Back to School

My favorite boy headed back to school on Wednesday.  He's in Mrs. Koch's second grade class this year at Cedar Grove Elementary School.

At open house, he was happy to see so many of his friends from First Baptist preschool who had been in different classes for first grade.  He's looking forward to spending the year with Caleb (two of them), Grant, Sam, Emma and Hailey.

He wanted to walk in himself, but let us get out of the car to take a few pictures. Notice little sister in the corner.  I am sure she would have stayed if we let her.  The first thing she said when she got back in the car was "I'm glad Henry's at school."  I think she enjoys being the big kid in the house.

Henry had a great first day, but it was most definitely a little quieter in our house.  We were so glad to welcome him home at the end of the day.

The end of another school year

Didn't I just post about school starting? And now, here we are at the end of another school year.  Both kids had a fantastic year. I can't believe we are finished with First Grade and three year old preschool.  Every year, as I get our teacher gifts ready for the last day of school, I am amazed by what an incredible job my children's teachers do.  They work so hard everyday. It is evident in my children's enthusiasm as they get ready for school every morning as well as the work they bring home.

Lucy did a great job at her closing program.  She sang the Butterfly Song, the Bumble Bee Song, and Four Voices. Here she is with her friends Layla and Onnika.  When we say our prayers, she always has to pray for her friends Kyle and Ella and all of the little girls in her preschool class.  We will certainly miss our friends this summer.

Finally Four

Two weeks ago our sweet Lucy told us "Guess what? I'm finally four!"  After a shared family birthday dinner with her brother and an early party with all of her friends, she kept asking, "is it my bird-day yet?" So, it was a joyous day in our house when Lucy could eat breakfast on the red dishes and take "pupcakes" to her preschool class.  

I love having a four year old in the house.  Her vocabulary as well as her view of the world is constantly expanding.  And she does not miss a single beat.  If you want to know exactly what went down in the Monarch house, just ask Lucy.  There are so many things I love about this age, but Lucy, here are some of my favorite things you at four:

1.  It makes me happy when you says "I love you really much," or "I love you all the way to the Florida house and back" as I am putting her to bed.

2.  You are a great negotiator.  You are always trying to get just one more song, or just one more book, or one just more cookie.  You raise your eyebrows and smile sweetly.  And who can say "no"?

3.  You love to take care of people.  Your preschool teacher, Mrs. Peace says you are the little mother of the room and that you always make sure that all of your friends are alright.  You always remember to get a sucker or a sticker for Henry when he is not with us, and you can't wait to wake up Maggie in the mornings. 

4.  You love your Bitty Baby.  Bitty is with you from the time you poke your sleepy head into our room in the mornings, until we tuck her under your arm to sleep at night.  Lately, she has started having dinner with us.  You love to dress her and change her diaper.  You really love to wear matching pajamas.  

5.  You love to read. Your favorite books are Pinkalicious, Froggy Goes to School and Fancy Nancy.  You can recite Jack and Jill, along with many other nursery rhymes.  

6.  You have a wonderful imagination.  Lately, you have been pretending that you are "Baby Susan," a newborn baby that just came home from the hospital.  You love to say "Let's pretend that . . ."

7. I love our special times together.  One of my favorite times of the day is when we sit on the curb waiting for Henry to get off the bus.

My favorite seven year old

I cannot believe my little baby boy just turned seven.  Well, actually, he's not so little any more. As I tucked him into bed the other night, I couldn't believe how much of the full sized bed he took up.  His feet are almost to the bottom.  It can't have already been seven years since I brought him home from the hospital and noticed how small he looked laying in the middle of his crib.

Henry, here are the things I love about you at seven:

1. You are developing a sense of humor all of your own.  Yes, you think it is hilarious to use bathroom words and make potty sounds, but you also make funny jokes and observations.  I love it when we look at each other and laugh about something that the little girls don't understand.
2. You are such a great big brother to Lucy and Maggie.  You and Lucy can't wait for Maggie to wake up in the morning and you actually fight over who gets to go in Maggie's room first.   I depend on you all the time to help with your sisters with things like picking up toys or pouring milk.  You also help get breakfast ready each morning.  You always do such a great job, and I don't know how I would manage without your help.
3. You love to read.  I have been amazed at what a strong reader you have become this year.  You can read a chapter book all by yourself. Your favorites are the Magic Treehouse series and Junie B. Jones.  Your very favorite book is Mighty Machines, a non-fiction book about every kind of plane, train, car, bus and vehicle ever made.  
4. You are very interested in science.  You love to read science books and learn about how things work.  It makes me so happy when you ask questions.  Just yesterday, you explained the water cycle to Lucy. 
5. You love listening to adult conversation and talking to adults about things you have done or places you have been.
6. You are a builder.  You have just recently gotten into Legos, and you love to build them with Daddy.  
7. You are a collector.  You love your Imaginext play sets, and when you get a new one, you turn over the box to see what other pieces you still need to get.  Apparently, you are just like your Daddy when he was a little boy.  
8. You love to swim and play basketball.  
9. You are very imaginative, and I cannot wait to see where your dreams will take you.

Happy Birthday, sweet boy.  Thank you for making me a momma.

Spring is in full swing

Here is Maggie wearing one of the first little outfits I made for Lucy. I meant to share this sweet photo a month ago, but it seems like I never sat still long enough to do it.

