Happy 5th Birthday James!

I love you, my dear boy, and am just amazed that you are five.
Five years of great big smiles;
big, warm, hugs;
hundreds of bedtime stories, silly knock knock jokes and impromptu songs;
hours and hours of Mario on the Wii, the Nintendo and the DS;
a million jars of peanut butter;
a bizillion donuts worth of "I Love You's."

You are a sweet, kind and caring young boy
that is pretty good (most of the time) to your sister;
you do a great job being the "man of the house" when Daddy is on the road;
you never, EVER forget to clear your plate;
you are the best little reader I know
and you stole my heart from the very MOMENT I laid eyes on you.

Happy 5th Birthday, my Love.

XOXO Mommy

No Seriously, I'm Back

Maybe.

That is, if this new life of full-time work, drive the kids back and forth to school, squeeze in laundry and grocery shopping, and oh maybe kiss my hubby once in a while doesn't grind the life outta me.

Well that was cheerful! Aren't you glad you checked in?

Naw, its not that bad. Really its not. The newness has worn off of it though, and while I do still love my job I guess I would say that the bloom is officially off the rose. My company is filled with amazing people doing amazing things but all of that amazingness is REALLY.HARD.WORK.

And it should be, of course. I am working my ASS off. Am I using caps too much, do you think?

Anyhow, now that I have belabored how hard the work thing is, let's talk about home. The kids are doing well. Other than the fact that Ella hurt her arm this weekend and I had to take her to the Doc first thing this morning and he looked at me and said "Do you swing her around by one arm a lot?" At which point I beat him over the head with my bag, grabbed Ella and went screaming from the room. Well, that is what rolled through my head, but instead I calmly answered "No, I do not." Turns out she basically just about dislocated her elbow at some point over the weekend when she fell off of her trike three times and bounced like a madwoman in the bouncy house all weekend long. The actual condition is called "Nursemaid's Elbow." And she is fine. Thank goodness.

James is also doing great--well, except for that he had a fever for three days last week and I tried sending him to school all doped up with Motrin for one of them because I had a REALLY IMPORTANT MEETING which is I am sure exactly how he got sick in the first place, from some other mother saying "Oh honey, here, you're fine, suck down this Motrin and I'll pick you up at 1 when your fever magically appears. " I know. I STINK. Anyhoo. He's fine now, and had a great weekend.

BTW, did you know we have a pool this year? I have never had one and I am so totally and unabashedly psyched about it! Plus, I get to watch Chris be the pool boy and pretend I am sipping a Mojito and my address is Wisteria Lane. He opened it this weekend and it should be all ready to go this Saturday which is his birthday!

Alright, I better stop now, or else you will call the police and ask who took over my body because the Allison you know does NOT write like this on her blog. Let me clue you in--I do, sometimes. It feels darn good, too.

Maybe I'll do it again sometime.

PS Ella fell asleep in my arms tonight while I rocked her and sang her favorite good night song. If I am lucky enough to hold on to those moments in my mind forever I will be happy. I want to be 90 years old, surrounded by my family and remembering the moments when I rocked Ella to sleep and hugged James goodnight and he says "You are the best Mom, Mom, EVER." Truly amazing. My heart is full.

Goodnight.

XOXO

Allison

A Grab Bag Assortment of Photos and Thoughts

Hello? Is anyone out there still reading? I haven't posted for ten days, so if I have lost all of my Bloggy friends I won't be too surprised!

I have been back to work for two weeks now and I have to say, it is thrilling and disconcerting all at the same time. Dropping my little ones at school at 7 in the morning is tough--but when they literally RUN into school and start laughing and playing I have to feel pretty good.

We had some bumps in the road last week--not the least of which was the call I received around 12:30 on Friday letting me know that James had a temp of almost 102. I raced out of work to get him and got to see nap time in full swing for the first time. The kids were all on cozy costs with their special blankies and lovies and favorite stuffed toys from home, backs being rubbed by the teachers--it was a sweet scene. My heart broke a little when I saw my boy, passed out from his fever--but I collected him and then Ella and brought him home and made him comfortable. In times like those it is good to know that you have loving professionals who can take great care of your children!

So work is great for me--I am turning my space at work into the "Un-corporate office" and am filling it up with vintage everything! Books, artwork, even a great repro birdcage that Dad brought down last weekend. I will post pics when I have it completed!

On to the photos of the kids . . . ENJOY! (And hopefully it won't be ten days until I post a again!) xoxo Allison

The Man of the House (this Week)

My boy has been Man of the House all week while his Dad is in Maine for work.

He has taken his job very seriously, watching over Ella and I with great care. What a love!

After I posted this, I saw how the little pic of me in my sidebar is looking at this pic of James. Sweet! The look on my face is the way I feel about him--like I could just eat him up with a spoon!

A Big Day for James!

He got his library card today!


Can you tell how excited and proud he is? I love that he is so excited about reading. That's our boy.

Love you, buddy!

Decorating the Tree

This post is short and sweet! Just pics--I have to run back to getting ready for Saturday! ;-)

Ella Trims Her Very Own Christmas Tree

Of course it's pink!!!


I found these little tinsel trees at the dollar store! The kids picked out their own color of tree (Ella pink, James green) and they also picked out ornaments.


I should have expected that Ella would want to decorate her tree herself. And she did!


The look of concentration is priceless.


She was so busy I think when I snapped this shot she had actually forgotten that I was sitting there.


This is a classic Ella look--this is the expression we see constantly now, especially when she is putting on ALL of her own clothes.


Look at these milky white hands!


"All done, Mommy!!! It's BEAUTIFUL!!!!" Yes it is, honey. And so are you.


Here is James' tree!! The cutest thing was that at the store they were fighting over the one ornament that was left that said Grandpa. I have to find another one!


Every visitor we have had to the house has been immediately dragged by the hand by Ella, to see her tree and James'. These are the moments that I love to remember.

We are getting our real tomorrow. I can't wait! It is going to be a 9 footer!!!!

Enjoy the weekend!

James' First Pre-K Concert at Pre-School for the Arts

James' first pre-school concert was this past Tuesday. His school, the Ellington Pre-School for the Arts hosted the event at a local church. It reminded me of when I graduated from Three Little Bears Nursery School, in a similar church basement.

Here is a look at a couple of his art pieces that were displayed in their art show:



Here he is below, having just found his seat. Does he look excited?


Ella wanted very much to join all of the big kids onstage!


Here is a closeup of him, having so much fun with the performance.


Here they are singing "I Have A Car and Its Made of Tin."



What is it about preschoolers, all dressed up, singing so beautifully that makes me want to smile? I LOVED IT!!


I have a similar picture of myself in the front row of a little recital that we had at my elementary school when I was in first grade. Maybe James will be showing one of these photos to his children!


I especially loved all of the scene design--it was great!


Just look at his smile! I always say that I had to go to college to get my theatre degree--this kid was born for the stage!


What a great time he had! Chris and I were so proud. We love being a part of his new school community, and we are so happy that James has found a such a wonderful place to learn and play!