February 6, 2009 - Sarah's 6th Birthday

I helped out in Sarah's class yesterday (her b-day) and she thought that was pretty special. I brought some treats for her to pass out to the kids in her class. The funniest thing was that as soon as we walked into the classroom, several of the children started wishing her a happy birthday and she looked up at me surprised that they would know that, until one of the kids reminded her that she's been telling them everyday for the past week that it was going to be her birthday on Friday. She is such a character.

This is Sarah with her Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Feltz.

We played it pretty low key. I wasn't too excited about having a bunch of kids over for a party in our apartment, but we did invite a few families over for cake and ice cream so that was nice. So here's some video footage of singing and blowing out the candles.

She is such a sweetheart. I love you, Sarah! Happy Birthday!

Now you see it...

Now you don't!Right after I posted that Sarah had her first loose tooth, I looked over and it had fallen out and she was holding it in her hand. Now she can't decide if she wants to give it the tooth fairy or not. She keeps asking how much she pays. Is that a bad sign?

Back to being a single mom...

Thought I would post some recent photos of the kids. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. We sure enjoyed having Shawn around full time for a whole month. Shawn started back to school on Monday, so it's back to being a single mom. I love it though. The kids and I do have a lot of fun, and it helps to have a routine to follow.

Some exciting news though: Sarah has her 1st loose tooth. She asks me at least 20 times a day when I think it will come out. That's driving me a little crazy.

And Jacob is potty training and doing really well (don't worry, I won't include a picture of that). I've had 2 kids in diapers for almost 2 years and I can't tell you how nice it is to only have one now.

Nutracker Ballet

We had a girls afternoon with my mom, sisters and our daughters on Saturday. We went to lunch at a Mexican place downtown and then went to the Northwest Ballet production of the Nutracker Ballet at the Washington Center in Olympia. We had a wonderful time and my favorite quote came from Claire immediately following the show, "That was WAY better than last year." After which Liz whispered to me, "It was exactly the same." I hope we can make this an annual Christmas tradition.

Grace's must have accessory...

For the last couple of days, the first thing she wants to do when she wakes up is put on her sunglasses. And she pretty much keeps them on all day. I have to insist that she remove them to sleep, and she gets very upset about that. Do I really have to endure another drama queen daughter? Thanks a lot, mom.

I have the best sister in the world

That's right! Mine is the best! I was up visiting my folks for a long weekend and my sister Liz was over with her family and could see that basically being a single parent is starting to wear on me. I don't think I was necessarily complaining, because I really try not to, but it does get hard sometimes without a break. So she offered to keep my two younger kids for the rest of the week and then we planned to meet up halfway on Friday so I could bring them back home.

And can I just tell you it was really a life saver. I had over 3 hours to myself in the morning after I got Sarah off to school, which meant I was able to shower every day and I even read a couple of books. And then of course dealing with one 5-year-old is a bit easier then all three kids. We were able to have some fun too. On Wednesday, after I picked her up from the bustop, we packed a lunch and went down to the law school and had lunch with Shawn. Then we went to see High School Musical 3 (confession: I really like those movies, and luckily Sarah does too). The coolest part was that we were the only ones in the theater, so Sarah got to dance in the aisles during the songs. It was so fun!

Anyway, Liz I can't thank you enough for your love and generosity. You're the best!

Happy Halloween!

I wasn't very good about taking pictures over the weekend of my kids in costumes, trick-or-treating and all that jazz (Halloween is one of those hit and miss holidays for me - I have to be in the mood for it), but here is a little song about pumpkins performed by Sarah. Take care everyone!