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Something that makes me happy: We had a fun day for Maddie today, similar to Cullen’s special day. Her birthday is tomorrow. I love days with my family!

Something I’m thinking: Four years ago, we had just gotten the news at around 5pm that they wanted to induce the next day. We were nervous, gathering the hospital bags, and dreaming about the arrival of our little girl.

Something I’m hoping: I hope Maddie enjoyed her special day!

Something happening around the house: The usual. Kid chaos across every inch.

Something I’m reading: I finished A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. It’s not the happiest book that I’ve ever read, but I thought it was a good one. I started and finished Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin. I thought it was better than her last one (Love the One You’re With). It was a quick read. It seemed like a bit too much potential reality for me, especially when it started with a young child getting badly burned in an accident. I started The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. I remember seeing the movie as a kid, but this is the first time I’ve read the book.

Something Gabe is reading: He’s enjoying Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

Something I’m watching: Amazing Race and Survivor started this week.

Something I’m playing: Gabe and I have been playing Reiner Knizia’s Skyline on the iPhone. It’s a fun little puzzle game. Maddie picked out a new version of Zingo, Zingo 1-2-3.

Something I’m creating: I am going to have to write Maddie’s 4-year old letter.

Something tasty: We got fancy cupcakes from Gigi’s Cupcakes. I like cupcakes fine, but I’m not sure that I’m crazy about them. I mean they were good and all…but…I don’t know. They are just cupcakes.

Something about both kiddos: We saw some new deer statues this week. Cullen said, “Bambi! Bambi!” I said, “yes, those are deer. Are they real deer or pretend deer?” Maddie said, “They are pretend. If they were real and we were in Chapel Hill, you would have bumped them.” Um, wow. She’s referring to when I hit a deer on the way back from Chapel Hill. The incident happened almost a year and a half ago!

Something Maddie is doing (47 months old): Our little girl is turning FOUR tomorrow. I can’t believe it. We had a day of fun, very similar to the one we had for Cullen’s birthday. We started at our breakfast place. They didn’t have the gingerbread pancakes, but they did have a special red velvet pancake that Gabe ordered. Maddie ate quite a bit of his special pancakes! We then went to Target where Maddie got an owl pillow and Zingo 1-2-3. We also got her a few reusable preschool workbooks with mazes and letter practice and washable dry erase markers. We got some new clothes for the kids from Target and Kohls – winter clothes on clearance and a few spring clothes. We had a 30% off coupon from Kohls, so it seemed like a good time to pick up a few things. Maddie picked out a few special outfits. She’s been asking to get her hair cut for a while, so we did that today. They cut it shorter than ever…a little shorter than we intended! It’s cute, though, and she was excited to get beads put in her hair. We had lunch at Noodles and picked up a new 100-piece horse puzzle from a specialty toy store. Maddie has already put it together once. She’s really doing well with those puzzles!!! I’m impressed. We also picked up the special cupcakes and sang a lot of the “Happy Birthday” song over and over. When we got home, Cullen napped while Maddie put together her new puzzle and practiced her workbooks. She requested Mickey and Minnie PB&J for dinner. Yesterday, Maddie went to a birthday party for one of her best buddies and her twin sister. It was at the Natural Science museum, and we had a great time at the party and exploring the museum. Maddie pointed out that all the dinosaurs died. They died a long time ago. The dinosaurs died, mommy! They are dead.

Something Cullen is doing (24 months old): Cullen had a big week and started his new 2-year old class! He visited on Monday for a couple of hours, but he still had lunch and nap and the rest of the afternoon in his old classroom. On Tuesday, he was asked where he wanted to take his nap. He said, “In my classroom. Here.” It didn’t take him long to make that transition! He was ready for new challenges. He is doing a lot of new work, and he already brought home a folder of artwork from his first week. He’s been communicating with his classmates and teachers. He was in the housekeeping area, and one of his new friends asked if he wanted help. He said, “No, keep your hands to yourself!” I’m glad he’s using his words! We’ll work on being more courteous to our friends, though. Poor guy has been fighting an ear infection this week. The tubes are doing their job and the icky fluid is draining out of his ear, but I think it’s bothering him. On Tuesday, he had some drainage and then later in the day he told his teachers that his ear was hurting. I’m impressed he was able to communicate this! He has started doing jigsaw puzzles (as opposed to the peg/shape puzzles). He is getting pretty good at doing the 12-piece puzzles.

Something I am struggling with: I love my kids, but they can be totally exhausting!

Something I’m doing towards my goals: I saw Les Miserables, and I loved it! I had to concentrate to follow the story, but I was able to follow it for the most part. I got a little thrown a few times when a decade would elapse. We were all the way in the back of the theatre, so it was difficult to see who was singing or to tell the difference between certain characters.

Something I learned: I think that I’ll stick to better theatre seats in the future. I do like to save money on tickets at times, but I think that shows that are new to me should be seen from a better vantage point!

Something I’m looking forward to: We’re taking Maddie to lunch tomorrow for her birthday and bringing cake for her classmates on Tuesday. I’m not really looking forward to wearing a mouth guard at night, but I’m getting mine this week. We have Maddie’s 4-year check up, too. Gabe has poker, and the family has a birthday party to attend.

Something random: It’s snowing outside tonight, and it was like 70 degrees and sunny yesterday. How’s that for random?

Something captured: Maddie looks like such a big girl with her haircut!

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey