Wheeeeeeee!

Our church had a block party today to celebrate our move to the new building. Cole enjoyed this particular part of the party.

Cole-ism

Now that I've remembered to start writing these down, it seems they are a thousand of them.

The kids and I were sitting out on the deck late Monday afternoon, enjoying the fresh air and this is the conversation Cole and I had:

Cole: Phew....I'm taking the day off, Mama.

Me: (Incredulous) You're taking the day off?

Cole: Yep.

Me: From what?

Cole: From working. I can't work hard all the time, Mama!!

But he can still talk all the time....

Mother's Day

We had an unconventional Mother's Day here on Sunday. Our home seems to be a breeding ground for virus's this spring, and this weekend's target was Kevin. After he nursed me back to health last week, I had the opportunity to attempt to do the same for him. (update: he's still down and out with a horrible case of tonsilitis and ear infection).

So the kids and I tried to get out of his way and go to church so he could rest. The rest of the day was spent just hanging out together. The kids did some painting, we played soccer in the recently renovated and totally empty Living room. It was a busy day, but good family time. I had decided I would ask for just ONE thing on this Mother's Day: a picture with my children.

I gathered them up, sat at the fire place, instructed a weak but trying Kevin on where I wanted said photo. Adison was harder to hold than a greased pig; Cole gave me his very best 16-year-old-trapped-in-a-4-year-old-body impression, complete with a hearty slice of attitude, and after these two pictures I uttered the words "forget it" and announced it was bed time.




The wonderful thing is, it's not a mother's day I want to immediately erase from my memory. These are special days. Cole is exploding as a 4 year old and I find I enjoy so many things with him. He talks all day long, and just when I start to tune it out, he says something hilarious, or thought provoking or sweet. These days will not last forever, and I try to remember how wonderful it is to have that open-ness with him right now.

Adison seems to learn a new word every day, and has started to put words together. She loves to talk just as much as Cole, and will not be left out of the conversation. Recently, I'll hear them playing together, laughing, tickeling, chasing one another and their laughs are contageious. I just want to record it and play it back over and over.

And the truth is, I couldn't be even a decent Mother without Kevin. I will never be Mother of the Year (I lost that trophy about 3 hours after I brought Cole home from the hospital). I will also never be Housekeeper, Chef, Daily Life Organizer or Laundry Person of the Year. Kevin is in it 100% with me, and picks up so much of the slack I seem to leave behind. If I'm a good mother, it's because I'm the wife of a great Father.

And I lied when I said I only wanted one thing on Mother's Day, I spied a necklace a few months ago that I thought was not only very pretty, but also special in that you could have your kids names put on it. I sent Kevin the link as a helpful hint not knowing if he'd think about it past my "isn't this pretty" comments. But as I drank my morning coffee, he popped a pretty pink and brown box in front of me and of course I knew what was inside....


I truly love it, because with all the ups and downs, I'm grateful to be mother to these two.

Just My Size

This is what happens when you leave any pillow or blanket on the floor at our house. Bou has managed to get on it and not touch the floor. Amazingly, the bigger and not as graceful Irbe can do the same.

But who could tell this face no? (not me. ever.)

Cole-ism

This isn't so much what he says, as what he does.

Every night Cole goes to sleep with a huge blue decorative pillow behind his regular blue-dotted pillow. At night when I go to check on him before I go to bed, he's either propped up high, or laying at some angle that I'm convinced is going to give him a horrible crick in his neck in the morning.

So every night I gently slip that large pillow out from under him and put it next to his bed. The funny thing is, Cole has made a little habit of putting toys underneath his pillows. I'm not sure why he started doing it. My guess is way back when we first moved him into the bed, the rule was no toys in the bed at night time since it was time to sleep.

I love looking underneath the pillow every night. It's such a wonderful, child-like thing to do, hiding your special things under your pillow.

Tonight it was:

A red foam finger from Carolina Hurricanes

3 wind up cards that connect

A measuring tape

Nana Knows Best

Cole is so into trains right now. Just fascinated by every part of them. A few months ago, Kevin's mom sent Cole a package and in it contained a train shirt. He immediately LOVED it and put it on. He wore it for 5 days straight (NOT kidding). I had to peel it off of him and convince him that it needed to be washed.

Not long after that Cole spent a few days with Nana and Grandaddy and they just know what little boys like (I'm sure it has nothing to do with raising 3 boys...), and they took him to a train museum.

Cole had a blast, and to this day has the map of the museum in his room and likes to pull it out occassionaly and talk about where they went -- and where the bathroom is.

A few days after he got home, another package came for Master Cole Spillman (as they are always addressed) and inside was another train shirt, identical to the first. And a brand new yellow one.

Rarely do more than 2 days go by without him asking me, "Is my train shirt dirty, mama?" And thanks to Nana, I can manage to keep one clean all the time.

Driving the Point Home...

Me: "Did you write No on the chalk board? Good job!"

Cole: "Yeah, because I don't want Adison to touch my toys."

Just a Moment (or two) in the day

Cole is FOUR

Cole turned 4 on April 20th, and this birthday was definately the most fun yet. First of all, he was really aware of his birthday, and aware that you will get a present for your birthday so anytime we were out and about, he'd often say "maybe I could have THAT for my birthday."

I decided to just let loose and let him plan the whole thing. This actually proved difficult because he'd change his mind about what plates he wanted, or what he wanted to do. So we went to a local party store and tried it that way.

It was a smashing sucess. Blue plates and napkins (no surprise there), he picked out metallic party hats, and then we hit the sticker section so the kids could decorate their own hat. He also saw some fake mustache's at the store, and since he had learned exactly what a mustache is at school the week before, he was very excited to see those. In the basket they go.

Finally, he picked out blue jelly beans, chocolate coins, and a toy for each person for party favors (mini soccer balls for the boys, sidewalk chalk for the girls).

I also let him choose who to invite. He pretty much stuck to family: his cousins and then our good friend Lizzie. Do you want to invite any other of your friends from school? No. Just Lizzie.

(fun fact: Lizzie has told me in DETAIL about her and Cole's wedding and I'm starting to be all for it. We love Lizzie)

We had his party at a park near our house, and it was just the perfect day. The kids played, decorated their hats, and a few even put on mustache's, although it was pretty much the adults who got in on the fun.







After that it was the biggest cookie cake you've ever seen with a train on it.

Presents.

Parting Gifts.



And the birthday boy looks pooped.