Halloween pictures, FINALLY :)

I have finally added Halloween pictures....took forever, but here are the cuties!!! <3
https://picasaweb.google.com/114055608405448370604/Halloween2012

Superhero energy comes from WHAT? And other...uhm....whatevers

Nutrition. Tell me I'm lying. Alright then. Eli and I, on the way to school, discusing random things ran across the fact that I was eating a granola bar. He asks "why are you eating that" (as though it were toxic waste.) So I answer with the first thing that came to my mind before I could think to even stop it,
"Because, I'm on my way to school and I need super amounts of energy."
Eli: "so, you need super energy? Like Thor and Captain America!?"
Me: "yep"
Eli: "so you mean that stuff gives you super energy?"
Me (thinking-ohno): "Let me explain...there are certain types of food that Heavenly Father has made that are like 'super foods'- they have loads of stuff called 'nutrition.' This nutrition helps our bodies as much as water, which is the one of the other most important power sources for our bodies. When you eat these super foods, or nutricious foods, you get lots of energy and your body can do things that it felt too tired or sick or weak to do before you at it. That's why we fuss about you not eating too much junk food and eating good foods."
Eli: "Wow."
Me: "Yep. And there are people that go to school to learn about the best superfoods and how to make them easier to eat without eating too much unecessary junk with them so you get maximum energy, like Sister Cassie Wood, at church."
Eli: "WOW! Give ME a Granola Bar!!" He proceeded to eat it on the way to school, picking the chocolate (lol @ the junk food hypocrisy here...though I did tell him chocolate was junkfood...) out while eating the granola. 5 YEARS OF TRYING TO GET THIS KID TO EAT ANYTHING HEALTHY AND IT TOOK SUPERHEROS!?!  I don't care. It worked. Thank you Thor and Cap'. Tooo bad it was picture day...lol. ;)

Oh, and nothing is more flattering than Ana saying to me, Monday afternoon "Mama, I'm going to turn you into a beautiful princess!" Me, feeling kindof like the ugly duckling while washing dishes when she says this- my response "I don't want to be a princess." Ana, aghast, replies, "okay, I will make you beautiful then!" (luckily for her, bubby wasn't here or there would have been an upset boy...) Me, frustrated and honest, "Ana-Banana, I don't want to be beautiful, I just want to be a mother, like I always have." Ana, quickly responds "so you can deal with the children?" Me, now aghast and blatantly honest- "No! Not so I can 'deal' with the childre, but so I can love my children, raise them to be happy and be good people." Ana's shocking response? A huge tight hug accompanied by a "I love you so much Mama." And I felt it come all the way from the bottom of her heart. Oh how I love that terribly terrorizingly perfect little child....and all of them really.

Love them all so much.

When theres love at home...

Eli was so sweet tonight, he said specific prayers for me to get a passing grade on my test today, to do well on my two tests tomorrow, "but most importantly, please bless Mommy to know she is doing her very best and it is just great!"

Ana had me read a book that is a worn out, well loved favorite in our family, entitled "Without You", about penguin Mommies going off to brave treacherous waters to find food for their unhatched babies and nuturing courageous fathers that brave the elements and stay the steady course to keep their eggs warm until they hatch and mother returns with the food. The kids just love this book. We all do. It makes me appreciate again the importance and my children's understanding of the importance of both parents equality in a marriage.

On a side (Ana) note, she cut her own hair (I swore this would NEVER happen.) So tomorrow I will be going to see if I can get it shaped/evened/fixed. (Sigh) this is a looooooooooooooong week. x.x

Rhyme tyme

Eli: Pasty cake, pasty cake, eat a....
Ana: NASTY CAKE *LOL*
Ana: ew...nasty cake is kinda gross...

Eli: Hey Mommy! Mallen cake, Mallen cake, EAT A ALLEN CAKE!!! Ha ha haaa! Mari cake, mari cake, eat a binkey cake.

All this while trying to eat. Oh my little Huny Bunches of Nuts!!

Sometimes...

You realize just how darn cute your kids are. This is one of those moments. <3 Here are some of those James moments. I will be taking more pics of my other adorables tomorow.

