Once upon a time....

Tonight Kenan was telling Jeff and I bedtime stories - scary bedtime stories. Here is the one he told me. Imagine him telling these stories in the scariest, spookiest sounding voice.

Once upon a time, mommy was in the kitchen all alone. And the fish in the fishtank upstairs started growing and growing and growing. Then it got legs and arms. (he watches me feign being scared, and then says "yeah, that's it") It was a fire fish! Then it said I'm going to eat you! Then there was blood everywhere and you died.
The End
I wasn't too troubled by that last part because he hugged me and said "I love you mommy."

This next story is the one he told Jeff:

Once upon a time daddy was in the living room all by himself and there was blood coming out of the chimney. Then the blood monster came. And then a little mouse came (Kenan even imitated the squeaky mouse voice) saying "I ate all the cheese!"
The End

The other day Kenan brought home his class picture. He was looking at it and telling me all about his friends in his class. Each kid gets their own class picture with their portrait in the center and it's the biggest. Only I don't think each kid knows this because the only class picture they is the one they bring home. Well, as Kenan was pointing out he kid to me, he looked at me very proudly and said "mommy my picture is the biggest!"

Micah has learned a new trick as well. He can "show his muscles" He shrugs his shoulders and scrunches his face up so hard his little body shakes. Hopefully tomorrow I can get a picture of him and post it on here.

Let's see, what else is new with the kids? Oh, yes! Timmy was awarded the VIP award for his class yesterday. We got a call on Thursday night from his teacher, Mrs. Day letting us know this and to keep it a secret from Timmy. We were all excited for that. About 11 pm Timmy woke us up letting us know he threw up. :( Poor kid. He didn't go to school, and needless to say we didn't get to see our son get awarded his VIP certificate. His teacher accepted it for him though, which was really sweet. The award is for being assertive and taking responsibility for his learning by asking questions, and for remembering what kind of sentence ends in a question mark. Way to go Timmy! We are so very proud of him!

Hannah worked very hard on two cell projects for her core knowledge science project. She was to make a model of a plant cell and a model of an animal cell. She then had to label each part and give an explanation of what each part of the cell did. She learned alot, not only about cells, but about responsibility and not waiting until the last minute to get things done. She got 9 out of 12 on the project which is very good. Hannah said she was very nervous in front of the class while giving her presentation, so the teacher gave her a 2 on that portion. I don't blame her for being nervous. Tomorrow I wll post a picture of the plant cell that she made. We never did get a picture of the animal cell, but it looked pretty much the same.

Since I am boasting about each child, I might as well boast about my husband, the love of my life too. He is so wonderful and I am so proud of him for all his hard work. He is finishing up his 5th year of apprenticeship school and he graduates on April 29th!!!! He had a big final 2 weeks ago in one of his classes and he got 94 out of 97 on a test that he was so nervous about. It was a great boost of confidence for him, as this test was a precurser to the test he takes this Tuesday. This next test is for a license and if he doesn't pass this test he doesn't graduate! Way to put the pressure on right? I know he can do it! I'm so proud of all he's accomplished and sacrificed these past few years. Way to go honey! I love you!

A proud mommy moment!

Just a few minutes ago, a former neighbor stopped by to tell me that my son Timmy stood up for his daughter at school when she was getting picked on. Timmy has been getting teased at school lately so it was cool to see that he acted out of compassion for this girl. I have tears in my eyes right now, I'm so proud of him! I wish I could go give him a big hug! He's at school now, and he doesn't even know yet! Why didn't he tell us about that? I did email his teacher to let her know, and to ask her if she would let Timmy know that we are very proud of him! I'm sure she will. Way to go son! I'm so proud of you.

Mr. Moon

Last night we went over to my in-laws to watch the super bowl. We left to come in during the 3rd quarter. Our 4 year old gets super excited each night when he sees the moon. Mr. Moon is his name, and Kenan will shout, "there's Mr. Moon!" to anyone who will listen. Last night was no exception. He saw the moon and, I think, a planet next to it. Anyway, as we turned the corner, Kenan could no longer see the moon, and he says, "oh no! We lost the moon!" I tell him that when we get home I bet he will find it. He then tells me, "I think it's in the trunk."

An update on my migraines...
I think I'm beginning to get to the bottom of it. I think my b/c pill is to blame for some of them. Now I just need to figure out, the best treatment for me. I see a neurologist on the 17th. I have been taking amitriptyline every night and that seems to help, though I don't know if it's lessened the frequency by much.

