Short, But Sweet Visit

He’s young, he’s fun, he’s Unkie!  And he came to visit us and brought a special guest too, his girlfriend, Taylor.  To say the children were excited was an understatement.  They were on cloud nine, waiting in anticipation for days.
 
Alex left in the evening and trudged on through the night, driving the entire time. He arrived at our place at 8am and was able to spend a bit of time with Noelle and Max before they had to head to school.  Of course I made them a promise that I would pick them up early so they could spend extra time with their Unkie. Alex and Taylor were understandably exhausted and went to take a much needed nap while I kept Violette and Zane occupied. 

I picked up Noelle and Max at noon and we came home to grab our guests to take them out to lunch.  The kids chose Steak N’ Shake as their destination lunch.  How can you go wrong with shakes and burgers? After lunch we spent the afternoon relaxing and enjoying our limited time with Alex and Taylor. 
Then it was time for Noelle’s music class performance.  We are extremely lucky to have a very engaging and talented teacher in our school.  The children put on an incredible performance each year and this year was special since Unkie was in town to come and Noelle had a small speaking part.  This year’s theme was Pirate songs and all the children dressed up.  It was an adorable performance!

There was a big moment of pride as she stood up there and conquered a huge stage freight fear and spoke her line clearly for everyone to hear.  There were tears and declarations of backing out, but we encouraged her and ignored the tears.  We suggested she practice so that she would be comfortable with her lines.  She refused at first and sank to a sulky proclamation of self deprecation.  Again, it was ignored and soon she was found practicing on her own, smiling in the mirror.  By the time Monday night rolled along, there was no talk of fear or nervousness, she was ready.  As she stood up there this proud mama smiled and even had a few tears enter my field of vision.

At home Unkie and Taylor helped with bedtime routines and enjoyed a large dose of very effective birth control!

We were sad to see them go Tuesday morning, as the visit was too short.  We were all very thankful they came and can’t wait for the next visit!

Sweet Violette Turns 5!

Miss Violette Adelle has turned five years old.  Not enough nice things can be said about her.  I could gush for paragraphs upon paragraphs of her genuinely sweet and kind personality.  She is always there to help me clean, fold laundry, and do most chores.  I don't have to ask her to help, she is automatically volunteers.  She is the first one to make her bed, brush her hair and teeth and get dressed most mornings.  Violette helps to keep Zane entertained, coming up with imaginative games and fun activities.  She loves to practice writing and reading and thrives on learning.

Violette loves to put on makeup and do her hair.  She is constantly asking me to curl her hair and apply sparkly eye shadow and lip gloss.  Keeping colors in the light pink family, I happily oblige her requests.  Many afternoons I can find her quietly going through my makeup drawers, looking at all the different colors and asking about eyelash curlers and mascara begging me to use them on her.  She loves setting up shop next to me and putting on her own makeup as I apply mine.  We talk about girl things and blot our lipstick together.  She is truly my little sidekick!

90% kind and sweet, there is a little sour side in there!  She is a quiet retaliatory little one , striking with scratching and behind the back punches.  She then runs away and continues her innocent act for any onlookers.  No one would ever suspect her.  I am onto her game and she will soon fess up and bat her long eyelashes at me and apologize.  Some times she throws her innocent act to the wind and stomps off  to her room, slamming the door ferociously.  She will eventually come up, coyly apologize and proclaim, "I'm done with my tantrum now.".  This side of her makes me smile inside, as I am reassured that she can handle herself and will not be walked over.

To celebrate this momentous occasion of turning 5, we were blessed to have all three Grandparents come over!  We were even able to snap a picture of all seven of them during a lovely Saturday afternoon stroll:

The children soaked in all the attention from the Grandparents and had a wonderful time. Of course we also enjoyed cake and ice cream to celebrate!

 Note Zane stepping on Noelle in above picture :-)

Happy 5th Birthday to my beautiful princess, Violette Adelle.  May the next year be filled with much growth and happiness! 

Cousins

Our first overnight guests came in on Saturday evening.  Aunt CC and Maizey braved the snow and headed in to Adrian.  The four kiddos had been counting down the days for the last week.  Every morning Zane would wake up and ask, “is today the day Aunt CC comes?”.  He was beyond excited for the visit, as we all were. 

Haircuts, Barbie’s, toys galore, they all had a great time.  Violette and Max were especially kind and loving toward Maizey and helped her whenever she needed.  They encouraged her, and played with her.  Noelle is kind of over little kids and her kindness was only seen in short bursts throughout the visit.  Zane was more or less indifferent and did his own thing without involving Maizey too much.  In the end they were sad to see her go, and look forward to the next visit with their little cousin.

