A note from Dawson

Sometimes, as a parent, it is hard to know when something is bothering your child.  There can be fits, tears or they may just withdraw and you don't know what is wrong.  OR you happen to be walking down the hall and notice a note stuck on your son's door.

Dan and I took the hint, after we had a chuckle, and went to ask Dawson what was wrong.  He said that he didn't want to talk about it right now.  I think he was just upset because Dan had told him to go clean his room.  It is tough being 6. 

Hopefully as Dawson grows older he will continue to find ways to communicate with us and we will be there for him to talk to, whenever he is ready.

Emma's 5th birthday

 Emma is 5!  I have to admit that along the way I have wondered if we all would make it to her 5th birthday but here we are.  She is becoming such a spunky and fun young girl.  We had a action packed day which started off with a breakfast of her choice; cheesy eggs and bacon. 

After breakfast we left to take Dawson to school and to take Emma to Kindergarten round up.  She was so excited!  As we were walking into the school she kept asking me where her classroom was going to be and where her locker was.  She, of course, did just fine going off to the group that they had put her in.  We lucked out and her BFF from preschool ended up being in her group.  They spent the morning having a story, coloring a picture, going out for recess and even taking a tour on the school bus.  I think that riding the bus was Emma's favorite part.  While the kiddos were doing their thing we parents filled out forms and went to a couple of workshops.  I chose to go to the Parenting with Love and Logic, which I am really going to have to check that book out, and the reading and writing workshop.  Since we have gone through all of this with Dawson I know more of what to expect.  We are really hoping that Emma will be able to get Dawson's teacher.  She is such a wonderful educator.  She is great at meeting the needs of all of her students.  We also really enjoyed looping and she will be looping again.  Looping was new to us when Dawson started kindergarten.  Basically, he had the same teacher and mostly the same students for kindergarten and first grade.  It was a great experience and Emma is beyond excited to have the same experiences as Dawson.

After kindergarten round up we went home to get Emma ready for her big date with Daddy.  Dan got all dressed up and planned to take Emma on a lunch date.  They went to a fancy Italian restaurant and Emma enjoyed all the Fettuccine Alfredo she could want.  

When Dawson got out of school we picked up two friends and brought them back to our house to play.  The kids had fun making a craft, playing cars, house and even Just Dance 3!  Dan and I got in on the Just Dance action too. 

Dan picked up some pizza and we spent the rest of the evening opening gifts, chowing on cake and finally watching Emma's favorite movie; Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked.  For Emma's birthday gift this year we decided to get her a guitar.  When we were on vacation this February she just LOVED playing Uncle Wes' guitar that he had.  After she opened it she said to us that it was exactly what she wanted.  I mean, it is even pink!  All evening and all day today she has been playing and writing her own songs.  She has such an imagination for song writing.  It is just hilarious!

We had a great day celebrating our Emma. As each year passes I wonder what this new year will bring with her.  You just never know:)  Happy Birthday sweet Emma.  We love you so much!



Pen + Car Seat = It was Dawson?!?

It is not very often that I have a Dawson into mischief type story.  He is such a ruler follower that he doesn't often get in trouble.  He also seems to just know that certain things would not be a good idea.  A trouble radar if you will.  However, just recently he had one of those moments where all reason flies out the car window and he just couldn't resist the little idea that popped into his head.

Dawson was riding in the back seat behind Aubrey.  Usually, he is in the middle next to her but for some reason we switched Dawson and Emma around.  He was riding in the back with a blue pen and working on some Star Wars Mad Libs.  After we arrived everyone gets out and I am pulling stuff out of the back of the van and I noticed blue pen on the back of Aubrey's light tan car seat.  I climb into the trunk to look over and see that he has wrote all over the back of Aubrey's seat, and all over the seats next to him that were folded down!  He had wrote his name and stars everywhere. 

I admit that I was pretty surprised.  This is not something that Dawson usually does.  When I asked him about it he looked very guilty and started tearing up. I asked him why in the world he wrote all over the van and he, of course, said that he had no idea.  They never do know why they do these crazy things do they?  My disappointment in him was enough punishment for Dawson.  He felt terrible and apologized with out prompting.

It is amazing to me how each child is so different. I did not really even need to discipline Dawson because he was so remorseful.  Emma, on the other hand, is so carefree and in her own world that she often has no idea how her actions can affect others.  We have to discipline her differently to help her realize that she needs to be responsible for her actions.  Who knows what Aubrey will be like. 

In the end, I was able to get the pen out of the car seats.  I took hand sanitizer and poured it on each pen spot and let it sit for about five minutes.  I then took a wet rag and scrubbed.  The pen marks came out great!  So there is a little cleaning tip for you.  If you get pen marks on your car seats a little hand sanitizer will get it out.