Countdown till Christmas

Wow, Christmas is only a week away! We've been having a great Holiday season so far. We took the kids to Santa Clause House at the begining of the month to see Santa and get our picture taken with him. Madelyn asked him to bring her a stroller for her baby dolls and Josh asked for a skatebaord (oh my), Isaac told him that he didn't need anything and Santa told him that he'd better tell him something or he might get stuck with barbie dolls for Christmas! After seeing Santa the kids went and picked out their keepsake ornaments for this year, Madelyn is working on a collection of angels and Josh is collecting different candycane ornaments, Isaac just gets whatever he sees that he likes, this year he got a crystal reindeer its really pretty, or in his words "cool". Then we went over to the Christmas in ice park and took a horse and carriage ride, that was a first for myself and the kids, it was soo nice and peaceful and the weather was really fantastic that day, I think it was close to 40degrees above zero, which to us in December is balmy. We've mostly been enjoying peaceful times at home. I'm teaching the kids Christmas songs for music and a song called Christmas Bells, and the kids get to jingle their jingle bells during the song, they love that. Today we are going to make beaded Christlmas ornaments.

The kids are excited for Christmas of course. Madelyn told me last night that she Couldn't wait for Christmas because she is so excited to celebrate Jesus being born.
Little Joshie asks me multiple times a day if he can open the presents under the tree. At least he hasn't gone and done it like I was afraid he might do, but so far the presents remain safe under the tree. Isaac is starting to question the whole Santa Clause thing, I think somewhere in his mind he knows that its really us but he's decided he's not ready to stop believing and lose some Christmas magic. So sweet, I guess 11 years old is kind of old nowadays to believe in Santa, but I believed in him until I was in 6th grade and we had to answer letters to Santa in school and I was like "why are we doing this isn't their elves for this kind of thing"...I know I was a dork LOL. But anyway I'm glad that he is able to hold onto childhood things a little bit longer. I know if he was in school he'd be forced to grow up a little faster. Well I need to get the kids started on their school work more to come later.




All of as at Santa Clause House



Isaac in front of the ice sculpture at Santa Clause House

Holy Cow it's been a long time since I've updated this. Summer has come and gone and we had lots of awesome weather this year and were really able to enjoy all that summer has to offer. Winter is here and so far it's been a pretty mild one weather wise. We started back homeschooling in September Isaac is in 5th grade and I've started Madelyn on Kindergarten. So far things are running smoothly we've done lots of fun projects and have been really creative with learning this year. This week Isaac will read the Story of Johnny Appleseed and then we are going to bake an apple pie...sounds tasty and fun. The kids are all growing so fast! Joshie has started potty training (well sort of) he shows interest in the potty and goes on it a couple of times a day, but its a start we're heading in the right direction. He has such a huge personality and keeps us laughing all the time, even when he's doing something naughty we find ourselves smiling at him and giving him hugs...I don't know how he does it I have to make myself discipline him. He's a tricky one. A couple days ago he took a red pastel crayon and made a red mark across the whole living room floor, which of course we couldn't get all out but he bats those big baby blues at you and says in his sweetest voice, "Mommy, are you mad?" and I find myself thinking how can I be mad at this cutie, he's just expressing his inner artist, right? Madelyn has her own way of manipulating situations, she just goes to daddy. If I tell her no to something, she waits until I'm not paying attention and goes and sweetly asks daddy for it and most times he gives it to her not knowing that I just told her NO!

So nothing major has been going on, just staying home with the kids and doing school. Michael has started his search for another job and we pray that he finds something soon. We are ready to start the next chapter in our lives and move out of this apartment and buy a house. The kids need a yard and we need more space in general. Though until then I'm choosing to see this small apartment as a blessing. We have become very close as a family. The kids play so well together and despite the big age difference between Isaac and Madelyn they are so close. We can't get away from eachother so we have to find things to do together as a family and it really has been a blessing.

