APPARENTLY...

I've been slacking. But I digress, it has been an insane month in this household. Between finishing up our school years (Aiden and I both), jet setting off to Idaho for MDA camp (me), Nick, Crystal, and Marcus surprising us with a visit, the lovely Mama Talia coming to town, the start of summer school, and the entrance of a new little one to our Wolfpak - IT.HAS.BEEN.BUSY!

Not so busy though that I have forgotten the importance of posting these before I start gushing at how another year has passed by (and oh my God how is it Aiden is almost 6?!).  These days- they do escape me. That is until the wit of my amazing son pushing me into such a fit of laughter that I am reminded how precious the days are, how sweet his laughter is, how much I love that he argues he loves me more, and just how much fun joy I get from being his mom that I need to record another moment, another snippet of time, so that years from now he can see for himself what joy he already brings.

So we'll start with our title, or Aiden's new favorite word. Seriously. He uses it constantly. Take yesterday for instance, when I asked what he did while at his daddy's house his response was thus:
"Well apparently he had to work (ummm seeing how it was a Wednesday morning, yeah.), so I builded a lego and I read the instructions all by myself and I only messed up one part!" Oh the sound of sheer happiness in his voice at that last part is about as grand as the sheer happiness I feel when he says he "read the instructions." That's right folks, Aiden is a reading fool these days. He reads everything, and if I must say so myself, he reads well. But most importantly (and trust me this is the battle to contend with when it comes to children) he enjoys reading, even when he struggles. Can you say proud mommy/English teacher? :0)

If that's not enough cuteness to get you through then his love for his new cousin ought to do it. The arrival of baby Delia has been something he has been excitedly awaiting. This is due in part for his strong desire for his own sibling (he did ask for one for Christmas), but also because this kid simply loves babies. All babies, any babies, it doesn't matter, he has baby fever.Though, much to his disappointment, she was not born with green hair, he still cannot contain his happiness for Delia to be here.

 And now I shall leave you all with plenty of  pictures (including a picture of his weird clam puppet he had to have...don't ask, I'm not sure I even understand..) Much love to all.

Baseball time!

Goofin' around

Aiden holding Delia

Pretty grandma

Marcus-man

3 crazy kiddos

Meeting Delia

Playing with coo-koo bird grandpa

                                                  

Two cousins just playin' around

Crazy kiddos

Mustache baby :)

Marcus-man and his auntie TC

Aiden-man

My Tic-Tac-Toe nemesis

Happy family :)

Two crazy peas in one crazy pod



   

Mama Talia - this melts my heart

Awe!

Hello little Nick face...

On a walk :)

Creepiest toy ever..

My whole heart



I think it's rather impossible to describe how much fun Aiden truly is. Between our superhero adventures, hiking in the foothills, pretending our car is a pirate ship - there really is never a dull moment. However, what I have come to notice is what I love best are those zany moments in conversations where he makes the most hilarious declaration and you can't help but be overcome with laughter. Watch out folks, we have the future class clown amongst us. Well today (Mother's Day) was no exception. Except instead of those amusing comments, his sweet Aiden self herded me to a closed door where my surprise (which he was actually able to keep a surprise!) awaited me. Besides the lovely gifts he had already bestowed upon me, his handmade Kindergarten gifts were waiting. Within these lay this special treasure:

Kindergarten Mother's Day Survey

99!?! Well I just aged seventy years! I think I laughed till I cried. And as I scrolled down and saw the "My mom is prettiest when it is everyday," I think my whole heart actually melted. This kid, oh this kid...

well he's everything to this mama.

Aiden-Matthew you make being a mama so incredibly special.

Baby Cliches Ring True

"It goes so fast." That phrase is the biggest baby cliche of all time. Google it if you don't believe me. And despite the fact that I heard it a million times as I held on to that sweet little baby, I took it for granted. How is it possible he is this big?

And while at times I miss getting to hold that sweet, smiling baby... I would never trade the nightly "I love you most," or the way he cups your face if he really has something important he needs heard right then, or his long winded explanations of things that excite him to no end. And I would especially not trade his love and zest for life at five. As much as I miss those baby years, Aiden at five is so very wonderful. I don't know where those years before now drifted away to. It went so fast.

