Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday Hunter

My cellphone calendar alarm starting ringing at 3 a.m. this morning! "Happy Birthday Hunter" glowed from the screen and I remembered inputting that information sometime in the recent past. Hunter crawled into bed with us this morning at 6 a.m. and I was immediately reminded of the moment he entered our world! He is growing up so fast that his pants are too short and his t-shirts are too small. Mitch measured him against our doorframe this morning and he is about two inches taller than he was last year at this time. This morning at breakfast he quizzed me- "Mom, do you know what 100 plus 10 is?" "Mom, this is a hard one. Do you know what 50 plus 50 is?" He got himself ready for school this morning. He wore his brand new Yoda t-shirt, given to him yesterday. I'm going to eat lunch with him at his school today. I'm going to go buy him a cake for later tonight. We celebrated his birthday this past weekend with my family and some of our friends.

What I want to say about my son on his 6th birthday:
He has, by far, the best laugh of any little boy I know. When he laughs he glows!
He is crazy good at the monkey bars
In my world, he is a math whiz :)
He loves "The Princess Bride."
He cares if he hurts my feelings, as he kind of did yesterday when he said he didn't like the present I bough him. When he realized he hurt my feelings, he started saying things like, "Wow! This is great!" "Look mom, this is COOL!"

My heart is FOREVER tangled up with his!

I love you my son!

"Bad Day" song lyrics insert here

This has been the hardest week I've endured in my professional career since my first year teaching. You'd know it to look at me too. Tonight as I stood in line at Target balancing a salad and cheetos (that's the combo I was craving) on top of a case of diapers and reminding Hunter to just chill out, I couldn't help but compare myself to the super-trendy and cute woman standing in front of me. She looked fit, tan, and was dressed to impress. She did not have a hair out of place. I looked at her shoes- leopard print pumps- and thought- "I'm just wrong." My hair had that static fabulous thing going on and my clothes were just not right on my body- I felt like that alien on "Men in Black" that stuffs his massive self into the skin of another person. I had no color in my cheeks and my eyes were "I cried a lot today" puffy.

At least I have the weekend to gain some perspective and somehow get "this" situation(referencing myself from head to foot) under control! Take Care!

Let's Talk about Teeth (a Hunter-focused entry)

Last night as I left the theater with my two neighbor friends, Kellie and Jessica, I checked my cell phone for messages from Mitch. If you don't know, everytime I leave the house for an extended length of time (two hours or more), my husband bombards me with picture messages and text messages and sometimes a phone call or two. Last night I received two picture messages and one text. Description to follow:

Picture Message #1: Hunter and Mason standing patiently at McDonalds- waiting like angels for their food and Star Wars toys. This might have been Mitch's reminder to me that he is "Super Dad" and can control our boys when in public. "Super Dad" is not in quotes because I'm being sarcastic. Mitch gleefully calls himself this anytime he does anything with our kids :).

Picture Message #2: Hunter, Mason, Carter, and Dylan showing off their muscles. No shirts! My boys have taken to de-shirting and running around the house shouting to the world how big and strong they are. This started a couple weeks ago. Watching "New Moon" yesterday only inspired them further. Yes, my boys saw "New Moon." It's actually pretty tame. You know, I guess I realize that I won't be taking any Mom-of-the-Year awards home for letting them watch "New Moon." It is what it is. I don't think it will hurt them if that makes it any better. If it does, I'll blame Mitch- he's the one who wanted to see it actually :)

Text Message: Hunter has a loose tooth!

Ahhhhh! My son is officially turning into a big kid. From my perspective, he just grew those darn baby teeth. And now they're just going to fall out? Also, I remember those adult teeth coming in- they oftentimes aren't pretty at first! We're in for a couple years of school pictures of toothless smiles! And just when Hunter is done losing teeth, Mason will start losing his.

"Sure" (A Mason focused entry)

Mason is a little man! His new thing is to respond with "sure" not "yes." This might not sound like a big deal but it is. "Sure" is kid-talk. Kid. He's growing up and in so many ways it's exciting and in others, frightening. Mason's first two years have already been a blur and now he's responding with "sure." I wish you could hear him say it- I absolutely melt when he says it.

Mason is a chocolate milk monster if there ever was one. I was such a good mommy with Hunter and didn't venture into the world of chocolate milk with him until after Mason was born. Even then it was never the norm because it made his tummy hurt. This does not hold true for Mason. When I ask Mason in the morning what he'd like to eat, he says "choco milk." When I tell him that's his drink and ask him what he'd like to eat, again "choco milk." Chocolate milk is sometimes a cure-all and it's sometimes our biggest nightmare, especially when we run out or when we realize he probably should not have a diet that is based solely on the scrumptious stuff and we try to hold our ground (hysterical laughter about that last one). I struggle with Mason and eating. He really doesn't eat anything and I know that's typical of the age, but it's disconcerting nonetheless. Eat something Mason, please!!!!!


Mason is still the best snuggler in the house. He loves to be held. He loves to be close. Tonight I just laid down on the floor and let him climb all over me. Sometimes I think that's what my boys need most- their parents on the floor willing to be jungle gyms for a good hour or so. They have so much fun and I find that my spirit is rejuvenated as a result. I know I sometimes complain about how hard things are but when it comes down to it, I know I'm incredibly blessed. My boys bring me peace and joy. They are what truly matters!

"Check it off, Mom." (A Hunter-focused post)

I spent a little over an hour in Hunter's classroom this past Wednesday for kindergarten hour. It was fun spending that time with him. He showed me his portfolio and journal. Most of his journal entries focused on his daddy and love for Super Mario Brothers. His teacher told me that reading is starting to click for him and that math is a strength. Hunter was very proud of his symmetrical drawings and read me two books (very fast). We were also given a list of "things to do" while we were together in the classroom. The activity turned into, at least for Hunter and me, a game of "check it off, Mom," which confirmed (if there was ever any question) that Hunter is a truly Mitch's son :)! He is Mitch's clone! We would spent about one minute on a task before Hunter decided we were finished. "Check it off, Mom. What's next?" Next activity. About a minute of fun. "Check it off, Mom." Kindergarten hour ended with Hunter showing off his computer skills and telling the other kids how it's done! When it was another child's turn, Hunter was right there giving support and feedback. Mostly feedback and instructions.

Good news since last time- we visited McDonald's yesterday. Things went much better. Hunter ordered his own food and behaved like a perfect angel. We were a picture perfect scene of familial happiness :)