Future Mad Scientists

Yesterday we finally made our trip to the FW science museum. Tony has been asking for forever to see a mummy and the exhibit leaves Jan 3. I had no idea how packed it would be. This was our first trip since the museum was remodeled. Brian and I were a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it is super nice, but we kind of liked the old smaller museum. This one is beautiful, more spread out, but has a mall feeling rather than a museum feeling. The Egypt exhibit was awesome. I was a bit bummed that my kids weren't more excited, and the mummy kind of freaked Angie out. She refused to look at it. But the whole exhibit was very interesting and she did say that she liked the hieroglyph exhibit.


I have two other science musuems that I hope to check out in the coming year, The Mayborn at Baylor, and the San Antonio HEB tree house. I have to tell you that the Planetarium was AMAZING! I know very little about stars/space/astronomy, but after that visit we will be visiting other planetariums for sure. They gave us a link for a star chart to print out and put together, and if you haven't tried Star Walk on the iphone, I think it is my favorite app ever. I was so surprised at how much the kids enjoyed the planetarium, even Aiden and Emi. When I asked the kids to tell me their one favorite thing of the day Aiden said that he thought the "trip through the milky wave was the best". I probably should have corrected him, but I thought it was super cute. They had a couple meteorites on exhibit, and Zachary showed me a rock today that I am pretty sure is one. Its the same color and texture as the one they had and it is very heavy. Who knows? He's had it on his shelf at least a year, I would be curious to find out though. That reminds me, I hope to also get to the meteroite exhibit at TCU.


When I asked Zachary his favorite thing, he refused to tell me, and when Amie was cutting his hair today, he told her to go to Sea world instead! My inlaws call him a ball buster. He's a mess for sure. Later he will subtly bring up the thing he liked.
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I packed a cooler and they no longer allow outside food and drink, so we ate our lunch in the car. The kids didn't mind because they got to watch tv while they ate and Brian and I sat on the tailgate. Dave Ramsey would be proud, but its not just about the money, but about health and waste. It is ridiculous for us to buy hot dogs, nachos etc and watch the kids not eat. But, make them a sandwich and give them some fruit and they tear it up. Now I did let them have cheetos but still what a treat. I hope that they have good memories of lunches like this.

These are just a few pictures. Overall, it was a good day.

On to the New Year

Well, Our Christmas has come and gone. The kids slept in this morning, highly unusual, and definately a sign they are ill. The oldest four were on antibiotics. The boys were doing pretty well this morning, but Angie did not feel well at all. She made it through present opening and then I took her back to the Dr. He said that he wanted to see her again if she wasn't feeling better today. So, I went and picked up a different medication for her, and came home to find Emi running fever. Well, the local pharmacy closed at 1pm, so back to Brownwood I went for the medicine that Dr Woodward called in for Emi.

I came home and made chicken ala Stella like we planned. I should have made Campbell's chicken noodle soup no more than everyone ate. I'm a little disappointed that we missed the candlelight service at church, but the kids all felt bad, and it just seemed wrong to go to a Christmas service without my family. Praying next week is better.

Funny thing when you have five kids, you have an entire minivan full of gifts, and when you get it in the house, each kid has a relatively small pile. The big ticket gifts this year were: Angie got a new bedset that I guess you would describe as more "tween". Its aqua and white and brown, and of course it had to have polka dots. Thank you JC Penney's for selling each piece individually and for being the only place that I ordered from that didn't offer free shipping, but once I saw this set, I didn't like anything else. The other big ticket item was an Ipod Touch. We bought one for all the kids to share. I have to say that I was extremely proud that they weren't super excited about it. Don't get me wrong, they were fighting over it this evening, but around the tree, they were more interested in other things.

I work tomorrow. Blah. Its so tough to leave the kids when they aren't feeling well, so, I have to say if I get cancelled tomorrow, I'm not going to be super disappointed. Census drops during the holidays, and mom said that they were cleaning house yesterday, but I don't mind earning time and a half for tomorrow. I've got our debt snowball planned out for 2011.

Merry Christmas

Well, the kids all got a sinus infection for Christmas, so we didn't get to go the museum or to see the lights. I hope they are feeling better in the morning, since we are doing Christmas tomorrow. I made homemade cinnamon rolls for the first time, and they are entirely too tasty. I will have to make them again before next Christmas, because I didn't let Angie help me and made her keep her germs as far away as possible. Brian and I will both take some to work Christmas day.

I still plan on making the Chicken dish even if Brian and I are the only ones up to eating it. Its been a couple of years since I made it, so we are both pretty excited. Right now we are anxiously waiting for the kids to settle down so that we can set our living room up.

You would think that I'd be bummed about working Christmas, and I am a little. But tomorrow will be just as special, and the time and a half going into the New year won't hurt either. This is our first Christmas that the kids haven't gone down to my mom and dad's so that Brian and I could do gifts. I have to say, it really threw Tony off. He says "what do you mean we aren't going to nana's?" How's Santa going to come if we aren't there? Since we have to stay there tomorrow night? Are you sure Santa will come tonight?" It was cracking me up. This is one kid that totally doesn't believe in Santa, hasn't for at least 3 years, but he's the one that plays it up the most.

