Be...

Dear Drake-

In 6 days you will start preschool. I will walk you into the building, give you a hug and kiss and watch over my shoulder as you start out on this brand new adventure. I know you will do wonderfully as you are already so excited to start this journey. I also know this will be way harder on me than you. As I think about you starting preschool, I can’t help but think of the things I hope and wish for you as I send you out a few hours a day into the world of school. A world that is exciting and scary and happy and sad. A world that will teach you so much and try and break you down. As I send you off these are the things I want you to know and carry with you, not just while you are in preschool, but through your whole life.

Be Curious

Never be afraid to ask questions. Dig for the answer if you have to. Have a desire to learn. Read books on all different subjects. Be curious about the world around you, there is so much more out there than this little town that we live in. Try new foods.  Explore new places. Ask why things work the way that do.  Always be willing to learn something new and you will be amazed at the things you will find out.

Be Brave

There will be times when you are afraid. There will be times when you don’t want to do something. Be brave. Try new things. Make new friends.  Do scary things once and awhile. Sometimes life is easier when you don’t take risks and when you play it safe-don’t always do that. Some of the greatest gifts and memories in life come from doing things that make us uncomfortable.

Be Kind

Be kind to the kid on the playground that nobody else is nice to. Be kind to your teachers and treat them with respect. Be kind to your brother and love him no matter what. Be kind to animals, especially Skinner, as he has loved you without condition your whole life. Be kind to property and take care of your items. Be kind to us (your mom and dad) as we always have your best interest in mind and love you more than you know. Kindness is a quality that people like and recognize. Being kind will make you a better person and has the ability to change other peoples lives.  Please, always be kind.

Be Yourself

This is the most important thing I can teach you. You are wonderful Drake, absolutely wonderful. You are made the way that God intended you to be and there is not one single other person in this world who is like you. Don’t change for other people, if they don’t like you the way that you are, they are not worth your time. Always let your morals and values be your compass. Stand up for what you believe in and don’t let other people tell you that you are wrong just because you think differently than they do.  I promise you that there will always be so many people who love you just because you are you.

Those are my wishes for you…my prayers for your life.  As you start out as a preschooler those wishes are going to mean very different things to you than they will as you walk into your first day of high school, but being curious and brave and kind and mostly importantly being YOU will carry you far in every aspect of your life.  You already carry every single one of those qualities with you and make me so very proud. I can’t wait to watch you grow. Now go and soar!

Our Charlie at Almost 18 Months

Our sweet Charlie Bear is fast approaching the 18 month mark and I wanted to take a little time to talk about what he has been up to these days.

Charlie has a huge personality with a mischievous smile to match.

He has a little evil laugh that he unleashes as he does something he is not suppose to.

He makes Drake cry almost everyday by beating up on him or just bugging the heck out of him.

Charlie very rarely cries  as it takes a lot to get under his skin.

He takes a 2-3 hour nap every afternoon and sleeps from 7 pm to 7 or 8 am.

He loves his blankie and his paci and can often be found sneaking both out of his crib.

He is talking more and more everyday. His favorite words are  dog, momma,  side (outside) and uh-oh.  He probably knows at least 40-50 words and sometimes puts 2 words together.

He still likes to eat and would probably live off of cheese, bananas, and go-go squeezes if I let him.

He really likes to drink out of a straw.

He likes to play cars and superheros with his brother. Skinner is his best friend and the first thing he asks for when he wakes up. Charlie could spend all day outside if we let him.

Our Char-Char is sneaky and loves to throw things in the toilet or the trash requiring us to never take our eyes off of him.

He loves to be held and points to things he wants us to take him to see.

Charlie could spend all day outside if we let him. He loves to swim and swing and has learned how to climb the ladder of the swingset and go down the slide.

Charlie loves to go shopping with me. He sits in the cart and flirts with every person we pass by.

This boy is full of spunk and charm. We just love him to pieces and have had so much fun watching him and grow.

Love you Charlie Bear!

Letting Him Fly

Drake will be starting preschool 2 weeks from today. He will go 4 afternoons a week. To say it has been on my mind a lot would be an understatement. As I write this we are waiting for his teacher to come and do a home visit. I think I'm far more nervous and excited for this than Drake is! I wrote a little bit about how I am feeling as we hit this huge milestone over at Des Moines Moms Blog-

 

“Make sure you follow directions and listen to your teachers,” I say as I walk my almost 4-year-old son, Drake, into his first night of Vacation Bible School. He holds my hand tightly and quietly tells me that he will. We find his group and I lean down to tell him good-bye, and just like that any apprehension that he has fades away. He quickly tells me good-bye and finds a seat next to one of his friends. I walk away while looking over my shoulder just knowing that he will be looking back at me and wanting one last kiss, but instead he is laughing with his new friends and is completely oblivious that I am leaving. I smile while I hold back tears. As I climb into my car I let the big, warm tears roll down my cheeks as I think about how fast my baby is growing up. Read the rest over at Des Moines Moms Blog...

 

I also wanted to share this idea incase anybody else is looking to do something special for their kids on the first day of school. I found the book Curious George's First Day of School at Kohl's lat week. I plan on both Ben and I writing a little note to Drake in the book before the first day of school every year. I think this will be a really special and unique keepsake for him.

Drake's Superhero Birthday Parties

2 weeks ago we celebrated Drake turning 4 by throwing 2 different birthday parties.

On the same day.

I'm crazy and will never do anything like that ever again!

We held Drake's first party (friends party)  at a park near our house.

We kept it super simple and ordered 2 dozen donuts (funny story- the store called me the day before the party to confirm my 24 dozen donut order...YIKES! Called they called!)  from the bakery and had drink boxes.

The kids played on the playground, ate donuts, watched Drake open presents and basically just ran around like crazy. We had the parents drop off the kids  so we were in charge of about 15 three and four year-olds. We really had a wonderful time!

Here are some more details of Drake's friends party-

Throwing donuts on a silver platter dressed them up a little ; )

We gathered up all of Drake's superhero masks for the kids to wear.

We stuck with the superhero theme by having Batman and Superman colored donuts! Also the party hats were a huge hit.

The Birthday Boy!

Drake and most of his birthday guests.

That afternoon we held another superhero birthday party. This time it was for our families and we held it at our house. We had the most beautiful day for the party and we all enjoyed  spending time outside eating cake and drinking lemonade.

I actually made Drake's birthday cake this year. I had planned to order superhero cupcakes but the plans feel through and I was left scrambling to come up with a cake.  I will admit, it was hard for me not to have a big fancy cake as I love having that as my party centerpieces, but Drake really loved the cake I made and that is all that mattered.

Here are the details of Drake's 2nd party

No party is complete without balloons!

I ran to Target and found some new superhero figures Drake did not have to top his cake with. He loved the surprise of his "new guys" on the cake.

I love using things we have around the house for decorations.

The party table.

Ready to party!

The birthday boy opening up his presents.

Our little firefighter blowing out his candles.

I have to admit that both of these birthday parties were a lot more low-key than the parties that I usually throw. It was kind of nice to tone things down a little and I don't even think anybody noticed.

We had a fun day celebrating Drake!