Miles Files: Teach Them Well

Lately, when Miles says something mean or acts a certain way and then realizes that he is going to get in trouble, he quickly delivers the classic line, "It's a JOKE!  I'm just joking!"

Yesterday, Lakey and Knox wanted to watch Yo Gabba Gabba in the car.  Miles heaved a big sigh, "Nooooo!  I hate Yo Gabba Gabba!  It's the stupidest show I've ever seen.  Blah, blah, Knox and Lakey ALWAYS get to choose!  This show is for babies!  Even though!"  (Even though is a common phrase in Miles' vernacular - equivalent to the usage of whatever in my day.)

Now admittedly, Yo Gabba Gabba is a very annoying preschool show that makes every parent I know want to cuss.  But almost every youngster I know loves it, including Miles.  Literally, three days ago he was in the back of the car watching it with a big smile on his face.  And now, he was acting like it was suddenly beneath him.

We went ahead and started the DVD, and of course a few moments later I hear Miles laugh and say, "Knox, this is my favorite part."  I sarcastically replied, "Oh no Miles, you better cover your eyes.  You hate this show, remember?"  And of course he said, "Ugh, I was just teasing!  It was a joke!"

At this point Jeremy launches into a lecture about how it's fine to joke, but you can't say certain things and then tell people it was a joke only because you are realize you shouldn't have said it or after you realize you didn't really mean what you said.  It's not sincere, it's not nice, you were just trying to make Knox and Lakey feel like babies, etc, etc, et cetera (it was a good message, but not the most concise maybe).  I briefly faded out and then tuned back in when I heard Jeremy say, "Do you understand Bubba?"

Miles, totally glazed over too, refocused and said, "So, you mean... people are the future?"

And Jeremy, "Well yes.  I believe the children are our future."

Help us.

Once Upon A Time There Were Two Dragons

One graduated from day school and was on his way to kindergarten...

 

 ...while the other was found worthy of first grade.

 

Both could use some help with their picture smiles...

 

 

...and neither could make their momma more proud.

 

Congratulations Miles and Knox!  The Lord has blessed us beyond measure with the two of you!

Let It Go

I wrote this post exactly one year ago, and thankfully, I forgot about it.  Re-reading it was good for a laugh though as I realize how important it is for me to write retroactively.  You know, after the chill pill has worked its magic, though it seems it was starting to take effect by the end of the post. I think this rant came from a place in me that wishes our kiddos would stay little forever.  There is something in a child's innocence that helps mend the sprains, cracks, and sometimes the breaks we adults have sustained on the road to maturity and self awareness. I already know that time is passing at lightening speed, and graduation ceremonies scrape the bottom of my "Favorites" list because they remind me all too well that our children are here today and gone tomorrow.  Nevertheless, I hope I can go with the flow a little more gracefully than this during tonight's graduation (already another for Knox!).  Still, this excerpt reminded me that I need to relax and just make the most of these moments while they're here.

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If I could live in a place where I made up the rules and called all the shots, everyone would eat iced cookies for breakfast and grow lollipops in their backyard.  The trees would bloom with Valentine Gobstoppers and the pool be full of bubbles. You know the kind. I would call this place, Lindsayland.   In Lindsayland, there would be exactly zero graduation ceremonies until at least high school, but maybe never.

Wouldn't it be nice?

But this is the real world people.  And in my world, I'm lucky if I can snag a mushy, black banana on my mad dash out the door each morning.  Furthermore, if anything grows in my backyard besides grass in the flower beds and weeds in the grass, then I don't know about it.  

Did you know, that in this wonderful world of ours, your kids now attend a graduation ceremony for pre-kindergarten?  I guess a high-five and a trip to the sno-cone stand isn't a sufficient accolade for four year olds these days.  Then of course the next year, your child puts on the white robe and unknowingly marches their little selves out of kindergarten and into the beginning of what will be twelve years of torture.  Congratulations kids!  Enter the gates and discover the world of homework!  Team projects!  Peer pressure!  Physical awkwardness!  Mean girls!  You've earned it loves!

Well as fate would have it, all three of our kids will attend pre-k once and kindergarten twice.  That's three graduations per child (Lord willing).  Three children.  Nine graduations before high school. 

Yay.

So let's get on with the documentation of #2 and #3, shall we?

You definitely get a heaping spoonful of cuteness at these things.  That's the one thing.  Look at these little sweethearts with their wardrobe a step above athletic shorts and t-shirts!  That alone is worth celebrating.  I think Knox has a look of uncertainty as to whether or not he will be receiving his diploma.  Like maybe he never saw the results of that last make-you-or-break-you test, and he's hanging onto a hope and a prayer?  Perhaps some of you can relate.