Tony was so upset tonight trying to figure out if his Sunday school party was last SUnday or this SUnday. He said that they were having a party for baby Jesus. He said he volunteered to bring the party game, and was planning to do "Pin the baby Jesus in the manger." He did not appreciate that I found this hysterical. :)

Early Christmas Present. and other random stuff

Brian's petscan was negative!! Whoop whoop!! Praise God. This week I haven't felt too spiffy. I went to our last FPU class and Brian stayed home with Tony who has been very ill. While I was sitting in the class, a peace washed over me, and I knew that Brian's scan was going to be fine. For the first time in three years, I felt like we could plan for the future, like we would see the goals he talks about in the class. I'm not always the most spiritual person, and it wasn't anything that was said, but rather it was something that I FELT. I text Brian that his PET scan was fine right before he called me to let me know. I already knew.

The kids are on Christmas break from school. Yes, their school still calls it Christmas break, not winter break. Next week we are going to the Fort worth science museum to see the mummy exhibit before it leaves, and then Thursday we are making cinnamon rolls, and going to see the lights in san angelo. We are having our Christmas on Friday because Brian and I both have to work Saturday. It will still be fun though. We will have cinnamon rolls, read the Christmas story, and have a nice dinner. We usually have Italian food, and this year will be no exception. Chicken Estella. The older kids only have one assignment over the break. We read the Invention of Hugo Cabret, and the kids went to the NCCIL to see his art on display. Their GT teacher wants them to try to do a pencil scetch in his style from the book. She have them paper and said they can draw anything they want. Since they are getting drawing books for Christmas, we will work on this project after. Such a change from last year when Brian was getting chemo during the holidays.

Last weekend my mom took Angie shopping for clothes and dresses for Christmas. I had to laugh. I think my mom was a little disappointed because she said the only thing that Angie got excited about all day was the material and the pattern they got at the fabric store. When I talked to Angie on the phone, she was super excited that nana was going to teach her to sew her own pajamas. I'm pretty excited because the material patches the new bedset that Brian and I got her for Christmas. :)

Two funny kid sayings today: First, Emi was in the kitchen dancing with her dad and singing "Shake shake shake, shake your booty." She pokes Brian in the saggy pajama pants and says, daddy you don't have a booty, its missing". Then, before dinner, Angie and Zachary were supposed to clean the table. Brian and I are often amazed at the lengths that Zach will go to avoid work. So, Zachary goes to put a toy up and doesn't come back until Angie is almost done. Brian gets onto him and Zachary says "I'm really sorry, I'm just going to take my marbles and hide in shame in the laundry room until dinner is ready." Haha. I couldn't help but laugh.

Blogging and Resolutions

Well, today I read my friend Christi's blog and it really inspired me. I NEED to blog more. Most of my blogs are about Brian and the kids. Everyday, uneventful stuff. But, I am not a scrapbooker, so I need to do better. So, even though it is December, I decided that this will be my New Year's resolution.

Let me catch you up on the goings on here since before Thanksgiving. Tuesday they had a family feast at Tuesday school, and Aiden's class sang a couple songs. Well, Thanksgiving, mom and I worked, so we had our get together on Friday. I was under the weather that day, so I slept in a bit, but we went down to mom's and had a wonderful meal and hung around and played cards. Angie really likes to play the game Golf and you can add many players, so that is what we did. We had one seath that people kind of rotated out of as they had to do things.

The kids had a big GT project due at the beginning of December. They had to pick an endangered animal, research it and write a report. There was a list of things that had to be mentioned, like, habitat, diet, etc, and they had to include photos. Then they had to complute an art project that related to the subject. Angie chose Pandas. For the first time, she typed out her report, and that was a little slow going, but she did all the typing herself. I helped her edit it, and showed her how to insert pictures. Brian suggested that we get a keyboarding program for them to start working on. For, her art project, she chose to make a panda out of beans. Brian was going to trace it with our projector, but I felt i could help her free hand one. It turned out pretty well. Tony wanted to do a poster, so we dod a trifold poster on alligator gar. He was going to do a painting on canvas, but he decided to do his painting on the outside of the trifold which I though was a pretty good idea. He wrote his report on paper, but I did help him type and print it some, then we glued it to the poster. It seems each year they are able to be a little more independent.

It was really hard for both Brian and I not to take over, and it would have been so easy for us to take over, but I really want these kids to grow up to be self motivated. I've also been helping the kids with UIL. At dinner the other night, Tony said "mom I am so glad that you tricked me into doing UIL. Ahhh, words every mom wants to hear, lol. But I told him that he WILL do one event a year, and that if he doesn't pick it I will. He thought he was being sly by telling me that his grade hadn't had any sign ups, and then come do find out they did and he "forgot" to sign up. So, I emailed the teacher and told him that he forgot and she gave him the study materials. Sir Tony got 1st place in Music memory. He will also get a team medal for 2nd place team. While I may have to make Tony participate, I have to reel Angie in a little. I told her three events MAX. So she picked her three, but then she had to resign from oral reading because the changed the event schedule and it conflicted with art. So, she got third in music memory, along with a team 1st, and first in art, along with a team 1st.

Aiden had a program at Tuesday school yesterday. It was interesting to see him with the other kids. He is alot smaller than everyone else in his class, and he may be the youngest. They separated him and Audrey and there was already another Aiden in her class. His teachers are very complimentary of him every week. I've heard that he's very smart and sweet, but his size isn't the only thing that reminds me of Tony. Aiden doesn't really like the other kids that much.

One of Aiden's Tuesday school teachers has been volunteering at the school and reading with Zachary. Man he has really turned a corner the last couple of weeks. I have been pulling teeth with him for over a year getting him to learn sounds and sight words. But, all of a sudden, he's READING!!! Not only that, he is starting to like it. He's also writing more and he will ask me how to spell words. And, without even realizing it, he's teaching Aiden.

