This was a conversation I witnessed and was a part of with E and two of her classmates (including the boy she has a "crush" on) on E's Last day of school at lunch time.
First of all I'm going to say we have our work cut out for us when she becomes a teenager! She was so flirty with this little boy whom we will call Luke (not his real name). It gave me a headache just watching her, in her 7 year old way, flirt with her "crush" thinking a head to the future when she's in her teens and thinks she doesn't need parents any more. Oh Heaven help us when she is a teenager!!!
Anyway, going on with my story.....
Sitting at the Lunch table with Lulu, J boy and me on one side of the table and E and her best girl friend Macy (not her real name) and her "crush" Luke on the other side. I sat there and listened to their silly 7 year old conversations, some that Macy brings up seem way too old for that age but I know she has an older sister and I know her parents are divorced and unfortunately she has witnessed some messy situations between her parents (if only her parents knew how much she shares about their "fights", it's sad).
I watch as E leans over and whispers something in Luke's ear. He rolls his eyes and acts annoyed. Then Macy asks "What did she say to you?" so Luke tells Macy in her ear. Macy laughs and laughs as Luke continues to roll his eyes. I can't take it any more, I have to ask what was said to them.
Conversation:
Me: What did you say to him E?
E shrugs and laughs
Me: What did she say to you Luke?
Luke: She said she wants to go on a Date with me! (rolling his eyes and acting annoyed)
Macy and E are giggling uncontrollably
Me: Oh really!? So E, what's a Date? Do you know?
E shrugs and laughs, slightly embarrassed
Me: E, do you even know what a Date is?
Macy: A date is when you go some where romantic with your boyfriend but not with your Ex and you don't want your Ex to see you with someone else and then you like kiss or something.
Me: (surprised at her in depth answer, she's only SEVEN!) Romantic, hu? What's romantic?
Macy: Like you got to a nice restaurant and then you like kiss
Me: But what does it mean to be romantic?
Macy: I donno! (as she laughs)
Me: E, what is a Date?
Luke: A date is when you want to go somewhere with the girl you like but your parents say you are too young.
Me: (as I laugh) Really? Well your parents are right you are too young to go on dates.
Me: E, what is a Date? (I just want to know what my daughter thinks a Date is)
E laughs and laughs and then says she does not know.
Me: You know you can't actually Date until you are sixteen right E?
E: Whaaat?! (giggle giggle)
Me: Seriously you can't, until your sixteen. That's like 9 years away. (In my head: NINE years, oh dear how am I going to survive nine years with this flirty little girl of mine?!!)
I was slightly shocked at Macy's answer, apparently her Mom goes on lots of Dates and tells her seven year old daughter about them. I like Luke's Parents at least they tell him he's too young.
Macy continued the conversation for a bit expanding that the boys should pay for the date and that the girls shouldn't have to (now I KNOW her Mom has verbally shared her date stories with her daughter.) Then Luke says that E probably has more money than him so she should pay for the date.
Eventually I steer the conversation in a different direction. I just can't take it any more. These kids are SEVEN they shouldn't be worried about boys paying for dates or not?!
Later in the day at home E clarifies that she didn't say she wanted to go on a Date with Luke. She just said in his ear "I want to go to Pony Land with you." Apparently he thought that she was asking him to take her on a Date. I'll admit that hearing that was a bit of a comfort to me knowing that E still has a bit of childlike innocence left in her, like wanting to go to a place called Pony Land?
Her flirting is more little kid-like flirting, which gives me some comfort. She doesn't think of it as anything more than just fun. Unfortunately her friends around her would tell her she should "date" Luke and that they should be boy-friend/girl-friend. Thankfully it is all just a game with E but I fear she has picked up some crazy "grown-up" or "movie-like" things from her more "educated" friends.
((SIGH)) At least school is over and she won't be hanging out with Macy or any of the other girls who encourage these crazy "grown-up" actions.
Oh this silly flirty girl of mine!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
What a "Date" is to 7 year old 1st graders
Friday, May 27, 2011
Lulu update
I've been promising my Mom that I'd post a video of Lulu Crawling. She's been crawling for a couple of months now and I just keep forgetting to video her doing it. So here ya go Mom here she is crawling.
When she sees that the stairs are not gated off she crawls so fast to get to them. She can do stairs but she's not so great at them, so we block them off so she doesn't tumble down them, which has only happened once so far (poor baby). She kind of does that fast crawl in the video but she's usually way faster, we call it her "speedy crawl".
