Kiddo Art Show

So proud of our little boy. A painting he did was selected to be in an art show at a local bank. We are very fortunate that our kids have dedicated art teachers, through Kiddo, an organization that raises money from parents and businesses to keep the arts in schools. They had a little reception that we all got to go to tonight to see his work and the work of the other kids and just celebrate him. He's a cool kid!

Eight!

Last weekend was his birthday. Eight years old...I seriously do not know how this happened. I think back to all the times he was a baby and I was told to "Enjoy every moment, because they grow up so fast..." and I feel his childhood slipping away. I cannot stop it, it's like trying to stop water running through my fingers.

This boy changed our life, forever. What a gentle introduction to parenthood he was and continues to be; he loves to please, he is a peacemaker and a rule follower, sensitive, kind and thoughtful. Yet my heart breaks for him as I see some of the struggles he has had to face this year, the problems he has encountered and had to deal with on his own. To feel helpless as a parent and not be able to fix the problems, to know that at times he can feel so alone. A new school and trying to make new friends, it has been hard. He is not one to impose himself on others and he plays it safe. He feels so deeply, I know that this will at times be both a huge blessing and sometimes feel like a curse.

My prayer for him this year is that he will grow in boldness. That he will feel safe and loved and find his voice. That he will worry less about what others think and first and foremost be sure of what he believes to be true and right, so that he can be confident and unshaken. There needs to be much prayer and I feel challenged...

We did not have a party this year, but he asked to see a movie with his cousins and have a sleepover, so that is what we did on Friday night. We took them all to see Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and then we went out for pizza. It was a late night with children talking way past their bedtime. I love the relationship he has with his cousin though, I love that they can talk for hours and that they really 'get' each other. He truly is the closest he has ever come to having a brother. I loved hearing their little voices and wondering what on earth they could still be talking about as 10:30pm rolled around. So sweet!

On Sunday we had a couple of other friends over for lunch so that the kids could play together and his birthday would not feel forgotten. Just the two families we are closest to, but our little house here felt very full, the children by far outnumber the adults now. It has been fun to watch all these children growing up together and starting to see the people they will become. We all have adventures ahead of us.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful boy!

AWANA Games

 On Saturday we headed up to Santa Rosa for the AWANA Games. This was Arran's second time competing and he is already so different from last year. I love to watch as he grows in confidence and is able to find fun in new things. We had a pretty large group, so actually had two teams competing for the Sparks. It was a bigger deal than I had expected with teams from all over the North Bay.

'Aunty' Susan helped with getting knee pads in place for the first game.

Everything is much more fun with a good friend to share it with. Love the friendship these two have.

Team tactics.

It was a family affair - we all went to watch and cheer him on, which meant Asia's nap had to be postponed.

The bean bag balancing game. This was tough for him last year, but he did so great this time around.

They did great! No trophy this year but good fun was had by all. So weird to think next year we will have two kids competing. All three kids slept on the way home :)

A date

It is not often that I get time individually with any of my children and time with Arran had been long overdue. The other day he had asked when we could have a date again and I knew it needed to happen, so last Sunday after church, he and I went out for lunch on our own. I let him choose where we should go and he chose IHOP, so we could have breakfast for lunch. We were put in a two person booth and he was so sweet, insisting on sitting next to me, instead of opposite, although I did make him move right before our food came, as it was rather a tight squeeze.

It was so fun just to hear him talk, and talk, and talk. It felt great to really be able to listen. So often there are little sisters interrupting, or maybe he thinks I am too busy, but this was his time and he made the most of it. He told me all about his plans for his restaurant. He has talked about owning a restaurant quite a lot, but this was way more detailed. He told me would not have to go to work until 2pm each day, when I questioned the need to serve lunches, he informed me the name of his restaurant will be Best Dinners...they will only serve dinners, not lunches. They will also serve food for vegetarians and vegans and all of the healthy food will be $1 but all the junk food will cost $10,000 (I guess he really wants people to eat more healthily). On Mondays all the food will be free, and if you go on your birthday and tell them, then your meal will cost 1 penny - unless you go on a Monday, when of course it will be free. Profit is obviously not a priority yet!

