First Day of Preschool

Today was Aaron's first day of Pre-K for the year.  He did go to preschool last spring, so he has been counting down the days until school started up for him.  He couldn't wait.  He requested scrambled eggs for breakfast and was pleased as pie to finally strap on his Diego backpack and head off to his "high school."  Of course we took a bunch of pictures commemorating the big milestone.

Last year, I became aware of a program that our district's high schools offer.  Its preschool for 3-5 year olds where the teachers are high school students.  The high school students are paired up one-on-one with a preschooler.  Its an awesome program.  Not only do the preschoolers get one-on-one attention, but they are able to do more interesting/complicated crafts and projects because of the manpower that they have.  I also love it because the high school students genuinely LOVE preschoolers.  They have lots of energy and are so sweet with them.

This year Aaron's good friend, Jenna, is in his preschool class.  He was so excited because he has a 'buddy' and us moms are excited because now we have can carpool.  We happened to pull into the parking lot at the same time.  So we waited for Jenna to make her adorable entrance so we could walk in together.

Then we snapped a few pictures of them together in front of the high school.

When did these 2 get so big?

Don't they look so tiny?!?!

Today's first class was one where the parents could stay while the kids got comfortable.  Last spring on his first day, Aaron dismissed me after about 3 minutes.  I was the only parent that didn't stay.  This year, he was more shy and tentative.  He wanted me to stay the whole time and to be honest, my other 3 boys were at my sister-in-law's, so it was pretty relaxing just standing on the sidelines chatting with my good friend Yvonne.  He came over twice for some reassurances (aka hugs) but after that, he pretty much ignored me.  Sounds about right!

Two years ago, I sent my oldest boys to their first day of preschool with my friend Yvonne's oldest (Joshua).  Here is a picture from that day two years ago.

And, in just a few years (sooner than I care to admit).  Yvonne and I will be sending these last two to preschool (our youngest babies). 

Caleb (10 months)  & Becca (8 months) enjoying puzzle time this past spring. 

But enough talk about that.  Thankfully I have at least two years (maybe three) before I have to face that milestone.

I Love Baking

If you know much about me, you probably know that I love to bake.  A big part of why I like to bake is that I like to eat, especially sweets.  The second reason I like baking is that it is something that is easily controlled.  If you follow the directions, you are usually rewarded with something delicious and/or beautiful-looking.  But another big element to baking (for me) is the social component.  People like to eat and feeding them is a way to meet their basic needs or "treat" them to something special.  The actual process of baking can be very social too.  Some of my earliest memories were "helping" my Grandma Prochaska bake.  Below is a picture of me baking with her when I was about 2 years old. 

My Grandma taught me all sorts of things about baking: how to measure flour (make sure its level), sifting your dry ingredients, and how to grease a pan (shortening and then a light dusting a flour) so that your cakes always come out of the pan easily. 

I don't remember how old I was, but at one point, she gave me my first recipe box.  I loved it.  And inside the box, she taped this picture of her & I baking together.  At the time, I'm pretty sure I was too young to realize much I would treasure this after she left this world and all I had left with her were the memories of time that we shared together.  In this day and age, I'm sure recipe boxes are considered antiquated, but I love this one.  And I still add new recipes to it.  I love seeing recipes in her handwriting, my mom's and mine from when I was a young teen.

Growing up as a child, birthdays in our house consisted of my mom allowing us to pick out a new design/flavor each year that she would make for us.  And I have lots of special treats that are associated with different family celebrations.  Now, I also enjoy baking more challenging things or completely new types of food.  Recently, I've gotten into working with yeast and making different kinds of breads.  These are just a few of the reasons that I still love to bake. 

So, needless to say, when I have the chance, I love to bake with the kids.  Today while the big boys were at school and the baby was napping.  Aaron & I had the chance to bake one of our family's favorite things: chocolate chip cookies.

There's pretty much nothing challenging about baking chocolate chip cookies, but I've yet to met someone who doesn't like them.  And, its nice making something that I don't have to look at directions or measurements (since they're all in my head).  After we got all the ingredients in and mixing, we snapped a quick picture of the two of us.

