splitting hairs

we of the mann clan are not known for our luscious locks.  nope, we're all saddled with the same type of hair: thin, blond, and stick-straight.  we also seem to be saddled with a serious difference of opinions when it comes to how said hair shall be cut and styled.

i'll start with susanna.  susanna wants hers long.  i've tried to explain to her that long lengths work well for people who actually have some body in their hair.  we, of course, do not.  so hers winds up looking like a stringy mess much of the time -- just check out her yearbook picture from last year and i dare you to disagree.

 my beautiful angel, no doubt -- but her tresses need a good chop

last summer, as i yanked her comb through the way-too-long sandy-and-salty mess after yet another day of ocean swimming, she finally caved.  "fine," she sighed.  "i'll get it cut."  i celebrated and even confirmed with lainey, who was sitting with us, that she had indeed heard the same words i had.  i needed back-up in case susanna claimed to not remember making such a statement.  and then as soon as we returned home to raleigh, we headed to the salon.

i marched up to the front desk, eager to put her name on the list.   by the time i sat down next to her in the waiting room, i could tell her confidence was wavering, as the waterworks had begun.  "i've changed my mind," she whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks.  "this is not a good idea."

oh, but it was!  how cute she was going to look with a bob!  how much easier it would be to manage!  she was going to love it -- i just knew it, and she would surely thank me later for standing my ground.  and so there she sat in the swivel chair, silently sobbing as about six inches hit the floor.  she refused to even look at herself in the mirror when it was all over.  (i tipped the stylist extra that day.  eight-year old girl drama can turn expensive.)

when we got home, i couldn't wait for chris to marvel at her new look and help build her up.  instead, she hightailed it to her room and came down with a shirt over her head, defiantly refusing to let anyone see her new 'do.  "I AM THE UGLIEST GIRL ON THE PLANET!"  she wailed as i rinsed off asparagus in the kitchen sink.  "NO -- NOT JUST THE PLANET!  THE UNIVERSE!  I AM UGLIER THAN ALIENS!"  she paused for a moment to ask what i was preparing for dinner.  when i replied that we'd be having grilled shrimp, what was already a mind-blowing tirade escalated to levels i had never before seen.  "FIRST I TURN INTO THE UGLIEST GIRL IN THE UNIVERSE AND THEN I HAVE TO EAT SHRIMP FOR DINNER!  THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A WORSE DAY LIVED BY ANYONE!"

and i did the one thing no caring, concerned mother should ever do.  i looked at my pint-sized force, her eyes blazing, face red, hands on her hips, with an inside-out t-shirt wrapped around her forehead ... and i giggled.

and then -- well, then it got real.  "SOMETIMES I THINK I HATE YOU!"

ouch.

 okay, so not only did i giggle -- 
but i also took a picture to commemorate the event.  
no wonder she was livid

the men of the house had different reactions.  liam, who was an unfortunate spectator in all of this, came running to my side. "mommy, are you okay?  i love you.  i'm sure she didn't mean it."  (he was so traumatized by the exchange of words that he brought it up as much as a week later to make sure i wasn't emotionally scarred.  i wound up assuring him that mothers and daughters sometimes do this sort of thing and that everything was going to be fine.)  chris, who didn't have the pleasure of living this event firsthand, said, "well, sara, you laughed at her.  i can't say i blame her."  (and that was his response to MY retelling.  who knows how he would have felt if he had heard susanna's version?)

her hair has been cut only once since that fateful day last july, and only a small trim.  so it's back to being long and stringy -- just the way she likes it. 

and now, for liam.  liam, on the other hand, always wants his SHORT.  like, skinhead crew-cut short.  and in a funny turn of events, i like his longer.  this is a battle i also find myself fighting with him every time his bangs get even slightly too long for his liking.

so i'm finally getting around to the purpose of this post: i have found the perfect solution, and that solution is st. baldrick's.  magellan is the top local fundraiser for this important charity year after year, with roughly a fourth of all the boys at the school getting their heads shaved to raise money for cancer research.  and the girls have joined in the fun, with a bunch of them donating their hair to locks of love.  so THIS will be the answer to all of my PHPs (Parenting Hair Problems)!  once a year, in march, liam will go bald ... and will spend the next six months growing it back to a length of my liking.  and starting in 2016, every march, susanna will get hers chopped ... and spend the next twelve months growing it back to a length of her liking.  why i didn't think of this for the 2015 event, i will never know.