I started watching my niece Lucy today full time again. Lucy was adjusting, but she did so well. She is such a sweet heart and I'm so blessed to be able to be part of her life each day. Thank you Sarah, if you're reading this. Today was a blast! I was busy, the day was structured, and it went very smoothly for the most part. Micah loves having a little playmate his age, who babbles the same language. They were sitting at the table today at snack time and lunch time and one would say ah yah yah! The other would repeat it back! Very cute! Kenan loves to be the bigger boy who's my helper, and he really took that seriously, albeit in his pajamas all day. He is seriously the greatest joy for me, and at the same time, my biggest challenge. I've learned so much from him!

On the other hand, Timmy has been being teased at school again, because of his new (RED) glasses. They are so spiffy looking on him! I'll post a picture of him wearing them. Why are kids so mean to each other? Timmy says he doesn't care what people think of him, but still that has to hurt to hear mean things said about you. We will nip this in bud tomorrow, but for now I will go hug my kids and enjoy my time with them.

why oh why?

why oh why is the toilet a magnet for toddlers? Why can't my older boys aim into the toilet instead of on the floor, walls, garbage can and anywhere else but into the water? I mean how hard is it, to hit a big bowl of water when they are standing over it?! I also want to know how many times a person can clean a bathroom in one day, because I tell ya', I think I've broken every single record there is. Ah, yes...I love my kids so much though.



I love when Micah has to get his "mommy fix" and he comes and snuggles, and then he's off and running again. I love when Kenan says in a whisper, "I have to ask you something.", and then proceeds to tell he loves me so much! I love seing Timmy's smile. Last night, he helped me clean the couch downstairs, and he thought it was so much fun! He has such a great additude and such a giving heart, that he was willing to help with a job that I didn't really want to do. He reminded me that my attitude and outlook on situations and circumstances can make a huge difference in the outcome as well as the attitudes of those around me. I love the way Hannah laughs and smiles. It brings me great joy to get a laugh out of her, she's so fun to be around. I have the best job in the world! I wouldn't change it for the world, even in the hard, and crazy moments of toilet splashing, couch cleaning, and the constant go, go, go of the little toddler. My husband is such wonderful support. He quietly listens as I vent my frustrations, and paitently encourages me in all that I do. I love him and I don't know what I'd do without him. He sent me an ecard today and the bible verse said "He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." Proverbs 11:25. It was such an encouragement to me, to try and remember to refresh those around me.

Ugggh!! Migraines suck!

I struggle with migraines and it is no fun. Back in September I started keeping track of the days that I got a migraine. Between September 1, and December 31, I've had 50 migraines!! That is too many. Why have I waited so long in going to the Dr. to get a preventative? I don't know, probably because I don't like asking people to watch my kids for stuff like that. Maybe it's because I get annoyed with going to the Dr. so much. It could be that with 4 kids and a husband all that goes into my busy days, when I have a minute, I'd rather not go to the Dr. office. I know those aren't good enough reasons and that I need to take care of myself. I go to the Dr. on Tuesday, hopefully to get a preventative, and to talk with her about other stuff surrounding my migraines.

I'm on a medication that I take at the onset of a migraine and that helps, it really does, but so far in the 10 days of January, I've had 9 migraines! It seems like I can't do anything without triggering one, which means I either go through life getting migraines everyday, or I don't have a life at all. It's quite frustrating! Hopefully, I can figure this all out.

Easily Satisfied

When Jeff was giving each of the kids a piece of licorice, Kenan replied, "I want two pieces." So Jeff took his piece away, broke it in half and gave it back. Kenan then said, "Yay! Now I have two pieces!"

Micah loves cars and he loves books with pictures of cars in them. Today he found a book called One, two, three by Sandra Boynton. There is a page that says, "FIVE works well for a ride in the car -as long as the car ride isn't too far." , along with a picture of a car and the family of hippos in the car. He was so satisfied with propping it up on the couch, along with his other favorite car books and just staring at the pictures.

Good things

My husband and I have started out on a new venture together though I wouldn't call it a new years resolution, since we both really don't do resolutions. We are changing our diet so that we are eating healthier. I'm excited that we are doing this together and we are able to encourage and support each other as we make these changes. For me it's going pretty well.

I also called the Dr. yesterday to get in for an appt. about my migraines. I need to get on a preventative of some sort. I started tracking my migraines in September and between September and December I had 50 migraines! That is way to many! I going to get on a preventative to help lessen the frequency of them.

While I was resting yesterday afternoon Kenan was so good and kind to me. He rested quietly next to me and didn't bother me or try to get in trouble, he was quiet when I answered the phone, and as I tucked him into bed he said "mommy, I love you sooo much!" What a sweetheart he is!

I'm so thankful for each of my children and the uniqueness and joy they bring to our family to make it complete. I will post more about each of them later, but for now, I need to go rescue the chore chart from the clutches of my 19 mo old little monkey.