Last Days of Summer with Leo, Daddy and Summer!

Joe loves the backdrop of hops!

Beer bottle art provided by Leo.

A day at the zoo.

Cousin Jacob visits.

Leo loves his older cousin!

Leo is a leader in his class.

They really do love each other!

Silly goofballs!

Handsome hubby!

We soak up as much sunshine as we can because we know that it is going away soon!

Shaking those hips!

She really is a vision!

I got an i-pone. I guess this will become fairly obvious with the photos. I love having the phone doubling as a camera, complete with the very awesome Instagram filters! This comes in handy since I haven't been using Photoshop since our computer crashed and we had to replace it!

The big recent news is that Somerset is potty trained!!!!! It officially happened in the month of August, just shy of her third birthday. What a relief! She still wears a diaper at night, but I don't count that!

Leo also met his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Ramey. She is young, pretty and oh so sweet. I am guessing she may be his first big crush. We are so happy that he will have such a nice teacher to start his school career.

Leo is now obsessed with Pokemon. He trades cards at the gym with the big kids. This kid is super motivated to get new cards, so we reward him with cards when he does chores. Works like a charm.

Leo is really starting to get the hang of reading. He is in the early stages of reading and I think a light will switch flip soon and he will be a full fledged reader. Once he puts his mind to something, he can always achieve it. Leo is amazing. Really, he is the smartest kid I have ever met and I expect great things for him in life. He is also super motivated to achieve goals. Mark my words...Leo will be an incredible adult! With his intelligence, drive, charisma and natural leadership skills, he will go great places.

Our little Summy girl is going through a stage. She is caught between little and big girl. She wants to be both. She often acts like a 13 year old girl. She is all drama and cries at the drop of a hat. She is going through a mommy-phase and only wants me, which hurts Joe's feelings.

That being said, she is so cooperative in group settings. When she is left in the care of others, she is always perfectly mannered and plays so nicely with others. I predict that she will be a very good student who is adored by all her teachers. She is sweet, spunky, verbal and smart. I just want to eat up her cuteness!

I love reading Summy books. She is really enjoying Fancy Nancy, and I think we have read every Pinkalicous, Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony book in existence. Side note: Leo loves My little Pony  (the tv show). He really love Pinky Pie. I think this is future black mail material...he he!

I'm Back!

Oh holy heck! I can't believe I have been away for so long. I feel a tremendous amount of guilt for not keeping up with this blog, which is so important to me! Life happens though! In the meantime, Leo turned 5, Somerset became a little girl, Joe got a new job and I finally was able to quit Williams Sonoma to pursue my soap making dreams. Also, I will have more valuable time...for things like the blog!

Since Leo turned 5, he has become a chess player. He loves chess and is getting quite good. We take him to chess club every Monday and he is not only learning the game, but also good sportsmanship.

Leo also was in Little League this Spring. His team was the Indians, and even though he was a year younger than most of his tream mates, he did awesome. Not only did he demonstrate great athleticism, he was also an encouraging team player. He has a fantastic attitude that will take him far in life.

He continues to excel at Math. recently, he noticed that it was 10:47 a.m., He knew we were having lunch at 11:30 a.m., so he told me that lunch would be in 47 minutes. He is seriously, ridiculously smart!!!

He is excelling at Karate too. He is a model student and definitely the leader of his Tiny Tigers class. All the kids look up to him. He is a real leader. He just graduated to his purple belt.

Leo is still extremely loving towards us. He has gotten much easier as he matures, but we still struggle with him testing his boundaries. He wants to be a big kid so badly. When we go to a park, he wants to play with kids at least twice his age. He has very little interest in his peers, unless they are already friends. He does make friends easily. He is charming, charismatic,  funny and positive.

Somerset is sweet and loving. She plays with baby dolls and acts like she is me. She will have me ("Grandma"...yikes), babysit while she goes to work or shops. Oh boy! She is caught in the middle of wanting to be a big girl and wanting to be a baby. She likes to have me wrap her in a blanket and pretend like she is a baby. She acts sweet and docile as a baby, so I usually comply.

Somerset loves all things girly. She like brushing our hair, pretending like we are sick kitties that need to be taken care of, making soap like mommy.

She loves Strawberry Shortcake, Pinkalicous and My Little Ponies. Really, it is my dream come true after reading Star Wars books for years. I love it!

Somerset remains spunky. She likes to play with Leo's friends and feel included. They are usually very sweet to her. I know that she may be the annoying little sister right now, but some day, they will have crushes on her.

Somerset is just starting to play with other kids. Older girls really like her and take her under their wing. 

She is not taking to potty training as well as I had hoped. #2 is a constant issue, but we are in underwear and I refuse to go back to diapers. It is quite frustrating, but this is just a moment in time. 

