Happy Birthday, Sunshine!

January 30th, 2012

Birthday Breakfast for Sunshine!

We celebrated our traditional under-4-years-old birthday breakfast with Sunshine today!  The 4 and over breakfast is 6:20 Mass and IHOP breakfast with daddy.  Sunshine was extremely happy with her ice cream and waffles!

January 30th, 2012

The One Where He Rocked!

We have really enjoyed being a part of wrestling this season.  It was sad to know that this would be our last tournament until next year, especially when Zep decided to end the season with such a bang!

The Third Match

The bracket was really scary!  Eight kids total - double elimination.  First off, he had to wrestle another little boy from our club.  Zep fought so hard.  At the end it came down to points.  The other boy had it won.  The next round came up and I started worrying a bit.  The kid looked noticeably larger than Zep.  Thirty seconds later I sat slamming the mat with excitement and wiping tears from my eyes (I saw hubby doing the same thing - he'll probably never admit it though!).  Zep had pinned the boy and won the match!  Pride doesn't even begin to tell you wonderful I felt for my little boy.  He has been so timid this season, and his emotions play such a part in how he does.  He needed that win so badly.  In the third match, Zep faced an opponent who had beaten him in another tournament.  The match went to an extra round after the scoring became tied up.  In the last several seconds, the other boy scored.  But you should have seen our little man fight through the whole thing.  He never slowed down and fought till the bitter end.

We couldn't have asked for any more from Zep this season.  Each tournament he improved tremendously.  Not bad for a kid that didn't even know what wrestling was four months ago!

January 28th, 2012

We Might Be a Gaming Family...

Our kids like video games...a lot!  And around here we start 'em young!  

Before the judgement - we limit gaming to Friday and Saturdays.  They would live in front of the TV every second of every day otherwise.

January 21st, 2012

Our Little Chef!

Sunshine got a pink retro kitchen for Christmas.  She L.O.V.Es it!  She frequently brings her babies downstairs and feeds them the yummy recipes she puts together.  Such fun!

January 20th, 2012

Finding a new me...

The most amazing thing happened about a month ago, and amazingly it is still happening.  I learned how to overcome one of my most despised character traits...laziness.  I really wish I could tell you exactly how it happened, but I can't.  I have a sneaking suspicion though.  See, about a month ago I also made it a MUST to begin getting up 45 minutes before the kids to spend some quiet time reading devotional books and saying my morning prayers.  Call it a coincidence, but I surely don't think it was.

Can I just brag that I've not once, over the last month, missed my wake up time?  For those of you who know me this is HUGE!  I love my sleep.  But it hasn't even slightly occurred to me each morning as the alarm is going off to hit the snooze and enter back into dreamland.  I've been completely awed by this new me.  I know my dear hubby has been as well.  

With the early wake ups has also come this crazy motivation to keep the house clean.  The laundry, the bathrooms, picking up, organizing...it's all being done.  It's like I've been replaced by robo-mom.

But before I brag too much, about midweek last week, it all started building up on me.  I was burnt out, and in my burnout I started to feel bad for myself.  How was I going to keep up this pace?  Heck, the fourth baby isn't even here yet.  How am I going to do it in a few months when he/she is here?  I had built up the argument for hubby...you know the one -please, please love me enough to get me a maid.  Unfortunately, hubby didn't bite.  

So, the next day I got up and did it all again.  And the next day, again.  It just continued.  Burnout or not, I had to keep going.  It was during this time that it really hit me.  I signed up for this job.  We don't have four children by accident.  God and I have this agreement that if he sees fit for me to mother more children, than by all means let Him bring it on!  But did I honestly think that I was going to have the same amount of downtime with four children as I did with one or even two?  Obviously I've been crazy enough to believe just that.  

The moment I started to really understand and appreciate the job I had been given and prayed for was the moment that the burnout went away.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely exhausted most every night.  The stray dish that hubby throws in the sink after I finished cleaning them all hours ago still drives me up a wall.  But I'm no longer begging for a maid, because I know I can do this.  I'm certain that I can do this, because God only gives us what we can handle.  I trust that even in the times I feel like I can't go on that I have the Lord to lean on.  

Here we mothers sit in this never ending, thankless job we've been given.  I don't know about you, but it's the greatest gift I've ever opened.  Thanks be to God!

Schooling Bright Eyes

I've had a rocky start figuring out how to teach Bright Eyes.  He's my unique child.  He and I differ completely in personality type and learning style, so there has been a lot of adjustment on my part to figure out what works for him. It's also taken me way out of my comfort zone, as I have to use art to teach rather than pure facts.  For example, I can show B.E. letter flashcards, and he'll only mange to get 75% of them right.  But if asked to write each and every letter - he can do it.  He learns in images.

In January, I decided to implement an actual curriculum for B.E.  One of the programs we decided to use was Saxon Kindergarten.  Saxon is one of those math programs that people either love or despise.  I'm on the love side.  Being a math person myself, I love to see the progression of how they are teaching concepts.  Something as simple as counting randomly on a number chart morphs beautifully into addition facts or number patterns.  They do it painlessly, and most of the time the child doesn't even know it's happening.  So, this was an easy choice when choosing a math program for B.E.

It has started out extremely slow.  The first couple weeks it was basically an introduction to different math manipulatives.  Each day he was asked to spend several minutes building designs with counting bears, linking cubes, and/or pattern blocks.  I just sit amazed at what he comes up with.  I'm used to the creations that Zep gives me when asked to use his creative side.  Zep is like me...we like facts, not creativity.  So, seeing these designs that B.E. presents me with has been such a joy.  I have to be sure not to interrupt his creativity until he has completed his masterpiece.  I can't imagine how he would do in a school setting as time would be limited.  It's going to be so much fun teaching this little man.

January 3rd & 19th, 2012

Sunshine's Pretty Coat

Being one of only two granddaughters on my side of the family has it's advantages.  I'm sure she won't admit it, but my mommy likes to spoil Sunshine just as much as we do.  She gets that from her own mommy!  Sunshine loved the beautiful coat she received as a gift from her Gramma!

January 15th, 2012

I'm still writing...sort of

There isn't much happening on this blog, but hop on over to The Homeschool Classroom for my January post.  

The Best of Friends

Bright Eyes and Sunshine have the best relationship.  They love playing together!  I frequently hear them giggling from upstairs as they build and knock down castles or make music on the keyboard.

B.E. does enjoy aggravating his little sister quite a bit as well though.  I attribute this to a personality trait inherited from his father.  Don't believe me?  Ask his mother or his own sisters - I promise it's true!  Thankfully, both his sisters still speak to him today, so I think B.E. and Sunshine should be okay!

January 9th, 2012

Pretty in Pigtails!

January 3rd, 2012

Winter!

Zep's winter pics for Saxon!

January 3rd, 2012