I apologize for not writing in such a long time.  I’ve been ridiculously busy lately.  School’s back on, you know?

So hubby said, “Please write in your blog!”  I couldn’t refuse!

Despite the fact that I have a ton of homework to do and a final to study for, I will update you all on our lives.  Kaiya’s birthday is Monday.  We were planning an informal gathering for tomorrow.  Sadly, we had to cancel.  My nephew has a confirmed case of H1N1.  Next weekend is my niece’s first birthday, so I wasn’t sure what to do.  I didn’t want to overshadow her big day, but I didn’t want Kaiya to fall by the wayside.

After talking with my sister, we’ve decided to combine the two birthdays into one party for the both of them.  We will have fun!  I’m super worried about my nephew though, poor little fella!  Would you believe that my sister has full coverage insurance and they won’t cover one of the prescriptions he needs to get rid of the virus.  Even more crazy, is the fact that the medication costs $80!!  Imagine if my sister didn’t have the money.  Her kid could be one of the increasing number of children that never recover from it.  It’s incredibly sad to think about.

I will keep you all posted on his recovery.  I’m sure it’s smooth sailing from here on out.  We are, however, accepting prayers in any form!

Now, on to everything else…

The boys had their conferences this week.  Not such good news.  They are behind in their homework.  We have enforced a strict no TV, no Internet policy until they are caught up with everything.  I tell you, I think it’s harder for me than it is for them.  I never realized how often I have them entertain themselves in the hopes that I can get something accomplished.  They should be all caught up by the end of this week.  Which means, if I intend to get anything done, as far as my own homework is concerned, I better do it while they are at school or at night when everyone’s asleep.

I feel as though all of my business has created an unintentional victim… my house!  I feel so detached from it.  I know that there’s a lot that needs to be done, but it’s like I just don’t have enough time in one day to do it all.  My sad sad house.  It’s just needs a little love and elbow grease! ;)  Hopefully, I’ll also be all caught up with my homework this week as well.  Though, I’m not so sure since I have a final Thursday.  Stupid fast-track classes.  I don’t know why I always fall for them!  Like 15 credits isn’t as hard if two of the classes are half a semester each.  The problem with that theory is that you get all of the work and testing of a full semester long class, only you have half the time to do it.

I promise, my next semester will not be nearly as stressful.  I have daycare now, and I will not be taking so many credits.  I’ve discovered that I will have to go to school longer than I had anticipated anyway, I might as well make the most of it and take a little easier than I have been.

The holidays are right around the corner.  I’m truly not looking forward to it this year.  I’m already stressed out thinking about Christmas presents.  I don’t know how we will swing it this year.  God always makes sure that it works out though.  I need to remind myself of that as often as I can, I forget easily.

Many blessings to you and your families!  I hope to see your posts soon!  Thanks for reading!

This marks the end of week two of me being back in school.  However, the kids don’t start until this Tuesday.  So, this may have been the most difficult two weeks ever!  Not to mention the fact that I have a class that meets once a week on Thursday which I skipped this week to take the kids to their open house at their new school.  Upon arrival, we discovered that they are not, in fact, going to that school this year, despite my efforts to ensure that they would.  We were all completely crushed, to say the least.

What happened was this; I received a letter from the schools about the bus the boys would be taking two weeks ago.  This letter said that they would take one bus to school A and board another bus that would take them to school B.  School B is the one that they went to last year because school A, the district we live in, was full for their grade.  I immediately called school A about this and they said to come down to the school.  While there, I expressed how very important it was to me that the boys get to go to the same school as all of their friends in the neighborhood that they’ve acquired over the summer.

On Thursday, at the open house that I skipped my one-day-a-week class for, we were informed that the principal of school A had tried to call me but was unable to reach me so she switched their school.  Upset, but willing to roll with the puches, I ask her when the open house is for school B and she tells me it was yesterday!  Now, thanks to my children, I have matured greatly and did not act on my first impulse to punch her in the face!

