Phew....Time flies when you're having fun! Our renovation "adventure" is finally behind us. We have put together most of the furniture again with the exception of Amanda's room. Instead of bringing the old stuff back, we bought her a new captains' bed with bookshelf and an armoire from Shopko. The boxes are so heavy that we haven't even managed to get them up the stairs yet!

Andrew finished his video spoof assignment on a few chapters of Tom Sawyer this weekend. You can't miss this. (Keep in mind though, it was created by a 7th grader. All I did was hold the camera, so it isn't oscar winning quality )



Click on the picture to watch it. He did this with one of his two best friends....it was a hoot to watch them organize this and get it right!

Amanda is sort of clicking along at the new school. There have been a few minor bumps in the road, but I think she is slowly getting more organized and focused. I struggle so much because I want her to find a stronger sense of her self and not to suffer through these middle school years. It's hard to let go and let them make mistakes or struggle to find their way. The most positive thing happening for her is her voice lessons. She has made a connection with this teacher and it is starting to shape how she feels about herself a little bit in a positive way.

I'll be crossing my fingers a LOT this year.

Alex is...Alex. He just rocks right along and takes everything in stride. I feel like he definitely struggles with middle child syndrome. He is so easygoing and friendly and just doesn't have the same immediate need for attention that the two older and two younger children have. As a result, he seems to get left out. At his conferences a couple of weeks ago, his teacher shared with me that he always has a smile on his face and is well-liked...and that it is unusual that he chooses mostly to play with girls. Every day at recess, they play house and he gets to be the dad. She continued "they have some interesting nicknames for Alex. All of the girls call him 'CheeChee' :huh: and 'barbie girl' " BARBIE GIRL? OK...so I think I didn't do a good job of hiding my shock because the teacher quickly followed this up by informing that she didn't think it was inappropriate in any way.

uh huh. I asked Alex about it later, and I couldn't help but say "but Alex, honey...you are a boy. Why would they call you barbie girl".

"Mom, I'm a boy-girl".

Pass the prozac and the donation plate for the therapy bills. Note to self: Alex is no longer allowed to let Amanda have her friends give him makeovers when she has a sleepover.

Aidan has been sick and is finally recovering. He celebrates his 4th birthday on Thursday and has been proudly telling everyone that he is turning 4 and is a "big kid". He IS a big kid. I just can't believe how much he has changed this year. He missed school Thursday, Friday and Monday due to an upper respiratory infection that he...passed on to little Miss Zoe.

Zoe has been so miserable since yesterday. Aidan has returned to poking at her and chasing her, and she just sits there and cries. Yesterday, we picked Amanda up and were driving to get Andrew when she started vomiting (I'm so glad that we replaced our van carpeting with laminate floors a couple of years ago). At 2am, her fever was 103 and I was considering taking her to the ER because of her coughing and gagging when she finally settled down. Poor pumpkin...she just isn't herself.

Here she is with our new little stray kitten the day before she got sick:



She loves Jerry to pieces.

I had the opportunity yesterday to have a friend spend the day here. She has four children. Her three older ones are grown and have moved on, but she still has a 4th grader at home. She is the kind of friend that I let in despite the fact that literally, my house looked like a bomb had gone off in it. Zoe had thrown her cheerios on the floor and I...gulp...hadn't even cleaned them up. My friend called and said "I'm on my way over, is that ok?". We had a great time. We talked all day, while Zoe and Aidan worked around us like little tornadoes spilling their juice and food on the floor while we drank pepsi one and talked about parenting, marriage and life in general.

While talking to her (and looking at the chaos around me) I realized that I am very happy with my life for the most part. Really, I got everything that I had hoped and wanted for myself.....Some days, when I'm driving down the highway and a child is projectile vomiting in the backseat and another one is complaining about their day and I realize that I have to stop for gas, we're having the first snow and I'm dressed in a t-shirt, it doesn't seem like it. But really, I wouldn't change a thing.[/quote]