Play dates are a good thing!

With only a few days left before school starts, I have come to a conclusion.  The only way I am going to get through them is to have many play dates.  Yesterday we had 2 of them.  One in the morning and one in the afternoon.  They had so much fun (and so did I).  They didn't fight with each other, whine, complain...nothing.  It was great!  We decided to extend the afternoon play and went over and cooked waffles together.  We got home late and the kids went to bed...and fell asleep instantly.  I love it!  Now we have a weekend with no friends, but that is okay, because they are going to learn about yard work.  LOL  We have been gone all summer and only came home long enough to do the bare minimum...so the yard looks really bad!  Gotta trim bushes, mow the lawn, pull weeds...all that fun stuff.

On Monday, we might have another time for playing with friends...hopefully we will last that long.  :)

A Family Torn Apart

Today I am thinking about family that is no longer in my life.  My grandmother died 8 years ago.  She never got to meet my children, she never even know I was pregnant with them.  Then my grandfather died 3 years ago.  While both deaths were devastating to me, my grandfathers death was the beginning of the end for my extended family.  After my grandfather died, my uncle sued my mother for 1/2 of the estate that my grandfather gave to my mother in his will.  My mother is permanently disabled and divorced.  She spent the previous 6 years living with my grandfather caring for him, doing everything he needed.  My mother doesn't work (she received disability income) and she can't work because of her disability so my grandfather wanted to make sure she would be financially set for the rest of her life.  My uncle is a CPA Partner in a major firm in a major city...therefore doesn't need any money from anyone else.

Anyway, he sued my mother, and because she was afraid she would lose EVERYTHING if she let it get to court, she decided to settle with him.  He walked away with more than 1/2 of the cash money that my mother was supposed to live on.  It makes me very angry that he could do that to his own sister.  What makes me even more mad is what it did to the family.

We all had to take sides right?  I my uncle has 3 children.  1 older than me, the other 2 are younger.  They are the only cousins I have.  I have not spoken to 2 of them since before my grandfather died.  The older one I spoke to right after we got served with the lawsuit.  I still send them Christmas cards, last year 2 of them were returned to me.  I just hate that one persons selfish act destroyed a family.  My Great Aunt died recently, and I was SHOCKED to actually get the phone call about it.  They were on "his side" you see, and we haven't spoken since my grandparents were buried.  We went to the funeral and Aunt and Uncle Scumbag were there and it was awful!  I wanted to cuss him out and tell him off...I do truly hate him.  But I was raised better than that, so I said nothing.  We avoided each other, stayed on opposite sides of the room the entire time.  I hate feeling uncomfortable like that!  It makes me mad!

I was on Face book today, and decided to look up one of my cousins.  I found her and she has a website for her business, so I went to check it out.  It was really cool.  It looks like her business is really taking off and sounds like she is happy with it.  I so wish I could send her a note and let her know I am proud of her.  I saw a picture of her son, who I have never seen, and he is adorable!  Looks just like his mommy.  My oldest cousin was pregnant with her 2nd child the last time I talked with her.  He should be 3 soon, and I don't even know his name.  It makes me sad to know that I know nothing about their lives.  I had hoped we could have friendships as adults because we were never very close as children, but I guess that is over!  I guess I am done rambling about this.  I just get really sad and mad about the fact that one person can destroy a family so completely.

A Thank you

I love my kids and I love being a mom!  It is truly the most amazing feeling and the most amazing thing I have ever done.  Some days I am struck by how lucky I am to be a mother also to be a mother to quadruplets.  Today is one of those days.  I am not sure why, but it is.  I can remember telling someone, while I was pregnant, that I knew God would not give me more than I could handle.  After I had all 4 of them home from the hospital, I think I called myself a lier.  But I handled it.  Of course I had help from friends, but still I made it through.  I was thinking about the day they were born and the events surrounding their birth.  I am still in such awe over the miracle that I was given that day.  Against so many odds I was given 4 healthy, happy amazing babies.