To update on Lulu:
She had her one year check up. She's average for her weight, tall for her height and her head is in the 80% (of course, all my kids heads are larger than normal). She's got three teeth with at least three more on the way. She sleeps great through the night except when she's teething and even then she does okay. She's down to one nap a day, which is nice in it's own way. But it's funny how just when I get used to our schedule with her two naps she decides to change it up on me. Isn't that how it always is?
She's crawling a lot attempting to stand on her own some times. She pulls her self up on everything and everyone but she has yet to master the cruising around the furniture. So I'm guessing she'll take a couple of months before she walks and I'm okay with that :)
She talks a lot. I forget that babies can talk this young. J boy was my silent child and didn't talk a whole lot until he was closer to two. But this lady loves to repeat everything we say. Her favorites are: Go go or go git (which means 'go get it'), Mama ma ma, Dada da da, hi and bye, hey, lulu (her actual name) she loves saying her name all the time as she crawls around the house, it's pretty cute. She also says J boy's and E's name too. If we tell her to say something she usually attempts to say it in her own way. She's a little chatter box already.
She loves to bug her brother. It's really quite funny to watch and really I can't discipline her for it because she doesn't do it to make him mad rather it's kind of her way of "playing" with him or her way of getting his attention. It drives him crazy and it makes me laugh! I usually have to tell J boy things like "She just loves you and wants you to play with her." or then it gets to the point of "Just go where she can't follow, if she's bugging you that much." That's when he heads up stairs, where she cannot get to him.
She's in the "Mama's girl" stage and I'm not loving it. She won't go to hardly anyone else but me. She's okay with C but when she's tired I'm all she wants. I'm not used to that kind of baby because my other two were not like that at all. I told my Mom the other day she's my latest accessory she's always hanging off of me, or on my hip. Who needs jewelry or belts or hats when you have a cute little girl always attached to you, giving accents to your outfit like barf or drool or greasy smears down your arms/front/back/legs?
We love this little lady, even with her attachment to me I can't get enough of her cute personality.
Monday, May 16, 2011
A Tooth post.....again
I was kind of a wuss though.
((So I just noticed something.....The last three or four posts before this one are about C and I with pictures of one or both of us in them. I KNOW! It is not a common thing that happens on this blog. It was kind of nice to get some attention on the blog for once :) Anyway I was just noticing how usually it's about the kids, for good reason, but it was nice to post some stuff about us, the parents of these cute kiddos.))
And this kid was just begg'n for attention. He looks handsome in his nice new summer hair cut too.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
My thoughts on Graduation
This was one of the best weekends of our lives here at the Harker home. This weekend was C's Graduation from Indiana University School of Dentistry. The only other things that top this momentous event would be Our Wedding and the Births of Our Children, of course!
It was pretty exciting to say the least. This has been a long time coming for C, he has worked hard for the eight years we've been married and the few before that to get to where he is at today. I am extremely proud of this man, who is not only my husband but my best friend. I'm proud of him and all he has accomplished, not only in his schooling but in all aspects of life. He is someone I truly respect and look up to. I love him so much.
I am so grateful for this journey we went through together. I'm grateful for this time in our life we had to grow together, to learn together, to rely on each other and to trust God together as we went through the good, the bad, the hard and the wonderful times that this journey has brought us through.
I won't go into much detail about the actual graduation (and I will post pictures of his big day soon, I promise) except that it was slightly boring at parts, but mostly exciting. I will say this though, that I was surprised at how informal it ended up being and how rude and inconsiderate some people can be, but in the end that didn't matter much, all that mattered was that this was his big day!
As Pomp and Circumstance came on over the loud speakers and the Audience rose to their feet a wave of emotion came over me so strong. I watched as the Graduates walked down the center isle and as I recognized a few faces and then saw my own Husband all dressed up (like a clown, he'd say) handsome in his robe and cap I couldn't hold back the tears. I didn't weep, they didn't role down my face uncontrollably, but rather my heart raced with happiness and my eyes filled with tears, they were tears of joy.