Angies voice lessons are going well. She is learning to read music and seems to be really enjoying it. We went to our first Opera as a family. It was titled "the Emperor's New Clothes". It was kid friendly, and her voice teacher had the lead. Angie really liked it, but I was really surprised at how much Emi liked it. I also felt alot better about her choice to stop taking dance when her dance teacher didn't even recognize her, but the dean of the pre college music department came up and hugged her and told her that she was glad she came. Then last weekend, Angie sang at the mall in a Christmas concert. She sang mele kalikimaka. Lol. But she did very well and was very brave to stand up there alone and sing. We were really proud.

Contemplations

Yesterday was an interesting day. Wednesdays are busy days for us with school, my volunteering, gymnastics and church. But that isn't really the interesting part. Yesterday after gymnastics we went to the hospital to see a little girl who was in Zachary's class. She had her appendix removed and his class made her a card. I stopped and got her a super cute balloon. Well, we get there and Zachy tells her he hopes she feels better soon, and Tony starts nudging me that he wants to sing her a song. Well, there were several people in the room so I tell him no. We stayed a few minutes and when we got into the hall he proceeds to tell me how disappointed he is that he didn't get to sing. We talked about it and I agreed to let him go back in there. I knock and tell them that he says he's not going to be happy unless he gets to sing. So, off he goes totally making the song up. It was great. He does this all the time, so I forget what a gift and a blessing it is. I thought the girls dad was going to cry. Her mom posted on FB that Tony made there day. I've been kind of stressed lately and it was good to be reminded that children are a blessing.

We were at a low point with our FPU. Yesterday I was wondering if it was even worth it. I was also wondering if I should just go back to working full time. So, at gymnastics, I read in my devotional that I'm doing right now titled "Raising Godly Kids, and I got my answers. Yesterdays lesson was about the most important thing you can give your kids is your time. Then we went to our FPU class and the lesson was on mutual funds, but it was also very inspirational about making the climb. Sometimes when you are climbing a hill, you have to go down in order to get some speed to get up.

Angie has to be a school at 0730 to practice for UIL Art. Zachary hates it, but I think it is going to be a great thing for me. I dropped them off, went for a walk and did my devotional on the front porch. I had a whole hour to myself before Aiden and Emi got up. Aiden is a momma's boy. Such a double edged sword. I love it, but sometimes I feel like I'm being smothered and can't breathe. Today I feel more prepared to meet his emotional needs. And not surprisingly, he is not nearly as clingy!

Happy Halloween

Well, I haven't put any pictures on here in a while so here are a few. Hope everyone had a great holiday.

Fall

This fall has been a busy one. We have been to the beach, took the kids apple picking, and are still trying to settle into a routine. Brian finished his treatments up and I am so glad to have that stress behind us for a little while. We are taking the financial peace university class at the church. We have been working the baby steps for a while, but are hoping to get a break from medical expenses long enough to get somewhere on baby step two. I've worked some extra shifts this month, and signed up to work Thanksgiving and Christmas. Not popular decisions, but "live like no one else and later you can LIVE like noone else". Right? We've been talking to our kids about money alot and have even busted out the financial peace jr. Before Brian got sick, we were working the commission system pretty well, so now we just need to get back on it. I also have turned control of the checkbook over to Brian. He is very accountable to me about his spending, but I need to be more accountable to him. Plus, he has no idea what's in there. He's also done some grocery shopping lately with our food envelope. He really had no idea about the cost of things.

I'm re-reading "A Well Trained Child." No, I am not a homeschool mom, but this book has such wonderful information in it. Truthfully, every parent who is involved in their childs education is a homeschool parent to some extent. I really need to sit down and reprioritize what I want the kids to be learning. We start alot of things and don't finish them. Now, sometimes we come back to them sometimes not. Its been a rough year for Tony in particular. I won't dredge through the details, but school was not going well, and we were seriously considering pulling him out. We were just working through the details and trying to make him understand that it wasn't his fault. Well, his teacher is no longer there, and as of Thursday he has a new one. I've heard several versions of why his teacher left, but I don't know which one is the truth. But, I do know, that for the first time this year, he came home from school excited about it. He couldn't stop talking about his teacher and all the things he learned that day. He said that he was amazed that she even made math fun! Brian met her on the class field trip on Friday, I will probably meet her this week, but she has already scored major points with me. My kids love to learn, and I don't want that to ever be taken away from them.

I started volunteering at the school again. I really debated and prayed about this, because I felt like I let them down last year. Yes, they were understanding, and yes I had a good excuse with Brian's stem cell transplant, but I still don't like committing to things and then not following through. Plus, it takes time away from my own children still at home, Aiden and Emi. Well, I ended up signing up anyway. There seems to be ALOT more volunteers this year. Last year there were 4 of us, and I think there are at least triple that. So, instead of volunteering a whole morning, I'm volunteering an hour and a half in the afternoon. Most moms are volunteering in their kids class. Makes sense right? Well, I'm in the second grade class. Its a small class, 14 kids, and I listen to them read. I really feel that I'm supposed to be there. I listen to kids read and then I help them log onto their new AR system to test on the books. The books that they read to me, they passed. The books they read to themselves or at home, not so much. You can tell the kids that don't have someone at home helping them with reading.

Speaking of reading, and a well trained child, I have their homeschool reading curriculum as well. I loved their history books, the story of the world, and thought I'd give it a try. Well, I don't like it at all. I thought that I would because its phonics based, but I do not. So its back to the drawing board. I've really been trying to devote more time to teaching Zachy how to read. He's sounding things out, and learning site words. He reads simple books to me and then I read a library book to him.

