kidlets

February Four (on the 5th)

February 5, 2012 By kborchert 5 Comments

I had great intentions of getting my 4 on the 4th this month. But, Elliott is sick, Libby is sick, and every time I wasn’t running around yesterday, I was sitting ~~getting bitten by~~ nursing a sick babe.

This morning before Jeremy, Seth and Amelia took off for Church, I told everyone to come and SIT so i could snap a quick photo. This is a rare shot of Elliott as my smiley babe isn’t so smiley these days. Especially when Mama isn’t holding him.

*Someday my kids are going to look back at these pictures and laugh. Amelia is going to ask why I let her wear a red shirt with a dress that has no red in it. Libby is going to laugh that she has pancakes in her mouth in the picture. Seth and Elliott…well they look great in these (there are plenty others that they will wonder about though!). This is what happens when I let my kids be individuals

Last month’s photo here.

Filed Under: 4 on the 4th, kidlets, my life

What Memories are Made of

January 25, 2012 By kborchert 4 Comments

“When you sell a man a book you don’t sell him just 12 ounces of paper and ink and glue – you sell him a whole new life.” -Christopher Morley

As a child, I could often be found lost between the pages of a book. I would become Claudia from The Babysitter’s Club, or Jessica (or Elizabeth depending on the day) from Sweet Valley Twins. I could picture myself living on a prairie in rural Nebraska at the turn of the century, or as a youth in the 40′s. I believe my love of acting was born from my love of reading.

When I was in college I started buying books for my future children. I wanted them to have an abundance of books to choose from. I wanted them to have a story at their fingertips at all times.

My goal has become a reality. My children have books, and books, and books. They love to read, be read to, and best of all, act out what they have read.

From the time Seth was about 2, he has used his imagination to make his favorite books come to life. For about six months, he was Roo, I was Kanga, Jeremy was Tigger and Amelia was “Pliget”. That obsession then morped into Toy Story, Star Wars and then How to Train Your Dragon.

While all of those titles are movies, only two of the obsessions came from the movies – Toy Story and Star Wars. Seth fell in love with the How to Train Your Dragon books before he saw the movie…we all did. He loves that we have Norwegian ancestry and is just sure my ancestor, Thor, was a Viking…thus making HIM a Viking!

He still loves Star Wars and How to Train Your Dragon, but now he has fallen under the spell of Hogwarts and is often found wearing his black robes and waving his wand…he is Harry Potter.

My children are regularly seen playing as if they are the characters from their favorite book. They don’t necessarily act out what happened in the book, instead they make up their own stories using those characters they have come to love.

I absolutely adore this. The use of their imaginations! It is one thing to act out what you have seen or read, just as you have seen or read it. But to create your own stories, plot lines, problems and solutions, that is an entirely different skill, and I love watching it happen.

I love that my children love books. I have always wanted them to love to read and to have the stories come to life.

It has been said the best gift you can give is a book and I wholeheartedly agree. Where else can children escape, become pirates, vikings, princesses, anything their hearts desire. And that is the stuff memories are made of.

:::

I am so excited to be partnering with Hallmark again this year. Hallmark is not only in the business of celebrating the special occasions, but celebrating Life as a Special Occasion. Hallmark and I will both be at Blissdom this year! Come find me as I am a Community Leader, and go find Hallmark (you might see me there too!!) to learn more about how to make Life a Special Occasion!

Filed Under: hallmark, kidlets, Life is a Special Occasion, my life, the baby girl, the boy, the girl Tagged With: acting out books, books, hallmark, imaginations, life is a special occasion, reading, reading to kids

These Days

January 10, 2012 By kborchert 3 Comments

He is mobile. Moving everywhere at a faster pace every day. Upending laundry baskets, exploring the socks, finding crackers, cheerios, cat food to eat.

Why is he soaking wet? What did he get into now? Who left their water on the floor? Oh, it was the cat’s water.

He is happily crawling exploring books, puzzles and packages of wipes. Then I hear it. thud…followed by a cry that tells me it hurt. I run to him, scoop him in my arms and snuggle away the pain.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

This is my day. This is what I do all day. This and housework, and writing work, and game playing and taking care of the other 3 children who need me so much.

The big ones are at school, I miss them so much my heart aches. But when they come home we can’t play. It is homework, and friends, and swim lessons, and dinner and stories and bedtime.

