Smarty Pants

Kindergarten will be over in four days. Today Sam asked me:
"Mommy, how much did swim team cost?"
"Well, registration was $65. Oh yeah and your suit was around $45. So around $100."
Sam without missing a beat did the addition in his head and said:
"You mean $110."
😂😂

He later went on to school us on what the word oviparous means.

Where did my baby go?

Small Milestone

Today, Sam gave me his first "genuine" and unprovoked apology.  He was playing with the (unplugged and turned off) paper shredder.  He dragged it into the living room and then I heard a loud BOOM from my desk.  I turned around to see it lying on its side.  I made sure he was OK (no smashed fingers or toes) and nicely said that it wasn't a toy and I was glad he was OK.  Usually this would be when he would break down in tears over guilt or fear or whatever.  Instead he said "I'm sorry mommy."  I explained that it was OK and accidents happen and we returned the paper shredder to its home.  It's a small thing, but one I want to remember.

Yup, it's 2014 (Part 1)

And halfway through 2014 for that matter.  It's a good thing blogging is not my source of income because I would be one broke girl.

So, it's been a year and obviously lots of things have happened.  Not that I could possibly remember them all, but here's a start:

• Julia finished 1st grade and had a great year.  She starts 2nd grade in a few weeks.  She's been doing gymnastics, violin, voice and swim team.
• Sam is still in Beth & Molly's class.  He needs more experience potty training even though we've been working on this since March.  If he's in college and still working on potty training I wouldn't be surprised.  He did a little bit of soccer this year and if he could, would spend all of his time kicking balls and riding bikes/trikes.
• Bandit is still with us although his years are definitely showing.  He will be 15 in about a month.  Julia did get a fish (Elsa) in November and unfortunately she got sick and went to the rainbow bridge last night.

Some pics from the last 12 months:

July - the fourth of July and the first day of first grade.

August & September - Whole Foods, Chris' 40th in Turks & Caicos (sans kids), first sleepover with Jonas & Paul, church carnival, licking crumbs, airport observation deck, horseback riding at a birthday party, UNC football game.

 

October:  Emerald Isle, picking pumpkins, quick dinner in back of Pilot, Croc Mile, Y Princess outing, Sunset Beach, State Fair and Halloween

 

 

November & December:  Y Princess camping trip, Sam discovering the joy of Kimbap (same night we found out Uncle Eddie had passed away), decorating the tree, proof to the future Julia that she appreciated us at one point in our lives, daycare holiday celebration, trip to DC, Christmas train, Christmas eve & day, selfies, Greensboro Childrens Museum, Grandmama, Paloma's birthday (best friends).

 

 

Enough is Enough!

First, this kid turns six:

And then, this kid turns two:

And then this kid finishes kindergarten (Side by side in the same outfit on the first and last day of school.  I think I will make this a new tradition.Looks like she's grown a couple inches, don't you think?)

In about a month or so, this one will be moving to the new "2-3's" class at school.  Right about the time Julia goes to first grade.

I've probably said this 20x on this blog already, but time goes by way too quickly!
 

Final post of 2012 (in Feb 2013)

Okay - I give up.  I wrote this post on 1/1/13, but didn't 'finish' it.  Now it's almost the end of February so I'm just going to post the sucker so I can get on with 2013 updates!

I'm just a tad behind on our family updates, but that means our family has been too busy having fun, right?  In an effort to get on track for 2013, I will try to wrap-up 2012 in this final post of the year (ignore the fact that it's 1/1/13, OK? :)

Halloween this year involved a sweet kitty cat, a dino/dragon and a bride...

...which after dark turned into a VAMPIRE BRIDE!  Let's hope nobody meets this ferocious beast on the street!

Also, Halloween was an excellent lesson in the uneven parenting that takes place between children.  I specifically remember that Julia didn't enjoy the deliciousness of candy at Halloween until she was 2 1/2.  I know this because I have this adorable picture to commemorate it:

Sam on the other hand was given my partially consumed adult beverage (Firefly & Lemonade) and a basket of candy and told to take care of himself.  He seemed to handle it quite well:

Between Halloween and Thanksgiving there was a lot of miscellaneous sweetness including Julia and Sam becoming BFFs, Julia getting a real, pink 'hair extension' and Sam taking self portraits.

We spent Thanksgiving day with grandmama & grandaddy at our house.  Unfortunately, I was sick (turned into pneumonia) for two weeks starting before Thanksgiving and therefore only have a few photos to share.  A big thank you to Chris and many family members for taking care of the kids and the house while I was out of commission.

Chris took advantage of a nice, sunny, fall day and took the kids to the park.

If this picture doesn't say it all about their relationship (she was trying to get him to look at the camera), I don't know what does.

 In celebration of the holiday season, Mom, Julia, Staci and I were treated to a Wizard of Oz/Symphony performance, the family had some 'fun time' at Target and we attended my departmental potluck and a local nature park (turned out to have beautiful weather that day, which was certainly a blessing!).  We will just ignore the fact that Paka wound up in the emergency room with kidney stone pain that same day...that would put a real damper on these fond memories!

The kids felt bad for Paka at my company potluck, but apparently not *that* bad.

We had a great time selecting a Christmas tree.  

And we were treated to a surprise visit from Santa Claus at the Parrish's Christmas Party in early December.  I can't believe it, but Sam did not cry!

Sam's holiday party at school.

Christmas Eve with the Claytons featuring a tired bunny (covered in food) on the ride home :)

 The only picture I have accessible of Christmas morning.  They used the heck out of this rocket ship for about a month before they totally trashed it.

And finally, before the end of the month we took a last minute trip to Blowing Rock for one night. The kids got to play in snow and Julia was able to ice skate.  We rented a nice house which was walkable to the Main St. and played dice (Kenzi) and warmed up by the fireplace.  Aunt Staci was brave enough to join us!

Why can't we ever get a good family picture???