Thanksgiving Thursday

Thanksgiving started out with a stressful drive to the cousins. The weather wasn't too bad, but the ice on the roads left us worried and stressed the entire drive. What was supposed to take 1 hour 45 minutes turned into much more. We left the house at 9:30 am and didn't arrive at our destination until noon. We brought the boat to N's sisters for storage for the winter. After dropping off the boat, we headed to the cousins house for our holiday celebration. We had brought a 5 bean dish in the crockpot. Everything was ready to be put in the crockpot, but it took awhile for the food to heat up. It was ready when we were done eating. Some still had a bowl of beans later and they were delicious. The night before, the kids and I made some treats to take. They did most of the work. This was the first time they really wanted to do it themselves. I let them go to town. They turned out great. Nine made puppy chow. He measured everything and doubled the recipe. Six and Eight worked on dipping pretzels. I let them do as they pleased and some were thicker than others. I did the sticks and they sprinkled colors to decorate. They made the Ritz cracker peanutbutter sandwiches and I dipped them in chocolate. It was a great cooperative effort. I made pumpkin bars, too. Everyone was happy with the treats we brought. The kids ran and played. They haven't seen each other since the summer. Sunflower shared with us she'd like to see us more. She said she would come this direction. Ultimately, that is why we don't see each other. Honestly, I got tired of always going there. We moved into this house in August. My sister made it here before anyone else. She had to buy plane tickets. Long story short, it will be great to have them. We discussed New Years. We will see if it works out, weather permitting. Days at home with the kids now. We cleaned the basement yesterday. We have lots to haul away to goodwill this week. I dug out the tree. N will need to bring it upstairs. I really didn't even want to put up a tree, but Six begged me stating that was her favorite part of the holiday. We've stepped up our advent activities this year thanks to our church supplying us with lots of ideas. Looking forward to bringing our focus in the right direction. We are leaving for MN in almost exactly 2 weeks. Going early shaves off prep time for me. I will bake and have all teacher, bus driver, etc. gifts ready in advance. Hope I can get it all done.

Wednesday

Eye appointment, check! Dentist, check! 1 pan of pumpkin bars, baked, frosted and delivered, check! So much more to do, but lots accomplished before noon. Happy kids and content mom. Poor dad in recovery from root canal. Hopefully I can keep the house quiet for him to rest. Looking forward to the holiday weekend!

Parent teacher conferences

Trying to keep it together can be a weekly/daily struggle. I have a big calendar to write everything down on. I keep it in the kitchen, all are able to see what is coming up. Tonight, I failed. Actually, last night I failed. Turns out I was off a night for Eight and his parent teacher conferences. I had no clue his was on Monday. My calendar said all on Tuesday. His teacher was as sweet as can be and we will meet at another time. Eight was disappointed in me. I felt bad. On another note, it was so great to hear such good things about our children. I think I get so wrapped up in the daily routine. We've been frustrated with Eight. I feel like frustration has taken over our life. I feel frustrated way too many days a week. It shows in my children and their behavior. We are wound too tight and need to relax, get more energy out. Nine has straight A's and is doing very well in school. His teacher loves having him in class. The boy never has any homework. She said she knows, she can see how hard he works in class. He makes the maximum use of his time during school hours and gets everything he needs done during that time. I told her we never study spelling words, it comes naturally to him. She already knew. We couldn't be more proud of Nine. I will have to write about Eight after we get to meet with his teacher. She did give us his papers and I saw a report card he gave himself. He was quite honest with his answers, for that I was incredibly proud. Six is also doing a great job in school. She is above where she is supposed to be in all categories. Her reading was probably my biggest concern, but she's right on track. Above actually, she is doing very well. The teacher told me about when Six gets to a word she doesn't know, they have been working on attacking it to figure it out. Six is quiet and not aggressive with reading, but she is getting better. Lately, she has told me when she can figure out the word she is reading. She doesn't want me to help her figure it out. We've been reading more at bedtime. It's been great. Baby Girl even joins in on the reading fun. I felt so good after conferences, minus the failing to meet with 3rd grade. It is nice to hear kind things about your children from others. With all the frustrations, we are doing a good job. I feel guilty for the frustrations and hope to keep them out. We need to work on not letting the frustrations take over the day. For now, that is my goal.