Angie had her first voice recital this Saturday. It was really nice. The kids each performed a song, and then they had refreshments and then they had a class. Angie seemed to really enjoy her class. They studied the orchestra and even got to get their hands on some instruments. She did pretty well for her first performance, but she was so nervous, that I had butterflies in my stomach. Afterward, Zachary tells me "mom do you know how old that boy was playing the piano?" I say no, he says well I heard his mom say that he's 5. That means I'm old enough to take lessons and I think I should start next week. Haha. He wants to take voice. Tony says he wants to learn how to play the violin. Sometime I really need to write about his interest in Celtic music, but, if I have three kids in music lessons, as Dave would say, I need to stay gazelle intense.

Nerd alert....My next post will probably be about UIL :)

Ok, I don't know where this blog will take us, my mind is kind of a jumble at the moment. I read some of my back blogs and decided that I need to quit promising pictures that I never produce. Sorry about that. This cool weather has me drinking coffee again, and it probably isn't helping matters that I am on my third cup. Thanks again to my father in law, Sal, for your wonderful gift. My coffee still isnt as good as yours though. :)

First, I know you are concerned about Brian. His first treatment went pretty well. I think one of the worst part for him is the hung over feeling for the pre-meds. They make him so tired, but then he can't sleep, partially from all the weird jerky movements I think. Then the next day, he's just kind of moving through a fog. He had to take a day of PTO Saturday so that he could be near the bathroom. He hasn't exactly built up much since he's been back to work, but I am taking a class in October so I will have 16 extra hours of pay that month, so he won't have to feel guilty about being off work.

I am enjoying being part time. I'm not going to lie, its a HUGE cut in pay and we really have to stick to our budget, but it is so worth it. I had hoped to pick up some extra days here and there to start building our savings up, but that hasn't panned out and in fact I was even cancelled one day. First time in the 4 years I've been there. Census has been really crazy at work. One day we are busting at the seams and the next day our floor is half empty. This is probably the first time I can say that I am seeing the economy affect my job.

Each week when I go to work, the kids and I have this song and dance we do where they pretend that they are going to miss me. I always come up with something. You like having electricity? Groceries etc, well then I have to go to work. Last week, I said, "you like having gymnastics and voice lessons, Angie?" well then, I have to go to work. My sweet sweet daughter tells me, "mom, I'd gladly give those things up to have you here with me". Awww. She must have gotten her sweetness from Brian, because she sure didn't get it from me.

I went with my parents this weekend to Matagorda. It was really kind of comical and I could really make the national lampoons version of this trip. Dad had to clean mud dobber nests off the trailers ac blades. We spent the night before alternating between roasting and being cool, but having the thing sound like a jack hammer. We got attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes, my parents lost their truck keys, they had a blowout on the way home. The baby kittens almost drown in the bathtub after we've been dropper feeding them for weeks. I really could go on and on. But, really and truly in spite of all that, we managed to have fun. I guess its about finding the good in the bad. The park had a nice playground, a little nature center, and a neat pier. The kids loved the beach and said that they hit the shell jackpot, and I think mom was in heaven too. We got away from technology for a while. We read books and played cards. My phone didn't work there too well, and amazingly I didn't go into withdrawal. I am dreading that make up work from Monday, so next time we may have to venture a little closer to home.

Angie and I started listening to The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate on playaway. We are 4 chapters in and it is such a good story. I know some of you won't want your children reading it because it mentions Mr Darwins book. But, it is a fabulous story set in 1899 Texas, rich with historical Texas and civil war references, as well as references to science. It also focuses on the relationship of a 12 yr old girl and her cantankerous grandfather. So sad that I have to leave for work tonight and have to wait to hear chapter 5.

Pam is taking Brian to his treatment tomorrow and Katie will drive him home. If this week goes like last, I should be able to work Thursday as well. I think my dad will be there Thursday as well since they eliminated his overtime.

Hiccup

Hiccups are a real nuisance, the literal kind and the figurative kind. Well, we've had more than our fair share in this cancer journey. Brian's scan on Friday didn't go as well as expected. He had a small pea sized area show up on the PET scan. His Dr at Baylor was unable to palpate it in the office. He says that it could just be an inflamed lymph node due to a recent virus or because of ant bites etc, but given Brian's history, we have to assume the worst and treat it, unless Brian wants to have a surgeon go in, take it out and have it biopsied which could cause a whole slew of potential problems. So, Brian will be seeing his oncologist in Abilene and this week and setting up maintenance treatments to start soon. Some doctors do maintenance Rituxan once a month. Because of this spot, Brian has to do a more treatment-like maintenance treatment, so he will do Rituxan once a week for 4 weeks and have another scan in December.

Rituxan is a newer medicine known as a monoclonal antibody. The science is fasinating, but it basically only targets the cancer cells. So, it doesnt affect blood counts, you keep your hair, etc. Side affects are similar to a case of the flu....GI stuff, and nasal/sinus stuff. He told Brian that he can still work while he's getting treatments. Funny after seeing everything he's been through to discuss the flu as being no big deal.

December will be 3 years. So much for our kids to go through. Angie was 6 when this started, Tony 5, Zachary 3, Aiden 1 and I was pregnant with Emi. As we unloaded groceries from the car yesterday, Angie says to me, "I know dads cancer is back. You don't have to tell me. If that scan was good, you would have said so already." She shed lots of tears. How hard to be nine, and understand, but not understand.

So, we are trucking along, living everyday to the fullest, and remembering each day to be sure that the people we love know it. I think it finally sank in that we are going to have to deal with this for the rest of our lives. Keep your positive thoughts and wonderful prayers coming our way. We love all of you.

