Sunshine is SIX!

I'm a little late on the birthday blog, but "a little late" describes us in a lot of things these days, so....

We celebrated Sunshine last weekend, and then again on her "real" birthday last Tuesday. On Saturday, she wanted a party. A party that only had to include....Cheetos. The cat cake was really optional. Cheetos though? Mandatory.

There were also some kitty cats to go along with the Stubby cake.

The "Barbie Dreamhouse", as Junebug calls it, was moved downstairs for the day and kids came to play, smack a pinata and eat Cheetos and cake.

For the "real" birthday, Sunshine took homemade chocolate chip cookies to school. I got to help her pass them out at lunch (a perk of working at her school). She was so careful about handing each kid a napkin and letting them choose their own cookie. She asked for pizza for dinner and we ate the leftover cake. Good stuff.

There's so much to love about Sunshine...as a 5-year-old, yes, but as a person in general because the things she does and the way she is isn't as age-specific as some of the other kids. She's always been a bit of an old soul and I'm not sure that has changed in the past four years. Sunshine is kind and compassionate. Her thoughtfulness pops out of her when it doesn't out of any of the rest of us. One day, I was on a quest to find our favorite cereal that our local grocery no longer carries. I told the kids I would stop at Target and "If they have some, I'll just get it all so we can have it for a while." Her response was "Well, that wouldn't be very kind to the next person who can't find it at HEB." And she's right (so I left one (of four) on the shelf).

Sunshine is a science geek. She has STEM future written all over her. Not long ago, she asked if she could play out back while I cooked dinner. Sure. By the time dinner was ready, she had made her own rock collection, complete with different rocks taped onto a piece of school paper, and labeled each rock with an attribute like "smooth" or "hard". Sunshine wants to know all there is to know about animals, geography, history.

Sunshine loves gymnastics. She occasionally surprises herself with some successful hand-walking. She CONSTANTLY hears me say: Feet on the floor! or Gymnastics only happen on carpet! She cartwheels from point A to point B regularly.

Sunshine loves school. I eat lunch with her teacher almost every day. Teacher calls Sunshine her "touchstone". "You know, the kid you KNOW is always gonna be there when you call on her, and always does the right thing."

That's sort of our girl in a nutshell. A touchstone. I call her my litmus test. If things are going bad with Sunshine, I know it's me being tired. If Sunshine is off her rocker crazy with energy, I know we are way too amped. And on the off chance that Sunshine is stomping or pouting her way through her day, I know we need to slow down and get some sleep. The girl keeps us grounded. We are beyond lucky to have this girl around.

Happiest of Happy Birthdays, Sunshine. I love you from locs to toes.

Backtalk

Me, to someone in the house: I have had enough backtalk for today. Please go play upstairs till dinner.

Junebug, with sincerity: Tammy, whatcha gonna do with all that backtalk you got? What's backtalk, anyway?

Finally!!!

After 7 months when she was younger and 1 month at age four, Junebug has finally decided to try some produce. She started out with a repertoire of only overcooked broccoli, cauliflower and green beans. This weekend, she added: raw carrots (but they have to be cut into CIRCLES, not sticks), a grape, 3 orange wedges, a handful of raw cauliflower, some raisins, and a piece of apple skin.

I fight till the bitter end in almost all aspects of life and really thought I was going to lose this battle. Sometimes I even surprise myself.

More Wisdom from Sunshine

Admittedly, Sunshine is a bit of a know-it-all and it gets tiresome for the other two kids sometimes, but it's sorta funny to listen to....

"Let's talk about who is MAGICAL!...There's Santa and the Toothfairy.....Anyone else?"

Chickadee: Elsa has magic.

"No, Elsa is a FICTIONAL CHARACTER. We are NOT talking about FICTION right now."

Me: How about the Easter Bunny?

"Oh yeah, he's MAGICAL but not a real person so he doesn't count."

**She also demonstrated tonight how she will stand in front of her window on Christmas morning until the sun comes up because I've told her she cannot come wake me till then. And has her books lined up to read to her stuffed animals to pass the time. The girl is always thinking...

Elf on the Shelf

Sunshine: Can we have an elf on the shelf come to our house?
Me: No, I don't think that's a good idea.
Sunshine: Why?
Me: Because some of us are afraid of the toothfairy and Santa coming once a year and the Elf stays for a whole month. I had one once. He played with the kids' toys up there (above kitchen cabinets) and then was hanging from that light one night. He just wasn't well behaved.
Speed: And I'd probably wake up with him sleeping in my bed.
Me: And that is EXACTLY the worry we are going to avoid. Ask me again next year, Sunshine.

#carnivore

Chickadee, at a restaurant the other night, while stuffing a hot dog in her face but leaving the bun and yummy fries behind:

"I only come here for the meat."

We're Back

In a nutshell, we went back on "the list" last Monday for a single child who, due to daycare constraints, had to be eligible for pre-k. That same day, we were being considered for a little boy who fit the age (and behavioral) guidelines for our house, but we had to wait till whatever happened for them to figure out if he needed us.

Fast-forward to Wednesday....my agency called and left a message. I assumed it was regarding the boy, but I was wrong. "Junebug is back in fostercare. Will you take her?"

Of course.

So, here we are. I'm a bit devastated that Junebug needs a place to stay again, but grateful that we happened to be relicensed (for 2 solid days beforehand) and free (because whatever hadn't yet happened for the boy).

Junebug arrived on Friday. She is one month short of two years older than she was when she last set foot in this house. She talks. In full sentences. She is almost as tall as Chickadee. Potty trained. At night, even. It was like a time warp happened.

She has adjusted ok so far. I don't think she remembers being here but I hope somewhere in her brain or heart that she does. Chickadee is a bit jealous, Sunshine needs a bit more space (hard to come by in this house), Speed has a bit more energy, and I need a bit more time to get stuff done.

One of the things I was hoping for was to have a foster child yet continue to have our easy one-stop-shop to work/school. We were lucky enough to get that. Junebug started at the campus daycare today. All four kids and me parked in spot #48 at work and walked across the parking lot to where we would separately spend our day. On the off chance that five of us can speed up our morning routine, we will go back to walking and riding our way to school each day.