We decided or actually Michael decided that we needed to get the kids a pet, he said we needed a class pet, but we're not allowed to have pets here so we decided to get them a mouse, well we ended up with 3 mice since all three of the kids wanted to pick one. They were so excited and spent hours watching the mice play, and putting them in the little balls they can walk around in. Sadly we only had the mice for 10 days because one of them, Nibbles, Isaac's mouse ate the head off of Missy, Madelyns mouse. We woke up to find a decapited mouse in the cage and the other mice huddled up in the corner. It was sooooo gross!! luckily the kids didn't see it, they probably would have been traumatized, like I was. We cleaned the whole cage out and never found the head. We were afraid that Nibbles may be a serial killer and go after her sister Mighty Mouse next, because she kept trying to get at her, it was crazy, needless to say they went back to the pet store. The kids were sad but we just told them they were sick and needed special care. They miss the mice though, but now they are trying to convince me to get them a lizard. Which I don't want. I don't want anything we have to feed live bugs too....yuck

Wow, the summer is going by fast. The weather has been rainy for the past couple of weeks with some sunshine thrown in here and there. I am hoping it warms back up so that we can go on another camping adventure. The kids ask me almost every day when we can camp agian. I've been really missing Isaac this past week he's been gone a month now and I still have close to 2 more months before he gets home. He's doing well, he gets homesick alot in the evenings when things are quiet and he's going to bed. He's on the swim team down there and in July he'll start going to a day summer camp and he can't wait for that, he's excited to see all his friends from last year. I'm glad the time is going by quickly I always feel like he takes a part of me with him when he leaves and I'm not whole until he gets back. Madelyn has really been missing him I gave her my locket that I usually wear when he's gone with a picture of him inside it. She wears it every day and talks to his picture and when she wants to him to see something she'll open the locket so he can see. It's so sweet and I think it's been helping her feel closer to him. Last night Josh put on his shoes and I asked him where he was going and he said "to the airport to get Isaac, it's time for him to be home now." So I had to explain that Isaac wasn't at the airport yet, but Josh being only 2 doesn't have any concept of time yet. So he asks like every other day if it's time yet. Josh is a funny little guy. He really likes shoes and wants to wear them all the time, even to bed. I bought him new tennis shoes and a football the other day and he slept with them both, which I thought looked really uncomfortable but he was happy as can be. He's getting so big and talking so much, I keep finding it surprising, I still think of him as my little baby and here he is trying to have a conversation with me! Madelyn too is growing taller every day. There are moments we look at her and catch a glimpse of what she may look like as she gets older, its so strange sometimes she looks like my little baby girl and other times she looks like a wise young lady. There are moments that I wish I could just freeze time it just goes by so fast. I can't believe that Isaac is going to be 11 this fall, I can't help but look at Josh and think about Isaac when he was that age. I feel like I'm rambling but I'm so tired. Josh still doesn't sleep through the night and I think its affecting my ability to concentrate. anyway that's it for now I've got to get myself to bed, so I wake up in time for church in the morning

Silly Songs

So a couple of months ago the kids and I were sitting around being goofy and Madelyn and Josh were taking turns pretending they were babies while I sang the song "Hush Little Baby" to them. We started making up new lyrics with Isaac's help as the kids told me what they wanted mama to buy them next. So here's our version of Hush Little Baby:


Hush Little Baby don't say a word Mama's going to buy you a mortocyle
And if that motorcycle don't run mama's going to buy you a toy gun
And if that toy gun don't shoot mama's going to buy you a basketball hoop
And if that basketball hoop fall's down mama's going to buy you a funny clown
And if that funny clown runs away I'll still be with you forever to stay.

Here's another one the kids came up with:

Hush little baby don't say a word mama's going to buy you a pile of rocks
And if those rocks get lost in the dirt mama's going to by you a basketball shirt
And if that basketball shirt gets dirty mama's going to buy you a football jersey
And if that football jersey rips mama's going to buy you a big bag of chips

Josh really really likes these songs and in fact makes me sing them to him every night before bed and if I accidently sing the "original version" he corrects me and tells me its "the wrong song" I want "the Joshie song" he says. So that being said there are some nights after I've song these songs 100 times that I really regret we made them but at the same time I don't want to ever forget the song the kids made together so that's why I'm posting it...more for myself. I know the day will come when they tire of hearing it and I will definetly tire of singing it but the fun we had making it up and how Josh loves this song that was written just for him is one that I don't want to forget.

Summer

Wow, I've so meant to blog more...it's been over a month. So lets see what's been happening?

First Isaac tested for his yellow belt in taekwon do and passed! He was so proud of himself and we of course are proud of him too. He left at the end of May to spend the summer with his dad and I miss him so much. He sounds good and upbeat when I talk to him though and think he's going to have a great summer. It's just so hard because I want the time to go by fast so that I can have him back but I also want the summer to last and to enjoy every minute of it because I know the long, cold winter is coming and its so much easier to survive it if I make the most of the summer.

