I can't tell you how many times Max will say something that makes me stop dead in my tracks.  He is an old soul in so many ways.  He has a confidence and an awareness about God that makes me envious.

Last night as I was tucking him into bed, out of nowhere, he says "Mom, I really like me.....I am so glad that God made me".  As a mother, that just warmed my heart.  I want him to be happy in his own skin and give praise to God for making him unique.  How many times, have I gone to God, complaining about my inadequacies?  I told him "I am so happy and I can imagine how happy God is right now hearing you say that".  He said "You know, I am so happy God made you my Mother too".  Ok, he got me.   How wonderful it is to hear your child praising the job that you are doing?  Don't we all need a little acknowledgement and doesn't it give us the patience and encouragement to try harder, to want to do better?

I love old quotes and proverbs and often times I write them down.  There is a beautiful quote that made me think of Maxwell.
 
-While we try to teach our children all about life.  Our children teach us what life is all about- Angela Schwindt

I am going to wear an attitude of gratefulness today.  Max has inspired me to appreciate the positive qualities that God has instilled in me.  I think we all need to stop focusing and trying to change the negative parts of our personalities and instead try to master and deepen our strengths.
 
I will end this entry with a beautiful Chinese proverb and a thank you to my parents for the shade that I am enjoying today.......

-One generation plants the trees, while another gets the shade

We had a ball (no pun intended) at Maxwells first t-ball game.  He did great and had a blast!  There are no outs and no one really wins.  It is strictly to learn the game and fun.  They did.

One little boy was told to "run through" first base and he ended up at the fence.  He ran right through first base until he couldn't run anymore.  Hilarious.  Max didn't quite know  what to do with his bat on his first hit so he ran with it.  One little boy captured a ground ball and all the coaches and Dad's were yelling at him all at once "throw it to first", "throw it home", etc.  He finally just handed it to his teammate and threw his hands in the air.  

Enjoy these pictures......
 

Today was Maxwell's first T-ball practice.  We found out last week that his team name is "Riverdogs".  Perfect for Max since he has been a huge fan of dogs for years.  He was counting the days until his first practice.

His practices are on Wednesdays which just so happens to be Sophie's gymnastics.  Wednesdays will be our busy day.  The kids got off the school bus this afternoon and were greeted by Otis and my neighbor Gail and her dog Lily.  As the kids were exiting the bus, Gail and I weren't paying attention to the dogs until we saw all of the kids faces plastered to the windows and Max jumping off the bus saying "Oh Mommy, look at Otis, he is trying to "ride" on the back of Lily".  Whoops.   Gail and I could not stop laughing.  Our dog Otis, God love him, is just......Otis.  I remember when Gail was trying to figure out what dog they were going to get for the family;  I told her "oh, you will get some sweet little designer dog and we are going to get some mutt who licks himself".  This could not be more true.


After gymnastics and a little drama (I was on time picking up Sophie but her class let out 5 minutes prior and the girl thought I was never coming to get her).  I felt terrible and kept on apologizing until finally she said "Mom, it's ok, you really need to get over it".  Love her.  

Dan met us at the baseball field surprising  Max.  Could his day get any better?  He loved  meeting "Coach Finley" and his team.  Can I just say "Max rocks"!  He was having so much fun and I could not get enough of watching him.  His tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as he was at bat, his little wave to me when he saw me, a thumbs up sometimes, playing catch with Dan.  He has a game on Saturday and Sunday.  Should be interesting since a lot of the boys don't know much about the game.  

The coach and the parents could not have been sweeter.  So encouraging and supporitive.  I tell you, I am going to miss this big ol' state of Texas.  The people are the nicest you will ever want to meet.  The sunsets are pretty amazing too.  It was gorgeous tonight.  It turned the baseball field a kelly green.

Enjoy the pictures and I will post some new ones on Saturday with their uniforms.  How cute will that be?  

 Well, like everything with your kids; "they get it when they get it".   Whether it's walking, potty training, reading or riding their bike.  We tried teaching Max and Sophie to ride their bikes without training wheels late Spring.  They both struggled time and time again.  On Sunday, Sophie was ready for the challenge once again and she took to it like a duck to water.  We practiced on the grass in our backyard first and then the back patio. 

The look on her face was priceless.  Pure amazement and excitement.  Her first ride without Daddy holding on to any part of her bike from beginning to end put the biggest smile on her face.  She immediately proceeded to get off of her bike and with absolute passion wrap both arms around the handlebars saying "oh, I love you so much bike". 

At this point Max has had just about enough of sister learning everything before big brother.  He is soooo over her.  Dan told him "Max, you were the first born, you will always have that".  He wears that badge with pride. 

I stayed home from French Class this afternoon since I was up all last night with some......ahem.......tummy trouble.  I have been puttering around the house all day because I don't feel awful, I just need to be close to "my" bathroom.  Enough said.   I can take a make up class on Thursday so I won't fall behind.