but the best part of all?  neither of our children have declared hatred on me since.  (at least, that i know of.  small victories.)

a roar of approval from the newly shorn liam

50 shades of snow

since the 13th of february, the number of full days of school the kids have had can be counted on one finger.  one.  (and what a glorious day that was, you february 23rd you!)

i'm just going to let the pictures and videos below provide a timeline of sorts to the wackiest (and most frustrating) two weeks in recent memory.

 tuesday, february 17: an icy snowy mix began to fall, just as predicted.  shortly after the school closing was announced, liam's 4th grade teachers sent out a list of "mandatory" homework assignments.  included was the task of emailing them a snow selfie.  (my favorite part of the photo: our sweet brown pooch airborne in the distance.  wonder LOVES the white stuff)

even on a not-so-steep incline, they could really gather speed.  what's remarkable is how solid it was -- notice how chris's shoes and wonder's paws are all totally on top of the surface.  that early in the morning on the first day, we were lucky that the light dusting of snow on top provided some traction.  it quickly became super slick

i could barely watch them sled most of the time, sure that disaster was mere seconds away.  (in fact, i soon turned into psycho mom and required them to wear bike helmets.)  but i must say there are some impressive acrobatics involved in this clip

sunday, february 22: after a week of record-breaking low temperatures (it's not often we're in the single digits in these parts), the driveway was still an ice rink, and we all had bruised bums to prove it.  OUCH

once the temperatures climbed into the lower 50s that day, after missing the entire week of school, we thought for sure we were in the clear -- especially since nothing else was in the forecast.  (sense the foreshadowing?)

tuesday, february 24: another round of snow hit -- beautiful, light, fluffy snow that no one had any idea was coming.  liam decided to show his best side when he noticed me taking pictures from inside the house.  also of note: among the many -- and i mean MANY -- frustrations of this recent weather, at the top of the list is the garbage fiasco.  they haven't picked up our recycling in almost a month

the kids returned to school for a half-day on wednesday -- hooray! -- and then we got another five inches that night.  this time it was the wet, heavy snow that resulted in our power being out for over twelve hours.  we huddled around the gas fireplace in the family room and used the back porch as our refrigerator.  

 thursday, february 26: introducing our snow girl Sunny.  
wishful thinking in choosing her name,  perhaps?

so we've had Sledding Snow (the first round), Snow Cream Snow (the second round), and Snowball Snow (the third round).  we're heading to wintergreen tomorrow for the fourth round: Skiing Snow. and that better be the final round for 2015 or i might just call the next one Asylum Snow.

Doll School

if you ever want to find me on a tuesday afternoon, get your shovel handy because your timing will coincide with Tuesday Folder day.  i will need to be dug out from under a pile of papers that come home; every activity they've completed in the past week -- every quiz, every in-class project, every practice sheet -- is crammed into those folders.  i usually give the contents a quick glance, sign my name that i have dutifully gone through them, and then, if i'm honest, put 99% of them straight into the recycling bin.

but recently susanna has begun requesting to keep many of her tests for Doll School.  so then that pile started adding up, to the point that i dragged down a plastic storage container from the attic leftover from my teaching days.  we relabeled the drawers to fit Miss Mann's needs so all these papers (and the necessary teaching supplies like extra pencils, paper, and rulers) now have a home.

today i lost track of susanna for a little while, until i heard her sweet voice coming from the dining room.  unsure who she was talking to, i found her in her educator glory, whiteboard in hand and globe within reach, hitting all the highlights of lewis and clark.  attentive students (and american girl dolls, fittingly) Caroline and Kit sat across the table from her, hanging on her every word.

the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, apparently.  (ha -- apple!  teachers!  how fitting.)

from the look on her face, the young teacher was annoyed at the interruption my camera caused -- but the students didn't seem to mind

wordless wednesday

one of my (many) new year's resolutions was to post on the blog at least twice a week.  one needs only to scroll a short way down to realize that hasn't happened.  (but i have been flossing daily!  score at least one upheld resolution for sara!)  so i thought i'd resurrect Wordless Wednesday, in an attempt to document our lives a little bit better than i have in recent months.