After it was done being mixed, it was time for the best part.  Tasting the dough.  And cookie dough tastes even better when its still on the beaters.

Then I put Aaron to work squeezing the dough onto the trays.  He made it through 2 full trays before he complained about his hand being sore from the hard work.

Then time to watch the cookies bake.

And I'm realizing now, I forgot to get shots of the cookies being enjoyed, but believe me, they were.  I waited until after my 8 mile run, but then my first stop was a cookie (yes, before I even showered).  You just can't beat chocolate chip cookies.

And, while there are lots of new recipes popping up for choc chip cookies, we stick with a pretty traditional one from my French Aunt, "Nestle Toll House" (if you've never seen that episode of Friends where Monica tries to replicates Phoebe's cookies, you have no idea what I'm talking about).  So, yes, we follow the recipe on the back of the yellow chocolate chip bag, with a few modifications.  We increase it to 2-3 tsp of vanilla, 3-3 1/4 cups of flour and 3 cups of chocolate chips---yes, more chocolate always improves a recipe, right?  And, we always, always use room temperature butter. 

Now if you made it through to the bottom of this and you aren't craving choc chip cookies yet, something is wrong with you.

Officially a "Soccer Mom"

Today, one of my lifelong dreams was realized, I officially became a "soccer mom."  Okay, I jest, it hasn't been a lifelong dream.  Quite the opposite in fact. 

Back in college, I inherited my parents Subaru Legacy Station Wagon.  My college friends use to joke that they were gonna put a 'Soccer mom' sticker on it since it evoked that image.  Clearly, I wasn't thrilled about this joke.  I was 21 and moving into the city, I wanted a "sexier" car or at the very least, something smaller like a Honda Civic. 

The irony was that the car ended up serving me well in my first job as a foster care caseworker as I was driving lots all over the city and often had a car full of kids.  The other bonus was that nobody wanted to steal it.  Go figure!  My roommate had a smaller car (a Toyota Camry) and it was stolen twice.  Yep, you read that correctly.  Stolen twice.  My station wagon wasn't stolen even once!!!  So, in hindsight, I'm thankful for that car, even if my 21-year-old self was unenthusiastic about receiving it (so a delayed thanks mom & dad).

Anyway.  I promised myself that we wouldn't have a minivan immediately upon having kids, but then we found out we were pregnant with twins and most of our plans of easing into the parenthood scene were gone.  When I was 7 months pregnant with the boys, we traded in Jon's two-door Dodge Avenger for a minivan.  I wish I would have taken a picture of the 2 vehicles parked next to each other at the dealership.  It was a traumatic day for Jon.  We left the dealership with a Grand Caravan.  We opted for the larger minivan since we needed lots of trunk space for a double stroller and 2 pack n plays when we traveled.  And in the last 6 years, we've done a pretty good job of filling up those vacant seats.

So, while we have had the 'soccer mom' vehicles for years and years.  Today was the first day that they were officially put to use for that purpose.

The twins have taken some sports classes, but today was their first league game.  They were very excited.  And, in a twist of irony (and continual frustration for the coach), they aren't the only set of twin boys on the team.  I feel a bit sorry for the coach having to learn all these kids names and then having 2 sets of twin brothers.  At least they wrote first names on their jerseys instead of last names to help him out.  I did hear Andrew complain once to me that he had been called James during the game (sorry buddy, you're going to have a lifetime of getting confused for each other). 

Their team is called the Maroon Monsters.  Here are a few shots from today's game.

James ready to go

Andrew strikes a pose

Andrew pumped to be goalie

James going after the ball

Best Buds.  I couldn't resist this shot of them from behind with their jerseys.

Andrew kicking the ball back into play

Andrew playing offense.  It looks like he is losing his shorts.  Why do they insist on ordering them so big?  All the kids were having the same problem, everyone except James.  Later I realized that James had worn different shorts as he didn't see the shorts that were part of the uniform that I put out for him.  This is classic James. At least he didn't risk losing his shorts like Andrew. 

James

The little brothers were there too.  They spent most of the game sharing goldfish and playing in the park.  They weren't too interested in watching the game.

