I'm back

I needed a break for awhile and honestly didn't have a whole lot to write lately.

Fantastic Five is growing up whether I like it or not....

Alaina has been turning into a teenager before my very eyes-in good ways and trying ways. She has become friends with a group of girls that wear full make-up, all have cell-phones, and talk about things I wouldn't think they would be talking about at 10!! I am happy she tells me everything, but it just worries me all the more. I don't think she really fits in with these girls, but she just wants to belong. They are now begging her to get on facebook and a cell phone. I don't want to be an old fashioned mom, but she is only 10!! I am debating the facebook thing, but I worry so much about cyber-bullying and cyber-stalking. About the phone-who would she need to call that she can't call on our regular phone when she gets home. I told her no on that and will reconsider in Junior high. She totally understands my view which I love her for. She actually could care less about any of it, so I won't stress over it too much (: I thought I had a few more years before any of this, but girls seem to grow up so fast-why can't they stay young longer? Why do they feel the NEED to grow up so fast? I wonder if my own mom questioned the same thing when her girls were growing up....

Jonnie has been busy going to birthday parties, harassing his sister, and teaching his little brother words such as wiener. Gotta love little boys. I don't know where he gets his energy sometimes. He is always dancing, singing, wrestling (whoever is available), and making some kind of noise. I always laugh later when thinking about him, but at the time he makes me want to scream!! We are going to his school tomorrow night for Family movie night and seeing Open Season-2. He is so excited and I am hoping they are serving popcorn! (: He wants to start Karate so bad, so I am looking into classes for him. I think it will be a great way to channel his energy. One class I am looking at says a parent can learn Karate free with their child. I don't know how he would feel if I did it with him. It could go either way.

Sawyer is growing up so fast all of a sudden. He started climbing out of his crib last week, so I hope to put up his toddler bed this weekend. It is so nice to have him just walk into my room in the middle of the night instead of having to go get him (: He is also starting to use his potty chair more and more. He now takes off his diaper and goes on his own at times! It is so exciting. Tonight I let him wear a pair of underwear (nothing cuter than that) and he was so excited. After awhile he ended up peeing in them and he was so confused as to why they were all wet and itchy. He was sad when I put a diaper back on him. It is a start and I am excited for him! He is such a funny kid (: We are starting his ECFE class again tomorrow and he is so excited and can't stop talking about it-can't wait!

Fizzy Bath

Sawyer used a bath fizzy for the first time. Grandma Karen bought one for him and after carrying it around for 4 hours straight until his bath, it was finally time. He was so excited!
"This is cool, mom!" The water turned a beautiful shade of rust.....
"uhh, something is starting to show....."
"Get it away, get it away, what is it!!!"
"Oh, it was a dinosaur. Do you want to ride on my boat?"
Bath fizzies are pretty cool.

Ok, am I really that horrible?

Two examples that I think I may be doing something wrong or I am doing it right and they are just plain wrong.

1. This morning I stumbled down to the basement in a sleep induced state to fetch my 8 year old (yes, I did say 8) a pair of jeans from the dryer that I had dried over-night. When arriving back upstairs, I see my son laying in the hallway and actually had the nerve to yell (well, in a loud voice anyway-it's all yelling to me in the morning) "You were supposed to get my jeans ready last night and have them already waiting in the hall for me this morning!" He had a mean face on, too. I have to tell you that you cannot yell at me in the morning and expect me to be silent. So, I came down on him really hard and told him that he in not entitled, I will no longer be gathering his princely clothes like a servant, etc... I mean the nerve of him, right?

2. Last night I noticed that Alaina's goldfish's tail fin was in shreds and half of it was gone. While she was at school today, like a wonderful mother, I researched the Internet to figure out what was going on. I found out that it was fin rot and it is treatable......so, off to the pet store I go (I should make you aware that we are broke this week with no extra money) because I scraped together enough $$ to buy the medication and some other fish supplies for her totalling $20, but that didn't matter as long as I save Alaina's favorite fish. After I picked her up from school, I told her the sad news and that I got meds and all should be ok-I was proud of myself for being so proactive. When we got home, I cleaned out the tank, refilled it, medicated it (not a quick, easy task) only to hear from my beautiful daughter that if the fish dies it is all my fault-did you hear that, MY fault!! When I gave her my stern mother look, she said, "Well, you didn't go get his medicine right away when you first saw that he was sick." In a snotty pre-teen voice, mind you. After letting her know that I found the shredded fish at midnight (I was still up doing laundry for the prince so he could wear his precious jeans) and that there was no way I was driving to the CLOSED pet store at that time of night, etc...she did apologize and could see my point-I think..... She is now in charge of all things fish related.

I know I shouldn't take it all personally, but geesh how much can one mother do and not be appreciated! I am starting to feel like my own mother did. Pretty soon I am going to be quoting her-"I am not your maid around here!" and the all time fave "Oh, mother tonight!"

At least there is hope for the littlest. My sweet 2 year old (when rocking him tonight) smiled up at me and said, "Wuv you, mom" That, right there, makes it all worth it.

Christmas, one more time....

Ahhh, you can't get enough of Christmas, right? Since we were snowed out a couple weeks ago, our Christmas program was post-posted until today. It wasn't quite the same, but it was still sweet and the kids did a great job! I was so proud of Alaina and Jonnie! They both memorized their lines perfectly and looked so cute (:

Alaina was an angel (that's her sitting up high) and she was part of a live Nativity set in a Christmas shop.

Here's all the kids singing one of the Christmas songs-for having a small church, we sure have a lot of kids! The preschoolers are just adorable!

Jonnie was also an angel for awhile until he had to change parts. He looked so cute talking about the "earthly treasures."
Alaina had quite a few lines and I was so proud of her-a couple years ago, I don't think we could have gotten her up there, much less speaking (:

For Jonnie's second part he was a shopper......I could tell he was a little nervous by the way he is standing (:
Here is Alaina for her last big line of the play-I was once again impressed that she memorized it all-it was a tough one!

Here they are at the end. Sydnie ( a first grader in my class) invited everyone to dinner afterward and said the prayer-it was adorable!
Well, once again we pulled it off ( I always wonder if we will) and it turned out so cute. The kids work so hard and it is fun to see them all up there impressing their parents (:

I hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday and Happy New Year, as well. We did the annual family party with lots of finger foods, smoothies, board game, Jon's parents, movies, and this year we had my niece Kate over. We all had a lot of fun! The only resolution I have this year is to get organized!! That's in every area of my life-house, finances, kid's stuff, etc. I think if I am organized, everything else will fall into place-THIS is the year!! What is everyone else's goals or resolutions?