Foto Finish Friday: 2014 Week 4

Sibling Round of CandyLand

Playing Grocery Store, Packing up ALL their toys

Foto Finish Friday: 2014 Week 3

Playing together in Roddie's "Work Office"

Mid Week Library Visit

Roddie Report: Me Too, Me Too!!

Norah wasn't the only one who got moved up one level in the car seat department - Roddie also got an upgrade, to Norah's old seat.  He was actually more excited than she was with the move!

Norah news; fashionista

I say casually to Norah, wearing this outfit - wow Norah you're really good at fashion to which she responds, "yes, I am"

Norah News: Email!

Norah and my mom started out the year sending each other some email.  I think they both liked it a lot, but it takes Norah about a half hour to compose her reply to Nanny.  So, we're not doing it as much as we'd all like to.  In any case, here's a picture or Norah typing out her reply to Nanny!

Norah News: Car Seat begone! It's booster time

Foto Finish Friday: 2014 Week 2

Foto Finish Friday: 2014 Week 1

A Cold New Years Day at Sandy Beach

Checking out the scene of the Tea Party

Norah News: Such a Big Girl

Norah seems to have hit a new phase lately, and I must say, I like it!  She's really coming into her own as a kindergartener, and growing into new responsibilities.  In reflecting, I think we have tended to treat her and Roddie the same, when we really need to be nurturing different things due to the difference in their ages.  Roddie will do some things earlier, just by nature of being the second child, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't also be challenging Norah.

• She has been exceptionally kind and patient with Roddie over the Christmas break - rarely getting into a battle of wills with him over silly things, looking out for him and really just generally being nice.  We were all off for a week and a half and they pretty much played well together the entire time.  We started talking to her about being "beautiful on the inside" a couple of months ago and it seems like she's really taking it to heart.  Earlier today I pointed out to Roddie what a great big sister he had (within earshot of her) and she informed me that I've been saying that a lot lately :)
• She's also starting to take on making her own breakfast, going so far as to ask for help making an egg sandwich over the holidays.   She did everything herself, from getting things out of the fridge to frying the egg (supervised, of course). 
• I think she'll always have some clothing drama, but she's got a lot better about asking for specific help, rather than just melting down.
• I left her on her own at the house for the first time - it was a couple of weeks ago and she was home sick.  She had just woken up and I had to go pick up Roddie.  I was gone no more than 15 minutes, and she didn't miss a beat.
• She got her first alarm clock from Santa and seems very excited to get herself up tomorrow (too bad I need to go turn if off, since school is cancelled!) 
• She's reading everything in sight, which has lead to a whole new line of questions on most everything!
  She's actually pretty fun to play board games with these days.  I think I now understand why my mom always liked playing board games with us so much, especially over the holidays.  She's starting to figure out simple strategy and her face really lights up when we sit down to play together.
• Friends are starting to play a bigger role in her life.  We went skating with a couple of other families and she was FAR more interested in skating with her friends than with her mom.
• Last, for now at least, is that she was amazing at Christmas. She both fully understood and fully believed and the look on her face, the conversations we had about Santa, were really and truly priceless.  I pray that no one busts that bubble for many years to come!

2013: You're OK after all.

Hey 2013, hope this finds you well.  Sorry I missed getting this to you before you left, but, well, I'm pretty much behind on everything at the moment, so don't take it personally?  If you recall, we got off to a rough start, but I think we really recovered nicely don't you?  I'm still not much for playdates (well, except the kind where you trade kids) but I think we grew together.

The big highlight was the house, of course.  It's hard to believe we actually did it, putting the second story on.  Early on I kinda hated to talk about it, since we'd been kicking this around for so long, but you saw us through and it seems like a distant memory already.  We'll need to work with your successor to figure out what to do with our time and mental energy, but I'm thinking that won't take us too long to sort out.

You hooked us up with some other cool stuff too - last time I was at work, albeit nearly 2 weeks ago, I was feeling pretty good with the situation there.  It's been a lot of churn, as always, but I finally feel like I found my place there.  Glad I stuck around, having regular access to the bazillionaire who owns the joint is pretty cool - thanks for that.

You were great to the kids this year too - after nearly freezing out that first week that is.   They really flourished, living in the camper.  Something about forced independence and what not.  Of course, you had Norah start school this year, which was huge.  The timing was great - she's such a curious sponge and was totally ready emotionally.  Thanks for making sure she made so many new friends - but do they ALL need to have birthday parties??

I must thank for for the end of all forms of disposable waste collection - no diapers of any kind have been used in the new house.  Having Rod transition almost seamlessly was a nice touch.  I also love how you've made him mama's boy this year - the kid tells me he loves me non-stop, but again, I've got a request for your successor - it'd be nice if he could let Matt share the load once in a while also. 
Lastly, 2013, thanks for wrapping it all up with a much needed vacation.  We had some busy time together and those of us that live here in the new house needed some time to recover and reset before we tackle 2014. Good thing too, day 1 was ok, but he's sending us a big-ass storm over the next two days.  Doesn't give me a warm fuzzy, but you turned out ok, so I'll just roll with it.

So, thanks for everything, and enjoy whatever's next for you!  We'll be here if you ever want to visit.