Happy 6th Birthday Zachary!!

Zachary turned 6 last week. He has been talking about his birthday for months. His present wish list was longer than any Christmas list I've seen. While he didnt get anything that was on that list, he recieved a few very nice presents and had shrimp for dinner and chocolate cake per his request. I cannot believe how much he's grown. He loved his legos, his air hog, and his mp3 player. Now if his dad would only get la la lasagna put on there he'd be in heaven. Love you Zachary!!

New school year

Well, for the first year, I don't have any pics of the first day of school. I think I am going to try to get some tomorrow and call them first week of school pics ;) Monday, Brian was at work and I got 5 kids up, dressed, fed and ready by myself. The older kids were up until well after 11 despite having gone to bed by 8:45. Excited about the new school year I guess. This means the little ones were up too. So, they were not the least bit happy about getting up. In fact, the older kids were completely ready, and they were still not up. Emi refused to get out of her pajams, so she followed along behind me while I helped with all the school supplies in pjs, eating her pancake on a stick.

Zachary started kindergarten this year. He asked me to walk him to his class, which I loved. When we got there, the teacher met us at the door and told us that they decided to have two kindergarten classes instead of one and he was in the class next door. He was thrown off for a minute when we arrived at his pre-k class and his pre-k teacher was there. His eyes were big and round. SO, I say, wow Zach, isn't it cool that you get Mrs. Chambers again for KINDERGARTEN, huge emphasis on the word kindergarten. After that, Zachy let out a sigh, like shew I was worried for a minute there, and set down to work.

Tony has a young teacher, and he has an experienced teacher helping out until October. Not sure what that's about, but so far he seems happy. I'll have to get the skinny from Katie I guess since this teacher went to school with her. I know that her husband is in the military but not much else. His homework this week is to read for 30 minutes each night. Well, the book he checked out from school took all of 10 minutes to read, so he read one from the public library as well. I suggested two books next time.

Angie has Tony's teacher from last year. Confused? Well, she changed from 2nd to 4th grade. I like her alot. She hasn't been teaching very long, but she seems to care. I have known Barbara, I mean Mrs. Stewart, for well over 10 years now. We met in LVN school, but she quit when she was expecting baby #3. Angie said that she was excited when her son joined the class today. Her niece attends Sunday school with Angie and they have become close friends. Angie keeps hoping that she will come too. I do know though, if she runs her 4th grade anything like her 2nd, then Angie is going to have lots of homework.

We look the oldest two kids for their first eye exams. Angie did fine. Tony has an astygmatism. So, we ordered his first pair of glasses. We've known for a while that he probably needed them, he sits close to the TV, holds his books close, and has trouble when going from one line to the next. Ive actually made a couple appointments that I later had to cancel because they conflicted with other things. We finally tried to get one this summer but the first week of school was the earliest we could get.

That's water under the bridge though. He's supposed to wear them pretty much all the time, so we shall see how this goes. He looks pretty darn handsome in them though. We have pretty good vision insurance. It covered all of the exam and all the cost of the lenses. So, Brian, Zachy and I have an appt for 2 weeks from now. The other two will get theirs when they become school age.

The oldest two spent last week at Threshold, a GT camp held at Hardin Simmons in Abilene. They really seemed to love it, and I loved that another girl went from their school and her mom and I could share the driving. The last day Brian and I got to come and see what they worked on all week. Angie's age group studies major events of by decades starting at the 1950's and learned what is involved in making a city. Then they divided into groups and had to design their own. Angie was the "artist" of her group. Her friend was the "politician" in another group. Angie designed a museum for her city that also included a billboard for the Audobon exhibit. She also made a game where she bees in her city and you had to try to find them all.

Tony's grade studied the ocean including animals and ecology and they had to build an underwater city out of recycled materials. He was in heaven. Brian and I divided and conquered so I didn't get to see more of his presentation. Brian did say that Tony's teachers really seemed to enjoy him and that he gave one of them one of his famous running tackle hugs as they were leaving. They really seemed to get alot out of their camp and hope to go again next year. The themes are different every year, and when they get to middle school, they get to pick their classes.

Im so thankful to my friend for discovering it and suggesting it for Angie and Tony.

Tolerance

Yep, two posts in one day, it is a record. :)

This week, I took Angie and Tony to gymnastics Thursday evening. They usually go on Thursday mornings, but we went in the evening because Angie was at softball camp that morning. Zachary didn't go, seems he caught the virus I had earlier in the week. I'll spare you those details, but I will tell you that it is rare for either of us to be sick. Well, I ran into about 4 people that I knew, including one of the parents from Angie's dance class. This little girl was in gymnastics. I will tell you, she kind of bugs me. In dance she was always like "Miss Amy, Angie did this wrong, or miss Amy, Angie did that wrong." GRRR. So, after gymnastics, we are walking to the car, and she tells Angie "Don't forget what you need to work on and be sure to practice before next week." Kind of annoying, if you ask me.

So, when we get in our van, I ask Angie if it bothers her when this girl says stuff like that. Angie tells me, "no mom, she's my friend and she that's just the way she is". It doesn't bother me because she's right, I did mess up on that part and I do need to practice." Ahh, sweet girl. I could take a few pointers from her for sure. I need to work on letting more things so, letting less bother me and taking fewer things personally. These kids are teaching me so much!!

