Clare is 4!

I know I'm a bit late but I wasn't going to let the fact that Clare turned four last week pass.  FOUR!!!  And for a little girl, that is a huge deal.  So big in fact that on her birthday she informed me that she was now too old to use her booster seat and would also no longer need assistance getting onto the toilet seat.  I didn't realize turning four also met a huge leap in stature but you know...mom's can be clueless about that stuff.  Since her birthday was on a Tuesday we were going to wait until Saturday to have a party which I loved because it was just our little family surrounding her with love on that special day.  As the birthday girl she got to pick the menu for breakfast, dinner and a special treat after that.  That meant plain pancakes in the morning and macaroni and cheese (or as we call it "cheesy noodles") for dinner and for dessert, vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup and sprinkles.  Sage had picked out a present for her containing several craft projects for Clare to work on so she got to open that present in the morning.  She was so thrilled about with it and had all the crafts finished by the time Sage got home from school.  It was so cute how she showed Sage all she had done and to see Sage so happy that Clare really enjoyed her gift.  She had to wait until after dinner to get her gifts from us and the first one she opened was one Brent had found for her and something we thought for sure she was going to be so excited for.  She had been asking for a kite since last fall so he found this really sweet butterfly kite for her.  She looked at for all of two seconds with barely an expression before moving on to the next gift.  Turned out that this was the same amount of excitement she gave to all her guest's gifts at her party but the good news was that once everyone was gone she was pouring over every gift, showing us how coolthey were and saying things like "isn't that a great gift?"  The other gift we gave her was her own Leapster.  She and Sage have always been okay with sharing Sage's leapster but we figured she would enjoy her own and it would help on road trips if they both had one.  It's been a pretty big deal for her to have her own leapster and I guess it's been a reminder to me to make sure Clare has opportunities to have her own identity rather than running around in Sage's shadow all the time.  She's so good about always getting the hand-me-downs from Sage and, at least at this age, to her those things are brand new and just for her which is such a blessing that she has that sweet attitude, but I don't want to take it for granted either.
Anyway, Saturday was the party.  Up until the week of her party she was changing her mind on what the theme would be.  First she wanted a Tangled party, then a Hello Kitty party, then just a cat theme, then back to Hello Kitty, then Dora...etc.  Finally I said, "Clare, how about not having a theme and instead we'll just have a really fun party with lots of games and a yummy cake?"  She was all for that and told us that she wanted a white cake with strawberries in the middle and the only game she insisted on was limbo.  Oh, and she wanted the butterfly pinata we had seen at Target.  Done.  So we invited her nearest cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents over on a beautiful Saturday morning for what we hoped would be a super fun day.  We started out with a limbo contest that Clare ended up winning (she's a smart one, that kid!) then moved onto the pinata and finally a fishing game in which the kids had a fishing pole with a big hook that they sent over a sheet where Brent and I would send back either a great catch (toys and candy) or a not so good one (stinky socks, boots, etc.).  After lunch was eaten, the candles on the cake blown and all the pretty presents had been torn open, we sat around and visited while the kids played.  The park next to us was having a winter fun weekend in which there was cross-country skiing, skating and of course, sledding down the big dike across the street.  We watched a competition they had from our front window of homemade box sleds--some very impressively decorated I might add--racing down the hill.  Then we all put on our winter gear and took to the hill ourselves--even the grandparents!  Other than Clare and her cousin Kason both suffering from being run over by out of control sledders (both recovered fine I'm pleased to say) it was a really fun time.  I don't think I will ever forget the sight of Grandma Jane, Grandpa Buck, Papa and Nana all having their turns sledding down the hill.  To be honest, that made me more nervous than watching my own kids go down!  If you head over to my sister-in-law Ester's blog at lifeisbeautiful-esse.blogspot.com, you can see more pictures and some videos too. 
So now my youngest is four and reminds me that she is older everyday--not just in words but in personality too.  She is such a fun kid to get to be a mom to and makes each day interesting and with laughter sprinkled throughout.  Her name, Clare Ilisa, means "clear" and "illuminating" and she has remained true to those words.  Thoughts, words and actions are done with purpose and intention and though she is little, her big personality lights up the darkest days.  We are so proud of our Clare Bear and very thankful that God chose us to be her parents. 

