Okay, okay – I apologize to my one loyal blog follower for
my absence, but you know – life! The kids are out of school now so my days
consistent of entertaining them, playing referee, cleaning up the messes, and
then school all night and studying after that.
The days very were much the same when they were in school, but I got a
few kid free hours of studying done in the morning before they got out at
noon. I figured I should get one more
update done before my “babies” turn 6 though.
I cannot believe they are almost 6 years old… time is flying by!
Sometimes I see those Facebook and Instagram posts where the
parents seem to just be “winning” at keeping the kids busy and finding unique
experiences and the mom guilt kicks in hard.
I used to plan out a lot of crafts and activities at home. I used to sit down and play with them for
hours. I used to be more diligent about
monitoring screen time. I used to keep up with the cleaning and the laundry. This feeling doesn’t only apply to my life as
a mom, I am letting myself down too. I
used to read books for enjoyment and not an assignment. I used to have time to run. I used to get a decent amount of sleep!
School is out in just a few more weeks and then I intend to join the full-time
working class again, so we will adapt to a new normal. I have to remind myself
that change and growth are a part of life.
I will likely never feel like I am doing everything that I could be
doing, but I need to remind myself that whatever I am doing is enough. The kids are healthy and happy and busy and
not missing out on anything. I am going
to school to better myself and better the future for them. We will make it through- and have some fun
along the way.
Landon doesn’t meet a stranger. He talks to every adult and child that we
pass. Riley is a little bit shyer and will find her way to hold my hand if she
feels “nervous.” It doesn’t take her
long to warm up though and she will soon be talking your ear off. We had a decision to make with them starting
Kindergarten next year about keeping them in the same classroom or
separating. We talked it over with their
preschool teachers, the Elementary school principal, and them. They decided they wanted to be separate and I
think it will be for the best. They have
two completely different learning styles and being in the same classroom may
cause a challenge. Landon seems to “get
it” a lot faster when we are working on things which increases her frustration
level with not understanding. I think
she will be more comfortable without the constant comparison of her brother
right next to her. Overall, they do get
along well with each other and support each other and play together. Like typical siblings though, they have their
moments where they want to be alone.
Landon loves blocks and Legos and following directions to
build things, but he also likes to be creative with his Legos. He is constantly using his imagination and
having conversations with his toys. He
loves to tell jokes and shout out the word “banana” and random times. He laughs hysterically at himself which then
in turn causes everyone around to laugh – so he thinks he is quite the
comedian. He has an amazing memory and
will ask me questions about things that happened several days prior. He asks a ton of questions, mostly he tries
to figure out how everything around him works.
I answer them all to the best of my ability, but it can be challenging
to keep up. He loves to watch Sid the
Science Kid and Word World. He is really
working hard to learn to read and sounds words out all of the time. He uses his letter robots to spell words and
then will bring them to me and ask if he spelled it right. His favorite book is The Very Hungry
Caterpillar as he can “read” it to me with a little help from the
memorization. I am very excited to see
him flourish in Kindergarten. He loves
his time in Preschool. Both teachers
told me that they would miss Landon and Riley the most, yet also informed me
that if they were every not there for the day Landon and Riley could easily
“direct” the class. He is showing a lot of progress with his handwriting and
his math. He loves to do math! He likes
to play games on his tablet that involve equations and is very proud of himself
when he figures things out. He likes to
sing and dance and just generally be the center of attention. He wants to see people smile and is willing
to put himself out there in order to get it done. He is very loving and sensitive and doesn’t
like it when he feels excluded from a game.
He is always looking out for Riley and wants to help her and make sure
she is happy too. My biggest area of
challenge with Landon is food. He does
not like to eat and has a very small list of preferred options (grilled cheese,
pop tarts, cereal, chocolate milk). He
also takes a very long time to eat a small amount of food. His little world will be rocked when he is
only given 25 minutes to eat in Kindergarten. He did make the adventure into organized sports this spring and found a love for baseball. He enjoyed his time on the field and is pretty excited for the next season.
Riley is non-stop.
She runs everywhere she goes and she has the bruising to show for
it. She loves to sit down and cuddle,
but she does not sit still! She has recently started coming in to our room
every single night about 3:15am asking to sleep with us – and during that time
she is all over the place making our king bed feel like a twin. She is not as quickly social as her brother,
but she will warm up to you if you give her the time. She is shy to begin with in social settings
and will hide behind me. She has a
little bit of a higher anxiety level and prefers to have a stuffed animal with
her in new social settings. Once she
knows you though, she will love you.
