Lyla Birthday: 6 Years Old

Lyla turned six years old today. There was once a time when I pictured what my life would look like as a mom to a six year old. It seemed impossible, but now here we are! Today is the day! Lyla greeted me this morning the same as she always does, with a big hug. Then her first question was, "I am six years old. Why aren't my teeth falling out yet?" Ha! She is much anticipating the loss of her first tooth and apparently the clock is ticking! She noticed her gifts on the kitchen counter and hinted at how wonderful it would be to open one right away. She thought she would need to wait for Dad to arrive home from work, so she was delighted when I told her there was no need to wait. Kirk was at work already, but thanks to this amazing technology known as a video call we were able to continue with the present opening celebrations together. We are still in full swing with Christmas break, so our sleep schedule keeps getting pushed later & later. The lazy bum life will come to an screeching halt next week, but that's not the point for today. Lyla received some cute winter clothes (Texas is currently an ice box), a CD, and a kid sized sewing machine. She was a happy girl! We have simplified (for us) our kid gifting quite a bit because I have spent so much time purging stuff we simply do not need. It's always been a constant cycle until I started practicing this new theory --- if you can't consume it, wear it, or learn a skill from it then it's JUNK. Sad but true fact of life and I repeat this to myself as I start twitching in the Target dollar spot...or all of Target for that matter. I really do feel weighed down when we have too much stuff. And I can tell my kids feel the same way about toys! It's overwhelming, "ahhhh what do I play with ahhhh." But right now, even with Christmas barely behind us, we've purged and decluttered and it feels like freeeeeedom!!!! And again, that's not the point for today. Geez. I should really blog more because clearly I've missed the keyboard.

Alright. Lyla and I attempted sewing a pillow case together, until I decided needle and thread should not be used prior to coffee consumption. It's much too painful for the brain. So we made chocolate chip pancakes, per request of the Birthday Girl. And bacon. And strawberries. Yum! We sang Happy Birthday too!

After breakfast Lyla was adamant about recording her annual birthday interview. This is something I started when she was two and usually I'm pretty good about remembering, but this girl is ON TOP OF IT. And technically I shouldn't say I'm "pretty good about remembering" because having Lyla remind me about the interview on her birthday made me realize I still never got around to recording Max's four year interview. Oops! Sooo we did them both today! Better late than never! Thank you Lyla for your persistence and determination because the birthday interviews are my favorite. It's always so silly because their answers are never "right" --- not that they can answer anything wrong about their own likes or dislikes, but I feel like sometimes they just look around the room we are in for something to say during the interview. I get it though. Interviews are tough. The pressure can be scary. Obviously I'm just preparing them for the real world here, ha! Yeah, I'm going with that. Regardless of their answers, I love the interviews because their personalities shine through. Their tiny voices and pronunciation of words change, yet they seem to keep a lot of the same mannerisms and facial expressions they had when we started this tradition.

The birthday interviews made us hungry so I made some lunch, then we played a couple rounds of foosball. The competition gets a little intense when you start losing to a four and six year old. Then we watched a live concert from Lyla. Sadly, she requested no photos during the performance after she busted me taking one. Afterward, Lyla prepared for a little day date with her Aunt Taylor. Taylor picked her up in the afternoon and they spent a couple hours together shopping at ULTA, Sam Moon, and getting frozen yogurt. It was so sweet of Taylor to take Lyla out for some one on one time, because anyone who knows Lyla knows that dates are her faaaavorite! I know those fun memories will have a lasting impact on Lyla. She is so loved and I am so grateful.

 

In the evening once Kirk was off work, we went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. Lyla was greeted with another gift from Jeremy, Charli, and Hali. The "LOL" dolls could have been the kick-start to Lyla's YouTube career, but instead she revealed their contents on the restaurant table. If you're confused by what I'm even talking about, well then, just carry on. We enjoyed pizza, with the exception of the birthday girl, of course. She does not enjoy pizza, although CPK is her favorite restaurant. Yup, now you even more confused by this paragraph. Oh well. It was a day well spent for Lyla and it makes me so happy to see her happy!