Harvey Allen Shane

There was no way that I could get away with just one post regarding Harvey's arrival.  I took way too many pictures and that was just over his first four days.

Now that I am home and I've had a few minutes to look through them all, here are a few of my favorites.

This time, I'm including several of Harvey with his proud Daddy (who went largely unmentioned in my last post since it was about motherhood and sisters--and he didn't fit into either of those categories).

So without further delay, the pictures:

Sweet baby toes

Burrito Baby

One day old and so handsome

Snuggles with Daddy

I always find it amusing that in the hospital parents always handle the baby ever so gently and with great care as if the baby will break at any moment.  Meanwhile, the nurses carry them around like they are sacks of flour.  I remember this from when we were in the hospital, but I never got any pictures of it.  

With Pa Lynn

Grandma & Grandpa with their 10th grandchild!

The hospital leaves a 2nd hospital bed in the room for the "support" person to sleep in.  I thought this was pretty nice since Jon had to camp out on our couch that folded out into a sort of bed when he stayed with me for each of the c-sections.  Here, Mack is showing off how high his bed goes.  Apparently, Natalie's was locked not to go any higher than that because there have been so many incidents of mothers dropping babies from their beds. Really?!?

Daddy dresses Harvey for his trip home

All dressed and ready to go

Arriving Home

Home Sweet Home

It shouldn't be legal to be this cute

First walk with Daddy

Grandma Mary & Harvey checking each other out

Swing time

Time to say goodbye..one last picture on the way out the door to the aiport

Sisters, Sisters, There were never such devoted Sisters

Many already know this story, but when I was young (think first and second grade), I wanted a baby sister in the WORST way.  I prayed for it all the time.  I mentioned it to my parents (whom I'm sure were thrilled at the idea of taking into account the wishes of a 6 year old in their family planning decisions).  I even remember having a school assignment where we were suppose to draw a picture of what we would want if we could have or do anything in the world.  I drew a picture of myself next to a baby sister.  Are we sensing a theme here?  I was going to have a sister if I had any say in it.

At some point, my parents told me that it wasn't going to happen.  I don't remember the exact details of the conversation but I got the gist.  What I do remember is that about 6 months later, my parents called a 'family meeting' to announce that we would be having a baby later that year.  I remember being super excited (getting up and doing a cartwheel in our living room).  Since then, I've always said that this was the first prayer that I remember God answering with a "Yes!"

This was back before ultrasounds, so we didn't technically know if it was a baby boy or girl ahead of time.  However, in my heart of hearts, I knew that it was a girl.  On December 15, 1987, the much prayed for and anticipated baby girl arrived and I finally had a baby sister, Natalie.

I bring this up because this past week, my baby sister had her first baby.  While the last 9 months have been full of preparation, baby showers, and prayer, there is nothing that 100% prepares you for the experience of becoming a mom.  Many people argue that you are a mom the day you become pregnant but its not the same as that wonderful day when pregnancy ends (Praise the Lord--no more heartburn!!) and a sweet baby is placed into your arms.  When you finally meet that darling baby that you've been feeling kick, hiccup and generally make you uncomfortable (especially during that last week when you're past your due date  and the minutes tick by ever so slowly), its a miracle.

On Monday September 2, 2012 at 3:13 pm, a handsome baby boy was placed into my sister's arms for the first time.

He will outgrow her arms, but he has forever made her into a mother.  She and her husband named him Harvey Allen Shane.  He is beautiful.  He makes the sweetest sounds, even his cries are adorable (at least I think so because I wasn't the one up with him at night).  He has the cutest toes.  He has blonde hair (both parents have dark hair so that was a surprise). 

I got to spend four days out here getting to know Harvey and filling up on sweet baby snuggles.

I had the privilege to watch Natalie and Mack comfort their baby, laugh at his funny faces, change lots of diapers and move into their roles of "mom and dad."  It was so special to me to be there to see the start of this family.

I am thankful for my husband taking some time off of work as well as some great friends and family back in Chicago that took turns taking care of my 4 little guys so that I could make this trip out here alone.  And once again, I'm thankful for my sister.  Thankful that God answered the prayer for a baby sister with a resounding "Yes!"  Thankful that I get to share a new part of life with her: the journey of motherhood.