My kids are crushed that they don’t get to go to the same school as all their friends.  As am I, but I’m more stressed out that I missed my class and now see that there is a quiz and assignment due and I don’t even know what they are about.  I’m also stressed because I called the school on Friday morning to find out who their teachers will be at school B and left a message and no one called me back.  So, Tuesday, on their first day of school; which, in and of itself, is stressful, they will also have the stress of not knowing where their classroom is or who their teachers are.  I also purchased all of their school supplies for school A and there are more supplies required for school B, as well as specific supplies required for just one of the teachers’ classes.  Again, I don’t know who their teachers are.

But, it almost feels like it wouldn’t be normal if things went smoothly.  I had issues with my school as well; it had to do with financial aid and I had filled out all of the appropriate forms before the end of last semester in the spring.  Apparently, I missed one.  The most important one called the promissary note!  Oh well.  Anyway, I still haven’t decided if I will be bringing them to school for their first day because of the circumstances or have them take the bus as I am worried that if they aren’t on the bus, their stop may be dropped.  Hey, with the past couple weeks, I can’t take any chances.  If things can go wrong in the next week, I feel like they will.  The one thing I have now though, that I haven’t had in the past really, is the knowledge that God will work it all out for me.

I honestly have to say that if I didn’t have Him, I don’t know how I would’ve made it through the last couple weeks.  I also have to remember that He will never give me more than I can handle and He is there for me if I feel like I can’t handle it.  Either way, it’s clear to me, after re-reading what I just wrote, that I have to stop looking at the glass as half empty, and start seeing it as half full.

Here’s to a problem-free first week of school for the kids!

So, much to my dismay, I’ve discovered that there is a major difference between boys and girls.  Boys are not born with that caring and nurturing instinct that girls have without even trying.  Girls are concerned about other people and animals, boys are just not.  This is the conclusion that I’ve drawn as to why my kids bicker so much.

Don’t get me wrong, the girls are just as much involved with the bickering as the boys are.  However, the boys will aggravate one or both of the girls, or each other, for the sole purpose of hearing them cry or feel upset.  The girls will aggravate one or both of the boys, or each other, in order to maintain control, the crying is merely a by-product of the argument.  The girls don’t set out to upset anyone, it just, inevitably happens.  The boys intentionally cause upset.  I feel like I’m raising aliens!  I just don’t understand it.

Perhaps this is the reason so many women try to find a strong, yet sensitive man for their entire lives and never find him.  They just aren’t programmed that way from the start.  I feel that if a woman is lucky enough to find one of those guys, they just happened to find one that figured out the trick to appear empathetic and caring.  They all actually know how to be like that, it’s just something they have to work at all the time as it doesn’t come naturally.

I’m doing my best to cultivate and grow consideration in my boys, but it seems like nature is fighting me every step of the way.  Despite all of my encouraging and steering in the right direction, they seem to always fall into the bottomless pit that is inconsideration.

They have an occassional moment of brightness where they share something without being told, but those moments are rare.  I try my best to make a huge deal out of it when they do, they don’t seem to remember it for long though.

Perhaps I’m being a little negative.  It’s just the only conclusion I could draw based on recent events in my home.  I spend all day telling the boys that they need to be quite because Dad is trying to sleep.  The girls have no problem finding something to keep themselves occupied.  The boys can keep themselves occupied too, just loudly.  Star wars is NOT a quite game, neither is legos, surprisingly.  Now, I know that they are not forgetting as this has been how our lives are for at least 7 years now.  Therefore, the only logical answer is that they don’t care.

Seriously, how many times do they have to hear, “Be quite, Dad’s trying to sleep!” before they are actually quite?  Perhaps it’s just that they get so lost in play that they don’t realize how loud they are really being.  That doesn’t explain though, the unnesessary taunting and teasing that inevitably results in someone shedding tears.

I don’t know.  I don’t have all the answers.  All I know is that there is a definite difference between boys and girls, besides the obvious, that is difficult for a parent of the opposite sex to understand.

Stinkin’ summer vacation!  Here we are, three weeks in and I’m ready for school to start!  It’s not that the kids are bad, it’s just, they’re always here!  The weather has been horrible for the past few days, so the kids have been stuck in the house with nothing to do but aggravate each other.