I started this sentence as "it's been so easy being Lyla's mom" and then I erased it because that is definitely not true. Motherhood is often full of doubt, fear, guilt, regret. It is full of love, gratitude, pride, reflection, laughter & so many silly moments. And sometimes all of those emotions wrapped into one at the same time. It's the hardest job I have ever had and sometimes I question who thought it would be a good idea to hire me. But I know in my heart Lyla was meant to be my daughter. She has been my greatest teacher and I am honored to be her mom. Lyla doesn't make it tough being a mom, I do that to myself. She is truly an amazing kid. I would describe her best as thoughtful, compassionate, & determined. And she is so fun! In school, she is eager to learn and so very smart. She is polite and attentive. She was recognized last month in her class for being a good example of responsibility. She has some perfectionist tendencies, but I'm going to try to guide her away from that because perfectionist life is too exhausting. And I may have mentioned this next part in a previous post, I can't remember because it's been so long since I blogged. We had a parent teacher conference and Lyla's teacher told us about a deaf girl in their class who Lyla always makes sure to include with her friends. Her teacher said she feels so relieved about having a student like Lyla in class because she knows nobody will ever feel left out. I left the conference crying and then cried some more as Lyla came home from school day after day excited to show me the new signing words she learned from her friend. Lyla pays close attention to people and acts accordingly. She is accepting and inclusive. Her kindness makes our family stronger, it makes her classroom happier, and the world a better place. Happy Birthday, my Lyla girl. I love you so much!

The Birthday Interviews

Happy Easter Weekend!

This was one of those weekends that I could replay over and over again. I think the fact that it was extended by two extra days for our Easter break may have contributed to the goodness. We spent Friday visiting with a friend and her delicious newborn baby, then returned home to dye some Easter eggs. Lyla seemed to enjoy this project more than Max. She had fun combining different colors and creating designs on her eggs, whereas I probably blinked twice and Max had already dropped his entire pile of eggs into all the color cups. He was unimpressed and ditched us to play outside, however his eggs ended up being the brightest colors since they were left to soak for so long. Nobody likes the taste of hard boiled eggs in our family, but we had fun dissecting them afterward. 

Saturday the kiddos woke up at the crack of dawn, because that's what they always do when we have the day off. Lyla woke up with the idea that she really really needed to go get her haircut, like immediately. She actually started this a few weeks ago when she mentioned that she would really like to cut bangs. This was one of those "smile and nod" moments in parenting with the expectation said child will likely forget about whatever they keep going on and on about.....but Lyla has a natural ability for being extremely persistent. She did not forget and this "I want bangs" conversation continued for about three weeks. So, when she brought it up yet again on Saturday morning, I said "okay fine, let's go!" And off we went on our 9:00 a.m. adventure! Technically they are side swoop bangs because she has a calic, but regardless, we think her new style is fab. The boys left on their own adventure to Home Depot. I was laughing at Max's comment when Kirk told him that's where they were going. He said, "you mean, it's like our home...but it's a depot???" Yes, exactly son. Kirk decided he wanted to make our garage less trailer park-ee, so that was a nice improvement. I decided Kirk is in the "weekend project" phase of life. Max has been quite eager to assist him.

I made lunch for us and then the kiddos played outside for the remainder of Saturday afternoon. And by remainder I actually mean for about five hours. They were mad when I made them come inside at five o'clock. The neighbor kids may drive me nutso sometimes, but I'm also really appreciative of them. Lyla and Max really look forward to play time with their neighbor friends. I want my kids to value the friendships they make in life. It reminds me of a book we read together, "If I could keep you little I would pick for you a friend or two, but then I would miss you choosing friends you like who like you too!" It's a cute one. Anyway, I left later that evening to join some friends at a painting class. I forgot how much fun those classes are!

