast tomorrow. He has really taken up with the 3rd graders in his class and I'm loving their quirky and fun personalities. This is shaping up to be a pretty terrific year.

Mae had her first playdate at our house today. She's been to other friends' houses before but never had someone over here to play. She and Judy had a blast. Hannah is up next Friday! I hope to go through the class and get all her little friends over, in an effort to boost her confidence (she's not sure they actually like her ... I think she and Judy parted best friends today!) The did art for a long time, played some games, did some wild jumping and tickling and generally had a great time. I'm so relieved - she is much nicer that I thought she was ... with other kids she seems to shut down and not interact but clearly I'm not seeing the other side, or what happens when I leave, because she was fine. A bit bossy, but aren't most girls? Hooray!

A Week of Much Ado!

WOW. Last week was insane. It was very fun though, so here's a recap!

Outdoor Ed week started on Monday. We loaded the girls' gear into my van, watched the kids board the bus, and headed up to Keystone. We hit the Starbucks in Golden first and noted the others, for our return trip! We went over Loveland Pass and it was so beautiful. And odd to see it without snow. When we got to Keystone, we emptied the van and the kids lugged their gear to their bunks. I was in the Girl's Bunk and didn't see Ted except at dinner that day. We got the girls settled in their rooms and took them to lunch at the dining hall. There, they got their "welcome to Keystone" speech and we parents & teacher got ours in another area. After the de-briefing, we met up with our groups for a short hike and a talk about the rock cycle. I was with half of Ted's class, but not with him, as planned. That night was Spaghetti Night and the kids loaded up. Ted had noodles with cheese and informed me later than there wasn't enough fruit or veggies. I agreed with him! Then they had the night program, which had 4 stations that highlighted astronomy. The highlight was looking out of the telescope, I think. Although it was a cloudy night, we could see trees for miles and the kids loved it. They also did stages of the moon in the yurt and the planets' distances from each other in the dining hall. I can't remember the 4th station - I think it involved playdoh and making the planets the right size, respective to each other, but we didn't get to that one. That night was hard. 3 of the girls in particular were very homesick so none of the adults got much sleep. We pounded the coffee the next morning and I was sent out with Ted's group for the day (hooray!) At breakfast (pancakes), the kids made their own lunches to take out for the day. Ted made a peanut butter, pickle and cheese sandwich and was disappointed that there wasn't any fruit. We got in the Keystone van and drove to Breckenridge where we hiked through a beautiful aspen grove (natural sunscreen on the bark of an aspen!) to a rock quarry that had been mined for gold. The old equipment was still there and there were mountains of rocks everywhere. The kids spent the next few hours learning how to identify the 3 major types of rocks (igneous, sedimentary & metamorphic). They broke open rocks to see the minerals inside and did a fun charades game that identified all the different minerals used to make up everyday things, like pencils or dirt. Neat. After that rather long day, they had some flex time in their bunks, then dinner (Taco Night). Ted had 5 corn tacos with cheese. After dinner the KSS teachers did some skits and songs and then the Horizons teachers met with their classes privately for some really special bonding time. They did "hopes and dreams for the future" and fun "space rocks" (i.e. wintegreen lifesavers - they spark in your mouth when you bite them. She totally had the 2nd grade boys believing they were rocks from space!) The hopes and dreams was really sweet. There was the typical "I want lots of Legos for my birthday and candy for Halloween" from the younger kids, but some of the girls had really sweet ones about hoping the 2nd graders enjoy their time here and that they have a great year together as a class - really sweet. I would have preferred that Ted's be on the light side like some of his friends; his first wish was "I hope my mama stays healthy" (I can only imagine he's taking in some of what is going on with his lovely Aunt Nancy) and his second was "I hope Mae stops crying all the time." Sweetheart. That night everyone went to sleep right away, and with the exception of 2 pukers (too many tacos, we think), the girls were great. The next morning they cleaned the dorm, had breakfast (French toast), packed up their lunches (just cheese and pickles on the sandwich this time) and went to the morning program, which involved the groups putting on an act of a play that showed the development of the Rocky Mountains. Very cool! They spent the morning working on the play, performed the play, ate lunch while watching the (totally awesome) slideshow, and then lugged their gear back to the cars and got on their buses. Lisa and I relished the silence, and the Starbucks, and brought the gear back to the school and waited around for them to be dismissed about an hour later.

