daysoflore.com

I found these awesome melamine dishes last month and was so excited that I grabbed them immediately!

I’ve since discovered that Orla Kiely made these exclusively for Target, and only a limited amount, so they’re not only incredibly adorably patterned, they are also fairly rare. The best news is, because they are melamine, they will (hopefully) be able to withstand my kids’, er, roughness with their dishes, plus it’ll be cool to ask James to set the table without cringing as he’s carrying the plates from the kitchen cabinets to the dining table.

The bad of these is that melamine is not microwavable. Big bummer for those quick meals, which almost made me turn to Corelle, but I mean… how could I absolutely ignore these great designs!!

.

.

.

.

Being schooled by my six yr old is great fun! lol

Me (to my Mom): yeah James likes this show, it’s about a little chinese girl named, “Ni Hao Kai-Lan”.
James: uhh, mommy, her name is Kai-Lan, “Ni Hao” means “Hello” in Chinese.

Geeze I knew that (I promise June!), I just phrased it incorrectly, haha.

Nevertheless, I’m pretty proud of my offspring. He’s one smart little dude!

He was our try for a girl, but oh did he surprise Chris and me on the day of my ultrasound! Logan is our spunky, dimpled, smiley little boy… James’ little brother and best friend… our mini gymnast, our little daredevil…

But today my baby boy isn’t so much of a baby anymore.. today, Logan turned two years old!

We had a wonderful birthday party yesterday, and with the help of our awesome family and friends, we celebrated our sweet little Logi Bear! And tonight, we’ll be continuing the celebration at Chuck E Cheese

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.
.

Happy Birthday, my sweet LogiBear!!

We’ve been working with Logan on saying his own name, instead of responding, “GaaahhhhahahAHhhhhhh” when we ask him what his name is.

So today he finally said his name! Which, by the way, he’s decided will now be changed to “Woh-Dan”: Click here to listen.

My baby boy has turned a BIG boy age of 6!! We are heading off to Disney today to celebrate and I’ll for sure have some super fun photos to share afterwards

Happy Birthday, James! I love you!!

*edit 9/22/08*
Some photos are up on facebook http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=159648&l=7fbb3&id=600685561

Oh man, it’s half way through September already and I am definitely feeling the burn. Several birthdays are fast approaching… Ronald, Big James, Molly, Nic, Jamers, and Mark… all in September. I’m also behind on some stuff again, and trying my hardest to catch up to this mad race that is my life.

James is actually enjoying his new school, which is so great because Chris and I have been anticipating a bad outcome for his first week. And now he’s entering his third and still is all smiles when I pick him up in the afternoon. Granted, I know there’ll be some tough days, but we’ll get through it as always.

I arranged with his teacher, Mrs. Price, to have a small little birthday celebration this coming Friday (Nic’s birthday, actually). I’ll just make it simple and bring cupcakes and punch and little giftie goodie bags. When we asked James what theme he wanted for his party this year, he said– in a very grown up kid’s voice– “I’m a little too old to have parties now, Mommy. Can we just go to Disneyland?”

I think he is emulating his cousin Franz, and how he doesn’t have birthday parties every year anymore. Franz is nine, lol.

Well, far be it from me to say no to such a great request! I did remind him that Logan will still be having a birthday party in January when he turns two, though. I am gauging how much jealousy might come out of that and he replied, “Well that’s ok, babies can still have birthday parties.” Well, alrighty then.

So off to Disney we go, on his actual birthday which falls on a Sunday this year. We’ll be celebrating Molly’s birthday too, which falls on the 18th, with a great group of friends who are coming along, and Nic and Mark will be there in spirit. We won’t be staying long of course, since he still has school the following day. Thank goodness for annual passes.

Sometimes I’d like to buy one for James. Because time is going by faster than I’d like it to, and my Chubby Jubbers (apparently I’m not allowed to call him that now), is growing up faster than I’d like him to.

But I know it wouldn’t be fair to want him to stay a baby forever. I know long gone are the days when he would willingly let me put a plumeria flower on his head. He has years ahead of memories to make, happy and sad days to share, and I will be proud to be a part of many of them.

