A Letter to Evan's Teacher

Its getting dangerously close to the end of the school year, and I'm getting all misty-eyed over the idea of the last day of school.  Im going to have a third grader and first grader soon.  We have had such a wonderful school year for both the boys.  Both boys have had such fabulous teachers, perfect for each of their personalities and learning styles.  I feel truly blessed for all they have done for my boys.  But, its Evan's teacher who I am having the hardest time thinking about saying goodbye to.  I *may* have asked her for a hug at the end of the Kindergarten Open House this past week (totally out of character for me because I'm not generally a hugger).  She loved my child.  I mean really loved him.  She cared about him in ways I could have never even imagined to hope for this year.  She was just perfect.  I wrote her this heartfelt end of the year note with her gift.  I'm sharing it with you here to give you an understanding of what she has given our family this year.
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It's difficult for me to put into words how important you have been to our family's life this year.  I feel as though I can't possibly do justice to how grateful we are for all you have done for our child.  Thank you just isn't enough.

All summer leading up to the first day of school I had this pit of my stomach bad feeling about what the school year would hold for Evan.  The year before was hard for him and our family.  We were in and out of specialists, therapists, neurologist offices.  We watched Evan struggle through evaluations then subsequent therapies.  Everyone was stressed out.  No one was happy, least of all Evan.  I was worried were were setting the stage for a lifelong dread of school and learning.  You see, there are very few things I wish for my kids, but, being happy and loving learning are two of the most important.  'What if he hates school?' I kept asking myself.

Little did I know that I had nothing to worry about, because Evan was given the most precious gift this year - you.  You are a teacher with such infectious enthusiasm, kindness, encouragement and compassion.  How could any child not love spending his afternoons in your classroom?  Your class is so full of your incredible spirit and passion for teaching.  In this environment Evan has grown to love school and learning, and while its still not easy for him, he is happy.  Evan has excelled far beyond our hopes academically this year under your guidance and encouragement.  Evan has grown into such a determined child with high self esteem and this is all because of you.  Being in your classroom this year volunteering I have seen how much you love what you do and care for your students.  It shows in Evan's happy face when he comes off the bus after a day full of hard work and learning.  You make all that work so fulfilling for him.

It touched my heart to see Evan's book dedication to you.  In the dedication he wrote, "My teacher loves watermelon.  My teacher loves me."  I felt safe every day sending Evan into your classroom to learn and grow under your guidance knowing that you do love my child.  I can't express how much this meant to me.  I imagined Evan's kindergarten year a hundred times over, and never did I imagine it as successful and wonderful as it was.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
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Pictures of the Boys

This will probably come as no surprise but I love photos.  My boys, well, to say they dont share my love for pictures is an understatement.  I have developed a sense of humor over the years, and the repeated picture taking fails.  Sometimes in 100 pictures there are 90% hilarious outtakes.  This past weekend I bribed the boys and dragged out my camera.  They did a pretty good job, unfortunately the sun/shadows were working against us.  Here are a few of the "better" photos.  

The boys together.  Justin has gotten SO tall.  He towers over Evan now.

 I love this photo of Justin.  He reminds me alot of my dad (minus the blond hair and plus a mustache) here.

 Nathan.

 He is one happy boy.

 Evan has trouble with pictures these days, I didnt get a really nice one of him alone.  He has a forced fake smile he adopts for pictures currently.  But, I like this laughing picture of him.  Its so true to his happy self.

Making Pizza

The other night Nathan asked for pizza for dinner.  Who am I to deny the child who couldn't eat cheese for the first two years of his life?  So pizza it was.  To make it even better, we made our own pizza.  Nathan had so much fun doing this that I am instituting it as a weekly tradition.

Nathan smelling the sauce, he announce, "this smells good" and then may or may not have licked it.

Spreading the sauce.

Putting the cheese on.  Cute fingers spreading cheese.

All those flower vases

Many years ago when G and I got married we received quite a few flower vases as wedding gifts.  We were living in an apartment at the time.  Never one to spend money on flowers at a store, I personally think the beauty of several day flowers does not outweigh the price for store-bought flowers, those vases collected dust in our closets.  Then we moved into our first home, which had the world's tiniest yard.  Living on less than a quarter of an acre of land, I wasn't out gardening or growing flowers to cut and put in our vases.  More dust on those vases.

Since moving into our new home (we have been here nearly two years now and I guess its time to just call it "home" instead of "our new home") we have rejoiced in all the space we have!  We have a yard for the boys to run free, a swing set, a pool, and GARDENS.  Beautiful gardens, alive with perennials that flower.  I've dusted off all my flower vases and now they all make regular appearances full of flowers in our home.  It is so decadent to have a house full of flowers!!  It is so rewarding that I grew them all!!!

This week one of my rose bushes is in bloom, I couldnt resist cutting a few for one of our vases.

Things I Haven't Told You

Last Monday was Memorial Day.  My parents and G and I attended our town's short-but-sweet Memorial Day parade with the boys.

The boys dutifully dressed in coordinating shirts for the occasion.

And waved flags.

And enjoyed themselves.  Despite the lack of hoopla and candy being thrown.

The parade was really for my enjoyment.  I love me a good parade, no matter what the occasion.