Change

Yeah yeah, I know I haven't gotten pictures on here yet. Here's a few random ones for kicks. The kids are all smiles about their lunchables. Seriously, they are super excited. When you are a family of 7 this is not something that is on your grocery list as a norm. This particular day, we were very busy at home cleaning, so this was an easy lunch (no dishes). That, and the fact that they wore me down at the grocery store.
The last picture is one of Zach and Aiden rocking out. It cracks me up, you put on a song they love and they immediately go for the Wii instruments. This particular day they are jamming to Weird Al's Lala la lasagna. Don't ask me, They LOVE this song and Zachary knows every word.

The next time I post pics you will get to see all their new haircuts. Amie did a fantastic job with the oldest 4. I don't need to tell you how hard it is to find someone that is good with kids cuts.

But that wasn't the only change I was referring to with the title. I am officially a part time employee. Yep, I'm nervous, I'm scared, but I am also excited and I know that things will work out and that I will be rewarded for putting my husband and my kids first. I don't know yet how I will do my schedule, and am trying out a couple different things, but I do know that I will be working 2 days a week. This is huge for us. I'm cutting my income by 1/3. Who does that in this economy? We do.

I found an online public school. Now, I'm perfectly content with the school the kids go to. They are happy and thriving. But I was still curious. So, I requested info, but my children have informed me that they love their school. So, we continue as we were. We may revisit this again in middle school but for now, I'll just continue to supplement their education at home. So, we aren't making that change this year.

Catching up.

Tomorrow, I promise to try to get pictures on here, but right now everyone is in bed and I don't want to turn more lights on to scrunge around to find my camera. Last week, I had the kids go to bed early the night before gymnastics. Well, they were up and dressed before I even got up, and they made their own bowls of cereal. It was so nice that I kept looking for alien antennaes on these perfect children. Gymnastics went much much better after a good night sleep. So, I have vowed to make my kids have a bedtime for the rest of the summer.

I worked Sunday the 4th, and my parents set off fireworks here. There was a show closeby Friday night and Saturday night, but I just wasn't into it this year. Maybe it was the idea of sitting out in the rain and the mud. Brian is not a fan of sparklers and he is super parental about it. I always tease him about it, and he was the one that burned his thumb on one. We were both off on Monday. Brian was off because the 4th wasn't his holiday to work and his hospital recognized it on the 5th.

It was an amazing day. Brian and I had a huge argument last week, which is not like us. I said I just wanted one good day and couldn't remember the last time I DID have one. Well, monday everything was aligned perfectly, and God definately smiled on us. We all got up and took Tony to zoo camp. Yes, its kind of ridiculous to make an hour trip to Abilene to drop him off and to make that trip everyday for 5 days, but to see him in his element was 100% worth it. Well, we took the other kids to the zoo at 9:00 right when it opened. It was cool that day so the animals were active. We left about 11:30 to get lunch and the crowds were just starting to come. So, then we went to lunch at Rosas. Don't ask me why I like that place so much, I just do. Well we ate, and left just as the crowds were starting to come.

Notice a pattern here? We got to spend a nice day enjoying our kids without fighting crowds!!! We stopped in at Sam's to pick up my membership card and picked up some yummy fruit, nectarines, blueberries, and organic raspberries. We took the other four kids to the park by the zoo until it was time to get Tony, and once again no crowds. My kiddos had the slides to themselves!! Mom called and asked if we'd meet her in cross plains to pick blackberries.

So we picked Tony up at 2:30 and headed over to the berry patch. We picked 35 pounds of blackberries. Of course the biggest juiciest berries had to be on the bushes with thorns and bugs :( Pam plans on making jelly, I just froze three bags worth to break out in winter. I didn't want them to go to waste and I had picked up all that fruit at Sam's earlier. Oh, and the raspberries were demolished on the way to the blackberry patch. Peaches will be ready this week. I was scorching by then, so We headed home and I took all the kids swimming. One of my favorite things to do. Really. Put a hot grumpy kid in a pool, and presto chango, new kid. Promise it works every time. Now that Emi is big enough for water wings, I actually get to move around in the water some. In the words of Tony, "hollah" "Whoop whoop"

Tony had a blast a zoo camp. If you see him, you will have to get him to tell you all about it. He did a "research project" on the red spitting cobra, and he did his first power point presentation, which they gave us a copy of, along with a picture of the kids in his camp.

The gymnastics teacher was very complimentary of the kids this week, especially Angie. Miss Charity said that she loves her attitude. She keeps practicing when the other kids are moping that they are hot and tired and she tries to help the other kids, especially her brothers. Ahhh, proud mom moment.

Tuesday when we came home from berry picking there was a message on our machine from one of the ladies at our old church. We don't go there anymore because we both work Sundays and they don't have a Wednesday service. Pam has been kind enough to take my kids to her church, so when we started looking for a Wednesday night church, we ended up there because the kids are used to going there. Anyway, the message was so sweet about how they missed the kids this year at vacation bible school. Honestly, i would have sent them had I known about it. So, they went starting Wednesday evening. We went tonight to here the songs they learned this week. What a wonderful blessing.

Anyhoo, It my be a boring life, but its my life. Hope everyone is doing well.

Summer

If you asked Angie and Tony what they did this summer, they'd say: "we learned latin, studied poetry, read classic literature, studied history, etc". If you asked Zachary what he did, he'd say "I rode my bike, swam and played in the mud every chance I got, and it was AWESOME." Too funny. These are a couple of pics of our trip to the Llano river. On the left Zach is telling me to "take the picture so we can swim".

Brian and I just got to go for the day because we both had to work Sunday, but mom and dad stayed through Monday. The kids had a blast camping on the river. It was a private rv park in Junction, and it was exactly what we all needed. The pecan trees where massive. Mom said that Sunday once people started clearing out, the kids found several rope swings tied up in those trees. We swam and kayaked the river and Tony caught two fish.