The constant sounds of, “Mom!  He’s touching my stuff!”  And the ever popular, “Mom!  She’s bugging me!”

It’s too much for anyone to bear, yet, I still go on.  As all mom’s do.  Dad’s don’t really have to worry about it, well, some dads do.  However, I don’t think that they are affected the same way women are by the steady stream of bickering that comes out of the mouths of kids.

If I could just have 5 minutes to actually read what I’m trying to read without interruption, I may be able to comprehend what I am reading.  I used to be an avid reader.  I would read every night before going to bed.  I would finish a book in a matter of days, I devoured them.  I have not read an entire book, front to back and fully comprehended what I just read in 10 years.  I can’t even read an article online without being interrupted by a kid complaining about something or asking me something.

Kids will make you crazy!  But, the conundrum is, without them I’d go crazy.  Though it would be a quiet trip to crazyville with few interruptions.  I know that, at times, I think about what it will be like when they grow up and move out.  How lovely that will be!  In the mean time, I also wonder if they get quieter with age?  I doubt it.  Probably louder.  They will all have their different music that they’ll want to blast as loud as they can.  And their different friends that will come over.  I dread and love the thought of how things will be different as they grow.

I also fear that I will forget the things they do now.  I’ve forgotten a lot about when they were little.  And I don’t want to forget.  Those crazy little things they say like, “Mom, juice turns into pee.”  Kaiya (3) said that today and no one could stop laughing!  Did she just have a revelation and feel the need to express it, or had she known that for a while and decide to inform everyone else?  I’ll never know.  But, I’m almost certain that when she goes to prom one day, I will probably not remember that cute little statement.

I wish I could somehow overcome the stress they cause so that I could appreciate them more.  Funny how, as I write this, that same little girl is screaming in my ear about being hungry because she decided not to eat dinner tonight.  She also didn’t have a nap today and is exhausted.  Anyway, I write to try to relieve the stress I have.  And, on occasion, it works.  Today?  Not so much.

I must now attend to the demands of a three year old diva.  I shall write again, sometime.  Thanks for reading! 

So, here we are.  Finally at summer vacation.  Day one and I’m already exhausted!

We didn’t really do anything exciting today for our first official day of summer vacation except sleep late this morning!  There was some outside play time, a little dentist action (teeth cleaning for the kids), and a bunch of driving.  We picked up Taryn today.

She still has a week of school left and she’s not too happy about it.  After next week though, she’ll be here for the majority of the week, every week, until the end of summer.  I love having her here.  More than anything in the world, I love having all my kids under one roof!  However, when she is here, there are a lot more fights.  She’s almost a full-fledged teenager, but she’s been playing one for 4 years now.

I recognize that this will probably be the toughest summer thus far as the boys, who usually attend summer school, will NOT be attending this year.  This is a first in four years.  I’m really just hoping that I will make it through the summer, with my mind fully intact.

What makes it even harder is that our neighbors whose backyard butts up to ours, have a very nice swimming pool.  I know that all summer long, we will be hearing, “Can we get a pool?”  And, all summer long we will be saying, “No!”

I have compiled a list of events that the local library will be having all summer long and put the dates and events into a calendar.  I often try to be organized by doing things like that.  The problem is, I never use it.  I’ve put it all into a lovely excel calendar on my computer that I will probably never open all summer.  Though there are quite a few fun and entertaining events happening, we’ll probably only go to one or so.  I do recommend that you all check out your local libraries summer calendars, they have really cool, FREE things to do with the kids.  For example, at least one day a week, our library has an art day.  All you have to do is bring the kids, the library supplies everything else.

I don’t know, maybe I’ll get it together this summer and really do these things.  I know I would like it, even if it’s just a change in scenery.

I’ll keep you posted on our summer activities.  If you have any ideas, feel free to post them in the forum area of our website.  Or, you may post them directly at the bottom of this blog.

Here’s to a fantastic summer!

