Dear Tressa

I don't have just one big girl, but I have TWO! I can't win for losing, can I?! Why can't you stop growing up??? I remember when I couldn't wait to grow up and be where I am now... Why can't you NOT want that?! Please?

You weigh 40lbs. and are 44" (3ft. 8½") tall. Exactly two pounds and one inch more than your sister. You wear a size 11½, sometimes 12 shoe, and a size 5, almost 6 pants, and a size 5 shirt.

You, unlike your sister LOVE to take a nap. Just like your momma! :-D On the rare day that you don't take a nap, you love to play house with your sister and even Joseph. Unfortunately, your absolute favorite thing to do during quiet time is suck on your thumb with your blankie. Thankfully you don't have to have the blanket or suck your thumb at all times... just when you're bored. Mostly when you're watching TV or going to sleep. It's been quite the experience trying to get you and your sister to quit. The blankets are allowed in the living room until you're seen with a thumb in your mouth and we've tried educating you in as simple terms as possible the effects of sucking your thumb can have and still you insist. I should have known this would happen when we saw you sucking your thumb in the sonogram.

You're a nonstop chatterbox! Well, that's really all three of you. You will tell anyone and everyone every single thought that runs through your mind. You love wearing my high heels through the house and pretending you're going to the grocery store in them. Unlike your brother and sister, you would rather stay inside coloring all...day...long! You LOVE to draw and color. Most all of your pictures end up being drawings of ballerina's or our family at a birthday party. Lol

You are the most caring little big girl. You love to hug and kiss us and are always making sure to tell those around you how much you love them. You are so easy to like and are easily attached to anyone that comes around.

There are a million things you learned this year! You learned to read, how to tell time on a digital clock, and you learned to make your bed without help. Now we just need to work on you keeping your glasses on! You are so ready for kindergarten and so I am not...

Here is to the sweetest, kindest, most perfectly imperfect daughter and sister a parent could ask for.

Love,

         Mommy & Daddy

Dear Amaya

Welcome to the "big girl" stage! At least that's what you practically told me the morning of your birthday. "We're big girls now Mommy!" Said with so much excitement in your voice. I swear I had to hold back the tears. Joseph is seven and now my baby girls are five... *Sigh*

According to the bathroom scale you weigh 38.4lbs and if I am using the tape measure correctly, you are 43" (3ft. 7½") tall. You wear a size 11½,  sometimes 12 shoe and a 5 pants and shirt.

You no longer take naps, but we have our designated quiet time for one hour after lunch. During quiet time you read a book, color, play quietly in your room, or take a small nap if you want. The naps are never part of your quiet time. You never took naps when you had a nap time. Mostly you play "house" with Tressa or read a book.

You are the most independent child I've known. You take great pride in learning and doing things on your own. You would rather spend 30 minutes trying to open your goldfish snack than ask for help. Your favorite things are playing house, riding your new bike and singing every song you shouldn't (Ciara- Ride, Rihanna- S&M, etc). You love reading and are obsessed with princesses. Your favorite things to say are, "Dang!", "What the heck?!", and "That's not fair!" (You definitely picked that one up from your brother. He's been on quite the "It's not fair." kick lately.)

You recently developed a fear of taking a shower with the door shut. We've been trying to teach you and your sister to be a little more modest (Lol) and part of that is shutting the bathroom door when showering. You keep telling me it's scary, but I can't get an answer why from you.

You learned so much this year. You learned to tie your shoes, you were able to stand in front of a crowd and sing or read without stage fright, you're able to calculate simple addition, and are able to tell time on a digital clock. All of those things before you even reached kindergarten! I can only imagine what you'll learn this year. I just love how eager you are to learn. Hopefully you never lose that about you.

Here's to being five... to being a big girl... to being an amazing daughter and sister.

Love,

          Mommy & Daddy

Happy Birthday Tressa

 Tressa!!! You are FIVE years old today! Why won't you stop growing up????

Every year we have a questionnaire for them just to see if and how their answers change. It's a lot of fun really. Some of the questions are nonsense but it allows me the opportunity to see even more how they think by how they respond to the question. Like, "What is your favorite scent?" It's just interesting to see their responses. You can see Joseph's here, and Amaya's here.