The Easter bunny visited as we slept that night. We were lucky it didn't rain and he was able to hide some eggs outside for the kids too! It was pretty funny when the kids woke up that morning because they could not find their baskets. We left them on the couch in plain sight, but they were running in circles and probably looked at the baskets five times before Lyla finally noticed hers. Max had this disappointed look on his face as he watched Lyla go through the contents of her basket. His basket was sitting right next to hers!!!!! We watched in disbelief for a few seconds, before we finally motioned Max to his own basket. You have one too little buddy! That morning brain fog is a real struggle. We ate breakfast and then I'm pretty sure the kids consumed 70 pounds of candy while I prepared a couple of dishes to take to Charli's. I do not like all that Easter basket madness, by the way. Who invented hiding plastic eggs with candy in them? I don't like that person. And whyyyyy does Easter basket grass exist? That stuff spreads like wildfire. And why do I even go along with all of it!??!

I took pictures of the kids before we went to Charli's and they were super agreeable to do so for once. I had this genius idea to have a pretend sibling wedding. The kids loved this idea and they were totally all about it. I told my brother this story and he called me "creepy" and "weird" --- typical little brother thing to say. I thought it made for a really exciting photo session! We even had a wedding ceremony, complete with wedding march music and a bouquet for the bride. It turns out I'm a terrible wedding officiant, as the only thing I could come up with for the ceremony was to have them say one thing they love about each other. Max contemplated for awhile and eventually said "booty" as his response to the question. I thought it was hilarious, but apparently that part of the story also contributed to my brother's "creepy" comments. He's entitled to his opinion though. We enjoyed lunch together at Charli and Jeremy's house. The kids got in their mandatory golf cart and Mario Party time. And that concludes our Easter festivities!!!!!!!!!!!!! I slept like a baby on Sunday. 

Silly string...another evil product....yet I continue to buy it like an idiot.

 Her face is PURE JOY!!!!

Lyla: Five Years Old

It seems the days leading up to my kid's birthdays are always the most revealing of their age. I know this because it's the time of year when I look at them, I mean really stare, and realize how much they have grown and changed over the past year. That's exactly what happened this week for me too. I started watching and listening to Lyla, more intently than I normally do, and it hit me. Holy crap. You are a five year old. She acts like a five year old. She looks like a five year old. She sounds like a five year old, okay sometimes sixteen. 

As you could imagine, I've been doing a lot of reflecting about the past five years. I smile as I think about how many things have changed, yet so many have stayed the same. I will never forget the scowl on Lyla's face as she glanced all around the hospital room the day she was born. That initial scowl transformed into an independent attitude that she's continued to carry throughout her life. That little seven pound baby had a fierceness about her, as if she already had the whole world figured out. And while I know Lyla still has a lot of life to experience and lessons to learn, she has taught me more about life than I ever could have imagined possible. I have been a mom for five years and all my motherhood "firsts" continue to be with Lyla. I think that's pretty special. Along with that newborn scowl was the first moment we made eye contact and my journey as her mom began. I am immensely grateful for the gift of motherhood. It has changed me for the better. And I don't feel like a rookie anymore either! Woo! 

I'll be honest, I was a little concerned during that twoberty phase with Lyla, which carried over to three and even a little into four. I have always encouraged her independent spirit, but that sass has been a little brutal at times. This past year or so she has really matured into such a pleasant little person to be around. There were certainly delightful aspects to her during all the different stages of toddlerhood, of course, I'm just stating she has really bloomed into her own sense of self. At school, she has earned this reputation as being a peacekeeper and nurturer of sorts. She is always so aware of her surroundings, ensuring everyone in her presence is content. She cares about people and it makes me so proud to be her mom. I've watched her behave this way not only among her peers, but when it comes to her little brother as well. She is always thinking of that little boy. We will take a girls only trip to the grocery store and every single time she will ask the cashier a sticker for her brother. And don't even think about going to the bank without getting an extra sucker! I think we can do a lot to influence the behavior of our kids, but that sweet girl has a heart of gold. She was born a helper and the sweetness is just part of her soul.

Well now that I'm crying over how amazing my daughter is, I want to switch gears and share what we did on her birthday! I know I will cherish these first five years forever and I don't even want to think about how quickly the next five are going to fly by. 

