The Kids

Well I guess I will start the new year off with updating this with what each child is like at the moment and what their interests are:

Alex, just turned 9 yrs old. Can't believe it, time is just flying by and he is such a sweet boy (most of the time). He currently loves anything Pirates of the Caribbean, loves music and can play the piano by ear or learns the music quickly, he is playing basketball again this winter and he enjoys it but this year is totally different that last year and he feels a tad intimidated. Makes me very glad I played him down last year. He made honor roll the first 9 weeks and he is so smart as long as he applies himself. While he can be the sweetest boy ever, he still has moments where he just explodes with anger. He feels that it is his way or no way alot of the time so that makes life hard when he is in this mind set. He is my parenting challenge and we are preparing to seek a new counselor for him and for us as a family to see if we can work on tools to help us both when he gets into these moods. But he still loves to read, he loves to talk, we joke that he should start his own talk show someday b/c he has opinions on everything and loves to talk about it all as much as he can.

Nikolas, also just had a birthday and he is now 6 yrs old. He is my love bug, loves to be with people and his friends. He started Kindergarten this year and it was a difficult transition for a month or so which really surprised me because he loved preschool so much. But once he made a few friends and got into the routine he has not looked back. He too is doing very well in school, he is in the highest reading and math groups in his class and he gets so excited when he learns new things. He is also playing basketball for the first time this winter in Upward like Alex. So far he is doing well, still trying to figure it all out and learn all the rules but he gives it his all. He is reading a little bit now and I know that is just going to explode here really soon.

Lainie, my little princess! She is now 3 1/2 yrs old... hard to believe this but she is!! Lainie loves all things girlie but still will play whatever the boys are playing. She is very into anything princess related or dressing up and that is one of her favorite things to do. We started ballet classes back in the fall and they just started learning this week the routine they will perform in the spring at the Dance Recital. She is going to preschool 3 mornings a week right now and has the same teacher Nikolas had, we love Ms. Nancy! I am about to register her for next school year and she wants to go EVERY day like the boys and be in Ms. Felicia's class like Nikolas was so that is the current plan. She is very bright like her brothers (not sure how my kids got so smart.) and surprises us all the time with what she comprehends and some of the words that come out of her mouth. She was our surprise blessing and we could not imagine life without her here b/c she brings us all happiness every day.

It is a New Year and I am going to Keep this Up to Date!!

Hello again, I am rejoining the blogging world and I will try to update this with daily life thoughts, big events or just when I need to vent!

I don't even really know the best way to put last year into words. It sorta feels almost like it was a bad dream at times but it was just something that happened. Finding out on May 8th last year that I had Thyroid Cancer will be something I will never forget. I guess because it just came out of the blue, I already had a feeling that would be the diagnosis based on what had occurred up to that point. I am so very thankful to my doctors that I can now say (or at least for the moment) that I am Cancer Free! But I will live with the thought that it could come back some day. I am learning to deal without having a thyroid gland, man you just don't know what you got until it is gone!! I still struggle with my emotions at times, with my patience and with remembering to take my vitamins. I am very good about taking my thyroid medication but do get frustrated when I have to wait an hour to drink my coffee in the morning if I don't wake up early and have time to go back to sleep for an hour. Anyway, I am blessed that it was found before it spread any further than my neck and I am very thankful for all the support and love from my family and friends.

So well, now it is time to move on with life and enjoy it to the fullest!! On to 2010!!

I am a very bad blogger!!

For anyone who checks in periodically I am sorry I have been so slack... can't believe it has been over 3 months since I updated here.

I will try to be better in the future :)

New pictures on the picture site... take a look

Just finished updating the winkflash site with all our latest pictures... enjoy!!

The last baby is weaned!!

I know you are thinking, "Finally!!" well so am I in some ways... I actually had intended to wean her long ago but then we had that whole not eating table foods issues and I just could not bring myself to not have her getting that extra nutrition. Then it just was a matter of me making myself say No to her... it was hard for many reasons, she is my last baby, it would be the last time I could cuddle a baby in that way, the last time... the last time... I was just sorta sad about the whole thing, part of me has been really ready for a while but then there was that part that just was not willing to admit my baby days are over (minus the potty training issue!).

But now that it has been almost a week, it has been going really well. She understands that Mommy's milk is "all gone", she has only asked twice and once I told her No, all gone she left it at that.

So we still do our nightly routine all the same way, minus the very short nursing session that we did after reading and she goes off to sleepy land without a problem. Bed time was the time I thought we would have the most difficulty with but it has gone off without any problems.

Yeah me!! and Yeah to my Big Girl!!