A Fun Craft

Recently we read a book to the girls called "My Dog Is As Smelly As Dirty Socks" by Hanoch Piven.  It's about a girl who is given an assignment from her teacher to draw a picture of her family.  What she turned in pleased the teacher but the girl was not quite satisfied with it as she felt her stick figures did not capture the personalities of her family members.  So, using found objects to specifically show her family she makes new portraits that tell us so much more.  Inspired by this, the girls put together their own portraits today with some help from me on how these objects define their personality and I wanted to document what they came up with.

Sage is...

as silly as ducks...

as bright as a light bulb...

as happy as cotton balls...

as thorough as a comb...

as lovely as flowers...

and as artsy as beads.

Clare is...

filled with a big heart...

as curious as a butterfly...

as lovely as a flower...

as fun as beads...

as helpful as a bow...

and as bright as a jewel.

And both carry strings that are tied to my heart.

My Gift

Brent was sitting with the girls one night last week, discussing all the fun things they will be doing in Morris once we move there.  Brent told Clare that she would get to go to school and do lots of fun things there while Mom will be all alone at home.  After thinking that over a bit, Clare's sweet little bottom lip started shaking as she asked "But what if Mom gets lonely?  Who will she play with?"  Brent called me into the room at that point and told me what had just been talked about while Clare sat there with big tears going down her cheeks.  I scooped her up in my arms and had to work through my own tears while trying to reassure her that I'll be fine while she's away.  The little peanut hugged me with her whole body and cried and cried, refusing for quite a while to be put down.  It's funny how when we are apart from our kids we spend so much time wondering how they are doing and if they're okay.  I guess I never considered that they may have the same thoughts about us.  While I certainly don't want to her to worry so much about me, it was still such a touching moment to see this little girl, just shy of four years old, have such a moment of empathy for someone else.  Have you ever seen someone receive an unexpected gift--like a loved one making a surprise appearance after being deployed for a long time--and standing there as a witness you are overwhelmed with emotion in that moment and so happy for the person who received that wonderful gift.  That's what it was like for me while I held Clare and cried along with her.  To have that gift of empathy and thoughtfulness is something that will be a blessing to so many people in her life and also to her as well.  As a Mom we are constantly serving and giving which is what we were made to do and don't think twice about...well, most of the time.  :)  That moment with her was so unexpected and sweet that a thousand "thank you's" would have never come close to what she did for my heart that night.

Has Anyone Seen the Snow Lately?

I'm just as puzzled as the rest of us up here in the supposed tundra at where the snow is.  I don't think I can ever remember a December, let alone Christmas, without snow in Minnesota.  (I know I'm actually living in ND right now but I'm sort of in denial about it)  Well, you certainly won't hear me complaining about this strange weather--it makes for easy conversations with people I don't know.
As usual this season breeds much activity and I'm trying to just enjoy it all but it does leave me with little energy to document what all we've been up to.

Quick highlights:  Thanksgiving was a really nice time with Brent's family and  none of the pictures I took really do any justice to the fun day it was...sorry.  The next weekend we went to a Christmas party hosted by the hospital Brent will be working for once we make our permanent move to Morris this summer.  It was a really great night which was a bit surprising for the both of us since we went to it not really knowing anyone.  But everyone was so welcoming and fun to talk with that both Brent and I left even more excited for our future there.  We got back in time for my Mom and I to walk around homes in Grand Forks that were open to tour and see the Christmas decorations set by professionals.  Some people like to see art displayed in art galleries, Mom and I like to study the beauty in different styles of architecture and home decor...or maybe some people would say we just like to snoop in other people's homes.  :)  More Christmas parties, then down to Fargo last Sunday to drop off Brent at the airport to go to Texas for a week long workshop.  After we said goodbye, I took the girls to the church Brent and I went to when we were first married.  The girls were uncharacteristically excited to go to children's church (which they had a blast at) while I enjoyed an amazing sermon that literally brought me to tears.  After grabbing lunch and dropping Clare off at Grandpa Buck's for a nap, Sage and I went to the play "Little Women" in which Grandma Jane was playing Aunt March (and in my opinion the best part of the play).   I will always have an image of Sage getting such a kick out of her Grandma coming on stage in big hoop skirts and silly hats and acting so differently from how she knows her. 
We survived a week without Brent and are now happily reunited.  Somehow in the midst of all this we've managed to do all our Christmas decorating and we seem to be only one or two gifts shy of being done with the shopping.  Let me make this clear, I have not described all this activity with any intention of boasting but instead as reminder to ourselves of what it was we were actually doing when down the road we're trying to remember why it was that December seemed so crazy and flew by so fast!  Most importantly I want to remember that this has been a really fun month and so worth the chaos and many days of feeling worn to the bone!