Animals remain her absolute favorite and the only thing she has asked to
have for her birthday is a hamster. She
has been “studying” how to take care of one and has demonstrated to me that she
knows the rules that will be in place regarding not removing the hamster from
the cage without permission – so looks like we will be getting a hamster very
soon. Riley loves to eat anything and
everything – at this point she is about 10 pounds heavier than Landon. Her favorite food remains cheese and anything
that involves cheese. She likes the
independence of being able to get snacks on her own and has also mastered the
art of cleaning up after herself after she spills while getting said
snacks. She loves to sing and dance and has asked to do dance again next year. She felt so special getting dressed up for her recital and receiving flowers. She wants to help me all the
time – sweeping floors, putting laundry in the washer, wiping the counter. She will follow me around all day long
looking for a way to help. I should be
super grateful, but honestly, it is sometimes challenging to add her “help” as
it makes the task longer. Everyday when
I have to leave for school, she tells me that she does not want me to go – and
it breaks my heart a little. I only have
a few more weeks of school left, but then I plan to join the full-time
workforce again (first time in 4 years!) so it will be a transition for us
all. Her favorite TV show is Puppy Dog
Pals or Pink-a-licious. She names all of
her animals and dolls. Her current doll
of choice is named Froggy Chiffon, but she also loves her Jesse doll (and
unfortunately that one is a bit creepy as the head has broken off). Riley is finally gaining comfort with her
skills when it comes to writing and came a long way during the last school
year. She loves to write and draw – no piece
of paper is safe. I think she is ready
for kindergarten as well and she was the one that requested that they be in separate
classrooms next year. The Hubby and I
have agreed to that one as I think it will be food for them to have some alone
time and they have completely different learning styles. The challenge will be when it comes to
friends and being invited to parties, but we will cross that bridge when we get
there.
It has been forever since the last update, so there are a
ton of pictures that I could include.
We
have been to museums, craft times, building at Home Depot, splash pads,
swimming, movies, shopping, the aquarium, Carowinds, and about 1000 other
things.
We have traveled to Gatlinburg
and back to Illinois for Easter to visit family and just went camping this past
weekend.
These kids lead a busy life
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| She loved it! |
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| He wasn't as comfortable.... |
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| Home Depot building |
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| Schiele Museum |
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| His "dinosaur" egg |
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| Visiting Uncle Patrik at Dairy Queen |
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| See Saw in Uptown |
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| Carowinds for Mothers Day |
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| Add caption |
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| I gave them a Best Friends necklace for graduation.... |
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| Riley and another animal... |
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| I have about 700 pics like this on my phone... |
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| Waiting on fireworks |
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| Didn't want to make his bike "messy" with decorations |
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| Touring uptown on scooters! |
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| No fear! |
We
are also in full swing with all of our activities. Riley is still
taking dance lessons weekly and they are both in tumbling as well.
Landon has joined the Cub Scouts and Riley has joined the Daisies. They
love to play outsides with the neighbors - when it isn't so hot. I
recently got them some EZy Rollers and Landon has gone out every night
since to play with his "chair on wheels." In the house, Landon loves to
play with his Legos. His current toy of the moment his a Charmander
that my parents built with him at Build a Bear and it has started his
affinity for Pokemon. He has a beautiful imagination and will "find"
Pokemon everywhere we go. I am afraid to introduce him to that Pokemon
Go game as I feel like I would never have possession of my phone again,
but at the same time I want to see the joy on his face in seeing the
Pokemon in "real life." Riley loves to draw and play with her Princess
Barbie dolls. Currently, the new favorite in the house for both of them
is Mario Cart on the Nintendo Switch. It is requested nightly when we
walk in the door from school, so I usually will let them play for a
little bit as some down time. 
Our
biggest adventure over the last month was DISNEY WORLD! We have been
planning this trip for many moths now, but we didn't tell the kids about
it until we literally an hour away. It was an amazing experience and i
loved getting to see their faces as they met some of their favorite
characters. As we finished one of the first rides we went on, The
Little Mermaid, Landon ran out screaming "This is Amazing!" We walked
into the Magic Kingdom on the first day with zero wait for them to meet
Micky and Minnie and I could not have planned a better entrance into the
week. We had a few rough moments along the way - Landon became sick,
but we pulled off an amazing trip for them and it was actually pretty
thrilling for us as well. For me, there is nothing better than seeing
the look of amazement and joy on their faces. Riley got a princess
makeover and we went back into the Magic Kingdom for the firework show
at night with her dressed like Princess Jasmine. The smile on her face
as everyone called her Princess made my day. Landon was able to build
his his very own droid. We took them to a character breakfast and they
got to meet some of their favorite characters from Disney Junior. I
definitely think we picked the right age to go as they are still talking
about it and I am hoping that memories were made that will last a
lifetime.
Landon and Riley continue to grow and change before my eyes on a daily basis. Being around so many other kids at school has "broadened" their vocabularies in interesting ways. Riley informed me yesterday that something was "cray cray" and I didn't quite know what to say back. The Hubby loves it when we catch her singing some top 40 song from the backseat also. Riley continues to eat everything while Landon is still cautions, but he is improving. I think school lunch has a hand in that as he comes home and tells me everyday what he eats and since they have such a short lunch period we have also seen some improvement in him eating faster! Overall, nothing new to report - just getting used to the new "normal" in our house and I wouldn't change a thing - except maybe a little less arguing between the kids. ha ha.
