In some respects, I can’t believe it’s been so long. Didn’t we just get here? Honestly, all the rooms look pretty much the same as when I gave our new house tour. I haven’t changed the furniture or decorations for the living room, family room, front hall, kitchen, or our bedroom since we got our new furniture just after moving in. I’m just not one to rock the boat when I like how things look, I guess.
On the other hand, I also can’t believe it’s only been three years. I love our home! Every time I drive up to my house, I feel so grateful that we were able to move here. I truly am coming home. I can barely remember the previous places we lived and I just love where we have ended up. I never want to leave.
We may not have made lots of decorating changes in the past few years, but since we moved in, we have done a number of big things for the house. We refinished the hardwood floors. We insulated the attic and the basement. We had the roof replaced. We had the cedar siding and trim repainted. We replaced the patio door. We painted the ceiling of the basement in anticipation of more changes down there. And we’ve now painted the smallest bedroom in preparation for a new baby!
There is still lots to do to make our home the most beautiful it can be. But I’m pretty happy with how it is today!
One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to update this page with family pictures in the same month in which the activities took place, starting with Christmas 2011. I especially want to be better since I posted 50+ pictures a month of newborn Paul and I want Caroline to feel she’s just as special a newborn.
I intended to post these pictures the last week of December. And yet, here I am well in to the new year, waiting for Paul to go to preschool to do so.
At any rate, Christmas was wonderful this year. I baked cookies and fudge to enjoy for a month and to give away to neighbors. Paul was incredibly excited to countdown until Christmas and he enjoyed the activities we did.
Before Christmas, I was able to attend Paul’s preschool holiday party. I haven’t attended any of his parties before so it was fun to be there to help and take pictures, etc. This was a rather chaotic party; I wonder if preschool is always like this? At any rate, they had some carnival games, a few craft projects, and then a gym floor covered in bath sponges that were called “snowballs.” They were encouraged to have a snowball fight. Put 20 kids aged 3 and 4 in a room and tell them to have a snowball fight? Um… Paul reacted much as I would have. He threw a “snowball,” then watched people for a while. Then threw another. It was a bit intense.
Here are some of the best pictures of my little guy. The full album of the preschool is on flickr with a guest pass.
Reindeer bowling
He's proud he knocked some bowling pins down.
We are low-key about presents (I do not want to raise a spoiled or greedy child who says “I want that!” for every toy he sees). I gave him a (plastic) kids microscope, books (which is what he asked for), and an inflatable globe, among some other smaller things. Grandpa Sorenson gave us a book of silly stories that he wrote and Grandma gave him a Thomas the Tank Engine puzzle. Grandma Peggy sent Trio blocks, which along with our Legos, have given me lots of time as Paul slips downstairs to create yet something else. (YES!)
We enjoyed the true spirit of Christmas. At the beginning of the month, he loved selecting some clothes for a “poor boy” from the library’s giving tree and talked for days about the boy who was too poor to get his own clothes. (He was particularly excited because the boy was FOUR just like he is so he knew just what the boy would like.) He loved selecting gifts for his cousins (we do a family gift rotation among my siblings). He loved the excitement of wrapped presents and waiting for them. I don’t think he was tempted to open them, he just loved shaking them and counting them and wondering. He was fascinated by the mystery of magical Santa (although *cough* the reindeer forgot to eat the reindeer food that Paul left on the front step. How’d I know he’d check that FIRST?! even before looking under the tree?).
And most importantly, Christmas was, for our family, about the true meaning of the season, the birth of our Savior. I love having Christmas on Sunday, because then church reinforced the real meaning of the season. I wish we had services every Christmas morning, but of course, that’s not how it works.
The not-so-materialistic goals we have worked well this year: we got to church at 10:30 and someone asked him what he got for Christmas.
“Ugh….I forgot.” he responded. (But he did remember to say that the reindeer forgot to eat the reindeer food he left for them…). So, at any rate, I know Christmas for Paul was not about the presents. Mission accomplished!
