Our Little Mama is 11!

Today Alyssa is 11!

This year Alyssa has really blossomed into her own little person. She is enjoying homeschool and the freedom to learn in an environment where she can explore ideas and subjects that she is interested in as well as going on field trips. She really loves History and Science. We have been doing a lot of hands on Physics experiments that get her excited for the next one and in History we are learning about the Medieval Ages where they designed their own castles, inside and out (she LOVED that).

Here are 5 things that stand out to Alyssa about her 2011 (in her own words):

1. Saw my new baby sister being born. It was AWESOME!
2. We started homeschool with ALL the kids this year! I LOVE having them home with me.
3. I have been learning to crochet and have a few sewing projects that I would like to do. I also made my    own pillowcase with my Grandma.
4. I went and saw the last Harry Potter movie with a friend and my parents.
5. Went out with my grandparents to an Indian restaurant and spent the night with them for my birthday! I LOVE Indian food!

Happy Birthday to our little mama!

Snippets~A Photo Shoot

One goal that I have had for a few weeks now is to take pictures of each kid, for their 2011-2012 school year, no easy task when you have five. I had to do Laney on one day, the older girls on another and then the boys. I would like to get pictures of all of them together, but Laney is NOT cooperative with pics these days and Heath just wants to ham it up. So I will do what this pregnant body can do for now because my ever changing hormones can't handle it! :)

I can't believe that in about a week I will have added another child to my already crazy bunch of kids. They sure are a lot of work, but so worth every minute of it.

Now be prepared for a lot of pictures! I had too much fun! :)

First I wanted to start with these. I LOVE how it turned out! I don't get pictures like this with Chad often (he isn't big on PDA...boys!) and this is just one of my faves now. I can't decide which I like best. In color or B&W? 

They were having fun together and I wanted more cooperation on poses, but had to just go with it. In the end I think its cute and fun to see their personalities not only shining through, but that they enjoy each other (for the most part).

Heath loves to try and get people to laugh. He LOVES life so much and I wish I could be more like him. Life about does me in and then I am done with it, but he isn't usually down for very long. :)

Heath lost his first tooth and he is the youngest one in our family to have lost a tooth! Most of my kids were at least 7 going on 8 when they lost their first.

Chad has been hitting some of that teen 'tude, but overall is a good kid. One day when we were visiting my sister, Laney hit Chad and kept on messing with him. My sister told him to stop her, but he simply said, "She's too cute to scold!" Now if she has him wrapped around her pinky, I am wondering what our newest little one could get away with on his watch. :) 

He has even babysat a couple of times for another family and has done really well. Their kids want him over a lot! We are pretty proud of our boy who won't be boy for much longer! I can't believe we have about 6 more years with him before he ventures out into the world on his own.

It was hard to get Laney to be in some of these pictures, but the girls loved posing for the camera. Unfortunately for some reason, Alyssa isn't happy with her teeth and doesn't smile much, but I still was able to get some good pictures of her.

Ring around the rosies and other games were the only things that worked for Laney-bug. At least they had fun together.

Alyssa is still the little mama. She really is such a big help to me especially when I have been sick with this pregnancy.

She also LOVES to sew and go to fabric stores. I think that is going to be a weakness of hers cause she LOVES fabric! :) 

I admire her giving heart too. She truly has a love for people. Another trait a child of mine has that I wish I had too. I sometimes allow myself to get annoyed more than I should.

Bria has also lost several teeth as of late. She and Chad have both lost 3-4 at a time. I wouldn't be too surprised if the tooth fairy goes bankrupt anytime soon with these two. :) 

Bria has been doing really well with her piano. She can play left and right hand by ear so long as she practices, but after a few tries or so and then she pretty much has the song down. She loves it too. So that really helps. Now she wants to play flute, but I think with her good ears she should do strings, but I will be a good mom and let her try things out before she makes a final decision. :)

What can I say about bug-bug? She needs NAPS! She is now in a big girl bed and it is hard to get her to nap, but because she isn't getting them she isn't the same child. She spits, hits and gets into EVERYTHING much, much more than she used to. Of course it could be the fact that she is 2!!! :) I can NOT keep up. So we are trying to make her take naps. I am hoping that we can get into a groove soon. I am so tempted to just put her back in the crib for nap time until the baby is old enough to be out of the bassinet.

Other than that she is very snuggly and lovable when she wants to be. :) 

She also loves to learn phonics with Heath, so I have been doing alphabet flash cards with her and we let her think she is doing what Heath is. I think I may have an early reader on my hands though. She sure gets it quickly.

