Logan's Birthday Cake

Logan wanted a cars cake... SO, I made him a cars cake lol. He LOVED it.

He watches anxiously
Isn't he so excited?!

Now blow...

Ok so it took two tries

He loved it. Up next... Laycee

Name Calling

Really, I am gonna be the one calling names if I don't successfully finish a post. I have been trying to post for days in my limited time, but each time something happens and I lose the whole post. I have pictures of Laycee and Logan's birthday that I have been trying to post as a video, but its just not working. I suppose I need to find the time to make it work. ANYWAY...

Name Calling
I hate name calling. I am very sensative about it. I have worked hard to prevent name calling situations. I have encouraged the children to say that someone is "acting" mean and not that the person is mean. They can say that each other is acting a certain way because don't we all act off sometimes. But I don't like them to call each other names. Well I have almost successfully made is through 3 children. Minimal issues with name calling. And then I have one... sigh. The favorite name calling word is... BABY! And the culprit... guess guess... oh yes, Laycee! She is constantly calling everyone BABY when things don't go her way. Needless to say; she has been standing in the corner a lot, spending lots of time saying sorry, and giving lots of make up hugs. Oh dear, what will I do with her?

Pick Me Up

After a long week, today I needed a pick me up. I wanted something that would bring some hope that spring is on its way and so is the hope that a new season brings. It is dark, dreary and rainy today, so when I saw the Tupils in Costco, I knew that is just what I needed! I hope they give you the pick me up you need too!

4 Years Old

Some days, they just both want to be held, even at 4. This is a rare situation. Almost never do they both want to cuddle at the same time. Today was a bittersweet day for me. I dread each year Laycee and Logan grow a year older because that means I am a year closer to an absence of little children in my home. It was even more so this year since yesterday we lost our 5th baby. Through each day, I am infamous for saying... "I can't wait until they can..."

1. They can sit up, which happend at 7 months.

2. They can hold their own bottle, also 7 months.

3. They can eat real food, baby food started at 8 months.

4. They can crawl... oh 11 and 12 months.

5. They can walk... 18 months.

6. They can talk... finally age 2.5-3 they could really talk.

7. They can buckle their own car seat... just started doing that.

8. They can dress themselves. We have finally learned and almost perfected this skilll.

9. They can unbuckle their own carseat... maybe one day.

10. They can read their own books. Oh reading is not so far away!

11. They can help with chores. Surprisingly they do help with chores.

12. We can go out to eat without spilling drinks everywhere... lol maybe one day.

The list goes on as a mother can't wait until their little children can accomplish the next task. I do not miss the endless hours of washing bottles. I do not miss the crying that never stops because as soon as I calm one, the other starts in. I do not miss the garbage of diapers that is always full. I sometimes look at families with two or three little children and suddenly I realized; that is not me anymore. I do miss the constant loves and irritability because I just need a bit of space. They are so independant now. I do miss watching as they toddle across the floor excited by everything they see. I do miss the way they could be distracted by almost anything.

When they turned one, I was happy the first year was over. When they turned two, I just couldn't wait until they could grow up just a bit more. When they turned three, I realized they were really growing up. This year I can't believe how they have changed. In some ways I wish I could go back, but in the end, I again can't wait until they grow another year older.

Nostalgic

Unfortunately, I have no picture to post... Sorry guys! A couple days ago, I was working on an insermountable mound of laundry that never gets done. I have a system with the laundry too and it is ALWAYS behind but that is a subject for another day. So, I was folding kids cloths wondering how anyway can keep up with clothing for 6 people. And I picked up a pair of red pajama pants with white bears on them. I was taken back in time as I touched the fabric and saw the print. I remembered a time when we were in Italy and Trent was four. He was getting ready for SureStart and was all dressed and had breakfast. His backpack was ready and he wanted to leave for the bus. I looked at him and said, Trent, you are wearing pajamas. Why didn't you get dressed? He insisted they were not pajamas, even though they were in his pajama drawer, but they had a matching shirt. He insisted it was a wearable outfit. So, I let him go to school. We walked to the bus stop on that busy street next to the small Italian Cafe. He boarded the bus and off he went for another day of school. About 10 am, I get an email from his teacher. She was asking if he had a rough morning becuase he was in his pajamas. I explained the situation. She thought the situation was humorous... I guess teaching 4 year olds, you are always surprised. She responded that some of the kids were making fun of him for wearing his pjs to school but she explained to the class that some days kids just feel more comfortable in pjs and that different people wear all different types of clothing. I dreaded how he is going to feel when he got home. He explains a small incident on the playground and acts like it is no big deal. He was happy wearing his pjs. But... he NEVER wore them again. I am brought back to the present as I realize that I am no longer folding these pajama pants for Trent. I am no folding them for Logan.

In that moment, I still felt like I had a 5,4, and pregnant with twins. I cannot believe that tomorrow Laycee and Logan will be 4. I am excited they are growing and I am not still stuck in those days of hour long bottle washing and constant diaper changing and never ending crying. But as I folded those pajama pants, I wished I could go back and watch all the children grow all over again.

Coolest Valentine!

Ok so I found the coolest valentine ever last night at the Dollar Tree. I think it was a Dollar Tree. Either way, they came in a pack of four. It looked like little mylar packages that said you shake the package, hit the package and then wait for the surprise. We got home and I let the kids try them out. We shook the package. They each gave it a fist tap on the counter and waited. The endothermic reaction (yes big words!) of baking soda, vitamin C and distilled water caused the air to explode the package and out popped these mini balloons! They were so cool. If you have a dollar to spend and want to see something cool, visit you local Dollar Tree and look for these. It was AWESOME!

