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.