Lilly, you are 5 years and 2 months old.
You can NOT wait to start Kindergarten in July.
You can count to 100, with only a little help at the beginning of each of the 10’s.
You love to play pretend, though you get a bit bossy.
You love your brother.
You have “a boyfriend. For reals.”
You sleep with bear bears, and with a towel on your pillow when your hair is wet.
You love dresses, the fancier the better.
You are dramatic, emotional, and stubborn.
My God I love you so much.

Zackary, you are 3 years and 4 months old.
You are excited for “boy Kindergarten” (aka Preschool) in July.
You can count into the 20’s before getting distracted.
You love to play with your sister, and you’re developing the ability to stand up for yourself, loudly.
You love your sister.
You love love love to dance.
You sleep with your ball blankie, and still suck your thumb.
You dress and undress yourself, sometimes at inappropriate times.
You are loud, funny, and tempermental.
My God I love you so much.

What a great and busy weekend!

Friday evening, I got home late from a work trip. I am SO grateful to have great friends like Becca, who was awesome enough to pick the kids up from school, feed them, and entertain them until I got to her house that evening. They had a blast and I had no doubt that they were well taken care of. Win!

Saturday was a BIG day. An awesome girl turned 3, so the kids and I got to celebrate her birthday at the splash pad. The party ended in the kids getting a goodie cup containing noisemakers and pixie sticks, in addition to other candy. THAT, my friends, was a fun filled ride home!

Saturday evening we attended another big bash, the wedding of lovely Michelle and Jon. They had an amazingly unique and vintage style wedding, and we were so grateful to be a part of their big day. The kids played and danced for hours, which meant bedtime was a breeze!
I also turned on the AC for the first time on Saturday. We are THERE people!

Sunday morning, my guy took the kids and I to breakfast, where they were relatively well behaved. In the afternoon, we watched movies, went to the library to pick out some books, read books, hit up the grocery store, made cookies, and avoided cleaning at all costs.

It was a good mix of parties, time with my kids, time with my guy, enjoying the sun and relaxing in the AC. All in all, another great weekend!

How was your weekend?

I stole this idea, but I don’t remember where. If it were from you, please let me know and I’ll give you credit!

Over dinner the other night, I grabbed a pad of paper and asked the kids some random questions. Mostly just to giggle at their answers.

So, with no further ado… this is what you get when you interview my kids.

Q – How tall is mommy?
L- Bigger than us.
Z- When I standing on a stool then I be bigger than mommy.
L – 18

Haha, Zac thinks he’s so big when he’s standing on a chair. Wait, who lets him stand on chairs? And I don’t even know what Lilly’s 18 means, but she seemed darn confident.
~~~

Q – What does mommy like to do most?
L- Kiss us
Z- Put together “Don’t break the ice” to us.

Right on, Lilly. Zac, you’re crazy.
~~~

Q – What do YOU like to do most?
L- Wear this swim suit all day
Z- Drink apple juice and play and drink milk and water and go to sleep and watch the sun go up and watch the sun go down and and and eat food and eat candy and eat Shyla’s gum…
L- And I like to play with my barbie dolls and have girl time with you and I like to eat potatoes.

Boy this one got them going. Apparently kids like to talk about themselves? Who knew.
~~~

Q – What makes mommy super happy?
L- Being nice to you.
Z – Kiss! And hugs!

Yes and yes.
~~~

Q – What makes YOU super happy?
L- I like my dolls
Z- Baa blankie make me happy

Sounds about right.
~~~

Q – What is your favorite thing to eat?
L- I like potatoes and I like fish. Like sushi.
Z- Macaroni and cheese.

Really not sure what’s going on with this potato thing. The rest is right on.
~~~

Q – How old is mommy?
L- We don’t know.
Z- 4
L- 4? Really? That’s not fair.