davidson joined richmond's conference this year in basketball, and while i don't know if this will always be the case, they wound up playing twice in january -- once at davidson, where they beat us by fourteen, and then two weeks later at richmond on a saturday evening.  months ago i bought tickets for the four of us to drive up and go to the game, arranging for us to stay with my college best friend / sorority sister alison and her family.  looking back, i now realize that chris accepted this proposal because he was confident it would be a fun game for him to watch; never did the thought enter his mind that his wildcats might lose to my spiders.

it was never even close.  the final score:  richmond - 89, davidson - 63.  (and husband - miserable.)

me with a spider headband (which garnered lots of compliments, i have to say), liam in his richmond shirt, susanna with a UR hairbow ... and chris with his davidson colors (and a forced smile on his face).  
yep, that ratio seems about right

susanna seems to have met her match in the creativity department with alison's three girls.  here are the winners of the air hockey "tournament" -- complete with medals around their necks and atop a makeshift three-tiered podium just like in the olympics.  elise won gold; liam, silver, and there must have been a tie between susanna and hunter for bronze.  
(and julia just joined the victors for a photo op)

roomies

i am in love.  with a dog.  more so than i have ever been before.  i feel sort of like i'm soulmates with little wonder wo ... even fourteen months after welcoming her into our family, i still feel the urge to shower her with kisses every time i see her.  if i ever happen to be sitting on the floor, she finds me and promptly reclines into my lap and flips for a belly rub.  and whenever we pull into our driveway, we always see her lounging on the front window seat, casually observing all the going-ons of the cul-de-sac -- and know that by the time we enter the house, she'll be standing in the mud room, her tail nub wagging as she serves as our welcoming committee. honestly ... is there anything better than a dog?

sadly, my children would say yes.  even though we've had dogs ever since they've been born, for whatever reason neither liam nor susanna are big canine fans.  this fact is always amplified whenever they have friends over who are dog lovers -- these other children dote on wonder, petting her and talking to her and even inviting her into their sleeping bags when they spend the night.  (she really is the sweetest thing.)  but liam and susanna hardly give her the time of day.  it hurts my heart a bit ... but wonder is undeterred.  she still follows them everywhere, attempts to coax them into playing with her, and yearns for their affection.  which, sadly, rarely comes.  hence my showering of hugs and smooches -- i try to make up for the lack of sibling love.

BUT -- we've recently made some strides, in a most unlikely way.  liam, for whatever reason, has recently developed a small fear of the dark.  the boy who has never once used a nightlight when going to bed all of a sudden is certain that someone is in his room.  right after we kiss him goodnight, chris and i are required to check his closet before firmly shutting the door.  he started requesting that the hall light be left on, and even after sweeping the premises for boogeymen, he is still convinced he is hearing things in the dark, unable to fall asleep.

so what is a frustrated pair of parents to do?  look no further than the four-legged brown friend in our midst, of course.  she lives up to her name: wonder wo mann to the rescue!

figuring that our superhero deserves a throne, we pulled in liam's old monogrammed stuffed chair from the playroom and set it up at the foot of his bed.  and now, every night after saying prayers, wonder crawls into it, curls up, and serves as liam's protector. a boy/pooch sleepover, every night of the week.  whether or not they fall asleep whispering about cute girls in his class, i'll never know.  

but the love is there ... 

liam decided to pretend he was asleep for this staged photo.  
for some reason, wonder wouldn't close her eyes on command.  must work on that

scenes from the season

christmas 2014 has come and gone.  this wasn't a stand-out year in terms of big presents; chris and i are focusing more on experiences than things as the kids grow older.  so susanna found out she and will be taking in taylor swift in concert with a bunch of her friends and their moms; liam learned he's going up to DC with chris and chris's dad for another dodgers game.  and the grand prize is a trip out to san francisco for spring break, which they already knew about.  these are all at least three months away, which lessened the excitement a bit ... but chris and i will continue to remind them they have big events coming up at. every. opportunity.

and in the meantime, we can all enjoy my crock pot, dustbuster, and wireless computer keyboard, which were my big gifts.  (hey -- i've turned 40.  need i say more?)