Did she just...

I know that I am not the only mother of a four year old daughter that suffers from the stomping disorder. Or the "ugh!"-ing disorder. You know, they stomp, ugh, screech- whatever they find necessary to have the last word in an argument about how its going down? Well, this is the epitome of Ana this week. *.* Stomp *UGH* STOMP *UGH* STOMP STOMPSTOMPPPP*

Anywho- on a more positive note, she has been quite patient with me this week. Usually when I hit a rough patch of sickness, Ana is the first to act up and throw fits. This week, either I scared her badly or she just decided that Aunt Tracy saved the day(s) enough to make it better. This week began a little rocky, but by Tuesday morning, I was beginning to feel scary bad and I was easily disoriented and confused. Wednesday morning, I woke up and drove Allen to work, and when it was time to drive back home, I suddenly felt overcome by something, like I was exhausted but not, so I decided to just cut the car off and rest for a minute. I set my alarm and went to sleep. Nest thing I knew, I was waking to the alarm, but I didn't feel right. I tried to drive home, but I couldn't focus, my head was so clouded. I decided that as soon as I could get to the next well lit place, I was going to pull over and stay there, no matter what, until I felt safe to drive. I pulled into a church and I don't remember anything until hours later when Sherry called me in a panic because I never showed back up at home. She tells me now that I couldn't talk coherently and that she talked me as I drove home and that when I arrived I was not coherent and I could not talk in any understandable fashion. I remember crawling into bed and that is all I remember until lunchtime, when Sherry gave me chicken pot pie, I remember how warm it was and how freezing I was and how I ached and how I was shaking. I don't remember anything again until Allen told me that Eli was about to get off the bus and that I had just had two seizures. That was most likely the scariest day of my life. Thank goodness, the next day my Neurologist finally decided to start me on some anti-seizure meds, including an emergency PRN that stops seizures underway that someone can slip into my mouth that will dissolve or that I can take when I feel a seizure coming that will prevent it. This has made all the difference. I hope that eventually I will stop having the oncoming seizures and the regular meds will be strong enough in my system to prevent them.

Another busy week down, and another underway. Eli has managed 5's all week again and I am glad. It is so nice to have a teacher that is not so busy trying to meet a quota that she forgets that my child is an individual. She told Mom and Dad at the Grandparent's Day celebration yesterday that he is her little buddy. :D

Hope you are all doing well.

Kix or Kiss?

Allen is terrorizing the house....he keeps asking "Do you want KIX or KISS?!" And no matter how you answer, you are getting a kiss. Of ourse, I have smarty tarty kids who, when they were actually ready for food, said "okay we want cereal now."

I love reduced-stress Saturday mornings. :D

So perfect

I know that I often complain of being stressed out and tired, of the crazy antics of my children and of the tremendous load I feel baring down on me often, but really, my life, in a strange way, is perfect.

For starters, the kids are so darn cute. They really try some wild stuff, such as Ana going under the table, crawling to the point where the glass center inlay is, and standing up with it on her head, while telling me she's a glass head, or Scooter climbing on the kitchen table and discovering the chandelier and attempting to climb it (thank goodness he was QUICKLY intercepted) and Mari telling me today that she wanted to paint her own nails.

