max

max will only be two for a few more weeks. i am trying to savor it.
here are a few joyful moments with max:

i walked past kai and max who just finished setting up connect four--when max says in his two year old, as competitive-as-possible voice, "Game on".

max was standing in front of his drawers with the top one open, crying. i asked what was wrong and he (crying) holds up the only pair of socks in his drawer and says, "these are not my awesome socks, these are my dumb socks."

"so much" -- it can be i love you.. or i want that.. everything is so much.

"all night long"-- he is a snuggler! he will put his arms around my neck and say, "all night long"

olympic spirit

kiss

sadie's class had a valentine's day costume contest...here's what we came up with the night before. she had a few second graders asking her if she was a princess:) anyway, she won and i had a nap so we were all happy.

b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l

when abe was in second grade he missed the word beautiful on a spelling test. he reassured me he would NEVER need to know how to spell beautiful in his ENTIRE life.

he recently made it into his school spelling bee (3rd-6th grade). he was excited and we practiced for two days, as much as possible between soccer practices, homework, and running around. the morning of the bee, we were eating breakfast and doing some last minute cramming. we came to the word beautiful. he spelled it wrong. i happily reminded him of his second grade experience and told him i really hoped he got the word beautiful. we laughed, and as we packed up sadie taught him some secret ways to remember how to spell beautiful.

he made it to the third round. he looked cute and visably servous (a mix of nervous and serious) as he waited at the microphone for his word.......beautiful.

he spelled it correctly! it was great, but far better was when he turned and looked straight at me with a giggle in his eye and the biggest, greatest, smile i have seen.

he got out the next round with the word grimacing. he was the last third grader left and he was disappointed he didn't win. but to me, it was one of those moments that make life happy...and beautiful. i will always remember the connection i felt when he looked at me, smiled, and i knew exactly what he was thinking.

strong work abe!

yeah!

my wedding ring has been long gone for two years. a few weeks ago dave replaced it. we were sitting on the floor last night and max came and hugged my knees... then he noticed the wedding ring on my finger. he looked at me with his big eyes and asked in his best surprised voice, "mom, you got married?" and before i could respond he said, "yay!"

snow day

ali sard

this is an illustration from one of my all time favorite children's books by dr. suess, "did i ever tell you how lucky you are?"

'this is poor ali sard who has to mow grass in his uncle's back yard, and it's quick growing grass and it grows as he mows it. the faster he mows it, the faster he grows it.'

anyway, i completely feel like ali sard, only not with grass-- snow!! we shovel our driveway and then what do you know? we have to shovel again. we have at least five feet and still coming down strong. i wish i could say i love it, but snow isn't my favorite thing. i do love having the kids home, the beauty of it all, and relaxing.

it's a good thing we went ice skating for abe's birthday because the roof caved in the next day. crazy. you can see it here.