So much to record about these sweeties so little time...this may turn out to be really llllllllloooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggggggggggggg. Consider yourselves warned.

I'll start with Kevin. My #1. He has been working super hard and studying for his yearly OKAPS exam that is coming up this Saturday in every "spare" minute. It makes me realize how much he usually helps out because our house is currently a disaster. He usually is the one good at doing the major purges. I generally try to put most stuff away but am way too sentimental to throw away projects and papers until they are covered in spilled cereal or something. One of his shining moments was building me a garden box one night at 11 p.m. He was hammering away in the garage, as that was literally the only time he could find to do it. As I was "helping" him, I realized "Man, I got me a good one!" Thanks Babe.

On to Jillian, my #2, in birth order anyway. I am constantly finding the cutest little folded, a million times, papers that say things like "I love Daddy. I love Mommy. I love Peter. I love Lucy. I love Me." And oftentimes the list goes on as she spells every name she knows how. All that love in that itty bitty body. She receives gigantic hugs from her two main fans when she gets off the bus. Lucy is starting to understand what it means when we start walking to the bus stop and squeals nonstop the whole way.

Jillian has grown up so much this year. She got a "math wiz" award from her teacher at school and wanted to hang it on our front door. So if you saw a hot green sign on our door for a few weeks, that's what that was. She has made several friends in her class and loves to tell us about them. (It is THE most adorable thing to watch kindergarten girls greet each other. HUGS, HUGS, HUGS. You'd think they hadn't seen each other in years. They get back from the bathroom, they hug. They see each other in the hall, they hug. They hug me, too, now. And I can't even hope to leave the classroom without five girls hugging Lucy. The teachers must have to build it into the schedule.) I think she even has had her first crush on a boy named Khalil. One night she told us "He's so funny." The next day she told us "He's so nice AND funny!" She has also lost her first two teeth. The first one was loose and then she ran into someone's head at school and it fell right out. She lost that one on the bus. She still got a silver dollar and was thrilled. The next one was wiggly for quite a while before her teacher's assistant, Mrs. Warren, yanked it out. I thought that was amusing. As long-time kindergarten teachers, these ladies "do" teeth. They even have a wall you can get your name on when you lose your teeth. Jillian got two quarters from the Tooth Fairy for that one and was even more thrilled:)

Jillian has also started piano and already has a love-hate relationship. Just ask her teacher. Melissa told me that Jillian told her "I don't love the piano." Melissa, experienced as she is, wasn't phased and said "Oh, why not?" Jillian's response? "Because SHE won't let me eat before practicing!" Ouch, I've been reduced to "SHE!" I might as well start asking "Mirror, Mirror, On the wall, who's the fairest of them?". This totally isn't true, bytheway. I would usually let her have a small snack and then practice, and then we'd eat dinner. Anyway, after I heard this report I knew we needed some adjustments. It's also not very fun to get home from a long school day at 4:15, practice your piano, eat dinner and go to bed with little down time. So we've been having her practice in the morning and it's been going great! She is totally self-motivated because it means more playtime after school, and because she helped pitch the idea to Dad herself.

One last Jillian story. She still has the tenderest feelings that can get hurt easily. It's the weirdest mix of emotion when I watch her try and work something out in her head, hold back her tears and then just walk over with big crocodile tears in her eyes. It's so heartbreaking but makes me so grateful that she is still seeking me out. She'll still grab for our hands when we're walking side-by-side. One evening, several months ago now, I was sitting on the couch upstairs for a quick breather after a go-go-go day. She plopped right on my lap, put her head on my chest and said "Mom, I just want to snuggle you." So many times my kids say the wisest things, and they are just what I need to hear. I often feel tugged in multiple directions. I love to be on the go! I thrive on it. But I also feel like in an effort to JUST GO, I miss some of the cuddles and sweet, slow moments that we both need. Her comment was the perfect reminder that just sitting on the couch together is good enough, and sometimes best.

Actually this is the last Jill story. A few months ago, she gathered some pictures of herself and the family. She found a piece of large cardstock that was from some packaging and stapled the photos to it. The next morning she put it in her bookbag and took it to school. I thought it was to show her friends. It turns out she was scheduled to be the child of the week in two weeks (which I never even knew until weeks later). Other kids had made their posters with their parents. I must have missed a memo somewhere along the way but Jillian didn't miss a beat. In fact, I guess she never really knew I was in the dark because she took care of everything way in advance on her own. What a little grown-up. She's a dichotomy, I tell you.

Updates on Peter and Lucy will have to wait. Tomorrow comes earlier and earlier.

Making muscles

Found these from back in the Fall. So sweet.