We went on a mini camping trip last weekend, it was our first time going since Josh has been born. We could only camp out for one night since that's all Michael's school and work schedule left us, but it was an awesome time. The kids loved every second of it and it was so nice to get them away from the toys and tv's and the noise and business of life and out into nature. We camped out at the lake so the kids enjoyed playing in the water, catching tadpoles, building sand castles etc. The most beautiful sight to see was Madelyn running through a feild of yellow daisies, chasing butterflys with little Joshie at her heels. It was one of those sweet, priceless moments that captured that carefree, innocent time of childhood and I didn't have my camera with me! But the image is forever engraved on my heart and mind. After we cooked hot dogs over the fire which the kids thought was cool and then we roasted marshmellows with them for the first time. Madelyn loved it but when we showed Josh he looked at us with disgust and ran away, he didn't like the way the marshmellow looked as it browned and got melty in the fire. I think he thought we were hurting the marshmallow, it was so funny. The kids enjoyed sleeping in the tent and actually slept better out there then they normally do in their beds at home. and Michael and I enjoyed sitting by the fire and talking without any distractions, we talked for hours about our lives, politics, religion we talking about every thing , we don't do that at home and then we lied in a grassy field and just enjoyed the silence, well silent aside from the chimpmunks and birds, it was so nice, we are definetley going camping as much as possible this summer. Even if we can only spend one night at a time it was so nice for all of us Michael and I got to reconnect and we each got to spend some alone time with each of the kids. Micheal and Madelyn went for walks along the beach, catching butterflys and befriending a squirrel that Madelyn named Princess P. While a sat on the beach burying little Joshies legs with sand. It was so relaxing and nice but we were sure exhausted when we got home.

So summer is going great so far we're planning a camping trip for Father's day and our just going to get oustide as much as possible. Michael will be finished with school at the end of the month and then the job hunt begins. We will be so glad when he's done with school and we can move forward with our lives. we are going to be getting his resume out there and praying that we find something.

So that's it for now, will try to keep this updated more :)

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day, that blessed day when mom's everywhere are shown some appreciation for all the hard work they do. For mother's day I was blessed with the gift of sleep, Michael woke up with the kids and let me sleep in and it was glorious. Then they brought me a huge breakfast in bed, pancakes, eggs and bacon, and a giant cup of coffee. The kids also made me cards and brought them to me in bed. They were so sweet. For the rest of the day I've been lying around doing nothing while my dear husband takes care of everything, it's been the perfect Mother's day....too bad this only happens once a year. but I would probably be bored without all the cooking, cleaning, schooling, drama, laughter, hugs and kisses that comes with motherhood. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful family and while mothers' day is a day of appreciation towards mothers I can't help but turn the tables and appreciate what a blessing it is to be a Mother. Even through the rough stuff, the tears, the booboos, the things that happen that we cannot control there is always a feeling of thankfulness that I can be with my children through all those things. That it's my kiss that makes the booboo better and my hugs that comfort them and my voice that soothes them. It truly is the best job in the world and I thank God everyday for the family he has blessed me with.

I wrote a poem a couple of weeks ago while waiting for Isaac to finish his testing. Its been years since I've attempted one and back then my poems were a bit odd and dark. So this is quite a bit different. I wasn't going to post it but my husband convinced me too so here goes:

Jesus my Salvation
Come and save this dying nation
Come and fill our hearts with a desire
to lift you, oh Lord, higher and higher
When the darkness falls,
Lord shine your light on all
Like a beacon burning bright
So Lord is your Heavenly sight
When we knock on the door you will answer
Casting out the evil that consumes us like cancer
We forget that it's One nation under God we pledge
Lord lead us away from this dangerous ledge
The answers we seek are not hard to find
If we place our faith in the divine

We had a great Easter we went to mass, had an Easter egg hunt and then dinner with family. It was a very nice relaxing time, except for the cooking and cleaning part LOL. We are enjoying the warmer wheather and trying to spend more time outdoors. The kids and I have started going for walks every day after lunch, we walk about 2 miles and it's so nice getting out in the fresh air. We even got Isaac's bike out yesterday. Its still pretty wet out and there's still snow but it's dry enough for bike riding:)

Isaac finished up his testing for school and after next week he will be done with school for the year. We amazingly are going to finish the 4th grade a little early:) School here gets out May 16th so Isaac gets a few extra days of summer vacation. I'm excited to get to spend some fun time with him before he leaves for the summer. I can't believe its less than a month away and he'll be gone:( I'm going to miss him so much. I thought this year would be a little easier since I've gotten to be with him all day everyday but it's actually harder, but I'll survive and do my best to stay busy this summer and Madelyn and Josh are great distractions;) Isaac also tested for his yellow stripe in Taekwon do on April 10th and had to break a real wooden board with a front snap kick and he did awesome! It was so great to see him go through his testing with confidence and skill. I'm really proud of him and he is really proud of himself. So now he has his yellow stripe and next up is a yellow belt. He may test for that in May.