Eli has really made me so proud of him lately, the change of schools has really done the trick. He has gotten 5's every single day, he has drawn so many cute pictures at school, he has come home and told me nursery rhymes (of course he was stunned when he realized that I knew them already. ;) ) He told me tonight "OHIO Kazamas?..." nevermind, I can't remember right now, but it was Good Morning in Japanese.  That, my dears, was awesome. I can't say it didn't let him get away with staying up a few minutes extra, because it did. He was so stinkin' cute walking around telling us all how he was going to wake up in the morning and tell us "...". Yeah, I was beaming proud. Then we hit a bump- bedtime prayers. Lately he has been saying that he didn't want to say prayers at night, and honestly, I wasn't 100% sure I was going to know how to handle it exactly, but using the whole free agency thought process, I simply told him tonight in a non-emotional or conflicting voice that this was fine, he didn't have to say prayers. I even went on to say that I didn't want him to feel like he had to say prayers if he didn't want to say them. But then I was honest, and I told him that the only issue was that Heavenly Father loves to hear from him and misses him so much, so if he decides to say prayers, it would make Heavenly Father proud. Judge me if you must, but I honestly did not say it to make him say prayers. I really felt like I never want him to feel persuaded or forced, or like he had to, I wanted him to have an honest and real relationship with his heavenly Father. Turns out, he just wants that same thing and he wanted to know that I would accept him if he decided not to say prayers. He did say them though, he told me "You know what, I want to say them" and boy did he pray! He prayed for his presidential preferences and his classroom, he prayed that Captain Moroni would rescue us and be our superhero to defeat evil, just like, (and yes, he listed these all), Hulk, Captain America, Wolverine, Hawkeye, Cyclops, Iron Man, Thor and the other superheros. (Of course, he doesn't know that his mama is secretly a fanatical Marvel loving geek, I was pretty impressed he knew all these hero name, I had no idea...) My point of this all is to say that from the bottom of his heart, he prayed for so many things, real things to him, he prayed to feel the spirit and to always have a love for Heavenly Father, the spirit and Jesus, to always be loved by and to always love all of his family, and of course, to not miss his Daddy too much and that his Daddy wouldn't miss him too much. He is so full of love, that little Bubb. I couldn't have asked for a better example for the other children. I am just amazed at his spiritual depth, he even knows he doesn't have to pray for Heavenly Father to always love him back, because he knows he will. That Bubb. <3

My Ana and I went on a "hot date" Thursday and got haircuts. It was nice to get to single her out and hear the contents of her brain. I will say this, she is definitely a deep little gal, always telling me how "when it's your birthday..." or "when it's Christmas...." and then adding how many ways she is going to do special things for me. she can be so silly sometimes and then so full of a giving spirit. She loves to play and she loved the time to get all my attention.

As the kids are now sleeping and Allen and I are having our own "hot date" time, I will end there. I hope to get more of a chance soon to update on the munchkins. Until then, know that all is well and they love all of their family and friends so much.

Gute Nacht!

That's gonna stink...

As I sit here, studying for my biology test this morning (don't laugh, I'm trying) and from 3am to now, I've heard the dogs outside barking like they were mad. Well, when Allen went to leave for work, he informed me that the culprit is a (proudly) trapped armadillo. My first thought was the sound of Ana's voice "Well there ya go, mama." That is going to stink :/

Speaking of Ana, I believe that this girl is off the chart hilarious, naturally. Monday, while I was at school, she came through the living room, using her hand as a telephone, and said "Hello Eli. You took my phone to school, so I'm having to call you on my hand." I spewed drink on my break when I read Sherry's message telling me about it! Whenever I am at school, I know people must really believe I'm a either sleep deprived or in on some secret joke, and they are right. I do not get much sleep and I certainly always have a good one liner of Ana's running through my mind just as my biology teacher is talking about something equal to the importance of knowing that smaller cells have a larger surface area and therefore are more *insert me bursting into spontaneous laughter*... you get the picture. Who wouldn't laugh? That girl comes up with the wackiest stuff. I would worry about her, but when I first heard the word "photosynthesis" as a kid, I believed that it was the process that my mama used to get filmed developed. After a few years, I began to believe (based on my vocabulary boom) that it was the process of copying an original photo; only the copy was to be printed on paper, not photo material, due to the fact that it was merely synthesized. Yep, I turned out okay, right? ;D

