Hayden my hero!

I am watching my son blossom into a sweet, loving boy. Hayden has some great progressions, his speech is becoming clearer everyday. Those words with R's aren't giving him such a hard time anymore! His love for his sister is remarkable. We were in Pennsylvania and my cousin was playing with Vanessa, well she took her and set her inside her car, and they were just playing, there was a lot of people outside. Hayden came flying into my dad's house and ran to my dad and said "Papa, she is taking my sister!!!" He was crying and frantic. The most precious thing about it was he was REALLY, DEEPLY concerned and his love shown through so sweetly.

We explained that Maria ( Maria is 18) was just playing with her and she is okay and not going anywhere. He was relieved and you could see the weight come off his shoulders. I was amazed at his love for his sister and how quickly he responded to something he thought was wrong. This truly is a gift from GOD, a love so grand between siblings. So, we came back from Pa and Hayden had his last swimming lesson and got his certificate. He missed moving to level 2 by one thing, his instructor said he is so close, he just has to be able to go underwater. Which, he has done so several times but he won't every time and he has to, in order to move on.

We are still so proud of him and he has accomplished many things with swimming, he has a checklist that explains all that he has met and some of them are front float, back float, how to recognize a swimmer in distress, roll over from front to back and back to front, alternating arm action and leg action and exhaling underwater through mouth and nose (blow bubbles). He can do the doggy paddle so good, (that's what I call it). They put a noodle around him and off he goes swimming the whole length of the pool. He also can jump off the diving board which is fantastic but he won't do it every time and that is okay for now.

He is going to start a two week, everyday swim lesson starting in June and his instructor said we will really see a progression then and he may be able to move to level 2 in Fall. I'm so proud of him, either way, he is coming along just fine. Now, for school, he got two really cute homemade books yesterday with everything he can do and little projects he has done. Well, she had a checklist of everything he can do and here is some: He can recognize his name and most of the letters. H, Y, E, N. When she says that, she is referring to his writing his name and he does write the A and D but they aren't clear enough for his teacher to say he can write his whole name. But to me, he can!...hehehe He can identify 10 colors, all shapes and can count to 12, although he counts higher for me. Who knows what mood he is in when she asks him to do it....hehehe.

He is one of those kids that can do things but when you ask him, if he doesn't feel like it, he won't do it and again, that is okay for now, he is only 4. I think he is doing amazing. He can cut beautifully with scissors and can follow lines and shapes or pictures when cutting really well. He also can draw very well but his most impressive artistic ability is he can paint like no other child I've seen. He is awesome and I'm so proud!! His teacher is also very impressed with how he can name any dinosaur, tell her what kind of food it eats and where it would live. That is incredible!

The other day, he impressed his father and I so much, he gets animal magazines and they are informative and fun. Well, he grabbed one and wanted his dad to read to him and when it came to a two page spread about penguins, Hayden started naming all the different kinds like "Macaroni Penguin". I never even heard of a Macaroni penguin!! The craziest thing is, he was correct! Brian said to him, "How did you know that was a Macaroni Penguin?" He just looked at us. Now, mind you, I had read to him this magazine a longggggggg time ago and he remembered the different names of the penguins. I didn't even remember.

I think it is exciting to see what his interests are now too. He LOVES bugs and I watched him pick up a catepillar off the sidewalk and put it in the grass and he said to it "There you go" like you are safe now little buddy. It was soooo cute! He loves fishing and digging for worms and likes camping in a tent and making smores from a campfire. He loves animals and again can name any and all. He has an encyclopedia of animals and can tell me what all of them are. His dad built a t-ball stand and he LOVES playing baseball now and runs to the bases as we try to catch him. He giggles and squeals in delight! He loves golf and soccer and sitting on his dad's lap and playing piano. He has a love for flowers and anything pretty. He will say "Mom, this is beautiful" as he walks up to a flower or scenic area.

So, my Hayden is my hero and I am so thankful for this amazing kid in my life. He gives me so much joy, not just in his talents or smarts but just his silly self. He is growing so fast and I just breathe in every second of time with him. I watch and learn from him and he is remarkable. I am truly in awe of this little beautiful being.

