During a visit to Grandma & Grandpa’s house, Shecklet #3 discovered her Auntie Stacie’s old gymnastics outfits. She had so much fun making costume changes and doing “gymnastics moves” on the gym mat that Grandma Patti laid out in the family room.
Seven years ago, we met this little guy:
He captured our hearts immediately and life has been full of fun, laughs, and joy ever since!
Lincoln –
We are so proud of the young man you are becoming. You’re a confident, SPARK-filled, leader who is on his way to doing great things in this world! You love to be outside, riding your bike, scooter, or running around playing Nerf guns with the neighbors and your brother. Laser tag is one of your favorite things to do and you are currently having lots of fun in the pool at your swimming lessons. You continue to learn about Jesus and your faith and are asking really good questions along the way. I love the way your little mind is always thinking! I pray you will always know how much your dad and I love you, but more importantly, how much God loves you and wants to be central in your life.
We are excited to see what your 7th year holds for you!
XOXO
Mom & Dad
Here are the answers to the questions I ask you every year:
My brother and sister-in-law recently shared the exciting news that they are having a baby! The new addition is slated to arrive in late July. They had an ultrasound this week and found out if it is a girl or boy. Keeping us in suspense a few days, they made a special trip to our house this afternoon to share cupcakes with us. Topped with yellow frosting, we had to bite in to the middle to discover whether the filling was pink or blue. Shecklet #2 was the first to make the discovery – PINK! Shortly after Shecklet #2 reported what he found, Shecklet #3 piped in and said, “I hope mine is pink too!” Lucky for her, it was 🙂
I have been feeling the pressure of Shecklet #3’s fast-approaching Valentine’s Day party at preschool and was planning on having her bring a decorated brown paper lunch bag instead of a decorated box. Bad mom, I know. However, I quickly redeemed myself when I had a brief moment of mom-awesomeness. I’m sure the idea exists somewhere on Pinterest, but I didn’t even think to look there. (Probably a good idea since I was already in a time crunch. I didn’t need to make things more complicated.)
I took an empty Kleenex box, removed the thin plastic surrounding the hole on the top and wrapped it in wrapping paper. Then Shecklet #3 put her name and stickers on the box. Voilà! Valentine’s Day box project success!
We survived our first science fair!
Maybe I should rephrase that. We survived our first science fair where one of our kids was responsible for completing a project on their own and not part of a class. During kindergarten and 1st grade, students complete a project as a class. They have the option of doing a project on their own, but we never went that route. Once they hit 2nd grade, they’re all on their own (or with 1 other friend, if they choose.) Knowing schedules are hectic, we didn’t even propose that option to Shecklet #1. That enabled us to do things at our own pace, which was a good way to ease into the world of elementary school science fair projects.
Shecklet #2’s class project involved discovering what happens to gummy bears when they are submerged in different liquids. He thought it was pretty cool that vinegar disintegrated the gummy bear.
Shecklet #1’s research question was “Which materials are the best conductors?” He did research that involved talking to Papa and looking up definitions in the dictionary. He worked with Jake to set up his experiment and typed up the information for the poster board he designed. He learned a lot, including that sometimes research leads to more questions, not just answers.
Three brothers in a suburb near our old house built an enormous snow turtle in their front yard. (Apparently they have made several snow sculptures in the past – wish we had known when we lived in the area!) I had the older Shecklets with me while I picked up Shecklet #3 from preschool today, so I decided to make a slight detour on our way home to see the turtle in person. The kids were pretty impressed!
Shecklet #1 was given the student of the month award for December (awarded in January) for displaying the character trait, respect. Here’s what his teacher had to say about why she chose him:
“When I think of a student that is always respectful, I think of this student. Whether the activity is easy or hard, he respectfully raises his hand for help or asks someone quietly. He is respectful of his friends, allowing all kids to play what he is playing. He uses his manners with the staff at school and his classmates. This kid is kin and caring here at school and that is why (Shecklet #1) has been named student of the month for the character trait of respect. We are lucky to have you in our second grade class. Thanks for being a great role model.”
Jake and I were able to attend the assembly to see him receive his award. He was all smiles!
Christmas at my parents’ house was lovely…tasty food, fun with family, laughter and surprises…
…until about 8:30, when we discovered that our dog, Cooper, was not feeling well. We quickly discovered that he had found a stash of chocolate somewhere in the house…enough to fill this tin:
After speaking with the after-hours emergency vet, we decided that we needed to bring him in. Since we had only driven one car to my parents’ house, my dad offered to take Cooper and me to the vet so Jake and the kids could stay and finish desert.
I’ll spare the details, but suffice it to say, we left two hours later with a dog with an empty stomach who, though he was shaking due to the caffeine in the chocolate, was going to be ok. Christmas 2014…one for the memory books!
