Sunday, February 28, 2016

February has come to an end and it has been a fast month.  Currently Jacinda is sick and my heart breaks seeing her vomit and so miserable.  Tomorrow we go to the doctors.  It has been two days and she is still not getting better.  I am going to do all I can to help her get better.

I am so proud of Jacinda and her spelling.  She did so great on this past test.  We spent about two hours studying during the week and it paid off.  I finally found a way where she can remember the words.  She needs to apply them to a picture.  She is a visual learner just like her momma.  We are also getting ready for Fiddler on the Roof.  Jacinda is in the school play and it has been so fun to watch her excitement fly.  I got the opportunity to make the wedding veil and sew three jackets that look like something Abraham Lincoln would wear.  I am very excited to see the play.

McCabe is hard at play.  He likes to play with his friends J.D. and Caden.  He just had a sleep over with J.D. and he was busted staying up late playing the X-box.  McCabe loves his electronics.  He also learned about the importance of completing a book report before playing with friends.  I love using homework as leverage for fun things.

Xadia is doing so well with her sight words.  She still has some trouble with “want, what, and this,” but she gets the other 20 sight words just fine.  She is doing well at reading and this summer we will continue to work on it.  Xadia loves to play Roblox and Minecraft.  She does tae kwon do and complains every time I tell her to put on her uniform because she wants to stay home and play on her computer.  However, after tae kwon do she is all smiles and so happy she went. 

Teagan is getting to be such a big boy.  At the moment he is sitting next to me watching the news.  He is not sleepy because he had a 2.5 hour nap today at church.  I asked him what I should type in my blog about him and he said, “McDonalds get a shake.  Build a sand castle.  Go camping at the beach with Soli, Lance, and Kade.”  These are things that he wants to do.  Teagan is enjoying pre-school.  Each week the school highlights a letter of the week.  We like to talk about the letter and come up with things to bring to show the class.  This week is the letter ‘R.’  He wants to bring a rainbow or a race car.  I love how cute he is.  He gets very excited over small things and his eyebrow nearly fall off his forehead.

As far as Tim and I go, we are just getting old.  It is 9:30 pm and we are ready to go to sleep.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

My kitchen helpers.  I made cinnamon rolls and Xadia requested blue frosting.  I have to admit it is not the most appetizing color but hey I guess I can bend every once in a while.  Xadia and Teagan were there to help lick the beaters.  Xadia is sticking out her tongue to showcase the bright blue color.

  Happy Valentine's day.  We made pancakes for breakfast.  Xadia and Teagan each got a spatula and helped flipped them.  There were only 3 pancake casualties.  After breakfast, mom and dad gave each child a big chocolate mint heart from Mrs. Cavanaugh's chocolates.  Jacinda kept asking for it all morning.  In the afternoon we went to stake conference.  It was very delightful.  Dinner was sweet pork burritos.  It was super yummy.

     February is McCabe's birthday month and he had a super birthday party.  We played the question answer game and the saran wrap candy bar game.  We also had pizza, cake, and ice cream and watched Hotel Transylvania 2.  He had about 15 friends at his party and it was crazy.  I was so glad when it was over.  It is too hard to entertain a group that big.  We had about 4 kids who wanted to do their own thing.  This means less people next year for his party.

Monday, February 1, 2016

                Parenting is hard but at the end of the day I am so glad to be a mom.  At the quiet moments in my life I reflect on raising good kids.  My children try very hard to do what is required of them.  McCabe and Jacinda have the most responsibility.  They have homework, chores, piano, and tae kwon do to fill their schedules.  They also have activities to fit in between those requirements such as activity days and cub scouts.  Most days they are very cooperative.  I use kindle time as leverage to make sure things get done.  It is great as they get older because they are so capable of doing a lot.  This past Saturday they helped clean the house.  All the bathrooms got done and I only had to clean one.

                I am pleased with Jacinda and how hard she is working at school.  Her spelling is coming along.  She is a whiz at math and she is the kindest most helpful student I have ever seen.  I have the opportunity to tutor some of her classmates and at the same time observe Jacinda.  It is a blessing to see how my child thrives in the classroom.

                McCabe is also doing well in his school work.  He is in SEM for math.  His teacher raves about how delightful McCabe is in class and how she wishes she had a whole classroom full of “McCabe students.”  I am glad my children are behaving well.  Tomorrow is McCabe’s 9^th birthday.  I like who is becoming.  For his birthday he wants a game for his Nintendo 3DS so that is what he is going to get along with whatever else he receives from his party.

                Xadia and Teagan are still in the learning phases of doing chores.  This past Saturday, Xadia and I cleaned the basement bathroom.  It was so nice that she was so willing to help without complaining.  Xadia is at a cross road in her life.  She wants to be big like her older siblings and she also wants to constantly play like Teagan.  Xaida currently does tae kwon do.  She has asked me a few times to start piano.  That will happen later this year.  As a mom, I can only do so much.  I have realized that when the kids want to do something that means I will become part of it too whether it is teaching them or driving them to their activities so I need to make sure my schedule is open.  Xadia is working on her speech and her reading.  It is fun to do her homework packet with her each day.  She loves school and her teacher Mrs. Holbrook.

                Teagan is my bundle of energy.  Let’s face it; I cannot keep up with him.  I am glad he is pretty obedient except when it comes to treats, he loses all control.  Just this morning he was hiding a back of marshmallows and snacking on them when I was not looking.  I accidently caught him eating them when I walked into the room. Teagan is also becoming very self-sufficient.  He now entertains himself with his kindle or blocks.  Just the other day he was building windows and an elevator out of blocks.  I am still getting used to the fact that when it is quiet he is not getting into trouble he is just in his room playing.  I guess I am learning too.  It is so weird having to adjust as the kids grow into the next phases in life.

                My favorite part of being a parent is the end of the day when we have scripture study and prayer time.  We gather as a family and immediately after the prayer I give each child a kiss and a hug and tell them how much I love them.  Then if there is time I will read a book to them.  We are currently reading the Ever After School series.  When I am done reading it seems like all the kids need me at once.  They want me to lay down with them and visit.  So to be fair, I have assigned each child a night.  It was worked well and a lot of hurt feelings have been avoided.