Happy Mother's Day!

The annual Mother's Day picture! I think I missed last year, which totally bugs me! But there we are: myself, and the kids that call me mom. Okay, so some other kids call me mom, too, but that's mostly by accident when I'm at the school. 

I love my kids. They teach me a lot. I will readily tell you that I had a few really hard years where I doubted every single thing I did, and where I truly questioned my sanity. But, we all made it past those few years, and now that they are getting a little older (and have a house!), I am able to breathe just a little and step back and truly enjoy them as people. Each child has his/her own personality, and they each bring a different element to the table. For their sake, I will summarize how I see each child:

Kacy (almost 10!): has a reputation for being really, really smart and mature. I know this because I meet people who have substituted her class and just act amazed at how she is. She's nice about it too, not all in your face. (Whew! I hate that!) She is artistically messy and creative. She is also extremely logical. Is this because I played Mozart for her as a baby? Because she was my first born experiment in all things Child Development? I don't know. She is helpful, bossy, watchful, and cautious. Every teacher she has had so far has told me they love her dry sense of humor, and how she gets their jokes in the classroom. She's competitive with herself, and only a little with the kids at school. A future teacher or lawyer?

Will (9 at the end of summer!): has a reputation for hating school. He is always really polite and quiet in school, but he is so bored. It's hard for him to focus. Some of his autistic traits that I focused on from the time he was about one year old are going away. He is becoming more loving, willing to be hugged. The last two years have been amazing for Will in terms of growing up and becoming a cool kid. I tell you what, taking him to a psychologist this last fall for his anxiety problems was extremely helpful to us both. He learned some tricks to help him relax and cope, and I've seen a difference in the occurrence of situations where he would have a hard time dealing with his environment. We were at Taco Bell the other night and he busted out in some cross eyed, weird faced thing where he was making fun of himself and it just cracked Ryan and I up. He is getting it! He is becoming aware of other people's feelings! He is becoming confident in who he is! He is absolutely amazing when it comes to designing things/fixing things/figuring out how things work. Since he was about four years old, if the kids got a toy that needed to be put together, I've told the kids to give it to Will. The boy is fascinated with historical landmarks and architectural achievements (Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty...). Don't play trivia games with him... he'll throw out the fun facts no one else remembers. A future architect/engineer for sure... who has a hot dog stand on the side. 

Ed (almost 7!): has a reputation that spans several time zones. Everyone loves Ed. He loves everyone, too. His teacher tells me he helps her out at school because he is assigned to read with the lower kids and apparently he is all helpful and nice to them while he helps them! That's so weird, because I've never seen him help Jessie. Ed is adventurous, and he lives in his own world. He always, ALWAYS has a little something in his hand... like two small Lego's, a bouncy ball, a bit of string... whatever he finds, and these little things keep him entertained for hours. He is intuitive and sensitive. He still likes to sit on my lap at church, even though he is almost as big as Kacy and Will. He is still a little squirrely. He gets excited about life easily. He also gets very emotional when he's hungry. His life pretty much centers around eating right now. I'm going to have to get a job to afford groceries when these kids hit junior high/high school. Ed has a hard time in school because struggles with sitting still. He's totally paying attention... can tell you everything you've said, but he might be upside down and under a chair. We are working on that. I want Ed to be a veterinarian when he grows up, but only because he has animal magic, and so we have health care when we are old.  

Jessie (just turned 5!): is a fire cracker. She is so crazy sometimes, it scares me. She is out going. She has two moms: Kacy and me! She takes direction from Kacy, even asking her what her homework is. She is studying for kindergarten (her idea, not mine) when she's not watching "Avatar, the Last Airbender". She is afraid of zombies and bears right now. She gets so mad sometimes that everyone else in the house can read, and she can't yet. She loves candy, and friends are important to her. Her thoughts focus on having a horse, and naming it Peanut. (She wants a plain brown one.) She is my little buddy, and even though she causes me grief in the grocery store still (buy me this! get me that!), she loves going places with me. She's planning on becoming a police woman, and hiring me to baby sit her kids. She also said that she is going to clear some bushes away and live next door, so her kids won't have far to walk to my house when she goes to work. I think she will become a rodeo trick rider and then a police woman. 

These little people call me mom, and I hope I do a good job for them. I hope I meet all their individual needs. And have them grow up to put their dirty underwear in the laundry and not on the floor. We are working on that right now. 

I am looking forward to me spa day they have in the works. (Which, by the way, when I mentioned that yesterday at family dinner, I heard Kacy say, "Well, you need to let me know when you want it so I can make sure I'm free."  What?!? Like, she has to check her calendar? So funny.)