Exciting news last night; Sophie lost her tooth.  This is big news in the Johnson family with my two very exciteable children.  (The apple doesn't fall far from the tree).   She didn't so much as lose it as her mother knocked it out.......again.  This was the second time I have done this.  Both times, we were in bed and she jumped when I went to hug her and "bam", it came out.    They know the drill now so they were all about "ok, let's write her a note",  "me too", "I want to write her a note", "can I ask for earrings".  We got them down for the night and were jarred awake at 6am by two kids barreling through the house, fairy dust (glitter) twinkling on their faces, "she came, she came"!  Max even got a special note telling him that the tooth fairy looked in his mouth last night and she is certain he will be loosing his teeth soon.  (Dan's idea).  You should have seen the look on his face.  He kind of cocked his head like a golden retriever.  Huh. 

I also wanted to share with ya'll the best pumpkin bread I have made in a long time.  Sophie loves anything pumpkin and it is so good for her and Max, I try and bake and cook with it as much as possible.  I am always trying new recipes for pumpkin bread and never totally sold.  Not today, I found a great recipe in a book I just finished.  It is a memoir about an Italian gal in her 40's and her many relationships with men.  The girl can cook.  I'm not so sure about her expertise in other areas of her life but I have tried a few of her recipes and they are fabulous.  I wanted to include her pumpkin bread which I "tweaked" a bit and have renamed "Pumpkiny Bread" after Sophie took her first bite and said "Oh Mom, this is so good, it's so pumpkiny".  Max loves anything and is always happy with what I put in front of him.....oh his lucky wife.

Pumpkiny Bread

1/2 C. butter (softened)
1 1/2 C. sugar (I know, it's a lot of sugar)
2 large eggs
1 C. canned pumpkin
1 1/2 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 C. walnuts, chopped (if you like, Sophie is a purist and doesn't like "little thingys" in her quick bread)
toss some flax seeds in if you wish (maybe 1 or 2 TBSP)
toss some wheat germ if you wish (maybe 1 or 2 TBSP, I am always trying to sneak some good stuff into their food)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spray Pam into a 9-in loaf pan.  Beat butter and sugar with mixer until blended, add eggs and pumpkin.  Sift flour, baking soda and spices, add to pumpkin mixture.  Toss in flax seeds and wheat germ and walnuts.  Mix it all together, and pour batter into your pan.

Cook for 1 hour 10 minutes but check after 1 hour.  Make sure your tester comes out clean after poking it into the middle of your loaf.

Enjoy!  Great time of year for it! 

I have loved "picture day" since I was a wee one in school.  I would go through my closet and find just the right outfit.  I did the same with Max and Sophie. 

I woke Sophie up early this morning because "curly girls" need to wash their hair in the morning if they want beautiful soft curls.  She hung her head over the bathtub and let me condition the curls into obedience.  I was helping Sophie with her outift when Max came into her room (dressed to the nines) and said "Sophie, you look beautiful".  Sophie replied "you look handsome too Max".  All I could think of was my brother and him never thinking of such a thing.....beautiful.....come on.  He was too busy harrassing me the way most brothers do.

Anyway, I have included some pictures of my little darlings.  Mind you, Max fell two days ago and has a scar on his top lip (looks like a little moustache), and Sophie has lost one of her front teeth and there is one left that is hanging by a thread.  It looks like one big fang in the front of her mouth.  She will look perfect for Halloween if it "hangs on" that long.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that I could spend lunchtime at school with my kiddo's any time I wanted.  How cool is that? 

I dressed for the occasion.  Max appreciates a dress on me and I actually really thought about what to wear (to my children's school cafeteria).  Ha.  I am such a newby at all of this. 

I arrived about 5 minutes late because I wanted to watch them interact with their classmates.  I finally spotted them digging through their lunchboxes discovering all the goodies I packed.  Sophie looked like she was at a cocktail party; juice box in one hand, chatting away with her friends. 

They were sooooo excited when they saw me.  Max is "all about Mommy" right now and he just hugged on me and loved on me and was beaming.  (I was so glad that I dressed up for him.....he is just like his Daddy).   Of course, Sophie was grinning from ear to ear too.

I sat and listened to Sophie describe all of her friends; "Ok Mom, see that girl there.......she is a VERY serious girl".  "See that boy.....his Dad shoots squirrels and then actually eats them".  "See that boy there.........I was showing him a bug on the playground and then he took it out of my hands and ate it".   The girl went on and on and I sat there laughing and laughing.  

I finally had to say goodbye and they both enveloped me, grabbing my neck and kissing me all over my face.  Ahhhh, I don't want this to stop.  I love this age.  They are so open about sharing their love for me.  I will be so sad when they are "too cool" to show their affection in front of their friends.  I followed them through the hallway and spotted my adorable neighbor calling to them and loving on them.  Oh, how they love Gail! 

I walked out of school with the biggest smile on my face.  They are in such an awesome school surrounded by people who truly care and love them.  Doesn't get any better.

***Allison, here are some pictures..........

Our Sophie girl was built for gymnastics.  Nana and Papa sent her to a gymnastics camp over the summer and she thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.  We registered for gymnasttics this fall and she was beyond excited.  Every day I heard "how many more days until gymnastics?"

