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.

First Day of School!!!!!

So today was a very big day for us. My little babies started school!! I cannot believe that they are old enough. They were so excited. Samantha woke up this morning at 6:27am and stood at the top of the stairs and yelled to me "Mommy, it's the first day of school....time to get dressed". It was so cute! They all got ready in record time and off we went. I tried to slow it all down, I took a bunch of pictures. Then I had to argue about why they couldn't take the bus. I finally told them it was my right as the mommy to drive them to school on their first day. Then I reminded them that they were going to ride the bus home, and all was good. I drove really slow, crying the entire way. We took a picture of them in front of the sign at school, then walked them in. I felt like I was going to just break down at any moment, and was concentrating on being excited for them. A few tears leaked out when we got to Paige and Christian's class. Jeremy and Samantha started taking off their backpacks and were ready to stay. Paige and Christian entered their classroom and just took off. Chatting with the teacher, chatting with the other kids, completely ready to go. I was crushed! While I was happy that they were okay with me not being there, I secretly wished that they would cling just a little. There was no clinging at all!!!! Then we went to Samantha and Jeremy's class and it was more of the same. They just took off. Ready to be "in school". I was very grateful that they all remembered to kiss me and say good-bye, but I felt like I was an after thought. Again, I was really glad that they were going to be okay without me, but all of a sudden I was not sure I was going to be okay without them.

So we said our good-byes and about half way down the hall I started to lose it. I wanted to run back and grab them. The tears started and I made it out to the car and sat there for about 5 minutes just crying. Dan was looking at me like I was crazy. Guys just don't understand!!!!! The entire day was weird for me. I went to the store, alone, and it was just strange. At home it was creepy quiet. I watched the clock all day long. I couldn't wait for them to get home. The bus arrived just after 4 and the kids were so excited to be home, and I cried when I got to hold them in my arms again and I knew that all of us had survived the first day. They are in bed now and they cannot wait to go back to school. Tomorrow cannot come fast enough for them, but for me, I wish it would never come!!!

Tooth Fairy and Dr visit

So first, the exciting thing that happened today. Samantha has been wiggling a tooth for about 2 weeks wondering when it will come out. Well, today at lunch time she had success!!! It came out and she is so excited. Mommy and Daddy are too, this is the first baby tooth to fall out.

She is so proud. Right now her tooth is under her pillow and she is waiting for the Tooth Fairy to come and give her "either candy or money". It is so much fun to see her so excited and talk to her about these big girl things. I really thought that this was going to start something with the other kids about why their teeth aren't falling out, but so far they are just excited to see what she is going to get. I can't wait to see her face in the morning when she finds out what the Tooth Fairy brought her.

The other not so exciting thing is that I am sick. For the first time since they were born, I have actually been too sick to care for them. And the kicker is I don't have a clue what is wrong with me. I woke up on Thursday morning with pains in my stomach (actually above my stomach) and other gross stuff that I won't go into. I decided to just deal with it and hoped I would be fine by Friday. My mother was here for part of the day on Thursday, so I was able to be in bed, or just sit in the chair quietly until after she left, but there really wasn't much they needed after that except dinner, and Dan helped me with that. On Friday morning I woke up even worse that I was the day before. So I called the Dr. and went in to see her. I FULLY expected her to say I had a "tummy ache" and to go home. Instead I was told to go to the hospital and get blood work and a CAT Scan. Yippie!!!! Oh and by the way, the stuff that you have to drink before you have a CAT Scan, GROSS!!!! It's like drinking Tang flavored glue! OMG... when you are not feeling well, to ask some one to drink that stuff is just downright cruel! Anyway, I sat in the Radiology Dept. waiting room, in more pain than I can remember ever being in, and then finally went in. They did the scan and then told me to wait. After about 20 minutes, I was told to go back to the Dr office. So off I went and she told me that they don't have a clue what is wrong with me, and sent me home with pain meds, and 2 different kinds of antibiotics (after they gave me a 3rd in shot form in my butt). So I went home, scared the shit out of Dan because I was in so much pain I think he was sure I was going to explode all over the bedroom! So today, the pain is not as bad, but Dan is freaking out every time I get out of bed. I am convinced I have the best husband in the world. He has been completely wonderful! So that is all I have to say tonight.

School starts on Wednesday, and I am finally coming to terms with that....we will see how I am on Wednesday after I drop them off though.