Happy 9th Birthday Phoenix!!!!

Phoenix!!! You are 9 years old today! Wow...this is your last year in the single digits...

You are just finishing up Grade 3, and you are having your Sonic the Hedgehog Party today with your friends...

You are still into Tranformers, LEGO and video games of the PS2 and DS variety.

You love to read, especially topics that interest you...this year included Harry Potter, Star Wars, Knights and Castles and the Titanic...

You also are a burgeoning artist, drawing and writing stories in every spare minute of your day (even while travelling in the car!)...

In some ways, you show a maturity beyond your years, and I am continually impressed by the way you handle difficult situations with wisdom and grace. I am also astounded by the level of your sarcasm, which on one hand, makes me want to yell at you, but at the same time, I often think, yeah, nice one! Genes will out, as they say.

Phoenix, enjoy your year of being nine. It is a great year for still being a little kid without the pressures that come along with becoming a tween. I wish you happiness always, and you know that I love you so, and that you fill me with pride.

XOXO

Mommy

Happy 4th Birthday Ty!!!

Ty-ger! You are 4 today! At the risk of sounding like your grandmother, it seems like just yesterday that you were born...

You have come a long way in the past year. You are talking a lot more, you dress yourself, you are toilet-trained (YAY!) and are increasingly independent, to the point of giving me anxiety attacks.

You know all of your letters, and can write them too...and know all of your numbers to 30 and beyond. You can write your name, and can read a few 2 and 3 letter words. I am surprised daily at what you can do.

You are loving and affectionate, and sweet beyond words. You still love to hug and kiss and cuddle. You love books, and numbers and running until your legs give out.

You have a lively imagination, and an ear for music. I am impressed that you know the words to most Buddy Holly songs, and the Beatles, and a few Electric 6 songs too. Rock on brotha!

I enjoy seeing the daily changes you bring to our lives, and look forward to the year ahead, with your graduation from preschool in June, and the start of JK in the fall.

Love and kisses,

Mommy

Happy 7th Birthday Keegan!!!

Oh Keegan my Keegan! You are 7 years old today. You lost your second tooth last week and your top two are really wiggly...you are almost as tall as your older brother, even though you are almost 2 years apart...you are growing like a weed!

I am very, very proud of all you have accomplished this year. Your best subject in school is drama/dance, and I'm not at all surprised. You are certainly at your creative best when you are in front of an audience. Your team came in first at the ballroom dancing competition at school, and I was so proud of the way you presented yourself. You seem to have transported straight from the classic movie era; I call you my little Clark Gable as you are so gallant.

You always have a bright smile for me, and declarations of love--you are my joy. Although your temper sometimes gets the better of you (Incredible Hulk!) you are learning to bring it under control (Bruce Banner!) and I know and appreciate how difficult this is sometimes, especially when you are frustrated. I am proud of your efforts.

Your reading has really come along this year too, and I love your passion for learning new things. Every year, every day with you teaches me something new, and I look forward to sharing another year of exciting new experiences with you.

Have a wonderful birthday Keegan. I hope you always stay as sweet as you are now.

I love you!

XOXO

Mommy

What's new, what's new, what's new....

Well, seeing as my last entry was dated pre-Christmas, I'm sure there is quite a bit...

Speaking of Christmas, we all managed to get through the holiday illness-free...that didn't come until the week after when we all got the flu...but, even with that, that holidays were great, and the kids had a blast, and we got to spend time with lots of friends and family, and really, what more can one ask for? (Well, maybe one could ask for a lottery win to pay the post-holiday bills...)

In more recent, and ultimately more exciting (to me) news, Ty is now out of diapers and into underwear! YAY! He even wipes his own butt, which is great, although I now have to teach him toilet-paper rationing, as he uses about a roll and a half at a time.

Proofing/editing work has also picked up for me lately, and I now have three clients that I work for on a pretty regular basis, which is fabulous. The only downside is that 99% of my work has to be done at night, after the kidlets go to sleep, so 5 nights out of 7, I am hitting the hay in the wee hours of the morning...

I think though, that after having three kids, my body never got the chance to get back to the joy of an eight hour sleep, and I find that I can function (almost) normally on only 4 or 5 hours a night, so it's all good.

I recently signed Ty up for JK for the fall. I was originally going to keep him out an extra year, but he has made enormous strides lately, and I think that kindergarden is a better option for him.

I have received mixed reviews on this decision. Unrequested opinions, if you must know, and this annoys the hell out of me.

Note to all: it is one thing to comment on your own child's development and your plan for that child. It is entirely another to critisize a parent on their choices for eductional development for their own child, especially when you have NO IDEA what is behind the decision. There. Rant over.

So, yes. Ty is doing much better these days. Not exactly a winner of public speaking awards, but his spontaneous speech is much improved, and he seems destined to be a muscian-type, as he is always singing, and rarely without his guitar, strumming along to his tunes...

Keegan finally lost his first tooth, and has another one getting ready to come out.

Phoenix's front teeth have finally grown in all the way, and I have to say, that when your kid gets a few adult teeth in their head, it totally changes the way they look. He went from looking like a little boy, to a little man instead. Sigh...time flies...I can't believe he will be nine years old soon.

My nephew Lucas, at the age of almost-fourteen, is six feet tall. The kid is a giant. He was over on the weekend, and I had to stand on a stair to look him in the eye. He thinks it is hilarious. I just feel...well...short. And I'm glad that it is Ela, and not I, who has to keep him in jeans and shoes, when he grows out of them every two months.

I know, I know, my time of growth spurts will come...at least now, I still have a lot of clothes for the boys to grow into/hand down, so my biggest financial burden in that area is supplying shoes...

Gee, I was full of ideas and news when I started this, and now my mind has gone blank. Hmm. Well, I guess if I remember anything else exciting I can repost as a PS.

Oh, if you are looking for a good read, I recommend the new Wally Lamb (The Hour I First Believed), the new Christopher Moore (Fool) and the new Bryce Courtenay (The Persimmon Tree). And DVD box set-wise, I always recommend LOST, Dexter and The Tudors. Movies? You must see Slumdog Millionaire. Awesome film. Food? Just kidding...that's it for recommendations...feel free to leave some of your own...especially books...