we were so blessed to have a visit by the kids' favorite girl cousin (okay, only girl cousin), kate, from california.  and in the mix was my aforementioned 40th birthday.  a life's highs and lows, all crammed together within a week.

backing up a bit, this was our super fun thanksgiving ... 29 (!) people at chris's 92-year old grandmother's house in sanford

totally surprised in late november with an early girls' celebration for my birthday by alison, leslie, katherine, lainey, and arrin.  sadly, my tiara broke the next day or i'd still be wearing it

  it was liam's year to place the angel

susanna and her friends kate, anna, polly, addison, and maggie were all mesmerized by anna and elsa at Disney on Ice: Frozen (not pictured: the $15 snow cone -- unless you look closely at the stains on susanna's top)

i spent most of the day before my birthday at the umstead with my bestie lainey, enjoying spa treatments and a late, leisurely lunch (with wine, because, why not?).  we should have taken this picture BEFORE i had oil rubbed into my scalp at my massage

 chris joined me at the umstead that afternoon and had dinner and spent the night while both teams of grandparents split kid duties.  they upgraded our room and we wound up in this unbelievable suite that overlooked the lake, with two huge rooms and bathrooms ... sadly, the only picture i took was of the champagne and strawberries my sweet friend alison had delivered for me

one of the season's highlights is always our annual Wrap the Crap extravaganza with supper club.  one need look no further than darren in the back right corner to see one of the gems (which you might recognize from a previous post -- an atkins family reunion t-shirt, kid size to boot)

susanna informed santa that her top wish was american girl doll accessories -- which was news to us.  next year i think everything will be required to be IN WRITING A MONTH IN ADVANCE

a more laid-back, totally faithful liam

kate was far more gracious with the big man than either of our children ever were at that age

 one of susanna's two recital pieces

certainly not an optimal photo to document the annual reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas -- a shirtless liam, a pajama-clad chris, and a freaky-eyed wonder

i got not one single picture of the opening of the presents ... 
but here is the aftermath

the reunion

you know, there are perks to being terribly behind in posting on this blog.  now that it's almost december, i figure what better time to share pictures of our annual family reunion at the beach than now?  as i sit here shivering with a space heater at my feet, i can relive those warmer days of sweltering in the sun and riding the waves.  and most importantly, i can revisit my niece and nephew when they were not yet four months old -- after just having seen video footage of one of them crawling.  time flies ...

the youngest generation: nick (3 months), liam (9), kate (3 months), susanna (8), reilly (8), laurel (4), and teddy (2).  missing was dexter (who celebrated his first birthday while we were there) and billy (who was just a few weeks old and couldn't make the trip -- which was a wise move, given the shenanigans)

the house we rent has a pool on the front deck, which was a huge hit.  i tried my hardest to get a shot of the four big kids all jumping in simultaneously ... and finally gave up

activities included family games of baseball (there's susanna at bat) ...

... and the annual beer tasting competition, with my brother-in-law richard defending his title yet again

aunt mary and uncle ron put together an elaborate treasure hunt for the kids, complete with clues scattered throughout the two sides of the house and outside

success! as the girls unearthed the treasure at the end of the hunt

on our final day, we noticed a huge crowd gathering at the ocean's edge, following something en masse -- which turned out to be a shark.  they extracted a huge fish (seen here) that was half mauled and bloody.  needless to say, we were happy it was the final day

kate is only 3 days older, but was already showing nick what's what

ohmygosh that sky

all 26 of us who could make it ... missing only 5.  anyone want an official atkins family reunion shirt?  they're selling like hotcakes

wordless wednesday: second cousins, part 2

back in march, my cousin kristine, her husband jamie, and their children reilly and laurel came down to visit us and to see UVA play in the first round of the NCAA tournament in raleigh.  the kids had so much fun together -- and did again at the beach this summer -- that we knew we needed to schedule a trip up to their neck of the woods.  after several failed attempts at scheduling, we finally found a time that worked for everyone, and it couldn't have been more perfect.  it was a gorgeous fall weekend with the leaves hitting their peak color, and it also happened to be the end of the kids' fall break.  we drove up to charlottesville on friday, went apple picking and toured the UVA campus, and then hit the road saturday afternoon to visit wintergreen.  it was just the perfect way to kick-start autumn.

