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He just felt like running…

13 Aug

Waving at the kids.

In the dark at 4 a.m.

That’s what time Andrew usually wakes up and leaves for his run – complete with a light he wears on his head (upgraded from the small flashlight he was carrying). He does it because it’s the best time for him. Cooler. Not as busy on the road. Great start to his day. But 4 a.m.

These before-the-crack-of-dawn runs are really paying off for him though. He feels healthier, lost weight, gained muscle and entered and succeeded in his first 5 and 10K’s. Now, his goal is to run in a 5K race each month. He says it’s motivation to help him keep running, since he pays money for the races. He signed up for a half-marathon in October and that’s what he’s working toward now (along with another 5k in a few weeks). I know he can’t wait to run on the beach during our upcoming vacation. He’s getting really tired (and somewhat creeped out) about running by the eerily lit cemetery on his typical morning route. That could help him run faster though…

So proud of you, Andrew. The kids and I love to cheer for you and now Nate wants to run in the one-mile kid races associated with your 5K’s. Such a positive example. I’m hoping it has that same effect on me – soon.

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A Closer Look at Bean

12 Aug

I think I know Nia pretty well. I have her favorite music, tv shows, foods, colors and movies down. I know she loves to play school and uses her stuffed animals as students, takes forever in the restroom, must hug mommy and daddy twice before night-night and then plays with her Barbies in her bed before finally falling asleep. She has such a caring and sweet heart and is so smart. I do know her well but I was able to learn even more special things about her all thanks to a simple homework assignment called, “ABC’s of Me!” I copied the answers she wrote to the prompted sentences below. My favorites are A through Z.

A – An adventure I would like to have would be to meet some famous celebrities.

B – One of my favorite books is I don’t know because I like a lot of books. I read all of the Diary of a Wimpy Kids books.

C – The craziest thing I have ever done is run and throw a little ball at my brother.

D – The most difficult thing I have ever done is to swim from three feet to six feet.

Swimming from 3 feet to 6

E – The easiest subject in school is reading because I usually get good grades on reading tests.

F – One quality I look for in a friend is kindliness because I only should be with a nice friend.

G – I think greasy hair is really gross because I don’t like the way it feels.

H – My hope for this year is nobody makes fun of me.

I – A topic that interests me is animals because most animals are friendly.

J – Something that brings me joy is seeing people I haven’t seen in a long time because I’m happy to see them again.

K – If I were king of the world I would donate money to others that needed it.

L – I love to eat my dad’s grilled pizza because I like to eat Italian food.

M – If I had a million dollars I would share it with my family.

If I had a $1,000,000

N – I will never talk to a stranger because I don’t know them.

O – When I play outside, I like to enjoy the weather because I think it’s fun.

P – I am proud of myself for not getting in trouble because I shouldn’t get in trouble on the first week.

Q – A question I have wondered about is to ask my dad what his favorite subject was in school.

R – I respect people who respect me because the golden rule is treat others the way you want to be treated.

S – A sport I enjoy is bowling because I like wearing the shoes to play.

T – I would like to travel to the beach because I like playing in the ocean and finding sea shells.

U – Something unique about me is I was born on my due date.

V – My favorite vacation spot is West Virginia because I get to see my family.

W – I wish nobody would be very mean.

X – I get really eXcited when I know someone’s coming to visit.

Y – I always say “Yes!” when someone asks me to do my work because I have to.

Z – If I were a zoo animal, I would be a zebra because I like their patterns.

Alphabet Bean, I love the way you think.

2021 and 2024

4 Aug

Class of 2021

It was just three years ago that Nia got hers. It really shouldn’t have been a surprise. A quick math problem in my head would’ve given me the four numbers. But it just didn’t hit me until her Kindergarten Open House when the child small t-shirt was handed to us. Class of 2021.

Fast forward three years. Another Kindergarten Open House. Another shirt. Another shocker and heart squeezer to see a similar set of four numbers for Nate.

Class of 2024.