He helped me choose candy for them all for Valentine's Day and pleaded with me to buy him a soft toy. I told him I was not going to do that and he was pretty sad, little did he know purchases had already been made. It was hard to see his disappointment but as much as I wanted to tell him the reason, I knew his excitement would be worth it in the morning.

Love my little boy.

My boy's birthday!

I feel like a broken record sometimes, but I just do not know where the time goes. I mean, seriously, how could this wonderful little boy already have been in our livese for seven years? And why does it feel so much shorter? He is growing up so quickly. He is sweet and kind and compassionate, beyond his years.

Birthdays are a little harder now he is in school; the mornings are such a rush. James and I figured (the night before) that we should just let him open presents in the afternoon, when he came home from school. Somehow, unfortunately, we forgot to let Arran know this minor detail! He woke up this morning, excited for his birthday. We explained the plan regarding presents and he was disappointed to say the least.

"I don't feel special, I don't feel like it's my birthday"...how horrible did I feel at that moment?

Plan b was quickly put into place; he would get to open one present (which James hurriedly threw into a Hello Kitty!!! gift bag with some tissue paper) and open the rest in the afternoon. He was over the moon to receive a talking Doug, the dog from 'Up".

He went to school with a plate of chocolate chocolate chip cookies to share with his class, that we (the three kids and I) had made yesterday and an 'Olivia' book he had picked out as a gift for the classroom. All was redeemed.

After school he went on a play date. I had been so torn in the week when the play date invitation came. I knew that he would love it, but the selfish Mommy in me wanted to not feel like I had missed out on his special day, especially as the kids have AWANAs on Thursday nights. In the end we decided to go out for a family dinner instead of the kids going to AWANAs and so I let him have his play date too. Oh the dilemma of it all.

The girls and I baked him a delicious chocolate cake while he was out. It actually went pretty smoothly and was fun, compared to the slight fiasco of four of us baking the previous day, with my not feeling my best and being far too impatient. My poor kids. I did a good job of actually taking photos as they greased the pans and added ingredients and somehow have managed to delete them from my memory card, so sad.

Arran came home from his play date happy and excited. His specific request for dinner was for Chinese buffet, followed by dessert of his cake at home. He went to bed a happy little boy and I could not be happier or more grateful to be his mother!

Opening presents in his special birthday crown his teacher made. Bryttain loves to help.

I just love that although he is getting so big, he is still just a little kid who LOVES his soft toys.

Happy Birthday Arran, we love you!

Haircut time.

My sweet boy had somehow, at some point, got it into his head that the first day of summer was the only time he needed to get a haircut. He has such great hair and I think it suits him longer, but he was at the point where he had a constant head tilt, to keep it out of his eye and I really missed seeing those beautiful eyes of his.

Over the past few months I have suggested that we cut it, but he had been adamant that he wanted it long. Finally, right before the New Year, he decided he would let me cut it.

I find it quite comical really, that he would rather let me, his clueless mother who had never cut hair before he was born, cut his hair. I make it up as I go along, it takes me forever and it's not like I can give him the exact cut he would like. Each time I offer that he could go and get it cut by someone who knows what they are doing, it would take, maybe, fifteen minutes and the whole thing would be way easier. For now though, it is not to be. I suppose it saves us some money, but it certainly stretches and challenges (and stresses) me.

Oh well, all's well that ends well. As I am posting these before and after shots I cannot help but think to myself that I should encourage him to look really down and scruffy and tired in the 'before' shot, to make him look extra good in the 'after'. I think that is what all the pros do :)

Tolay Fall Festival

Last Thursday Arran had a school field trip to the Tolay Fall Festival. We had stumbled across it as a family a couple of years ago, before he had started school so I knew it would be a fun outing to take the girls on too. I feel bad that I cannot get more involved at the school, but a lot of things just do not work with two more little children in tow. I asked ahead of time though, if this one would be OK to bring them on and got the all clear. His teacher was very gracious, or wise, as the case may be, knowing I would have the girls with me she opted not to assign me as an official helper, responsible for anyone, but instead let me tag along with Arran and his assigned parent-helper.