Isaac getting the yellow stripes put on his belt

Yesterday was Earth day and Madelyn was so into it. I taught a mini-lesson about the environment and she made up a song about the Earth:

"I love the Earth lalalala, I love the Earth lalala, it's my favorite place to live, I love the Earth yayayaya I'm going to make it cleaaaaannnnn"

That was her song and she did clean up all the garbage around our house yesterday with out any prompting from me it was her idea. She was even upset with me for not bringing trash bags with me on our walk yesterday so she could clean up and everytime she saw a soda can or a plastic water bottle she'd put her hands on hips and shake her head sadly and tell me how they could have been recycled. It was so funny and cute. I may have a little environmentalist on my hands.

The kids doing their school work "Earth day lesson"

So its break up boot season and I've pulled out the kids rain boots from the very back of the closet and Madelyn and Josh were so excited that they've been wearing them around the house for days. Josh is in love with his boots. He'd sleep in them if I let him but he's settled for tucking them neatly under his bed and putting them on first thing in the morning before coming down stairs. He's a funny little guy. He's cutting in his top/back molars and was pretty miserable last night...poor baby I didn't get him to sleep until 11pm last night and it took two tylenols and some teething gel and snuggling in mommy's bed before he settled down. But I think he actually slept pretty good after that.

Well it's about time that I get the kids ready for the day and start school.

Life has been busy, busy and glorious spring is here!! The sun is shining and the snow is slowly melting! It's supposed to be 40 degrees today:) On Saturday I took the kids to the mush for kids event at Pioneer park, its an event they have every spring with dog sled rides for kids, craft activities and fire trucks and ambulances to explore. This sounded like great fun and fresh air for me and the kids so we went. Michael has class on Saturdays so I was going it alone with the children. They were excited the whole short drive there but when we arrived and went into the park things started to go down hill. The kids didn't want to ride on the dog sleds, or do crafts or explore the fire trucks. Madelyn who normally loves puppies and keep can't herself away from them decided that she wanted nothing to do with them and Josh whose normally timid around dogs went right up and petted them. You can never predict how kids are going to behave or react to things, they tend to surprise me alot! So basically I just ended up pulling two crying kids around on a sled while Isaac ran ahead jumping in the snow banks. At least we got some fresh air I guess! On Sunday Walmart had an Easter Egg hunt for the kids and the Easter bunny was there so we took the kids and they had a blast finding eggs full of candy. The Easter bunny they had though was a bit creepy looking. The kids had their picture taken with him and surprisingly nobody cried. Michael and I had to join in the pictures since Madelyn and Josh wouldn't go by themselves. Sunday was a nice family day! We haven't had a chance to go on an outing with Michael lately because of his school schedule he misses a lot of the things I take the kids to do.

The kids actually smiling for a moment at the Mush for kids event

All of us with the Creepy Easter Bunny

So Isaac was supposed to take his state mandated standardized tests today so we woke up at 6 o'clock this morning so we could be there to sign in at 8am. I packed activities for Madelyn and Josh to keep them busy and packed lunches the night before and we get there sign in and wait around for 30mins waiting for testing to start only to find out that earlier this morning someone broke into the veichle carrying the tests and stole all the 3rd and 4th grade test booklets. So we ended up going home. Who would steal test booklets for elementary school it so strange. Isaac on the other hand was thrilled to get out of a day of testing, now I'm just waiting to find out if there's still testing tomorrow. Hopefully they retrieve the test booklets and we can get these test days over with. Isaac is also testing for his yellow stripe on Friday in Taekwon do and is very excited about it. He is so eager to earn his yellow belt. He may even have it before he leaves for the summer. We'll see:)

