I am laying in my bed with the new laptop from my school - nice. This has been a busy, wonderful and stressful week. We can not find Brooklyn's camera so I had to take a picture of the kids on their first day with my cell phone! Crazy. It's not great but it's sweet and you can see how much they've grown. This post will bore anyone who isn't totally in love with my children but I have to give an update of where they all are now and how they've grown....
Sorry Ayden's face is all blurry. He never stops moving that one....
Speaking of Ayden let's go crazy and begin with child #4, just to shake things up. Ayden started preschool/daycare this year. Our district has a technical center for high school students interested in early childhood development. There is a daycare there led by teachers, that employs the students. They offer child care for teachers who work on that side of town and it's $125 a month! Yes, you read that right. Amazing. Not only that but Ayden loves it. He has been excited to go every day - no tears. He eats well while he's there and his daily report has said he is happy and playful and having a great time. Ayden never stops talking now. He talks my ear off in the car to and from school (30 minutes one way). He knows all his colors and likes cars. He has to sleep with his hot wheels every night. He still has his blue silky blanket that he takes to school each day and to bed each evening. Ayden currently likes to watch Caillou, Wallace and Grommit and Dora. He answers Dora's questions and does all the actions she asks him to do. Ayden has very strong ideas and opinions about how things should be. If I have the radio on and he wants to talk he demands that I turn it off. If I change the radio station during a song he likes he demands that I turn it back. He is a good big brother and loves to wrestle with Dillon. He is fiercely independent and likes to put his own seat belt on, open the car door, unlock the door to the house and so on. He is funny and very loving.
Who next? Let's see... child #2, Caleb. Caleb is a big fifth grader this year. That is so hard to imagine! He is mature enough to understand why there are certain rules and why he is asked to do things. That doesn't mean he no longer argues, he still likes to do that, but he seems to understand sooner when to stop and just accept what we've told him. He is a good writer and gets his papers done quickly. He is becoming more responsible about taking care of his chores without being asked and never complains about doing them! Caleb has decided he wants to join the army and thinks military school sounds like the way to go. I told him he would have to get a scholarship which means getting good grades and a good teacher recommendation. He is taking it to heart and trying to keep up with all of his homework. He loves to play outside and if I turn him loose out there without a time to be back, who knows when I would see him again. He is patient with his brothers, if not so much with his sister. He loves to help with the littler ones.
Daughter #1. I brag about her all the time. Brooklyn has always been an old soul but sometimes she amazes me. She does get tired of being the oldest and lets me know at times, but she deserves to complain every now and then. She shoulders a lot of responsibility and does it with the kindest heart. She doesn't roll her eyes or whine when we ask her to do something. She comes home from a full school day and has her chores finished before I arrive, or at least started. She works on her homework without being asked to. She loves to joke around and play with her brothers and enjoys going to young women's on Wednesday nights. In fact, she finally enjoys listening to talks at church and tries to find time to read her scriptures.
Seth - darling #3, the middle child. He is in fourth grade! Funny, he started kindergarten a few days after turning five and I told myself I would not be upset or disappointed if he had to repeat that year. Many of the young ones do, especially boys. Seth has held steady every year. He has a very difficult time focusing and we're trying to help him work through it without medication. He is trying so hard and doing much better. He gets work done with fewer reminders and only had one shaky morning this week where he spent a lot of time wandering. That is a big improvement from last year. He ended the school year very well and has the same teacher this year that Caleb had last year. I think he'll do very well with her structured classroom. Seth loves to help with Dillon and Ayden. He is such a mild, sweet boy. Even when Ayden strikes out and hurts him he never hurts Ayden in return. He wants to hold Dillon and get things for him. He wakes up early each morning with Ayden, my two early risers, and gets him his milk and they watch TV together. Seth has a great memory for actors, shows, dates, movies, books and authors. He'll be the next great screenplay writer I just know it!
Little Dill, baby #5! What a sweet little pill he is. All boy, Dillon is never clean. He has food on his face and clothes all the time and if he is allowed outside, runs directly to the hose and turns it on soaking everyone around him. We need to find a solution for that. Dillon's speech is blossoming and he has so many words. He loves to say 'more'! Other words, but certainly not all, are: fish, car, eye, shoe, mama, daddy, sissy, no, map(thanks Dora), night night... and so many more. It seems he acquires about two more a day. He is a mountain goat and tries to climb everything. He has a purpose in everything he does and hates to be held back. He wants to do everything that his brothers do and when he cries it is usually because I am not letting him go with the older boys. He will play with toys by himself for the longest time and will watch TV just as long, if we let him. He loves to suck on his middle two left fingers (it seems he will be a lefty) and yell 'yay' as he claps. It is adorable.
In the stress of running a house, teaching full time (which does not end at school), raising five children and being an attentive wife, I often forget how wonderful my children are and how much I love them. They are each so different that it amazes me. I love to watch the kind things they do for each other, the games they create to play with one another and to share my favorite things with them - like long drives and good music. This last year here, away from home, has been a difficult one for me and I regretted ever moving here, but this last week is changing my mind. Fall is here bringing with it fresh, cool breezes and an appreciation of what I have here.
