My 1st Graduation

I rarely post a status on facebook but I did today:
I happy cried 3 or 4 times today because of Maxx. He just turned 4 and "graduated" from preschool today. So proud of him and ♥ him so much. So not used to this! :P

I took preschool graduation VERY lightly. I was late going to school and didn't even bring a camera. I got there and most dads were there and most parents were dressed up a bit. I didn't realize I was the odd (wo)man out until the teacher began to give out diplomas said the sweetest, most thoughtful things about each child. She knew each well and how much they grew up in the class. I was tearing. Then my friend, the class mom, presented the class present to the teacher and was reading our message to her aloud and again, I started tearing. I was thinking about how much she loved Maxx and how much she believed in him and really helped him in the areas he needed help in.

Later at home, he did something that landed him a time out and during our conversation about what happened, I started tell him how proud of was of him again and I started tearing.

Then bedtime came...

me: Look at how B (classmate) is looking at you in that picture. I think she really likes you!
M beaming from ear to ear and eyes barely visible.

me: Did you know that L said she wanted to marry you?
M beaming harder.

me: Do you want to marry L?
M: No, I can't because I'm too little to get married.

me: What about when you are a grown up?
M: No, because I'm going to marry someone else?

me: Who?
M: Umma (mom)!

me : You can't marry me!
M (tearing & hugging me): Why not? But I want to.

me (tearing): Cause I'm going to be too old.
M: I don't want your face to change.

me: Your face is going to be different too! You're going to be a grown up!
M cracking up like crazy.

Then I was laughing out loud too.

Iann is 1!

My handsome little man Iann!

I can not believe you are 1 already. Time flies faster these days than they ever have. First I must thank you for being the easy baby of the family! God really knew how much I could handle and made it all doable. You are such a happy baby. You love to smile and laugh at anything and everyone. You are sensitive, yet still flexible. You eat and sleep so well. And you play so well anywhere, always taking the time to carefully observe things in depth. You make everyone love and want to have babies because of your sweet and adorable behavior. And we can't not mention how you look like me! Well, my side of the family at least. :)

Your first word was appa (daddy), then Ellie, then umma (mommy). You need to learn how to say hyung-ah (older bro) fast though, cause Maxx gets sad when you only say Ellie. haha.

You are our last baby so I love that I was able to really enjoy time with you while you were so little. Life will always be busy but please know forever that you are never last and that you have my love equally. I'll want you to be my baby forever so hope you don't get too annoyed by that and understand how much I love you and how you hold such a special place in my heart.

With deep love,
Umma

Maxx is 4!

Photos by MPark                                                                                                                                    

Dear Maxx.

Happy 4th Birthday! You're such a big boy now! You're in school now, you listen SO much better these days, and you help me so much now too!. Even though you still have the cutest cheeks, you have more of a boyish face, rather than the baby face you've had for so long. You still love to make those you love, laugh. You'll do anything to be funny, even when you're in so much trouble. You're so charming and I know you will sweep girls right off their feet! You remain so particular and your senses so keen! You keep us all on our toes with your amazing memory and knack for curiosity. Ms. Jenny, your teacher, said you're going to be an engineer. Whether or not you are, I pray you do what God's built you to do and what you love...using that engineering brain of yours. BTW, besides your favorite color still being green and your still LOVING buttery popcorn, your current favorite show right now is "How it's made" on the SCI channel. LOL.

You're my big kid so I don't always know what to do but I know I love you so much so I'm always trying my best to be the best mom for you.

And I know that you love me so much. Thank you for loving me so much Maxx.

Your biggest fan,
Umma

33 with 3, 3 and under

Yesterday, I turned 33.
Bah. It sounds SO OLD to me. In my head, I'm about 27 and it's still crazy to me that I have 3 children.

Random thoughts that come to mind about all this.

My new favorite number is three. And I've decided to call my kids Maxxellian or maybe just MEI when I need to call all 3 of them at once.

In general, we take turns and swap between looking after the older two and the baby. Ellie goes back and forth from being included in the "older kids" bucket to the "younger kids" bucket.

We're always counting down at bedtime...1 down, 2 to go...2 down, 1 to go...3 down...collapse.

I literally can't do it without any help. I'll take an extra hand (or finger!) anyday.