Today has seemed hectic though I'm not sure why, we stayed home all afternoon homeschooling and me trying to catch up on housework here and there and attempting to get some bills paid. It just seems that I have a lot on my plate. Then before we know it it's time to take Isaac to his Taekwon do class and then rush back home and scramble to get dinner on the table. We usually go to the library on Tuesday mornings for Madelyn's preshcool story time but skipped it today since she's not feeling well and now she really, really wants to take ballet class. This makes me so happy since I took dance classes all through my childhood and loved it so much and to this day I miss it and wonder why I ever stopped. But how are we going to afford lessons? and how are we going to fit this into our already busy life? I'm sure we'll find a way we always do. Luckily theres a dance studio at the same place that Isaac takes Taekwon do, but the classes are in the morning time and since Michael has class I'm going to have to find someone (Grammy??) to watch the boys, there's no way Josh will sit through the classes at his age and Madelyn won't let me leave her there at least not in the begining so I've got to figure these things out. Hopefully it works out I can't wait to see her with her hair up in a bun, wearing a pink tutu and ballet shoes:) Even if it's just once or twice, I mean there's no guarantee that she'll like it. So I'm sitting here procrastinating when I need to be cleaning up dinner and getting the kids in the tub, but I can't bring myself to the task just yet. The kids are entertaining themselves by racing match box cars in the kitchen, there'll probably be a few lost under the fridge and the oven by the time they're done......now they driving them off the dinning room furniture....I think they're getting carried away and I'm going to have to intervene soon. Oh well more later.................

I spoke too soon....we just had a stomach bug fly around our house. It wasn't too bad and we're pretty much over it, but now Madelyn and Josh are coming done with the sniffles...here we go again!!

We went to the circus today and it was AWESOME!!! The kids were really good and seemed to enjoy it alot. I was impressed that Josh sat through the whole 2hour show just fine. Some of the things they did were just down right amazing and I found myself unable to breathe during parts of it.

Today was the first day that it actually felt like Spring....ahhh yes Spring was in the air. It was a balmy 37 degrees above zero, snow was melting and we were all hot wearing our coats. I am hopeful that this wonderful weather will continue!! Spring for me though is a bittersweet time of year. While I look forward to the warmer days of summer, spring also means that the time for me to send Isaac to to Boston for the Summer to see his dad is near:( He leaves May 21 and is flying by himself for the first time. He is going to be gone for 3 months!!! That is such a long time and I'm going to miss him soooo much. He is super excited about his trip though and is really looking forward to seeing his Dad. I am happy for him that he has such a great relationship with his father despite the distance and his summer is full of fun, love and adventures, he is truly blessed to be able to do all the things he does. Despite all that I still sometimes wish (selfishly) that I didn't have to share him. That I didn't have to miss a single adventure or tear or smile. But thats the way things are and I can be thankful for the fact that I don't miss those things when he's with me, that I am able to be home and with him all day everyday and for that I am truly blessed.

Wow it's been almost a month since my last post. We have been busy busy! Spring is on it's way and the days are getting longer and warmer, ahhh it's so nice to see the sun again after a long cold winter. It was 37 degrees today and we were sweating. I even saw snow melting...but we'll probably have snow for a while yet there's a whole lot of it. The kids are doing great, no one is sick and I hope it stays that way. We went to the ice park and had some good family fun sliding down giant slides of ice and yes it's really cold on your bum, thank God for snowpants!!! The kids really enjoyed it and it was such a beautiful day. Isaac is doing awesome in Taekwon do and has earned 5 stripes on his belt he'll be testing for his yellow belt before we know it. School is going well but it feels a little like it's crunch time trying to complete everything before the school year ends. Madelyn is progressing and learning her letters and all that jazz, she's really good with numbers maybe she'll be good at math...that would be awesome since it's not my best subject by far. I'm thinking of starting her on kindergarten next year since she's homeshcooling I figure why not worse case is she does kindergarten twice and she's still on track since she has 1 more year before she's "officially" old enough, Little Joshie is still a stinker and not sleeping through the night yet. It's amazing how much I've adjusted to getting so little sleep. He likes to run around the house yelling "beat that" I don't know what thats about but he sure gets a kick out of it. I just can't believe how much and how fast they are growing the time is just wizzing by and I'm trying to enjoy every second of it but it's so easy to get lost in all the every day stuff, that I really need to take a step back and remember what is important in life...does any one really care but me that my sink is always full of dishes, or that theres toys strewn about all over the place or that we didn't get history done today? I don't think so and if they do then who cares what they think!!! Life is too short to stress over all the little stuff your kids are only kids once and you can't ever get that time back so I'm learning that it's ok to let some things go...I'll evenutally get to them but for now there is so much "life" happening and I don't want to miss any of it.

Love Songs

Last night Madelyn made up a song for me it goes like this.."I love you mommy, I love you mommy. Two hearts together, beautiful. I pick two flowers one for me one I give to you. I love you moooommmy! beautiful rainbows I see. I love God too and everybody. My heart grows bigger and I'm 4." It was so sweet to hear her little voice belt this out to me at bedtime. I got tears in my eyes. It's these moments I don't ever want to forget. She went on to make up songs about Daddy and her brothers. Daddies started out as mine did but ended with him killing the monsters and being the brave one. by the time she got to her brothers songs she was getting sleeping and running out of ideas and just sang about how they love cars and skateboards.