No, I’ll tell YOU what’s not fair… oh, never mind…
~~~

Q – How old are YOU?
L- I’m 5.
Z- Um.. 5.
L- Zac, you’re really 3.
Z – I’m just pretending that I’m 5.

This one was a given. We have this conversation daily.
~~~

Q – What do you want to be when you grow up?
L- I’m not sure. I have to decide.
Z- A mommy. I mean a daddy.

Hee hee hee.
~~~

These questions were pretty “off the cuff,” what questions do you think would be fun to ask kids?

Enough said?

Ok, wait. Enough is NOT said here. Kindergarten round-up. Lilly was serious and adorable and wanting to look like her sweet little self. She pulled it off. Zac had to jump in the picture. A few items of note:

On Zackary:

-Bedhead. Which he will not let me comb down. He’s 3.
-His current “camera smile.” Which he will not change. He’s 3.
-His too short pants. Which he picked out, and a compromise was refused. He’s 3.
-His Ball Blankie. Which he is still completely attached to. He’s 3.

On Lilly:

-Her curls, which now she wants “done” in specific ways. She’s 5.
-Dresses. Always dresses. She’s 5.
-Name brand shoes, which she begged for and got for Christmas. She’s 5.
-Beautiful, “look at me” smile, which she flashes hundreds of times a day. She is 5.

They take my heart with them wherever they go.

Growing up, there was a half naked picture of me in the hallway.

To be fair, it was part of a collage of photos, and it was small. I was young, and in the bathtub. Parents everywhere, myself included, have these same pictures.

As I reached my pre-teen years, I became embarrassed of this picture. Heaven forbid my friends or, gasp, a boy see this picture. I took it out and replaced it with a fully clothed photo.

My mom noticed in about 2 seconds, and was understanding… but asked for the bathroom photo back. It was never seen in the hallway again.

The point? The point is that kids do things that parents find cute. And we take pictures. Or commit them to memory. Not always specifically for the sake of embarrassment later in life.
That, my friends, is just an added bonus.

My children do some pretty incredibly cute things. Some, I have pictures of. Others, I just want to remember forever so that I can tell first boyfriends and girlfriends all about it.

So, while I won’t be cruel enough to post pictures here, I do take them. And print them. And LOVE them. I also will share a few fun stories that come to mind. These may or may not make dinner time conversations as my children grow.
(Completely unrelated note to my children: It is very important to be nice to your mama. That is all.)

- Last week, I ended up taking the kids to my Body Pump class. I usually go when they are with their father, but the dates hadn’t worked out that way and I needed to, well, work out. They have a great playroom there, so I got them situated and got my weights ready.
Exactly 3 minutes after the workout began, who comes running out of the playroom? Zac.
Oh, and his pants and underpants? They are around his ankles.
I wrote a text that evening that read something like this: “Zac only ran out naked from the waist down once, so I guess that’s a win, right?”
(My definition of win is skewed. Clearly.)

- The other day I asked Lilly to throw a piece of trash in the trashcan, which was about 20 feet away. She said she was too busy. I asked her again, adding a consequence if she made a poor choice. She picked up the trash, STOMPED across the room and threw it away. As she stomped back, she burst into tears and shouted, “Now I’ve wasted my whole life! humph!” and ran into her room.
First of all, who says “humph”? Also, wow I am looking forward to the teenage years.

- Lilly and Zac playing “helicopter,” which includes Zac laying on the ground in one direction and Lilly laying on top at a 90 degree angle. Once they are “in position,” they move their arms and make hilarious noises. Until someone gets hurt. Oh, and someone always gets hurt.

*** Your turn! Settle a debate: A photo of a young boy wearing cowboy boots with underwear but no pants. Cute or not cute? Please leave a comment with your thoughts on how hilarious and cute this would be! ***

Disclaimer: Do I need to write this? I in no way have the true intention of embarrassing my children on purpose. Clearly, that will happen regardless, as I’m a mom and they will one day be teens. Then again, I’m really super cool, so I don’t see how they could actually ever be embarrassed… in fact, they’ll probably want to hang out with me and only me and I’ll have to encourage them to go hang out with their popular but highly achieving and community minded high school friends. But that’s another story for another time.