Mother's Day Thoughts

I love being a Mom. I spend a lot of time thinking about being a Mom, and what that means for me. I find it so hard some days and so easy others. Some days I remind myself that this was a choice, and I feel the weight of that choice as a definite stewardship and responsibility. Other days I feel like everyone will turn out great in spite of me! So motherhood is a wonderful chance to learn and grow and develop, with a very forgiving bunch of super great kids. Here's a little update on each of the boys: King George--Georgie has a great scowly face when he is grumpy. He also squeaks in a high pitched voice if anyone is bugging him--which can turn into a cry quickly. He loves to change his mind. When we went to Utah for Spring Break the drive down was very interesting. He kept pointing at things up by me and demanding them. Then when I would hand them back, he would say "NO!" and karate-chop my arm to make said item fall to the floor. The boys noticed at each rest stop how dirty the floor was getting underneath him! He does love to change his mind. He also is learning new words, but he doesn't talk in really long sentences. Yesterday Ryrie taught him "Awesome" and noticed when George learned the word "gross." It is very sweet to hear him say the boys' names. "Obo, Tom, Wywee (this seems to be the name for both twins)." I also love hearing him say, "Bwess you" when someone sneezes. He even blesses himself when he is the one sneezing! He is getting old enough that he understands when he can't have something Right Now and that is super helpful. He is actually a very patient 2 year old. He loves to come visit me while I'm teaching violin. He usually likes to color all over the notebook I am writing in, play with some cars nearby on the floor, try to put together my Russian dolls, and request to play his own little violin. He is very patient to wait until the lessons are over for his turn. He also likes to play songs on the piano, whenever it is free--he also has to be patient for a turn on that. He has some little freckles across his nose which are soooo adorable, and he gives yummy kisses and great hugs. He lights up when Daddy comes home from work and I also love coming home from anywhere and hearing his little running feet coming to meet me with his excited, "Momma home!" Tom-Tom--Thomas has so much personality it is amazing he can contain it in his little body! He is always coming out with interesting things to say. Last night he and Owen had requested a story from James. James said he would need to think about it because sometimes it is hard to remember (a story from his childhood), and Tommy piped up, "Just listen to the Holy Ghost, he will tell you what to say!" Tommy is in swimming and soccer right now--each is just one time a week--and he is loving it. His soccer is very parent-oriented, meaning that one of us has to be right near at all times, so the first week James did it and this week I took him. He was so excited to go. He kept asking me, "don't I look like a soccer player, Mom? Didn't I do great at soccer? Arent' I a good soccer player Mom?" And he is! As far as I can tell. He has a sense of the field, the goal, and who is open to pass to. It's fun to see him get so into it. He has also set out to learn to ride his bike. He is now to the point where he can start on his own almost every time--he still needs an occasional push from me, but he's doing it! He even rode all the way to the church to pick up the twins from cubs this week. He is loving his swimming lessons and has really got the hang of swimming in just the last month. On Friday when I took all the boys he swam almost the whole length of the 25 meter pool with no help from me! He really loves it too, which makes it way more fun. Joy School ended early this year, but we have been doing field trips now. So far, we took the kids to the Galt Museum and learned a lot about Lethbridge, and to our friends' the Baldry's farm in Raymond. The kids loved seeing pigs, cows, goats, and chicks. Tommy and George were a bit nervous around the goats but Tommy especially got really quite brave by the end of the trip. He is learning to read and play the piano, and he is always ready to play hockey or basketball or any of the many games the boys are always making up. He's so fun to be with! Owen--Owen is enjoying his friends at school, church and in the neighborhood. He also told me that "sometimes I like being alone up in my room." He knows how to give himself some quiet time. He had a friend over this week and they made a whole bunch of paper airplanes (the friend brought a book over)and colored them with pastels. He also loves to build lego. I love to spot Owen settling himself in for a good read on the couch. We came back from the library with WAY too many books, as usual, and Owen read for about 2 hours. He likes Magic Treehouse, the Littles, and other short chapter books right now. I showed him the list for Grade 3 and said we could find some books on there, and he balked at that, saying they were too hard, so even though I know they wouldn't be, I decided not to push him on that. That's kind of how he works--he doesn't like to be pushed. On piano, violin, when he's asked to say the family prayer, etc. Maybe its a stage, maybe its his personality, but when he decides for himself it works and when he feels forced, nothing works. :-) I love to watch Owen take care of his little brothers. Sometimes, it's true, he hurts them, but in general he is becoming very sweet and caring and really watches out for them. I love to see that. Owen is constantly making pictures for James or me. Usually for James, but sometimes I get a surprise picture. It's really a treat to see a picture on our pillows at night signed "From Owen." Owen is an interesting eater. He loves Ketchup. He will put it on literally everything if you give him the chance! It is really gross. However, it is one of those things that just describes Owen! Ryrie and William--The other day I was at the school during recess and the twins totally came over and hugged me. That made my day! And that night I got the double joy of hearing Ryrie report that one of his "apples" of the day was seeing me at the playground! Pretty awesome. They are sweeties. Even on their grumpiest days, you can usually pull them out of the mood pretty easily. They have their dad's temperament in that way. Ryrie loves to get George to kiss him and hold his hand, and he loves to take care of him in any way he can. William does too--and he also has a lot of ability to keep Owen and Tommy happy, which is so helpful. The boys were in a choir concert this week and Ryrie said he was excited to sing all the songs they had ready. You could tell during the concert that he was having a good time. William wasn't as excited, but he was willing, which was still wonderful. Both boys are becoming great swimmers and stronger athletes in general. They are in swimming lessons and learning some strokes right now. I took them one Saturday to the pool to get their cub badge and it was no problem for them to swim that many lengths or tread water. That is pretty rewarding. They are starting to earn money! James helped them make a flyer to take around to people in the neighborhood and they got a few phone calls back to come mow lawns this summer. They have mowed one a couple of times so far. James also takes them every weekend to deliver newspapers. They complained and dreaded it quite a bit the first few times, but I haven't heard any complaints the last few times. They are really learning to tough it out and do hard things. We are really proud of them, and I think they are getting excited about earning more money! I am still working through the Harry Potter books with them at night. It is fun to bond with them in this way and they are into HP quite a lot. In fact William has gotten into reading much more as he has gone back and checked out the earlier books from his school library. They are very involved in the hockey playoffs and James enjoys getting into that with them. They think I am clueless about all things hockey, and it is pretty cute to hear their explanations of things, so I usually just play dumb so I can hear from them. I think they are pretty happy guys and of course, they sure make us happy!