Interview with Jack

Jack is 3 years old.
His favorite color is red/ purple? (I always thought blue and green, but you never know).
His favorite number is 5.
His favorite animal is the elephant.
His favorite food is the hot dog.
His favorite beverage is Cotton Candy Milk from Shatto dairy.
His favorite toy is the choo choo and also hot wheels.
His favorite song is the theme to Thomas and Friends.
His favorite TV show is Peppa Pig.
His favorite movie is Winnie the Pooh.
His favorite thing to do is to play wit toys.
His favorite dessert is chocolate covered bananas.
His favorite flower is a toy flower....ok.

Greta Says...

She is 5 years old.
Pink is her favorite color.
9 is her favorite number.
Leopards are her favorite animal.
Steak is her favorite food.
Chocolate milk is her favorite drink. (especially from Shatto Dairy.)
Novi Stars are her new favorite toy.
Katy Perry is her favorite singer.
Charlie and Lola is her favorite TV show.
Mulan is her favorite movie.
Imagining is her favorite thing to do.
Chocolate is her favorite dessert.
And the red rose is her favorite flower.

The Most Fun in the World

We really did have a ball!  Greta and Jack are thrill seekers and wanted to ride everything they were tall enough for.  Greta's favorite is the Finish Fling...what I like to call the barf barrel where the floor drops out.  Jack liked it, too, but maybe only because Greta did. Poor Derek rode it 5 times in a row with the kids and then passed the torch to me.

We are counting down to our vacation to Disneyland!  Greta and Jack know we are going, but time is elusive to them and they will be surprised because I am going to pack our bags in secret and wake them with news of "today is the day!" And a camera in their face.  

We are going for Jack's 4th birthday.  We chose Disneyland over WDW because I am nostalgic and want them to see the original first.  We are staying at the Grand Californian Hotel where we can walk right out to California Adventure Park and back to our room for dry clothes or a nap.  We made reservations for Jack's birthday dinner at Goofy's Kitchen and he will get a "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" treasure chest full of goodies and a cake.  And, because we also celebrate Big Sister Day, Greta will get a cake, too...and a jewelry box.  It is the happiest place on Earth!

Olympic Hopefuls

She wants me to enroll her in a gymnastics class.  Do you think it will be money well spent?

Jack just wants to do what ever sister is doing....leotard and all.

KinderGreta

Greta's first day of Kindergarten came much faster than I ever thought it would.  I had strange moments in the months prior to it where I would look at her and have tears just roll down my cheeks.  And, she would ask why.  I would laugh them off and tell her she was a little baby  not so long ago, but now that I think about it, it has been a few years.  And there is so much about that time that I don't want to ever forget...and I fear I will because the years ahead will be so busy.  I used to hold her all day. I would just let her sleep in my arms and I would hold her and watch her all day.  And my days became her days more than mine.  For instance, I would fill up the kitchen sink with warm water and bubble bath and let her splash and soak and I would then clean and mop the kitchen floor with her bubbles...and make her laugh with my mopping antics.  It was the only way to do a chore once Greta came.  I would pull warm clothes from the dryer and cuddle her in them.  That was the only reason to finish the laundry.

My days are hers.  And now I share her with some others, and she is ready.

But, the night before Kindergarten she cried like my baby again.  She had fears and said she was scared and wanted to be a baby...And it was my fault.  Her fears were my fears.  So I held her again and told her about how this adventure was perfect for her because her daddy and I had made sure it would be.

And in the morning, her first day of Kindergarten, she woke up with a smile.  She was too nervous to eat breakfast, so we took the extra time to curl her hair and read The Kissing Hand.  No tears, but lots of kisses and love.  She is brave and she is ready and because of that, I am, too.

Into the Deep

Greta is Esther Williams

Jack holds on tightly

Jack

Our pool

I can say in all honesty, that with the unrelenting sunshine and drought conditions this summer, we definitely got our monies worth from swimming lessons.  The kids are at home in the water and we made a splash almost every single day.  We love to swim at the Matt Ross Community Center.  The water is warm and we don't have to worry about sunburns.  We swim and swim until Mamma wants a milkshake from Winstead's across the street.

A New Time

They play downstairs in our playroom as I write this.  They are friends and play sweetly.  Then there is silence as they drift to different corners to find a new toy or a lost toy.  Then the chatter begins again.  These are the sounds I love to hear, especially this morning.

We are on the edge of a new chapter in our lives together.  Kindergarten starts this Wednesday and then Jack begins preschool the following Tuesday.  I had a terribly off weekend and was fighting back tears that are really hard for me to explain.  I guess I am just having a hard time with transition.  I am so very happy that we are at this new beginning, but I don't want to say goodbye to our mornings and our lunches, and non-napping afternoons that crawl toward dinner times and then our crash into bedtime stories and jammies.  These times happen every day and have filled our lives for five years.  But, they won't be babies forever.

We met with Greta's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Dillon.  She came to our home for a visit last Friday and we made brownies and coffee and invited her in to sit and chat.  Greta shook her hand and was shy.  Mrs. Dillon took her up into a hug.  Jack didn't want to be forgotten and told her the story of when he fell off of the monkey bars and hurt his self weel bad buh goh uh an dih ih agaih an wen all dah way! Tah DAH!

We learned all about what Greta's days will be like.  We learned also, that she is in a class of 10 kids, and is one of two girls in the class!  This could be really good, or really bad. I hope the little girl is fond of our Greta.  I know Greta can't wait to be her friend.  Her name is Ivy.  We also learned that a NASA retiree is coming to eat astronaut food with the kids and make space suits with breathing tubes and everything.  We learned that Greta is going to get to make new recipes that we can try for dinner.  And, Mrs. Dillon said a prayer for Greta and her new journey.  It feels good to hear a prayer for your child other than your own.

Even though I have tears, I know in my heart that I am sending her to a loving place, and Jack, too.  And now I get to begin a new kind of parenting.  I get to tidy rooms while they are gone and make after school treats for when they come back.   I remember my mom doing these things for me.  I remember coming home from school and talking about my day, the good and the bad, with a mom that, little did I know, was waiting for just that moment to come.  Waiting for a new after school time with her school kids...I can be this mom...I have been in training for 5 years.