Portugal

Dear kids,

I missed you all desperately, but I love spending time with your cousins too.  We took
Sebby on his first trip to Santini for ice cream.  He didn't really eat any but your cousins loved it.
It was so fun to do a very similar routine with your cousins:  spelling, dinner prep, putting out snacks, bath, school runs.  I am so lucky to have such an amazing sister and she is raising such incredible kids.

Here is the trip in pictures!

Leaving on a jet plane

Dear Taylor, Anna, and Hudson,

I am off for a quick trip tomorrow. It feels so strange to leave you three. I have only left you once before and it wasn't this long, and wasn't this far. When Grandpa died this summer I took a quick trip to Florida with my sister and brother to go through his house. This trip is happy. I am off to have a week of QT with your cousins. While I will miss you desperately, you are in GREAT hands with Daddy, Hubs, and Grandma.

Xoxo
Mom

We have the flu

All of us.  The stomach flu is working its way through our house.  Brutal.

I will be back when I feel better, you kids are back in school, and we are caught up on laundry.

xoxo
mom

A date with my boys

Dear JTD and HTD,

We have had a crazy week, which ended with the girls sleeping in SF last night. I got to have such fun QT with my boys this morning.

We started with breakfast at our normal spot. It was so quiet without your sister buddy.

From there, we hit the barber. Yes, not the beauty salon, not the kids cuts place. The real barber shop. We hung out while daddy got his hair cut.

We had so much fun hanging out with you today buddy. You cracked us up!

You love chatting with us, reading books, keeping busy with your toys, and we are embarrassed to say it, but you love the ipad.

Xoxo
Mom

Organize and decorate

Dear, Taylor and Anna,

Today, you were on a mission to organize and decorate.  You decided our lemon tree in the front yard needed a major spruce up, so obviously 4th of July Leis were the first choice- very seasonal too.

Earlier today, Anna, you decided to make a display in our bookcase.  It looks great, but now you have made a rule that no one can touch the bookcase.  Hudson is having some trouble with this new rule, which has lead to A LOT of screeching.  Yikes.

 Lastly, Daddy is so sickie.  He seems to either have the flu or food poisoning.  We are trying to nurse him back to health with some chicken noodle soup and toast.  

Loving your creativity.  Hoping Daddy is better soon.

xoxo

mom

Soccer Season

Dear Taylor and Anna,

Alas, another soccer season has come to an end.  You both ended with a bang, and we could not have been more thrilled with your efforts this season!!!

Your favorite parts of the season were definitely the parties this past week.  Taylor's part was Saturday after her game.

Hudson playing with all the gals on the side of the field

Earlier this week, we counted down to the second we could leave for your party, Anna.  You were SO excited.  At 5 in the morning you came to our room to ask if I had been practicing my clap for when you got your trophy.  You thought that I could use some work, so you had me try harder.   Well, we got to your party and your coach didn't do a trophy presentation, so when you got your trophy off the table, I clapped like a crazy person.  

We love that you were so excited!  We love that you are both proud of your teams' hard work.  We are so proud of both of you!!!

xoxo
mom
(one more cute picture of the hair bows the team mom had made for the girls)

Getting in the picture!

Dear kids,

We are not doing such a bad job of this!! Go us:)

I crack myself thinking of you three finding these pictures and saying "remember that time mom made us take hundreds of pictures with her?" Hopefully we will catalogue far beyond the fall of 2012.

My fav part of this is that I usually get great snuggles while we snap away!

Xoxo
Mom

Today, we crafted.

Dear Taylor and Anna,

On what started out as a day of grumpy children (3 kids crying as we pulled out for target) we crafted our way to good times.

After Hudson went down for his morning nap we had the nicest, most peaceful time sitting around doing Hama beads. I loved it! Anna, you are working on this as a tool to hone your fine motor skills, and to celebrate all the holidays at once. Taylor, you are always creating some cute/clever design, including an eye ball!

Taylor, you and a friend did these cute fall wreaths this afternoon! Such a fun craft kit from Target:)

Xoxo
Mom
(Not so crafty but happy to take direction from my cute girls)

Homework

Dear Anna and Taylor,

Today, I could have burst with pride. We had your parent teacher conferences, a perfect family dinner (seriously- everyone kept their seat, er talked about gratitude, everyone used good table manners, and daddy was home!), and then a really peaceful night of homework.  Anna, you did letters on the iPad (you write your sight words, and then type them).  Tonight, Daddy got a chance to work with you, and you two had a great time.  Taylor, you were doing practice math tests:)

I am grateful for a perfect evening with my family.  We are blessed.
xoxo
mom

Grateful

Dear Taylor, Anna and Hudson,

We need to work on being grateful around here.  It is as simple as saying please and thank you.  It is as complicated as setting aside time each day to focus on why we are grateful.  So, I will lead by example.  As I did several years ago, I am taking the Gratitude Challenge.

We are going to work this into our schedule each night at dinner.  Each night at dinner, we now go around the table and say one thing for which we are grateful.  Anna, you are THE BEST and keeping us on track, and getting us going each night.  You call on people, and decide who goes when.  Usually you are the most grateful and list almost every thing you have done that day.  Hudson, you mostly say random words, but hey, we will take that as gratitude:)

So, here we go:

Use the alphabet as a fun and quick format for making a list of things for which you feel grateful. Share this list with your social network through email, a blog post or a Facebook or MySpace page. 