The power of "yes"

It's funny how a week with those Christmas toys can inspire new rules around a house. For instance, when you find your child so entranced by his first ever hand held video game that he doesn't even recognize his uncle has flipped him upside down....

then we have an issue. I'm not kidding folks, he didn't budge from that game.

So how does a parent respond? Call me crazy, I am trying to instate the power of the word "YES." Yes to activities that get him moving around, yes to letting him experience all the greatness that life has to offer outside of a video game, and yes to letting him feel that he has awesome and fun ideas. Don't get me wrong, I don't think video games are altogether bad  (in moderation), but I refuse to let it be common past time around here. And once I had him on board (by telling him super heroes needed to make sure they exercised their body and brains)I have to admit we have found an awful lot of fun things to say "yes" to lately.





"Can we start a super hero league?" YES. This is Captain America Super Aiden and you can just call me Missile Girl (sadly I didn't get to pick my own name).



"Can we play with one of my NEW games? (He meant his video game)" YES. How about if we launch your cars off of the new Hot Wheels set, off the steps and try to get them into a bucket below?! (There were strict rules about the getting on the steps though...) Way too much fun.



"Can I not clean my room right now?" YES. Let's go outside for a bit, but when we return you will spend some time cleaning. I have to admit letting him have his way on this one, made him super eager to clean when we got home. Plus it really was a gorgeous day!



"But I'm not tired! Can I go to bed later?" YES. Granted not too much later, but a movie date is never a terrible thing. Note: He was asleep by 8:15 anyways lol



Aaaah the joys of teaching...

In attempts to keep this blog mostly about Aiden I try my hardest not to talk about myself. Don't get me wrong, I know I am a huge part of his existence, but let's be honest... he's waaay more entertaining. ;) However, I think it's only important to talk about one of the things I love best about my job: time off! Don't misunderstand, I love teaching, it is truly a passion of mine. I feel blessed to have chosen a career that excites me (as this is not the case for everyone), this is not a job folks, it is a love. And whilst I love my job, one of my favorite parts is that I get to do it, and then I get time to do the thing I actually love best: being a mom. While I had aspirations to get to finishing up my years lesson plans and grading more I managed instead to fill every day with something fun. From trips to the museum, movies at the Dynamax theatre, park visits, a short Santa Fe trip on the Rail Runner, hanging out with Mama Talia, and time to simply relax and play with the many gifts he got for Christmas, we had a ball!





From our happy home, to yours...

A very Merry Christmas...

And the happiest of New Years!

<3 Teresa, Aiden, and Snowy the Snowman (yeah I know, we're original)

Things that I love about five year old Aiden

How do I accurately describe how incredible Aiden is? Every time I sit down to write one of these I know that I am trying to convey just how amazing it is to get to be the mom to this kid, and to be honest I know I don't do it justice. So with the holiday season upon us, and me feeling doubly sentimental I thought I'd share a story. It all started a couple of weeks ago when Aiden declared "I wish I could be a baby again." Naturally I prodded him a little asking the big "WHY?" question. His response was "Because baby Aiden never got in trouble and he was always good." Heart breaking I know. It is especially heart breaking if you spend any time around him. Does he get in trouble? Yes. Often? Not really. He is quick to learn and is the most happy-go-lucky child I have ever met. So in talking to him about this I, of course, let him know that while I loved his baby self, five year old Aiden is so amazing and fun, I wouldn't trade it for anything. We, of course, had to go through a list of things I love about him. So I thought, for the sake of that moment, I should really capture it down on here. So here it goes... the things I love about five year old Aiden:

1. I love that he always refers to himself by his full name.
2. I love that he asks questions, even if sometimes they seem too big for a five year old.
3. I love that he loves to laugh, and make others laugh.
4. I love that he tries new things without fear.
5. I love that he plays the "what if" game, coming up with the most wild "What if" scenarios.
6. I love that he loves learning and tries so hard to read.
7. I love that he likes to do silly things, like jump over cracks on the sidewalk.
8. I love that he has mastered a sly grin.
9. I love that he loves my made up stories at night just as much as his books.
10. I love that he cherishes our night time songs as much as I do.
11. I love that he is genuine in everything he says.
12. I love that he is kind hearted and gentle.
13. I love that he thinks of others and carries their worries despite how small he is.
14. I love that he finds joy in making others feel good about themselves.
15. I love that he knows what kind of person he is.
16. I love that he gets as excited for holidays as I do.
17. I love that he loves to help cook any meal with me.
18. I love that he will eat vegetables over sweets, especially broccoli.
19. I love that he calls the internet the invisible book store.
20. I love that he is a master bargainer at five.
21. I love that he already has decided that more than anything, when he grows up, he wants to be a dad.
22. I love that he is confident, healthy, and happy.

