Changes, Changes Everywhere

If you read this blog, then you are more than likely a member of my family and already know about the major life change of moving our family across state lines.  It was weird how it happened, quickly, like a bandaid - it was painful to leave our lives behind that we had established over the last 8 years together, but it happened so quickly that it didn't leave us a whole lot of time to experience the pain.  The pain of moving and the sadness that accompanies telling wonderful friends goodbye. Things happened so quickly and the whole universe seemed to act in our favor in such a way, that it was nothing less than the hand of God letting us know that this decision is one that we needed to make.

Fast forward to today.  Halloween, October 31.  We have been living in Louisiana for three full months now and we are starting to adjust to our life here.  We have three kids at three different schools - that in itself is quite the challenge!  In a place where I grew up as a child and a teenager, it was rather foreign to me living here as a parent raising children.  We are making new friends though and reuniting with old ones and we are surrounded by lots of family!  There are no more random people from Sitter City watching my children, thank you Lord. 

Bryan got a little aluminum boat to take the kids fishing and boy do they love to fish!  It's the last thing they talk about before they go to bed and they count down the days until daddy gets off work for the weekend to take them fishing.  In addition to the fishing, there is constant playing and running and little black feet.  Long gone are the days where I might get away with skipping a bath now and then because they didn't play outside or if they did, they weren't getting dirty in our 2x2 yard.  Nope, I'm washing more clothes and more dirty, smelly boys for sure.  I love it though.  They are even more hungry too!  In fact, we're all more hungry, maybe too hungry - there is no shortage of gumbo and rice and gravy in Cajun country!  Guess we (myself and Bryan) better watch all that good food. 

This is a new adventure for us and although rewarding, it is also challenging.  Finding the right schools for two very different little boys and one teenage girl is stressful - it gives me anxiety every day.  I just pray that God gives me the wisdom to make the right decision.  We also miss our friends and family in Texas very, very much.  They were so good to us and it is hard to think about them over there.  We will visit soon though and all of us will continue to live life to the fullest in whatever hand we are dealt.

I thank God for these blessings.  I love  the trees, the squirrels, the plethora of cousins that surround us and the black feet.  Oh how I love those black feet!  Those feet tell me that my boys are playing hard and if that doesn't tell me enough, they are falling asleep while reading their books at night - something they never did before and it sure makes me smile. 

As always, there is more to write, but we have some Halloween parties to get ready for and it must wait for another time.

Happy Halloween from myself, Bryan, a ninja turtle (Donatello to be exact), Spiderman and Little Red Riding Hood!

A Letter to Colt's Kindergarten Teacher

Dear Mrs. Lungaro,

I wanted to write you a letter and tell you a little about the sweet blonde boy you have sitting in your class there. 

This child's name is Colton and he is five years old.  It seems like not long ago he was only one, yet somehow now he has turned five.  I guess I blinked - they told me not to.

As you read this, I can see him sitting there.  He's smiling from ear to ear because he loves school and is so eager to learn.  He has his little supplies neatly stacked in his chair back that has his name in bright green. Green is his favorite color.  I can see his Spiderman backpack hanging in his cubby.  He has never seen the movie Spiderman, but watches the cartoons on the tablet.  Not the new adventures of Spiderman, but the ones from 1984, they are his favorite.  Some people say he has an old soul.  I hate character things and I never buy them, but my baby is a school boy now and he wanted Spiderman, so that's what he got.  I'm learning to value and respect his preferences and opinions.  This is hard, but I'm getting better. 

He is not only smart, but kind and intuitive.  If he ever gets angry or frustrated, it will never be because he isn't getting his way - it will be because he is an extreme perfectionist and his anger and frustration is only directed at himself.

He is silly and funny.  He has great manners and is very polite.  If you find a time that he is not, he just needs to be reminded to take his manners out of his pocket.  As soon as he finds them shoved way down deep and pulls them out, he'll be just fine.

He loves to run and play outside.  Tag is his favorite game and he can swing onto every monkey bar without help.  He will also ask you to watch him repeatedly.

He has a hard time hearing, so please speak up.  Relocate him in the classroom so he can hear better if you have to and never ever ever, under any circumstances let someone make fun of my child for any reason.  He is a wonderful, beautiful child of God and I believe he is perfectly made.  I hope everyone else can see this as well.  

You see, I am not leaving just my child with you for eight hours a day, I'm leaving you a piece of my heart.  My greatest blessing and the joy of my life is in your hands.  Take care of this most precious child.  Love him and handle him with care. 

Most Sincerely Yours,
Sarah 

Sam-isms

The last post was devoted to Colt and this one is all about Sam.  What can I say about Sam?  This child puts laugh lines on my face and creases in my brow.  I'm not sure it's possible for one child to make you belly laugh until your abdomen hurts and make you grow horns at the same time.  Sam is successful in doing both.  My sweet, little pooh bear Sammy.  I love him so much and he keeps our lives VERY interesting. 

Kids say funny things.  They really do.  I wish I had a recorder with me at all times to record some of these things. When Sam was only one, my cousin told me that Sam should do stand-up and I've never believed that more than I do now. 

First, he creates words, all kinds of words.  He made up the word "swittle" when he was two - meaning, sweet and little.  He has a stuffed frog that he loves and he says, "That's such a swittle frog."  He made up the word "snug" a few months ago - I guess it's a cross between a snuggle and a hug.  Every night he says, "Mom, will you come snug me?"  Of course I come running, because how can I resist the chance to snug my baby that becomes less of a baby every day?  Then, just a few days ago, Bryan came home from work and Sam started kissing his bald head, his arm, his shirt, his hand and elbows.  Bryan said, "Sam, I love all the kisses buddy, but what are you doing?"  Sam said, "I'm beavering you dad."  Beaver-ing....hmmm.....  This kid, I tell you.  You just have to laugh.

