Now We Are Six

When I was one,
I had just begun.
When I was two,
I was nearly new.
When I was three,
I was hardly me.
When I was four,
I was not much more.
When I was five,
I was just alive.
But now I am six,
I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll be six
now and forever.
-A.A. Milne






I really can't believe Thomas is SIX. Except, I can. Sometimes I feel like saying "six-years-old" doesn't even really describe how old he feels to me! Brax and I have been talking today about how a six year old is such a mix of a little kid and a big kid.

Thomas is really fun to be around. He's hilarious. He's smart as a whip. He loves doing math problems. His favorite game to play is, "Raise your hand if..." He is SO SO SO silly. He's reading really well! He still would rather play with a ball than anything else.

He always wants to touch you. We've had to have talks about the invisible box around him and everyone else because it's so hard for him to understand that not everyone wants to be touched all the time. He's pretty sure that he knows everything.

He is eager to help (sometimes ;)). He loves taking Duke outside when we come home from anywhere. He is (almost) always happy to go get something that I've asked him to get.

In the last year he has started trying a lot more foods and discovered that he does in fact like meat. This has been a huge improvement to our family dinners. Vegetables still make him gag (literally).

He is one of the most cheerful people I have ever met. (This is even when he's in trouble, which is MADDENING!) He has still never met a stranger, and is seldom nervous about new situations that involve people.

Although he can't remember the name of anyone from his class at preschool next year, he can remember great details of stories, and is great at retelling them word for word. He can also remember what happened on the last level of the last Wii game that he and Brax played together...three weeks ago.

Every once and awhile he completely dissolves into tears and I remember that he really is just six years old.

I love holding his hand, seeing the twinkle in those blue blue eyes. And the freckles across his adorable nose make.me.melt.

Angry Birds Bowling Party

Funnies

Mae: What kind of cheese is that?
Kim: It's called Laughing Cow.
Mae: I don't hear it laughing.

Duke started making some inappropriate moves on Thomas.
Thomas: Look! Duke is hugging my leg!

Easter Week

We've had a great Easter week (minus Mae and I having ear infections)! First, of all, Thomas got 5 "green apples" at school for good behavior. Possibly the first time all year. HUGE! I've had eggs for the kids to open each morning with a different thing in them representing different parts of the Easter story. They've been really excited to do it!

We decorated Easter eggs together one afternoon. Let me just say, if you want something fragile handled, Mae is NOT your girl. Cracked.Every.Egg.Immediately! We had fun though! 

Mae had her Easter program, party and Easter egg hunt at school. She was VERY into the motions of the songs. Possibly more than anyone else in her class. She loved it! And Daddy even came to watch!

Mae got to go to her friend Emma Kate's house for another Easter egg hunt with some good friends. After the hunt they decorated sugar cookies. Sugar, upon sugar, upon sugar!

Today after a great service at church (in which our pastor finished with an excerpt from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe) we went down to Birmingham to celebrate with the big fam. The kids played SO well together. The had a fun Easter egg hunt and even got to play in the water. (In the cousins picture the girls are all changed out of their Easter finery, and no we did not plan the polka dots.)







HE IS RISEN!

Spring Break 2012

We have had a busy and relaxing Spring Break. Who knew that you could have both!?

We started off the week by meeting our friend Will Flowers at Samford for family pictures. It's been ten years since Brax and I started dating on that very campus, so it was really fun to get pictures done there. It was a gorgeous day and there were no students around, so it was perfect for pictures. These are just a random sampling that Will has put up on Facebook, but we love them and CAN'T WAIT to see the rest!

We got to meet Aunt Katey at Purple Onion for lunch before we went back to PaPa and MiMi's for the rest of the weekend. It's always relaxing there! And Mae and Duke each got to touch their first fish!

On Tuesday the kids and I headed to Memphis to meet Gram, Aunt Sally, Joaquin and Mateo. We stayed at a hotel with an indoor pool. The kids had a blast playing in the pool! Joaquin wasn't loving being in the pool, but he loved splashing and throwing things in for Thomas to find.

We spent the night there and then headed for the zoo. The kids had fun checking out the animals. Especially the dinosaurs (Thomas) and the meerkats (Mae). After lunch Gram, Aunt Sally, Joaquin and Mateo left for Arkansas. Thomas, Mae and I went to see a few more things before I realized that I had left my keys in Sally's backpack. OOPS!!!!!!! They graciously drove back to the zoo and gave them to me we could come home.

Brax took Friday off and we've been here working in the yard. We finished the playset, washed the playhouse and moved it to a new area in the yard, put the pipe in our ditch, trimmed the branches along the fenceline, raked all the leaves off the patio, etc...It's been very productive and relaxing!

Not gonna lie. I've LOVED having a break from school. It's made me really look forward to our BIG break coming up! Only two more months of school and then SUMMER!!!!!!!!

Playset

Well we've finally taken the plunge and gotten a playset (or as Pops calls it, a "Playstation."). When we moved into our house there was already a swingset here left by the last family. It wasn't new, or awesome, but our kids played on it faithfully. With the arrival of Duke in our family, and this crazy gorgeous spring weather we've been having since January, we've been LIVING in the backyard. So, Brax and I found a set on Craigslist and got it. It only took Brax two trips (in the midde of a kidney stone) with the trailer to bring it to our house. And we borrowed three strapping lads from up the street to help us (and by us I mean Brax) to carry it into the backyard.
The kids have LOVED it!!! Mae swings on her tummy for hours, and begs for you to push her if you're out there. Thomas thinks that monkey bars are the most fun thing ever, and has already logged many hours on those. (He has quite the blister on his hand to prove it!) And they fight over the steering wheel like it's actually taking them places. Oh, and Mae calls the Teeter Totter the Tator Tot. Please, no one tell her the real name!

Here's to many many many fun afternoons with siblings and friends!