I'll end with some pictures of the gingerbread house the girls and I decorated with Brent overseeing via Skype while he was in Texas.  This is actually the second gingerbread house we decorated.  The first one I bought on clearance and was such a disaster in trying to put it together that in a moment of fiery frustration I threw it away and told my startled girls I'd go buy them a new one...not one of my finest moments for sure!  The other pictures are of Clare in her Christmas program at church.  She seemed to like singing but participation in song actions were minimal.  :)  Sage sat with us and cheered her on (very loudly).  Clare has gone back and forth  telling us she was either scared or not scared at all.  I'm not convinced that either of our girls will have the performance bug I had as a child but I guess time will tell.

After the disaster of the first gingerbread house, I was just as ecstatic as they were!

Even the enthusiasm of the boy next to her wasn't enough to motivate Clare into doing the actions.  That's my girl, just say "no" to peer pressure!

My heart overflows...

I came across a show last night on the history channel about how Thanksgiving came to be.  Of course much of it was about the pilgrims in Plymouth who I've always been fascinated with--so much so that I talked my mom into going there this last summer for a week.  Fabulous trip that I'd do again in a heartbeat but I'm getting off the subject...right, Thanksgiving.  While I'm watching this show a historian starts explaining that the tradition of this holiday actually predates the pilgrims and goes all the way back to a day celebrated by Europeans every year in the fall in which families would go to church for the whole day and spend it there thanking God for all His blessings that year.  They actually fasted the whole day since it was spent in church.  I found it interesting (and a bit humorous) how this holiday has evolved.  Now instead of a united day of abstaining from food so we can focus on expressing our heart's gratitude, we come together as a nation in stuffing our mouths with more food than any other day of the year while Grandma forces everyone at the table to say at least one thing we're grateful for!
Regardless of how this day is celebrated, it's always good to remember what it is we're thankful for and hopefully we all work at counting our blessings more days than not.  And there is an endless list in my heart of all that I'm grateful for.  Family, love, good friends, health, a warm home...as the list goes on a person can't help but knowing who it is they are saying "thank you" to.  There's an old song that you've probably heard that goes "Praise God from whom all blessings flow..." and that's what I hope and pray His ears hear tomorrow.  Pure and simple praises of thanksgiving.

