Mary at Five

What a big year it's been for Mary. It's crazy how much change happens in a year during these first few 'little' years. From four to five Mary got to travel to nine countries, move back to the states where she was blown away by Walmart, start Pre-K, take swim lessons, participate in a kids running series, and lots more.

She loves dinosaurs and her babies (stuffed animals), Playmobile and Calico Critters (though she mostly still refers to them as 'Sylvanian Families' as that's what they are called in England). She and Finn play like cats and dogs and I savor the times where they are deep in their imaginations playing nicely together! She loves Curious George, My Little Pony, and just about anything Disney (current favorites are Aladdin and The Lion King).

Mary tells me often that she misses England, but she has adapted so well to her new school and new friends. She gives Roscoe a hug every night before bed and bones and dog treats at every opportunity.

She can be a little feisty and sassy, but she also loves to snuggle and gives delightfully wonderful hugs. She will wear her dinosaur costume until it no longer fits and requested a chocolate dinosaur cake for her birthday.

She was very concerned about turning five and expressed some uncertainty these last couple weeks. She said she wanted to stay four a little bit longer and asked why she had to be five, and the sweetest of all was when she asked me in a worried little voice, "will everything change?"

Happy Five, sweet Mary.

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Finn and Mary Quotables

What good is it to keep notes on my phone of cute things the kids say if I don't do anything with those notes!? So dusting off the ole blog here to share some quote worthy moments from the kids over the past year.

Finn (said age 7ish)

When our neighbor broke his Lego

"That's ok. You just made a mistake. That's fine. Everything's fine when you make a mistake, you brain just grows."

Laughter coming from the bathroom

Mom: "Finn are you done?"

"No, it was just a fart that made me laugh while I was pooping."

On the playground shortly after we moved back stateside, question from random person:

"Are you training for American Ninja Warrior?"

"No, but at least I am an American!"

Driving by American Cuisine

"Mary might like that place, it's called Waffle House!"

Mary was playing with a dryer sheet and put it on her arm

Mary: "What if I broke my arm and this was my cast?"

Finn: "Well she might break her arm. We don't know how life's gonna go."

Brother Love

"I wish I cloud go back in a time machine and give Cale a different cord and then he wouldn't die. But I don't know how to make a time machine."

Seeing an older man go into Chick-Fil-A as we were leaving

"But I thought he needed to eat healthy foods!"

No School

Mom: Mary you have school tomorrow, but Finn you do not"

"Wait, I don't have school, but Mary does!?"

Mom: "Yup"

"That means it's violent movie day for me!"

..........

Mary Quotes (said age 4ish)

"Mommy can I have that cookie"

"Are you my little cookie?"

"No."

"No? What are you?"

"A human!"

Watching Hockey on the Olympics

"Mama, I want to do that when I'm a grown up"

"Play hockey?"

"yeah, well maybe not play hockey. I want to be a dinosaur when I'm a grown up."

"Oh you do?"

"No, I mean a firefighter."

You and me both, sister!

"Ughhhh, I don't like these!"

"What?"

"These jeans. I don't like wearing jeans!"

Seeing a woman with a baby

"Dat looks like Jesus"

"My nails are very long. They are becoming black panther claws."

Waiting at the Pediatricians Office

"When are the Doctors going to be here?"

"I don't know, this is taking awhile isn't it?"

"yeah, I think they are tricking us."

Listening to Lion King's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"

"Oh I like this one! It makes me feel wonderful!"

Sees a UPS Truck

"Mom, I see the box truck!"

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Valentine's Day 2018

The kids have their half term break this week which means that I don't have to bother with any of the Valentine's Day madness that consumes the states! I think it's fun for kids to have a run little day, but mercy, it's gotten out of control hasn't it?! And I'm just as guilty. When Mary was a baby I mailed out valentine pictures of the kids! Which meant I took their pictures ahead of time. Gross.

I wasn't even going to bother with pictures today, but then thought about how annoyed I was that I didn't take any pictures in 2016 and at six and four my kids are still young enough to tolerate such nonsense. Plus it literally took me five minutes. Make a Lego heart, throw on some red, tell a fart joke to get a good smile, DONE.

