Zachary

I can't believe that he will be starting kindergarden in 3 1/2 weeks! That is unreal to me! We still need to get his school supplies and do some back-to-school shopping. I know he will do really well in school, and he is really looking forward to the social aspect as well. He has been very upset that he doesn't have too many friends and Joshua has a ton, and we keep telling him he'll make friends once he goes to school.

He is loving all of the time we have spent at the pool this summer. He is a good swimmer, and has absolutely no fear. He loves the water slides too!

He is a video game maniac, and he is really good at it! He even beats Jason at times! The funny thing is, he'll walk around and all of the sudden say "ka-pow!" like Mario.

He adores his baby sister ~ playing with her, teasing her, watching movies with her. He loves to sing and dance and recite movies. On American Idol, one of the bad people who auditioned last year sang "Gloria, Gloria, you're always on the run now..." Zachary sings "Mario, Mario, you're always on the run now!"

Zachary loves to be cuddled and held. Tonight we were playing Dr Mario and when I beat him he said "Cheater, cheater pumpkin eater" (which he got from me, but it's still funny to hear him say").

For a long time, whenever you'd do something for Zachary, he'd say "Thank you, kind sir" from the Thomas the Train videos. He still enjoys watching his Thomas videos and playing with his Thomas trains.

A few Sarah things

I have decided to dedicate the next few days to each kids, starting with Sarah (since she usually goes last being the youngest). These are random things and in no particular order.

Her newest thing is that she loves to clean up her messes. So last night, she got some pizza sauce on my shirt and ran to get a kitchen towel to wipe it off. Then this morning she spilled dry cereal on the floor and went and got another kitchen towel to clean it up. It's so cute. It doesn't accomplish anything of course, but it makes her feel better!

The other thing is, if you say something hurts, she will come over and massage it. Then she says "there you go. Is that all better?" She is very compassionate.

Her favorite movies as of now include:
Alvin and the Chipmunks (CHIP-munka movie)
Open Season (Open See-See)
101 Dalmatians (Puppies)
Mario Movies
Little Mermaid (Mermaid)
Beauty and the Beast
Any of the Veggie Tales movies

Lately, she has been waking up around 1:30 in the morning. She just wants Jason or I to go in and give her a hug, then she lays back down and goes back to sleep. If Jason or I try to lay down with her, she tells us to get out because she doesn't want to share her bed.

She loves music and can often be found singing and dancing to her MP3 Player or to any movie that is on tv.

Whenever Zachary gets up from the table, Sarah shoves his food in her mouth. She has the same thing on her plate, but thinks it's funny to take his. So, when he tried to take her banana, since she ate his, she told him that it's hers and he can't have it.

For as much as she is a tom boy and can hold her own, she sure is a girly-girl. She always wants to wear pink ~ a pink shirt, her pink shoes, etc. She is so excited about her "pretty dress" for when she will be a flower girl next month. She keeps asking to wear it, and I keep telling her she can wear it all she wants after the wedding!

And here are some pics. The first 3 are from this morning at Wonderscope, and the last one is her riding in the trailer of the ATV as Zachary pulls her.

It's been quiet

Every time I say that things are "quiet", I regret it. But, it really has been nice. Joshua left for Colorado last Friday with my Mom, sister and brother-in-law, and is coming home tomorrow night. I think he is anxious to come home and has missed his brother and sister. I'm sure they are ready to have him home too.

Zachary and Sarah have enjoyed a little more one-on-one time, I think. Monday night I took Zachary to the pool by himself, and we have mostly been hanging out this week. Tomorrow we are looking forward to spending some time with my friend Jen and her boys who are 4 and 2.

Already Only 30!

Thank you to all of my friends and family who helped make my birthday so special. Thank you Mom for baby sitting the kids. Thank you Mike, Alan, and Kob for going out with us and helping me celebrate. Thank you Julie and Nate for having us over for dinner. Melody, Courtney, and Kelly, I look forward to the celebrations later this week. (Yes, this is the birthday that never ends...it's great!) And thank you everyone for the birthday cards, thoughts, and greetings.

In some respects, it is hard to believe I am already 30. I can remember being 10 or 12 or 15 and wanting to be older, and thinking that it would be forever until I got to be 20 or 30. But no, it was here before I knew it! In other respects, I can't believe I am only 30! I have graduated from high school, graduated from college, been married for 9 years and a wonderful man, have 3 great kids (2 of whom will be in elementary school this year!), my own house in an amazing neighborhood, better friends than I could ever imagine, and I am very content and fully blessed.