A- Anna
B- Beth- We have the most talented, creative auntie/sister-in-law.
C- Caroline- she is your cousin, but is more like a sister for you girls.  She is an amazing example for you girls.
D- Daddy bear!  I married the best husband, father, partner in the life.  But for you three, I am grateful he is your dad.
Declan- we just love one of our newest boy cousins.  He and Hudson are going to be such fun partners in crime some day.
E- Elmo.  Hudson loves Elmo.  Everyone wins.
F- Freddie.  Freddie and Anna become the best of friends whenever they are together.  The best part though- Freddie snuggles.  They are my fav.
Football- becoming such a fun family activity
Flip flops.  Who doesn't love them?
G- Grandpa.  I miss him.
H- Hubs. We can't live without her.
Hip-Hop dance class.  You girls love it, and I love to watch it.
I- Ice cream- because it makes all three of you so happy.
J- Jeremiah.  I am so lucky that he is my brother.
K- Kindle App.  Convenient, less expensive books delivered to the iPad.  Yes, please!
L-Laughter.  Kids laughter. The great big, deep belly laughs.
Lululemon.
M- Meggie.  Could I have a better sister?  I think not.
N- Neighbors.  We have some great friends in our neighborhood and I am so thrilled about this.
O- Ocular migraines.  I am grateful that I only get them when I am pregnant.  They are debilitating.
P- Pink.  It makes the girls happy.  It makes me happy.  Everyone wins.
Pot stickers.  Yum
Q- Quiet. Peace and quiet.
R- ROWAN!  You guys love Rowan.  We get to see him fairly often, and you think he is a super fun playmate.
S- Sebastian! Sebby.  New baby love.
 Starbucks
T- Tomas, Tisky.  Tomas for being the greatest partner for Hudson.  Baby Hudson LOVES Tomas, and Tomas loves Hudson.  Tisky- the godfather.  Anna loves having that special relationship with Vasco, and he is such a good godfather.
U- Ultrasounds.  I am done having them for the babies, and while I was grateful for them, they brought so much stress too.  Happy to be past that phase.
V- Valentine's day.  Nothing says love like take out sushi and a night at home with my loves.
W- White wine.
X- X rays.
Y- "Yes, and"  I am grateful for this phrase as an alternative to no. I am trying to say "no" more carefully, so "yes, and" is a lovely alternative.
Z- The zoo.

xoxo
Mom

We vote!!!

Dear Taylor, Anna and Hudson,

Today, we voted! Taylor and Anna, you got to vote at school in a mock election, and your school will announce which candidate won.

So, we have been talking about the candidates for quite some time and you were so excited to go to the pools. Interesting you both had strong idea and voted for different candidates.

Hudson loved it because there were stickers and a lot of nice old ladies that were charmed by his smiles and claps!

Indian Summer

Dear Taylor, Anna, and Hudson,

We are having the nicest warm weather. You three spent hours and hours at the park this afternoon. When you got home, and after homework was checked off, we were back outside to circle the block.

I have very mixed feelings about this weather. I long for cool, not cold, days where soup and a comfortable couch sound inviting rather than terrible. Today was the perfect day for a popsicle or an afternoon ice tea at Starbucks.  Instead I made pumpkin muffins (will baking fall things bring fall weather?)  but had to open doors and windows since the oven really heated up the house.

In a few weeks when the weather cools, and we are stuck inside because it is freezing (50 deg) or raining, I know we will long for days like today.

For today, I am so happy watching you three charge around the block together, especially you, Hudson, because you are SO happy to be out there with your sisters.  You run behind them saying, "GIRLS, GIRLS, ANNA, TAY."  Nothing better.
xoxo
mom

Another Day at the Hollow

Dear kids,

We had an unseasonably warm weekend with temps reaching almost 80! Yesterday we took advantage and went to Happy Hollow with some friends!

We had such a great time. You girls loved the rides and Hudson loved to just cruise around.

Fun weekend!
Xoxo
Mom

Grandpa, Part IV

Dear Taylor, Anna, and Hudson,

I will say that memories of your Grandpa continue to overwhelm me.  With smiles. With tears.
I will say that grief is relentless.  Grief is surprising.  Grief is hard.  I tell the three of you often that "we do hard things."  I don't want you to shy away from things that seem hard, but I wan't to shy away from this business.  I would like to be at the point where I remember Grandpa fondly, and am sad that he is gone, but don't fall to tears thinking about him when I am in Target trying to remember to buy socks and Windex.  (I forget those two items ALL the time).

Anyway, here is what I want you to know about your grandpa.
1. He loved Halloween.  He used to turn the school into a big haunted house. Peeled grapes for eye balls, spaghetti for guts.
2.  He would leave candy wrappers everywhere.  I can't for the life of me remember what kind of candy he liked, but I definitely remember that he ate butterscotch lifesavers. Maybe it is that I remember lifesaver wrappers.
3. Grandpa loved frozen dinner food.  Chipped beef, Welsh Rarebit, Salisbury Steak.  When we cleaned out his refrigerator (I should say when my sister) there were tons of these.
4. Grandpa went through of phase of making homemade pasta and it was so much fun.  Probably total chaos, but a lot of fun!

xoxo
mom

On email and teahcers

Dear kids,

This post is not really about you, it is actually about my relationships with your teachers, and your principal.

So, as you know, I have a job.  Full-time.  Plus my full-time job as your mom, a full-time gig as your dad's wife, and part-time jobs as house manager, room mom, volunteer, friend, etc.  With all that in mind, I still need to communicate with your teachers: questions, sharing information, etc.  So, here is my great frustration.  Some teachers are crap emailers.  Nothing irritates me more than non-responders.  If you don't read email, put up an away message.  If you invite correspondence via email RESPOND TO EMAIL!

I will qualify all of this by saying that I really like your teachers.  They have a hard job, and I am grateful for them.

Enough complaining for a Thursday.

xoxo
mummy