I'm Moving

We have been having power struggles with Mackenzie for a while.  She is a sweet, sweet girl but she knows what she wants.  The other day she was sent to her room for something.  She hates this.  She was up there for a while.  When she came down stairs, she had a card in her hand.  I had given her an old box of stationary recently.  She gave me the card and then went back upstairs.  The card read "I thought you loved me, but I guess you don't.  I'm moving".  Inside she drew a picture of her with suit cases in her hands.  Mike and i laughed so hard.  So we called her back down to talk to her.  We really did not want her to really think that we don't love her.  Those words NEVER came out of our mouth.  We talked for a while and told her that we did love her, but we did not like the way that she was acting and that it would make us really sad if she decided to move.  She came back down stairs a little while later with another card, that said that she was not moving.  Thank heavens for comic relief.

Long Hard Weeks

Mike went to Japan a couple weeks ago.  He was gone for 2 weeks.  I was a little nervous, but decided to make it a learning time.  Maybe a time to kind of work on a few things that needed improvement around here.  It was hard and I found myself being less then patient with the kids.  I hated it.  I was trying so hard and every evening I felt myself feeling so out of control.  The kids were everywhere.  The baby needed tending to, Hailee was being 2- and boy is she being 2 right now.  Mackenzie was having a power struggle with me, McKay and Jordan were just being SO LOUD.  Then add homework, dinner, basketball, scouts, dance, bedtime, baths, chores, and all the other things that we had to get done in the 4 hours after school and I was done.  I feel that that I am outnumbered all the time.  A good friend of mine told me that I needed to secure my spot as MOTHER of this house.  What great advice.  I need to make sure that the kids know that I AM THE MOTHER.  They need to respect and obey me, JUST because I am the mother.  I have a tendency of being a little on the soft side.  I don't like to see my children upset or sad, so I tend to overlook things or give many many chances.  They have totally taken advantage of that.  So one night, I sat the kids down and we made some rules.  They decided upon all the rules and what the consequence was going to be for breaking them.  So far, the kids have really tried to obey the rules.  I think they are more involved in it since they made them for themselves.  So, with that said, I am feeling a little better.  I don't know when I will feel like I have control of my house but I think that I am headed in the right direction.  If anyone has any advice, I am all ears.  

Well, it happened.  Last night, it happened.  I left one of my children behind.  Let me start at the beginning.  I knew that last night was going to be busy.  We had basketball from 6-7 and then pack meeting from 7-8.  Mike got off late from work, so he met me at basketball around 6:30.  That gave me time to go and get the drinks that I was supposed to bring and pick up Mackenzie from a friends house.  We had pack meeting and it went well.  I am really starting to like scouts more.  After it was over, we were going to go get a burger because I forgot to feed anyone before we left for the evening.  I got in my car with a couple kids and Mike did the same.  When we got there, Mike asked me where McKay was.  I thought the he was playing a trick on me.  So I played along for a minute, till I realized that he really did not have him.  I jumped back in the car with Mackenzie and Jordan, because they did not want to miss out on the excitment.  I got back to the church and there was McKay in the hall with all the other adults that were there, trying to find me.  No on there knew my cell number, and of course, I was not home.  McKay was just fine.  A little surprised that I would leave him at the church, but smiled just like he always does.  When I asked him where he was, he said that he came outside when we were all leaving and then he saw a cat.  This is where we lost him.  He followed the cat so that he could see his eyes.  When he came back around the other side of the building, Mike and I were both gone.  After he told us this story, Jordan patted him on the back and said, "well, nice to have you back".  I laughed so hard.  So, it has happened.  I left one of my children.  Luckily, he was in a safe place and I did not have to worry... too much.  I did drive about 50 in a 25, but don't tell anybody!

Cute Face

Is this the cutest face EVER???

For Christmas this year, we took the kids to an indoor water park on Christmas Day.  We opened up presents in the morning and played for a few hours.  Then we packed up the car and drove to Indiana.  We stayed in a hotel that had a water park attached to it.  We got there and went straight away to the pool.  The kids played really hard. 

After 9:30, we came back to the room and ordered pizza.  We did not get to bed until 11:00.  They were SOOOO tired.  I thought they had slept in when I looked at the clock and it said 9:15, but it was actually 7:15.  So we got up and ate breakfast and headed back to the pool.  We swam for a while in the morning.  We decided to go out of the hotel and get some lunch.  Hailee was so tired, he fell asleep in the car.  When we were getting out of the car, she would not wake up.  She slept on Mike's shoulder for 20 minutes.  She NEVER does that.  She was so tired.  After a little break out of the hotel, we headed back for more swimming.  When it was dinner, we sent Mike out for food.  We all placed an order with him and he went and got it all.  McKay wanted Taco Bell, Jordan and I wanted Chick-fil-a, and Dad and Mackenzie wanted Panda Express.  So we all got what we wanted.  After dinner, we thougth we might be done with swimming, but the kids talked us into going ONE MORE TIME!  We got up the next day and came home, but we had a GREAT time and can't wait to do something like that again.

Christmas Cheer

This year for Christmas, we were all alone in Ohio.  So we decided to have some fun.  We made a big dinner on Christmas Eve and ate together.  During dinner, we asked the kids what they would give each other if they could.  It was fun to talk and hear what they would do.   I think that they really do like each other...

 

After Dinner, I was able to get a few pictures of the kids in front of the tree.  It was tricky getting them all to look cute at the same time.

Christmas Morning!

 

There were some very excited kids around here.

Mom Moments

Last night I left for a while to take Mackenzie to dance.  When I got home, Laci was sitting on the floor with Mike playing.  She looked up and saw me and smiled so big that she knocked herself right over.  I went over to pick her up and she grabbed onto my face and began to "kiss" me.  She would not let go of my face.  It was a moment that I loved.  I am so glad that I have these sweet children to love on right now.