Christmas 2012

Grandma and Grandfather Franklin were here from Illinois.

We ate.

We played.

We went to Mexico.

Christmas came.

Fun was had by all.

Christmas left.

I got to put the decorations away and de-clutter my house.

On to 2013!

"Mommy" Time

I love spending time with my children.  I want my children to look back upon their childhood and remember that their mother put away her computer, she took them fun places, she read them stories, and she loved them.

Jared has been studying for an important IT certification so I decided to take the kids to dinner.  We had a little "Mommy" date.  I love this time!  We went to Little Anthony's Diner, and had an absolute blast.  The kids are learning how to behave in restaurants, which is always promising.  Plus, James can charm just about anyone.  Seriously.  That kid has skills.

Nothing Special...

Just a rainy day with my 2 beautiful children.  Looking for rainbows, frogs, and Jack Frost is always entertaining!

My time is limited

I wonder how long he will love his mother like this.  How long he will just wander over and curl up in my lap and fall asleep.  How long he will snuggle with me in bed first thing in the morning.  How long I will be the only person who he wants to rub his back while he falls asleep at night. How long he will look at me with his chocolate brown eyes, and say "I love you so much, Mom."  How long he will want me to kiss him goodbye when I take him to school.  How long I will be the only girl of his heart.  But who cares how long I have?  Because for now, I have this...

I love my boy.

V.I.P.

Sariah was selected as her class's VIP this week!  This means that her teacher noticed some pretty outstanding qualities in Sariah, and wanted to recognize her for them.  As the V.I.P., she gets to bring home this huge Mickey Mouse for the entire weekend.  This sweet mouse has come with us EVERYWHERE!  She also gets to be her teacher's special helper all week next week including taking the lunch count, being the line leader, and doing the calendar.  She seriously cannot wait to do the lunch count!  She takes this job very seriously and has been practicing with her stuffed animals all weekend long.  I will often hear her in her bedroom saying, "Who is going to have hot lunch?  No Hootie, I saw your lunchbox, so I know you don't get hot lunch today!"  Very funny.

So what did Sariah do to earn this honor?  In a conversation with her teacher, it was brought to light that Sariah always looks out for the little guy.  Her best friend is a little boy named Briscoe.  I got to meet Briscoe last week and I immediately knew what she was talking about.  Briscoe is a boy who has been through Kindergarten before.  He has a sweet lisp, his hair looks a little silly, and no one wants to be his friend.  But as I watched them together this last week, I could see that Sariah genuinely loves him.  When they got to the table that I was helping with, she saved him his spot because she wanted him to sit next to her.  When the other kids got a little frustrated with him for taking the pencil they wanted, Sariah promptly spoke up with "He found it first. You are going to have to wait your turn."

There are no words to describe the feelings that I experience when I think of the way Sariah is with Briscoe. We talk a lot about being kind, about trying to include everyone, and being friends with those who may not have any friends.  The following song out of the primary songbook is Sariah's favorite:

If you don't walk as most people do, some people walk away from you.
But I won't.  I won't.
If you don't talk as most people do, some people talk and laugh at you.
But I won't.  I won't.
I'll walk with you.  I'll talk with you.
That's how I'll show my love for you.

And within Sariah's little 5 year old self, she is living this most genuine, loving, Christ-like principle.  This is not something that can be taught - she was born with it.  Sariah, my girl, is incredibly special.  And with a heart like hers, which is now allowed to mature and take flight.  She is going to do amazing things, because of her undeniable love that she has for everyone.

What an example to me she has been.  She will never cease to amaze me.

Tooth Fairy Magic

Last year, Sariah was afraid to go to kindergarten.  The only reason is because kindergarten meant losing teeth.  She was unsure about this adventure that life would be handing her during kindergarten.  To help combat this fear, we read lots of books and even watched a couple of TV shows about losing teeth, and the tooth fairy.