Spring has always been a busy time at our house, but it seems like this year has been even busier than ever.  As April has flown by, I have thought of many blog posts that I want to make.  But by the time the evening's activities are done (dinners on the porch, planting flower, playing on the swing set, riding bikes) and we get everyone hosed down and tucked in bed, I'm finished.  We've started sitting on the screened in porch after we put the kids to bed.  We did this all the time at our old house, but haven't really taken advantage of it here.  It's such a nice way to end the night.  At the same time, the last thing I think about it updating my blog.

Here's a quick rundown of the month, and then I have lots of individual posts I want to make: I turned (gulp) 35 on April 4 and we enjoyed a fantastic dinner at La Relais.  The food was amazing and I was reminded once again of the benefit of living so close to our free baby-sitters (a.k.a. my parents). Two days later, Henry turned (double gulp) seven on April 6.  The next day we left with six adults and five kids (including three lap babies) for spring break in Cancun, Mexico.  After a wonderful and relaxing week, we returned home.  Since then I have thrown a family birthday dinner for the kids, and two friend parties for the kids.  Lucy and I went with my grandmother to a dollie and me tea party and we attended opening night at Churchill Downs.  Lucy's preschool class also visited a farm.  Now, Derby season is in full swing here in Kentucky and we are getting ready to attend the Oaks.

An Heirloom Easter

This morning, my two little bunnies wore dresses that were made by my mom thirty years ago.  The pink one was mine, and the blue one belonged to my younger sister, Brittany.  We are three years apart, so imagine my excitement when I learned that I was pregnant with another girl that would be three years younger than Lucy. My mom loved seeing the girls in these dresses, and Lucy got a big kick out of saying she and Maggie were Emily and Brittany.

I cannot tell you how much I loved seeing my girls in these sweet dresses.  I remember my mom working on this dress and I remember wearing it.   This was probably the beginning of my interest in sewing.  In addition to the dresses, my mom also saved the pattern and the smocking plate, which are now in my sewing stash.  They are both made from a Children's Corner pattern.  At the time it was called the Smocked Day Dress, but now it is called Maggie.

One of the best parts of this pattern is that the back is as cute as the front.

The funny thing is how much dress lengths have changed.  My sister and I wore them when we were two and five, but my girls are one and almost four.  If we had waited another year, the blue dress would have barely covered Maggie's diaper cover.

We are going to be on Spring Break over Easter, so I wanted to make sure we got some cute pictures this morning.

What I love about Maggie at one

To my sweet Maggie,

I cannot believe that you have been in our lives for an entire year.  It seems like we were just leaving for the hospital to have you, and now you are toddling all over the house.  You have brought us so much joy.

I love you at this age.  It seems like you change EVERY single day.  Your brother and sister changed more from twelve to eighteen months old than they did in the first twelve months of their lives.  So, here's what you are like at your first birthday:

• You are almost always happy, even when someone wakes you up from your nap. 
•  You love to eat.  One of the only times you fuss is when you run out of the food on your high chair tray.  You like pretty much everything we give you.  Your favorite foods are vegetable soup and bananas.  You will even eat broccoli and asparagus, but you don't like mac and cheese.
• You started walking at eleven months and you spend most of the time walking, and walking and walking around the house
• You can say da-da and momma, hi, bye bye, and cracker.
• You love your brother and sister.  You are a sleepy head, and they fight over who gets to wake you up in the morning.  You get fussy when they aren't in the backseat of the van with you.  
• Your favorite toy is our cell phones.  The minute you get a hold of them, you hold them to your ear and say "hi."  You also like your leap frog table and the laugh and learn house.  
• You wear a size 3 shoes and size 12 month clothes.  
• You love to play peek-a-boo.  
• At night, we give you a bath and then I nurse you and read you a story before putting you to bed.  You love the heartbeat sound on your sleep sheep.
• You always pat my back when I put you on my shoulder to rock you to sleep.
• I cannot wait to see how much you grow and change in the next six months.  

I hope you always know that you are a light in our lives, that you are beautiful inside and out, and that your are loved more than you can ever imagine.  

Love, 

Momma

Happy Birthday Sweet Maggie

Today, my sweet baby Maggie turns one.  We are in the midst of party preparations.  There is a dress to hem, decorations to be hung, and fruit kabobs to be made.  But my sweet baby girl needed a nap and I stopped to nurse her and rock her to sleep.  As she leaned against my chest and drifted off to sleep, I couldn't help but realize how perfectly she fit there.  I was reminded of the moment a year ago today when I held her for the first time. A perfect fit.  In our family.  Against my heart.

It's February!

I have been a serious slacker in the blog department lately.  It was the holidays and I had all these great pictures I wanted to share, but then I got busy.  And I wanted to do a Christmas post, and didn't get around to it, so I haven't posted anything else.

So, I'm going to start with something simple.  The girls wore these matching valentine outfits on Saturday.

I made Lucy's pants set last year, and it still fit.  That's what I love about those Monag ruffle tees. Look how much my little girl has grown since last year.

I had this red and white gingham longall in Lucy's hand-me-downs.  I meant to monogram it when she was a baby and never got around to it.  It was a perfect valentine outfit for Maggie.  She wasn't very happy to have her picture taken, so this is the best I could get.  

Hopefully, I can get back on track with blogging and share the other things we have been up to.