Sage

I swear I'm getting worse and worse at keeping up with this.  I feel so lazy and unaccomplished lately!  I hate being unmotivated and feel like that's how I've been the past few months.  I'm blaming it on pregnancy but let's be honest....I'm just in a funk.  I am way behind on updates about things so I'm going to take a few days to try to catch up.  First.  

SAGE

My soon-to-be five year old is bursting with energy and personality lately.  Some good personality, some not-so-good personality.  Most days, she is awesome.   She is the best big sister and is so very considerate. She will wake up and say, 

"Mom, I'm going to be so kindly today".  

Haha.  No matter how many times I tell her it's just "kind", she loves adding that -ly at the end.  She is always watching out for little Em and if Charlotte does something naughty or takes something away from Em she is the first to let me know.  She has a tendency to be a bit of a tattle-tale, but we are working on it.  And in her defense, when I try to explain that she doesn't ALWAYS have to tell me every little thing that Charlotte or Emery does, I know her intentions are good.  She'll reply with- 

 "But mom, it's my job as big sister to make sure everyone is being nice".  

Good point kiddo, good point.

She is doing great at school and looks forward to going twice each week.  Her handwriting is getting so great and I just love listening to her "read".  She is now enrolled in kindergarten for next year.  EEEEEKKKK!!!  I'm ready and yet so not ready.  Walking those big hallways with her about scared the crap out of me.  She just looked so little!  I'm not impressed with the public school in our new neighborhood so our all-day K option is out.  I don't want to pay for full day at the charter schools, so I've decided that half day it is.  She will go from 12-3:40 each day starting at the end of June.  I've always been a full-day advocate, but I'm totally happy with this schedule for her.  She is a VERY slow mover in the mornings.  Like, it takes at least 30 minutes to eat a piece of toast.  And she loathes getting dressed/doing hair/making her bed right away.  She likes to wake up and just lounge for a while before getting moving.  I realize she will be this way until I change our routine and get her moving faster, but I am hesitant to do it yet.  Here's why:

a few short weeks after she starts school, I will have a newborn.  And an almost two-year-old.  And a barely four-year-old.  And a five-year-old.  And a husband who leaves for work at 4AM.  The idea of getting all four kids up, dressed, fed and happily out the door by 7:15 pretty much scares the bejeezus out of me.  The all day K starts at 7:30 and I really, really, realllllly just don't see that happening yet.  I'd be that mom that is late every day.  Like, an hour late.  I realize I could load them up, drop Sage off then come back home to finish getting ready, but that seems like such a waste to me.  Plus, I really love our relaxed morning schedule.  I know that once all day school starts, it won't end for the next thousand years.  So I'm putting it off for one more year. 

I'm dying to enroll her in some sort of gymnastics, dance, soccer, and/or music class, but man.  I just don't see how people do it!  Aside from crazy driving schedules already, everything is so expensive!  I can't stomach the thought of another monthly bill when things are already tight enough.  Charlotte will be in preschool this year too, which is ridiculously expensive.  I'm still trying to decide when and/or how to start biting the bullet and put them in some fun activity.  

Sage has become an extreme bargainer.  She is the best at trying to negotiate with me---over everything.  How much of her dinner she has to eat, how many cartoons she gets to watch each day, how many drawings she gets to do before putting things away, and on and on and on.  I think it's hilarious and also horribly annoying.

Sage is still the BEST helper.  She is always asking for chores to do or if she can help me with dinner or making daddy's lunch for the next day.  She loves to mop the floors and clean the toilets and she actually does a pretty fantastic job.  She has always been my little cleaner and continues to really help with that stuff. 

Things Sage is totally into right now:

HULA-HOOPING

riding her bike

drawing/coloring/painting/crafting

making necklaces

My Little Ponies

dancing

eating nothing but "egg cheese-crisps" AKA egg burrito (I get so sick of making these!)

Most of all, Sage is our happy gal.  She is so loving and kind and just insanely sweet.  She is always letting me know she loves me and is always aware of the feelings of those around her.  I love my big girl so much.

 dum. dum.duuum.

  I adore this picture.  

Charlotte's big grin, 

 Em hanging on for dear life, 

Sage gunning it.  

Oh, man.  The teenage years are going to be rough!  :)

 The BEST big sister.  She loves to hold Em, and despite the uncomfortable look, Em loves when Sage carries her around.