The Libsack Family

Wow! Almost a blogless month- that can't happen?!?!

I suppose we'll start off with an update-

Carley's life is very exciting- she loves gymnastics and dance class and has fun playdates with her friends (when we can!). Since January, she's learned how to do a cartwheel and is learning the basics of vault, bars and beam. She has so much fun! In dance class, they do ballet and tap and are learning their recital number now~ tapping to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" dressed as girlie lion cubs. It's really cute! This past weekend, she entered her first pageant and came in 2^nd runner up (out of 7) and won the award for Prettiest Smile. J It was a pretty casual Blue Jeans and T-Shirts pageant, and all participants receive a tiara and trophy. She was so proud and practically thought she WON! Not sure what this pageant thing means in our life, but she asks all the time to "be on stage" so this is our answer for that- for now! Can't see why she wouldn't want to be on stage, she sees her dad up there all the time, and knows her mommy likes the stage too. She has SO many interests though, we'll have to limit her a little. She's only four! She wants to do dance, gymnastics, karate (as of last night) and learn how to play lots of instruments. She loves being outside and playing, and she's doing so well in school! SHE IS STARTING TO READ!!! It's amazing. We've been working on her "sight words" from time to time since the beginning of the year and every night we read with/to her. She started reading the Dick and Jane books and now is phonetically reading and spelling the basics! I don't know what happened, but the "light bulb" definitely came on and it's so exciting!

Graham is a character. At times his life is very dramatic and emotional and probably even a little painful with all of the teething going on…but for the most part he's fabulous. He adores his big sister, and she loves playing with him. They run around the house laughing and holding hands. He also loves getting into Sister's "stuff", and that causes some issues, but for the most part they are sweet together. He's the most amazing, silly hearted, exciting, vibrant, hungry, snuggly 18 month old…until you move his cheese. He still doesn't talk much, but verbalizes a lot. He says "thank you" and "up" and shakes his head yes or no. He points and grunts a lot. He knows where his body parts are and can point to things in a book. In the past month or so he seems to be a little extra sensitive and/or particular about how things are presented to him (food or drink, for example). He wants ME a lot, which is lovely, but presents challenges at times. I find myself asking often, "What do you WANT???" I think his lack of verbalization mixed with his increased independence and some severe teething is creating some emotional stress for him, and me! All we can do is try to be patient. If there's a button to be pushed, a door to be opened or liquid to be poured, he's your man! J He's getting some negative attention here, but he really is a sweet (high maintenance at the moment) boy. He is a silly heart~~~anything for a laugh! He also gives the best squeezes….Mmmmmmm. J18 months- wow!

The rest of us (Syd and Abby) are all good. Syd is busy with some spring travel with the quartet and work. I am doing well, just doin' the mom thing, trying to keep everyone on the homestead well-rested, well-fed, and well-rounded. A few weekends ago I was able to take a quick weekend trip to visit my aunt and uncle in TX while Syd stayed here with the kiddos. My aunt Debbie and I have a special sort of bond and have quite a few similarities. I thoroughly enjoy my time spent with her. We were able to look through some of my Grandma's (and her parents') old things…photos, passports, letters, medals…it was amazing. I am trying to gather a little bit of information and inspiration for our family trip to England in May. I was able to visit with both of my cousins, I was treated to homemade wine, tried on lots of fun clothes, and got to bring home a variety of treasures. J The company was great and the trip was too short. Hopefully I (we) will be able to see them again soon!

Some photos I found while in TX of my Grandma, Grandpa, and Great Grandad.

On Thursday, my mom arrived for her spring visit! She generally comes once in the spring and once in the fall for a week-long visit. It's so nice to have her here and the kids love getting attention from Nana Terri- I'm just afraid she's going to sleep for a week solid when she gets home. These little ones are balls of energy! We've had a pretty low-key week, aside from our trip to the mountains for Carley's pageant and the normal school, dance class, gymnastics thing she's got going on.

It was so beautiful here Sunday-Tuesday, then the rain has settled in for the past few days. RIGHT before all the rain started though, Syd got home a day early and we grilled out for the first time this spring! It was the best unexpected evening. My lists seem a little shorter (and they say "blog" every day until I actually DO it!) and I seem to be having time to read US and People magazines. I finished reading "The Lovely Bones" this week. This is a nice breath of fresh air because our spring is about to get a little more busy. At least a couple of trips in March planned, one in April, and a BIG one in May. (this is not including my husband's crazy travel plans this spring ;) ) Travel is amazing, but I always take awhile to recover!

Ok- enough for now. I'll try to be better about my blogging life. Hope you and yours are wonderful! J