Noticing the little things

A few things of note about Johnny.


1. He is an active boy and does not fear head wounds. He hurls his little body over obstacles, convinced that he'll come out alright on the other side. This exasperates his parents (he's already had stitches once; no desire for a repeat on that one), but you do have to admire his pluck and stamina. 
2. He is a builder. Loves to construct Geotrax and Thomas train tracks.
3. He is surprisingly coordinated. Always a physical fellow, John really enjoys riding his little trike in front of the house. He easily gets on and off, pushes with his feet, and drags it by the handlebars if a hill is too big for his little legs. I never have to carry his bike unless it's time to go inside, in which case I usually carry the bike and a very resistant boy.
4. Just noticed this one today while playing cars with Johnny. He is quite meticulous. He was picking cars up from a pile and sending them down a Little People ramp. He would twist his little wrist as he picked up the vehicles so that as he placed them on the track, each car was facing forward to go down the ramp. I thought it interesting to note the seemingly effortless coordination he applied to accomplish this small feat.

The line-up

Taking the time today to notice some of the little things I love about you, John-John.

Through Spencer's Eyes...

S and E are at school, and John is trucking around the main level with a lego horse going, "Neigh!" and stopping intermittently to pretend feed it from his plate at the little table or have it gallop up and down the piano keyboard.

I am going through school papers in an attempt to sort through the piles that inevitably multiply in the kitchen over a busy weekend. Here's a transcribed gem from Spencer that must be recorded.

All About My Mom!
My mom is nice.
She has blue eyes.
She is 6 feet tall. (Wow!)
She weighs 600 pounds.  (Really??)
She is 30 years old. (31, but I don't mind that he stopped counting.)
Her favorite food is mint chocolate ice cream. (Right on, kiddo!)
She likes to read. (Yes, I do!  Every snatched minute I can.)
She is really good at keeping track of stuf. (sic)
I help her cook. (And I love it when you do. Spence is an expert salad-maker. He also sets the table as his family job.)
My favorite thing about my mom is she gives me presents at christmas. (I love that, too, Spence.)


Such a gem.

He also made me a cute portrait where I am bald but wearing a hat. Underneath the hat is a writing assignment, which goes like this:

Dear Mom,
I love you because you make dinner for us every night.

There was more, but it got erased so it could fit under the hat. SUPER cute. I got some sweet cards on Sunday from Spencer, Emma, and John after church. S and E had "love you because you make dinner" as a recurring theme. I'm glad they get the message that I do these daily tasks because I love them.


John is getting rocks out of one of the planters, and I can tell by smell that it's time to change a diaper. That's all for now, folks. Time to get back to mothering.

Mother's Day 2012

This Mother's Day, I was treated to breakfast in bed. In keeping with tradition, the whole family joined in for the feast.  I had stirred a bit too early and was sent back upstairs to await the presentation of the breakfast, but that ended up fitting the script for the morning; Emma had searched the bookshelves for Fancy Nancy's Marvelous Mother Day Brunch (which we last read months ago), and our morning mirrored theirs quite nicely.

 Spencer and Emma picked flowers from the garden to place on the tray. This was Spencer's idea, and he and Emma executed the plan while Adam was making the cinnamon rolls.

The two smaller vases are full of their findings. The larger bouquet came special delivery earlier this week along with a beautiful note from my amazing hubby.

The note reads:

Easy to love this man of mine. Since I was quickly shooed out of the kitchen this morning, I couldn't snap a photo of the activity going on there, so Fancy Nancy will have to suffice.

Emma came up to keep me company while we awaited the breakfast presentation. While we waited, she insisted on getting fancy and showed me the pages of her book to demonstrate her meaning.

Emma got all dressed up in her Sunday dress, paired it with a headband and insisted that we could not begin until she had her ring in place (a recent acquisition from Friday's wellness visit to the doctor where she got a shot, a finger poke, and 2 prizes for her endurance).

Fancy Nancy's mother couldn't have been happier than I was this morning. It was a picture perfect way to start Mother's Day.

Surrounded by the people I love.

I really did feel special today. 

Sweet Spencer served the cinnamon rolls.

And a BIG thank you to the man who made this day possible. I love being a mother with this father by my side. 

Library Day

I love the peace, the quiet that comes on a ride home from the library. These two book lovers were completely absorbed in new literature for a time, at least. John was initially captivated by a Virginia Lee Burton book, "Choo-Choo" while Emma was focused on reading "Samantha's Surprise" from the American Girl series.

Johnny turns 2!