A couple people said to me, to give me validation for my emotional response, saying something like "You've been through a lot, it's okay you cried, it's been a long four years." or "You were just so happy that it is all over, it's okay you cried over that." But as I looked back on those emotional feelings that came over me at that moment, it was not those things that brought tears to my eyes. It was more a pure joy for my husband. I was "a proud momma", in a way. I think it was also that I knew he deserved this. I knew and saw first hand how hard he worked to get to this point and it overwhelmed me with joy and love for him. I kept saying in my head "You did it babe, YOU did this!" I know in a small way I played a role by supporting him etc. etc. I don't down play my role at all, but the joy at that moment was more for him, for his success, this day was for HIM! And that made me happy, that made me cry.
I composed myself quickly with a quick wipe of the few tears I had, and then I nervously watched the whole ceremony (stepping off to the side to try and get pictures) and the whole time I had that butterfly feeling of nervousness and joy for C.
Oh, it was a great day! Such a wonderful thing we got to celebrate. I can't say it enough and I'm sure it's annoying you by now but I don't care.....I'm so proud of my husband!
We'll officially close this chapter of our lives this summer and move on to the next (we're hoping some where in the NW of the Country). I'm slightly scared but mostly excited to start this new chapter in our lives. Until that days comes though, I'm going to enjoy where I/We are at now because soon it will be gone and we won't have it back. So I'm taking it all in now, while it's here and I'm looking forward to our future, with hope and excitement (which is so close I can taste it).
I did NOT want to take three kids to the ceremony by myself! It just wasn't going to happen, sorry. So I got a babysitter for all three and went by myself. BUT we did want family pictures with the handsome graduate so I made him dress up before and got the kids prettied and we took a few quick pictures out front of our place with Daddy.
J boy was not happy (he was sick) and Lulu found it fun to just smile at E.
Love this one. Even if J is looking down.
We decided to cheer for Daddy but it ended up just C and I cheering ha ha! I still like it :)
Like I said I'll post some pictures of his actual Graduation (Being hooded etc.) later, for those of you who actually want to see them, promise!
Thursday, May 12, 2011
The Party
So for those who have been asking......
C's Grad Party was last weekend. (actual graduation is this weekend, yippee!)
And yes, we had fun! I'm glad we got to go.
If you asked C what his favorite part was he'd say the food, and it was good!
but for me it was just fun to get all prettied up, leave the kids with a babysitter, and enjoy our time together and just hanging with some friends.
I got C a new tie, shirt, and dress pants for the party because hey, he deserves it and because it's been who knows how long since he bought clothes for himself AND he's the one who is graduating! He looked sharp, and Hot I must say :)
Pictures Pictures.......
I love these pictures.
Enjoying the Cocktail part of the party
The cool ice sculpture of their school symbol and a tooth (of course!) I had no idea what that straw thing in the middle was until some one explained to me that it was called a Martini Luge, how was I supposed to know that?
C and one of his best buddies, just being silly
us, being silly (who needs alcohol to have fun? Not us :)
The Whole Gang.... all the LDS Dental Students and their wives
later in the evening as we were getting tired. We're so old, we couldn't hack staying up until midnight. We left like an hour before it was over.
The LDS wives/my friends whom I'm going to miss!
Well, there ya go, lots of pictures!
The food was amazing, the entertainment was fun (watching drunk people "dance") and the company was great!
Monday, May 09, 2011
I could not be more proud
Wow! Can you believe it's been 4 years?
I for one, cannot. It flew by!
(click on the picture to see it larger)
It's good to be a Mom!
Including this guy
I love my Husband
I love my kids
I love being a wife and a Mother even if I'm not perfect at either one.
I love being the best I can be in both of those roles of my life.
Motherhood is the hardest and most rewarding thing I have ever and will ever do in my life time. I'm thankful for my children and all they teach me.
You'll have to excuse me while I complain about something for a minute.
I think it's silly when people say they "hate" Mother's Day because listening to the talks in Church or to people "bragging" about their Mother's all day makes them feel like they don't measure up to everyone else's perception of who and what they should be as a Mother.
LAME! I'm sorry but that is a lame reason to hate Mother's Day.
We are all imperfect Mothers, we ALL make mistakes BUT Mother's Day is to Celebrate the good in being a Mother. Without Mothers none of us would exist (Same goes for Fathers). With out Mother's no one would be taught how to be good people and to do good unto others. No one would feel that wonderful love that a Mother offers, which love is like no other.
So why not Celebrate them? Why not talk ONLY good of them? Why not give them ONE day where we recognize their most important role?
okay I'm done :)
Anyway I love Mother's Day! I love it because I love to reflect on the life long lessons my Mother has taught me. I love be reminded, to have a day, to feel that love and appreciation for my Mother and all she has done for me.
