Our sweet little Sam has turned into a full-blown boy these days.  He’s always running, throwing, pushing and testing.  He’s experimenting constantly – what happens when he turns this, pulls that or pushes a button (including the buttons our patience!).  I know it’s all part of his little experiments with the world, but it’s a bit maddening sometimes.

He is getting more expressive – talking more, voicing his opinions, singing loudly enough that we can hear him, and arguing when things don’t go his way.  It’s fun to see his personality display itself a little bit more.  He’s still very shy around other people, but as he’s getting more expressive and silly with the family.

He loves school.  He loves his friends and his activities.  His teachers report that he’s very quiet with them, but that he’s much more interested in his friends than his work.  We’ve been brainstorming with his teachers for how to keep him focused on the task in front of him and not so focused on throwing things against the wall or making fart jokes.  Yep, he’s definitely turned into a full-on boy.

When we can focus his experimenting and testing constructively, he loves to play with Legos, blocks, and his wooden tool set.  As much as he loves to build, he loves to play with his sister more than anything.  More often than not if I ask him what he wants to do, his answer is “whatever Clarey wants.”  She creates big elaborate games and he’s an enthusiastic side kick.  His favorite role is of a cat named Blueha.  He’s a Space Cat who lives on the moon, a royal cat who lives in a castle, an underwater cat who lives with mermaids, but always a cat named Blueha.

It’s fun to see the new stage in Sam’s life – even if it’s a bit of a challenge to parent through it.  He’s coming into his own and it’s a wonderful world that he’s building.

Six is a magical age, at least for our girl.  She’s at a lovely intersection between independence and understanding of the world, but still deeply rooted in wonder and imagination.  She’s enthralled by everything that she learns about – whether it’s Martin Luther King Jr, multiplication, or fairies.  She meets every bit of new information with her trademark enthusiasm and excitement, but now it’s tempered with the ability to analyze and rationalize a little bit.

She’s our little social butterfly and is friends with everyone that she meets.  First grade has been a wonderful way for her to meet new friends and she’s become very tight with many children in her class.  Her little group has started a game at recess called the Goof Crew. I don’t follow all of it, but they started as 4 Goof Bunnies on the planet SpecBoo.  It’s morphed over the school year and now they have moved to a new planet (Planet Bowler) and have become a crew of Goof Ocelots, Goof Kitties and Goof Doggies.  They’ve also added in number and I think there are 12 of them that regularly play together.  The core group is Clare’s best school friends – G, A and her best buddy Gabe.

I’ve been concerned that starting school would dull some of Clare’s signature style and sparkle.  I suspect that peer pressure will eventually push her towards a more… Traditional wardrobe, but so far she continues to embrace her creative outfits.

She is still quite the bookworm.  She loves reading to herself and reads really, really, really fast.  She discovered the Rainbow Magic fairy book series and has devoured her way through most of the series.  When it got to where she could read an entire book in about an hour, I steered her towards the Rescue Princess series.  She’s just started on those but I suspect it won’t take her long to work through that series either.

None of these things about Clare are particularly unique.  She’s also been imaginative, bookish, and social.  She’s also been mixed with a fair amount of feistiness too – testing boundaries, talking back, and really struggling to express big emotions in a constructive way.  But (for now) she’s settled into a really lovely phase where here natural sweetness and kindness is coming through first.  She still has the occasional tantrum or off day, but it’s so rare that we can usually tell that something is bothering her.  She’s also becoming much more emotionally mature and we can talk about her frustration, anger, sadness, anxiety and other big feelings and help her work through them.  It’s a really lovely place to be.

“It’s like I’m woven in a blanket of your arms!”

It’s now 2016!  Where did 2015 go?  I could write a long-winded, wordy explanation of why I haven’t been blogging – but I feel like that’s the opening paragraph of all of my blogs.  Suffice to say that we’re busy around here!  The kids are go-go-go all the time, and we want to stay a step ahead of them and enjoy every moment before it goes zooming by.  Our jobs are challenging and exciting, but also use a lot of our energy and brain space.  J and I are always walking the line of how much to give to our careers and how much keep back for our family (not to mention ourselves).

In 2015 we worked hard at trying to leave work at work.  It’s a challenge, but I feel like we do a pretty decent job.  Now home is a mile-a-minute of work too – there is food to be made (and planned for, and shopped for, and cleaned up), there is laundry to do (and fold and put away), there are children to bathe, bedtimes and wake-ups, dogs to walk, dog hair to vacuum, etc. etc. etc.  But beyond that, there are bellies to tickle, cheeks to kiss, spontaneous dance parties and sing-alongs, bugs to inspect, pictures to color and stories to read.  We can’t forget about the important things in life.

So here it is – an incomplete list of some of the important things that happened at the end of 2015.  In pictures, because no one reads this blog for the articles.

 We got a dog!  Izzy McPherson joined our family.  She’s a one-year-old Goldendoodle puppy.  She’s very, very sweet, a little bit feisty and is keeping us on our toes.  But she’s very patient with the kiddos and has been a lovely addition to the family.