  

All five of them:

Favorites

Wow, it’s been a great while since I have done our Favorites post.  Zane was just a little guy then.  I ask the children these questions and write down, verbatim, what they say. 

Noelle Rose (Age 8):

Favorite Food:  Cake and salmon

Favorite Toy: My Breyer Horses

Favorite Friend: I have a ton, Ella, McKenna, Emma, and some more

Favorite Color: Green, purple and white

Favorite Animal: Horse and dog

Favorite Object: Special puppy and night nights

Favorite Movie/TV: Horseland and Frozen

Favorite Book: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

When I grow up I want to be: A dog breeder and a veterinarian

What is something that makes our family special?: We just moved

If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?: Go ride horses and not go to school

Where is your favorite place in the whole word?  Horse camp and home

*Noelle continues to excel at school, but has a hard time getting motivated to go in the mornings.   She now has a friend that lives directly across from the new house and is always playing with her.  Noelle continues to love reading and talks back a lot!  She is obnoxious and extremely silly at the most inopportune times, but has a gentle kind side that we see very frequently and overshadows everything else.  For the 100th day of school they had the children write what they would do with a hundred dollars and Noelle said she would give it all to charity to buy food for those who couldn’t afford it.  This melted my heart and once again reminded me how thoughtful and caring she truly is. 

 

Maximilian Charles (Age 6):

Favorite Food: Cheese pizza

Favorite Toy: Leonardo sword

Favorite Friend: Luke and Zane

Favorite Color: Red 

Favorite Animal: Cheetah

Favorite Object: Fluffy Max

Favorite Movie/TV: Transformers

Favorite Book: Ninjago

When I grow up I want to be:  Hockey player and a police officer 

What is something that makes our family special?:  How we love each other

If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?: Play tricks on people and skip school

Where is your favorite place in the whole word?  Splash Universe

*Max has struggled with the move.  He is constantly crying and not wanting to go to school or ride the bus anymore. Since this is the biggest change he has had to face, clearly he doesn’t handle it well.  I continue to encourage him and just ignore the negativity.  He will eventually get used to this new routine, and I am seeing an improvement as the weeks pass.  He continues to thrive in school, listening very well, following directions and learning to read.  His confidence in himself is lacking and he acts surprised when he can actually finish a book without help!  Max loves to be outside, cold doesn’t seem to bother him and he lights up when he dresses in snow pants and heads out the door.  Usually lasting the longest in the bitter temperatures, he fights to come in.  He is enjoying his time at in the new house, with all of us, playing constantly with Zane and Violette.  They are always bickering, but that is what siblings do. 

Violette Adelle (Age 4, almost 5):

Favorite Food: Bacon Bites

Favorite Toy: Fairies

Favorite Friend: Brennen West

Favorite Color: Purple

Favorite Animal: Cyrus

Favorite Object: Martha (stuffed dog) and night-nights

Favorite Movie/TV: Caillou

Favorite Book: Princess Book

When I grow up I want to be: A vet

What is something that makes our family special?:  We moved 

If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?: Tickle people

Where is your favorite place in the whole word?  Chelsea Tree House

*Oh, my little “squinks” as we call her.  She is such a joy, constantly helping out, showing a great range in of independence, willing to try to do most everything on her own.  She is quick to sense when a hug is needed and frequently gives a huge squeeze at just the right time.  She leads Zane in play and helps him with whatever he needs.  She is a lover of cereal, choosing to eat it for every meal, and capable of pouring the milk and box by herself completely.    Although a huge sweetheart, when she doesn’t get her way a random explosion of temper occurs and can last for an extended period of time.  They are very infrequent, but grand when they do come to the surface.

 

Zane Michael (Age 3):

Favorite Food: Toaster Strudel

Favorite Toy: Lego’s

Favorite Friend: Max and Well (Noelle)

Favorite Color: Orange

Favorite Animal: Horses

Favorite Object: Hersey Kiss (stuffed animal)

Favorite Movie/TV: Hulk (Lego Super Hero's)

Favorite Book: Fairy Books

When I grow up I want to be: I want to grow up to a LIZARD!

What is something that makes our family special?: We Tooted

If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?: Um, I would hide under my bed

Where is your favorite place in the whole word?  The new house!

*Right now Zane is obsessed with Lego’s.  He is constantly taking on and off the body parts of the different guys and interchanging them every few minutes.  As far as the comment about wanting to be a Lizard, it is the character from a Spiderman cartoon.  Zane is drawn and usually wants to be the “bad guy” from any show he watches.  He’s drawn to the Evil side of things.  Zane plays well with his siblings and even better on his own and is known around the community as a little “monster”.  He growls loudly at random people and shows his imaginary claws whenever a stranger approaches.  Yep, a monster!  He is loud, very loud, and very entertaining!