I go outside today onto the deck in the back yard and there’s this bird out there.  I’ve never seen it or one like it before.  I yelled to one of the boys to bring me the camera so that I could get a photo of it.  I got a couple good shots of it.

Later on, I went inside and used my mad computer skills to find out what kind of bird this was.  I found a nifty website called whatbird.com.  After many failures in identification, I finally discovered that our little visitor was a night hawk.

It hung out in the tree for most of the day.  Caleb said he flew off at about 3:30, and we haven’t seen him since.  I’ve included a photo, just in case you run into one of these guys in the future.

Have a fabulous day!

So, today Kaiya was outside with me playing on her make-shift swing, which is a rope hanging from a tree.  She came running over to me and said, “Mom, you have to check out this GINORMOUS butterfly!”  Being for the fact that she is three, I slightly glanced in the direction of the tree and said, “Oh yea, I see it it, wow!”

She said, “No mom, you HAVE to see it!”  And she proceeded to pull me over to the tree.  Then, I see this thing, flopping around on the ground.  I get closer and it IS a ginormous butterfly!  He had a wingspan of about 6 inches!

I quickly ran into the house to see what I could possibly capture such a huge butterfly with and I found a glass bowl and a storage container top.  I ran back outside and the butterfly was still there!  YAY!

I scooped it up as gently as I could, so he wouldn’t get injured.  I brought him in the house and put him on the counter so that the boys could see it when they got home from school.  I was relatively certain that it would die before then, I thought it was already dying.

However, right before the boys came home from school, he started flapping around in his bowl like he was ready to take off.  This is when I snapped a few photos, all of which are in the gallery, one of which I decided to post with this blog.

Once the boys got a chance to see him, we brought him outside and released him into the lilac bushes.  It was the biggest moth I’ve ever seen!  I think I’ve discovered that it is a moth, not a butterfly, called Antheraea Oculea (according to photos on whatsthatbug.com).

Either way, it was an amazing day thanks to good old Mother Nature!

Lilacs!

So, finals week is over.  I turned in my last project last night.  I feel stressed out still.  It’s like my brain hasn’t caught up to me yet.  I should be relaxed and calm, but I’m still jittery and anxious.  It’s hard to unwind when you’re wound so tight you can barely breathe.  I am also suffering from some weird flu that just arrived this morning.

I guess I can’t have my cake and eat it too, huh?  The house is a ridiculous disaster due to the fact that I haven’t really been here.  All I want to do is sleep.  But I have laundry to do tonight so that the kids have something to wear to church tomorrow.  That’s right, when you’re a mom, you don’t even get sick days.

I just wanted to write a quick blog to update you all and let you know that I lived through the last week, though my brain is still exhausted.  I have to leave it at that, I’ve got laundry to do.

So it is getting closer to the end of finals week.  Any of you out there who ever went to college can understand my longing for the end of this week.  Can you remember how stressful and hectic it was for you?  Now, imagine that craziness as a mom to four and a wife to one.

This has been one of the hardest tests I’ve ever had to endure.  Between getting the kids off to school, taking care of my 6 month old niece during the day and trying to keep a 3 year old occupied, I can barely find the time to get all of my schoolwork done.

And Dads don’t understand.  All they see is a messy kitchen and Mom no where in sight.  That’s because I’m hiding out trying to get some projects done.  Life as a mom is stressful enough, to add being a student in there as well is almost too much.  Granted, I probably souldn’t have taken 15 credits which is 5 classes.  Between final projects and final exams, I’ve been working 15 hour days!

I’m exhausted, and I’m still not done.  I still have to finish 2 assignments, two quizzes and one final project before I’m done.  It’s taking too long, I just want the stress to go away!  I work intermittantly throughout the day on my projects in between diaper changes and bottle feedings.  Even writing everything out makes me tired!  Then, at night, I share the bed with the squirmiest child on the planet!  A habit I’ve been trying to break since birth, it’s still a work in progress.

In fact, I shouldn’t even be writing this blog right now, I should be working on projects.  But, at 11 pm, my brain is fried!  I don’t think I can think anymore!

Until next time folks,

Live great!