Best Surprise

My son found out today that Superheros aren't real.  That makes my heart so sad for him!  I could tell he was a little down about it, but he's taken it in stride.  He's no longer going to be a Superhero when he grows up (Boo!).

After dinner, homework and baths, the kids were in a creative mood.  Ok, so they're always in a creative mood.  And this is the result of some very serious hard work (including 2 drafts).  The first one said "I love when I hanged out with you."  I'm pretty sure that's what this one is supposed to say.  

Just what this Momma needed :)

December

December is always a crazy month of finishing up Christmas shopping and gearing up for Christmas break.  This break was different, though.  This is the first time I've been working while the kids had a long break.  Thankfully my husband took the two weeks off (with the hope of getting some work on the basement done), otherwise I'm not sure what I would have done.

At the beginning on December I got to hang out with a few of my friends.  I've known these ladies for about 8 or so years and we've been through a lot together.  We met through BSF, and I treasure each one of them even though I don't see them enough :(  

My mother in law came in for my husband's birthday and we went to get our tree.  Look at how dirty my Jeep is...it loves being dirty :)

 My mother in law came in a second time with my sister in law and my nephew Sam.  We exchanged gifts and they loved everything; such content kids.

The Sunday before Christmas we let the kids wear their Christmas outfits.  That way Grandma Karl and Aunt Wendy would have a chance to see the kids lookin' good.  I get to the church an hour early, so the kids go with Dad later.  I'm guessing they were getting tired of taking pictures!

On Christmas Eve, we got our first snow of the season...and it was so beautiful (I love snow!).  Christmas Day was made a little more magical because of the fresh 6-8 inches of snow.  The kids and Dad went outside to play.  An in the next few weeks, we found the ONLY thing Amelia will do all by herself - play in snow.  She loves it!  I have a feeling I'm going to have a snow bunny on my hands.

Christmas day!  Eli got a legos table that took a whopping 20 minutes to put together...

And Amelia got her very first doll house.  This monster took 4 hours and multiple days to put together!

During the break we had a few play dates.  It was so great to have friends to our house so the kids experienced what it's like to share their toys with others.  

And then Eli got sick.  He was down and out with a fever from Sunday to Friday.  He was good for a day, then woke up screaming because his ear hurt.  I took him to the ER, where he was diagnosed with an outer ear infection.  We had to do 3 drops of meds in his ear 4X a day for a week...so crazy!  This past Monday we went to the ENT and he's good to go Phew!

In the midst of all this Eli got his new braces.  I should get a picture of them...they're huge!  Of course, that's just because his feet are ginormous.  He wears a pair during the day, and different pair at night.  Poor kid.  He's really struggling in school right now; he can't seem to find any friends :(  I'm going to talk to the teacher about finding some for him.  He's such a bossy pants know it all that I'm sure others don't want to be around him.  Sigh.  And so it begins.

At least he hasn't lost his sense of humor!  LOL 

On NY Eve, Amelia and I went bowling with some friends from church.  She had her wild eyes on, so I softly asked her where she was feeling her feelings.  She pointed to her chest, which means she's nervous.  She told me she wanted me to stay close to her.  She sought me out and kept her eyes on me at all times during the night...progress!  She was also talking to men, but not hanging all over them.  Woohoo!  She's starting to attach to me.  Major progress and major encouragement.

November: Month of Thanks

I'm so glad I like to take pictures of our events because otherwise I would have forgotten all the fun!  November was really busy with school work.  The kids bring home packets every other week or so filled with words to define.  This hasn't been a problem for Eli, but with Amelia I felt like it was a little much.  Added on to that is spelling work, work they didn't get done in school, reading for 20 minutes, and math work.  Somehow I'm supposed to get all that done, fix dinner and get the kids to bed by 8pm.  Yeah, that doesn't happen!  I spend an hour with them on homework and call it a day.  They need fun time and exercise, too.  They aren't playing video games or sitting in front of the TV, so I'm fine if they get a few frowny faces from the teachers.  In reality, the teachers have been very supportive of the hour rule.  

Parent/teacher conferences were in November.  Amelia still needs a lot of work with behavior, ie sitting still in class, not hiding in the bathroom when things get tough, and being overly goofy.  She's come a long way, but has a long way to go.  Eli is a really smart kid, but his attitude has gotten the best of him.  He's such a know it all and bossy pants that it gets him in trouble with the other kids.  Because of his snotitude, as I call it, kids are starting to pick on him.  I feel bad, but he has to learn to simmer down and chill.  By the way, he gets it from me :(

He was so exhausted from the day, that he fell asleep mid play with a car on his chest.  

We went to Buffalo to visit family for Thanksgiving.  We had such a great time.  My husband's Aunt Darlene threw a great Thanksgiving feast, which happened to be my mother in law's birthday.

Here, the cousins are watching Cars.

Aunt Wendy being goofy!

The kids then went on a scavenger hunt around the yard and house (mostly the yard, though).  One clue was to find the birthday person, who then read them some silly jokes and handed out $1 each.  The kids loved it!

At the end the kids got all sorts of fun prizes in a bag - everyone the same thing.  What a great party!  The kids are still talking about it.

I'm not sure exactly when it was, but some time in October I think, I started taking medication for anxiety.  I think I may have been experiencing panic attacks because of all the stress I've been under.  Between Eli's physical needs, and Amelia's emotional needs, plus school and behavior issues, I was really drowning.  The good news is that it's helping with the anxiety.  The bad news is that my memory is being severely affected.  

On the job front, I still love my jobs working for the church.  My favorite part of my jobs is that I get to connect people together.  Love, love, love my church!  

October...an eventful month

I hadn't realized how eventful October was for us until I stumbled upon some time to blog.  The kids are in quiet time, I've read over my Cheerleading instruction (hopefully I can update you on how I became a cheerleading coach with ZERO experience!), and I've found an extra 20mins or so to update myself and you on our fall events in pictures, of course.

Dave let the kids pick out bulbs of their choice at the store, and then he let them plant them.  We'll find out in a few months what they look like (if the squirrels haven't eaten them all!).

And, yes, my kids still love each other this much!

 The weather was nice enough for lots of weekend biking.  The kids got really, really good!

The colors of fall are SO beautiful.  Reds, yellows, oranges all pop!

My husband got to drive a retired stock car around the MI International Speedway.  It was really cool to watch, especially since he won his race.  He kept hitting the rev limit and said he wanted to go even faster.  No, thanks, babe.  140 is fast enough!  The kids think he's the greatest race car driver ever :)

 My mother in law, sister in law and her boys all came in to cheer him on.  I love when they come visit.

With trees come the inevitable task of raking the yard, which of course, means leaf diving.

Amelia's Daisy troop went roller skating.  This was her first experience.  She was a little shaky at first...

But then she caught on and was off like a rocket!  "No, Mom, you stay here this time."

This is a picture of my son on a Saturday morning so enthralled by the TV that he sat for nearly 30mins watching this show.  What show might that be?  Why, This Old House, of course!