She remains, in my opinion, the cutest little girl I have ever seen. She has a smattering of freckles on her nose now that just kill me and Joe. Just when we didn't think she could get cuter, the freckles appeared.

Joe started a new job on Con-Met in Vancouver, WA. After a year long job search and several job offers, he has found a happy home there. He is thrilled beyond belief and I am so happy for him. He LOVES his new job. What a relief.

I started really selling my soap. The business is slowly taking off. I sell at a shop, farmer's markets etc....but I have a blog for that, so enough about that.

We are really just loving the summer. I make sure the kids play as much as possible outside every day. We have so much rain here, that we really try to take advantage of the sun while it is here.

Really, we are just enjoying life. Things have been great and they just keep getting better. :-)

Happiness is...

They love each other!

Snow angel at the Children's Museum

Leo and Donovan at play

Putting on bunny ears at the museum

Hamming it up for mom

Looking super cool in his Karate gear

We had a great week filled with fun. Leo's preschool had a field trip at the Children's Museum and though we have been there many times, it's always more fun when your best friend is there. Leo and Donovan were stuck like glue the whole time as I tried to keep track of both of my fiercely independent children. We survived, no one was lost and memories were made.

Leo and Donovan are having more and more play dates. I either drop him off at his Grandma's house or he comes over here. The play date without the parent is a new thing to me. I love it though!

Leo continues to amaze me with his math skills. The other day, we were on our way to pick up Joe from work. It was 3:20 pm and his Karate class starts at 4:15 pm. He said, "mom, my karate class starts in 55 minutes." He also can add things like 14+21. He is seriously gifted with math.

Leo started taking Leadership classes at Karate. Leo is a natural born leader and we want to instill this within him. As his parents, we so clearly see this and we always want him to believe in his ability to lead. Nurturing this gift he has been given will help him in every avenue of his life.

He also wants to be the class clown. To a 4-year old, this means that he will sometimes use tasteless humor, that is not pleasing at all to me. There is too much talk about poop and such. Yuck! We do not approve, but I know this is normal.

Leo got a Wii. I was dreading this day, but he "usually" respects our rules. I don't let him play during the day and we limit his time. Leo can tend to become obsessive about things, like his parents do as well, so we have to limit things before they become an addiction.

Somerset is a full blown little girl now. She goes to bed without crying, she sings the ABCs and is almost potty trained. She has #1 down but #2 is an issue. She wears underwear all day, so let's just say that Joe and I have to deal with the gross consequences. All in all, she is doing a great job and I am really proud of her.

Tonight, she and Leo put on a play for us. She called herself the Kissing Kangaroo. She would pretend to put on lipstick and then kiss Leo when he got injured. She is becoming so imaginative and  playing on her own or with Leo more and more.

She is still obsessed with Ballerinas and want to dress like one every single day! We need more tu-tus! I have to admit that it is pretty fun, but I do not like our daily getting dressed struggle. This never happened with Leo. To this day, he really doesn't care what he wears. He wouldn't mind if all his clothes had Legos, Star Wars or Angry Birds related themes, but beyond that, he could care less. He's a boy...so simple in bis needs.

She has become so sweet. She often hugs me or Joe and says, "I love you Mommy." It is coming from such an honest place and it melts my heart. She will also caress my face and hair. She is so gentle and nurturing. She can be feisty to. She is in love with Donovan and says that he is her best friend.

Things have been great. Joe and I both are loving our DIY interests. Beer and soap, soap and beer. We are working HARD to get rid of our last debt, Joe's student loan. That is our main goal and when that is put to rest, we will have one amazing celebration!!!!

Kindergarten Registration!

Somerset's cute man drawing.

This is what Leo likes to do!

Joe found this keyboard at the Goodwill. He had the same toy as a kid!

This about sums it up! Leo and Somerset are sure showing us their likes and dislikes.

Leo LOVES anything electronic He plays Star Wars video games on the computer and games on Joe's phone. I am so torn up about this. I try to restrict him, but nothing makes the boy happier. It has proven to be a good negotiating tool though...."if you make your bed, then you can play for 15 minutes." As a mom though, I feel guilty about these activities, which I equate to being a waste of time.

Leo and his best friend are always geeking out about Star Wars and video games. I am glad that Leo is a bit techy and geeky, I just want ghim to be well balanced with other interests too. 

I registered Leo for Kindergarten! This was a huge step for me as a mom.....wow! I can't believe that boy is ready for school. I am really excited for him though and know he will love school. We have a couple of schools in mind and will be a part of a lottery system for a Charter school. Our local school is good though, I just hate the class sizes being so large.

Somerset loves art. She is so good at drawing too and has inherited some pretty advanced skills! Joe and I found the drawing featured at the top of this post and we were both amazed! Pretty good for a newly 2 year old.

Somerset is speaking in full sentences exclusively. It is still difficult to understand everything she says, but she is communicating beautifully. I love her sweet little voice and her sassy attitude. She definitely is our child: strong willed, determined, funny and stubborn.