I had a bit of a frustrating week with the kids. I vowed that I was taking them out of all activities. Zachary had some sort of emotional breakdown on Thursday and refused to do gymnastics. He kept crying that he needed his dad. Very unlike him. Today he's made lots of comments about being glad that his dad isnt sick anymore, so I don't know if the two were related. But, as Brian says, I always say that and then I sign them up for stuff. Like today when I went down and signed them up for swimming lessons the last two weeks of July, sigh. If only I didn't feel that it was important for them to be safe in the water.

Angie

Ballet

Broadway

Softball
Here are a few pictures of what sweet girl has been up to. I really need to be reminded sometimes what a good kid she truly is. She is a good big sister and a big help to me. Angie has very high expectations for herself. I feel like my job as her mom isnt to motivate her but rather to remind her that its ok to just have fun sometimes and that she will be loved no matter what. Ladybug made a perfect score on both sections of her TAKS test. Brian and I were so proud. She was very humble about it and only stated that she knew that she had passed.

She has always wanted to take ballet and she fell in love with childrens broadway all over again during her recital this week. It was a wonderful thing for me to witness. I am so thankful that it was such a positive experience for her. The scab on her nose is from running into the side of the pool while swimming at her girl scout camp out. Im a bit sad that I didn't get any pictures of it but the girls had a blast. Mom and Pam put up tents in the yard. The girls swam, karaoked and watched the tooth fairy on our outdoor projector.

What we are up to....

Well, I guess I would say that we are up to a whole lot of nothing. At least it is our nothing, right? The kids finished school on Thursday. I now have a 4th grader, a 3rd grader, and a kindergartener. Mr. Aiden will go to Tuesday school in the fall, so Tuesdays it will be just me and Emi. The kids had a very good school year overall. I think many were surprised that they did as well as they did considering the stress our family has been under since in December. Both of the older kids made all "A"s. Angie's year average was a 95 in math. To hear her tell it, its because she isn't good at math. She received several awards including student of the year for third grade. Tony recieved some awards as well, but his are wadded up in the bottom of his backpack :)

I promised the kids two camps this summer if they made all "a"s so later I'm sure I will be writing about GT camp, softball camp, and zoo camp. The kids are also doing gymnastics one day a week, vacation bible school and a soccer camp. Tony has been telling me for a couple of years that he wants to paly soccer, but when I told him that it was played outside and that he'd have to run after a ball, he wasn't so sure. So we are trying an inexpensive 4 day camp.

Angie has a dance recital next week. She has a practice Wednesday, a dress rehearsal Thursday and a full recital Friday and Saturday. Ugggh. She loves her ballet class, but not so much the childrens broadway class afterward. There are only four girls in that class so the teacher really points out every little thing they do wrong. I told Angie that its not personal and that she just wants to help her improve, but its like watching the air being let out of a balloon--watching her face in that class. On the way home Thursday, we talked about maybe only doing one dance class or maybe going back to gymnastics. We will see what the summer brings.

One of the mom's Thursday was talking about her daughter's voice lessons. So I ask where they do voice. She tells me Howard Payne, "but its really expensive". At first I was pissed. These snooty dance mom attitudes get under my skin, but then I thought "she's right, it probably is more than I'm willing to pay." We are on a budget, but I was thinking more about other prices we pay. And Brian and I are trying very hard to put our kids in things that are going to build them up. They have wonderful spirits and I don't want that changed.

I talked to my boss about going to part time, so I will be taking the leap in July. I am nervous, but I'm also excited. I think two days a week will be a huge help to our family. We're doing some things to prepare and budget, and there are going to be some things that we have to say no to, but I think it will be good. We cancelled our directv and our movie store membership. Next month we hope to pay off the last of our credit card debt. Brian changed his shift to 4, 10 hour shifts, so he will be home every evening. This will be better for the kids, but I worry about the extra driving on Brian.

yep that's right, he's back at work. He's working 8 hour shifts to start with. He's doing pretty well, and has a PET scan June 18th. Please keep praying that this scan is clean and that he continues to heal.

Happy 2nd Birthday.

Little Bit is officially Two. Man its gone by fast. She is too cute. But don't let her cuteness fool you. She is a little scrapper. We have truly been blessed. Happy birthday Emi.

Field Day

This was actually last week, but I am just now getting pictures up. The kids was blessed with some money this year when someone left money in their will. The gentlman wanted part of the money to go toward track renovations. The track was asphalt and who knows how old. The new track is that spongy stuff. The football field was also seeded so field day took place on the smaller practice field. So, there weren't as many events this year as in years past, but the kids still had lots of fun. It opens with a parade of classes.





These final two pictures are of the 4th grade class. One of the girls Leann, had a brain tumor the size of a softball removed a few weeks ago. They had "team Leann" signs on their tshirts.

Growing up.

As some of you know from face book, Little Bit has decided to start flipping herself out of her crib. I have the picture of her black eye on my phone to prove it. So, last week Brian ordered her a toddler bed complete with a Dora bedset. Every female cartoon character is "Dora" in our house according to Emi. So,Brian took the crib down and Little E has been falling asleep in our bed and getting moved to the bottom bunk. This is the first toddler bed in our home, but We'd like to put loft beds in the girl's room later when we feel Emilia will be safe sleeping on one.

The boys had to help build the bed.




Then Emi laid down for a nap.


If only she'd do this every day from now on.

Take me out to the Ball Game

Not sure why they picked this pose but it cracks me up!