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day.

Bought this cheap shirt at Target three years ago. 

Finn has worn it each Valentines day and it actually finally fits this year!

 Previous Valentine's Day Photos:
2012
2013
2014
2015
2017

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2017 Loose Ends (1 of 2)

Because my blog took a backseat to Instagram in 2017 here are a few of the things I didn't post about, but want to remember.

First Day of School

When the kids went to school in early September, Finn was quick to point out that it was NOT his first day of school, just his first day back to school. He walked confidently into his classroom excited to see some familiar faces. It's neat to look back on a year ago and see how far he's come. He's adjusted to the long days of school, he's reading, he really enjoys math (or 'maths' as they say here, which I find so obnoxious), he doesn't have a hard time at drop off like he did for a little bit of time last year as he was adjusting to the move/new school. He has come so far in his phonics and even further on his sweet little British accent!

Mary, on the other hand, had the typical reaction a little one does when going off to school for the first time - girlfriend was NOT having it. She cried big tears the first day and it broke my heart, but thankfully the teachers were well prepared for it and she was all smiles at pick up. The second day was better, though she was still a little leery, and then in no time she adjusted and started looking forward to school! She only goes for half days, but school has been really great for her and I'm glad she has the socialization with other kids.

Big hug after the first day.
She told Miles it was her favorite part of the day.

Berlin Marathon

End of September we flew to Berlin (where Miles was born!) and I got to run the Berlin Marathon. I couldn't have asked for a better race - the weather was great (just the slightest drizzle that kept the temps down), a great course, great crowd support, etc. I got to see Miles and the kids along the route and he said it was much easier to navigate than London was given that London is just so congested with spectators. There was an attempt to break the world record (current record was set at Berlin) so it was neat to run on the course knowing the world record might be broken. Alas, it was not, but still made for an exciting aspect to the race. Berlin gave me my first Boston Qualification which will be good for the 2019 Boston Marathon and I felt really great during the whole race - never hitting the wall or feeling like my legs were spent. I hope to be lucky enough to have more races like it in the future.

Afterwards, Finn told me he loved watching me race and that "Mary was a little bad."

Nothing a muffin couldn't fix, fortunately!

New Skills

Over the summer Finn mastered bike riding. He now rides to school each day which has been such a nice (and quick) way to get there! He's campaigning hard for a "gear" bike and we wanted to get him one for Christmas, but he's still just a little too short for it, so we are thinking maybe for his 7th birthday (how is his next birthday his SEVENTH!?!)

School Plays

In December the kids both had school plays. Mary was supposed to dress up as a star and looked adorable (they asked us to bring in a white undershirt and tinsel), but on the second day of performance she wanted NOTHING to do with dressing up (neither of my kids have ever really enjoyed dressing up) and the teachers said not to sweat it, there's always a few rebels - the show will go on!

Finn, who has never enjoyed the spotlight (a few years ago he had a Valentines program at his preschool in Savannah and he pulled his shirt up over his mouth so as not to have to sing in front of people) still proved he probably doesn't have a future on Broadway, but he did do a great job standing up and saying the two lines he had. Photographic evidence of his enjoyment ;)

I think that's most of what I neglected to post with the exception of family/friends visits and travel I have yet to share. Spoiler Alert: 2018 probably won't be much of an improvement for blog updates - sorry Danielle (and anyone else who might actually still read this!)

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Mary Turns Four

When I walked into her room the morning of the big day, I said, "it's your birthday today!" to which she excitedly replied in almost a whisper, "yeahhhh!" When I wished her a happy birthday she informed me, "I'm BERY big now" and at four, she feels just that - entirely too big.

She went from shy and skeptical of others to much more social and confident during the course of this past year. She was mostly really good during the travels throughout the year, though she is not a fan of cold weather (especially if wind is involved).

She could listen to the soundtrack of Moana every day and sings along with great enthusiasm. She loves books, playing picnic, and putting together puzzles. She is the worst at hide-and-seek, but loves playing regardless. 

