Clarkamongous Turns Four.

Dear Clarkamongous,

Today you are four. By now we all realize you're made of 50% hockey player and 50% super hero. You are the toughest and most gentle, the kindest and most protective and the sweetest most handsome guy I know. You've been practicing your puck handling, shooting and goalie skills for about 436 days in a row now in the living room and you're running on the ice in those skates. You're gonna be a great hockey player someday little man... you actually already are.

You announced to your entire preschool class that you'd only be inviting the girls to your birthday party because well, "the boys are just too wild mama!". We invited everyone anyway and you had a Blackhawks party with 15 of your wildest friends. Those kids really love you and were the most excited I've ever seen such little people to celebrate your day. Everyone around you is taken by your charm. Your preschool teacher even made you a special Blackhawks birthday crown!

Norah wrote you the best birthday card in the history of sisterly birthday cards. It went like this:

"I love you Clark you are the dest brathr I have ever had. And That is so colle That you are haveing a blackhock brthbay. To: Clark, From: Norah" and on the front she listed the "wild" in first place, the "blackhocks" in second place and the "dacks" in third. Since we dislike the "hungry ducks". Accompanying this was the best drawing of a hockey rink I've ever seen. It was complete with face-off spots, a red penalty box, goal creases and players. She went all out for you!

We've been smitten from the minute we met you and every minute since. Happy 4th Birthday!!!






























Love ~ Momma

Six.

Miss Norah Bean, 

Today you're six. I haven't been posting here lately, but I've been photographing you and your brother just the same almost every single day. We've been filling every daylight hour, and sometimes hours way into the evening, with so.much.FUN. 

Six seems old. I say that every year. Maybe it's because I miss you as a baby. Your chubbiness. Your baby talk. Seeing you discover every little thing for the very first time... but then I remember how much fun you are now and I realize I would never want to give that up. 

You're an amazing little person. You are so sweet and kind and funny and smart. You've given your last dollar to your little brother. You want to give your toys away to all the children who don't have toys. You are even nice to the bully at school. It makes me incredibly sad that there was a bully in your Kindergarten class, but it makes my heart swell to hear you say "I'm still nice to him Mom, because he needs someone to show him how he should treat his friends." even after he was not at all nice to you.

You are a jokester (and an actress too). One fine kindergarten Wednesday, I picked you up from your morning class and you proceeded to inform me in a very upset tone that I had forgotten to come to the class event that day! I argued saying I didn't know about an event and if there was one I hadn't signed up to volunteer. You countered my argument by telling me Ms. Sisler had been expecting me and she was upset that I hadn't shown up! You kept this up through our walk home only revealing the truth when we walked inside the house saying "Just kidding! There was no event today!!" Very funny Miss Bean :)

This week you're going to summer camp. Daddy brings you to the bus in the morning where you get on with two of your best friends who you've known since preschool. You go off to a place where Daddy and I have never been with teacher's we've never met to do dangerous things like swimming, boating, archery, horseback riding and campfires... then in the afternoon I wait at that stop and can't wait to see you come off that bus! I was a nervous wreck. Now I can see you are having the time of your life and I am so excited for you. You're so grown up. I love it and hate it at the same time! (I mostly love it)

Here's to my gorgeous grown-up six year old who's got the world at her feet and a family who loves her to pieces. 

By the way, your current life plan is to marry your best friend Allegra and adopt a baby that doesn't have a family. See... I told you you are sweet!

This Morning wearing very grown up clip-on earrings:



"Do you know that at night, rocks from the Moon fall to the Earth? These are Moon Rocks!"


No training wheels!


Beach Bums

Chocolate Breakfast

Surprise! Your best friend is at the water park!!

Shark Attack

My photog partner



Love you to pieces Bean ~ Mom 

Playdates, Tooth Fairies & Camp - Oh My!

It's a rare occasion these days that posting our current events on this blog trumps sleep (mostly because I usually refuse to post sans photos - so it's never quick). Tonight I will stay up and post. I only have a couple iPhone photos... what is wrong with me!?

Not only did Norah lose her very first tooth this morning before school (the exact tooth that emerged before all the others this same month 5 years ago - weird!), but she had her first after school playdate. Of course we've been on a billion playdates over the years, but this was a go-to-a-house-I've-never-been-to-before-because-I've-only-known-her-mom-for-11-minutes-and-ride-home-in-their-car kind of playdate. She had the time of her life and is already planning the next. When do you not call these "playdates" anymore?

As for her tooth, that came out no big deal. She was super happy about losing it and is now contemplating about how small the tooth fairy is (think Tinkerbell) and how DOES she fly around when it is -35 degrees outside at night and still be OK!? Magic.

While she was out galavanting with her BFF, Clark got a whole day of Momma to himself. We played superheros ALL day and he even let me be his sidekick Robin most of the time. We caught SO many bad guys. Watch out - I learned some bad @$$ moves today!

After a big day like this Colin and I are sitting here deciding to send her off to day camp with her friends this summer. Nobody told me that kids grew up like this. It's like they are their sweet little selves for so long until some "thing" happens and then they've instantly grown up to the next phase in life. No warning. I guess bandaids are better when you just RIP them off!

Oh, and while I'm at it - I snuck in a couple of random photos of stuff we've been doing while I've not been posting :)













Love ~ Renee