A Fire Ant, An Astro, And A Diamond Doll


For some reason Zachy was more concerned about his sucker being in the picture.


Love this time of year.

Kidisms

Well, I have a few pics to post, hopefully I will get to that next week. Since my last blog, I made yet another field trip to the Abilene zoo. This time with Tony. They were studying habitats in school. I was impressed by the kids use of "science" words. Their favorite being ecothermic. I also got a big kick out of watching the other kids around my budding zoologist. "hey Tony, over here, what's this?" Tony, Tony come look, and on and on. My, self-proclaimed "NERD". As, we were leaving ball practice Thursday, he turns to me and says "can I do homework now?" I say sure when we get home. His response "Yippee I'm a nerd again".

My sweet Emilia is turning two this month, while I turn 35. Since we've been home, her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds everyday. We've been working on colors and shapes, and it cracks me up when she grabs a book and goes, Zachy's color (pointing at blue), Angies's color (pointing at pink), Aiden's color (green), Coney's color (red), and Me(her saying Emi) color (pointing at purple). So funny. And yes she calls Tony, Coney. LOL.

Angie took TAKS for the first time this year. I'm crazy curious to see how she did. She was so nervous. Yes, you can add the TAKS test to the list of reasons to homeschool. The pressure these kids feel is just ridiculous. Now the rest of the year will be fun goofing off stuff. I cannot believe that she will be a 4th grader next year. Crazy.

Zachary is learning to read. We actually started before Brian and I left for Baylor, and are starting back up. I am so proud of him. Yeah, he'll learn in kindergarten next year, but he's ready, and he's picking it up fast. He's our outdoor kid. He's a bit sassy, but overall a good kid. He's getting really good at figuring out how things work, and at trying to fix things.

Aiden is still my baby. I mean big boy. His middle name is Thomas (means twin), and I am amazed daily at his likeness to Zachary. They are hanging out more and more. Yesterday I looked out and they were both sitting on the hood of the truck arm and arm sharing a big secret.

We are playing softball, baseball and teeball until the end of the May. Angie is doing well. Zach is doing well, and Tony is Tony. He has a nice arm, when he tries. His first game was rough, and the parents are just ridiculous. The things that they say to their own kids is just terrible. It's a bit trying to me, as a mom, but I keep telling myself that he's learning life lessons. I admit to not sleeping well after his game. He has one coach who has no helpers, so he can't watch everyone.
Last practice, one of the other boys was throwing rocks at him, and Tony was standing there crying. I told him he didn't have to take that. His response "Really, mom?" I say yes, and he proceeds to get in this kids face and says "hit me one more time and you are not going to like what happens to you." And he stopped. Also, his coach forgot to play him last game. I was not a happy lioness. Brian says to me "that's the way it is in sports, if you aren't good, you don't play". Like the two boys sitting in the grass are good? I was just about to say something, and Tony goes up to the coach and says "hey are you going to let me play or what?" The coach says to Tony, oh, Tony, I'm so sorry, I forgot. So, Tony went in, and had a good play before they had to call the game because we were getting beat so bad. I was so so proud of him for sticking up for himself.

Well, I'm exhausted. Home depot with 5 kids and Brian and I got the front flower beds weeded and mulched and a few things planted and started on the roses on the side of the house. I have 3 red climbers and today I decided I needed two more and to mulch that too. Well, that side is solid rock, so I think it took over an hour to dig two stupid holes. Hopefully we'll finish with the mulch tomorrow. We have one more large flower bed to finish, and i have a few planters to fill. I put out ant killer today so hopefully I can dig in them this week. I bought weed killer for all the stickers that have shown up in my yard, but it was cloudy all day like it was going to storm. We have way to many home improvement projects, but it felt good to accomplish something today. The kids were a big help carrying plants and the blocks for the edging.

I guess I should mention that Brian is doing well. He's still pretty tired, and had to get blood on Friday. His white blood cells and platelets are good. I'm hoping that his red blood cells stay up. His meds that he has to take to prevent bacterial and viral infections can be hemolytic. So, he's taking a multivitamin and folic acid.

Spring time

Lots of good things to be said for Spring. School is nearing the end. Its baseball and soft ball season. There are school field trips The weather is perfect for playing outside. This time of the year is so fun, and frankly, work just doesn't work for my schedule :) We are getting back into our routine which is such a blessing. I'm starting to plan our summer. Calfa University will be in full swing along with camps. We have to avoid crowds this summer, but hopefully we'll get to Port Aransas in August. But today its...Popsicles!!

Zoo field Trip

Wednesday I went with Zachary to the Abilene zoo. I was amazed at how well behaved and respectful he was. Not exactily how he is at home ;) They had some classroom time and were able to pet a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, a pancake tortoise, a corn snake and a guinea pig named Dr Pepper. Their new classrooms are pretty nice and there are a couple areas of construction. The weather was perfect and we had a nice picnic lunch. I got a big kick out of listening to Zachary and counting how many sentences he started with "Tony says...." Trust me, if there's something to know about animals, Tony knows. When we go to that zoo Tony is our personal tour guide. He knows the animals names, where they came from, how long they've been at the zoo, what they eat....on and on. When I asked Zachary if he wanted to go to zoo camp with Tony he said "Nah, I'll just learn whatever I need to know from Tony." Too funny.

Easter

These pics are a bit late, but I am excited to say that Brian is doing well and that his scan was clean on Friday and he no longer has to wear that stupid mask. Our family definately has lots to be thankful for. I was at work Easter day so I missed pis of church and egg hunting, but here's a couple of the school parties.