If you have ever noticed Sam's teeth, he has a little (actually, it's rather large) gap between the two front teeth.  Colt does not and his are pretty straight across.  Every night, the boys stand on the stool together and brush their teeth in the mirror.  The other night, they were standing together and Colt started talking about when he loses his first tooth.  Sam said, "Colt, I already lost a tooth and when your bigger like me, you might lose one too."  Of course this prompted Colt to challenge him and demand to see his missing tooth and Sam points to his gap and says, "Look, see that hole right there, there used to be a tooth there, but I lost it already."  My poor little gap-tooth baby! :-)

Lastly, a few nights ago we went to eat at a Mexican restaurant.  When the waiter came out with the tray of food, Bryan turned to me and asked what I had ordered and I told him tacos.  When the waiter went to hand Sam his food, he looked right at him and said, "What's the plan, taco man?"  Dead. Serious.  I cannot make this up.

Every day we laugh.  There are so many more examples, but I just wanted to hit the highlights.  However, when Sam poops and sticks his finger in it and wipes it on the walls, we don't laugh.  When he stuck two toothbrushes so far down the toilet, that Bryan had to take the entire toilet completely apart and bring it all the way downstairs to get those toothbrushes out, we didn't laugh.  When he sticks his head in the dog's water bowl when it's 40 degrees outside, we don't laugh then either.  And when he tells me that he stuck my wedding rings down the sink drain and said it was in three different sinks - all of which I had to take apart.  Only to find out that he had put them in the closet and I certainly didn't laugh.  These are the times those horns start to emerge.  But for the most part, if we didn't have ALL these things to keep up hopping, we'd be pretty bored!  So we are thankful for the healthy, funny, amazing little beings we've been blessed with, even if they never do give us a moment's peace! 



*Pictures are from the petting zoo at the rodeo carnival last Friday*

What I Need Him to Know

I enrolled Colt at Holy Cross Preschool in August 2010, when he was 15 months old.  I was pregnant with Sam at the time and this little, precious child was quite the handful.  Somehow in what feels like the blink of an eye, I find myself writing his Kinder-prep graduation date on my calendar.

"It goes too fast, cherish every moment."  That is probably the single most overused phrase heard by any mother with small children and there was no way that I could have ever been prepared for what it meant.  I got an email from Old Navy the other day advertising that their uniforms were on sale, so I logged on to the website and filled my virtual basket with all the uniform shirts and coordinating bottoms.  I spent about an hour looking at all the different items and predicting the different sizes that Colt would be 8 months from now.  I clicked the button to check out and I broke down sobbing.  It wasn't a polite, teary-eyed cry, it was an all out hysterical, heaving, sobbing session.  I closed the computer and went in the other room.  I came to the conclusion that I wasn't ready to order uniforms and I certainly wasn't ready for my little son to start elementary school.  I even contemplated reasons that he shouldn't advance to kindergarten...anything to get me one more toddler year. 

I might be able to make up reasons to justify it in my head that Colt isn't ready to start school, but in reality, I can't slow down the aging process and like it or not, at the ripe old age of five, he will be a considered a "little boy."  Not a baby, not a toddler, a boy - I mean, I know he's a boy, but you get the point.  So, all of my craziness got me thinking about his last five years.  I can't think about this, type it or talk about it without breaking down, so please tolerate me if I don't make sense.

I remember finding out that I was pregnant and experiencing that life inside me for the first time. I remember those big, bright eyes that stayed open right after he was born.  This child was such a miracle to me!  The joy of that day!  I will never forget.  I can honestly say that I remember in vivid detail his little baby feet, his first smile.  His little life, his beautiful, perfect life gave my life meaning.  I even remember the first time he had a cold and a swollen gland.  I called his pediatrician at 10pm in hysterics, saying that he needed to be tested for cancer immediately! :)  

Colt is strong-willed (by this, I mean hard-headed, hmmm wonder where he gets that from...) and such a perfectionist.  We definitely butt heads, so don't think that it's all sunshine and roses...this isn't facebook. ha.  But when he reads this one day a long time from now, there are things I want him to know.

I want him to know that he has always brought joy to other adults and elderly people with his friendly and genuinely loving spirit.

I want him to know that it means so much that he is helpful to his brother.  He looks out for little Sammy all the time and won't go to his class until he's hugged and kissed him two times.

I want him to know that I was worried that he would never play with kids his age - I even talked to the doctor about it.  When I brought up my concern with his teacher, she laughed and said, "What are you talking about?  He's the comic ring-leader for this whole class.  The other kids adore him!"

I want him to know that he has a wild and amazing imagination.  He's always making up games to play and pulling things out of thin air (literally) to play with.  I love to watch him play and put on little shows by himself. 

I want him to know that I love to see his papers when I pick him up from school, so I can see his progress and all that he's learned.

I want him to know that I could get up in the mornings and start my day before him, but I wait in bed for him to crawl under the covers with his little blanky so we can snug (Sam made this word up a few weeks ago and it stuck, ha, I think it's a cross between an snuggle and a hug) for just a few minutes.

I want him to know, most importantly, that he is my heart.  It is an honor and privilege to be his mother and not a day goes by that I don't thank God for this most precious gift! 

This concludes my sob story for the moment.  I'm sure I'll write more about my sadness as summer comes to a close, but if you are thinking about me in August, please send a little prayer my way because I'm sure going to need it!  I saw a sign once in front of an elementary school for all the parents of kindergartners to go to a "BooHoo" breakfast after they drop their kids off for the first day.  I guess I'll be first in line for that!