Learning God's creations

    Emma has learned so much about God, kindness, and yes, reading/writing/arithmetic this year. I love our little rainbow! 

Field trip to the zoo!

I had the opportunity to drive and chaperone Emma's class on this rainy blustery day. It was so much fun seeing the kids act like little monkeys in the rain! 

SKOPS school

10 - 3rd graders

My clan after the run to the car! 

Lost Bet

Who could swing higher? Emma explained I lost...on the technicality, I'm taller than her. So I played along and slid down a wet slide! Then, later bought her ice cream with a WET BUTT! 
 

Gold Rush - Spring break 2022

 

Emma, my rainbow🌈 time!

Needed this ray of sunshine today!!

Emma & Mommy being silly

 I gotta find the video that goes with these pics! 

I just found these pics dated back to Jan 2014. I may be a Tomboy, but she's our girly girl! 

Finn socializing some more

"I'm sorry Emma!"

    Hanging out at Grandma's eye appointment. The same day he and Emma broke her glasses, it was a busy day of driving for this tired mama! I wish gas prices were lower!!!

January Flood! Emma wearing Jeans!

Her first time wearing Jeansl

Pinknose

 Incase anyone wonders why we dyed our MALE cat pink.....

We kept the one
Ragdoll with the soft fur. 

The last time Grandma watched our critters (beach vacay). She got confused about which cat was the outdoor cat. So she tried to push our VERY ANXIOUS Siamese out the back door!!! Since then, she has tried to build trust with our brat Sunny. 

This time around, Grandma has a cataract! So she has to close one eye to see the world, and she's not planning on getting it fixed until after her next cruise at the end of December! So, the kids are having fun deciding what to do about Pinknose when we go to Disneyland. 4 critters to take care of! One funny was to capture a skunk (we have a black cat). Another plan was to innovate a mini cow (Sam calls the dog a cow because she's black/white and sometimes stinks). Dane and I think we'll make do with a big funny poster and stick it to the front door. But with this family, who knows!! 

Tomboy no more?

Not me!!! This salon visit cost us about 100 bucks!! 

Christian's food truck lunch order ;) with idk.. either a bunny or a Kahuna sketch. 

Mommy daughter day at OMSI

As you can see, it's sometimes hard to carve out time for some one-on-one time. But it's so important, as they crave my undivided attention. 

My favorite dino...Sabertooth tiger!

For my BFF Sarah! When I met her, she looked just like this!

 

Teasing the dogs

 

I miss my yesterdays!

I stumbled upon this poem that I haven't read for years. So I put this picture behind my written words. God is once again telling me to enjoy this time I'm in right NOW.

2020 Quarantine - Day 46?

Distance learning week 2 day 3. I'm losing my EVER LOVING MIND!

I did the math. I have 4 kids, that's 2 hours a day, times 4, equals 8. Let me double-check because I've been instructed we always double-check 4x2=8 HOURS!!! Holy crap how are moms across the country doing this every day? OK, let me be honest... I would never spend that amount of time on schoolwork with my kids, but the amount they are assigning would equate to about that much. So we've been skipping the "specials" like P.E., music, and library. I figure we go on a walk and they listen to music on nightly drives with Dad. Shouldn't reading through their assignments count as library time? I know, that's very crass of me.. but I'm getting crass with all the rules!

However, even one hour per kid is challenging! YEP 4 kids, no kidding! They have been told it's OK to take breaks, don't stress. While I agree with keeping things chill and not stressing, it's frustrating when one kid will do a little bit of work and desire a break, then wait till I'm busy with dinner to want to finish their school assignments. That said, the assignments between the two littles have been stacking up. I feel like I'm drowning!

Let me vent about math, my favorite subject. LOL (2nd grade... have yet to look at Sam's 5th-grade assignments this week. I'd like to be that mom... teach the ways of math. How to carry the one. Yikes, I know others before me have tried and failed. Today, 2nd graders reminded teachers to follow the instructions on new math, those that don't toe the line will have to try again. Considering they record answers, I also, had to learn how to add "friendly" numbers with "big hops" and "little hops". I'm finally getting it! :) 

Emma using sass and confidence teaches New Math....

 

Learning new long division with Samuel

2020 Quarantine - Day 9

 After feeding the ducks this morning... Oh yeah, that's a memory I won't ever forget during this crazy time. We are now the proud parents of baby ducks! Anywho, Emma begs me once again to go ride her bike. Although she's now a big 8-year-old, we still don't want her to ride by herself. Therefore, am getting lots of forced exercise. After her ride, she decides she wants her training wheels off! After 4-5 times holding the back of her bike, I let go! Wow, that was a surreal moment! My last kid to take off on their own. There wasn't even that moment of being upset that I let go. Just a confident, "I got this!"

Happy 8th Birthday Emmalyn!

Emma has been such a trooper during this time that should be filled with lots of family and friends. The original plan was to celebrate with all her classmates (today being the last day before spring break) at JJ Jumps. Then the plan changed to having a small party with grandparents, but with Sam coming down with the flu, we had to change the final birthday celebration to a small porch party with Grandma & Bop-Bop Harkey. I'm so thankful for their gift, a bike & helmet. Our gift... ice skates lit up her face but she understood they would not get used for some time.

2020 Quarantine - Day 1

Emma was so excited to finally get back to school yesterday after 24 hours of antibiotics for strep throat, an infection Sam passed down a few weeks ago! We heard late Thursday morning that the school would close until March 30, the kids were super excited to be getting an extra week of spring break.
Waking up this morning was surreal! Snow in mid-March! The last time it snowed this late in the year was March 2012 the year Emma was born!

Emma's first time on the ice

I don't know why I haven't taken her before, she's a natural at roller skating. I knew she'd love the ice as much as I did when I was young. She got the hang of it before I did, which was a bit embarrassing! My muscle memory was lost! We had so much fun, I can't wait to go again!

https://www.facebook.com/brandalynwenzel/videos/10222899136485975/?t=7first time ice skating

Emmalyn's 7th Birthday!

Emmalyn turned 6!