Homeschooling

Its been a little while since I have updated on how school is coming along. I have to admit that most days I love it. There are some days that I just wish I didn't have to find the patience to teach the kids, but most days, I love it. I have really come to enjoy that our life doesn't revolve around school. Sounds ironic since I have a pretty strict school schedule. However, I find that we do school for 2-4 hrs and then we move past school for the day and enjoy our day. No rushing to eat breakfast and get out the door. No rushing home from an errand to meet the bus. No fighting for an hour through homework. Most importantly, there is no thought of school during the "busy" time of day (you all know... the 3-6 pm hours where you are trying to get dinner done and the little kids are cranky). So, we seem to be really loving homeschooling. I don't know what next year will bring, but for now, we are enjoying the extra time together.

So I have been really excited about teaching Haylee math lately. She has begun multiplication and is now learning the Identity Property of Mulitplication and the Zero Property of Multiplication. She has been learning very interesting things about mixtures, compounds, heat, temperature and energy. Below is a picture of her recent science project. I find phonics especially interesting because there are so many rules of the English language that I never learned!!

Trent is working on his latest art project here. He has been studying the English picture Pinkie by Lawrence and with that, he is learning about portraits. Today he learned about the symmetry of a self portrait and he used a mirror to creat an image of himself.


Trent has also been reading very interesting stories about different neighborhoods and communities. He learned a lot about Chinatown in a recent story he read. I love watching him do math. He is a whiz. He has started borrowing and carrying for addition and subtraction as well as learning how to organize and interpret data.

I figured since it has been a while since I have updated, today I wanted to document some fun things they have been working on. Not everyday is fun. Some days getting, math for Haylee and composition for Trent, work done if very difficult. Some days, we do not see smiles in the classroom. But most days, we love it. Trent says he wants to be homeschooled again and Haylee says she loves me as a teacher. Its been a fun learning experience and I enjoy spending that time with the kids.

Gymnastics

So the kids have finally started in some new activities. For the month of Dec and Jan, Laycee and Logan started gymnastics. This month, Laycee will start dance and then next month Logan starts soccer!

They count down the days until they go back to gymnastics.
They won't be doing gymnastics once soccer starts and dance gets underway, but they have been happy having some activity right now.

My Birthday

Today is my birthday (bada bada) I'm gonna have a good time!

Today was my birthday. So, the kids were extra good during quiet time. And then for dinner, we went to Red Robin (thanks Dennis and Lynda for the christmas present doubled as birthday gift!) I am in love with their new Chicken Caprese sandwich. It brings back the great memories of caprese from Italy!

We came home to 6 birthday candles (even though I am 28).
These are the wonderful people I celebrated with. I love them all so much.

So, this year as I take out the earrings and hang up the necklace...

I hope that this coming year was better than the last. Big changes are ahead, but change can bring great things and dispite my stress and nervousness, I am excited for the next chapter!

Karate

Trent has started Karate about two months ago. He is so in love with it. We knew he has been wanting to start karate for a while, but we were finally able to start him in a program and it is so perfect for him!

He practices all the time at home and he cannot wait until another class day comes around!
I can't wait for his first test. I am hoping he gets tested before we move from here, but I doubt he will. I also hope that where ever we end up, we can find another good program for him!

Christmas Day

The kids had a great plan that they were going to wake us up at 5 am. They begged for us to set an alarm for them, but we ended up sending them to bed with no alarm. But at 5 am, Dave and I were waiting to hear little pitter patter. It wasn't much after that when we finally heard from them.

They day was filled with smiles.

And a lot of enjoyment.

We got a new dog. Her name is Sassy. She is 3 years old. She is a pomerainian and the best dog for our family!

It was a wonderful day and just the perfect day for us.

Christmas Eve

This year for Christmas Eve, I tried to follow traditions. Dave's family always has subs (although, we found out that they didn't this year!) So we made subs.

His parents started The Miracle of the Wooden Shoe tradition. It was a 4 day tradition of surprise gifts at the door. So Dave read the book to the kids on the final day.
These are the gifts the kids discovered each day.

And then we played Christmas Pictionary.

This is what the tree looked like on Christmas eve before the Three Wise Men came. The kids picked one present before bed.

They went to bed with excitement of sugar fairies dancing in their head!

Christmas Choir

Here is a sample of the kids choir. They practiced every week for 6 weeks and then had two performances. I was impressed in the changes that took place within the group! They were amazing. Trent's head shows up between the two little girls on the end of the front row and you can see Haylee peak through near the directors head. Hope you enjoy!

Nativity Festival

Haylee and Trent were in a childrens Christmas Choir this year. One of the events they sang at was the Tacoma Nativity Festival. It was AMAZING. They had hundreds of handmade nativities. I was completely attracted to the simplicity of these block nativities.

Another block one that was placed in the childrens room. The kids were able to play with all the nativities in this room.
I didn't know they were there the night Jesus was born!

It was a fabulous event and I loved all the nativities. There was a candy nativity that the children were able to eat! I am going to try to post a segment of the kids singing, but I don't know if I can get it to upload. Check back tomorrow and see if it works or not!