the whole crew at our first stop at the apple orchard -- what you can't see are the most scrumptious apple doughnuts that we had just devoured.  up until this point i had been totally gluten-free for 62 days. i sort of fell off the wagon ... but i daresay those treats, warm out of the oven with a light apple glaze on top, were worth it

,

after being fortified by doughnuts, we braved the orchard and left with an impressive haul (also impressive: laurel's love of the wolf ears headband we got for free at the great wolf lodge)

things like this always crack me up -- i have no idea what a dilapidated truck with no doors or seat has to do with an apple orchard, but the kids thought it was cool

we took this picture just for UVA alum aunt leslie -- seems thomas jefferson's building is in need of some repairs, but the lawn was still perfect for hide-and-seek

we decided to check out a brewery for dinner on saturday night, thinking we'd beat the crowds by getting there early.  an hour-and-a-half later, we were finally seated.  luckily we had brought cards, books, and there was cornhole to play while we waited

next stop on our weekend tour: the wintergreen ski resort.  it was without snow but still beautiful.  can't beat that view ... what we could beat was the frigid air as our wet bodies hopped in and out of the hot tub

right before departing on sunday afternoon, the eight of us took a rather challenging hike.  chris, who has an issue with heights, confided later that he wasn't at all upset when we cut it short and turned back.  but the kids had no fear ... which actually was sort of worrisome

notice chris's position -- farthest from the side of the cliff :)

our halloween hero

"actually, no, it was daddy who made my costume," liam informed a neighbor after she mistakenly complimented my handiwork as we made our way around the neighborhood trick-or-treating.  he laughed, "you shouldn't ever underestimate the abilities of a dad!"

indeed.  i had absolutely nothing to do with liam's costume; from conception to completion, it was all chris.  i was up in richmond for a girls' weekend with college friends in early october when he texted me from a craft store, asking if i thought we had enough hot glue sticks for this project he was tackling.  while i was gone, liam had finalized his costume choice, and then chris had googled ideas of how to create it, had drawn up a list of necessary materials, and had braved ac moore on a saturday with two kids to make it all happen.  when i returned home the following afternoon, i walked in to find him armed with that glue gun, painstakingly transforming an old straw sombrero into the mushroom hat worn by Toad, the beloved character of one of liam's favorite nintendo games.  (if you're not familiar with Toad, you're not alone.  as spot-on as the costume was, no adult ever guessed correctly what liam was.  but the kids all knew.)

i was involved with susanna's costume -- in the lamest way possible.  we popped into a costume store on a whim back in september, they happened to have one frozen gown left in her size, and i purchased it.  (somehow i think chris wins this round of who's-the-best-parent.)

frozen princess anna and toad, gearing up for their big night. 

 (the picture doesn't do the hat justice -- i wish i had taken it from a different angle)

this had to have been the most perfect halloween night yet for our kids.  it was clear -- no need for umbrellas like the monsoon from 2011.  it was comfortable -- we weren't sweating it out like the 80+ degree evening of 2009.  and the best part?  for the first time since they've been in school, it didn't fall on a school night.  rather than having to rush home to get in bed, we were still ringing doorbells at 8:30 pm.

these factors all contributed to their most massive candy haul yet.  and so what is a family to do when they wake up on november 1st to a torrential, day-long downpour?  when their outdoor activities are all cancelled and they're stuck inside, staring at their loot?

analyze the data, of course.  chris and the kids spent much of the morning sorting and counting and creating an excel spreadsheet.  this is an excerpt of their printed report:

and this is one of several printed graphs (others were broken down by wrapper color and candy manufacturer.  email me if you'd like a copy.)

so from start to finish -- literally -- chris was the hero of halloween.  because liam's right, you know.  you should never underestimate the abilities of a dad.

guilt

oh, the guilt.  guilt, guilt, guilt.  as if mothers don't carry the weight of guilt enough already (was i too harsh just then?  am i being too lenient?  is that one comment i just made in a bout of impatience going to result in years of therapy for my children in their adulthood?) i'm under the extra burden of blogging guilt.  i'm just not on here often enough.  i have stories to share, and memories to document, but just no time to do it.  and to make matters worse, almost on a daily basis the kids will mention this site.  "mommy, you HAVE to put that in the blog!"  or, "remember when i said that funny thing and ..." before proceeding to retell a story that they cannot possibly remember because they were so young, but at this point feel like they do remember it because they've read the story so often in our blog books.  which brings up yet another area of guilt -- i haven't yet even started on the 2013 blog book, and we're staring down the finish line of 2014.