Our girl is halfway through first grade.  She continues to LOVE it.  She is reading and writing constantly and is making some really good friends.  She loves to go to school each day, which is really all I can ask for in the first year of her school life.

Crazy hair day at school!

  Halloween 2015 was soggy, wet and really fun.  Grandpa and Grandma would have won the costume contest (if we had one).  I mean, really, my mom sewed a cape and my dad made a flux capacitor.  No one can compete with their dedication.  The kids especially appreciate it (even if they didn’t understand Grandpa’s costume).  We hosted a fairly large Halloween potluck party with our neighbors and friends.  It was supposed to be a quick dinner before trick-or-treating, but the weather conspired against us with a downpour.  So we hung out at our house before visiting the neighbors’ house.  It ended up being very low-key and fun.  We may skip trick-or-treating next year (just kidding…).

J celebrated “Movember” by shaving his beard into a “Franz Josef.”  It lasted for about a week…

Our girl lost her first teeth!  In two consecutive days, she lost her bottom two teeth!  The tooth fairy brought her a dollar for each tooth, and she was thrilled to tuck her loot into her piggy bank.

The sad news of 2015 is that we lost our beloved Nanny.  She deserves more than a mention in a blog post, more than her own post, and more than anything on a website.  She was the matriarch of a loving family and was an example to all of us how to have an open loving heart and sense of humor in every situation.  I’m so glad that the children had a chance to meet her.

 See ya 2015!

Dear Sam,

Today you turned four years old. You were especially thrilled to be four, but when I asked you how it felt to be a four-year-old you just smiled your shy smile and said “pretty good.”  From what I can tell, it feels better then that.  You’ve been walking with a little strut, talking with a little bit of sass and giggle, and seem to have a little extra pep knowing that you are one whole year older.

For your birthday party you asked for a “big party with small friends.”  This meant that you wanted a full party at a  bouncy house place, but you didn’t want to many people there.  Your birthday party (on the morning of Halloween) was an entire bouncy house facility for you and six of your friends.  You loved every minute of it and didn’t sit still once.  You raced from corner to corner with a little smile on your face. You ended up winning a few little prizes for being the birthday boy, and you immediately turned and gave them to friends.  Even on your birthday, you have a generous spirit.

You’ve had a big year with lots of learning, growing and adventures.  You spend hours on your scooter and are the best scooter-er in the west.  You like people, but you love animals and insects.  When I ask you what you are grateful for, you will often tell me ‘elephants and beluga whales.’

Your favorite question is “how does it work?”  A frequent sound in our house is the crash of the toilet lid hitting the bathroom floor.  When we walk into the bathroom you look up from peering into the back of the toilet and say “how does the toilet work?”  You want to know where the water goes down the drain, how the airplane flies and how the car drives.  We don’t always have the answers, but when you aren’t satisfied then you just patiently ask again.

Your sister is your favorite person on earth, but you have a best buddy who you are inseperable with at school.  You love your grandparents, cousins and neighbors, but you don’t open up to just anyone.  When you do share your thoughts, they are often unique, contemplative, silly and funny in a very dry way.  I remind you that your words are your power, but you are discreet when you use them.

We absolutely adore you and we can’t wait to see what the next year brings to you.

Lots of love,

Momma

It was a momentous day in the McPherson house at the end of August – when the world’s most excited six-year-old skipped off to first grade.  Clare had been anticipate being a first-grader for… almost a year.  She did her kindergaren year at our little Montessori school, somewhat begrudgingly because, while she loved her school, she desparately wanted to go to the “big school” with her best bud G.  She spent most of the summer counting down until the big day when she could go to elementary school.

That day finally finally finally came.  The backpack was bought and packed, the outfit was chosen, the teacher was met and the classroom was visited in advance, and the girl was ready.  J and I each took her hands and we all walked to school together.  Clare practically skipped she was so excited.  But she contained her enthusiasm and walked right up and into the school she had been waiting for.

Once we got into the classroom, the teacher asked that children and parents sat on the rug at first.  Clare insisted on sitting on my lap for the first minute.  Then she slid off my lap and held my hand… then I slipped back to stand in the back of the classroom… then Clare got up, hung up her backpack, gave her dad and I a hug, and sat down at her desk.  Not a sniffle, not a tear, not a look back – at least not from her.

(Momma, on the other hand, was well-accessorized with big sunglasses to hide my teary eyes.  I noticed a few of us wearing Jackie O style sunglasses…)

I picked our girl up after school that day and she ran into my arms.  “I have two new friends and I love school!”

About seven weeks into the school year now and she still loves it.  We all really like her teacher and, while the K-5 neighborhood school is certainly bigger than our two little two-room Montessori school, the school has a tight-knit and loving community to it.  The kids at the school seem to be really nice and there is a lot of parent involvement (in a good way).  Clare has made several friends, though she remains best buddies with her beloved G.