When she needs to blow her nose she says, "I have snots" and she is obsessed with asking anyone she meets, "what's your favorite color?" followed by "what's your favorite dinosaur?"

She started school this year and was hesitant and nervous at first, but only a few days later she was happy and comfortably settled, quickly making friends and turning our hearts to mush with her after school running hug.

She has sass and attitude and does not like to be told no.

She is also empathetic and gentle and a lover of all animals, sleeping with no less than half a dozen stuffed animals each night.

She does not like to see Finn hurt, does like to rat on him when he's being naughty, and mimics his antics often.

We still call her our baby, and regardless of her big girl status, she will always be just that.

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Halloween 2017

Halloween recap - better late than never. So I had gotten a little to excited about the idea of dressing up the kids as Mary Poppins and Bert the chimney sweep for Halloween, but Finn quickly made it known he had no interest in dressing up as a chimney sweep and partaking and when I listed all the things I would bribe him with he said he would put the costume on, but didn't want me to take a picture and didn't want anyone to see. Ugh. As much as I wanted to just force it on him, I didn't want to embarrass the kid or make him self conscious and thought I should probably respect his wishes which is totally annoying. Mary on the other hand was bribed with one Haribo gummy and she was good to go!

Unfortunately when it came to trick or treating Mary didn't want to be Mary Poppins. Both kids wants to reuse last years costumes and be American First Responders. The firefighter costume (which was a hand-me-down from a friend) has been in circulation since 2014!

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Mary Quotes

I'm continually behind on keeping this poor blog up to date and will have lots of August travel recaps to share at the end of the month, but for now here are some cute things I've written down that Miss Mary has said recently.

We were baking cookies

Mary: "What is this?"

Me: Flour

"And what is this?"

Sugar

"Ohhh, those are my favorite things I ever wanted!"

Finn just stepped on a Lego (mwuahaha)

Me: Finn, that Lego really wrecked you.

Mary: "But it didn't wreck me or daddy!"

Mary putting in work on the potty.

Mary: "That poopy is for mommy."

Oh, you have one for daddy?

"Ok I will do one for you."

All done?

"No, still have one for Finn."

You all done now?

"I fink I still have one for. . . for Harry Potter."

Speaking of Harry Potter. After the London Marathon...

"Did you get your race medal from prince Harry Potter?"

Playing Hide and go seek

Me: where's my cute girl? Where is she hiding?

Mary: "Where's my cute mommy?"

Mary notices a baby sleeping in ergo

"Awe, look at that little baby."

Me: yes, he's sleeping, he must be tired.

"Yes, he's sleeping like when I was little and I sleeped in your backpack"

Miles is wrestling with kids before bed (per Finn's request). 

Mary: "Get off of my brotherrr!!" (As she jumps on top of Miles)

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Valentine's Day 2017

I failed to take any Valentine's Day pictures last year and that's gonna annoy the crap out of me. I'll need to look back on my hard drive as I know I have some pictures of Finn from his Valentine's Day program at school, but I didn't take any staged pictures like I did all these years:

2012: Finn at 7 months
2013: Finn at 19 months
2014: Finn at 2.5, Mary Newborn
2015: Finn at 3.5, Mary at 1

In my defense last year on Valentine's day I ran a marathon which left me pitifully upset and disappointed, but I should have taken pictures prior to the race because it's not like I can make up for it. Argh!

Mary is sporting a hand-me-down sweater, or jumper as it's called here in England, from when I was a little girl (or perhaps it was my sister's, or maybe both?) regardless I think it's safe to assume Mary wore it best:

And then I wanted to do another train-track like Valentine's picture and since the obsession now is with Legos, it only made sense to make a bit Lego heart.

I had a silly thought that I should try to get him to play with Legos while taking some pictures, 

but duh, of course he is going to play with them - took him no time at all!

Aren't those smiles so sweet and natural? 

All I had to do was make fart noises. Living the dream.

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Mary Turns Three

Leading up to her birthday she would tell you that she was turning six, but she did in fact turn three today, as hard as it was for all of us (herself included) to believe. 