In Eli news, as per his new normal, he brought home a pleasing report on Monday- he didn't lose any cards! We were so proud, he was so proud, the fanfare ensued. Well, it ensued until Tuesday. Note from the teacher (without writing the number he got that day) "Eli tries to do everything he can to lose his cards. He yells at me, walks away during story time, argues with me about everything, he even tells me that he wants me to pull his cards and likes ISS. We are working on this. *smiley face*." Really? Soooo, what was he doing Monday? Or did you just forget to write all that down for Monday? I really almost can't blame Eli, although I am very disappointed in his behavior, no matter how justified he feels. The woman really is crass and rude. She has taught Eli phrases such as "scoot along, slow poke." I was talking with my Mama for a minute about it and she gave her golden opinion on the matter, (which, is what I spent 1+ hours with the Principal trying to explain already), which is that Eli is too smart, in her words "borderline genius", and he does not understand how to deal with regular kids or likewise regular adults. He is used to being treated like an intellectual that is respected and loved, not like a normal kid that gets heckled at home and has been exposed to overly moody teachers. so glad I'm not the only one seeing this. I still fear being "that parent." Before anyone fusses at me, I have honestly expressed my disappointment in Eli's reaction with his teacher to him, but I also teach my kids that sir and mam are not normal, that respect is given to everyone upon first acquaintance, but that if someone is disrespectful to you continuously, then they do not deserve your respect. Thank goodness my signed lease came via email yesterday and I printed it immediately, so by tomorrow Eli will have started his new school and I fervently petition the Lord to bless him with a kind and caring teacher, not a teacher that doesn't even read the student information to find out if he is left handed and that this is the cause of his lack of drawing. Apparently they thought he was just misbehaving.... *.*

The other munchkins continue to putt forward. Jacob is getting to be a little too cute for his own good. He climbs the stove front, standing on the drawer (it's not pulled out when he does it either) and then he re-adjusts his body weight, holding onto the door....until the stove door opens and dumps him on the floor. Then he usually gets up laughing and says "AGAIN!" I cannot, for the life of me, get this boy to fear danger. He has more head injuries and bumps and bruises that normal. I have asked his pediatrician 3 times now for a helmet for him. She laughed.

Mari has just entered the wonderland of stuffed animals and role play. I almost died laughing last night, listening to her playing with her care bears, "I need to go Potty" "Okay!" "No don't touch that" "Okay I'm going to go take a bath" "Okay! I LIKE BATHS!" Yeah, that was the whole conversation. It's a good thing we have three toilets here or I would worry where that was coming from. Turns out she was mimicking Ana mostly. But she loves her stuffed animals for now, and to her, they need pottying, bathing and lots of food she says. Oh, and she told Mammy today, "I'm just a BABY." Ha ha, well played mookie bear. <3

And last but not least, I would be censured by the kids if I didn't add that we adopted two baby (6 week old) kittens this past weekend. For some reason, Eli is big on pets and pet loving right now. Our Siamese-mix cat loves Eli, but is a Siamese in personality often. So Eli informed me that he *neeeeeeeded* a new kitty and that he loves his perfect pets. Turned out I had a good friend that had newborn kittens that were inside born and never exposed to the elements or anything, so we decided we would get one. (This is the part where Allen would smirk and say 'uh huh.') Well, to keep this from getting long, Eli couldn't decide between the two and ultimately decided that, and I quote, "you can't separate them from each other mommy, the other one will be lonely and need it's sister. *insert serious and wise-all-knowing Eli face*" So now Katniss and Primrose have joined our wonderful, crazy assorted family. Turns out Eli was right though, they are inseparable, and now we are inseparable from them too. I thank the Lord that Eli outgrew his cat allergies, he would be one miserable boy otherwise.

I will soon hear the pitter-patter of (not so) little feet on the wood flooring, reminding me that time to study is ceasing and that school quickly approaches. Oh, and that I am blessed. Those feet are definitely the heralding of another morning's song of renewal.

I hope this finds you all well. :)

In other news today

We had homemade creamy chicken noodle soup for supper tonight. Well, actually, Eli, Ana and Mari ate at Memere and Pa's house, came home ate campbell's homestyle chicken noodle soup, chocolate chip cookies, yogurt covered pretzels and topped off with fresh milk all around. Us sickly adults enjoyed the homemade stuff. ;)

Mari informed me tonight that she is a "big gwurl." Which, as she said, means she needs "bigger kisses." This, is part of what makes Mari so Mari. Sometimes she makes no sense at all while needing to make no sense. She is so loving.

