Myself

Such independent children I have. Kate's latest and most common comment is now: "I do it myself." Everything, myself. Shoes, caps on water bottles, combing hair, getting dressed, and changing her diaper.

Yes, she thinks the world would be better if she could change her diaper by herself. I informed her that God, in fact, did not make her that way, and that if she wanted to do it "myself" then she would need to use the potty like a big girl.

You'll find most all of my parenting is centered around how life would be much better if she would use the potty like a big girl, so this is just putty in the hand, baby.

(She also really likes saying, "Oh man." If she doesn't like something, or has to leave too soon, or not wear her brother's underwear, "Oh man" is the proper response.

The Birthday Boy

I thought I'd share this picture of Sam on his birthday. At chuck e cheese, no less. Doesn't he look excited??

I'm not sure what his deal was, but I think he was just focused on all of the games he could be playing. Either that or he's contemplating life-issues.

Maranatha Pictures!

Pictures are worth 1000 words, so here are a few of ours.

My Happy Girl

Playing at the beach... both kids loved the beach this year and the weather was great. However, Kate had different plans for Sam's sand castle than he did. (Kate-zilla!)

Kate loved Matt and Meaghan. Maybe a little too much. Doesn't it look like Meaghan's ready to make a move: "You better get your own man, girl!"

We placed 2nd at the sand castle contest this year. Theme: Olympics. We built the stadium (with pool) , the rings, and a torch. Sam was thrilled that we "finally" won. After two years. Wow. That's persistance.

Ah, the sunsets.

Sam got a lot of rides from Doug and Stu back from the sunset each night. He had some model number for each of them, and would steer them using their heads. It was big fun for him, but I'm not privy to all of the details.

Aren't they cute!?! We'll keep this one for their teenage years, just as a reminder...

Kate was a swinging champ this year. She caught several different friends with her tangled web of innocent "'mon. Swing." requests and had them pushing for hours. Sam was a pretty good sport, but Doug, Matt, Daddy were her usual conquests.

5 years old!

My first baby turns 5 years old today! Because his birthday is mid-week this year, we aren't having any party until Saturday. SO, for those of you who read this, if you want to leave him a birthday message as a comment, that would be super! I'll read them to him tonight.

We did go to donuts for breakfast this morning and Sam ran in and told (no longer) Cranky Sue that "I'm 5 today." And as is usual of late, Kate echoed, "I 5 today. I 5 today". Another customer looked at her and said, "Are you 5 today?" "Yep," she said. Oh well, I guess you can be 5 twice.