Swimming Update

This is the boys' 2nd round of swimming lessons this summer. I am so proud of both of them! Yesterday Joshua jumped off the diving board twice (and did it twice today as well). This is HUGE considering how scared/cautious he is of everything. Not wanting to be shown up by his older brother, Zachary jumped off today. He is a pretty fearless, so this wasn't surprising. And he got more things checked off his "report card" from the 1st session than Joshua. They are both making huge strides, and I am so thrilled with them!

One more

We had some friends over tonight for dinner and fireworks. Joshua was goofing around and Marc said "You are ornery." Joshua said "That may be, but it doesn't mean you aren't!"

The Kids' Antics

Today's blog is solely for the purpose of bragging on each of my kids, as well as telling some funny stories. Yes, I know it's bragging, but it's my blog so I can do what I want! This could be long.

JOSHUA:
One night this week "Mom, can I sleep naked."
Me: "I don't care."
Jason: "That is called your birthday suit because it's what you were born in."
Joshua (looking around): "I have two holes in my birthday suit!"

On his 3rd quarter report card, one of the things on there is his reading fluency score from the standardized reading test. They expect 1st graders to be able to read 40 words per minute at the end of the year. Joshua's score was 115 words per minute!

He takes after his mother that when he sits down to read a book, he reads almost the whole thing in a sitting. His next book to tackle is Mrs Frisbee and the Rats of Nimph, one of my favorites growing up. He loves spending time with his friends, and going to the pool. He is learning a lot from swim lessons and he starts the 2nd session on Monday.


ZACHARY:
He has always lived in his own little world and not paid much attention to much else. You can give him a video game, and he'll have it figured out in no time, but he didn't care too much about learning things. Evidently he has been learning anyway because he knows a lot that I didn't know he had picked up. But, a few weeks ago, we were in the car and he said "Mom, you know lots of stuff, Daddy knows lots of stuff, and Joshua knows lots of stuff. But I don't know lots of stuff." Now he asks questions and wants to learn about everything ~ geography, animals, how things work, how things are built, weather, etc.

The day he figured out that he didn't know lots of stuff, we had tornado warnings. In preparation of that, he started packing a bag to take to the basement with us. His bag included granola bars, bottled water, fruit snacks, all 3 of the DS's, the games for the DS, and diapers. The diapers were not for Sarah, though. They were for him in case he needed to go so he wouldn't have to come back upstairs.

He is doing well with putting sounds together and sounding out words. I think he will do very well in kindergarden. Zach is still the comedian and loves to entertain people and make them laugh, but he has grown a lot just over the last month.

He is an awesome swimmer and also starts his 2nd session of swimming lessons.


SARAH:

Sarah loves popsicles, but is a really messy eater! This was this week while we were riding bikes with some friends at the daycare behind our house and eating fudgepops.

She figured out how to run Jason's new clock radio (that he had a heck of a time figuring out how to turn off). Then, the song "Forever" was on the radio (Christian song) and she was singing along. I said "Sarah, do you know this song?" She said "Yes, Larry sings it." On a Veggie Tales CD we have, Larry and Bob sings it.

When we were at the liver specialist, she figured out that everyone would give her stickers if she asked. She ended up with literally 60+ stickers and they had to get her a bag to put them in because everyone she saw, she said "Stickers please?" And, she had stolen the nurses' pen and was coloring with it. The nurse said "I am going to need my pen back." Without missing a beat, Sarah said "Then I am going to need some crayons."

I told the boys to put the shoes on to go to the store. Sarah said "Mommy, I not going. I watch Open Season. Bye."

The end of Jan:
She went over and got a banana off the counter and brought it to me to eat. Then she wanted another one and she couldn't reach it. She said " 'nother na-na"
I said it's "ba-na-na"
"na-na-nana"
"ba-na-na"
"na-na-nana"
"ba-na-na"
"OK, More?"

She knows most of her letters by sight, can sing her ABC's, and picks up on stuff so quickly. This morning, I was changing her diaper (and yes she knows she needs to go on the potty instead) and she said "McDonalds."
Me: "We aren't going to McDonalds."
Sarah: "No, 'Now I know my ABCs next time won't you sing with me' McDonalds.
It was her way of telling me that she wanted to sing Old McDonald, not go to McDonalds.

Sarah has been healthy for more than a month off antibiotics. It's the longest in almost a year that she has been healthy, and we are so glad! We have had so many people trying to figure out what is wrong with her and how to make her better. Hopefully now that it is all out of her system, and with keeping up with chiropractic adjustments, she will stay healthy!

Happy 4th of July! Have a safe holiday weekend!