But alas!  At age four, Knox graduated from pre-k!

His teacher is Miss McKinney, and she occupies the top spot on his love interest list.  She is by far and away the best teacher any of our kids have had up to this point.  We have been so impressed by her, and we are thrilled that she will be the private kindergarten teacher next year!  So, Knox will have her again! 

He says she is his best friend and he wants to marry her.  Look at him holding her sister's baby for goodness' sake!  A boy that's good with children will take down any girl.  He's got game.

Like every other graduating class in America, Knox's class song was Let It Go, from the hit Disney movie Frozen.  He had the lyrics memorized long before he had to sing them in front of a crowd.  As you can see, he was not afraid to bring it.

He was so excited to be graduating this year!  His eyes were always on us there in the front row.  He was so proud of himself and he wanted to make sure we were watching his every step.

Front and center, soaking it all in.  I hope he waves to me from the stage like that when he graduates from high school.

And here was his sentiment when it was all said and done.  Looks like a kid who may have charmed his way to the next level if you ask me.  #suckas 

Miles conquered his test round of kindergarten!  With his birthday falling so late in the summer, Jeremy and I made the decision a while back that we would hold onto him an extra year before officially starting him in school.  We talked to several friends and family members who are school teachers or counselors, and it was their unanimous recommendation to give him that extra year of maturity.  He will repeat kindergarten in the public system this coming school year.

Miles' teacher for this first go around was Mrs. Kaiser, and she was the perfect teacher for him.  She really helped him (and us) work through some issues that I think will leave him much better prepared for school this year. 

Miles is not one for being in front of a crowd, and during his class song (something made up to the tune of the Adams Family) he hid behind another boy the whole time.  Luckily, I was able to catch a couple of shots of his shining face when he got his diploma.

Though it's never fun to be reminded that time is marching on despite my efforts to slow it down, I am incredibly proud of these two precious souls.  And truth be told, I would attend a hundred graduations for the chance to sit and soak them in a little bit more.

I guess Lindsayland will have to wait until Alzheimers sets in.
 

   

Gotcha Lakey: Two Years

It felt like forever between filling out the first adoption application and the day we met Lakey face to face.  The whole process took one year and two weeks, but the two years since then have absolutely flown by.  Time with kids has a funny way of doing that. 

Gotcha Day is more significant to me than Lakey's birthday.  I feel the same way on this day as I do on Miles and Knox's birthdays.  On their birthdays, I remember all the events leading up to the moment I saw each of them for the very first time.  I tell them about those moments and they laugh so much because they love hearing stories about themselves.  I don't have any of those moments to share on Lakey's birthday.  I don't even know exactly when she was born.  But I do have the memories of the day leading up to the moment when I first saw the stone faced little girl wearing a puffy red coat. 

So, I told Lakey about Gotcha Day today, and we looked through the photo book the orphanage had made for her.  I showed her pictures of where she lived, and we talked about how China Popo took care of her until mommy, daddy, and Miles could come for her.  Miles talked about what he remembered about Gotcha Day - the most prominent memory being that Lakey would eat three or four boiled eggs every morning (I think it was really only one or two) and how he would go back to the breakfast buffet over and over for more bacon (this is accurate).  It's really fun to relive our time in China from his perspective.  His memory is remarkable, and I love realizing what things made the biggest impression on a then four year old.

So in commemoration of Gotcha Day, we ate boiled eggs and bacon for dinner.  And later, Lakey thanked God for,

"...Lakey, Mommy, Daddy, Lakey, Knoxxy, Miles, and for food."

Amen.  

Miles: Six

This birthday feels like the official release of any grip I may have thought I still had on my first baby boy. 

He lost two teeth this week.  He cleaned out his sock and underwear drawers and reorganized his closet this week without me asking.  He starts real school in less than a month.  He asked to go to IHOP for his birthday breakfast instead of donuts.  See?  He's practically an old man.

Some things I want to remember about Miles:

1.  He loves for me to read to him. 

2.  Baseball and swimming are his favorites.

3.  He wakes up early, and he wakes up happy. 

4.  He cannot stand for Knox to get ready before him.  This may be why he gets himself up and dressed so quickly each morning without any coaxing from me.  You know, because he might die if he misses out on something.  Knox is so the opposite of this.  In his mind, the party doesn't start til he shows up, so he is never in a hurry to get anywhere.

5.  He is not very affectionate until he has been away from us for a few days, and then he goes around the house telling everyone (and everything) how much he loves and missed them. 