This list could go on and on, however for the sake of closing a blog, let me just say that I am blessed.

Koala, koala, koala

It is absolutely amazing how quickly time flies between posts. Just the other day I realized how long it has been since I put up a post and thought to myself "I need to do a quick update." Here's the problem though... how do you do a "quick update" when in the past couple of months everything has changed? Some might say: just pick the highlights... impossible. For if you know Aiden, that's pretty much most days. :) However, I'll go ahead and give it a shot.
















1. Aiden is loving kindergarten! I attribute it to a couple of things. First of all, he is the most social kid ever and school has finally given him that outlet of having many people to hang out with. Secondly, he has the greatest kindergarten teacher of all. We absolutely love her and she is amazing with her 22 little kiddos. Oh and I couldn't not talk about school without mentioning the amazingness of getting to go on field trips! Finally, Aiden has the smartz. We've always known Aiden as quite the conundrum. He's nonstop, in so many different ways, including that big ol' brain of his. He has big ideas, sometimes much too big for a five year old. He thinks about things like the possibilities of gas running out of the world, how to feed all the people who don't have food, and what the word "civic" means because he heard it in a dream (not the car folks, I asked). Now he finally has a place to help him learn more and it excites him a lot. Watching him learn to read, seeing him write things down, it's completely awesome.






















2. Aiden is in soccer! Of course right? I mean the kid never stops running, so naturally we thought this would be the sport. LOL. I'm sure time will really tell, but for now we have been enjoying the quirks of what soccer really is at age 5 - entertaining. Don't get me wrong, not all soccer teams are like this. However, for our team, which we've teasingly nicknamed The Bad News Bears, it's just plain amusing to watch. We've got the kid who is constantly acting like a superhero (that would be Aiden). Off in another corner of the field is the one sitting down looking at four leaf clovers, and then of course there's one kicking the ball the wrong way helping out the other team. So we all breathe. They're five and soccer is a fun excuse to wear cool clothes and be part of a team. :)






















3. Aiden is a nut! This brings us to the lovely title of this post. I woke up the other morning on a lovely Saturday. Now normally on Saturdays I hear him calling from his rooms that he's ready to start our pancake morning (gotta love the weekends!). Not this day. Instead, I woke up to a little kid whispering in my ear "Koala, koala, koala." Then, I'm receiving what seems like the biggest hug ever. Sweet right? That's when he declares "You've just been koalaed!" Thus starts his new trend of jumping up and latching himself onto me and declaring "KOALAED!" Oh me, oh my!


4. Aiden wants to experience it all and I'm happy to oblige. From trips to the corn maze, the dinosaur museum, movies (from the Imax tornado movie, to Lion King, to Smurfs, etc.), playing at the park, going tot he fair specifically for the ferris wheel (see below), going for hikes, or my personal favorite: going through the car wash just because we can. Yup, you name it - he wants to do it! I love his enthusiasm for going places. So what's next? Ask Aiden and it's the beach... looks like I'll be planning a vacation soon. =0)










On the ferris wheel -->













At the car wash -->
I know it's small, but doesn't he look SO happy?!






5. Aiden likes to conquer fears. This little tidbit is something I keep trying to figure out. I mentioned before how super smart I think he is, but this new development I am only assuming on. Aiden has a fear of snakes. Has he encountered one recently? Nope. However, they had really started to plague little mans mind. He dreams about them, frightening dreams, that just break my heart. So three weeks ago, on library day, he returned from school with a book about what else? Snakes! My thought was something to the effect of "REALLY???" The dreams continue, of course. The next week, once again he returns home with a new book about snakes. Geez kid. Dreams continue, though now he is beginning to ask a lot of questions about where certain snakes live. Then last week, again another snake book. At first I thought he is truly glutton for punishment. However, this week, he's had no bad dreams about snakes, his curiosity about them is still peaked, but it's as though he has worked it all out on his own through learning. Love it.



Alright folks, that's all for now. Sorry it was scattered and probably incoherent. Blessings to all. =0)