My Children's Prayer

Since the kids have been little, we've said prayers every night (Will now has it memorized and Fi's getting there). I didn't want to get too complicated or specific (so I didn't overwhelm them), so I created my own little prayer for them. I thought I'd share it with you in case you'd like to use it with your children.

Thank you, God, for all the people who love us;
our family and friends, and you, and baby Jesus.
Please keep them safe, and let them know we love them very much.

Some of you know that my father-in-law, Jerry, is fighting lung cancer. He's 13 weeks through a 22 week chemo treatment, and his tumor is currently gone (yah!); right now, he's in the hospital with pneumonia right now and will be there for the next few days while the good drugs fight the infection. Please continue to keep him and our family in your thoughts and prayers as we get through this phase of his treatment.

Our First Party

This past Saturday was the first party we've had in our new house - we hosted Maxwell March Madness and hope to turn it into an annual event. It actually made me proud of my house - everything was clean and decluttered (the lack of toys in the library and living room makes such a difference!) and we were totally organized. We were ready on time, with everything all laid out for party go-ers and happy kids. Our first guest showed a little after noon and the last guest left a little after 8:30 - all in all, we had around 25 adults and kids. It was a lot of fun and very laid back; and, I got to meet some really nice people from Brent's office and their spouses. A huge shout-out to our wonderful friends, Jaime and Ross and Reid, for hanging out with us for most of the party - it was awesome and we were so glad you did!

We rounded out the weekend with a birthday party at our neighbor, Wendy's, house. Her son, Damarian, turned 3. He had a pirate themed party and a pirate balloon man - Will was not into the guy at all but Fi got the cutest little ladybug balloon bracelet. The kids had a good time and it was nice to get to know our neighbor a little better. (Side note - we invited all our neighbors to the party and none showed . . . maybe they do better with one on one dinners so we can get to know them better.)

In any case, thing are back to normal (yet still slightly cleaner than usual, thankfully!). Brent is in Mexico this week, and the kids and I are doing our thing. I'll be working on basketball videos this week, so I hope to have something for you to see soon.

The Madness Starts

Anyone who knows Brent knows that he pretty much lives for March Madness - he takes the 2nd day of the tournament off, and avoids work the afternoon of the first. He gets super excited on Selection Sunday and spends the rest of the week thinking about his bracket picks. As Monica said in Friends, "You married me in sickness and in health - this is MY sickness!" This is Brent's sickness and after 10 years together (I can't believe that!), I know that this is just HIS thing and to roll with it.

Now, I enjoy picking brackets as it gives me a little more interest in the games. We even had the kids pick this year (totally tedious with Fi - she kept telling me, "I already picked that.") - Fi picked a sleeper by going with Morehead St. instead of Louisville. :)

To help celebrate, we are having our first house party Saturday. We're really excited and hope it goes well so we can have more. We're doing it open house style - starting at noon. We invited Brent's friends from work, my friends, and neighbors we'd like to get to know better. I've made a bunch of chili and chocolate chip cookies and cheese dip; I plan to make meatballs, sausages, and more hummus; we've got chips and popcorn. Wish us luck - and if you're in the area, please stop on by! ;)

Fun Day with Fi

Fi and I had a great Wednesday and I wanted to share it with you. One of the nice things about Will going to preschool 3 mornings a week is that it gives Fi and I time to hang out - Will had 2 years of me all to himself and this is Fi's time to have me all to herself. It's been a lot of fun and some moments just make my heart melt.

This Wednesday, I had a hair appointment for a cut and color. (I normally go Saturdays so I have some time to myself, but I got the days for spring break confused). In any case, I packed books, food, and her game (Leapster 2 - I highly recommend it) - just in case. Of course, she charmed all the biddies in there getting super tight perms - and she lavished in all the attention. She did ask about my highlights, but I just told her Mommy was getting her hair painted. Seemed normal to her as I had no further questions.

While my hair was processing, my stylist, Randi, had some time and I asked her to cut Fi's hair. For the record, this is haircut #2 - the first was in MI at Christmas time at a beauty college. Randi fixed her bangs and gave her a really cute bob. And, wonder of wonders, Fi actually sat still for her hair to be flat ironed (I know, it's already stick straight but Randi somehow felt the need to use the flat iron) and, even more amazing, Randi gave her a bow and SHE KEPT IT IN ALL DAY! (The caps are necessary - I can't get her to keep bows in for more than 5 minutes). It was awesome - and free (thanks, Randi!)