People say I don't seem as controlling of a mom as they thought I'd be. (That's a compliment, I think?) But I don't think I was really able to not control things until the 3rd. Up until the 2nd, I could still pretty much control how most things were done in my house. Not anymore.

I'm so tired that I walked into the wall while walking around rocking Iann to sleep. I never fell asleep while walking before.

Simplified meals...enough said.

You learn to do 3 things at the same time....yet I'm still not good at multi-tasking.

I get super excited at the chance of going out. Before it was a nice treat, now it's absolutely amazing.

I don't carry as many things with me anymore. I deal with less "stuff". ie. Not each kid gets a cup. We all share from a family water bottle. No more choice between 2-3 different snacks. Now I carry only 1 and if you don't want it, you can be hungry until the next meal.

Ellie is 2!

Dear Ellie,

I can't believe you're two years old today! These last couple of months, you literally went from a jibber jabbering baby to a big girl who's having real conversations with whoever will look your way. You are SO stinkin' cute that I can't keep from saying it everyday to your Appa. You show your love for me, your appa, oppa and eh-gee so much through your sweet hugs, words, and silly faces. You do the goofiest things and find everything hilarious. You love to share with those around you. And you also like to make sure everything is in it's place and done the way it's "supposed" to be. You like to try new things with caution and care. The littlest things make you happy. You see life very simply and with so much joy.

You're my special girl and I know mother daughter relationships can be hard but I hope we always have a great relationship. I try my best to give you space to learn and be you and also there for you as much as I can. I hope we have a special bond as the only girls in the family. I pray you know and experience God all the days of your life and love to the fullest.

Love you so much,
Umma

Ellie's Cow Party

I decided on a cow theme for Ellie's party.

She loves animals so I picked this one cause she was born in the year of the ox (cow), she loves to moo, and cause black & white is fun and easy, especially with touches of pink. And once I found this free stock photography image, I was sold. Not only was it cute, but it reminded me of school. We had a ton of these cute cow stress relievers that said "Cornell University" on them. So much cuter without.

One of my goals for this party was to spend as little as possible and I think I did pretty good. Of course what ended up happening was I had to make as much as I could with myself using whatever I found around the house. I planned everything out a few weeks before the party but I didn't start doing any of the actual prepping until really, the night before. I'll always and forever be a procrastinator.

So ever since Halloween, my kids have been big on dressing up so I naturally figured to make a simple cow costume for the kids. Thought they would enjoy dressing up. I emailed the moms to bring their kids in white, black or neutral shades. I got headbands as favors from some previous parties and glued on some cow ears. For the cow bells, I used my stash of leftover ribbons from gifts to tie 'em on. The actual bells were the only thing I bought. I cut out a ton of cow spots and just taped those on with packing tape. And lastly, I used the ribbon and whatever yarn I had to make tails. I even put them on the kids with these little clips that came from bags of coffee I buy. I was originally going to use safety pins but didn't want to risk poked kiddie butts. I even had the hubs cut out a fence from cardboard boxes so the kids could stand behind and take a pic but that was a FAIL cause only half the kids wanted to dress up and only for a short amount of time. I guess I was asking for too much.

Either way, the kids looked SO friggin' CUTE! I suck at taking pictures when I'm hosting but I got a few of Ellie.

The second activity for the kids was MOOsical Squares. (I seriously have gotten so corny after having had kids.) Used Spotify for the first time. Love it. And the older sibs were the "finalists". Great job to Miss K for beating all the boys!

The last activity was making your own strawberry or chocolate milk. (No pics of this, boo.) I had the kids decorate clear cups with farm themed stickers and they just mixed the powder or syrup into their milk. Yum. I loved choc milk when I was a kid. Went perfect with the cupcakes too.


I didn't have time to bake so the hubs picked up some regular and mini cupcakes from the local Shoprite. I thoroughly cleaned some farm animals we had and stuck them on and voila! Themed cupcakes. Ha ha ha. This was pretty ghetto but cheap and I just love mini cupcakes for kids cause all they eat really is the frosting anyways.

Huge thanks to "Cookie Emo" for her, once again, amazing cookies. Super cute designs, perfect packaging and even the layout. Sweet ending to our cute lil' party.

Decor was basic. I taped cow spots on the wall, made some flower balloons, and hung some more over the food area. I ran out of time so I didn't get to make a Happy Birthday sign. (Sorry Ellie.)