We also got to spend the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa and Paul’s Sorenson cousins. It was lots of fun to watch the kids playing, and it was great to gather with family on a special day.
Decorating for Christmas was not pleasant this year… and I just keep thinking how taking it all down will be even harder because I’ll be that much more pregnant. Nevertheless, Paul loved helping put up the tree. And I do love the lights and the Christmas music. (Guest pass to view this set on Flickr.)
And then we come back to Santa. Do you remember Raisin’s reaction to Santa last year? Well, this season began much the same.
“I don’t like Santa. Santa is grumpy.”
“I don’t want Santa to come.”
“I don’t need any toys.”
So when we headed to the Lake in the Hills tree lighting, I warned him that Santa would be there, but we didn’t have to talk to him. We would leave after we saw the Christmas trees. Surprise! Once he saw Santa, he really wanted to talk to him.
They had this set up for pictures as we waited to talk to Santa. Paul is saying “Merry Christmasssss!” which is why his tongue is sticking out. I only had my phone with me (I wasn’t planning on meeting Santa, remember), so that’s why it’s totally out of focus.
I kept asking Paul what he was going to say to Santa. Would he tell Santa “not to come” like he did last year? He just said, “You’ll have to listen very carefully.”
So what did Paul say?
“What do you want for Christmas?” asked Mrs. Claus.
“Books,” said Paul without hesitation. “Books about books.”
As you probably know, I hate Halloween. From the extra candy everywhere to the greedy kids to the scary costumes, I just don’t like it. But. Paul loves dressing up. So this was the year to join in all the Halloween fun. We even went trick-or-treating to the five people on the street we kind of know. Paul loved being Winnie-the-Pooh. I think the costume made him look a few years YOUNGER than he is. At any rate, he made a very cute Winnie-the-Pooh. He won an award at the ward party’s costume parade for cutest costume! I did feel a little guilty since his costume cost $4 at Goodwill; other moms actually, you know, made their kids costumes. Ah well.
I was going to wear my Karate Gi to the ward party so I could say I have a “costume.” But when I went to get ready, Paul looked at me in confusion. “But you’re going to be a Mommy for Halloween,” he informed me. “And you’ve been wearing your costume all day.”
Ok, then.
So with out further ado, here’s the cute kid. Larger pictures are on Flickr for friends and family to see and/or download.
Paul has been playing “birthday” with imaginary friends for months. He will stir up a bunch of toys in a bowl with a spoon to make a “cake,” then he’ll spread out a blanket, wrap a toy in another blanket (to be the present), and then invite me to celebrate with him. His imaginary friends regularly turned two or maybe 10, and I have had dozens of birthdays since my last special day in January.
So needless to say, I was rather excited to help him celebrate his real special day. Although we don’t plan on having a friends birthday party every year, this was definitely a year to plan something fun.
I was told that a theme is not necessary, but I chose one anyway. Paul loves the concept of Super Why!, who is a superhero for preschoolers because he can read. Besides, Paul has learned how to read, so playing on the theme of reading, alphabet, and phonics was just what he liked. My games were rather loosely based on the show — but it didn’t really matter, because Paul went around for days telling everyone he was Super Paul because he knew how to read. That was the idea in my mind.
A few fun things about planning a party with a kid who is really excited: As I began making lists, he was jumping around the room.
“Can we play Duck Duck Goose?! Don’t forget we need decorations! I need a party hat!”
(He insisted on the party hat. He wore it for about 10 seconds and then told me he didn’t want a party hat. Sigh.)
Below, I have a video that has collected still shots from the birthday party, plus us singing to him as well as still shots from the rest of the birthday party. If you’d rather, you can browse the Flickr collection of photos here.
My goal this summer was to make it “fun” for Paul so he wouldn’t miss preschool. Well, having morning sickness (more properly, most of the day sickness) kind of drained my energy. But we did do some fun things! Here are some photos and videos of our fun activities.
EIEIO
Rockford Children’s Museum, June 17, 2011
Paul got to pet some animals at the children’s museum. He talked for days about how he wanted a pet duck-turkey-donkey-etc.