And Laney STILL loves her bellybutton! :)

Bitter Sweet

Recently I took Alyssa to the mall to get her ears pierced.  I was on cloud nine when Lys asked if she could get hers done. Visions of swapping cute earrings and jewelry shopping trips danced through my head. This was going to be bliss! :)

So, Alyssa and I were off to the mall. The lady prepped her and then the piercing gadget came out. The lady kind of tricked Lys into thinking she was just finishing up a mark on her ear when "POP!" Earring #1 in!

Alyssa was beside herself in tears and I started feeling sick to my stomach over my little gals sadness and pain. It took an entire HOUR to talk her into the other one getting done. I didn't want to have to hold her down for it either because this was her choice. Not mommy making her do it. I tried to talk her through it. Then, FINALLY, after a few nice strangers tried calming her and a few more words of encouragement from me, she let the other one get pierced. PHEW!!! I was ready for a nap and she had to sit with her head between her knees until the throw up feeling subsided. She has been known to get a little worked up at times. After we were leaving the mall I asked her if she regretted getting her ears pierced and she said "Nah. beauty is pain after all!" :)





Later that evening Bria, seeing how cute the earrings were, asked if she could get her ears done and I quickly said, "NO! I am still too traumatized by Lys's experience. Ask me in a year!" lol

I remember being 9 when I wanted to get my ears pierced. My dad was not happy about the idea. He kept saying "You only want it done cause that is what everyone else is doing, right?" I said "Nooooo!" Though in all actuality that was a part of the reason as to why I wanted them. The other part, which is what I told him, was that I wanted to be pretty. Then my dad's eyes teared up a little as he squeezed me a little tighter than usual saying, "My baby is growing up!"

The next day my ears were pierced! It sure is nice being the baby of the family. *wink,wink*

Now that I am on that side of the coin, I understand what my dad was feeling and why he was so reluctant to let me get my ears done. I find that as a parent its hard to let go of that little child. Its like looking at them as they are, but still seeing that little boy in his cowboy hat, diaper and holster complete with pistols or the little girl in pigtails dragging her favorite dolly around everywhere she goes. Its bitter sweet.

Snippets-Playing Catch Up

Since homeschooling, my blogging world and project world has been a bit on the slow side. Now that things are starting to come together, schedule wise, I am hoping that I can be more consistent in at least the blogging world and eventually throw in the projects again.

For now I am going to try and catch up. :)

Since Alyssa has started homeschooling, we have really been enjoying our time together. Laney is also loving the fact that she has a friend to play with.

We enjoyed the beginning of awesome Fall weather. Cool enough to wear cardigans, but not so cold that your speech slurs from a numb mouth and nose. Wish I could say that is how it still is, but that was October/November and it is now January.

We have also enjoyed taking pictures and more pictures!





We celebrated Laney's first birthday...a bit on the later side, but we did celebrate as a family on her actual birthday. We just didn't do an official one with the extended family until recently. FINALLY! We had too many schedule conflicts, MBA graduation and sicknesses that got in the way. Here's to the sweet little Laney-bug!












The lady-bugs I painted and put together for decoration. Several of the cousins wanted to keep some because they thought they were so cute! After giving some away we still had a TON left. I guess I will eventually find a use for them later. :)

They are wooden balls that I picked up at Hobby Lobby, some flat on one side. I painted them, drew little swirls down their backs and put dots all over. Then painted smaller wood buttons for the faces, gluing them and the wire antennas to the body. Then voila! We had cute little lady-bugs that we places all over the table.

She wanted nothing to do with that cake until she had a fork and didn't want to sit down at all. I sure do love all her chub-a-love!

I used some of the decorations that I had used for Bria's garden party last Spring. Such as the hanging flowers and butterfly and cake stand. I also used the Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cookie Dough centers recipe, which turned out to be a big hit with everyone.  I even threw in some of the frozen cookie dough into her cake.

 She sure is growing up way too fast for my tastes! :) But we LOVE our bug-bug!

Ten is a GREAT number

Today is Alyssa's 10th birthday! I can't believe that I have another child in the double digits! It is crazy aaaand I am OLD!