Afterwards we had a barbecue at our house that included swimming in the pool, and fun in the yard with my parents.  The weather was perfect.  We had our first taste of watermelon of the season, which was deliciously juicy.

  We ate good food.

And had special ice cream sundaes for dessert.  Because nothing says summertime like ice cream outside on a warm summer night.  (Also, look at those eye lashes - dont you just want them for yourself?!)

I even got some gardening in during the long weekend.  And a fabulous new gate to keep out the groundhog that was munching on my zucchini plants.  

On Tuesday, after the long weekend, the older boys reluctantly dragged themselves back to school and we fell back into our routine.  Never fear, summer is just a short couple weeks away!!!  Im busily planning a themed summer for the kids, to include activities that can span the nearly 7 year age span between the boys. And believe me, this is no small feat.

G and Evan have been jet-setting the country this week visiting G's relatives and celebrating the high school graduation of my nephew.  Its actually the second of such trips in 4 years for G.  Two years ago, when Justin was in kindergarten he and G took Justin's first airplane ride to see my other nephew graduate from high school.  Now its Evan's turn to take his first plane ride and attend a high school graduation.  When I met G and these very nephews they were 6 and 8 years old.  The younger of the two held my hand in the car, the older asked me why I had a belly button ring (why did I have that belly button ring?) Six and eight just happen to be the current age of my two oldest boys and it is not lost on me that in what felt like the blink of an eye they have grown up into men who are graduated from high school.  Much like my boys will, sooner than I'm ready for them to be.  Already time has passed too quickly and my boys have grown too fast.

This weekend was quite a milestone in our family.  Nathan has potty trained.  And after nearly nine years in diapers, our family is currently diaper-less (minus the nighttime and nap time diapers for precautionary measures).  While I am elated to be free from diaper changing duties, and so proud of Nathan's accomplishment, I'm also aware this truly makes Nathan no longer a baby.  And despite the fact that I constantly still refer to Nathan out of habit as "the baby", he is not a baby. This is a little sad.

I look forward to discovering who my boys are to become.  I can't wait to meet their grown up selves, towering over me and calling me "mom" in a voice so deep in contrast to the "mommy"s I hear today.  I am excited to learn if they will resemble their little boy selves.  Will Justin still have such white hair?  Will Evan's brown eyes and sweet smile still melt my heart?  Will Nathan still look more like his oldest brother?  These discoveries to come make the reality of the swiftness of time a little less hard to bear.  And, I still have a never-been-worn preemie diaper from Nathan's first few weeks, impossibly tiny, tucked away in the back of my drawer.  When I long for those baby diaper days, I take it out and marvel at how much Nathan has grown, despite thinking he might never get bigger.  Some changes, like little boys growing healthy and strong, are very good indeed.

While G was away the hooligans ran the house, and by that I mean me mostly. We did things like eat fast food for dinner and chase it with brownies for dessert, stay up past our bedtime and watch PG rated movies (we are generally a G family).  We ate when we wanted, did what we wanted and played hard.  So hard that Nathan got literally stuck in the mud.  We were walking through what can only be described as the muddiest place on earth and I hear "mommy help me" and turn to see Nathan unable to move his foot at all.  It was hilarious and a very, very, very messy situation.  Needless to say, we had alot of fun.  Dont believe me?

Nothing says 'dads away' like eating on a counter top while half naked (if you take a combine total of the boys and clothes pictured here, they make up one fully clothed child ironically enough).  SHHHHHH....

And some of us ran around half naked in an empty swimming pool pretending to swim.  Getting beyond filthy.  It was great fun.

Don't worry though, we brushed our teeth every night!!

This week is kindergarten open house, the culmination of Evan's year of work will be on display.  I can't even begin to describe how far he has come this school year and how proud I am of him.  It promises to be an emotional visit for me.  Also, Evan says good bye to his childhood and enters the big leagues of first grade, full day school.  And he happens to be leaving behind the *best* teacher on earth.  Fingers crossed that I can manage not to cry.

Enjoy your week and stop and smell the peonies, they are in full bloom right now and simply wonderful...

Summer Manifesto

1.  Eat outside under the blue sky and summer sun as often as we can, to include, but not limited to: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
2.  Visit a zoo
3.  Swim in a lake
4.  Go to the beach and swim in the ocean
5.  Explore a new park every week
6. Eat ice cream every week
7. Watch fireworks
8. Go to a baseball game
9. Go to a farm
10. Read a book outdoors
11. Eat right from the garden
12. Dance barefoot in the yard
13. Create driveway masterpieces
14. Eat Popsicles
15. Catch a frog
16. Catch a fish
17. Jump rope
18. Hopscotch
19.  Have a waterballoon fight
20.  Go on a nature hike
21.  Build a fort in the woods
22.  Go camping
23.  Roast marshmallows
24. Can foods
25.  Make pickles
26.  Grow our own pumpkins and sunflowers
27. Ride bikes
28. Strawberry pick
29.  Blueberry pick
30.  Dream.

Reading

This is a cute little video of Evan and Nathan reading together.  Nathan loves books, he could sit and read and read for hours.  He especially loves it when one of his brothers is kind enough to read to him!