Sorry Ayden's face is all blurry. He never stops moving that one....Speaking of Ayden let's go crazy and begin with child #4, just to shake things up. Ayden started preschool/daycare this year. Our district has a technical center for high school students interested in early childhood development. There is a daycare there led by teachers, that employs the students. They offer child care for teachers who work on that side of town and it's $125 a month! Yes, you read that right. Amazing. Not only that but Ayden loves it. He has been excited to go every day - no tears. He eats well while he's there and his daily report has said he is happy and playful and having a great time. Ayden never stops talking now. He talks my ear off in the car to and from school (30 minutes one way). He knows all his colors and likes cars. He has to sleep with his hot wheels every night. He still has his blue silky blanket that he takes to school each day and to bed each evening. Ayden currently likes to watch Caillou, Wallace and Grommit and Dora. He answers Dora's questions and does all the actions she asks him to do. Ayden has very strong ideas and opinions about how things should be. If I have the radio on and he wants to talk he demands that I turn it off. If I change the radio station during a song he likes he demands that I turn it back. He is a good big brother and loves to wrestle with Dillon. He is fiercely independent and likes to put his own seat belt on, open the car door, unlock the door to the house and so on. He is funny and very loving.
Who next? Let's see... child #2, Caleb. Caleb is a big fifth grader this year. That is so hard to imagine! He is mature enough to understand why there are certain rules and why he is asked to do things. That doesn't mean he no longer argues, he still likes to do that, but he seems to understand sooner when to stop and just accept what we've told him. He is a good writer and gets his papers done quickly. He is becoming more responsible about taking care of his chores without being asked and never complains about doing them! Caleb has decided he wants to join the army and thinks military school sounds like the way to go. I told him he would have to get a scholarship which means getting good grades and a good teacher recommendation. He is taking it to heart and trying to keep up with all of his homework. He loves to play outside and if I turn him loose out there without a time to be back, who knows when I would see him again. He is patient with his brothers, if not so much with his sister. He loves to help with the littler ones.
Daughter #1. I brag about her all the time. Brooklyn has always been an old soul but sometimes she amazes me. She does get tired of being the oldest and lets me know at times, but she deserves to complain every now and then. She shoulders a lot of responsibility and does it with the kindest heart. She doesn't roll her eyes or whine when we ask her to do something. She comes home from a full school day and has her chores finished before I arrive, or at least started. She works on her homework without being asked to. She loves to joke around and play with her brothers and enjoys going to young women's on Wednesday nights. In fact, she finally enjoys listening to talks at church and tries to find time to read her scriptures.
Seth - darling #3, the middle child. He is in fourth grade! Funny, he started kindergarten a few days after turning five and I told myself I would not be upset or disappointed if he had to repeat that year. Many of the young ones do, especially boys. Seth has held steady every year. He has a very difficult time focusing and we're trying to help him work through it without medication. He is trying so hard and doing much better. He gets work done with fewer reminders and only had one shaky morning this week where he spent a lot of time wandering. That is a big improvement from last year. He ended the school year very well and has the same teacher this year that Caleb had last year. I think he'll do very well with her structured classroom. Seth loves to help with Dillon and Ayden. He is such a mild, sweet boy. Even when Ayden strikes out and hurts him he never hurts Ayden in return. He wants to hold Dillon and get things for him. He wakes up early each morning with Ayden, my two early risers, and gets him his milk and they watch TV together. Seth has a great memory for actors, shows, dates, movies, books and authors. He'll be the next great screenplay writer I just know it!
Little Dill, baby #5! What a sweet little pill he is. All boy, Dillon is never clean. He has food on his face and clothes all the time and if he is allowed outside, runs directly to the hose and turns it on soaking everyone around him. We need to find a solution for that. Dillon's speech is blossoming and he has so many words. He loves to say 'more'! Other words, but certainly not all, are: fish, car, eye, shoe, mama, daddy, sissy, no, map(thanks Dora), night night... and so many more. It seems he acquires about two more a day. He is a mountain goat and tries to climb everything. He has a purpose in everything he does and hates to be held back. He wants to do everything that his brothers do and when he cries it is usually because I am not letting him go with the older boys. He will play with toys by himself for the longest time and will watch TV just as long, if we let him. He loves to suck on his middle two left fingers (it seems he will be a lefty) and yell 'yay' as he claps. It is adorable.
In the stress of running a house, teaching full time (which does not end at school), raising five children and being an attentive wife, I often forget how wonderful my children are and how much I love them. They are each so different that it amazes me. I love to watch the kind things they do for each other, the games they create to play with one another and to share my favorite things with them - like long drives and good music. This last year here, away from home, has been a difficult one for me and I regretted ever moving here, but this last week is changing my mind. Fall is here bringing with it fresh, cool breezes and an appreciation of what I have here.
