Bittersweet

January 20th is Martin Luther King Day and so obviously Liam has been learning about Dr. Martin Luther King at school. It makes my heart sing when he comes home from school excited to tell me about what he has learned. There is literally very little in this world that makes me happier. A thirst for knowledge has always been one of my highest priorities for my kids and it's hard to instill. So when I snuggled up next to Liam last night in his bed and he started telling me all about Martin Luther King, my first reaction was elation. Hearing someone so little describe something that is brand new to them but old news to you is amazing. It gives you a renewed sense of awe and you end up really revisiting what happened and understanding all over again why it was so special to begin with.

But here comes the bittersweet part. Learning about Martin Luther King means learning about racism. It means learning there are very bad people out there and America has a very dark past. It's a lot to process for a 6 year old. Some 6 year old's might not even fully try to understand it, but of course mine does. Obviously, he wasn't born into this world knowing about racism and we are lucky enough to live in an extremely diverse community so he has often been in the "minority" as far is race is concerned. He asked me so many questions. He wanted to understand why the brown people couldn't go to school with the white people. He wanted to know why the police used the water hoses on the brown kids. He wanted to see a picture of the man who shot Martin Luther King. He asked about slavery. He asked to see MLK's speech and about Rosa Parks.

I know they have to learn about this stuff. It's important. But it's also a tipping point for me because I can see my sweet, innocent boy starting to learn about this world in ways that he hasn't had to before. He's learning that we aren't all good people and that some people are capable of very bad things. But you know what?  He is also learning that just because some people tell you something is acceptable, that doesn't necessarily make it so. He is learning that for all the bad people, there are very strong and brave people. And I can live with that.

Liam's Birthday Party

I usually have some crazy theme that I have planned on all month for the kids birthday, but this year I decided to copy my best friend and change it up. We had a little pizza get together with family on Friday night. Liam wanted to be able to play Skylanders with his friends and have a Skylanders cake.  On Saturday, we went to wherever Liam wanted to go which ended up being the Museum of Discovery and Science. He got to pick out whatever toy he wanted from Target which was a Hobbit lego set and a Castle lego set. It was so perfect. It might actually be hard to plan a proper party for Livi in February.

 

Liam is Six!

He's grown so much in the past year. Kindergarten will do that to you. He is doing great in school. He is one of the top readers in his class and he's won an award twice for his good character. He loves history and will keep me up at night discussing what he's learned about Martin Luther King or Dizzie Gillespie. Despite his success at school, he's still pretty lazy when it comes to homework. He would never want to skip homework and get a zero, but he is perfectly happy with doing just enough to get a passing grade. I have to push him constantly to do his best. Luckily, he still cares a great deal about not disappointing me so it's not too hard to get him there.

If it were up to him, he would spend every waking hour playing video games. He LOVES the iPad and playing the Wii is the ultimate bribe. He started playing baseball once a week and he is surprisingly good. He really loves it and we're hoping to put him into baseball next.

He adores me and often tells me he loves me more than he loves himself and I adore him even more. He is sweet and protective, sensitive and kind.... and funny. He's getting his own sense of humor which is witty and sarcastic and makes me smile constantly. I would do absolutely anything for that kid.

1. What is your favorite color? green
2. What is your favorite toy? Indiana Jones toy (he doesn't have an Indiana Jones toy...yet)
3. What is your favorite fruit? banana
4. What is your favorite tv show? Ninjago
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? PBJ
6. What is your favorite outfit? my Mickey shirt
7. What is your favorite game? the driving game and Indiana Jones
8. What is your favorite snack? muffins
9. What is your favorite animal? tiger and lion
10. What is your favorite song? the clapping song
11. What is your favorite book? Indiana Jones book
12. Who is your best friend? my whole class
13. What is your favorite cereal? none
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? play baseball
15. What is your favorite drink? orange juice
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? my tiny pillow
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? tiny muffins
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? pizza
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? ninja turtle

 

Thanksgiving

I can't even remember the last time we had Thanksgiving together as a family with all the "kids" in town. It was a nice change. We fried some turkeys, played some games, enjoyed some beautiful weather and stuffed our faces. Success.

Simply Irresistible

Livi is always irresistible, but she is especially irresistible right before bed and right after she wakes up. When she wakes up, she has that glazed look and refuses to talk or be talked to. She also looks especially doughy.

When she goes to bed, it's the exact opposite. She won't let you leave her bed and she insists on talking your ear off in an attempt to stall as long as she possibly can. Just the other night, she talked to me for about 20 minutes about her birthday party plans. Her birthday is 3 months away. But let me set the scene of what it will be like or so I hear. There will 5 balloons. Everyone will have a birthday hat and juice. She will have on a fashion shirt with a purple tutu and rainbow hair. Everyone will have a princess cup with a pink straw. There will be princess gummies and it will be at Monkey Joes. 

New Nephew

He's here! Two weeks early. Isaiah James was born yesterday at around 7:30ish at night weighing in at 7 lbs and 6 ozs. Not much more to say other than he is insanely loved by so many people already and we are all eager to share this crazy journey of life with him! Congrats Josh and Sarah

Halloween

Halloween is getting bigger and bigger every year. As the kids get older (and seem to multiply), the party gets bigger. Thank goodness for Athena and her willingness to be our home base. Girlfriend knows how to decorate for the holidays and her neighborhood is always a great one to go trick or treating in. Although, I am not sure the neighborhood feels the same way about us. Having 10-15 kids run up to your door, pound on it and then crowd around you holding up their Halloween bags can't be the funnest thing... or maybe it is!