One such milestone happened today! His first day in the first grade, in his brand new school! And of course I had to snap some photos in the morning before dropping him off

He wasn’t *too* excited to be posing for me saying, “It’s too early, Mommy!”

Here’s his “ok, that’s enough” face lol

But he let me take just one more…

And even this morning, I think I had more butterflies than he did, as we entered his classroom and said good morning to his teacher. And as I hugged and kissed him goodbye, he said, “It’s ok mommy, I’ll see you later again when you pick me up!”

.
(P.S. And for those who are wondering from the blurred out spots in some of the photos, yes we put him in a private school. And I know some of you have voiced your opinions against them, but in all honestly, Chris and I are working our butts off to put him there and we couldn’t be happier. We started checking out schools in our neighborhood when he started in Pre-School. That was two years ago. And if you saw the over crowding, the horrible teacher to student ratio, the drop out rates (going into Jr High!!), and the lack of parent involvement in the public schools in our address range, well…. hopefully you won’t look down on us parents too much about our decision in our son’s education.

It was a priceless feeling that I wasn’t unsure or scared dropping him off at his brand new school as I headed out to work. I felt he was safe and secure and that he will learn in an environment we’re blessed enough to put him in.)

… is clearly what I am when it comes to my kids some days.

Especially with James lately. He will be six in a couple of months and is getting better and better at finding that frail little last nerve of mine to step on. He complains about every little thing right down to the dinners I make:

“The rice is touching the chicken mahhhhmeeeeeee, I told you I don’t like them touching!!!!”

And his talking back is getting worse and worse. I know he doesn’t really realize the harm he’s doing there, after all, most of it is inquisitively put, but still! I was raised by my parents to not ever even dare have conversations like this little gem from two nights ago:

Me: James, please clean your room.
James: But I’m playing right now.
Me: It doesn’t matter, you need to clean your room now.
James: But why?
Me (temper rising but trying very hard to keep it cool): Because I am asking you to!
James (storming away towards his room while stomping his feet and starting to cry): Uggghhhh!! That’s so mean!

And the entire time he’s “cleaning” his room, I hear angry mumbling and crashing of toys in his toy box, and not until I finally YELL for him to “stop before I go over there” does the cleaning continue quietly.

So I’ve been praying for James. A lot. But the more I prayed, the more God responded with, “Um, yeah it’s you who needs to change. You need to accept James for who he is, and not just try to tolerate him. Learn to appreciate and enjoy him, even with all his five-year-old-quirks.”

Wow… yeah, what a wake up call to realize I’m totally and completely screwing a bunch of it up. “Your kids will do what you DO, and NOT what you say.” Someone told me that when James turned two. I can’t remember who it was but despite keeping that piece of advice in constant repeat in my head, you can still hear me yelling and losing my temper some days when I wish I would have just taken a breath and kept my cool.

.
So now I’ve began praying for myself more. For patience, for understanding, for God to help me be a better mom for my kids. So that even if they do what I do and not what I say, it will still be for the better.

{ Lord, please change me! Forgive me for being irritable, and help me to be the loving, understanding, and accepting mom my kids need. And please help me to see James and all his “five-year-old-ness” through Your eyes. And Lord thank You for Your grace and patience with me. And even during my walk with You, even as I take three steps forward, thank you for always being there to catch me when I fall two steps back. }

We’ve all been sick the past couple of days… Logan getting the worst of it with his fevers getting as high as 103.8°F (39.8°C) on Thursday and Friday night. He’d break his fever in the morning and then it would come back again. Last night though it didn’t come back and he’s happy as a clam so far today. Now we’re just a group of coughing, sneezing, kleenex clutching sickees.

Happy Birthday to the Loganator… who turns the ripe young age of ONE, today
I seriously am still trying to grasp the reality that a year has already passed by… it seems like I just came home from the hospital carrying this little dude in my arms, and now he’s walking around like a pro.

(I created these announcements and sent them out to everyone)