I can't tell you what she is doing in the above photo.
The pose is her own invention and she facilitates most
 of our photo shoots now that she is five.

Enjoying her coloring book with some jams on. I love this picture.

We are having a birthday bash on Saturday, so that's when the real fun is going down. As for Lyla's actual birthday, it was a fairly routine day of school. She woke in the best mood, then she was eager to open a couple of gifts Kirk grabbed for her the night before. I didn't even know he was going to have something ready for her by the way --- it was super sweet of him! Anyway, we continued off to school and she wanted to listen to Christmas music. Seriously, stick a needle in my ear. I would have laughed at her had it not been her birthday, instead we sang jingle bells for the entirety of our thirty minute commute. She took cupcakes to school to share with her classmates. We  grabbed them from the grocery store the night before and she passed on the frosting she wanted and picked the kind she thought most of the kids in her class would like instead --- again, so thoughtful.

After school, we decided to get milkshakes. eek! More sugar, I know. Then she requested Chicfila for dinner. That was fine with me, make my life easy. Ha! That girl can put down a full size chicken sandwich these days, which is pretty impressive considering there was a time I could barely convince her to eat a cracker. She also suggested we participate in a "Chicfila Sauce Challenge" during dinner. This is a challenge where you line up the eight different variety of sauce flavors and try to guess each of them after just one dip of a finger, french fry, etc. Well. Miss Birthday Girl is a big chicken when it comes to trying new foods and declined practically every single sauce. She tried ketchup...wow. And Chicfila sauce. Seriously. It was her idea!!!! She is such a dork. Max participated in tasting every single sauce, even the spicy ones, which was super hilarious and made up for Lyla's lack of participation. She wrapped up the night with a little Hansel and Gretel and that concluded the birthday festivities. However, we are so excited to party on Saturday!

Lyla's gifts from us arrived on Thursday and I was originally going to have her open them on party day. Then I decided oh, who cares. She opened a bed set and wardrobe closet to accommodate her new American Girl doll, Avery. I may start referring to the doll by name, just take note. Anyway, after some lengthy assembling we finally had it all set up. Then it occurred to me that Lyla wasn't going to have any space in her bedroom for this new American Girl arrangement. She already had a baby station and the Barbie house station, so I asked if she had any ideas on how to make it work. She thought about it intently for a few minutes, then she said, "Mom, I don't really play with my Barbie house anymore, let's give it to another little girl who will play with it more than me." My initial thought was, ummm but you have only had it two years....and Santa spent two full nights putting it together....and you have a bucket of probably 60 Barbies. Then I remembered how I'm always preaching to my kids about decluttering and donating stuff we don't need to someone else that can use it. So my initial panic of clinging onto the Barbie house for unnecessary reasons, transformed into another proud moment that Lyla has the brains to realize she has more than she needs and more than she can play with. I'm impressed that she isn't emotionally attached to all these materialistic items. I mean...it's hard for me sometimes and she is only five!

We spent the rest of the afternoon organizing her room. She decided to keep her Anna & Elsa dolls in her keepsake box. They are sentimental for sure. Then she picked out a few of the non-frazzled looking Barbies to keep, just in case the Barbie urge ever strikes again. She also kept the Barbie party bus, so they still have a spot to hang. But the adorable Barbie house itself is no longer a staple item in Lyla's room. It made my heart a little sad to close that chapter, but I was also filled with so much joy as Lyla was already thinking out loud about all the different kids she could gift the house to. The Barbie house location is now replaced with Avery's "room" and it's coming along quite nicely. The baby station remains in her room as well, since that's a regular activity between her and Max. It's just change is all it is. And again, I'm so impressed Lyla came up with the idea all on her own. She handled the process with such grace. 

The scenario doubled as a good example to Max, who came out of his room with one toy to give to someone. As he declared his good deed, I could tell he was trying to remember the exact words Lyla used earlier. I love it when he does that, cracks me up every time. He always seems so proud of himself, yet all he's doing is mimicking his big sis. He certainly looks up to her! It's pretty dang cute.