My little Bubby turned two years old.  (Below he demonstrates both ways of holding up two fingers. Most often he goes for the "gun" approach as seen on his left hand, but he surprised me by pulling out the traditional method on the right just before I snapped this photo. His shirt reads "I'm two...you've been warned!")

He's a Cinco de Mayo baby, and we started the day with a party in true Adam and Marie Wride family fashion: breakfast in bed. Long ago, we decided that it is far too lonely to eat breakfast alone in one's bed, so we have made it a family event. The birthday boy (or girl) gets to sleep in while others rise early and prepare a breakfast tray. Then we all sneak upstairs, light some candles, and waltz into the bedroom with a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday to you!" It's a great way to start a birthday.

With Spencer and Emma's birthdays being just before John's, he was well-prepped for this family tradition. As soon as we were within range, he blew out his two candles, and we feasted on homemade cinnamon rolls, eggs, and yogurt - lightsaber Gogurts to be exact.

The remainder of the celebrating we put off until today, Sunday, when we invited extended family to join us for a birthday dinner, cupcakes, ice cream, and presents.

We had a special stake meeting today for church, and during that meeting John asked me repeatedly to draw "Neigh! Neigh!" This is a regular occurrence, and I responded by drawing the same line drawing of a horse all over the photocopied hymn paper provided to those of us who sat in the hard metal chairs at the back of the gymnasium. John loved it. On a whim, I thought it might be fun to arrange the cupcakes in the shape of a horse and decided to pipe that same line drawing over the top of them. Cupcakes make an unforgiving canvas, and I am no artist to begin with, so here's what I came up with:

My mom asked what it was.

Celeste offered to let me in on a cake decorating class she plans to take.

I had to explain to John that it was a horse. "You know, John, 'Neigh!'"

Cake decorating fail, but at least the cupcakes themselves were a hit!

John blew out the candles as soon as they reached the table and before we had finished singing. We relit the candles, so the two year old got to blow them out twice. Here's a photo of the second round. Love that Spence is ready "help" little bro, but Emma the enforcer has things well in hand.

After that, it was time for presents. We convened to the family room, and the kids saw to it that the traditional present-opening chair was in place. (Not sure how that became a tradition, but S and E felt that was very important for their present-opening last week and let us know it.)

Heavy, heavy hang over thy poor head...

What do you wish this person with a bump on the head?
*This fun little tradition came from Adam's family. It gives the receiver of the gifts a chance to offer kind wishes to the giver.

Birthday wishes from Johnny:
For Grandma - ya (love)
For Grandpa - ball
For Laura - choo choo
For Grammy and Papa - wawa (water)
For Aunt Janet - happy
For Mom and Dad - kiss
For Uncle Joel - nigh-nigh

John is sure happy with his: Thomas the Tank Engine train set, Thomas book, college/mission money, swimmer's robe, Chuck the talking/moving truck, doggy book, lift-the-flap book, life jacket, alligator stuffed animal, and Jr. Mints. John-John sure loves being in this awesome family.

Thank you for coming and sharing in the festivities.  John was thankful in his nighttime prayers for each of you by name (with a little help from Mom so we didn't forget anyone).

Size Matters Not

This morning, we are off to distribute flyers for a local food drive. I encouraged Spencer to put on his running shoes instead of Crocs, to which he responded, "I'm actually glad you asked me to put on my running shoes, so I can show you how fast I've become. I've really improved." (The "p" in "improved" reminds me of Daffy Duck. Hard to talk with two front teeth missing.)

 Then he launched into a discussion of who the fast runners are in his class, and Emma joined in.

S: A__ is the fastest runner in my class.
E: Is he the smallest one who came to your birthday party?
S: Yes.
E: How can he be the fastest if he is the smallest?
S: Size matters not. Emma, it's like Yoda. He's the smallest, but he's also the best.

 So you see, Star Wars has an explanation for everything.

 *Of note: we most definitely did make light saber noises while cutting into our General Grievous pizza last night. John ate voraciously, consuming three of the four extremities: two jowls and an ear. Spencer said it was the best dinner ever made in Loudoun County. Today, Spencer and John were running around as clone troopers (in a new costume Spence got with some bday money), and Emma had a jedi robe on. We have celebrated Star Wars day in fine fashion. Love embracing the passions and interests of these cute kids!

Picture proof:

May the Fourth be with you

I am blogging using an app on my iPhone. We shall see if this helps me keep a little more current.

Here is how we are celebrating Star Wars day. A little General Grievous pizza, idea from Recipe Shoebox. Happy May 4th!