What all the kids are up to....

OK Lets see do we start oldest to youngest or youngest to oldest???

Big C- He is BUSY BUSY BUSY!!! His day starts bright and early having to be at basketball practice by 6:30 every morning. (an event mom is very ready to END!!)From there it is GO GO GO ALL DAY!! He has competed in several UIL events placing 2nd in the first rounds and in the champion round brought home a 4th and 5th place. UIL is competing in educational challenges. Each event required after school practice. The days he didn't have that he had golf practice and lets not forget DI practice too! And he still enjoys going to youth group each Wednesday so we try our hardest to get him there for that! Basketball games are every Thursday night and on the weekends he either has BB, UIL, DI, or taking the ACT. So his months have been jammed full of activities! Basketball ends next week. Golf tourneys start the end of March and I think I heard him mutter trying out for track last night. I told him anything that does NOT require me to leave this house before 7 AM!!! :) He is doing wonderful keeping an all A avg in the midst of all that too! He is a really great kid...starting to test the teenage waters but still a good kid!

Little Red- Will always be our little red! Has she not tested us since day one?? She is growing up fast and keeping me on my toes! She too is busy busy! She also competed in UIL getting 4th place. Being student body pres keeps her going too! At least early to school for her is 7:15!! She is on a DI team too so she has been busy with practices. She attended Mid Winter for the first time in Jan at the camp she attends during the summer! She is doing wonderful in school too keeping an A/B avg!! She is our little social butterfly!!

Squeakie- She is growing up and takes it all in! She has not gotten to that crazy busy age yet that will start next year! :) She is loving the 3rd grade and her teacher this year. Her teacher was raised in Germany so she brings a lot of German education into her classroom and Squeaks LOVES it. She already wants to be in German club next year. This teacher also is teaching them watercolors so she comes home frequently w/ her water painting and does quite well at it! She also is making wonderful grades and the honor roll this year!

Cani Bear- Oh Cani Bear!!! His teacher LOVES him! She could not write anything more wonderful on his report cards! He got to read to the principal a couple weeks ago (the first in his class) and the first one in kinder to read her a chapter book! He still keeps us laughing most of the time! He doesn't miss a thing and seriously has a wit about him (not always appropriate but funny. It will be interesting to see how he ends the year!

Sue Bee- OK I've had 4 prior children and seen a lot of kids during their toddler years. I fully prepared myself for the trying three's.... no need! I swear this is the SWEETEST most kind hearted little girl anyone will ever meet! She is the first to always say Happy Birthday and want to do things for others.It is always "yes momma" "oh yes mam" em "no thank you" (although at times that is when I say pick up your toys). She will eat her lunch, put her plate in the trash and go straight to lay down for nap rarely having to be told even once! She truly melts my heart everyday! She LOVES her baby sister and is SO excited about ICKY (that's what she named baby) in my tummy!! She is begging for a pig. She has a stuffed pig a farm pig a pig book she is in love with pigs! We hope to find her a pot bellied pig as a pet soon!

Last but not least is K baby- She has turned into a little chatter box in the past month. She adds new words and phrases to her vocab everyday! It crosses my mind often during the day that these two little girls are at the best ages of all! At 18mo she is really starting to bloom into her own little person. Watching her personality come out is so much fun...difficult at times but fun! She likes to explore and that can be a challenge. watching she and Sue Bee is so much fun. I hope they stay close like they are now forever. They will just lay down cuddle together and look at books watch TV or take a nap. It is so very sweet. Quite funny though she has now started mocking her sister and sucks the same finger as her now (she NEVER sucked her finger until last month) It will be fun to watch her over the next 6mo turn into a little toddler!

Yeh I know its been a while.....

What a wild couple months it has been! First to prepare and celebrate the holidays WHEW always busy around here!! But it was one of our most enjoyable Christmas celebrations in a long time! The kids enjoyed staying home and getting to visit with their grandparents and family and getting to play with their toys all day long!! Once Christmas ended it seems it took the 2nd week of the holidays to recover.

Then the new year began and it was back to school. And a birthday was celebrated by the OLDEST member of our family! It was wonderful to give him 7 flowers on the 7th to celebrate his 37th birthday and that we'd be welcoming lucky blessing #7 by the end of the year! No big surprise but he was quite excited to find out for his birthday I do believe!

By the next week it was show time...youth show that is! Big C placed 13th in his class and the top 13 went on to auction so he just barely got in! Little red got first place in her bake good (everybody says she's a little like her mother) :) So she too got to auction. Poor squeaks had her first year showing a goat and just struggled she did great but its a tough task for a 9 yr old! She did not place. After a lot of hard work I think it was decided to take a break from goats until the economy improves. By the time you buy the animal feed the animal it just isn't paying off right now! So we may have a lot of baking going on next year!

During that time Patrick also had strep throat. By the next week I got knocked on my rear with the flu. I seriously thought death was near me at one point. It may not have defeated me as well if I was not pregnant but pregnancy and flu just don't mix! It took me about 3 weeks to feel human again. Probably if I had sick days in my job and could actually take a day or 2 off I would have recovered a little quicker. But as most mothers know that's not how life goes and we still get up and tackle the day head on no matter what! So yippie finally getting back to life myself....Oh if it would all go so smoothly! Within days the stomach bug took up residency in our house! Not 1, not 2, not even 3 but 6 of the 8 family members caught the bug. My dearest husband not once but twice!! (and any wife knows that's twice as bad as a kid having it):) I laughed one day remembering how I thought the stomach bug w/ 4 kids was horrible...how times change. So morning sickness and caring for stomach bug victims is always a great combo!!

SO that brings us to this week almost 5 full days of a home of everybody being well for the first time in almost 2 months!! KNOCK ON WOOD!!! I should buy stock in Clorox and Lysol!! It is now being debated that we will just remove the months of Jan and Feb from our lives because it always seems to be trying months for us!

In the midst of the bug I also got to celebrate my 33rd birthday!! I got 7 beautiful Tulips from my wonderful husband!!

So for those thinking I fell off the face of the earth....close but not quite!! I always try to remember - things could always be worse - and God will never give me more than we can handle!!