The past 4 months summerized in pictures

I finally emptied my camera and so here is a snapshot of life since February.



Kenna turned 3.  Here she is changing her new baby's diaper.  She didn't have a friend party because she refused (and still refuses) to use the potty.

Rhyan and Katie competed at the USA Cheerleading Junior Nationals at the California Adventure.  We took a girls trip with Nana and spent a couple of days prior to the competition at the Disneyland parks.



The competition started out rough.  Both parks were closed for a bomb threat and so the first session started over an hour behind schedule.  The girls competed in session 3.  It meant a lot of sitting around waiting because we no longer had a difinitive start time.

At the competition, Katie's team took first in their category.

Way to go Katie!



Rhyan's team took first in their category and Grand National Champions which means they had the highest score for all the teams in all the sessions for the whole day!

Grand Champs!


 


Look at my medal!

Katie and her coaches







 



   





 

 

At the end of February, the youngest 4's birth mom had a new baby... Baby C.  She was placed with another family. (see told you we were really done having kids)!  We went to Baby C's baby shower and got to love on her.



Our sister from another mother!

Here is Baby C with her awesome Momma A!  (Baby C's older brother "B" looks so much like Seth that they look more related then Seth and Baby C do)! 

Katie turned 7.  Her birthday falls at the end of March and in the middle of tax season so her friend party didn't acutally occur until April after the tax deadline.

Finally she got to have her party.  The weeks between her actual birthday and the party were full of a lot of  "when can we go to Chuck E. Cheese!"

Levi turned 13.  He didn't get to have a friend party either because he also chose not to do the things he had to do in order to have one.

The girls' team got recognized by the Las Vegas City Council.  I think its because we are currently the only recreation team in the Las Vegas area but I'm not sure.  The girls didn't care, they got to miss a half day of school.

 

Most of my kids were born without the shyness gene.  I think that's why it was so shocking that at Isabelle's graduation from preschool she was so embarassed she wouldn't even look at us. 

Maybe if I don't look at them they won't know its' me!

Finally, after the ceremony she loosened up a little bit!

Isabelle turned 5.  She had a massive super hero themed birthday party with all of her "best" friends, (all 20 or them)!

Baby C all superheroed out!

  

One of Isabelle's presents.  Does Momma A get her or what?!



Rhyan graduated from elementary school and is now a middle-schooler!  She was so excited because she got six certificates and she told me she never gets more that one.  She got a promotion (graduation) certificate, one for Honor Choir, one for Student Council, one for citizenship, one for the GREAT (Gang Resisitance Education and Training) program, and the Awesome Gladiator award for all her hard work in becoming the most improved in her class.   I am really proud that she got the Awesome Gladiator award.  She has worked hard to overcome all her learning issues and has not let them hold her back!

Family Pictures

We recently had our family pictures taken.  Our local FSA is putting together books on adoption as part of the goal to promote awareness of the option of adoption.  A wonderful local photographer Marissa of Marissa D Photography volunteered her services and we now have some fabulous pictures.

So what do you think?  Pretty great, right!?

Back to School 2011

First Day of School had so many plusses and minuses.

Quiet Naptimes - Plus.
Alone time - Plus.
Less T.V. - Plus.
No More Kindergarten for Katie - Plus.
Less messes - Plus & Plus.
Less fighting - Plus, Plus & Plus.

Rhyan's Last Year of Elementary School - Minus.
Levi's second Year of Middle School - Minus.
Getting Up Early - Minus & Minus.
I'm Getting Older (along with my kids) - Minus, Minus & Minus.

I know...I know

It's been way too long since my last post. I have decided I am waaay too old to be having another baby. Seth has really kicked my butt. So some things have had to go by the wayside. Mostly I am too tired to think up blog posts. Seth is getting older now so I hope to post more often. I make no promises though. So here is the year so far in pictures.

Thank you James

I just wanted to take a moment to thank my brother James for showing my 5 yr old what can be done with a camera phone and the inside of your elbow.

This is what Steve has to look forward to on his phone. Thank you so much.

The bliss of (mostly) silence

Today was the first day of school for my kids. Brand new schools for everyone. Levi started (sniff) Middle School, while Rhyan moved to 4th grade and Katie started kindergarten. While kindergarten was very old hat to Katie (who went from full day preschool to half day kindergarten) but it had a few bumps for the others. Levi couldn't figure out how to use his student number to buy lunch and so skipped that meal while Rhyan discovered she had 5 minutes (her words) to eat her lunch and so basically skipped lunch too. On a plus note, Levi aced the lockers and didn't get lost once on his way to class.

The best part of today...my house stayed clean for almost 3 hours. I know, its shocking.

Wild & Crazy

Happy Birthday Katie Jayne!

