Is there Anthing more fun than CrAzY Hat Day?

What kind of mother AM I ?

Today when I picked up Ellie from preschool, her teacher handed me a thick packet of papers. It was Ellie's "kindergarten readiness" evaluation. Everything was checked in the "Yes" column and the teacher commented at the bottom, " Ellie is completely ready for kindergarten. She will do wonderfully next year."
I have to admit, I actually felt proud. She "passed" with flying colors! All the things I have been teaching her...being kind, sharing with others, taking turns, being respectful of her friends and adults, talking sweetly to people...are actually sinking into her. I might actually be getting good at this "mothering" thing. Well, I continued on through the stack of evaluations... I shouldn't have. My bubble got burst.
One of the pages was a written conversation between the teacher and Ellie to see how perceptive she is of her world. The conversation goes like this....

Teacher: When is your birthday?
Ellie: I don't know.
Teacher: What did you do on your last birthday?
Ellie: I had a clown.
Teacher: What does your dad do?
Ellie: He puts braces on teeth.
Teacher: What does your mommy do?
Ellie: She goes shopping!

What??? After everything I do and am, that's how she sees me?! I was heartbroken!

I actually had to ask her myself to see if this atrocity was true!
So I turned to her and said,"Ellie, what do you think I do all day?"
She looks at me like I'm totally boring, rolls her eyes, and says, "You go shopping."
Oh my gosh, it is true! So I probe further, "What do I buy?"
"Vegetables."
And least she didn't say "Shoes!"

Look who's crawling!

Last time I took Jake for a check up, the doctor asked if he was sitting up on his own or crawling. My answer.... Are you kidding me!? If the poor kid is not strapped in the car seat driving his siblings to some form of entertainment, he is being held by his siblings getting entertained himself. The last couple months we've made a family goal to give Jake some tummy time, and it worked! At eight months old, he is officially sitting up and has started army scooting himself around the house. Yea for Jake!

Two Wheeler

Marc tried a new tecnique to teach Ellie to ride a two wheeler. A couple months ago, he took the pedals off her bike, so she has been scooting around Fred Flinstone style for a while now. Last week he put the pedals back on, gave her a little shove, and off she went! So easy! Too bad we didn't know this trick a few kids ago!

Ellie loves Miss Rachel

Our girls have been doing a dance class with our amazing friend and dance teacher extraordinaire, Miss Rachel, at their preschool for many years now. They do recitals twice a year, and the dances they do are always so adorable, but I think this recital was my favorite ever.

Ellie and Miss Rachel

Ellie doing the Lion King Dance

" You are so beautiful to me...."

Marc has been wanting a new motorcycle for a LONG time now. Any of you who know Marc well, know that he take a VERY long time to make decisions. He has been thinking, studying, trying out, contemplating, thinking some more, studying some more about which motorcycle he wanted for at least two years now. He finally decided and purchase one a couple weeks ago. Being the extremely frugal and practical guy that he is, instead of buying the motorcycle all put together, he bought a kit for $2,ooo cheaper and put it together himself. He is in love with it. A couple days ago, I caught him in the garage serenading his bike with "You are so beautiful to me...." Yikes! I have some real competition!