Our baby boy is about to begin his journey in big kid school and I’m going through all of those emotions so many parents do. The same emotions I felt with Nia during those first few weeks (months) of her boarding the school bus. I tell myself, we already did this. 2021, remember? Now look at Bean. She’s not even phased about starting Third Grade and neither am I.

Ready to Learn!

You got this. Nate’s got it. He’s going to be fine. We’ll take it day by day. There will be challenges and there will be great days. He has Nia there now at school and after school with him. She watches out for him. He’ll be fine. He’s excited about starting big kid school, although he keeps reminding us, “I’m still 5 years old.” He’s a smartie. He’ll be fine. His teachers seem wonderful. He’ll be fine. He already practiced how he’s going to sit and be a good listener. (He wasn’t even blinking. So intense.) Again, fine.

And then, just when I think I’m going to out-argue my “fines,” I remember the little school mascot dragon footprints that are leading the way from the school bus drop off to the Pre-K and Kindergarten hall. He has fun feet to guide him. Fine.

Follow the Dragon Feet

Sweet boy. I’m so in love with your personality and passion for wanting to succeed. You will follow those footprints like no one else. And I believe, when you feel ready enough, you will make some of your own for others to follow. As long as you don’t lead them to the timeout chair, we’ll be – yes – fine.

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Found: Sweet Memories

1 Aug

Colorful Clues

Tiny, colorful pieces of paper tucked in secret places around the house and extremely giddy children and their Lola have welcomed Andrew and me home over the past week of work. It has been a hilarious way to separate our job and commuting from family time and leave it all behind. For while Andrew and I were in our cubes at the office, the kids and Lola were giggling while writing out scavenger hunt directions (“Go to the beer closet.” “Go to the Lola’s toilit.”) on paper they would soon slip into the porch swing, picture frames, dog cage, shower…

Lola got the wonderful idea from her friend, Sandy, and she loved every minute of it. She especially loved hearing the laughs of the children and our reaction as we all hunted.

They hid the clues so well around the house that I would walk right by them before starting the game and not even notice them. They were everywhere. Upstairs, downstairs, outside. The kids had us going up, down, left, right over and over again and they screamed and laughed and ran around the whole time. During one hunt, Andrew and I raced each other. He searched for his dad clues and I looked for the ones labeled mom. I was still in my fancy polka-dotted dress from work. The dog followed us, barking at the frenzy. Andrew and Nate may have won (due to dog interference, I must add) but really we all won. The memories are a treasure – plus – each scavenger hunt ended with a special sweet direction to us like, “Let’s get ice cream” or “Let’s bake something sweet.” Smartest and sweetest scavenger hunts ever!

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Treasure Found

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Sweet Scavenger Hunt

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Traveling Bean

23 Jul

Our Georgia-born Bean felt so at home and made so many memories during her two weeks of living where her mommy and daddy were born and raised. Her sweet, happy voice through the phone, (with some more detail given by grandparents) told us all about her West Virginia and Ohio adventures.

She used a shelf that held movies as a “hotel” for her Barbies at Lola and Papa’s.

She spent hours creating new stories with her Barbies in my old Barbie Dream House.

She got a mani/pedi from cousin Michayla while they talked about things they liked and what they would do after their nails dried.

She took a road trip with Honey to see her newly 16-year-old cousin Savannah march with her high school band in a parade. Carnival rides and games with cousin Gabbie, Aunt Sissy and Uncle Brian made for an extra special visit.

Big screen showings of “Zookeeper” with cousin Alexandra and “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” with Papa and Lola. “Gnomeo and Juliet” with Honey at her house. Popcorn for all three.

She watched, entertained, as her papa, uncles Anthony and Matthew, and cousin John Luke lead a stray goat back to its gated area at the Oglebay Zoo. Lola, Aunt Nancy, cousin Michayla and (soon-to-be Aunt) Cara all shared in the leaping goat fun.

She stayed up way past bedtime a few times – once until 1 in the morning watching a movie called “Aliens in the Attic” and another time doing who knows what but she sure was rubbing it in to me that it was 1:04 before she fell asleep.

She played Family Feud and Hang Man on her Grandma’s iPad and chased cats around a tree at Great-Grandma Nancy’s house.