I have to take more photos! This is a difficult age for getting kid photos. For Somerset, every smile is fake and Leo is just annoyed, so more candids will be in our future.

Joe and I are still very busy with our DIY hobbies. I am still very active with my soap making and looking for avenues to sell more. I have been making soap almost daily to prepare for a craft show that I hope is a huge success. I also need to reopen my Etsy shop.

Joe is preparing to enter another beer competition. He is brewing every few weeks and I LOVE his beer. It is really good, but he has very high standards.
 

First Best Friend

Leo and his best bud Donovan. Somerset had to be in the photo too!

Fun times were had by all at Leo's preschool's fundraising night at Papa's Pizza.

My sweet girl likes to be just like Mommy, which means she likes to clean.

Showing off the construction of his "big boy" Leo and Daddy creation" Star Wars X-Wing!

These kids are great! So great in fact, that my job, as a full-time Mom is getting so much easier. I have a such a good handle on things that I am able to make soap when I am watching them, they are able to do things for themselves, entertain themselves etc. Life is great!

I also have never posted about Donovan, Leo's best friend. These 2 little boys connected from the first moment they met at preschool orientation. They really love each other. Everyday, when I ask Leo what he did at preschool, his answer is almost always the same, "I played with Donovan." I really hope these two stay friends forever, because they sure do like one another. As a mom, I love that Leo has developed such a close friendship...this brings back so many fond childhood memories for me. I have to admit that Somerset seems very fond of Donovan as well. She definitely plays the role of the cute, but annoying little sister.

Leo is now obsessed with traffic laws. He is always telling us what the speed limit is and does not want us to exceed it. In addition to being Officer Leo, he is also into imaginative play and wants to own every Lego minifigure in existence. Sorry kid, we don't have those funds!

Somerset is a darling little girl. She knows many of her letters and is smart, sassy and determined. She still wants to be Mommy's baby though. She wants to be an independent little girl, but she still needs her Mommy to hold her. I can't help treating her like a princess. She is just so sweet and angelic. She can be terrible demanding, but one look into her big brown eyes, and you are captive.

Motherhood has been good. These kids are my everything! I am so blessed.

Christmas 2012

I love the holidays! Christmas is my favorite. We had a great one too, despite my CRAZY work hours! I survived another retail Christmas season.

The kids really got into Christmas too and were talking non-stop about Santa, gifts, stockings etc. In fact, the holiday was so built up that the kids had a meltdown during present opening. It was chaos to say the least, and next year, we will device a better plan with Santa to make sure things go smoother.

The kids were blessed by the generosity of family and Santa. Angry Birds building games (Star Wars) and Legos were Leo's 2 favs. Somerset loves her Disney Princess castle, tea set and Karaoke machine.

Joe and I were also bestowed with many thoughtful gifts mostly relating to our hobbies....soap and beer making. We are still loving being able to spend gift cards and money on our favorite past times.

Christmas Eve was spent and Tiffany and Martin's house enjoying a nice dinner followed by our Secret Santa gift exchange.

Christmas was spent at home, relaxing...I needed that! We also went the Portland's famous Peacock Lane at night. Peacock Lane is just a regular street in SE Portland, where the home owners all decorate their houses for Christmas elaborately. It is quite the sight and the kids loved it.

I am excited for 2013. 2012 has had it's ups and downs and I am ready for a fresh year. I am hoping that 2013 will be the best year yet. Happy New Year!!!!

Playing Together

Kid in a box!

Singing time at Chidren's Museum. She was captivated!

The Angry Bird obsession continues. I realize it has been over a year, as many of Leo's Christmas gifts from last year were Angry Birds. Now Leo is getting Somerset in on the action. They were cramming themselves into a cardboard box and taking turns throwing Angry Birds at each other. What a reward it is as a parent to see your kids playing together!

I had a lovely date with Somerset at the Children's Museum. We played for almost 2 full hours and she cried when we left. She loved it there! We really enjoyed the 30 minute music time and she sat through the whole thing mesmerized. I love that her attention span is so much longer than Leo's was at the same age. In fact, the whole experience with her is just different. She plays gentler and can stay on task longer than Leo did. I imagine that her behavior is just plain normal, as Leo is just crazy intense and intelligent. Not to say that Somerset isn't as intelligent, she just isn't as intense.

Leo has become a joy. He is doing well in school, excelling in Karate and is so imaginative with his play. He can now spend hours entertaining himself playing with his Legos and flying his creations around. He always has these dialogs that accompany his play, "I have been hit. There are Vulture Droids behind me. I am coming in for a landing!" I have to admit, that at this point in time, he is the "easier" child. Crazy but true!

We are all thrilled for Christmas. The kids love this season and clap every time they see Christmas lights! It is adorable. Love them.