Narnia

A few years ago, I was browsing through a bookstore and stumbled across a clearance set of the Chronicles of Narnia books narrated by a British actor.  This is the set: http://www.christianbook.com/chronicles-limited-edition-family-theatre-audiodrama/c-s-lewis/9781589972995/pd/972996  Being the book lover that I am, I bought it.  In addition to wanting to listen to it myself, I thought that eventually the boys might want to listen to it at bedtime.  Right now, the boys listen to stories on CD or music at bedtime after we've tucked them in.  I did this as a child and I can still vividly remember my favorite stories and songs that I fell asleep too, so I'm always on the lookout for something good for them to listen to.

This past winter, a friend called me out for having not read all 7 of the Narnia books but having read the Twilight series (my brother was also horrified but thankfully did not disown me over this fact).  So I promptly read all 7 books in about a two week time frame.  Around that time, I also thought that I'd try having the boys listen to the first cd (part one of The Magician's Nephew).  They did, but they weren't that into it, so we decided to wait and try it when they were older.

About a month ago, I mentioned to the twins that when they were older, I could read the Narnia books to them.  Since then, they have been asking for me to get the books so we could start.  I was suppose to pick them up from my friend Jaime when we went for a run, but I had to cancel the run because Caleb was sick and Jon was out of town that weekend.  When James realized I wouldn't be seeing her that day, he burst into tears.  After a few minutes, I was able to understand that he was crying because cancelling the run meant I wouldn't see Jaime and get the Narnia books.  So we packed up everyone into the car and made a quick trip to Jaime's house for the books so we could start them that day as promised.

Our routine is for Jon to put the two younger boys to bed (or I put them down first if he's gone) and then the big boys and I snuggle up on the couch (one boy on each side) and we read 2 chapters a night.  It takes about thirty minutes to do 2 chapters.  We were able to finish The Magician's Nephew in one week.  I couldn't believe how into it James & Andrew were and I was loving re-reading them. 


I assumed that we would take a night or two off before reading the second book.  I was wrong.  James and Andrew informed me that we would be starting The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe immediately.  We counted the chapters and discovered if we did 2-3 chapters a night, we could finish it in a week (before my trip out to Delaware to visit my sister).  Reading the second book coincided with the first week of school and the boys were exhausted a few nights and we only made it through 1.5 chapters.  So, we were a little behind schedule.

When Friday night rolled around, they were completely enthralled with the story.  They didn't want to put it down.  Since it was the weekend, we stayed up late to read all 6 remaining chapters.  This means that my active 6 years olds sat for about 70 minutes straight listening to me read.  If you know my boys, you know that this means that they were desperate about finishing the book.

Despite having seen the movie, they wanted to hear the details about what happened to Aslan at the stone table and how the battle with the Witch would end.  I have to admit, my mama heart was ecstatic.  I love reading and for as long as I can remember, I've had trouble shutting a good book and going to bed, doing the dishes, pretty much doing anything other than finding out how it ends.  I joke that when I am reading a good book that almost much nothing gets done in our house (laundry, cooking, etc) but if you ask my husband, he'll confirm that its not really a joke.  He has on occasion asked me to take breaks in between reading series for these reasons. 

Reading Narnia to the boys has taught me that there is something completely different about the reading experience when you read the book aloud to other people than reading it silently to yourself.  I found my eyes tearing up and actually getting choked up when I tried to read the part where Lucy and Susan watch Aslan die.  And the pure joy of reading about Aslan's resurrection and the girls reactions to seeing him alive again. 

Jon tried to snap a quick picture of us reading without the boys noticing.

Usually I'm fresh out of the shower following a run and pretty tired when we read, but I cherish those thirty minutes each night.  We've been taking a break this week while I'm out east visiting my adorable new nephew Harvey (a post with pictures about him is in the works, but right now I'm trying to choose which of the 1000 pictures I've taken to post). 

I look forward to starting book 3,  The Horse and His Boy, when I get home tomorrow.