Birthday surprise from the best dad ever!!!! 

The remains of Lyla's Barbie collection.
 The difference is shocking to anyone who knows what her stockpile looked like before!

The new arrangement for Avery!

Don't mind Lyla's solemn expression, I just thought they
looked so adorable in matching pajamas and robes. 

                             Hope everyone has a great weekend! I will blog about the party soon.

December is here! Is this real life?

We had a fun visit from Grandpa Rick and Becky this week. It was a quick two days, but I've learned to take what I can get. We have been so lucky to have several repeat visitors since we moved to Texas, so I feel like we have already cycled through most of the touristy stuff. The one new attraction I've been able to share with our family is the kid's school. Grandpa and Becky were able to enjoy lunch with us and see the kiddos in their classrooms. It was nice to show them what daily life is like for us these days and I'm fortunate to work somewhere that doesn't mind if I bring in guests every once in awhile. It's a pretty laid back atmosphere, both from a working perspective and in the classrooms. Also, as the ongoing tradition continues through the generations, Grandpa treated us to ice-cream after school. That will always be one of my favorite and most memorable traditions of my childhood. 

Lyla singing her Christmas program for Grandpa and Becky. It doesn't get any better than a private performance!

This weekend it finally started feeling like Christmas for me. We went to a fun party on Friday night and then Lyla & I spent most of Saturday Christmas shopping for family and friends. She is a good little shopping buddy these days, very opinionated too. Ha! Sunday included a visit to Santa at the kid's school. The school PTO organized an event with different craft booths, hot cocoa, and photos with Santa. I figured it was a good opportunity to cross Santa off the list. Lyla has been talking about asking for an American Girl doll for what seems like an eternity, but the moment she approached Santa it's as if she was starstruck or something. I was rather confused as she uttered the words, "fairy barbie" when he asked what she wanted for Christmas. I was actually thinking, "Uhhh Lyla!!!! That was SO last year." Max pretty much had the same experience. He has been going on and on about this Batman Transformer toy, yet he was only able to squeak out the word "dinosaur" when Santa asked him. *eye roll* I told them it's too bad they froze up under pressure because now Santa isn't going to have any clue of their true desires. As always, Lyla was quick with her response, claiming it was fine because she also wrote him a letter. I was unimpressed with the Santa at our school event and felt he could have been slightly more enthusiastic anyway. He even had a real Santa beard, so I was really expecting that kind of physical dedication to match his energy on the inside. It did not. 

I suppose if an unimpressive Santa is our biggest problem in life, then we don't have any problems at all. I have been thinking about this concept a lot lately and how our life problems are all about perspective. The beginning of the month really started out with a Scrooge-esque attitude for me, especially in regards to the holidays. It only added fuel to the fire when I started assembling the Christmas tree and learned none of the lights were working. I had a little tantrum over it. Then I gave Christmas spirit another attempt with some good ol' fashioned baking. Burned my cookies. Que tantrum number two. Oh yeah, and how could I forget the major pity party over the disappointment of my Christmas cards. It was obvious hibernation was going to be my only destiny for this year!!! Good grief, listing it all out like this and I am actually embarrassed by how pathetic I am. 

Okay. Anyway! Along with all my pitiful behavior, I also have these light bulb moments when these small realizations show me that my problems are not actual problems. We have a good life and most complaints are simply comical. My family is together. We are healthy beings. And my kids are so very loved. There are a lot of people in this world who would give literally anything for even one of those things. Que perspective shift.

And with that, my 2016 Holiday Mantra: Even if our Santa Claus clearly hates his job, our Christmas tree is [was] not shining brightly, and our cookies have black bottoms....this life is still so good. Merry Christmas! 

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas....

Dad was able to make a surprise visit for Max's Christmas program! Yay!

My Saturday shopping buddy!

These are my people! How did I get SO lucky?

Don't be fooled by his good looks. He was the worst.

We are so lucky to have such great friends in our lives too!