Sickness Arrives Again

Now, I am undoubtedly ready for summer...good ole' sicknesses have come again. I have a runny nose, sinus congestion, headache problem...Hayden has a cough and his pink eye is gone but he still has drops put in until Friday. Vanessa has pink eye and an ear infection along with a nasty cough. Brian is our only healthy nut around here....can you say uuugghh, pleaseeeeeeee come summer! What do you do?

I also have not been entirely thrilled with our weather, the sun is shining but it is cold still. We were out today for not even an hour and Hayden said he was cold, of course, he fell asleep on the couch so he could have just been tired too. I'm hanging in there though, I could use some more sleep but I'll catch up eventually.

On to peachier subjects...smiling...I made that word up...hehehe...Peachier...sounds good to me...The fundraiser for Andre Bosse went fantastic, we are donating $1600 to the center! WooHoo!!! I'm so proud and feel very honored to have been a part of this success. The article in the paper about me was nice and I have been getting comments everywhere I go, which is a little weird but fun! I guess there may be another article after this is said and done telling how much was given and that will be cool.

In the end, I made some wonderful new friends, the ladies I worked with are just gems and I will always count my blessings for meeting them and having them in my life now. Today, I am working on a meal for a friend who just had a baby, I'm making cupcakes, meatloaf, potatoes and salad. I just did a meal for another friend in April and I am doing one in June and one in July. I absolutely love doing this kind of thing. If I could, I would make a business out of it.

So, even though sickness has wormed it's way into our lives again, I'm still able to do my volunteer work, which makes me so incredibly happy. It made me feel so good to explain to Hayden what the meal was all about and he said to me "Mom, they need that food to help them." He got it and understood.

I'm going to be in the newspaper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, the Ludington Daily News called last night and they received a press release on me and thought I would be a good candidate for on their FRONT PAGE!! I was so nervous as the reporter interviewed me and later last night I jotted down all the key questions she asked me and wrote what I was trying to say (because I thought I did terrible...hehehe)

So, I had to go there this morning for my picture to be taken and I gave the reporter my written down thoughts, she said I did just fine but if anyone knows me, I was a ball of nerves so I had to make sure I said the right things...hehehe....I actually am triple excited about all of this and feel so honored!! Okay, breathe Kristen, breathe....ahhhhhhhhhh.

As far as other things going on, Vanessa was in yesterday's paper, a little blurry vision...hehhee...We went to a mother daughter banquet and there was a fashion show and a photographer snapped a photo of one of the gals in the show and Vanessa is in the background...hehehe. Too funny! I cut it out to put in her journal. I also have been working on taking photos of her to enter to a agency in Grand Rapids for modeling. I think I have the five pics needed, now we will see if she gets any calls.

Tomorrow, we go to see and pick out our baby bunny, he/she isn't ready to actually come home with us but we get to go and see the babies. I haven't told Hayden yet because he will flip out! He will ask me every minute when we are going so I thought I would just take him and surprise him. Not much else new, hubby has been busy busy with all his extra curricular activities and so have the kids and I.

Hayden is going to take a two week every day swimming course in June, this will really push him to the next level which I am excited about. Vanessa is starting a swim lesson in June as well. Hayden had lessons last night and he jumped off the diving board again, I was so proud and he is swimming underwater now and went under about 6 times.

My cooking class was awesome!! I am taking another on the 14th, this time it is brunch recipes. The cool thing about the pasta class is now I can make homemade pasta and give it as gifts! I already can see it, everyone is getting homemade pasta for Christmas!...hehehe

I found out the Sandcastles children's museum here in Ludington is opening from June-August and I can pay $50 and the kids can go everyday if they want, all summer, they have soooooo many activities, I am beyond excited about this. They do crafts and have guests come and puppet shows etc... The kids will absolutely go crazy there. Now, if the weather would stay like yesterday...sighs...today is dark, gloomy and rainy...Guess it's an indoor day but I have special things planned!