that stage

after inviting the kids' friends to a baseball game with the family last weekend, we realized our family is at that stage.  it's no secret that I've avoided that stage as long as possible.  but work on the house, david's sports time, and an oldest who is the only oldest among her peers have slowly aided in that stage creeping in.  i knew it was only a matter of time before that stage- you know, the one in which extracuricular and social pursuits crowd out weekend family fun- attacked our young family but i was happy to be staving it off.  instead blissfully enjoying Saturdays uninterrupted by anything outside of our nuclear family.  how did i feel about our that stage outing?  i selfishly missed: hand holding; rare, carefree, chit chat away from the stresses of life; and the overall satisfaction of seeking purely celestial pursuits.  however, the kids loved the game enough to last through postgame fireworks which i'm sure would not have happened if left to family-only devices.  simply put, i still remain a bit avoidant and, at best, ambivalent about that stage but i know it's time to embrace it more readily.  but i can't promise it won't be embraced without a little hovering first! 

 

back in may day country

the Hispanic heritage of phoenix didn't lend itself to celebrating European holidays; thus, our first may day (back in may day country) caught me off guard and it was almost forgotten!  a quick paper cone template and a recent impulsive twizzlers purchase saved the day and the stover kids participated in their first may day.  they were absolutely shocked and delighted that the rule is to drop the goodies, ring the doorbell, and run.  kindin was so excited to be acceptably naughty that she fell at least 4 times during deliveries.  and jack was confused about when it was safe to come out of his hiding spot and had to be coaxed back to our house at least as many times.  they had a blast delivering goodies to their neighbor friends!

suspicious mispronunciations

mr kindergarten roundup (seen below) has recently been diagnosed with some hearing loss in one ear. therefore, this summer, we are wading through earwax, nasal sprays, and specialists to problemsolve before he's off to school.  as our only boy, we'd dismissed the feelings that he maybe wasn't hearing us because that's 'just how boys are'...  and we'd even been told the same from his pediatrician.  but there began to be too many mispronunciations (candy sore instead of canker sore, whimpy cushion instead of whoopy cushion, and humpback cars instead of pushback cars) to overlook.  and it seemed he was always trying to guess what we'd just said to him.  there were also frequent uses of the word 'what' as well as an occasional handcup over his ear.  truth be told, his suspicious mispronunciations coupled with his can-do attitude have become quite endearing.  (not to mention that knock out pre- k smile!)

 

 

industrious free time

kindin is now writing mysteries in her free time.  utilizing cam jansen characters (and real life characters), she writes about a repeat offender thief and a mom that says "PHEWF".  when she isn't writing, she's practicing doubling numbers (she can double starting from 2 to 2,048 from memory)!  and when she's outside on the trampoline, she's not just jumping, she's mastering her flip.  her recent industrious pursuits are a unique departure from her usual arts and crafts leisure time (and hard proof that erik erikson was really on to something).  her next endeavor?  she's been begging for computer time to type up her mystery.

 

 

 

 thankfully, despite all her hard work, she still says 'butcept' rather than 'but except' to prove she's not growing up too fast!

happy birthday to me

dalia has been singing happy birthday to you repeatedly since her sister's recent birthday.  it's as if she caught wind that her big day was next in line.  when she woke up, she beamed with excitement as we all said happy birthday to you.  and,within minutes, the words were altered to happy birthday to me! 

her birthday was a rather ordinary day filled with 2 yr old excitements:  chocolate milk for breakfast, decorating flower and kitty sugar cookies, a bubble bath in the jacuzzi, all the gum chewing a girl could want, and trying out her new scooter (aka keeping up with her big brother and sister).

scenes of spring

rainy day earthworms on play skateboards

a dirt- digging boy occupies the garden

early easter morning smiles



apparently....

apparently, dalia has been eyeing more than just the three wheel scooter.  the other day, this not even two year old girl hopped right onto kindin's two-wheeled razor.  AND apparently, she is really good at it!

a funny side note: wind of dalia's achievement quickly made its way to the rather timid 5 yr old neighbor boy still riding on three wheels.  and apparently, his mother has been thanking me since!