2010's Questionnaire


Favorite Food?     "Carrot."
Favorite Drink?     "Water."
Favorite Cartoon?     "Little Einstein's."
Cartoon Character?     "Tinkerbell."
Favorite Movie?     "Dinosaur."
Favorite Animal?     "Elephant."
Favorite Toy?     "Gina doll."
Favorite Color?     "Blue."
Favorite Letter?     "T."
Favorite Number?     "2."
Favorite Story/Book?     "Tinkerbell."
Favorite Song?     "You Are My Sunshine."
Favorite Game?     "Mine!"
Favorite Holiday?     "Birthday."
Favorite Day?     "Sunday."
Favorite Season?     "Fall."
Favorite Scent?     "Snow." Didn't know snow really had a smell.
When you grow up...?     "Mommy."
Children when you grow up?     "Two. And they're names are going to be Amaya and Joseph."
Boyfriend?     "Joseph." *laughs*
Favorite thing about school?     "Playing."
Least favorite?     "When we leave."
Best friend?     "You!" (mommy)
What do you want to know or learn before you turn five?     "To be a ballerina."

2011's Questionnaire


Favorite Food?     "Hot dogs and macaroni and cheese."
Favorite Drink?     "Punch and juice."
Favorite Cartoon?     "Gumball." I have no idea what that even is! Some cartoon they found on Netflix.
Cartoon Character?     "Strawberry Shortcake."
Favorite Movie?     "Disney Princess Enchanted Tales."
Favorite Animal?     "Sheep."  Ooooookkkkaaayyyy!
Favorite Toy?     "Baby Gina."
Favorite Color?     "Pink, purple and white."
Favorite Letter?     "T."
Favorite Number?     "1. Like a baby who is one years old."
Favorite Story/Book?     "Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales."
Favorite Song?     "The kindergarten and head start ones we sang at graduation (from head start)."
Favorite Game?     "A race. I loooooooooovvvvveeeeee to race."
Favorite Holiday?     "Halloween, Christmas, aaaaaaannnnnnddddddd Halloween."
Favorite Day?     "May! Our birthday!"
Favorite Season?     "Spring."
Favorite Scent?     "Pizza."
When you grow up...?     "Cheerleader!"
Children when you grow up?     "Just maybe one."
Boyfriend?     *Smiles* "I always tell you it's Michael, Mom! Do you know how to spell his name? I can help you spell it. He's fiiiiiiiivvvvveee, going to be siiiiiiiiixxxx! He's my boyfriend because he's handsome." Wow! Save me from her teenage years please!
Favorite thing about school?     "Play in areas and outside."
Least favorite?     "When we didn't take naps because I am always tired."  And Amaya's least favorite was having to take the nap. Lol
Best friend?     "Desiree." No more Mommy :-(
What do you want to know or learn before you turn six?     "I want to learn how to do a lot of exercises."

Hello Kitty Goodness!

          -Jaclyn-

Happy Birthday Amaya

5... Five... FIVE! You are FIVE YEARS OLD today!

I can't believe it!

Every year we have a questionnaire for them just to see if and how their answers change. It's a lot of fun really. Some of the questions are nonsense but it allows me the opportunity to see even more how they think by how they respond to the question. Like, "What is your favorite scent?" It's just interesting to see their responses. You can see Joseph's here and Tressa's here.


2010's Questionnaire


Favorite Food?     "Pizza."
Favorite Drink?     "Cherry juice."
Favorite Cartoon?     "Dora The Explorer."
Cartoon Character?     "Spongebob Squarepants."
Favorite Movie?     "Tinkerbell."
Favorite Animal?     "Fish."
Favorite Toy?     "Mickey."
Favorite Color?     "Pink."
Favorite Letter?     "A."
Favorite Number?     "1."
Favorite Story/Book?     "Wall-E."
Favorite Song?     "ABC's"
Favorite Game?     "Seek and Find with Daddy."
Favorite Holiday?     "Our birthday."
Favorite Day?     "Saturday."
Favorite Season?     "Winter."
Favorite Scent?     "Clean clothes."
When you grow up...?     "Mommy."
Children when you grow up?     "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10-- A LOT of babies. MY babies."
Boyfriend?     *Laughs*
Favorite thing about learning time?     "Coloring."
Least favorite?     "Time out."
Best friend?     "Mommy, Tressa, and Joseph."
What do you want to know or learn before you turn five?     "School."