6.  He's pretty shy.  If he doesn't know you or isn't comfortable with you, he pretends to be deaf.

7.  However, if you are lucky enough to be one of the few that he feels safe with, he will machine-gun you down with conversation and questions.  All the live long day.

8.  He is adventurous, but not fearless.  He wants to try things, but he wants Knox to try them first. 

9.  His favorite color is still red, yet he wants to be a "Hook 'em Horn." Guess he'll have to make a choice someday.

10. His favorite person is his daddy.  His second favorite is Knox.

My heart overflows with thanksgiving for this one.

Happy birthday Miles boy!

miles boy is 5

A party for our boy to ring in his 5th.

Captain America style.

There were costumes...

 

Basketball...

There was a cash register...

some friends...

And afterward, some surprises from those friends...

Mima came to visit the birthday boy and helped him do science experiments.

Then Nino came and shared in his favorite meal.

Really Miles, five?

It all added up to make one very happy boy.

I love you Miles.  I'm thrilled to be your momma.

Miles: Five

Without even asking me today, Miles went and turned five.

The nerve.

I love this boy to pieces.

He is smart. The glasses don't lie. He rarely stops talking, for his curious mind keeps a river of questions flowing. Just the other day as we were finally inching up on thirty seconds of silence and my twitching was beginning to subside, he rolled out with this.

"Mommy, how does wind power work?"

I rent my clothes and curled up in a fetal position.  Then, I did what any mother of average intelligence would do. I started slowly by saying, "Well, the wind has to blow really hard..."  And as the very words were coming from my mouth I knew the rest was gonna be a big load of BS, and so I saved myself the embarrassment of alternative energy ignorance with a quick change of subject.

"Hey, how bout a cupcake!?"

Miles knows what he likes, and here is where I write it down so that the world's worst memory (mine) doesn't forget what the five year old Miles was like. He loves the color red, baseball, Elvis Andrus, Batman, Captain America, swimming WITHOUT floaties, bacon and eggs, games, Little Einsteins, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, giraffes, story telling, Tom and Jerry, science experiments, and Chick-Fil-A.

Miles is a fun-loving boy, up for most anything, tenderhearted, inquisitive, always needing to know what every one is doing and where they are going, and in general he is our rule following kid.  Bless him for that.  Because the boy that busted into the world on Miles' heels...

Whoa.

Miles, we love you more than I can describe in words.  We are so proud of you!  Happy 5th birthday!

Adios, Pre-K!

Yesterday we sold our house and bought a new one - the last one I hope.  It is the house our kids will grow up in and leave for college from.  It's the one we will spend every Christmas morning in, and maybe (hopefully) the one Jeremy and I will die in.  Too lofty a goal?  What if I said it's the one we will be raptured out of?  Yes, I like that better.  Perhaps I'll tell you more about the house another time.  Then again, this blog is a masterpeice of inconsistency so I make no promises.  I write when the mood strikes, and that tends to happen only when I'm avoiding something else.  Like packing.

Anyway, we signed over the next 30 years to Freddie Mac and then ran four carloads of odds and ends (read: stuff for which I was too lazy and cheap to buy another box) over to the new house.  And then!  In the middle of all the madness...

Our sweet Miles graduated from Pre-K.



Now, my overall attitude when it comes to an hour long ceremony dedicated to the ushering in of Kindergarten (at our kids' bedtime no less) isn't going to win me any positive thinking awards.  All these things really do is get parents weepy about how quickly our children are growing up.  As if we need to be reminded.

But, what are you gonna do but show up, enjoy the cuteness, and blog about it?

We were at the venue 20 minutes early.  Knox spied the stage and proceeded to get the party started himself.

Lakey had a snack, so of course she was content to watch the sideshow.



Finally, the Pre-K 1 class opened up with a performance.

Miles knew every word to his class song, Dynamite by Taio Cruz (the KidzBop version), but he was too busy smiling at us to actually sing or do the motions with his class.  My first wave of pride hit at this point though, because just last December when his class did their school carolling for the parents, he stood there and sobbed for the duration of the song.  So the fact that he wasn't scared to death was a big step for him!

Then it was time for him to receive his graduation diploma.  He ran.  Wave of pride numero dos.

Knox watched intently from his chair.  Most of the time he was smiling.  I think he was proud  of his brother.

Until he got sad that he wasn't graduating too.

JiaJia took it upon herself to get a better seat during the ceremony.  She's a take charge kind of girl.

On the way home, Miles asked two or three times if we were so proud of him.

He doesn't even know the half of it.