It's not about the gifts or cards or flowers or what-have-you. It's about appreciating your Mother and being appreciated as a Mother. It's about recognizing the good that Mother's are and can be.
I've had "bad" Mother's Day's (we won't go into that), but that has never made me hate this day that we have every year to celebrate Mother's around the world.
Hope you enjoyed your Mother's Day yesterday!
Saturday, May 07, 2011
Lulu is ONE YEAR OLD!!!
We LOVE you!
This girl has brought our family so much joy and, as it goes with each child, we love to watch her learn and grow and change as hard as it may be some times.
Yes, yes sometimes it's hard to see your kids change/grow-up. Some times you wish they could stay little forever, where they are innocent and protected from the evils of this world in the comfort of your arms. I often think that Heavenly Father feels that way about us. But just as Heavenly Father must, we must also let our children grow-up and experience life for themselves (eventually). My only hope is that we succeed in being the best parents we can be while they are little so that they are set on the right path for this life so that we can be a Family forever in the next.
I often have those moments of "Mental Picture" taking, where you feel like freezing time in your mind with a picture and a memory to go with it. Those moments come almost daily and I love them and cherish them.
I have so many memories already with this sweet little daughter of mine. I feel like there is no room left in my heart for any more love for any more children and then I realize that I felt that way after each child. Then it came to me that there isn't more room, but instead I find that my heart grows to make room for each new loved one that comes in my life.
Wow, I'm being so "deep". Who knows where that is coming from. It's probably comes with my "old" age, ya know I am thirty now, which makes me so much more wise. No, all kidding aside, I'm just pouring out my feelings today on the blog. I'm sure in years to come I'll be glad I wrote these thoughts down.
ANYWAY........
So happy that she got to eat cake! Look at that smile!
Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet Baby!
Friday, May 06, 2011
Morning routine
Our lives here at the Harker home consist of some what of a morning routine (during the week). Routines are good for kids, they depend on them and they NEED them and some times I forget that. That is why "they" always say consistency is key when disciplining your children, it's true but it's just hard to do most of the time.
Our mornings go like this....
*Lulu awake by 7-7:30-ish (we're lucky if it's 7:30) talking in her crib.
*C and I lay there in bed awake, kind of, as we listen to her babble on.
*Then shortly after lulu wakes up we hear the next two children race to the bathroom before it's too late. Which ever one doesn't make it first to the upstairs toilet goes down stairs and uses that one, it's literally a race some times.
*Alarm goes off at 7:35-ish even though usually we've been awake for a while.
*Get lulu out of bed. Go down stairs. Make bottle. Change diaper.
*Turn off t.v. (because no matter how many times I tell them DON'T TURN ON THE TV IN THE MORNINGS.....EVER! One of them always does.)
*Get breakfast going for the older two kids and C and myself if we feel like eating right then.
*Then I nag and nag E for her to get dressed, brush her teeth, shoes and socks on, back pack packed etc. I usually find myself saying this phrase "You do the same thing every morning why do I have to nag you to do it, just DO IT!" yep every morning I say some thing like this.
*On Pre-school days I nag J boy to do the same things. If it's not a pre-school day then I don't rush him in getting ready because it's not worth the fight for me.
*J boy waits at the screen/storm-door with E while she draws pictures on the steamed up window with her fingers, and while she watches for her bus. He HAS to wait there with her.
*Daddy heads out the door usually before E's bus comes, but some times after she leaves, depending on how late he is running. He says his good byes to me with a kiss and Lulu is now starting to give "kisses" too as she chimes in her bye bye as well.
*J boy MUST say "Bye Daddy" only half a dozen times then wave out the window until he has disappeared down the street and can no longer be seen. (It's so cute)
*Then Bus 48 comes by our house which is not her bus but it is like a "warning" for us that hers is next and it will be here in less than five minutes. It's nice to have that five minute warning. J boy has to point out "That's not E's bus, it's bus 48!" yes yes we know J boy!
*This is when I usually get her hair done if I'm going to get it done that day :)
*Then her bus comes and E heads out the door (It's so nice that it stops right in front of our house) but before that.....