Photo taken by A Greenfield Photography

Things I will always remember about my little Lys:

• She loves Ramen noodles.
• I was 9 1/2 cm. for 3 hrs. when I was in labor with her (that is one of the few reasons I never get the epidural anymore). :)
• She has her daddy wrapped around her little pinky. She can do no wrong in his eyes.
• She has a HUGE sweet tooth, salty tooth, meat tooth...she just LOVES food!
• Loves cats more than dogs, but insists that she still has a soft spot for the K-9 pets.
• Is very independent and loves to mother all of us.
• Gives many of her things to others if they are sad or feel left out in anyway, shape or form.
• At the age of 2 she cried and cried watching fiery meteors shoot from the sky in the movie "Dinosaur"-we didn't watch that again for years. ;)
• Loves to sit back in her chair at the table to eat her food and chillax, but is always reminded that we use our manners at the table whether at home or in public (I have resigned myself to the fact that I will forever be a broken record that is never heard).

Happy Birthday to my newest 10 yr. old! We love you, Sissy!

Home Schooled

Tuesday was our first "official" day of home schooling (for Alyssa right now). It was a very busy day due to some things that I had scheduled awhile back, when I was unsure of whether or not we would actually be schooling at home.  I went into it excited, hopeful and ready to conquer the WORLD! Bwa-hahahahaha! *menacingly rubbing hands together*

Then (head hung low) left with my tail between my legs.

Seriously! I felt like I had ruined my child on the very FIRST day! There were so many things that I wanted to plan and do differently, but I am still trying to get the curriculum together. I also was only able to get some Language Arts, Science and Reading. No Math or History! *gasp* (We did get to those subjects the next day-just so you know.)

Of course it wasn't until all was quiet that I felt like I was beaten-kids in bed, house straightened and my head on the pillow. Then the fear of failure set in. I hate the darkness that enters the mind when it is literally all dark around you, but before I drag you down to the depths of despair with me, let me bring back some light &  happiness...the next day was a new day. I felt motivated again. Things were a bit smoother and I felt a little more on top of things. That night I slept really well knowing that tomorrow is always a new day.

Today was busy again trying to get grocery shopping, homeschooling, and cleaning done. I am tired, but I know that getting into a new routine is tiring. I go through this every summer break and every beginning of a new school year. Not to mention when I have had a new baby or when I finished a 2 year Interior Design Program in a year and my husband finished his EMBA in 18 months. We are still trying to get into an evening routine together! :) Somehow we all survived and have come out better because of it (at least that is my glass-half-full mentality trying to come out) and I know that through this new journey we will survive and I HOPE we come out better because of it. :)

So, far my daughter really likes it. She said to me last night (our 2nd night of homeschool), "Mom, I LOVE homeschooling cause you don't tell me what I need to do. I get to figure some things out for myself."

Stay Tuned...to read a post as to WHY I chose to homeschool! :)

Miss Lys

Today I am home sick after nursing a couple of the kids back to health over the weekend.  "Welcome back to a new school year!" Can you hear the enthusiasm? Laney-bug is at a really good friend of mines home while I sit here trying to suppress the never ending to do list that keeps shouting out to me that if I don't get to it then it will never get done, but my energy is zapped and I just want to crawl back into bed (which I will do very soon).

So here I am and here is my post for the day.

Alyssa has been a little moody lately. She is 9, almost 10. Dare I say hor-mo-nal? *breathe through teeth*

So, it was nice to get some cute pics of her with a smile.







She is now in fourth grade. So far she likes her teacher, but on occasion she comes home grumpy saying that her teacher yells and expects a lot from them. I told her that she just needs a little more time to get used to her teacher. We shall see what time brings. Wish us luck.








Currently she is writing about a boy named Chad who deals with ogres and mischief. She breaks her story down into chapters and has been working on it since the end of last school year. Maybe one day she will let me share it on here. Aside from writing, she loves to sing. Between her, Bria and Heath (and on occassion me) it is always a musical here in our home. Phantom of the opera, Oklahoma, Singin' in the Rain, newsies...you name it and it is found mingled somewhere amongst their own made up lyrics and melody.

She also has been having fun putting her clothing together for school. So far there are no outrageous outfits to report. Sad I know. It means she is growing up way too fast.

Soon she and I will work on one of my favorite things about decorating, color! I decided that I will start teaching my kids what I have learned through the classes I have taken in Interior Design and my own trial and errors. This way they can start experimenting with things and hopefully one day I will have at least one that will like to shop and decorate with me.*fingers crossed*








About halfway through our little photo session, she grew impatient and grumpy with me (in other words I said something, yet again, that she didn't like), but I pulled out some silly faces and jokes and all was well with the world.








At least for a little while.