Time moved on, and she started kindergarten and had almost forgotten her fear...until her 2 bottom teeth started to wiggle.  But instead of being frightened, she was fascinated!  She was excited!  And she anticipated the day when her loose teeth would fall out.  Tuesday came, and she relentlessly wiggled her tooth during story time in her class.  At the climax of the story they were reading, Sariah exclaimed, "My tooth just fell out!!"  Her teacher was so good and sent her down to the nurse's office to help it stop bleeding.  They gave her a tiny little treasure box that kept her tooth protected until the end of the day.  When she hopped in the car that afternoon, she could hardly contain the pride in her accomplishment.

That night, she gingerly placed her tooth in her tooth fairy pillow and set it under her own pillow.  The tooth fairy came, and left her $1.  Oh my!  What would she buy with her $1?  She put it in her treasure box for safe keeping.  But anyone who knows Sariah knows that she challenges her self and constantly tries to outdo herself.

Since the other tooth was loose, too...she decided to get to work on that one as well.  Thanksgiving day, a mere 2 days after losing her first tooth, the 2nd one came out at my parent's house!  So guess who made a 2nd appearance that night?  The tooth fairy left her yet another $1.  That night at Thanksgiving dinner, she was explaining to anyone who would listen that she was going to make A LOT of money by losing her teeth!

I have 2 favorite parts of this whole experience.  My first favorite part is the lisp that she now has because she can't properly form some of her letters due to the gap in her teeth.  My second favorite part is the magic in our home when make believe comes to life.  Before I know it, my children will be grown up enough to know that these things don't exist, and the years I have to play these magical beings are very few.  

Date with Mom!

Life is busy.  Really busy.  And as a mom with 2 young children, it is often difficult to spend quality one-on-one time with each of your children.  I want each of them to know how special they are, and how much I love them.  So one morning, while Sariah was in school, James and I had a date.  We went all over the place!  We even stopped at Paradise Bakery for lunch and he was in cookie heaven.

And then we went to Target, and he was in water fountain heaven!  He loves this fountain and insists on walking by it each time we go.

And last (but not least), we went to go get Sariah.

What a fun day I had with my boy!!  I am kind of glad that there will be almost 4 years between James and this little kumkwat because it gives me time with just him.  I will always remember the time I had with just him.

Happy Halloween!

I'll be the first to admit it.  I don't do Halloween costumes.  I see these families with themes, and outstanding costumes, and I just tell my kids up front that I don't have that talent.  And you know what?  They love me anyways!

All Sariah wanted to be was Rapunzel.  I know she was Rapunzel last year, but she got a dress as a gift for her birthday and has been hanging on to it since July!  She knew from that moment that this is what she wanted to wear for Halloween.  No special shoes, no flowers in the hair - just the dress.

James is a different story.  There is a house down the street that has a HUGE blow-up cat on the roof.  Every time we left the neighborhood, we always drove by the house to see if the kitty-kat was on and working.  Ever since that cat went up, James wanted to be a cat.  No ears or tail - all he wanted was whiskers!

So I guess it doesn't really matter afterall that I don't have the desire, time, patience, or talent to put together these amazing costumes.  My kids probably wouldn't have worn them anyways!  

Just Plain Cute

You know how sometimes you come across your children in the perfect situation?  One that describes them to a "T" without any words being said?

This would be that perfect place for James.  All wrapped up, snuggling his water and an animal, rocking in the rocking chair, probably watching a show. Perfect contentness.  Pure adorableness.  And no words needed.

I'm so glad I have my boy.

Franklin Baby #3

Miracles happen.  And I'm growing one of them.  Baby Franklin #3 due around May 31!

This picture was taken the day I found out I was pregnant.  I was thrilled, excited, scared (how am I going to handle 3?!?!), and so many other emotions that can't be put into words.

My only frustration is this - my weight.  Here's the thing - I lost a TON of weight and then put almost all of it back on.  We finally figured out what was going on hormonally so I could lose it again (hormones are a crazy thing).  I had just started losing and bam!  I'm pregnant.  =)  But you know what?  Now that we know what's going on, I can pick back up where I left off after the baby is born.  Am I still exercising?  Yup!  I'm determined to be as healthy as I can possibly be.

But seriously - how can you not be happy about being pregnant?!

And for the record (as I did with James) - I think it's a girl.  We will find out in January!