Grandparents Day & Momma Grizzly

You guys. I really suck at writing lately. I have opened my computer probably half a dozen times to post a blog entry and I just suck at it. I have writers block. My brain is broken. No mojo. I don't know what's happened to me.

Anyway, this simple blog entry proved to be just as difficult. Bleh bleh bleh.

Kirk had the opportunity to attend a special event at Lyla's school this week. It was technically Grandparents Day, but we had to get creative since we have yet to adopt any grandparents in Texas. I was feeling sorry for ourselves and complaining about all the nonexistent memories our kids are making with grandparents. I really tried to focus my energy on all the goodness that exists in our lives, but the truth is my heart was hurting. I miss Idaho a lot sometimes. Kirk took notice of my sadness and suggested he attend as Lyla's special guest instead. I gave this idea two thumbs up.

Kirk's job can be full of surprises, so we decided to keep it a secret from Lyla. We didn't want her to be disappointed just in case he had to cancel last minute. Plus, surprises are super fun! The day arrived and Kirk was able to make it. YAY! I was excited to show him around our school and took him to greet Max first. Max's class was not celebrating Grandparents Day, but I still wanted Kirk to stop in to say hello. Max was completely shocked when he saw Kirk. He ran right up to him and wrapped his arms tightly around his neck. *Que the water works* Then we let Max get back to his normal routine and continued to Lyla's classroom.

I entered Lyla's classroom first, as she was expecting me to join her for lunch as her special guest and nobody else. Kirk entered the room as she was washing her hands and sat down next to me at the table. Then Lyla turned around and saw him, which is when I expected the joyful embrace to happen. I had this big vision of Lyla being so excited and surprised but it was actually quite the opposite. She completely ignored him!!! I knew at this point she was overcome with nerves, but I still stated the obvious, "Hey, Dad is here! Aren't you excited?!" She honestly looked like she was about ready to cry. She held up one finger toward me and said "shhhh please just be quiet." We sat down for lunch and she was silent the entire time, so opposite from her typical demeanor at school. It was obvious she felt uncomfortable. It was weird having Dad in her element at school. It's totally okay and I completely understand. She wasn't being rude or sassy. I could tell she was just having a moment of being so overwhelmed and not wanting any attention on her whatsoever. I am SO familiar with that feeling from my childhood. I felt sad for her, but it was also a moment of genetic-fascination because she is so much like me. And my dad too! It's so crazy to me.

Anyway, lunch continued and they eventually made ice-cream sundaes. It was time to tour the book fair and I finally saw my girl shedding away all that fear. She was her happy, outgoing self again as we stopped by Max's classroom to bring him with us to the book fair. The school is so strategic planning Grandparents Day the same week as the book fair, turns out it works on dads too. It was a really fun day! I feel bad that I was initially so grumpy about not having any grandparents nearby, because having Kirk there made me really happy. And I think Lyla was happy too, despite her being unable to show it in the beginning. My kids are loved and we are so fortunate.

I feel like I've been wasting way too much energy feeling mad lately. It can be exhausting. The lack of grandparents on Grandparents Day is just one example among the spoonfuls of negativity I keep piling on my plate. It's so important to me to practice gratitude daily, but recently I've been doing quite the opposite. I have a bad attitude, as even Lyla pointed out. Bless her honesty. I keep finding myself choosing one bad moment that's happened and allowing it to impact me for the rest of the day. In doing this, I've raised the bar to an impossible level of perfection and it's so frustrating. I'm so hard on myself, my kids, my marriage, and every aspect of life that I easily forget about all the happiness that does exist in my life.

I think I need Lyla to get back on board with the Frozen obsession because having "Let it Go" on repeat every single day was actually really inspiring. Ha! It used to be so easy for me to let it go within five minutes. I kept low expectations and could almost instantly release angry feelings back into the universe, but now I keep a tight grip on that shit like it's actually worth something. And I'm pretty sure this shift in my mindset happened when Lyla retired Frozen!!!! Ha, not really. That part is a joke. Anyway, that's just a little self-reflection for the blog. I've learned the seasons of life are constantly changing and I will ride this wave through the storm. As for now, I'm really working on being more mindful of what I choose to focus my energy on. I can't always choose my feelings, but I can choose how they affect my life. The time with my family is so valuable because our kids are changing every single day. They are growing up. I don't want to look back and regret wasting time on anything insignificant.