guilt, guilt, guilt.

so i have a few goals at this point.  one, i'm going to play catch-up when i can ... i'll soon get around to posting pictures of our family beach reunion from over two months ago; i'll soon share the endearing story of susanna and her first venture as a playwright from back during our snow days in january.  and then i'll also just post snippets.  no need for pages upon pages of anecdotes; no need for the story to even necessarily have a POINT.  i just need to put fingers to keyboard and get the words to screen before i forget these events even happened.

i sit here, with a rare window of time at the laptop when i'm caught up on work and have silence around me ... at the great wolf lodge, of all places.  i've brought the kids here for a quick mini-vacation during fall break (pictures to follow, i promise myself) and they are out cavorting all over the resort together with their magic wand in hand, tackling the Shadow Quest thing that i don't understand and probably never will because they actually sent me back to the room last night so they could do it themselves.  together, of course.  always together.  which brings me to my story.

a few nights ago i was tucking liam into bed, having read a bit together and finished saying our prayers.  chris was across the hall in susanna's room doing the same thing.  and right after i kissed him goodnight and had reached the door, he says, "mommy?  i have a question," which is of course one of the oldest stall tactics in the book.

"yes?"  i sighed(inwardly, i hoped.)

"well, susanna and i actually both have this question.  we were talking about it the other day and have been meaning to ask you or daddy ..."

"yes, honey, what is it?" i replied, wanting to turn off the light, as we were yet again way past bedtime.

"why can't we get married to each other?"  he looked at me.  "i mean, we like the same things and always want to spend time together.  it just seems like it makes sense.  but i know that law says that siblings aren't allowed and so we were just wondering."

and after a brief explanation that skirted around the real reasons, i turned off the light and closed the door, eager to share the story with chris.  because i may have guilt about oh so many things, but somehow we are raising a brother and sister who truly, truly love each other.

and i have absolutely no guilt about that.

voyages

when magellan, my children's charter school, comes up in conversation, people often ask me what its focus is.  the question always throws me for a loop.  i think they're actually thinking of the local magnet schools, which all do have a specified program: leadership, gifted & talented, international baccalaureate, arts & sciences ... but charters aren't the same as magnets; they don't necessarily have a primary focus.  and so i normally just fumble through my answer, often choosing the phrase "back-to-basics" to describe it, since it devotes its entire day to longer, intense class periods in the four main academic areas.  we don't have "specials" that are found in public elementary schools, like music and art and P.E.  (but most of those are incorporated into everyday instruction -- often more effectively than in stand-alone classes.)  our class sizes never exceed 17, and for the umpteenth year in a row, magellan has scored at the very top of all the schools in the state of north carolina in terms of testing. 

but i had a revelation recently and now know how i'm going to answer the next time someone asks me what magellan's focus is.  i'm going to say, "voyages".  yes, it's a fancy term for field trips (linked, no doubt, to the school's namesake); but as liam has reached 4th grade, i realize what an integral part of the curriculum these voyages are.  because magellan believes that the best way to learn is to experience, there are several multi-day field trips each year starting in the 4th grade, from DC to florida to new york.  the pinnacle of the magellan experience is the sixth grade trip to space camp in alabama.  (space camp.  really ... space camp.  there is a lottery for parent chaperones but ohmygoodness do i hope i get to go.)  after spending weeks investigating various effects on organisms' environments, the 4th grade is headed down on wednesday to the coast to delve into the five different habitats of salt marshes, maritime forests, freshwater ponds, the sound, and the beach.  why learn about it from a textbook or a website, when you can drive a few hours and experience it in person?

but there are shorter, one-day voyages too.  these are much more my chaperoning speed, since missing multiple days of teaching is just plain difficult.  (there are no subs in online teaching.)  so i signed up to chaperone his voyage to the zoo a few weeks ago ... and i'm telling you, there's just nothing like the zoo.  oh, how i love the zoo.

below are just a few pictures of our voyage.  and if i don't get chosen for the space camp voyage in a few years, well, hanging out with kendall the chimp surely will just have to suffice.

i literally got my four charges (all spectacular kids!) to sit down together for a photo.  kendall, obvious extrovert chimp extraordinaire, decided to amble on over and join them

feeding a new friend.  "her tongue was long but really smooth," reported liam

i like to pretend and call this "giraffe selfie"

and they're off

i found this in my unpublished posts list from march 2013, right after we found out that liam had been accepted to magellan.  this is one of the reasons why i blog -- because i have absolutely  no recollection of this happening.

