Ten Things

Ten Things I Love About Joey right now:

1. He's not embarrassed when I come to school and immediately comes running to give me a big hug.
2. He's very humble on the basketball court. He never has argued with a ref or disrespected an opposing player.
3. He loves to write stories and is really good at writing the details.
4. He loves to draw and really likes to draw superheroes a lot.
5. He loves to watch ESPN Top Ten with me in the morning.
6. He and Maddox both got to play in his game this weekend and Joe told me Joey kept trying to dish out passes to Maddox. He wanted his little brother to score.
7. He eats a lot. There's something about feeding your child that makes you feel good. I'm not sure why. He loves cereal, just like his Uncle Jeff.
8. I've had 3 people at school recently describe Joey as "the sweetest kid I know" or "such a sweet kid" or "he's so sweet."
9. He loves his friends and would have them over all the time if he could.
10. He's not shy and he makes friends pretty easily. He's always willing to try new things or take risks. He's not a daredevil but he won't stand by watching everyone else have fun either. He's a good balance of the two.

Ten Things I Love About Maddox right now:
1. His eyes. It's like they can tell you a whole story just by looking at them.
2. When he gets to go into Joey's games, he is torn between being scared out of his mind and playing his heart out. He wants to do SO well.
3. His reading - he is flying through words and short books right now.
4. This morning, he said "Mom, you look really pretty today."
5. He is buddies with Saylor and will sit with her, play with her, watch cartoons with her, and be kind to her. He will give some of his time to her when we need it.
6. Although he's very good at a lot of things, his self-confidence isn't there. We attribute most of that to having an older brother who is always better right now. Hopefully it will get better. But, in a way, his sweet humble, shy nature is very becoming.
7. He can rattle off scores, statistics, players names, game times, etc with ease.
8. He loves his goodbye kisses in the morning - rarely does he leave without a big hug and kiss and saying goodbye and I love you.
9. He still "needs" us - he's not as independent as his big brother but I kind of like that. I don't need him growing up too fast yet.
10. He's got great handwriting (better than Joey's) and he's drawing more and more every day!

Ten Things I Love About Saylor right now:
1. When she wakes up in the morning, she will yell "Daddy-OOOOOO....I awake!" or "Mommmmm! Come get me! You hear me? I awake!!!"
2. There's nothing cuter than watching her play and nurture her babies. She talks to them, tells them to stop crying, tells them that they are eating too much, tells them they need to go to the grocery store, etc. She's a little mother hen to them and it's adorable.
3. Her famous line right now is "Can I help you?" She wants to help cook, stir, bake, clean, vacuum, spray the windows, etc.
4. She's really good at puzzles and she just started scribbling/writing/playing with markers more in the last week or so.
5. When Sophia the First comes on, she yells "FIA! FIA" and Doc McStuffins "Doc Stuffins! I like Doc Stuffins!" And, "Can we watch Caillou? Or, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse?"
6. She can sing Jesus Loves Me and the Michigan Fight Song and if you interrupt her to help her with the lyrics she will yell "NOOO! I'm singing it!!!"
7. The way she will wrap her arms all around your neck to give you hugs.
8. She says "Let's talk about it" to Joe when they go down to bed. And, the other day we were in a store and she said, "I like that chair. That chair we could talk about it! Let's talk about it, mom, in that chair!" She obviously equated daddy talks with chairs....
9. She will tilt her head and bat her eyelashes in just the right way where you cannot say  no.
10. She's starting to gain a lot of independence with "I can do that" and "I do that by myself" and "I can get the chair" and "I can pour the water" and "I do it!"  Of course, that comes with its drawbacks but I still love to hear it.

Ten Things I Want My Kids To Know About Me Someday:
1. I hate homework as much as they do.
2. I love it when they tell me they like the meal I made or say "This is really good, mom!"
3. My prayers are mostly consumed with their health, happiness and safety.
4. I wish I liked milk, bananas and protein shakes. But, I don't.
5. My perfect day would consist of: rain in the morning, a good book, a clean house, a good run after the rain, sunshine, the beach, more reading, and a really good restaurant at night, and an early bedtime with a movie.
6. I don't make a lot of meals twice and I try new recipes all the time.
7. Re-decorating, re-organizing, chopping vegetables, taking a nap, and reading are my biggest de-stressors. Watching Ellen and listening to music also helps me.
8. I hope my boys are the kind of men who love their wives more without makeup on than with makeup on. True beauty is on the inside. I hope Saylor is the girl who doesn't take an hour and a half to get pretty. I hope she's just confident without it. I can honestly say that I didn't grow up in a house where beauty was really all that valued. I doubt my parents did that on purpose but looking back and seeing how other people were raised, I know that it just wasn't that big of a deal for us- spending money on clothes, makeup, tanning, hair, jewelery, etc. It just didn't happen. I hope I raise my kids in the same way. And, I'm just lucky I married someone who loves me for me, and not for how I look.
9. I miss my grandpa all the time. Seriously miss him.
10. I love reading. I should probably utilize a library but that would involve me driving, choosing a book, taking a child with me, etc. And, I can just buy a book on my Kindle in ten seconds. So, I feel guilty about that cuz books can be free. But, it's a time vs. money argument with me. Anyway, I feel that reading is one of my greatest pleasures of my whole life.