And Now She's Six

I'm not sure how this happened so fast but Sage, who came into this world a teeny, tiny 5 1/2 lb baby girl, is now a tall, blond haired six year old.  Excuse while I run to get the tissue box...
Birthday's are so exciting for children and I guess I never thought of how fun they were going to be for us, the parents, to throw.  We'd been contemplating what kind of party to have for months and many ideas were tossed around but the one that stuck was an art party.  We would have a time for painting in which every kid would get a small canvas to paint on.  Her cake was also meant to inspire creativity in each of the guests by giving them all mini frosted cakes and tons of candy to decorate them with.  The rest of the time would be for playing and just hanging out.  The best part of this party was that since we've moved closer to home, she would get to have seven cousins, five aunts and uncles and five grandparents in attendance.  Yes, it was loud and at times a bit overwhelming but we've been looking forward to getting to have these moments with family for quite awhile now and are savoring it so completely!  We had Sage's party on the 12th which was actually my oldest brother's birthday which Ehren so graciously shared with us.  We made his favorite tater tot hotdish for him among the plethora of other food that was served and if you've ever had it, you know it's a basic meat, cream of mushroom and vegetable mixture with tater tots on top.  Brent and I have never actually made it but it was quite simple to do except that we were also making a similar vegetable dish, everybody's favorite green bean casserole, that has french onions on the top.  When Brent went to pull the green bean dish out to put the onions on, he realized that he had put the tater tots on the wrong dish.  We had a good laugh over this and Brent just cleverly scraped the tots off the green beans and put the over the meat mixture and the dish was saved.  You really couldn't tell the difference because, let's face it, it's only meat and a few different canned vegetables that make them different. 
Sage loved her party and the gifts were all just so perfect for her.  She hates being the center of attention so having to open gifts in front of everyone and even hearing everybody sing "happy birthday" to her is probably her least favorite parts of her birthday parties.  But every gift given was so thoughtful and just right for her that she has not been seen without either wearing a gift or playing with a gift since.  Yes, Grandma Jane, even the soccer girls have seen a lot of play time  :)
Surprisingly, turning six was a little hard for Sage.  She kept telling us that she wanted to stay five because five was her favorite even after we tried to convince that being six was just as great.  I'm not really sure why the fixture to five but I'm sure she'll be able to accept this new numeral as time passes.  Can you imagine what turning 40 is going to do to her? 
I can't say enough how proud we are of this little girl.  She's a funny, smart, thoughtful, beautiful, sensitive and caring girl and one of the two greatest gifts that God has given to Brent and myself. 

You would think he's giving a special performance from the looks of this picture but don't believe it, he has no idea what he's doing!  This was a guitar that Grandma Bev gave Sage.  She's notorious for giving random gifts and this was certainly one of them.  Sage has been adamant about not taking guitar lessons and yet we hear her strumming away whenever we're out of the room.

Grandma Jane, Grandma Bev and...who is that?  Oh yes, that's Nana using Clare to block the camera.  It's a sad fact that 75% of pictures taken of Nana have only shown bits and pieces of her body and rarely ever do you see her beautiful face.  

Cake decorating time.  More candy and frosting were eaten than actual cake.  Oh well, they seemed to enjoy it at least.

Almost all of my favorite kids in the whole world.  We're only missing cousins Sarah and Adam who live out in NY.

Sage loves her sleep and this big day called for a little nap while the kids were watching a movie.  She wasn't the only exhausted one, Brent and I were in bed a little after 8pm that night!

As typical of me, I got so caught up in the actual painting time at the party that I completely forgot to take any pictures.  So last night I took this with the girls hold their pieces of art.  Oh, they are so proud!

Ramblings

Every time I go to pick up Sage I always get a chuckle at the scene just before the bell rings.  Dozens of parents stand in a semi-circle around the schools entrances, staring at the door in quiet patience for their kids to emerge.  I always wonder if anyone else ever thinks to themselves how ridiculous we must look.  Very few chat with each other and impressively, in my opinion, very few use those minutes to chat on their phone or text someone.  We're all just waiting for that first glimpse of our child's face.  I'm curious as to how this scene will change now that the temperature is steadily dropping!
Poor little Clare has had an awful case of croup this week.  Her breathing was so raspy that even Brent got pretty worried and it takes a lot for him to get to that point.  She stays so sweet through it though, telling us in her cracked, whispered voice that she thinks she's feeling better.  I don't know where she got that sweet attitude from because neither Brent or myself are pleasant people when we're sick.  Today was definitely a better day and to add to it, it started snowing for the first time this season while she was sleeping.  Looking out the window was like watching a snow globe settle after a vigorous shaking.  When I picked up Clare from her nap, I told her I had a surprise for her and brought to the window, watching her face the whole time.  She just got a sleepy smile and quietly said "It's snowing!  That means it's almost winter.  That means it is going to get colder."  Goodness, she has no idea how right she is!
We're getting ready for Sage's sixth birthday this Friday and party on the next day.  I'm emotional about her birthday as usual but looking forward to getting to celebrate it with almost all of her cousins.  Pictures and details are soon to come!