Update

I am happy to say that everyone is finally feeling better, there's still a few coughs and sniffles going around but I feel the end is near. The kids are finally sleeping at night agian which means I am able to get more sleep. Now I just have to catch up on all the housework that I've been avoiding.

Isaac had his 3rd Taekwon do class yesterday and had to stand up and do patterns in front of the class and all the parents and he did them perfectly, I was so proud of him, just for getting up and doing them in front of everyone when he hasn't had as much practice. He also beat the record in the class for comleteing the obstacle course in 8seconds, he's so fast. I keep telling him he should run track. His homeschooling is going well and he's getting good grades. We've devised a great schedule and have been finishing school earlier in the day leaving him more free time and me more time to attend to my other duties. I'm so glad that I made the descion to homeschool. It's such a blessing to have all my children home with me and to be able to teach them. With Isaac being home he doesn't have as much outside influence and is able to stay a kid longer. He doesn't have the peer pressure that goes along with school and he has way less stress in his life. He's also had more oppurtunities to do fun educational things this year than he did before. I hope I am able to continue with the homeschooling since I plan on homeschooling all my children. Madelyn does preschool when she's in the mood, she'll start preschool/kindergarten next year. Most days she loves to do her school work and asks me for more and more but other days she's just not interested. So I don't push the issue since she just turned 4yrs and has a whole year before she's actually kindergarten age.

Michael is doing well with school and staying busy. He's getting straight A's and hopefully will graduate in the Spring. I can't wait for that. It feels like our life has been put on hold temporarily because we don't know what kind of job he will get after graduation or where that might be. I look forward to learning God's plans for my family and I can't wait to have a house with a washer and dryer and say goodbye to apartment living. But for now I am happy to wait and to enjoy the many blessings that I have. I have a wonderful husband, three beautiful, smart and funny children, food, shelter, clothing and transportation. God has made sure all our needs are met and I know he will continue to do so no matter what changes lay ahead for my family.

Down for the Count

We are all still sick. It's been over a week now with no end in sight. Everytime one of us starts to feel better we're knocked back down again. Isaac is now sick too, he held out the longest and just came down with this nasty bug yesterday. So that's all of us. Little Joshie seems to have it the worst and just lies in my lap all day long looking miserable. There's a muscial chorus of coughs and sniffles echoing through the house. My poor babies :( I wish there was more that I can do for them, but all I can do is try to keep them comfortable, make sure they're getting enough fluids and try to keep their fevers down. I try to go with more natural methods instead of lots of medication and found that a spoonful of honey and some dark chocolate works just as well as cough medicine...just a little tip I thought I'd share. Plus any excuse to eat chocolate sounds good to me. So life has been pretty uneventful around here since our days consist of lying around our darkened living room in our jammies watching movies, witch would actually sound nice and relaxing if we were'nt all feeling like we're knocking on death's door. So I'm praying that this passes quickly and everyone is restored to their full health soon so we can get back to living and enjoying life.

Crockpot Chaos

So I was feeling brave today and decided to cook a meal using my crockpot for the first time. On the menu for tonight 3 cheese chicken soup, yummy. Now I must tell everyone I am not a great cook, I'm barely a good cook. Most of the food I make is edible at least, but I am still learning my way around the kitchen. I do not enjoy cooking I find it stressful and overwhelming to have multilple things going on in the kitchen. Baking I like and I'm getting pretty good at it but making dinner for my family to me is a nightmare. So I begin chopping veggies celery, carrots, peppers etc, that goes fine and then comes all the measuring the ingrediants, adding them in mixing them up and I'm finding I don't have everything I need and have to call my mom to ask how the heck do I make chicken broth? Finally everything is in the pot and I turn it on and that's it now I wait for 2hours while it cooks. I sigh glad thats over with and take a look around the kitchen and size up the mess that is waiting for me. There is food everywhere the counters are cluttered with dirty measuring cups and every other cooking item I own and I think to myself was it worth it? All the drama all the mess? Someone better eat this darn soup good or not!!! Well while I'm dealing with the dreaded kitchen the kids are going buck wild in the living room, karate chopping things, tearing up kleenex(joshie), pulling out all the baby wipes(again Joshie), jumping off furniture (all 3) and so on. But now I'm exhausted from cooking, I don't know how people do it everynight. So I reluctantly take control of the wild animals, I mean the children. Pick up the living room and sit down with a cup of coffee and wait. 1hour later I check on the soup, it looks edible and it smells edible, I start to feel hopeful, maybe, just maybe it will be good. 1 hour to go. tictoctictoctictoc ding! dinners ready. I set the table and serve the children. Madelyn and Josh take one look at it see vegetables and decide they're not eating that, but Isaac goes at it with gusto. I love that kid. He scarfs down 3 helpings and tells me its the best soup he's ever had, pats me on the back and says "mom your really getting better at this whole cooking thing". Thats all I needed. That kid is great he tries whatever I make and gives me positive feedback on everything I make. Michael was at school during dinner but had some when he got home and said it was really good. So crockpot cooking was a success! I might even try it agian some time but I might need to hire a zookeeper, I mean babysitter to watch the kids while I focus on dinner:)