Checking out some snakes!

We started in the Nocturnal Animal Barn which was packed, not only with kids, but starfish and snakes and spiders and scorpions and a very 'interesting' taxidermy collection with everything from a fawn to a bear, all sorts of amphibians and I am sure we only saw about on third of the collection.

A very important part of every day is, of course, snack time. We all met up again briefly for bottles of water, Graham Crackers and cheese sticks. The girls were so great, I had told them that it was Arran's trip and there might not be enough snack for them but they didn't complain or whine, just waited patiently. Fortunately there was plenty and Asia carried her water bottle around with her and (her piglet) the rest of the morning.

We took a hay ride out to the pumpkin field and thus began the search for the perfect pumpkin. I have no idea what makes the perfect pumpkin on any given day, but this can be quite the process; how it looks, how it feels, how heavy it is. It is a task to be taken most seriously...and not to be rushed. Fortunately Arran had both his sisters on hand to 'help'. The one rule I gave him was that he had to be able to carry it, it was his responsibility not mine. I was, on and off, busy carrying an almost three-year-old!

                                                                              Once the selection had been made, each child wrote

their name on the bottom of their pumpkin. Perish the
thought that a fight might erupt on the bus ride back to school as to the rightful owner of any given pumpkin.

We took the hay ride back then checked out some farm animal, ran through the hay maze and did some potato prints and seed planting in the eco-village. There was so much more that we could have done, but by then it was time to head back to school and for me to get the girls home for naps.

 

There's a ball to be kicked

Today was Arran's first meet-up and practice with his little team, as part of the Petaluma Youth Soccer League.

When he was much younger, two or three (I cannot exactly recall) we had signed him up for Lil' Kickers, but that was a long time ago. It is still sad to me that there is so little physical activity in schools over here and that sports really have to be done in your own time, but it is what it is.

He had really been looking forward to it, which I am sure was aided by his recent watching of bits of games in the recent World Cup. He certainly looked the part in his new shinguard covered, knee-high socks and his soccer cleats.

Our little boy did so great, none of my fears of him being nervous or reticent at meeting a bunch of new kids, were realized. He jumped right in. There is a lot to learn, but I think it is going to be a fun, growing experience for him. Next practice is on Saturday morning.

The girls watched from the sidelines whilst chomping on pretzels, they played on the playground a bit too.

I have no idea how we will manage our schedules when we have three kids doing different activities, I think life is going to get very busy.

My other problem is that before this I wanted  a 70-200mm lens, now I know I NEED one!!!

Another one bites the dust

Last Saturday the kids were running around being totally crazy, when all of a sudden Arran came rushing in, completely devastated. His top tooth, which had been hanging precariously for days, had finally in the midst of the chasing and wrestling, been knocked out. He did NOT want to show us, but Bryttain excitedly showed off the booty, as proud as could be. She is so funny, it was not even her tooth.

Try as hard as I might, Arran did not want to let me take a photo, and James scolded me for trying to catch the moment as my little boy cried (I was not completely heartless, daddy was cuddling him at the time already). Finally after some tickling we got half a reluctant smile. My little boy looks so different now.

Time for a haircut

It has been just over a year since Arran's last haircut. For the last couple of months he has been saying that he wanted to get it cut on the first day of summer and that was yesterday. There was too much going on, so today was the day.

Now, I have no clue how to cut hair and have been making it up as I go along, so it can be a little stressful. Arran was determined that he did not want a buzz cut this year, which last year made things a lot easier, but had pretty precise ideas, which unfortunately he did not do a great job of explaining to me, added to that the fact that he seem to think that I do, in fact, know what I am doing...so it is what it is.

It is so nice to see BOTH his eyes again. Maybe this will be just stage one or a few stages, we shall see.