I ask him now, months after the fact, and he says his favorite was the baby duckling, “and the goat!”
The museum also had tons of imaginative play, including a train, a bank, and a post office mail box and costume. There were a number of science exhibits too, but they were geared toward a little older kids. Definitely a place to return to at many ages. He had a great time and still asks to go back.
Train Ride
July 8, 2011
We rode the train to Des Plaines to visit the train restaurant for cupcakes. He still talks about this all the time too.
Reading with Grandma
July 22, 2011
This is a really long video, so don’t feel obligated to watch it all. Grandma reads a page, and then Paul reads a page.
Schaumburg Nature Center
August 16, 2011
We met a few friends and went for a short (1 mile each way) hike at the Schaumburg Nature Center. There was a silo to climb up, and lots of nice walking trails. We had a picnic at the “farm,” where chickens begged for a few crumbs. The kids had a blast, although Paul (and some of the others) were quite exhausted by the end of the walk back.
A nice trip with friends to end off the summer.
Trip to the Mall
August 18, 2011
Maybe this is lame pregnant Mommy, but I was looking for something else to do so we went to the mall and walked around. Paul’s friends were already starting preschool and Paul was looking for fun (he really wants to go back to school). Anyway, Paul “rode” on the coin operated toys without my paying any money… that was our fun day… Hey, he DID have fun.
Touch a Truck
Algonquin, August 20, 2011
I thought we’d be rained out, but then the skies cleared and we headed over to our township’s annual touch-a-truck event. Paul got to sit in all sorts of trucks. What a blast! He got to turn on the police car siren, and he was most excited to see the cement truck, although he wasn’t able to sit in that one.
We also went to the pool a number of times, but I didn’t take any pictures. I’m not sure if the summer membership was worth it (not sure how many times I went and if it was $100 worth), but because I didn’t pay $5 every time, I never felt bad going for just an hour! I wish I hadn’t been sick for so much of the summer, but then, I’m very excited to be pregnant, so I’m very happy I was!
[Paul drew a picture of the train restaurant. I asked him to tell me the story. There was a lot of back story to get to the train restaurant. Enjoy!]
“In the train restaurant we go!”
A true story by Paul June 22, 2011
Once upon a time, there was a boy named Paul. And Paul’s parents were named Rebecca and Ryan. And the next day, Paul work up and his parents Mommy and Daddy woke up. And then all of the people took showers. And then Mommy and Daddy got dressed. Paul’s parents packed up to go to New York City. And Paul packed up to go to Sister Bether’s house and his grandma’s house. They get in the car with all the stuff they want to take with them. And then Paul’s parents get in their new car and then they started to drive. But first one of Paul’s parents opened the garage to drive out.
Paul went to Sister Bether’s house and his grandma’s house and his parents go to New York City. And then they get to a stoplight. And then the stoplight turned green. And then they finally go forward. And then they finally get to Sister Bether’s house. And they ring the doorbell. So, Emily gets to the door and says “Who’s there?” And Paul plays with the Bethers in the basement. And then Paul plays with Rexie. And the next day, Paul work up and someone rang the door bell and it was Grandma! Paul’s Grandma!
Paul came to his grandma. And then they walked to the car and Paul got in his seat. Grandma got in her seat. And they drive. And then it was very far to Grandma’s house. When they get to Grandma’s house, Paul played with Marble Works. And then all of Paul’s cousins were there. And then they go swimming. Grandpa opened up the pool. And then Grandma turned on the heat and it was just right. And then they get out and wash their hair. Grandma opened up the door and they get dressed.
Then they get in the car again and go to the train restaurant. When they get there, Granpa opened up the door and they get in. And then they play with the trains. And they go back to their seat and get what they want to eat. They play with the trains some more. And then their food comes back on a little train. And then they eat. And they get back in the car and go to Grandma’s house again. And the next day Paul woke up ….
(to be continued)
“Hooray we go!”
