And Another Week Begins....

I am SO ready for summer!  I can't wait for the boys to be out of school!  I hate packing lunches...I hate having to get everyone up & out of the house before the crack of dawn...I hate being tied down to a schedule....I HATE COLD WEATHER!  If I thought I could organize my life, I would homeschool in a minute (and if Charles is reading this, he is falling out of his chair laughing at this idea~we both know it will NEVER happen!)  Besides, my kids actually like school - they just don't like all the "prep" work that goes with it.  Even Sarah is all psyched on her MDO days.  She only goes one day a week, but she would go every day if she could.  She feels like such a big kid....and she loves getting to visit "Miss Cindy" for her snack (which she gets before & after "school" - nope - not spoiled at all!)  I love that Cindy "takes care" of her - they have a neat bond - always have!  Anyway - Spring break is coming...Easter break is coming...then it will be the end of the year before we know it...YEA!

The boys spent the night with Charles' aunt last night, then we met up with them and traded out the girls for the boys.  I am so glad she enjoys being with them!  They LOVE going to her house!  We took the boys to Incredible Pizza with a group from church.  It was my first time there and I was impressed.  I was glad we went early though - it was getting crazy by the afternoon.  I can 't tell you how many people I saw there who were always wanting "something for nothing".  I can't stand that - the whole "cater-to-me-so-I-don't-have-to-pay-a-dime-but-get-everything-I-want" attitude.  I see that at work too and it drives me crazy.  There is a reason I am not a manager because I would not have the philosophy of "the customer is always right"!

So anyway, we visited with friends, came home...then karate, dinner, showers, bed, and the weekend is over before you can blink.  I think the boys might have a dentist appointment this week, the girls need their hair trimmed, and there are other tasks too numerous to mention here! I'm just hoping to get thru the week without a child getting sick.  Sarah and Ava both had a 12 hour thing...but 5 days apart, so I'm not convinced they got it from each other.  Last Sunday, Sarah was still getting over her bug so I kept her home from church.  We made a quick trip to the store to grab a few things - one thing being her favorite breakfast item....mini pancakes.  Every morning she asks for pancakes, syrup and chocolate "mook" {that's how she says "milk}.  I put the pancakes in the basket and you would have thought I had just handed her the keys to a brand new car..."Oh mommy THANK YOU!  Thank you so much for my pancakes mommy!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!'  As she is saying all this she is hugging my leg!  It really was quite funny - and the dozens of people around me thought so too!  She is so easy to please......SOMETIMES!  We'll save that for another blog....I've already thought of the title:   "Drama Queen,  Hormonal, or Bipolar?"  This actually applies to both Sarah & Ava, but let's not give it all away!

HaHa!

Yeah - I guess you probably gathered if I hadn't written anything in a week about my potty-training adventure - then there must not be anything to report. How right you are! Yeah - that was a bust. Sarah was all pumped about her Dora underwear and being a "big girl", but when it came down to it, she really wasn't as ready as I thought. Maybe I wasn't consistent enough...maybe I should have made her sit on the potty forever until she went....maybe if you know our household you would know that ISN'T going to happen! I can promise you that Sarah isn't going to sit still on a potty for that long of a time and I can also promise you Ava won't allow me to be tied up with Sarah for that long! I'm going to give it a couple of months & try again. It will be nice to get one out of diapers!

We spent Superbowl Sunday at home...eating pizza, Charles' FAMOUS oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookies and I frosted all the boys hair. We know how to party don't we? I think Josh looks the best out of all of them! I've been doing Charles & Zachary's hair for years but Josh finally succombed this time! I think he liked all the attention Zachary got last summer when I pretty much made him look like a skunk, so he wanted some of that. He flinched the whole time, but was kind of proud of himself when he saw the results.

There really isn't much going on around our house - chaos as usual! I'm discovering that Sarah is becoming much more mellow, while little Ava is now the uncontrollable chihuahua. She CANNOT be trusted alone! She gets in the kitchen and gets the forks out of the silverware drawer (only because she reaches in blind and grabs whatever she can reach). If you don't hear her pushing the chair back from the table, you will walk in and find her perched on the kitchen table -- sometimes sitting, sometimes standing! It is never-ending with her! I had a friend of mine comment to me the other day that - even though I might not see it - she is JUST like Sarah and is in the same place she was a year ago. That is true..Sarah really was "hell on wheels" so to speak! Ava might be much smaller, but she is just like her! Heaven help us! At least I know there is hope a year from now, but gosh - what a year I have ahead of me! I LOVE my kiddos!