I'm sick with the flu whaaa! and now Madelyn, Josh and Michael are sick too and it's only a matter of time before Isaac gets it. I am actually feeling better today then I have been which is good because I need the energy to take care of a house full of sickies. The fevers, the coughing, sore throats, endless snot and sleepless nights oh my!! But life goes on it doesn't get put on hold just because I'm feeling under the wheather now I'm stuck playing catch up and nurse. The laundry has officially taken over the upstairs and there isn't a clean dish in the house. I went out and bought paper plates, I know thats not environmentally correct but oh well. who has time for dishes when they are cleaning snot off faces and cuddling sick kids, not me. Husbands are the worst when they're sick...well at least mine is. He turns into a helpless little child and spends all his time either sleeping or soaking in a hot bath, what a luxury (yes I'm feeling a little resentful at the moment) but he works hard and is our provider so if that's what it takes get him healthy agian so be it. But for a mom there really is no such thing as sick day and if your lucky enough to get one then your not really lucky at all because you must be really sick! ok I'm done ranting glad to get that off my chest:)

In other news we had a great valentines day despite the fact that I was so sick that I thought I might die at any moment, yes I'm exagerating....a little. We booked a hotel for the night for the whole family, I know how romantic we took the kids with us, but remember I'm sick so romance was already out of the question. The hotel had a pool so we spent the evening and the next morning swimming , the kids had a blast and you'd think we took them on a major vacation, they were so excited. We spent time in the evening playing board games, eating pizza and watching movies in our hotel room. It was good family time and I'm really glad we did, though I was exhausted by the time we got home. So now its back to reality, sick kids and a messy house and still I couldn't be happier with the life God has blessed me with.

Remeber you can find joy in all circmustances if you look for it:)

Blue Stripe

Isaac had his first Taekwon do class today and he did so well. He was the only beginner in the class and did his best to follow along. He even earned his first stripe, a blue stripe for his belt by breaking a board with his foot. It was Awesome!!! I'm proud of him and can't wait to watch him gain more and more confidence, learn self discipline, self control and respect through this class. I think it's going to be really good for him:)

Bedtime Battles

Bedtime...that quiet peaceful time of night full of snuggles and bedtime stories.....that is until I turn out the lights.

Most nights are quite peaceful and sweet and I love reading to the kids and snuggling up with them but then there are other such nights like tonight were things don't go quite according to plan.

Madelyn and Joshie share a room and have bunkbeds...Maddie sleeps on the top and little Joshie on the bottom. Madelyn is usually the first to fall asleep and when she does everything else goes smoothly. but on the nights that she doesn't fall asleep that means that Joshie isn't going to sleep either. You see Madelyn is what I like to call a "flip flopper" she flips and flops all over the bed until she's out cold. So I take Josh into my room and snuggle with him and sing him lullabyes unitl his little body relaxes and his eyes start to slowly close and open again...right before he falls asleep I take him into his room and lie him in the bed then tip toe out and I'm free! This is the best way I have found to get them all to bed. Well tonight Madelyn didn't fall asleep first, for some reason or another she was having trouble getting to sleepy town. As I was just getting Joshie to that point of complete relaxation and heading to his room with him Maddie comes running out saying she needs to use the bathroom...jolting Josh to wide awake status. So I patiently wait for her to finish, but it seems to be taking a long time and I grow more and more suspisious that she's milking the time. So I go in and tell her that I know she's done and it's time to get to bed. I tuck her back in and at her request say her prayers with her agian then head back to my room to start the whole routine all over again. Finally I get Josh settled back down and head back to his room where I find Madelyn gleefully throwing her stuffed toys over the side of the bed (and here I thought she had fallen asleep). I quietly tell her to lie down and go to sleep, slip Josh into his bed and then it begins...the long list of reasons why Madelyn can't sleep "my leg is itchy, I'm thirsty, I can't sleep with the music on (the music she listens to go to everynight), and on and on. Finally she gets real serious and says "mom, I need to tell you something" "what is it Madelyn" I ask trying not to sound too exasperated "well my teddy bear ate my good girl brain and that's why I'm not behaving" "oh" I say "well lucky for you I keep an extra good girl brain in my pocket" so I take the imaginary brain out of my pocket and place it on her head. "Mom" she says, "my good girl brain doesn't go in my head it goes in my heart silly" Ahhh....so I place it in her heart and she smiles and goes right to sleep. AMAZING. My daughter understands that goodness comes from the heart and once her heart was in the right place her mind would follow. I love being able to see the world from their eyes, they have taught me in their own ways so many valuable lessons and as I try to teach them to be good people they in turn help me to be a better person.