This year brought many changes for our little girl. It's sometimes hard to remember she saw a speech therapist for a short while as she is so articulate and chatty these days. She has no problem telling you what's on her mind and what she wants, logic and reasoning be damned!

She's still our meatball - about the height of most two year olds - and still sports a delicious little belly that I hope sticks around a bit longer. Her once near black hair is light brown with some near blonde highlights that accentuate her soft curls.

She tells Finn she loves him each night before bed and loves to play with whatever he is playing with, but also thrives on her individual time when he is at school and often likes to pick a fight with him, usually by simply disagreeing with whatever he is saying, much to his chagrin.

She's shy at first when meeting new people, but warms up quickly and has great manners (much better than her brother it seems!). She is very caring and concerned when someone isn't feeling well or is hurt. Finn had his first ear infection last week and she came up to him to just gently rub his head and tell him it was ok. Or if you say "oww" in her presence she will quickly run over to get boo-boo bunny for you or come give you a kiss and then tell you it's all better.

When she is sassy though she does it justice. She can throw a fit like nobody's business and during her moments will tell me "I don't want daddy/Finn/Big Mike to talk to me" when someone has the audacity to want to speak to her when she's not in the mood.

Mary loves to sing and enjoys music time at the local library, but when Miles and I sing her random songs she will often tell us, "stop it! That hurts my ears!" She refers to herself in the third person which is all kinds of adorable.

She tells me she misses Roscoe and the other day asked me where our house was and I responded, "this is our house, honey" to which she said, "no, our house is in SaBANnah!" She seems to have a great memory as she talks about a lot from Savannah still - a pool we went to five months ago, her friends there, and even the rental truck we had before moving.

She sleeps in a double bed now, the crib a thing of the past, and if she wakes up in the middle of the night will ask you to "please snuggle with me" which I'm likely to give in to because it's just so sweet.

She loves books and being read to, loves animals, and is obsessed with Paw Patrol. When asked what she wanted for her birthday her answer simply was, "a cake" because she's the best (though she got some presents as well).

It's hard to believe that it's already been three years and it's hard to believe that it's only been three years with this delightfully wonderful little girl.

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Easter 2016

Having multiple events leading up to Easter provided the kids plenty of opportunities to practice their refusal to take even one nice picture so when Easter rolled around they were pros at ruining all photo ops. Well done kids, well done. Your father has taught you well.

Last weekend our neighborhood had an Easter Egg hunt which was so cute and a reminder to me how much I love this neighborhood - such a kind and fun little community. The kids ran around and picked up eggs and then some eggs had prize tags in them and they got to go pick out toys (that they definitely did not need). They both went home with little wooden train sets that fit with the one we already have (plenty of). 

Literally the cutest picture of the 20 I took

Her double chin delight kills me

Why oh WHY do we ask them to say "cheeeeese"?!

Finn got to have an Easter Egg hunt at his school and the same day we did our hunt for Stroller Strong Moms so Mary got many more treats. Instead of running around collecting eggs and putting them in her basket, she would pick up one, open it to get to the treat, eat or attempt to eat said treat, and then go to the next egg.

Miles is away at a course right now and won't be back for a few weeks so yesterday I decided to be brave and take the kids to church by myself. We went to later mass (because bless their hearts they slept in until 8:30!) and it poured while driving around looking for a spot, but fortunately stopped when I parked a few blocks away. I brought an umbrella just in case and am glad I did because it started pouring again just as church ended. Super. Carrying Mary in one arm and the umbrella in the other while trying to keep Finn close and hop over puddle after puddle made for a miserable trek back to the car. I stopped at one point to just rest my arm (Meatball gets heavy after a little bit!) and hope that the rain would subside. It didn't and we just got soaked.

Perfect. Just what I was going for.

Again, nailed it. Thanks, kids.

We found baskets after church and had Easter dinner with some friends so it still ended up being an enjoyable day. And now that Lent is over I can be reunited with my holy place, Target, and go stock up on clearance Easter candy!

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