We capped off our banner morning with a very interesting bath. Fi asked to color, like usual. What was unusual was that she decided to WRITE HER NAME!!!! I'm so proud of her! We've been singing a little song to help her learn how to spell it aloud for other people, but I've never helped her write at all. She does play Will's Leapster 2 game where you have to write letters, so I have to credit that with the actual writing. But, I'm so very, very proud of my little girl and I wanted to share it all with you. :)

SC Snow Day

This is from our week of snow in January - we had an awesome snow day (no school!) when Jaime, Ross, and Reid came over with their sled. The kids took turns sledding down the icy hill, practicing to be future lugers! It was so much fun! And, a belated, but huge shout out to Ross for dragging the sled (and the kids) back up the hill almost all the time.

Kiddie Stories

Will and Sofia have been enjoying a cartoon on HBO called "I Spy." Two odd looking characters try to find hidden objects. While looking, they tell jokes. Will and Fi attempt to repeat them - but they can't remember the punch lines and end up making up something. Will, however, finally got a joke right (and I don't think this one was from the show) - "When is a bicycle not a bicycle? When it turns into a driveway!" Yes! His first real joke! :) It cracked us up and we can't wait to hear more.

Brent and I were talking in bed one night before going to sleep. Now, our new bedroom furniture is up a ways from the ground, and when you're buried in the blankets, you can't see anything below you. It was totally quiet until a little voice goes, "Hello Mumma!" We both jumped and about hit the ceiling (and silently thought it was a good thing we were just talking). Fi completely surprised us and she thought it was the funniest thing ever.

One night, Tara kindly invited us over for dinner - Andy and Brent were both out of town and we thought it would be fun to hang out. Like most of my friend's children, her kids both are very good eaters. She was very nice and asked if mine would eat homemade mac and cheese. I thought Will would -- I was wrong . . . even without the breadcrumbs, Will didn't want it. Tara and Cooper kept trying to tempt him by telling Will that this was Cooper's favorite. Will didn't seem to care, although he did try a small bite (this is a major event). When we were walking home, Will asked me if we could have Cooper over to our house so we could make Will's favorite mac and cheese (the kind from the box). He still asks, and I still laugh about it.

2011 Update

We have been very busy in 2011 - so much so, that I haven't blogged once. We came back from Michigan just in time for a snow storm in Greenville. And, when I say snow storm, I actually mean it. It snowed for one whole day, followed by rain all night - which shut the city and everything around us down for an entire week. School was closed and we had a great day playing in the snow and sledding down the frozen street with Reid, Jaime, and Ross (video coming one day).

After that, we tried to get back to normal. Will was enrolled in kindergarten at our local elementary, and he's very excited to be riding the bus - I'm more than a little nervous about that venture. Fi was enrolled in a closer preschool for Tuesdays and Thursdays. Starting in September, I'm going to have 8 whole hours a week to myself . . . I have no idea what I'll do and I'm very excited about that!

Brent and I took a wonderful 5 day cruise to start out February. Mom was kind enough to come down south and stay with the kids while we enjoyed the Caribbean - we didn't leave the boat once and I didn't pack a camera at all - total freedom! Unfortunately, he kids were sick while we were gone and passed their cold onto Mom. I'm extremely sorry to say that it screwed up her plans to visit Steven and Reshma in Houston (I'm very, very sorry everyone!!) but she's finally starting to feel better.

Our basement has been completely put back together - the new carpet and vinyl look great, as does the furniture we had rearranged. We moved all the toys back into position and set-up the massive train table Dad made for Will at Christmas. He's enjoying it and it's nice to not have train track in the living room anymore.

We've been playing a lot - we went to Monkey Joes (lots of bouncy houses) and the Children's Museum with Tara, Cooper, and Ali; we've been at the neighborhood playground and the zoo too. Will has also been playing basketball - with "real" games. We just finished that up today and will have a post devoted to that soon.

I started March with the plague and Brent was Super-Dad for a week while I was literally in bed for almost 3 days (it hurt to even open my eyes). The kids had a more mild version of my illness, but the fever kept Will from school for a week. Oh well. I recovered in time for my birthday - yup, I'm 35 with 2 kids and a mini-van. :) Life is good (except for the van . . . )

That's a brief catch-up on what we've been doing lately - not totally exciting, but that's our normal, everyday lives. We're enjoying them. :)