Soaked with a garden hose when a threatening storm prevented a swim in Grandma’s pool. She got that swim the next day with Grandpa and cousin Alexandra.

Best friend necklaces with cousin Alexandra and shopping at Justice with Grandma.

Shopping spree to the extreme with Lola and Sandy – trying on clothes for an hour and loving everything your Lola bought for you.

Board games galore with Honey – along with a side or two of yummy spaghetti dinners.

Hugs and smiles for Great-Grandpa Domenick and Velma and Honey’s neighbors Callie and Jimmy.

Cookout with tons of family and good friends at Lola and Papa’s on your last night in West Virginia.

Squeezes good-bye and see you soon hopes for everyone after many sleepovers, snuggles, love and fun.

Hugs and kisses hello for us. We missed our Beanie Baby.

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What Color Is This?

21 Jul

Why do we keep asking him that? Like he’s suddenly going to know? As if one day Nate is just going to wake up and be able to show us what part of a tree is brown and what part is green? He’s tired of being quizzed. He tries to guess. He often gets it right. In fact, his preschool teachers said he would always win when they played the color map game. But it wasn’t because he saw the colors, it was because he memorized that certain things were supposed to be certain colors. He adapted. That’s amazing to me.

But I still can’t help but feel bad for our little buddy. Each time he said someone’s shirt was brown when it was clearly green to us, we would shrug it off. He’s just being silly. How awful I feel. He saw brown.

“The boy in the brown shirt, mommy.”
“I don’t see a boy in a brown shirt honey. I see a boy in a green shirt. Which one is he again?”
Nate would concede, “Yeah, he’s in the green shirt.”

It wasn’t until I took him to register for Kindergarten that the woman testing his vision called me into the room to show me how he was answering the color blindness test. He knows his shapes but he couldn’t see them in the dots. He guessed. He got frustrated when she asked him to trace the circle he saw where the square was actually camouflaged. “I think he’s having a hard time with his reds and greens, mom,” she softly told me. “He should be ok. It’s not until later in life, when he wants to choose a career, that it will matter. For example, the military and pilots.”

My mind blurred with thoughts of all the color confusion and worries about limitations it could cause him down the line. I came home and googled like crazy. Males more than females. Inherited from the mom. The green in stop lights look blue to them. Horizontal stop lights can cause an issue because a color blind person memorizes the color positions on a vertical one.

Questions flood in: what if he wants to be like his daddy and try to go to West Point? What if he can’t now because of this? Andrew mentioned some classmates had doctor approval. Then he hit me with more worry, “He’ll just have to be careful when working on electricity and stuff.” I started to cry. “You mean he won’t be able to safely do handy man work like you do for your family?” Andrew comforted me with, “I’m sure his wife will help point out the colors to him.” My humor came back. “Unless she’s mad at him.”

Apparently, color-blindness is fairly common. Our eye doctor reassured me about it during Nate’s first visit today. She didn’t make it seem like it was a big deal at all. She said his green is just different from our green and that they now have a contact he can wear for construction/electrical work that helps distinguish the color differences.

When I think about where life may take him, it seems a white baseball may suit him better than we thought. Especially since the doctor said his depth perception is excellent.

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In Between Seasons

19 Jul

Nate may not have a tee-ball practice or game to play in during these summer months but that doesn’t mean he’s not playing every chance he gets/invents. It’s been too hot outside to really quench his baseball thirst so he’s improvised. Some of has hold-him-over pastimes consist of:

  • Wii baseball. He will play that for as long as he can with us watching him like fans. Andrew doesn’t like him to play it too much though because Nate is changing his swing a bit because of it. Priorities, people. Priorities.
  • Toy baseball men that he has a field for and cards that tell you if the player singled, doubled, grounded out or crushed it for a home run. He even has a really cool, small, marble/skee-ball type baseball game that he continually wins.
  • Baseball books. Forget about reading anything other than a book with baseball as the subject matter. One in particular basically involves cartoon characters singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” which means you are signing it. Over and over again.
  • Trips to the stadium to see the pros play. We had some great times and I think we are all now hooked on our minor league team, the Gwinnett Braves.
  • Baseball on tv. He will watch it intensely but only for a few innings. After that, he feels the need to act it out and practice the plays the MLB players just did. After seeing some awesome dive and catch plays, he’s been requesting that we throw the ball to him out of his reach so he must dive to catch it. I was told I wasn’t doing it right because he never had to dive for mine. Fine. But if I can’t throw, I’ll capture it on video.