I was told when I first found out I was pregnant with quadruplets that there is a 25% mortality rate.  I thought... WOW...that was my only thought.  We went to see specialists in "Selective Reduction" so we could move forward with the pregnancy with all of the information we needed.  The "Selective Reduction" specialist told me that I would be lucky if I "walked away from this with 2 babies".  We spoke to another specialist who was the first to tell me that I COULD do it.  He told me I could give birth to 4 healthy children.  He told me that it would be hard, and that they might not all make it, but that it was worth giving them a chance.  So we decided to put it in God's hands, and let him do what he had planned for us.  I am so grateful for that decision.  I was watching my children run around in their underwear tonight, and even though I was grumpy (it's hot today) I was still so very thankful for the gift I have been given.

I really think we can all get bogged down with the problems we have in life.  There is never enough money or time, the house is never clean, what to cook for dinner, the laundry pile is never ending....whatever, but I think if we all just take a moment to see the gifts in our lives, it can make our world just a little brighter.  So tonight, I will say a little prayer of Thanks.  Thank you Lord for all the joys and gifts you have brought to my life.  Thank you Lord for my 4 AMAZING children, my husband, my family and the love I have in my heart!!!  You are an amazing God to have blessed me this much.

We made it!!!!!

It's over....Thank God!!!  We all survived their first year of school!!!!

180 days ago I tearfully left them to meet new people, have new experiences and generally grow up. I did this unwillingly, but they were so excited! They could not get there fast enough and I was so worried, so sad and just nervous.

Since school started they have learned so many things. They can read now, their writing is leaps and bounds better than it was, they are doing math, learning new vocabulary words...it is amazing! They have made new friends...most of them I like, some of them...not so much! They are turning into little people with opinions and likes/dislikes, fashion sense and so many other things. It has truly been wonderful watching them grow into the big kids they are becoming.

As I watched the kindergarten celebration today, I couldn't help but fast forward in my mind to when they graduate from High School. It was a moment that almost over took my emotions. I feel like if I blink, it will be here. I know they are still my babies, but I am not ready for the years to come yet. I am trying to graciously let them come, but oh my, I really wish I could keep them little forever!

One the first day of school, I posted pictures of them.... I took pictures this morning and I realize that my babies are definitely not babies anymore!!!!!!

Christian

Samantha

Jeremy

Paige

Sick

So I have been sick for abut 3 weeks. Sinus infection, ear infection and bronchitis. I waited a week before I went to the Dr....you know, you can't rush into getting better! LOL So I got my antibiotics and started taking them, ready for a quick recovery. Didn't happen.

Then on Saturday, we went to the ball field to play a family game of T-Ball and it was warm and we had a great time. When we got home, Samantha was acting funny, really tired and grumpy. Took her temperature, and it was 101ish. Great!!! Just what I need when I am still trying to get better. Sunday it was in the 103 range. I called the Dr and she let me know that we should come in and see her on Monday if the fever hadn't gone away.

It didn't

So we went.

She has Strep and Scarlatina....WONDERFUL!

Oh yeah, and Jeremy has an ear infection. So I get antibiotics for all 4 of them...just in case. Samantha was out of school until today. And she was miserable. For the first couple of days she felt really crappy, then she was feeling better, but still had a fever so she couldn't go to school. Yesterday was a nightmare. She was mad from the time she woke up until she went to bed....then woke up like that this morning too. Oh boy. I was so happy to see her go to school this morning.

Everyone seems to be feeling better....except me. I still can't hear, can't breathe through my nose and I am coughing like crazy. 2 more days of meds, and then I will go back to the Dr...maybe she can fix me.

One of these days we will be healthy for more than a week. It would be so nice! I remain hopeful :)

First day of Spring

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have my first flowers right next to the front door to great me when I leave the house and when I come home. The are little and yellow and just happy. I am so excited to see them. There are flowers on the tree out front and everything is waking up! The weather outside is warm and the sun is shining brightly. I am so happy about this, I can't wait to play outside with the kids and get the yard cleaned up for the spring. It is going to be a great day today!!

The mind of a 6 year old

Today I am trying to understand the mind of a 6 year old. Impossible, I know...but I figure I need to try, right?

Since school started, the kids have been fighting over who gets to be first every morning for the bus. I mean, full on fights...screaming, yelling, name calling, tears and stomping feet. This goes on everyday without fail. So frustrating. So I started to make them go in order, and I would change the starting person every Monday. That way they always knew who was first, and there was no fighting about it. It was working very nicely. The fighting had stopped, there was no rush to get out of the house first, there was no pushing, yelling or any of that! In short, I had bus line bliss!