So I changed the name of my blog to the Arctic Murray Adventures, I didn't really like the super Sunday's title. Today is Saturday and as crazy as this week seemed to be looking back on it now it was pretty uneventful. I signed Isaac up for Taekwon do, he starts next week so now I'm going to be driving back and forth 3days aweek for that on top of the other things we do.. I had to deal with this this past fall when it was basketball season. Now I'm glad that I just ordered a bunch of kids CD's from Amazon...Amazon is Awesome!!! I love being able to shop from the comfort of my own home, it's such a pain in the butt to take 3 kids shopping everytime. Which on thursday I had to make two trips to the grocery store...I've recently started buying in bulk, I don't know why I haven't thought of this before...food goes so fast in my house I' m contantly running out of things and having to make trips to the store multiple times a week... You should see the giant tub of butter I bought, I love it! As I'm writing this my daughter is nagging me for a snack, didn't she just have one? I can't remember. So other than the cries of a "strarving" 4 year old, my house is quiet. Something I'm not used to this early in the day. My oldest son is out with his Aunt on a trip to the museum and my youngest is napping and Madelyn is being entertained by Strawberry Shortcake on tv. I should be using this time to do some much needed house work but here I am procrastinating trying to think of things to write so I can avoid the dreaded sink full of dishes and the laundry that has taken over the house. When everyone is up and home I'm going to be wishing I got those things done when I had the chance. Well now my daughter is insisting there's a spider in the kitchen, though I'm sure its just a crumb but now I must go and play the role of exterminator.

The Super bowl, stinky boys and the energizer bunny

This is my first attempt at blogging so here goes nothing...I chose to call my blogs Super Sunday's since that is the only day that I will have time for an activity like this. I am a stay at home mom of 3 wonderful kids, My oldest son is 10yrs and I have a 4yr year old daughter and a 2yr old son. I also home school my two oldest which despite all its ups and downs and the extra work it has been such a blessing to my family. So today is Super Bowl Sunday and after church that's all that's been on the tv my husband is really into it and the other 2 boys have sporatic interest, my daughter on the other hand thinks that all things "boy" are "stinky" and she wants nothing to do with it. This is a new development that started as we were closing in on her 4th birthday, before that she was very much a tomboy and was down for whatever the boys were doing, but now she has a sudden need to embrace the girl in her and I can't say I mind since this means she wants to spend lots of time with mommy:) We have tea parties, play doll house, paint our nails and go on shopping and coffee (she has a non-coffee beverage I'm not crazy) dates. I'm now thinking of signing us up for a mother-daughter yoga class...sounds like some good bonding time for me and Madelyn and I might get some much needed exercise so we'll see if I can fit that into our never-ending schedule. My youngest, Joshua, is a typical 2yr old boy...he is into everything, and he's like the energizer bunny he just keeps going and going and going....even at bedtime. He's the worlds worst sleeper he has not slept through the night once since birth I keep asking his pediatrician if he has some sort of sleep disorder but she assures me there's nothing medically wrong with him, sure that's good news but what's the problem then, I've tried every sleep method that has ever been used and he seems immune to them. I though after 2 yrs am getting used to the lack of sleep, but now have an extreme addicition to coffee as a result...I guess it could be worse. Isaac my oldest is sweet, gentle, hyper, calm, artistic, spastic and more but his heart is pure gold:) He's is the best big brother his siblings could have ever hoped for. He loves them so much and spends hours entertaining them...he's even helping to potty train little Joshie. He changes diapers (occassionally), wipes faces, kisses their boobos and, hugs them when they're sad...he's like the substitute mommy in the house. Yes I am very very blessed and despite all the chaos of being a mother and a teacher to 3kids I wouldn't trade it for anything. Sometimes I think my home and my heart might burst from all the love in my life.