Just another Sunday

I love Sundays. It's a day when we don't have to rush out the door. Today is our church Thanksgiving potluck. It's been awhile so we need to have another potluck. Fr. B continues to bring us together, and food is usually involved. My pumpkin bars are done, ready to frost and go. The kids are just as excited as I am. Poor N will miss out. He has the am shift. It snowed for the first time yesterday. Oh were there happy children when they realized what was outside. We have a row of trees in the back yard. They've made a fort in a section. Our backyard is just what I wanted. It's not too big, but fenced in and the right size for my group. They can be out there and I don't have to worry about them too much. They were outside twice yesterday. Some days, outside time seems challenging when it's rainy Michigan weather. They don't get to go out for recess. They are all cooped up and get wild. Those days, I am thankful for the basement. I can send them down there, and not have to be involved with the chaos directly. Lately, we've been struggling with behavior problems. I have been so discouraged with the children and myself. I get frustrated way too easily. It's not too bad, but still disappoints me. We've had too many upsetting days. Part of it is trying to deal with Eight and his ever changing mood. He's started OT to get some of his frustrations under control. Turns out he has weakness in his hands, thus his hate for writing. He wants to wear tight clothing because the tightness is a self soothing mechanism, keeping him on task at school. He works so hard all day long staying on top of things and being good at school. When he gets home, he can relax and lets go. Sometimes the pressure will cause him to blow up. Doing homework can be too much to ask. Just another expectation that frustrates him. This situation has taken over our day/night many times. We're finally doing better in the am with him. One day at a time. If we don't do homework right after school, the entire night can fall apart. It's a challenge we are still working on. His teacher says she doesn't see any different behavior at school. He does very well. Our challenges are at home. We've been praying more to remedy this situation. I'm trying my best, all we can do is keep trying and keep praying. Six can be a challenge in the am too. If it's not one, it's another. She does alright as long as she gets enough sleep. Would you believe a difference of as little as 20 minutes more sleep time can change her attitude? I've discovered it's best for her to be in her bed before 8. She always falls asleep with a book in her hands or on her face. I turn out her light and move the book away each night. She's such a good girl. I've also tried really hard to not have an opinion on her clothing choices. I will let her wear whatever she likes, as long as it's weather appropriate. Sometimes, that is a challenge. The ever changing MI temps make it difficult. For awhile, she wanted to go without socks. Reluctantly, I said okay. Eventually it was not an issue, as the temps began to lower. She's doing very well in school. She gets all her spelling words right every week. It was that way with Nine when he was in first grade. She loves her teacher and her classmates. I was fortunate to sub for the gym teacher last week. I got to teach Six and her class. It was great fun to see the kids in action. I love spending time at the school. Friday was the kindergarten bake sale. Only one more sale in January. They decided one bake sale per class this year. Too bad, I know the teachers could have used the extra funds. Last year, Eight and his class got to go on two field trips with bake sale money. It was out of my hands as far as how many each grade could have. Nine is doing great, too. He is such a good boy. Every morning he gets up, gets dressed, packs his lunch and is ready for breakfast when I get up. He nearly always wakes up at 6. He asks me to make his sandwich in his lunch, otherwise he does the rest on his own. All of last year and so far, all of this year he has taken his own lunch. He still has the same money in his account from the first day of school in 3rd grade. He does very well in school. I am so proud of him. Our other challenge this year was attending faith formation at our church. I teach Six and her class on Tues nights. I signed the boys up to attend class that same night. Well, Nine wasn't so comfortable with the teachers. Eight wanted to be with his friend on Monday night. Long story short, the boys go on Monday, girls on Tuesday. It works out well. I always struggle with spending quality time with the kids individually. This is forever a struggle with N and his schedule too. Attending faith formation two different nights gives N quality time with the girls on Monday nights and quality time with the boys on Tuesday nights. Too bad it will all end in January. Just when I get it figured out, it will all change. N put in to have Sundays off in January. While I am thankful for him being home on Sundays, the pay cut and change in schedule will be difficult. We will see. Change is hard. Guess that is all for now. Better get a move on for church. Happy Sunday to whomever is still reading these!

Quite settled

It's been months since I've written on here. Just got out of the routine I guess. We are loving the new house. The space is great. Each kid has their own area. Today we created a new space. I gave them a "fort" under the basement stairs. I remember having a fort under the stairs at the original Anderson household. We stapled fabric to create walls and used carpet pieces to create a floor. I hung a curtain over the "doorway" and happy kids for the afternoon. We continue to make changes in the house. It's so much fun to have something of our own, finally. It's been too long. We left our house in Texas when Six was 2 months old. Here we are, almost 6 years later to date and finally in our own home again. Baby Girl is growing fast. She's got all these new words every day. She thinks she is 6 and can do anything the big kids can. She brings joy to us and has been a fantastic addition. We've made a few videos for my family. I love being able to share videos with them from so far away. We will see each other at Christmas, even though it won't be the exact right day, I know it will be great. We look forward to it every year. The kids are excited to have a fire place this year at Christmas. Nine has a picture in his mind of how he wants the night to go. I am excited for him and hope we can live up to his dream night on Christmas eve. Well, I'm being summoned for a milk cup. Time is up for now.

Back to school

After a three day weekend, tomorrow we head back to the school routine. Happy to share the diorama was completed and handed in on Friday. The paragraph was finished today. He is not crazy about writing, completed the task after some influence from N and info online, he finished. Baby Girl is sleeping better. Five lost her first tooth. I can't remember when I last wrote on here. I haven't used the laptop. That is where I am missing these entries. So much to catch up on, no time to complete. Card making has taken a new turn. We've come up with new ideas and designs. I still enjoy making cards so very much. We also got a few new tools and paper, the motivation is high! We've come up with some really great baby cards. Maybe I'll post some pictures.

Hopefully Back

Things have been frustrating lately, I think it's the lack of blogging. Haven't been on here since we moved into the new house. I hope that can change. Hope to be back online soon. For now, it's bedtime for a crying girl upstairs.