Very Proud of Alex

I got a note sent home today letting me know that Alex has been selected to be a part of a Reading Enrichment Group for the 2nd grade. To be selected for this group, he had to test at a certain level for his reading comprehension and fluency I believe. This new program will entail a much harder level of book reading (like novel type books), he will have extra spelling words and vocabulary words each week (on top of his regular classroom spelling words), he will have extra journal work, extra quizzes and some other work in addition to his regular classroom work. I think he is up for the challenge, based on the work his teacher sends home each Friday, he needs something to push him harder right now in terms of his writing, and reading. I am so excited for him!! Just had to share :)

Nik's 5/6 Soccer Team won the HYA Championship Game!!

It was a very exciting and nerve wracking game!! It was 0-0 in regular game play, they were very evenly matched. You could tell these were the 2 teams that deserved to be in the Finals. The game then went into a 5 minute over time play, still ending at 0-0. Now we had to go into Penalty Kick over time. Each team picked their 5 best kickers and they took turns shooting on the goal. Nik's team ended up winning that 4-3. It was so great for our team but I did feel it was a horrible way to lose for the other team. They both played so well!!


Here are a few pictures of Nikolas from last night and his team soccer pizza party.

Our Fall Zoo Trip

We took the kids to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC this past weekend. They had a ball after we had a minor medical issue. We stopped for breakfast at IHOP before heading out of town and Lainie ate mostly fruit. I did wipe her hands and wash this off in the bathroom before we left but I guess the scent was still there. As soon as we entered the zoo and I was taking a picture of the boys, I heard her say "Bug". When I looked down at her I did not see anything. A few minutes later I saw she had some kind of small welt on her cheek that looked like a mosquito bite so I guessed that was the bug she saw. Well then about 10 minutes later Kerry asked what was wrong with her thumb. We looked down at it and it was swollen.... so we turned around and headed back to the entrance to see if the had any benedryl in the First Aid Station. All they had was a topical gel to help with the what we were guessing was now a bee sting. After that we headed back to where we stopped and got going again. Just about a minute later Lainie just started screaming, Kerry took her other hand that she was holding and saw it must of been a yellow jacket sting this time. He pulled out a stinger about 1/4 inche long!! It instantly started swelling. At this point we decided to leave the zoo and find a store to get some benedryl since she had now been stung twice in 30 mintues. We got some medications and ate lunch. After the meds kicked in the rest of the trip was uneventful and fun. We saw most of the animals and even got to see a bunch of Lion Cubs playing. The highlight as always was the penguin area, they love playing in there!!
Here are some pictures from our day!

Recent pictures from Halloween and others

A Family Update of sorts I guess..... it has been awhile

Well I have not been keeping up with blog of mine lately, shame on me. I will probably be more active here once the weather stays cold and we spend more time indoors.

Well what have we been up to lately.....

When I last posted an entry, we were heading to VA for my 20th reunion. It was a blast, so much fun to catch up with all my old classmates. Many I had gone to school with since elementary age or early middle school. So much fun to sit and talk, only probably was it was such a great turn out I did not have time to talk to everyone. There has been talk of maybe having some informal gathering over the next few years so we can all keep in touch. And many of us have found our way to Facebook and that is helping to keep up too.

Kids are doing well at school.

Alex got his first report card and got his first "4" ever since starting school. "4" means they are above grade level for that subject. He got it for reading fluency. He is reading above grade level so I expected that. All of the others were "3's" for being right where they need to be or S. So all and all he did very well. We are currently struggling a bit with timed math quizzes that are new to the 2nd grade math program here. He has to answer 30 questions in 1 minute. They are simple adding and subtracting but my son is very disciplined and speed is not one of those things on his list. We are working on it and making progress so that is the important thing.

Nikolas loves his new teacher so the whole teacher leaving worry is gone. He had to fill out a "Student of the Week" question sheet last week since it was his week and he wrote it all himself, I just had to help with how to spell his answers. His teacher was pretty impressed that he had done that. He got to bring the class mascot (a stuffed tiger named Julia) home for the weekend and he loved being responsible for her. At the end of the week he got a medal and a star topped pencil. We also are just about finished up with soccer. One more game on Monday, his team made it to the Championship game for their level (5/6). So his team will at least be second if they don't win. I think they get another trophy either way too. He will be thrilled. There were 10 teams so this is pretty impressive that they made it this far!!

And Little Lainie... well we are finally sleeping thru the night for the most part. She sleeps 8pm to 6am pretty regularly now. Still working on the weaning process. I think part of me wants to hold on b/c I know she is my last baby and I don't want her to grow up but when she does still nurse it is only for a few minutes. Still working on potty training too!! NOT progressing as quickly as I thought we would. This week I am going to bite the bullet and just keep her in panties most of the time and see if this will make it click!! She has good days where we make it to the potty and then not so good days! She is still eating just about anything you give her. Ate broccoli today at lunch with her pizza.

Well I will finish up this post. I will add pictures from Halloween and other recent ones to a new entry!