On Lucy...

Our Lu has had two "firsts" recently...her first dance recital and her first piano recital!  Her dance class was an hour each week, Sept.-May and she had two dances: tap and ballet.  She was so excited and her gracefulness made me cry...

For piano, she performed the song "Spanish Guitar" and was so confident that she didn't even take her book on stage with her.  She has been very committed to both of these activities this year and it was a joy to watch her have fun!

She had so much fun in first grade and she's looking forward to second grade in the Fall!  But not before a summer of lots of relaxing...our Lu loves reading, jumping on the trampoline, wearing tank-tops, and riding her bike down to the library!  Her last few months of school were full...they had a first-grade program, a class party, field day, and a class picnic!  The most common treat for this age seems to be Popsicles...we have already eaten a lot of Popsicles this year!  She will bridge from being a Daisy to Brownies in August - we continue to love doing Girl Scouts together!

Lucy taught herself how to write her name in cursive...we find her whimsical writing all over the place...

"I know a girl, 

she puts the COLOR inside of my world..."

~John Mayer

On Samuel...

Here's what folks say about Samuel these days..."he's so tall!"  Our little guy is growing and growing!  He eats absolutely everything and loves to help in the kitchen.  His most popular phrase is "on my own" and he usually says it in a very demanding voice...he doesn't want any help washing his hands, or carrying his plate over to the sink after meals, or getting into the car.  Chris says Samuel is the best negotiator in our family...if he doesn't get what he wants he just stares at you...with those big brown eyes and zero expression on his face...it WEARS.US.OUT...thankfully he spends most of his time joking around and making us laugh! 

For his third birthday in February our family celebrated him at a Mickey Mouse party - Samuel had SO MUCH FUN!  Just the other day, over four months after the party, he said "thank you for my Mickey Mouse party" during his prayers at night...he really enjoyed it and loves a good party!

 
We had our two-year follow-up visit for his adoption in March.  Our Social Worker asked "what is the biggest different this past 12-months from the first 12-months?"  Chris told her that Eli and Samuel's relationship has really grown.  Samuel bonded with Lucy first - she acts like his second mother - but it took longer for he and Eli to figure out how to play together.  Now, they are such big buddies!  Samuel barely has his eyes open in the morning before he says "Where's Eli?"

The above picture shows their normal before-school antics (when the weather is nice)...all the parents form a car line and the teachers come get the kids from the cars.  We are usually near the beginning of the line because we drop off Lucy first, then go to Eli and Samuel's school.  They love to stand up with the heads out of the sun roof...chatting with their friends and watching the construction-workers...very entertaining!

The picture above is priceless to me...a wonderful example of their sense of adventure...they couldn't build their "car" on the floor, oh no, it needed to be elevated to the dining room table.  It is a unique car - two steering wheels - and clearly very fast since they need eye-protection.  

Samuel's speech is continuing to improve and we are so proud of his hard work!  When he turned three he transitioned to receiving speech therapy through our school district.  Here are his therapist's comments on his last evaluation: "It has been a joy to work with Samuel!  He is such a hard worker and very observant of the therapist's mouth when learning his sounds." 

When Samuel isn't at school, speech, or watching one of Lucy and Eli's activities, he continues to love playing trains, being creative with Lucy and Eli, looking at books and doing puzzles.  He is such a joy! 

On Eli...

Eli turned 5 on January 12th!  In the months leading up to his birthday he did lots of brainstorming about his party - it was his first one with friends included - initially he wanted a Lion King theme, but then switched to pirates in December.  He wanted a marble cake (chocolate & vanilla) for the party and asked me to bring Twizzlers (again!) to his class for his birthday treat!  It is so much fun to watch him develop his tastes and share them with confidence.

He continues to love sports!  He played soccer this Spring and we loved watching him play each week - he was excellent at defense and scored goals in the last three games.  During the winter and early Spring we moved our basketball goal inside and also played hockey indoors.  He loves to look at books about sports and talk about statistics.  He's recently become very interested in golf...if you drive by our house you'll see us walking around the yard looking for lost tees and balls...practice makes perfect, right?  He told Chris, "come outside and be my pit crew while I golf"...getting the sports of car-racing and golf a bit mixed up...Chris told him "the helper in golf is called a caddie!" 

He also continues to love animals!  Earlier this year I told him about how one of my friend's grandfather killed a chicken snake in front of me when I was about his age...he cannot stop asking questions about that..."Mom, what time of day was it when the snake got killed?", "Did the snake already eat one of the eggs?", "Do you think he was about to eat an egg?" Our drive to his school takes about 15-minutes and he usually fills that time with animal questions...here's a recent conversation:

Eli: Mom, who would win between an lion and a tiger?
Me: I think a lion would win.
Eli: Who would win between two tigers and one lion?
Me: I think the two tigers would win because they would work together.
Eli: We would win between 65 lions and 60 tigers?
(And you see how this can go on, right?)

All of these questions sure keep me on my toes!  One day he said to me "How will we find each other in heaven?"  While I pondered my answer he said "Do you think the Vikings could beat the Seahawks?" Never a dull moment!

I've included a few pictures of Eli with his awesome friend Jacob...they have loved being in class together this year and we've enjoyed our playdates with them.  Eli has tremendous confidence in Jacob's animal knowledge...if Eli asks me a question and I don't have an immediate answer he says "don't worry Mom, I can ask Jacob..."  Those two are going to zoo camp together this summer and we're already counting the days...

Eli takes his role as Samuel's Big Brother very seriously...he calls himself "bro bro" when talking to Samuel.  Those two are constantly touching - either picking on each other or wrestling.  Samuel will come tell me "Eli hit me!"...then run back to Eli before I can answer because he doesn't want to miss a moment, even if it hurts!

Earlier this year, his class studied the letter "Q" and had a wedding to help the kids remember that "Q" and "u" go together to start words...the boys were all quarterbacks from University (wearing jerseys) and the girls were Queens.  So, Q and U got married...the teachers later reported that the happy couple had quintuplets (a good math lesson!)  I asked Eli how the wedding was and he said "it was good...we just took pictures and ate cake."  I nodded and laughed...a perfect wedding recap! 

The end of school brought lots of festivities...I enjoyed going on his class field trip to Cheekwood and he and I both cried at his preschool graduation.  He cried because he saw me crying; thankfully he got himself together before he had to announce to the whole crowd what he wants to be when we grows up.  That announcement is a tradition at his preschool and is so cute.  Eli loves the movie "Frozen", especially the hero Kristoff, so he announced that he wants to be an "Ice Cutter"...we love that imagination!   

Eli is so excited about starting kindergarten in the Fall!  I am so proud of him, but I will miss him very much.  He is so quick to compliment..."Mom, I love this dinner!"..."Mom, is that a new shirt?"...and he's very observant.  Chris continues to say that I'm "smitten" with Eli...can you blame me?