Happy birthday, Zane!

I realize pictures are tortoure but Zane usually cooperates a little more. He took me on a crazy adventure this day. Zane is incredibly funny, gentle, compassionate and rambunctious! What a wonderful 7 years it has been with him!

Street Cleaner

The kids were watching the street cleaner. Vanessa was explaining to Zane and Hendrix how it works.

That Teacher

I remember being the young teacher to the graduating class of an elementary school. Vanessa's teacher is fun and silly. She played softball in high school and college and relates really well to Vanessa. She cheers Vanessa on and embraces her just as she is. I still have sweet and fun relationships with my students too. Some through Facebook and some through snail mail. I imagine Miss Hall is making quite an impression on V, and hopefully inspires her to follow her interests and gifts.

At the Mall

Breaking Bad

 He's always breaking things. Breaking is bad.

Passing the Time

 He's writing big ideas and checking out American Girls.

Recently I started thinking about how I haven't documented as much as I should have. Here are some notes I have taken in recent times. It probably needs updated already. I look at the list and think about how his language has exploded lately, so this is not the most up-to-date list. :-)

Hendrix's Eating Habits

Milk (likes cold if environment temp is hot, otherwise he prefers room temperature)

Bananas cut into bite size pieces

Really good apples diced up

Buttered broccoli florets

Sometimes Green Beans

Sometimes strawberries

Seems to really like pineapple

Loves to walk around with a half slice of white bread that has peanut butter thinly spread and folded in half again, like a quarter sandwich – this is his food on the run.

He likes Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls

He loves Golden Grahams

He loves strawberry Danimals

He loves blueberry bagels (he sort of says bagels when pointing to where ours and the toaster is at)

Seems to like a lot of cooked meats, life tender beef, shredded pork, bacon, chicken

Ritz crackers

Apple cinnamon Nutrigran bars

Potato chips, even BBQ

Hendrix Speaks

“that”

“these”

“me”

“Adam”

“Zane”

“Zay-yay-ne” for “vanessa”

“Yes”

“see”

“Please”

“Help me”

“Ice”

“Thank you”

“Mom”

“Mommy”

“bye”

“hiya”

“Gaimama”

“Gmpapa”

“owie”

“No”

“open”

“bath”

“Night, night”

“See you later!”

And have you heard the boy count?! J Especially “four, five, six, seven!” He cracks us up when he plays hide-and-go seek with the older kids, squinting his eyes closed and yelling “Ready or not!” in his infant articulation. 

What a big eye you have!

No Labor At All

Just stories and play . . .

Patrolling for Safety

She's been eager to do this for a really long time. She heads out earlier and gets home a little later. She rides her bike to school on days she serves. She picked the busiest crossing point for her very first rotation.

There she goes . . .

Pool Wrap

It was a good summer! Hendrix kept things interesting. I intentionally stayed away from the interactive water area because of how much Hendrix loved it. He loved to stand under the dumping bucket. He loved to go down the slides. If the pool was busy, he was too fearless for my comfort, so we lingered by the steps in the main pool and walked up and down the ramp, in and around the railings, and jumped off the side whenever we could.

At the end of the summer, Hendrix stayed home with Daddy so I could play in the pool with Vanessa and Zane, with no distractions. 

I feel so blessed to hang with them as much as I do. They are my sunshine.

Cuddle Hold

Hendrix recently started climbing behind me to sit down and wrap his arms around me, hugging me from behind. I'm loving it. He pushes me to sit down just so he can do it.

The Years

By Zane -- Spring of 2017

A blessed 18 years . . . 18 years?! Really?! I have to look at the number and do the math every single time. Doesn't seem real. Ups and downs but I've never questioned the possibility of something else . . . I've known all along I was meant to do life with you, to ride the ups and downs and push, pull, and hold you. 24 years of commitment. 24 years?!

Precious Moments

I have a collection . . .