Ana, on the other hand, informed me that her pink room is nice, and she likes it, but it lacks butterflies and princesses. So I said "well, I'll have to work on that Ana-Banana." Her response? "Well there ya go, Mama! You're a GENIUS." I sense a slight sarcasm in only the crafty and silly way that Ana can make it so. She is going to really cause some troubles in her teenage years, but she will always have us laughing. So many times we have to fight to keep a straight face when she is causing a ruckus because she is hilarious. I would say that she is a natural entertainer, but she doesn't like crowds. It's more like she's a personal entertainer. I see so much of her Daddy and her Mommy in her. What a silly little nut. <3

And then there is "Scooter." This boy is going to be the death of me. His Aunt Tracy decided that she was going to donate a foam sword that she was given at camp to the toy bank we have here. Well, he took hold of it and messes have not stopped following him yet. I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy a real sword and chop that thing up and send it back to Aunt Tracy. Or maybe I'll send Scooter and the sword over to play at their apartment? Yes, that would be fitting. He never ceases to amaze me with his vibrant personality and his upbeat charisma. He loves to dance and often you can find him dancing to normal household sounds. I'm so glad to have his little self in our lives.

Which brings me to James. Some of you might or might not know that James is our newest (and last for awhile) addition. His birth happened March 14th this year, he was 9lbs 13oz, 22inches long. He barely escaped death during childbirth. Actually we both barely escaped death during childbirth that time. But that's another story. James is now a stout 20+ pounds and shares clothing with Scooter (Jacob.) I have never in my life seen a child so inclined to go after everything. I'm terrified of his soon to be coming crawling days.... but adorable is his middle name and he is loved by four sweet, loving children. Eli loves to kiss his cheeks and brag of how no other baby has such yummy cheeks, Ana says he's the smartest little cutie ever, Mari says he is her baby and Scoots just apologizes profusely for whacking him by accident a lot-always following up with boo-boo healing kisses.

This is today and this is our family. More to come later, whether you like it or not. :D

ISS is fun?

Many of you are aware of Eli's little run in with a boy in another bathroom stall, a boy that Eli swears called him into the stall, but then caused him to get ISS. Five years old and Eli has a record. Actually, he doesn't have a "record", but the whole ridiculous thing is just that, ridiculous. In my attempts to not be "that parent", the hovercraft one that claims her child is nigh unto perfection, I have tried to reason from all angles of the situation, so the principal and I agreed on 2 hours of ISS instead of half a day. I was still upset.

Imagine my surprise when Eli comes home and announces that he "loves ISS!!" "That teacher was nice and she understood that I was just a kid and she was cool, not like Mrs. Gibbs." Boy. I. just. Yeah... So then he hands me his agenda, on which is states that when he arrived back to his normal classroom, they went to recess, and he "threw rocks." I don't know, Eli might be preparing for a life of hard crime? Maybe I'm not as reactive as I should be, but so many things that he does are NORMAL THINGS. When I say normal, I mean, when I eat lunch with him, other kids are doing these things too. These kids are not driven by a desire for crime, they are just coming into this new world of ultra-structured society, and it is ridiculous. When I was a kid, you got in trouble for teasing, hitting and yelling. Nowadays, you get in trouble for speaking during "chew only" time, moving your hands in any direction other than that which was just dictated for you to do so and speaking above a whisper when asked to speak. This is kindergarten people. 

Back to Eli- he is now prepping for a change to a new school; not because we are running away from our problems, but because we moved and he wants to go to the school of which he is designated. The principal agreed that waiting until the end of the year while he is begging to switch was unwise. I agree. And I now have 4 other wonderful references from trust worthy mothers who have kids that either attend or attended this elementary school. So here's to new beginnings. *breathe*

An end to this day...

So we have 5 sick people here and I'm hoping that all five lose their fevers in their sleep!

On a positive note, I'm attaching some more recent photos of the munchkins, just to get the ball rolling. Eventually I will have this organized better. ;)

Gute Nacht!

My blog - re-dedication.

So I am rededicating this blog to those who are trying to keep up with the kiddos. Eli, Ana, Mari, Jacob and James are getting big so quickly and i hardly ever have time to share the updates with the family. As I am new with blogging and I'm usually exhausted, the grammar police will have to not ticket me often. I hope you all enjoy!