Katie's 5th birthday was yesterday. She had a great one. She got a lemonade stand from mom & dad, curtains from Nana & Papa, $10 from Grandma Jean and a zsu zsu pet with a carrier from Grandma Kay. I have a friend who does a birthday interview for each of her children and so I stole her idea! Thanks Sherrie!

If Katie had 3 wishes she would wish for:
1) A real lemonade stand
2) A real Elmo to play with
3) So, so much money

Katie's Birthday interview


My favorite color ... Pink and blue and yellow
I feel happy when ... I am at school
I like to eat ... Big Fat Noodles (homemade chicken noodle soup)
My Favorite Movie ... Peter Pan (animated & non-animated versions)
I feel sad when ... kids are mean
I like to play with ... my zsu zsu pet
My favorite song ... No! by They Might Be Giants
My dad is ... funny
My mom is ... hugable
My favorite holiday ... Christmas
I love to ... play with my friends
My favorite food is ... Ramen and Big Fat Noodles
My favorite thing to do as a family ... play together
My favorite toy is ... pink & green & purple teddy bear
It makes me happy when ... do stuff I'm asked to
My favorite thing to do in my free time ... run around and play a lot
My favorite number ... 10
I feel frustrated when ... I don't get to do what I want
I really like it when ... I share
My favorite subject in school ... Art
My favorite game ... My Little Pony (its like Candyland but with ponies)
What I like about me ... when I share a lot and I be nice to each other
What do you want to do when you grow up...what I want to
What is the best thing about your birthday ... I get to have the first bite of cake & the first cupcake (at school)
Who is your hero, the person you look up to, or want to be like when you grow up ... Miss Carrie & Miss Sue & Ms. Dague (her teachers)

So a very happy birthday to our giggly, bubbly little love bug!

Further Adventures in Nighttime parenting

Last night I went to bed a little later than the rest of my family. Everyone else was fast asleep. I had just laid down when Katie started screaming "Help me Mom! Help me Dad!" I jumped up to see what was wrong. I was pretty sure she was sleeping, but she was making a lot of noise and I was afraid she was going to wake the baby. Katie was laying on her bed thrashing around having a nightmare. I laid down next to her to try and sooth her but she keep screaming and crying and kicking. Finally not knowing what else to do, I went and got Steve. Steve tends to get up most of the time at night because I sleep so soundly. I figured maybe she had done this before. He went in a tried to soothe her and I must have doozed off because the next sound I heard was running feet. Thinking Katie must really be in the grips of a night terror, I jumped up in time to hear puking in the bathroom. Needless to say after the all the commotion the baby woke up while we were trying to clean the first bout of vomiting. I took the baby and went back to sleep.

This morning, I commented to Steve on all the commotion. He informed me I slept through all the best parts. After he was finally able to wake her up and calm her down, he took her into the kitchen to get a drink of water. Katie laid down on the tile and told Steve to "Just leave me here." Then after narrowly evading being puked on, (though my couch wasn't able escape), and after the second bout in the bathroom toilet, he asked her how she felt. He said she looked at him like he was an idiot and said, "Hel-lo...I threw up and I'm laying on the bathroom floor."

I guess that says it all.

What Do You Think About In Your Tiny Little Pea Brain!?

Friday afternoon, Katie demanded I take her to Wendy's to get "Chocolahtte" or a chocolate frosty. I had 20 minutes until I had to leave for the afternoon school run and I told her no. However, I told her she was welcome to drive herself to Wendy's and get her own Frosty. "Okay Momma," she told me with a smile and I suggested she get some chicken nuggets for me while she was there. I fully expected her to come back in a few minutes with pretend nuggets and frosties, but to my surprise I heard the front door being unlocked and her little voice saying "Mom, I can't reach the keys. Can you get them for me?"

Thank you Katie

I have been woefully ignorant these past eleven years as a parent. Apparently there is a very troubling and contagious sleep condition known as "floppiness." This insidious condition struck our house the other day. I told Katie to wake up and get ready for school. She replied, "I am awake." I told her that opening her eyes wasn't good enough, she actually needed to get out of bed. She informed me that she couldn't because she was floppy. "Floppy?" I said, "what is that?" She said "You know. Floppy," and preceded to lift up her leg and drop it back down on the bed. "I can't get out of bed because my body will flop on the floor." (She told me this while giving me her best 'silly mom' look). Horrible unsympathetic mother that I am, I told her to get her booty out of bed and get dressed or she would be the only girl at preschool in her pajamas. It did make me realize though, that all these times I thought Levi was just too tired or too lazy to get up in less than forty minutes was because he too suffers from the horribly debilitating floppiness. Thank you Katie, for finally giving it a name.

Baby Spanish

Today Katie informed me that we can't understand Dizzie because she speaks baby spanish. Who knew?