I'm Back :)

I know I've been absent for a long time.

But I feel that I've been extra present in my kids lives lately :)  And as a mom, that's what matters most.

I figure that I'm going to start getting back into this in baby steps, because I do miss it.

I thought I'd start with "KID UPDATES"

Zoe is loving school. She started the school year teary eyed, because the middle school splits up the all the kids into two groups . . . GOLD and GREEN. Of course, all her friends were in green and she was put in gold. And I really do mean all her friends, I felt bad for her. But this week she came home with a "best friends" ring and the biggest smile ever. And just yesterday she told me "I have the best group of friends I've ever had", which I couldn't be happier for her :) Report cards just came out and she made Honor Roll with straight A's. She also made 4th chair in band, which she informed me that two of the flutist have private lessons "so they don't really count", so in her head, she made 2nd chair :) And she's had her braces and expander installed in her mouth, the day before Halloween . . . bad mommy! But she has been doing great with them, and doesn't seem to mind them.

Audrey isn't loving school as much, but she never has, so that's normal. She's never really had the patience for homework, and I need to just slow her down. She was upset when she didn't make the yearbook club, but the following week a sheet came home to sign up for student council. I told her that student council was probably a better fit for her anyways, so we sat down to fill out the questionnaire to get her in. The first question: Why do you want to be in student council? Audrey: Because I didn't get into yearbook club and I have nothing else to do. Me: No Audrey. We came up with some better answers together and she was jumping up and down when she came home with the news that she made it in. She has also made it into art club and band this year, so she's keeping busy. She picked the clarinet, hoping to move to the saxophone when she "gets a little bigger" :)

Cameron has been awesome in school. He loves his teacher and the classroom and especially the bus. I noticed changes immediately. He wants to write, he's attempting to sound out words, and he officially counted to 100 by himself today :) He couldn't be prouder of himself, and that's what I love. He has adjusted well to afternoon kindergarten and no naps. He still loves his Donkey Kong Wii game, which he plays much better than me. I've stopped playing with him, because he just yells at me the whole time. And I've been watching his relationship grow with his brothers. With the twins talking so much their imaginations are great to watch when the three of them play. They come up with the best stories together. He is such a good big brother, that is, expect for the times he has one of them pinned to the ground.

Emmitt is getting to be visibly bigger than Castiel. At this point, strangers are surprised that they are twins. He uses his size advantage on Castiel at times, but usually, he has his little brother's back. He looks like the toughie, but really he's a teddy bear at heart. He still loves his bo-bo (blanket) and carries it around like Linus, I just don't let him leave the house with it. He does have a sharp temper, his favorite word these days is "FINE!", with a cross of the arms and a stomp of the feet . . . and then he's put directly into timeout. He "humpfs" better than any of my kids, and it's usually because I won't let him play the iPod, iPad or DS, which are all of his favorite things. It's amazing how good he is at them all, he learns and improves on the games himself, and he'd play them constantly if I let him. He no longer says "hi" to dad when he gets home . . . "can I play your iPad?"

Castiel is the youngest and smallest and he acts like it too. He enjoys cuddling and being taken care of. He likes things done for him. He has a normal voice and a little voice. He uses the little voice to his advantage and we all know it. But we can't help but adore him, little voice + big eyes + a little tilt of the head = anything he wants. Not always, but I laugh when he does it to the girls and they say no, but then give in from the absolute cuteness :) He has turned "okay" into "k k" and when he's hungry he says "my tummy isn't fill anymore". He turns everything into cute.

So that's a quick little update on the kids.

I'll try and stick around again for a while :)