Finally the day arrived and after a full day of school, rushing to pick up Dan from the airport, coming home and jumping into her red leotard, we were off.  Mind you, this, before Max ran over to her and gave her a bear hug saying "do good Sophie".  What a brother.

We get to the gym which is all abuzz and filled with kids of all ages tumbling, swinging on bars, walking the balance beam, etc.  We stood behind the metal gate (which we are not allowed to enter until called) and wait until the coaches yell "girls....come in and run six laps".  (The first time Sophie took this class she looked at me like "where do I go, what do I do", so she started running, not in a circle, just running , until the coaches explaned what a lap was).

All 30 girls stretched and followed the coaches instructions until they said "ok, get in a line by your teacher".  Sophie looked around wondering where to go and I was thinking to myself  "who IS Sophie's teacher"?  I went to the office and asked and they told me Ms. Jane.  I came back to find Sophie standing in line by Ms. Jane.  One of the Mom's said that  "she just went around to the different coaches and asked "who is my teacher, where do I go"?

Next think you know, they were divided up by age and skill level and they were walking the balance beam, jumping on the trampoline, etc.  The coach set up a circuit for the girls and had them do a jump, catwheel, backwards sommersault and handstand.  Sophie still hasn't mastered the backwards sommersault but wasn't getting any assistance.  I could see her looking at the coach like "hello, I need a little help here".  She walked over to her, poker her arm and you could see her mouth moving and the the coach helped her.  Next thing you know, she was having trouble with a cartwheel, she needed help, still wasn't getting it, walked on over to the coach, another poke on the arm, mouth moving, coach helped her.

I was watching thinking that these coaches need some extra help and that they were pretty hard core.  Not very lovey dovey.   They mean business and they don't have time for sweet talk.  I was thinking to myself that I would not have done well in a setting like this when I was a little girl.  I was so shy and timid.  I love it that Sophie is not afraid to speak up and ask for help, ask a question ,etc.  I definately want to nurture that quality in her and encourage her to never be afraid to speak up.  Her voice and her opinion matters!

After her class, she said to me "Mom, this is the real deal...this is serious gymnastics".  I think you are right girl!

The kids made it to school and back again in one piece.  Ha.  I waited at the bus stop to pick them up but the bus was late.  I was feeling a bit uneasy when the big yellow monkey mobile came barreling around the corner.  All these little kids talking and laughing and jumping up and down.  It was hilarious. Max and Sophie came off a little unnerved and the bus driver seemed frazzled saying "I'm sorry I am so late, I've got 47 kids".  Can you imagine?

Max and Sophie said they had a great day and dumped their backpacks in the kitchen.  Max headed upstairs to build.  Sophie sat and had a brownie with me and told me about her day.  She is very resourceful and just asked "a child" (as she says) for help and she found her way to the gym in the morning.  She said the  bus ride home was crazy.  They had to find any open seat and she said it was so loud and crazy.  She just sat there and watched "the show".

They both needed quiet time to decompress.  It was very intesting.  Sophie headed to the computer to play some games and Max played upstairs.  It was very quiet.  I was like 'hey, does anyone want to chat.....H e l l o".  I ended up paying bills and cooking dinner.  Finally at dinner they became chatty and I heard about school and the bus.   All in all, it was a fabulous day!

Another very early morning at the Johnson's.  Dan had a 6am taxi to take him to the airport.  He gave Max and Sophie a kiss goodbye in their beds at 5:45am and that started the wheels in motion, they were up and into their routine for fear of missing saying goodbye to Daddy.  We were waiting on the front porch for his taxi when I noticed that Sophie had her shirt on backwards.  She said "oh Mom,  I am so embarrassed".  As Max was jumping up and down playing with Otis, I noticed that his underwear were around his waist, he must have missed a leg whole.  He could have cared less.  I am glad that I spotted it and not Ms. Norris (their teacher).  As soon as we said our goodbyes to Dad, Sophie came walking into the house saying "I miss him already".

After breakfast and getting our hair coiffed, the kids were sitting at the front door with backpacks in tow at 6:45am.  The bus doesn't arrive until 7:10am.  Finally, the day has come for me to enjoy the benefits of children who have gotten up at 6am since they were two years old.  Oh, how I fought it.  I was not a morning person but since having children have been foced into it kicking and screaming.

We put a leash on Otis and walked to our bus stop three houses down our street.  I had a cup of coffee in one hand and Otis's leash in the other.  I grilled the kids "what is your bus number, who is your teacher, what it your Mothers name, what grade are you in,  what is your phone number"?  I had a dream that they didn't know where to go once off the bus and got on the wrong bus on the way home.  I have to admit something; I secretly want to drive to school and wait where the buses unload the kids to make sure that they get off and into the correct class.  I won't, I promise.

We finally heard the bus rumbling around the corner and voila, it's bright lights were blinking just waiting for Max and Sophie to board.  I took a picture and then met the bus driver.  I took more pictures of the kids while the other little kindergarteners hung over the front seats enjoying every minute of riding on a real school bus.  Max and Sophie grabbed the seat right behind the bus driver and gave me a kiss and were as happy as two little kids could be.  I waved goodbye and got misty eyes all over again.  Shade of last Monday.