2011's Questionnaire


Favorite Food?     "Oatmeal and cereal."
Favorite Drink?     "Kool-aid." Which is weird because they don't get to drink Kool-aid.
Favorite Cartoon?     "Dora The Explorer."
Cartoon Character?     "Dora."
Favorite Movie?     "Dragon Tales."
Favorite Animal?     "Pig."
Favorite Toy?     "My fairies."
Favorite Color?     "Pink, yellow, silver and gold."
Favorite Letter?     "A."
Favorite Number?     "1."
Favorite Story/Book?     "Bob The Builder."
Favorite Song?     "Dragon Tales theme song."
Favorite Game?     "Dress up like princesses."
Favorite Holiday?     "Christmas."
Favorite Day?     "Our birthday."
Favorite Season?     "Spring."
Favorite Scent?     "Pizza."   
When you grow up...?     "Princess ballerina."
Children when you grow up?     "FIVE!"
Boyfriend?     "Uh... NO!" That's my girl! ;-P
Favorite thing about school?     "Playing outside."
Least favorite?     "Sleeping, like at nap time."
Best friend?     "Tey and Desiree."
What do you want to know or learn before you turn six?     "How to play Yahtzee by myself."

Hello Kitty Celebrations

          -Jaclyn-

Dear Joseph

     Seven... Seven years old you are. I'm sure I will say this over and over, but it seems as though it were just yesterday you were born and placed into my arms where your daddy and I gazed upon you for hours. I know every parent has asked "Where has the time gone?" but I just can't help it!

     You weigh 51.2 lbs. (I know! But he wouldn't let me continue writing without adding the .2 lol. He kept saying "51.2 MOM! Not just 51!") and are 49" (4ft. 1 1/2") tall. You wear a size 1 1/2 shoe and a 6/7 pants and shirt. Although the pants must be worn with a belt and still adjusted as much as possible on the inside. Skinny as all get out! I swear you eat more than I do!

     You've lost some of your "neediness" and uncertainty about things and are more enthusiastic and curious about the things you do and the things around you. You ask A LOT of questions, and that's really great, but why didn't anyone warn me about this stage?! It's a never-ending trivia nightmare around here. You're still cursed with my OCD, but are getting better at adjusting to change and basically rolling with the punches.

     Your behavior at school has improved drastically this month! In the 11 days of school this month you pulled a total of only four keys! That's fantastic! That's usually your daily quota. It makes me that much happier knowing how excited you get from such an accomplishment! You've gotten home with a smile on your face every day... Well... except for that one day, and exclaimed how many, if any keys you pulled that day.

     You accomplished many things the last year. You read your first Harry Potter book, you were on the A honor roll the first quarter and have been on the A/B honor roll the remainder of the year, you're getting better with counting money, you didn't break any bones :-P. I asked you what your favorite accomplishments were this year and you told me you learned how to ride a bike, you got better at math, and you read a lot of books. Things you say you want to accomplish this year: Learn to drive a car (good luck with that one!), Learn to play a new game, and read a really long book because you want to try and read faster. I love your goals. I love that you have goals.

     I love it when you tell me I'm the best mommy ever or when you wake me in the morning just to give me a hug before you watch cartoons or when you tell your sisters how much you love them. You're an amazing little boy and I am so proud of the man you will surely become. Mommy and daddy are so in love with you! You make our days worth all the while.

Love,

    Mommy & Daddy

Happy Birthday Joseph!

6a.m.... "Mom! Mom!" Joseph yells, while he shakes me as roughly as he can. "Can I watch cartoons?" "Yeeeeessssss!", I mumble. "Don't forget to tell me happy birthday!", he practically yells. I mouth "happy birthday"... I couldn't possibly forget today is his birthday!

My Joseph is SEVEN today! Seven whole years old! I'm perplexed at how fast time goes.

Every year we have a questionnaire for them just to see if and how their answers change. It's a lot of fun really. Some of the questions are nonsense but it allows me the opportunity to see even more how they think by how they respond to the question. Like, "What is your favorite scent?" It's just interesting to see their responses.

Last years questionnaire.

1. Favorite Food?     "Burritos and corn dogs."
2. Favorite Drink?     "Orange and cranberry juice."
3. Favorite Cartoon?     "Spongebob and Umi Zoomi."
4. Favorite Cartoon Character?     "Patrick Star."
5. Favorite Movie?     "A Bug's Life."
6. Favorite Animal?     "Gorilla."
7. Favorite Toy?     "Lego's and my castle Auntie Becca got me."
8. Favorite Color?     "Blue, pink, and green."
9. Favorite Letter?     "J."   
10. Favorite Number?     "1000 and 100."
11. Favorite Story/Book?     "The Happy Snowman."
12. Favorite Song?     "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
13. Favorite Game?     "Blue's Clues."
14. Favorite Holiday?     "Halloween and Christmas."
15. Favorite Day?     "Sunday."
16. Favorite Season?     "Winter, I like the snow."
17. Favorite Smell?     "Candy."
18. When I Grow Up?     "I'm going to be an astronaut!"
19. Kids When You Grow Up?     "I want four mommy!"
20. Do You Have A Girlfriend?     "Laughs hysterically and answers, "No!"
21. Favorite Thing In School?     "Recess."
22. Least Favorite?     "The end when we have to clean up and get on the bus."    
23. Best Friend?     "Hunter."     