That night I had rehearsal in Denver for Rosh Hashanah and it was a long rehearsal, full of sound checks and beeps. Friday night was the first service and I have to say, the choir sang beautifully. Really a tight group - and for mostly volunteers, it's a pretty incredible sound. I spent the night at Randi's (a fellow choir member with a very sweet dog!) and we headed back Saturday morning for 2 long services. The choir again sang well and the sermons were very good too. I drove home that afternoon (the kids were at services, then chavurah, then Ted's 1st soccer game of the season), took a nap and enjoyed the evening with the family.

Sunday morning I headed out to run my first ever half marathon - 13.1 miles. It was beautiful. The dirt roads were kind to my knees, the wind was refreshing and the hills gentle and rolling. They did run out of water and it was very hot, but I made do with Gaterade and stayed cool enough. Results aren't up yet, but according to my watch, I made it in 2:20, a very respectable time for me. I ran the first mile at 11 minutes on purpose, to keep myself from going out too fast. For the next 11 miles, I ran 10 minute miles pretty regularly. Then that last mile + 0.1 seemed to drag on forever! It will be fun to see the results, but all in all, a lovely experience and I definitely want to do it again next year. I'll bring my own water and GU just in case next year, but I think the heat really surprised them this year (one year it snowed!) I took a lovely nap on Sunday as well and then the boys had Monday off from school. We hung out at home, took Ole to a dog park, and generally chilled out before picking up Mae, closing on the basement repair work, swim lessons and TKD.

This week begins school in earnest. The first few weeks of school, according to the newsletters, are all about community and getting to know each other. This week, they begin their reading groups, writing groups, math intensives and Ted will begin his bi-weekly private tutoring. I am so excited for him this year. He will have so much support that I just know he'll do OK! And Sam is fine ... he loves kindergarten and is sad when there isn't school. Cutie. He is still being quiet and hasn't identified any actual friends yet, but he's always a bit slow to warm up to new friends. I'm glad he's so happy to be there, and his reading is coming along too! At night, Ted reads to me for 20 minutes and Sam reads to Paul - usually one or two of the Bob books. He's so proud of himself! He's very good at sounding words out so he'll take off soon! Mae is settling in to going every day. She has a hard time with the transition of pick up but does love being at school and is a very prolific artist! She is learning her letters very quickly too and loves to write words if I tell her the letters. She and Sam are looking very good in swimming (I think Sam will move up to Level 5 soon) and all in all, the kids are happy and "seem" to be stress- free.

That is the big news! I'll see if I can come up with some pictures (Ted had a camera at OE which came back full of pictures of his nose or eyelashes...). We'll be laying low this week, gearing up for Sam's birthday party on Saturday, Ted's soccer game and Sunday-Monday Yom Kipper services.

L'Shanah Tovah!

Sam is 6: Mae rides a 2 wheeler

Today was Sam's birthday. Since he doesn't have Kindergarten on Fridays, it was a good day for it! He opened his presents, had his well check (43 pounds and 44 inches tall - both 25%) and played lots of Laser Tag at Boondocks. We finished up with a DQ cake and lego building. What a great day!

He loved the science stuff: a light kit (we did a few of the experiments and I think the color one was his favorite - there are tons more to do) and the volcano kit (we'll work on that tomorrow.) Daddy got him a Mars Mission lego set (MONTHS ago, since it's discontinued) that got both boys VERY excited. Sam built the smaller ship all by himself (!!) and Ted worked very hard on the larger one; Paul will check it out in the morning and help out if need be. I can't quite believe he is getting to be such a big boy. Mae may be the youngest child, but Sam will always be my baby. With his sweet disposition and quirky personality, every year just gets better and better. Happy birthday, Sam!


Yesterday we finally got a video of Mae riding her 2 wheeler. Rock star!