* Our good bye's! Our "good bye" ritual happens just before her bus stops at our house, it goes as follows: Mommy to E "Bye sweety, I love you, have a good day" then a kiss and a hug, then Lulu has to chime in with a byyee byyyyee (in her high pitched cute voice) and her little wave, Then E kisses and hugs lulu to death. Then J boy chimes in his good bye's to E. Bus stops, E goes out, turns around and waves one last time to all three of us. Bus driver waves to me, then a little wave to J boy and he HAS to wave back and she HAS to see it or he is not satisfied. Then another wave to and from lulu at the bus driver. I love that the bus driver plays along with this, it makes J so happy. Then we watch as E's bus disappears around the corner down the street, J boy waving until it is gone.
*Then preschool days I get stuff ready and in the car and we are off to take J to school.
Wow that is a lot we do EVERY day and it all happens so fast, in just over an hour of our morning every morning.
Well today was weird. I woke up at 8am?! I slept in, crazy!
Either lulu slept in or I just didn't hear her. The alarm must have gone off but I didn't hear it and J boy for sure slept in and didn't wake up until after Daddy left.
You would have thought it was the END of the world for this kid because he didn't get to say good bye to Daddy. He was so heart broken, crying and crying. The only thing that calmed him down was me telling him we could call Daddy and he could say good bye over the phone. We called and he didn't answer (because he was driving) but he called us back when he got to school and J boy got to say his "good bye's" to daddy and he was oh so happy about that!
It was so sweet. I didn't realize how much J's morning "good bye" routine means to him. He sure does love and miss his daddy when he's gone! What a sweet boy he is.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Future Dentist? Or just annoying little brother!
E and J boy have NOT been getting along at all lately. I can't figure out where it is coming from or how to stop it. I've tried everything from threats, to guilt trips, to begging, to separating, to pure and simple punishments but they still can't manage to go one day with out an "all out" fight. I mean, it's not just the little tiffs most siblings do this daily, this is an all out rivalry, which is getting worse and worse between them.
I wish I could get some boxing gloves and those head pads and just let them go at it on each other! They'd probably love that, ha ha!
Any way I am at a loss and I think I'll just sell them to the zoo or maybe the circus, they can be an "act". I bet I could make some good money selling them? (I'm kidding, kidding, mostly kidding)
They are driving me crazy!
((Sigh))
Some good can come of their little fights though......
The other day E was playing with a Fuzoodle. Ya know those silly toys that look like large pipe cleaners? These things.......
Well, she had the Fuzoodle bent in a circle shape and in her mouth between her upper and lower teeth. C or I were not in the room during this whole ordeal. I guess J boy wanted this Fuzoodle thing (who knows who had it first, and who knows why they were fighting over one silly Fuzoodle! I really don't care at this point!) and E wasn't letting him have it and because I can't seem to get it through J boy's head how to use his manners and/or to play nice with his sister, instead of just asking nicely for it he thought he'd just violently yanked it out of his sister's mouth. It seemed to work perfectly for him and the Fuzoodle came out of her mouth...........and so did her top tooth.
At the age of 4 this boy has made his Father proud and yanked his first tooth. Who needs forceps? Just give this kid a Fuzoodle and he can yank a tooth easy.
E's reaction was priceless!
She was mad at her brother obviously, for taking her toy and causing her pain but she was happy to have lost another tooth, a TOP tooth too!
So I hear her yell "JJJJJ! That hurt! (giggle, giggle) my tooth! (wine/cry) JJJJ! My tooth (laugh/giggle)." She had very mixed emotions about the whole situation and came to me Laugh/Crying with tears in her eyes and a huge smile on her face, as she told/showed me what had happened. But in the end she was happy to have lost her first upper tooth.
Here we have the toothless girl and her Annoying little brother with the famous Fuzoodle in hand.
The Tooth Fairy once again forgot to, I mean couldn't come in the night, lucky for The Tooth Fairy E announced that the reason she did not come was because it was raining so much all night and The Tooth Fairy cannot fly when it is raining outside. Lucky her! So The Tooth Fairy came in the day while E was at school when the rain finally subsided.She has learned to say "Cheese" but it sounds more like "Peeeaas"
While I'm at it I'd like to put an Ad out:Two Children for Sale
one 7 year old Female
one 4 1/2 year old boy
(I'll keep the almost 1 year old female, she's pretty cute)
Make an offer!
Although I'm pretty sure the Grandparents have already "bought" these children, I just need to deliver 'em I guess.