The small one is adapting again to having her brother and sister gone all day. It is hard for her, she misses them, but she is good at being the big sister and helping me out around the house (and watching far too much PBS kids).

This is what we do. I try to work, write a word here, sew a stitch there, kiss a wound here, snuggle a babe there. Do a dish, sweep a floor, pick up a puzzle, read a book, nurse a babe, fold some clothes…it all becomes so much for my ADD mind. So I try to slow it down. I try to slow down my thoughts, my world, their growing.

These days are a woven tapestry of joy and pain that comes from increased independence…for everyone, and it is hard.

Linking up with Just Write

Filed Under: Just Write, kidlets, motherhood, my life, surviving, the baby boy, the baby girl, the boy, the girl, the kidlets Tagged With: just write

January Four

January 4, 2012 By kborchert 8 Comments

They are growing so fast. It seems right before my eyes they are changing and maturing. I don’t want to miss a second of it, but I do.

I am making a decision to slow things down and take a picture of my four on the fourth of the month. My friend Stephanie has been doing this for the last 2 years (first it was on the 1st of the month) and I have loved watching this progression of her children. I also love that she has a visual monthly reminder of her children, their personalities and what they were going through at any given time. Heaven knows my family is not perfect and these photos will certainly prove that.

So, without further adieu, our first photo. I almost forgot about this (oh wait I did forget!), but when Steph posted about it on Twitter I grabbed my camera, ran to my neighbor’s yard where the kids were and made them sit for a picture. It is awesome.

This is the only photo they would let me capture. Seth was busy playing with friends and wanted to get back to it. Libby, as you can see, was ready to get back to ring-around-the-rosie with her friends, and Amelia…well, she was content to just sit and hold her baby.

This how it is. This is how they are. And I love them.

Filed Under: kidlets, my life, the baby boy, the baby girl, the boy, the girl Tagged With: january four

My First Christmas

December 27, 2011 By kborchert 3 Comments

Dear Meemaw and Grampa,

Mama is so busy right now, so I thought I would help her out by writing you about Christmas.

As you know, this was my first Christmas. At first I didn’t understand what the big deal was. Mama was in the kitchen a lot more and she was busy putting things in her mouth. The big kids were too and I kept wanting some, but no one would give me anything but puffs. Even though I like those, the brown things looked yummier.

One day Mama and the kids put a lot of things on plates and then we had to drive all over the place (I didn’t like that part). They said something about taking goodies to our neighbors and friends. Whatever goodies are.

You know my Dad? That hairy guy? Well, he was around a lot more than normal. Mama seemed really happy about that, but I wasn’t. It just means that he holds me more and he isn’t soft like Mama and doesn’t give me milk, and he is hairy.

On Christmas Eve I was pretty cranky. My mouth hurts so bad and my ears too. So Mama and Daddy keep giving me this stuff in a squirter thing. It tastes okay, but I like to chew on the squirter thing more.

Anyway, on Christmas Eve, I woke up and Mama was gone. I was NOT happy about that. She came back home all sweaty and said something about running, and feeling good, and whatever. I just wanted some boob, so I cried until she gave it to me. Then we went to a party where everyone ate a lot of food that I couldn’t have. I played with my friend Landon, then decided there was too much going on, so I cried until Mama gave me milkers. Then I fell asleep and it was great.

The rest of the day was fun. We opened presents (I loved the wrapping paper), and played games. Our favorite present was the big swing set from Mama and Daddy and you guys. Mom says it will be great after Daddy puts it together and I can swing with my sisters and brother.

On Christmas Eve night we did the Nativity. Mama told us that she did this every year when she was little and that she was always Mary. Amelia and Libby got into a big fight about who was going to be Mary. Amelia ended up being the Angel and Libby was Mary — only because Mom and Dad promised we could do it again the next night and Amelia could be Mary then. But, when it was time to do it on Christmas night, guess who threw a fit? Yep, Libby. Girls. I don’t understand them. I know when I am big enough to be someone Seth and I won’t fight over who gets to be Joseph. If I knew how to roll my eyes, I would do it right now.

Christmas morning came and while I was sleeping everyone else opened presents. I got two cool wooden toys and a couple books. But, my favorite toy was a toothbrush. I love to chew on it. After Church, Mama and I had a good nap while Daddy and Seth played Wii and the girls played with their new ponies and art supplies.