giggles and tears

Claire had her 5 year old/kindergarten checkup last week. I opted not to tell her that she would be getting shots while there (I decided to wait till the moment before because I am chicken) and that is probably why she was singing in the car on the way to school that day, "I am going to see Dr. Glover, I am going to see Dr. Glover" in a nah-nah kind of voice to her brothers.

Claire was all smiles when she was weighed and measured. She is in the 65-75% for height and 50% for weight. She loved the eye test and all the questions. She answered them all in her whisper voice.

Then came the giggles. She had to pea in a cup. So she and I went to the bathroom and she said, "mommy, you don't pee in a cup, you pee in a potty" and giggled. I explained why this strange thing had to happen and got her situated. But the moment I put the cup in the right place, she started laughing like I was tickling her with no mercy. You see, because I was. Claire is ticklish EVERYWHERE. It's been a funny/annoying thing about her. Bathing is hard, putting lotion on her is a long process. Allen's favorite thing to do is take her hand and rub his 5 o'clock shadow with it. This sends her into hysterics. So here we were, mother and daughter in the bathroom at the pediatrician trying to get a sample of urine, but instead Claire is cracking up, which makes me laugh, which makes my hand move thus getting her going again and it went on and on. Needless to say it took awhile to get that sample, but it was a funny moment I won't forget.

Then came the tears. The finger prick was first and she cried. The shots were last and she cried. I think even after it was explained to her, she still didn't get what was going to happen until it did. I held my sweet girl as she clung to me. Now, Claire cries a lot as a 5 year old, a lot of times over nothing. But this was something and I hated every minute of it. Luckily a reminder of the lolly pop she was going to get on our way out dried up her tears and she said, "I want a pink one". That's my girl.

Happy Valentine's Day

This is how Claire is celebrating the day-showing off her outfit creation.

Here are some things I love about all my valentines: I love when we are walking and one of the boys comes up beside me and takes my arm and puts it around them. I love when Claire compliments me on my clothes, I love that Allen compliments me everyday on how pretty I look and will tell me how a certain body part looks good that day in that shirt, pants, etc. Talk about an ego boost. I love when Carter tells me I'm "the best". I love when Claire writes me a cute note or picture just for me with my name on it. I love that I can still hug and kiss my kids as much as I want and they don't pull away. I love that Allen loves to watch me work out at the gym. I love that Carter always asks me to cuddle with him at bedtime. I love that Allen thinks I have a good voice and actually likes to hear me sing. I love that Jared will put his hand on my arm or hand without realizing it when we are sitting next to each other. I love that Claire tells me I am pretty. I love that Allen leaves me love notes. I could go on. But those are a few of the things my valentines do for me to make me feel so loved.

spaceship derby

The scouts this year did a spaceship derby. This was Jared's first derby and Carter's third. They had lots of fun getting their ships ready. Carter picked orange for his color of course, and Jared wanted red. They say to let the boys do the work, and Allen follows this council. Probably out of laziness, but whatever, everyone is happy. The night was fun with 15 spaceships racing and lots of problems happening like ship not moving, going backwards or even falling apart. Neither of our boys won, but Allen and I felt we had won the grand prize. When Jared's ship continually fell apart, there was not one ounce of anger. He just laughed and picked it up. Any of you that know Jared, know this is a big deal for him and we were so proud. Carter's ship was doing pretty good. He was in the semi-finals against his younger cousin, Connor. As they got them ready, Carter tells me he hopes he doesn't win, because he wouldn't want to beat Connor. And as Connor's ship wins, Carter quietly pumps his arm and says "yes!". We all drove home with smiles on our faces.

fun with vinyl

A while back I let the boys pick out a vinyl design to go in their self decorated rooms. We finally got them and I must say, they are pretty cool. Very easy to put up and look really neat directly on the wall. The boys ran back and forth between the rooms exclaiming their excitement. I had also ordered some snow flakes and the words "let it snow" to make something I had seen at a party. I painted the wood blocks one day and then Sunday I let the boys help decide where the words/snowflakes should go (they were very opinionated about it). I let them put them on and pull off the paper, etc. They turned out cute and are on the mantel. And sure enough, the next day it snowed. We didn't know we had such power.

that's better

happy kids in more respectable snow.