Kids all went home with their cow accessories (if they remembered) along with a white goody bag that had some farm animal stickers, tattoos and a "make your own farm" activity I made from paper, plastic animals, and a Costco cup. Again, ghetto looking but after talking to the moms, the kids seemed super excited to make their farms and that's what mattered.

BEFORE...

AFTER...

Oh, forgot to mention food. I tried to think of what went with cows or a farm theme and ended up ordering KFC. With three kids, cooking was out of the question...even grilling. I now need the hubs watching at least one kid SO...we went with original, grilled and crispy chicken, mashed potatoes and coleslaw. I also got family size mac n' cheese from Wholefoods, which was pretty yum. And had some corn, grapes and clementines to add a dose of healthy to the menu.

Can you tell Ellie LOVED it all? She loved the attention, wearing the costume, she inhaled the chicken, the cake and cookies...all of it. She was smiling from the moment she came downstairs from her nap...until she went back up to bed. I think she really felt special so it made me and Gunn SO happy. Made my almost all nighter all worth it. And heck, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy most of it.

happy birthday girl + happy friends + cost efficient = Successful party

One thing I regret...the same thing I always regret. I really need to take the time out to take some good pictures. Probably need a better camera too.

Secret Message Bananas

I want to do this when my kids know how to read. And stick 'em in their lunch boxes. Just write on them with a toothpick and after time, the message will slowly appear. Easy peasy and so sweet!

Happy Halloween 2011

                      Photo by Jeff Lee

                       Photo by Jeff Lee

                      Photo by Jeff Lee

You know when you look at a picture of yourself and are surprised by what you see? Because your view of yourself is different from what everone else sees. I think that's what happened when I saw the first photo. This is the first picture of our whole family together. It was a bit of a shocker. I don't think I really get the fact that I have three kids. I see my hubs. I see my kids. I even see the four of them all together. But I've never seen US all together. I know the lighting's not the best, its not in focus, and Ellie's not happy to be taking it but...I LOVE IT. Thanks Jeff! And isn't Iann the cutest monkey ever!

Tonight, Hallelujah Bash (halloween party) at our church was cancelled due to power outages from yesterday snowstorm. I was so bummed until a friend offered to throw an impromptu party. Hosting a handful of families is a LOT of work. She had food for everyone, snacks, treats and multiple activities for our kids all prepared. She's amazing I tell you. Thanks friend for another great time. The kids were so sad in the car on the way home.

Halloween's never much to me. It's probably because I never went trick or treating growing up. But now that I have kids, I really like it. This year was the best one yet. :)

Pumpkins & Snow

This year, I found out that the hubs is all about pumpkin carving. Who knew! I was going to print templates for the faces off the web but he insisted on sketching them himself. Happy surprise. We let Maxx & Ellie remove the seeds and gunk from the insides and then we did the poking and carving. The kids were surprisingly patient. And of course their favorite part was when we lit the candles inside and turned out all the lights.

Then today, I was going to put the pumpkins on the front porch but then decided to stick them on our deck, off the kitchen. I'd rather our family be able to enjoy them than strangers walking by. (My neighborhood isn't much of cozy community.) And of course the kids wanted to play in the grossly wet snow, so I bundled them up and out they went. My house is such a mess right now. I'm so behind in putting away summer things but my laziness actually paid off this time. The water/beach toys were right by the deck door and did the trick.

Now that I know the hubs is into pumpkin carving, I think I want to make a day of it next year and make a display of multiple jack o'lanterns. This means I really have to find a nicer pumpkin patch next year.

Maxx (cocking his head back imitating me laugh): HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
me: You're suck a punk.
Maxx: I'm a pumpkin?

My Sensitive Guy Theory

Timesunion.com

Do you know any sensitive guys? If so, I bet they like strawberry ice cream.
Go ahead. Test it. I have yet to find this to be untrue.

The converse, however, isn't necessarily true. Just because a guy likes strawberry ice cream doesn't make him sensitive. But then again, if your married and/or have boys, you might disagree with me all together and say that all guys are sensitive. Both my hubs and older son love strawberry ice cream. Go figure. :)

BTW, did you know Haagen Dazs shrunk the size of their container from 16 ounces to 14! Everyone's cheaping out these days.