When are fall tee-ball sign ups? Not soon enough.

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Fish from the “Festibal”

17 Jul

Winning a bag-o-fish from a festival (or “festibal” like Nate will continue to pronounce it until someone other than me corrects him because I think it’s pure sweetness) is not really a rite of passage or milestone but it’s certainly a memory that sticks with a kid for many reasons.

There’s:

  • The fun of the game: Getting that ping-pong ball in a bowl filled with bright (toxic, toilet cleaner) blue water? Yeah, that’s awesome!
  • The reward: Having the game person (a really cool character with skull and cross-bones rings and tattoos who tells you every day above ground is a good day) scoop out some tiny fish from a dirty cooler and plop them into a clear bag just for you? Double awesome!

  • Three Fish and a Football

    The new stuff: Getting to go out and buy a new fish bowl/tank or at least special fish food? Triple awesome!
  • The thinking time: Naming each one after much thought and then trying to remember which one you named Goldie again. The one with the damaged fin? Still pretty awesome!
  • The discovery: Finding them floating lifeless in their new home days after they moved in and holding a flush funeral for them? Minus awesome times three.

Nia still remembers when she experienced that. Andrew told her he was going to swim with his other fish friends. Flush. Nate doesn’t have that same censoring though. He already knows what’s going to happen. Partly because Nia told him (because that’s what older siblings do) and partly because he discovered a dead fish on the ground near the festibal game. He now thinks his fish are going to get out of their tank. I had to assure him (better not happen) that they love their new tank home so they won’t want to leave.

That is, until we are forced to remove them. And I think Nate will be ok with that. He’s already asked if he can get new ones after his game fish die. Although, no fish will be able to replace the memory of the festibal fish.

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“Back Before You Know It”

11 Jul

Those were Nia’s words of wisdom and comfort during her phone call with Nate tonight. She also created a big smile on his face and an immediate thank you from his mouth when she told him she got lollipops for him on the trip to WV. Sweet Bean also picked out special souvenirs for mommy and daddy. I have a cross statue coming my way and Andrew will get to take a baseball guy statue to work with him. (Thanks to Lola and Papa for funding the souvenir purchase.)

She was also treated to her favorite Chinese food – Sweet and Sour Chicken and Wonton Soup. (Lucky!) Tomorrow, the plans call for a day at the Oglebay Zoo or a trip to a museum. It all sounds awesome to me. I can’t wait to hear about her next adventure during our nightly Nia report.

Little Brother Love

11 Jul

He got out if bed and didn’t walk, blankey in hand, to the living room to turn on baseball highlights like he usually does. Instead, he walked, blankey in hand, to his window. I know this because the blind was tilted, giving him a view of the driveway and Papa and Lola’s car.

Spying the car, he emerged sleepy-eyed from his room and headed straight to Nia’s room, asking with a sad voice, “Nia leaves for West Virginia today?” A just-awake Nia consoled him, “Don’t cry Na-Nate.” He leaned against her bed to hug her, her arms wrapped around his neck for a sweet minute. “I’ll be home soon. You’ll have fun with mommy and daddy, ok? I’ll call you before bed each night.” He rubbed his eyes and told her, all better, “Ok.”

They hugged a few more times before she left and even had one of their usual sibling squabbles (over a video game Nia is taking with her). I think Nate will miss the game almost as much as he’ll miss his big sis. Mostly because he now can’t lie next to her and watch her play it, giggling and cheering her on with each awesome move she makes on the screen. I suppose it will give them something to talk about on the phone. “What world are you on now? Did you beat such and such?”

We’ll soon see. That first phone call is only hours away.

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