And Now You're Three!

Dear Tucker-
Your birthday is today - Friday the 13th. When you were born 3 years ago, Grandma Violet said every now and then, your birthday would fall on a Friday - Friday the 13th - and that was okay.

She would've loved the little boy you've become as does every single person who's ever been lucky enough to meet you.

I never knew true love until you came along.  I also never knew how challenging and rewarding it is to be someone's momma. This past year you've certainly tested my patience and my willingness to let you grow up and be more independent.

You make me smile. In the middle of the work day, I'll find myself thinking of you and my face just lights up. All the best times of my day revolve around you - hugging you good morning, kissing you good-bye, hugging hello, story time before bed, kissing goodnight...

You make me want to be a better person. Is that a weird thing to say to a 3-year-old? I'm not sure but I know it's true. I want to be the person you would be proud to call your momma.

You've become such an amazing little boy - so smart and sweet. You've learned so much this past year but I'm most proud of your personality. You've shown so much compassion and love for those around you - your little brother, your dogs, your friends, your family...

I love how many friends you have. All the kids at school know Tucker! I have a feeling you're going to have lots of friends your whole life.

And now as I'm nearing the actual minute you were born (3:48pm) 3 years ago, I can still remember hearing you cry for the first time. I'll never forget that sound. Ever. I thought you sounded like me!

Oh my sweet boy how my heart bursts with love for you. You are one of the best things that has ever happened to me and I thank God he gave you to me. I am so very lucky to have you in my life.

Happy birthday my baby.

Love,
Mommy

And We're Back!

Wow! That was some hiatus! Honestly - I can't seem to find a free second to do much of anything these days.

Because I we like to cram as much as we possibly can into the weekends, Tucker started soccer yesterday. I'm not sure if you call it practice, games, lessons or what but he seemed to like it somewhat. The class he's in (Cottontails) involves the parent too so Alec was the chosen one while I chased a very active Thatcher all around the bleachers.

In Tucker's class, there was one kid who seemed pretty advanced. I'll call him Pele. He was already kicking the ball into the goal and did all of the exercises perfectly. Who is this kid?!? There was also the kid who wouldn't put down his bowl of animal crackers and after about 10 minutes, ended up sitting in the bleachers with his moms for the rest of the time. And there was the one kid whose dad carried him. The. Entire. Time. So Tucker was some where in between Pele, animal cracker kid and overprotective dad kid.

We also planted our garden Saturday. I kept thinking we were getting a late start since Spring began in like January and apparently today Summer started. But actually I think we're a couple of weeks early. The Farmers Almanac says we're past freezing and Ben Franklin's been pretty reliable for quite a while so I was ok planting the garden this weekend.

We planted tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, jalapenos and beans. Alec thought it would be a good idea to put tomato cages around EVERYTHING since Tucker did step on our one cucumber plant 3 times last year leaving us with no cucumbers for the summer.

That big thing above Thatcher's head is our rosemary from last year. Did you know you can plant rosemary and it will never go away? It's true. It never died and went away. And who am I to put it out of its misery? So...that's our rosemary. And Bubba planning his attack and how to maneuver around the tomato cages.

We also planted some strawberries and I'm working on something fun with my herbs but not sure what yet so they are just sitting on a table anxiously waiting to be part of our little world.

I also finally finished a little crafty project I've been working on. Here's the before:

And the after:

 

I sanded and repainted using milk paint. I've never used it before and felt very Martha-ish...though I'm not sure she's ever used milk paint. Anyway, I wanted something different than a regular ol' TV stand for all our components (DVR, DVD player) so my in-laws had this sweet old dresser and I had Pinterest.

Today our church had a lunch and egg hunt after services. Unbeknownst to us, our boys were also part of the service this morning! We were running late (my bad) and as soon as we dropped them off, they were whisked away with all of the other kids to march through the sanctuary waving palm branches. Needless to say, they were a little freaked out and were carried the entire time. Both of them. And apparently it is not cool to wave at your already freaked out kid as they are being carried by because this makes them cry more. Ugh.

After service, they seemed to be in better moods (whew!) and we had lunch, played games and took a picture with the Easter Bunny (after much coaxing).

I'm not sure why the Easter Bunny thought he was "The Fonz"- maybe he really was cool like that - maybe that's the standard Easter Bunny pose - Who knows?

Tucker also had a good time with his friend Olivia (or Livy as he calls her). Her mom and I made them hug a few times to get some good pictures. Here's one of them:

After the games it was time to hunt eggs. Tucker and Thatcher were in the same age group so that was nice because after Tucker found his allotted 10 eggs, he helped Thatcher find his.

And then we came home and crashed...except Alec who went to the recyclers and the grocery store while I attempted to clean the never ending mess that has become our happy home.

Life is good.