A continued true story by Paul June 22, 2011
And the next day, they go back to Grandma’s house. It was Sunday and Paul go visit Jessica and Daniel. And Jessica came to Paul. And they got in the car to go to church. They finally got to church. They opened the doors and everyone got out. And then Grandpa came and then they had sacrament meeting. Paul and Jessica go to Jessica’s big sunbeam class. And then at the end, they go to Jessica’s littler class. Two people keep turning the light on and off. But if they do that, their mom is going to come! And then all of the family went home. Then all the people went home.
Next, they got back in the car. Then they went to sleep and the next day, they got up and had breakfast. And then they got to a parade. The parade was fun. And then they go to a baseball game and watch it. Paul had ice cream on a stick! First he ate a big pretzel. And then he had dessert. And then he watched it. And then Paul tried to trick Jessica. They try to go backward and forward. And they went back home.
[I’m currently reading a book about encouraging creativity in your children by helping them write. Paul dictated the following stories to me. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoyed pulling them together. “Underground” is where Paul’s imaginary friends live. The others make as much sense to you as they do to me.]
“Underground”
June 14, 2011
Underground, there are no trees. There are cars and people. There are houses. I like to go under there. Sometimes I pack up things to take. Sometimes I take my toothbrush and toothpaste. Sometimes I take my animals. All of my imaginary friends live underground. And sometimes I take my weather chart. IF it’s raining I am not going to go under there. Sometimes I take my blankets and toys, and sometimes I pack up some books. Underground is a special place. Sometimes I pack my pillows. Sometimes I take a nap underground.
The End.
“Crash It” Day
June 16, 2011
When it is the “crash it” day, we need to cut the pretend grass. Then we are going to come inside and then we are going to play “Busytown Game.” It is called “crash it” day becasue they are special days, and we never had one ever. On “crash it” day, we play tag. And then we stop playing tag and we go downstairs in the basement together and play trains. And then we will come upstairs and then we will have special time. After special time, we will come upstairs in Paul’s bedroom and then Paul will read a sun story called “Brown Bear, Brown Bear.” Then we go downstairs and think about the stuff we like about “crash it” day.
The End.
Abracadabra in the Store
June 20, 2011
Once upon a time, there was a mouse. And then the mouse goes to a house. When he goes to the house, he went inside the mousehole. And then he went to the family room. The family room is beautiful! He climbed up the ladder. At the top of the ladder, there is a Christmas tree. The mouse went down the ladder and got his ornaments from the bag. He went back up the ladder and he put the ornaments on the tree. And then the mouse went down the ladder, and then he walked to a clock. And then the mouse went up the clock. The clock struck one. The mouse went down. Hickory Dickory Dock! And he went up the clock. The clock struck two. The mouse went down. Hickory Dickory Dock! The mouse went up the clock. The clock struck three. The mouse went down. Hickcory Dickory Dock! And the mouse went to all of the rooms in the house. Next room the moust went to was the living room! And in the living room there is a dog hole. And then the mouse went in the dog hole. And in the dog hole there is a nice dog. They played with each other. And then the mouse went out of the dog hole.
The End.
Winnie-the-Pooh and the Mice
June 21, 2011 (by Goldbug Reid)
Once upon a time, there were some mice. And the mice tried to find their friend Pooh. The mice looked up and down, here and there, front and back, left and right. But they couldn’t find him. And they started looking for Winnie-the-Pooh. They went to a bush and looked behind it. But Winnie-the-Pooh wasn’t behind it. They saw a snake behind the bush! And they go to a tree and looked behind. But they didn’t see Pooh. They saw Owl. That means they were in Hundred Acre Woods. And they looked right across from it. And they saw a house. And they looked behind the house, and they saw their friend Winnie-the-Pooh. And that’s the end.
I missed Paul’s last day of preschool this year because I was in New York City. My friend Laura took some pictures of Paul with his teacher and with friend Ryan. I think they are adorable!
Paul knows there is not school during the summer, but I’m not sure he realizes how long it will be! He loves it, and he will miss it.
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