As for the teary-eyed Mom, watching my girl step a little further out into the world has been so rewarding.  How wrong I was back when I asked her to stay a baby forever.  How much I would have missed if she never learned to run, skip, introduce herself to new friends and bask in her own independence.  It felt so very good to hold her in my arms, but she’s teaching me that it feels even better when I open my arms and watch her fly.

I guess first grade is teaching new lessons to all of us.

When Clare was 3, she told me that when she was 4 she would know everything.  Tonight I asked her if she knew everything now that she was almost 6.  She said that she didn’t.  But that it was OK.

Her fifth year has been quite something though.  Our girl has learned to read and write.  She’s grown even more active and more adventurous.  She’s quite the leader at her little Montessori school and the other kids look up to her.  Fortunately, her teachers assure me that she’s a benevolent leader, if a bit strict.

She continues to be a devoted big sister and big cousin to her little tribe of followers at home.  She loves nothing more than organizing a game or activity for her, Maddy and Sammy to do.  She’s very good at making sure that everyone is included and is pretty good at listening to the requests of others.  She’s the life of the party and bring excitement into every room she walks into.

The highlight of the last year happened just this last weekend, when she got to be a flower girl in “Auntie” Carrie’s wedding.  This will probably be a future post, but Clare loved being a flower girl.  She performed her role beautifully and was an absolute delight.

Of course she was.

The kids have been really funny lately.  Here are some of my favorite stories and pictures of the last few months.

“That truck is breathing black breath.” – Sam, after seeing a truck with lots of black exhaust.

One morning J walked into the room as Sam had some very loud gas.  Sam looked up at J and said “I had the gas and it heard like a honk.”

J still laughs about that.

“If you had a snake in your boot, Clare, I would take it out for you.” – Sam

“I can’t wait until I can live by myself and do whatever I want all day,” says Clare.

“Wouldn’t you be lonely Clare?  Who would you talk to?  what would you eat?”

“I can make toast and get cheddar bunnies.  And I would walk to visit people.”

“I can’t wait to live by myself too,” pipes up Sam. “Well… except I would want Clarey there.”

As Sam and Clare were wrestling one day, Sam looked at me and sighed. “I wish you were a kid too, Mom.”

A month or so ago Sammy went through a fairly sleepless period.  He had a hard time going to sleep, woke up very early, and woke up several times in the night.  Sometimes he would wake up crying and yelling with a nightmare, or he would come into our room and tell us that he had a nightmare and want to get into bed and cuddle with us.  After a few times of these middle-of-the-night cuddle sessions, we began to think that while these nightmares were certainly real sometimes – they probably weren’t happening with the frequency that Sam was claiming they were.  We began to suspect they were becoming an excuse to snuggle in our bed – which is fine every now and then, but the boy is getting pretty big these days and has a tendancy to kick and wiggle in his sleep.  So we started giving him reassurance and hugs, but sending him back to his bed.

But Sam was still wandering around the house at night and very early in the morning.  And we were still putting him back into bed.  So Sammy came up with a Plan B – he snuck into big sister’s room.  Her bed had plenty of room in it and she didn’t take him back to his room.

In the beginning, Sam would wake her up and they would both be up for the day at 5-frickin-AM.  Fortunately that phase ended quickly and we’ve entered a new phase.  The new phase looks like we put the kids to bed in their respective beds.  Stories, snuggles, songs, lights out.  Then, at some point after we’ve gone back to the kitchen, Sammy creeps out of his room and into Clarey’s.  Then they both go right to sleep (or maybe Clare already is asleep – I’m not sure).  They’re quite sneaky about it and we never hear him, we just find a scene like the one below when we check on them in the night.

If we carry sleeping Sam back to his room, we find him like this in the morning.  So we gave up.  I know that they won’t always be this close and sooner or later they are going to start closing doors on either other.  For now, we’ll keep this one open.  Sweet dreams, Sweet Peas.

Clare has been writing for several months now – beginning with her name, then moving onto other names and then full sentences.  The method she’s learning at school is to teach the kids to become familiar with letters by writing them first and getting the kids familiar with the letter sounds and word structure.  Months of writing and getting familiar with sounds, words and being read to has suddenly clicked into place.  We’ve had a writer for a while, but now we have a reader.

Our reader is reading everything in sight.  She’s sounding out words at the gas station (“Mom, that says ‘Regular,’ ‘Premium,’ and ‘Plus.'”), reading boxes of food at the grocery store (“Mom!  Look!  Candy!), and reading books at home.  She took her favorite book to school and read it to her friends, apparently they all laughed at the Book With No Pictures.  She reads to Sammy and notices when J and I skip words in books.

I didn’t expect that I would enjoy watching Clare read quite so much.  It’s an absolute delight to watch the world of books and words open up to her.  She’s very proud of herself and it’s wonderful to see her sense of accomplishment.

Of course the phonetic spelling is still going strong.  She labeled her drawers the other day.

“Sox”

“Jamees”

This one got a little messy, but it means “clothes.”

Perhaps my favorite piece of her writing was a note that she left me when I was sick.  “I hope you feel better soon. From Clare, to Mom.”