"sara, i've been meaning to tell you the sweetest thing i've ever witnessed," said my friend clare one evening last week at church while we helped stuff envelopes for an upcoming event.  she's a part-time spanish teacher at the kids' school, and while she doesn't teach the younger grades, still sees them from time to time.  "i was standing near the lobby the other day, and liam's class and susanna's class happened to pass each other on their way to specials.  right at the same time, they both stepped a little out of line, met halfway, and gave each other a little sideways hug.  i'm telling you, it almost made me tear up, it was so sweet."


so when i walked in from the driveway yesterday after spending a few extra minutes sharing my exciting news of liam's school acceptance with susanna's best friend lily's mom, and found susanna sitting on the arm chair next to liam, crying, i naturally assumed that she was upset because he would be leaving her.

"oh sweetheart, please don't worry," i said in the most soothing voice i could muster.  "it's only one year that you won't be in school with liam before you get to join him.  because you are guaranteed a spot there too!"

but for some reason, this only escalated her wailing.  "really, honey, it will be okay.  we'll drive him to school each morning, and then he can be at the bus stop when you get home --"

she interrupted me with a look of disdain on her face, as if i just didn't get it.  (which, i guess, i didn't.)  "mommy!  i don't CARE that liam's not going to be in school with me!  i just don't want to be away all of my friends!"

oh.

so fast forward to september 2014 ... and i am wise to have waited a few weeks to post the annual first-day picture and write-up.  because goodness gracious, our little girl has quite the impressive stubborn streak.  she had seventeen months to get used to the idea of leaving lacy and switching schools; seventeen months to watch how much liam loves it there and warm up to the change.  instead, she spent seventeen months crying and complaining and begging for us to let her stay.  (and we had seventeen months of biting our tongues and reminding ourselves that she was within her rights to be upset.)

but now, eighteen months after receiving the news, she is HAPPY.  she is comfortable.  she is enjoying her new school and is proud to go there.  and as long as your name is not sara or chris mann, she'll even tell you how much she loves magellan.  (she still won't admit to us that it has been a great move.  i'm telling you, it's an impressive stubborn streak.)

so, finally, here's the first-day-of-school picture, with two smiling children -- in a little sideways hug just like they used to share on the halls of lacy.

liam (fourth grade) & susanna (third grade) -- in unplanned matching colors

what were we thinking?!

it was the great trifecta.  when we planned liam's 10th birthday party, three glorious aspects came together:

1)  the only time we could do it was the night we got home from being at the beach for a week. 
2)  he wanted to invite four of his soccer friends -- crazy, fun, high-energy 9-year old boys.
3)  he wanted to have a sleepover.

i'll repeat that again.  he wanted to have a sleepover with four crazy, fun, high-energy 9-year old boys.

in all seriousness, they had a great time.  they were well-behaved for the most part, and didn't damage the house too much.  (there was a moment when i stomped up the stairs at full volume at close to midnight, threatening to call their parents if i had to come up there again ... but we won't dwell on such matters.)

actions speak louder than words.  except, maybe for these words ...  i'll let the video below do the talking.

 we decided to have cake and ice cream at the house ... turned out to be a very wise move

this is honestly the only picture i could get of the group at the bowling alley.  but after several attempts, i gave up, since it turned out to be quite indicative of how the night went in general.  (from the left, it's max, sam, kaidan, liam, and braeden)

 much more subdued the next morning over a breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, for some reason

we really did enjoy it, and, most importantly, liam loved every minute.  and hey, 10 is a big one; it's worth a bit more hoopla.

(which also means, my son, don't expect a sleepover like this any time soon.  xoxo)