This years questionnaire.

     1.  Favorite Food?     "Cereal."
     2.  Favorite Drink?     "Milk. I like white, chocolate, and strawberry together."
     3.  Favorite Cartoon?     "Spongebob Squarepants."
     4.  Favorite Cartoon Character?     "Patrick Star."
     5.  Favorite Movie?     "Ponyo."
     6.  Favorite Animal?     "Snakes."
     7.  Favorite Toy?     "T-rex!"
     8.  Favorite Color?     "Brown."
     9.  Favorite Letter?     "C."
   10.  Favorite Number?     "7, like how many I'm going to be on Saturday!"
   11.  Favorite Story/Book?     "Toy Story."
   12.  Favorite Song?     "Airplanes- BoB."
   13.  Favorite Game?     "Black Ops." (x-box)
   14.  Favorite Holiday?     "Easter. I saw the Easter Bunny one time!"
   15.  Favorite Day?     "Thursday because people come to the classroom and read to us then we make something like my hermit crab that broke."
   16.  Favorite Season?     "Winter."
   17.  Favorite Smell?     "Clean stuff." He must get that from me. Lol
   18.  When I grow up?     "I want to be 21! *Laughs* Oh! And a teacher too."
   19.  Kids When I grow up?     "Like 8 or something." Good luck buddy!
   20.  Do You Have A Girlfriend?     "Serenity. But not all the time, only sometimes."
   21.  Favorite Thing In School?     "Books."
   22.  Least Favorite?     "The library." "*laughing* But you just said your favorite thing was books, Joseph." "I only like the books in my classroom." Lol
   23.  Best Friend?     "Juan Rivera."


It still amazes me how much they change in as little as a years time... *Sigh*

Off to celebrate!

          -Jaclyn-

Here... Have A Blue Ribbon!

Joseph is going to be 7 in just three days! He's so excited! Every morning he runs to the calendar to count and see how many days are remaining. It's so cute!

For the lasts two years Jonathan and I had told him that he could invite friends and have this big party. One, because it was to be his fifth birthday, so we wanted it to be extra special. That year, things didn't go as planned financially and we told him that we would make it fun and special without having over a bunch of friends or having a huge professionally baked and decorated cake, and without all the balloons and pinata's. He was very understanding. It made my heart break.

The next year we got our apartment. We had to go to Missouri and get our things from storage and move it all in. So things yet again, didn't go like we had promised him. Again, he was very understanding and I cried... a lot.

This year I was determined to give him what he had been "taken away" the previous two. He decided on having a pirate party. He picked out the invitations and goody treasure chests, and he's so excited to have his friends join in and have a sleep over. We had 12 invitations. He made a list of who he wanted to invited and we made them up and loaded them into his backpack.

The next day after school he walked in the door and declared with tears and sobs,

"My teachers are MEAN MOMMY!"

"Why Joseph? Did you pull a lot of keys today?"

"NO! They wouldn't let me hand out my invitations!"

"How come?"

"Because they are MEAN!"

The next day I sent a note with him to school telling asking his teacher to allow him to hand out his birthday invitations. Today I get a phone call from her. She tells me that she cannot allow him to hand out his invitations unless he had enough for the entire class because it wouldn't be FAIR and would hurt the other kids' feelings! "It isn't my rule it's the district's rule. I even brought him into the office with me to talk to the principal and let her tell him the rule because he was quite upset with me.", she tells me. "I can give invitations to all the boys if you want." Lady! You just told me you couldn't give them out unless there was enough for everyone and now you're telling me you can give them to all of the boys?! How is that deemed "fair or not hurting the girls' feelings?" Ugh!

To shorten my story I'm pissed off because of the whole "fairness" ordeal here. Life isn't fucking fair! Yes, they're kids, I get it. But why allow them to earn a participation ribbon because they didn't actually win anything on field day? That's like expecting a raise for not giving a damn at work among many other things! Ugh! This just burns my ass!!!

Life isn't fucking fair! Teach them now...

Bleh! Enough of that... I didn't even plan on writing this, but I just couldn't quit thinking about it so it probably seems more rambly than anything... Thanks for "listening" to me bitch. :-)

Ready to celebrate and have a great party

          -Jaclyn-