So yesterday, I am talking to them about who's turn it is to be first and Samantha asks me if she can be last...so I say sure (since she is the loudest about being first usually). So Samantha is last and honestly can't remember who was first, but anyway, all were happy! This morning, Samantha again asked me if she could be last, telling me that she wanted to sit on the outside of the seat and that is why she wanted to be last. I figured since no one wants to be last, this was great, one less person to fight over being first. WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So now Paige decides she wants to be last too. "Mommy, I had to sit by the window yesterday...it's my turn to be last" My first though is you have got to be kidding me!!!!!!!!!!!! Now we are fighting over who is last?????? She starts to jump up and down yelling and screaming saying she wants to be last. Seriously? What do I do with that?

Even after I write all of this down, I still don't get it. I am beginning to wonder if I will ever understand the thought process of a child...

Tantrums....

So we have been going through some interesting moods with the girls and I am not sure how to handle it anymore. It started with Samantha and she is gets totally out of control. She gets so upset over the smallest things, ie: she didn't get chocolate milk, her coat feels "funny", etc. She goes from completely happy to completely insane in about 2 seconds. She is screaming, stomping her feet and hitting things. She yells at her siblings, make disrespectful noises at us and just generally grumps around. She NEVER gets what she wants when she does this. Infact, she typically loses something. Most of the time she is sent to her room until she calms down. There have even been times I have had to send her back to her room several times. We have talked to her about why she is doing this. You can ask her while she is having a fit and she will tell you that the only thing she gets is a time out when she has fits. I just don't get it. Now Paige is starting it and my only thought is what the hell am I supposed to do with both of them doing this????

I know that tantrums are part of life with young kids, but I really thought they would be getting better at this age, not worse. I ask them both why they have these fits, and they both tell me "I don't know". When I ask them if they do this at school when they don't get their way and they always tell me "no". So why do they do it at home??? Both of them can be the best kids in the world, but when they are doing this, I just don't even want to be around them.

This morning Samantha woke up in a mood, and was yelling at Paige before she even came downstairs. And when I say she was yelling at Paige...it was more like screaming at her, starting with the first word that came out of her mouth. It was so bad that when she finally came down to the table for breakfast, I had to send her back to her room. Then when she got off the bus this afternoon she was fine...until she got into the house. She was the 2nd person in the house, and I was the last. She was already yelling at everyone when I got in the house. I am so frustrated with this.

This is just how it goes

Today was a mixture day. I got up, got the kids up and off to school with no fights, no shouting or tantrums. What a rare and wonderful morning!!! I did my nails, finished the laundry, and mopped the kitchen floor. All in all a fabulous day! We went to karate, and had fun there. I always enjoy talking to the other mothers and finding out that my kids are not the only ones that seem insane one minute and completely happy the next. When we got home, Paige decided to have a fit in the car. I have no idea what it was about, but she kicked Dan in the face in the process. Needless to say she was in BIG trouble. After she was punished, she was told to go get her jammies on and it was then that she decided to hit her sister. FOR NO REASON AT ALL!!! She couldn't even tell me why she did it. She couldn't remember. I really don't like it when any of the kids get like this, they are so hard to deal with. I just don't understand it at all!!!!

Well, I could go on and on about this, but I wont. On to another day!

Playing in cars with kids

Clearly I am not very good at keeping up with the blog thing. I always think...what do I have to say that is interesting? Why would anyone want to read what I am writing? Here is what I decided. I am going to try and keep up with this blog even if it is boring and even if no one wants to read it because someday, my kids might want to know what was going through my head.

I had a really great day with my kids today. We woke up (way too early) and started to get ready for Church. Last night they were very excited to go, and this morning, they just wanted to hang out and do nothing, so we decided not to go. Then I woke up Dan so I could take a nap. giggle I slept for a couple hours and then the kids and I went outside. I cleaned out the van and the kids were playing. Then they decided to "help me" clean the van. And by help what I really mean is they were playing in the car...getting in my way...and having a great time! They "drove" to California and China, bought coffee, got new brakes, new tires and fixed the engine. I can't tell you how completely adorable they were.

I love days like this. I love days when we just play and they are fun. It reminds me why I wanted to be a mother.