My Peeps!

My mom and Jake left us yesterday after a five day visit in Texas. As always, we had so much fun and replenished the memory bucket until next time. We all went to an Astros game together on Saturday evening. My mom splurged on some really great tickets and we had a blast! We haven't taken Lyla or Max to a baseball game in a couple years, so it was fun to see how much they have evolved compared to our last experience. I had the realization it's getting easier to plan adventures as our kids become more and more flexible as they grow older. There was once a time we had to plan activities to revolve around the schedule of these little munchkins, but it seems we are finally moving away from that. It's fun having "big" kids!

I suppose I can't give Max the big kid title quite yet, considering we did have a crisis situation at the very end of the ball game. As he melted into a puddle of hysterical sadness on the floor of the public restroom, I imagined all the diseases he had to be contracting and begged him to hold on a little longer. There was no saving him. It was already too late. So, I decided to relocate him outdoors to a grassy area and give him some space to release all that emotion. I just stood there and waved at strangers as they passed by. "Oh, hi. Yes. That's my child. His apparent exorcism was taking place near the toilet just minutes ago, so believe me this is much better for us. Carry on." Anyway, like I said, it seems we are moving away from planning around their schedules, but I guess we aren't out of the woods quite yet. It was late and the game was almost over, so I'll give him that --- but I can't wait to tell him this story when he's older. It was an award winning performance.

We had more fun times including foot spa night by Lyla, endless shopping, swimming time, football and taco day, Top Golf, and my mom was also able to visit our school. I can never decide whether to call it school or work since it's both, so in this instance it's school. Anyway, it was nice to give her a glimpse of our new daily schedule and the kids enjoyed showing off their classrooms. She even read a story to Max's class. It was adorable! 

My mom is such an amazing grandma and I'm so grateful my kiddos were able to absorb some of her loving energy for a few days. Lyla's Barbie collection has been gathering dust for the past couple months, but I think Lyla remembered how good Grandma is at playing Barbies because the moment she arrived it was game on. I really enjoy my mom's Barbie technique because she bounces back and forth between full on dedication to the never ending game and bringing Barbie into real life scenarios, such as Barbie has to blow dry her hair, make the bed, pour some coffee --- then she returns to Lyla's script. Ha! It's pretty great.

As for little brother Jake, he is an excellent uncle. My heart explodes every time I watch him interact with Lyla and Max. I can't even explain the reasoning, but he has exceeded any expectation I ever had for all the silly uncle-ing abilities I made up in my head. He is the best brother and I'm so lucky my kids get to call him their uncle. My favorite Jake rant from this trip was a surprisingly convincing argument about how real water bottle companies in this country are selling us water that doesn't even hydrate our bodies. Yes folks, non-hydrating h2o. I was giggling, but feeling somewhat skeptical after his lengthy speech. However, knowing it would push his buttons, I claimed this conspiracy theory was nothing more than a first world problem and told him he sounded like a "spoiled millennial." He said, "If by that comment you mean I think for myself, then I'll take that as a compliment." Haha! I love him. He is a riot. I think it's obvious how much I love teasing my brother, but I can't help it. It's been the easiest form of entertainment in my life for the past 24 years. However, as much as I love to harass him about practically everything, I hope he also knows how much I admire his wisdom and overall outlook on life. He will always be one of my favorites, cynicism and all.

I miss them already. I dropped them off at the airport and cried like a baby, because that's what I always do. I wish I could keep them here forever. I know some people may think I'm nuts, but I really think our culture made a wrong turn having families separate from each other as soon as we emerge into adulthood. Why do we do that? Where did all this pressure come from? I think we should reside in the same house, perhaps build a small village, and keep the happy times going forever and ever. I want less stuff and more people. And I'm reminded of this every time I have to say goodbye.