Bedtime with Dad

When it's been Dad's turn to put the kids to bed.. this is how he gets them to snooze after reading. 

Christian & M*

Sam

And now Emma

Miss ya girl!

Everyone gave me flak for re-homing Lady. However, the kids play, love, and appreciate her better now more than ever. She fell in love with her little chihuahua and wanted to be there come rain or shine. I wanted her to be loved and not get hit by a car.! Barb took her in, and Lady and Dolly became best friends. 
Emma and I visited Lady, Dolly, and Barb often.

Barb passed away this month. I'm so glad Lady was there to comfort her until the end! Barb's family put Lady down shortly after Barb's passing. I just wish we could have been there to say goodbye. 

Calming Baby Sam!

All of my kids hated being strapped in their car seats! The majority of our trips involved enduring a crying baby in the back seat, which would stress us all out! Well, I found a solution for a more pleasant car ride with Mr. Samuel. While still pregnant, I made a family Smilebox slide show with the theme song "These Are the Days" by Tony Van Morrison. With all the continuous editing and sharing it with family and friends, he must have really come to like it there in my zen womb. Fast forward to when he was born...every time I played the song in the car, he'd instantly calm down and stop crying, which was amazing!

"These Are the Days" by Tony Van Morrison

Emma and Waylon

 

This little POA (small horse) has fallen in love with our Emma! They are doing great learning together each time they ride. He's only been at her lessons for about a month but has a lot of talent! The trainer calls Emma her prodigy! What higher compliment could you get!? 

Hide'n Go Seek

 Would have never found her ;)

Not my pic

All the pretty little horses!

Hushabye, don't you cry,
Go to sleep, ye little baby
When you wake, you shall have,
All the pretty little horses
Dapples and Greys, Pintos and Bays
All the pretty little Horses

Way down yonder
In the meadow
Poor little baby cryin' Mamma
Birds and the butterflies
Flutter 'round his eyes
Poor little baby cryin' Mamma

Hushabye, don't you cry,
Go to sleep, ye little baby
When you wake, you shall have,
All the pretty little horses
Dapples and Greys, Pintos and Bays
All the pretty little Horses

*This song was apart of bedtime CD that I played for Christian and Maddy when they were little tots. 

Emma asked me to take pictures of her Shleich horse set up! She uses her imagination every day to bring these toys to life. Every horse, rabbit, dog, and handler have beautiful names and personalities to match. 

You are my sunshine!

 

Sam - too sick, with comedic timing

Sam stayed home from school today sick. This afternoon while laying on the couch he asked me to get him some juice, I gave him the look (what's wrong with your legs). His response verbatim....

"I'm afraid that in my weakened condition, I could take a nasty spill down the stairs and subject myself to further school absences."

Who's the boss?

 

Sam enjoying science!

His scientific brain that asks a million questions baffles me! Beware: If you attempt to answer one question, there will be AT LEAST 10 more! Even then he is not satisfied, unless he can tangibly understand said concept. Favorite subject seems to be physics. 

Favorite YouTube channel: King of Random

Here... watch a bit! 

Sam typed personality ENTJ

I would have to say Sam's learning style is Kinesthetic

Sam's experimenting the practice of "Dead Man's Float." Has been in the bath for over an hour. 

Experience concluded - No extra energy spent to stay afloat and alive while waiting for rescue to arrive, however hands and feet have the adverse effect of pruning. 

Patchin it, for Ambyopia

Emma is loving this new patch we got for her lazy eye! As you can see she has her own sense of style, and it works! Another kid in her Preschool also has Amblyopia, so the school celebrated a "Pirate Patch Day" for the two of them!" Everyone in the two classes wore eye patches! ARRRG!!!

Facts About Amblyopia

Amblyopia can result from any condition that prevents the eye from focusing clearly. Amblyopia can be caused by the misalignment of the two eyes—a condition called strabismus. With strabismus, the eyes can cross in (esotropia) or turn out (exotropia). Occasionally, amblyopia is caused by a clouding of the front part of the eye, a condition called cataract.

A common cause of amblyopia is the inability of one eye to focus as well as the other one. Amblyopia can occur when one eye is more nearsighted, more farsighted, or has more astigmatism. These terms refer to the ability of the eye to focus light on the retina. Farsightedness, or hyperopia, occurs when the distance from the front to the back of the eye is too short. Eyes that are farsighted tend to focus better at a distance but have more difficulty focusing on near objects. Nearsightedness, or myopia, occurs when the eye is too long from front to back. Eyes with nearsightedness tend to focus better on near objects. Eyes with astigmatism have difficulty focusing on far and near objects because of their irregular shape.

Sam is the MAN!

I'm never sure who is going to be joining me on my adventures to the grocery store, soccer practice, or the ever scary doctors office!!! One day my hero may be Captain America, the next Spider-man, a clone trooper, Batman, Black-widow, stealth ninja (this ones reserved for mall trips to hide in clothing racks). Sam is just too cool for jeans and a t-shirt, instead he'll sport a pair of cargo pants, brown leather jacket and a satchel in place of his backpack to school. When he exits our car, the drop off assistant is excited Indiana Jones made it to school on time! 

Front teeth for xmas!

It happened! Sam lost his other front tooth tonight! Pic to follow, after the tooth fairy visit! 

All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth 

Happy Halloween 2015!

We braved the pouring rain to collect as much candy as possible!

Emma - Sofia the First

Sam - Indian Jones

Maddy - A Shadow 

Christian - Teen w/a green mask 

Your my best friend

You know when you walk in the door and everything is clean, including the dust off the washer and dryer, I've been doing a lot of thinking. I want nothing more than the happily ever after that we promised each other 20 years ago. But I also know God does not work like that. There will be obstacles to learn from.. hurdles that seem too high, canyons that are too wide, teenagers and toddlers that just don't give a f* about the relationship that mom and dad strive to keep hot. But it's OUR relationship, and we are the only ones that can keep it loved!

But hey looks like we're on the upswing... You know me, I love my research!

Our little rainbow turned out to be such a blessing! Even when I'm upset with you or you with I, she reminds us both how easy it is to just love! How can I not be happy feeling our daughter's excitement when you walk in the door! "Da-Da home"! *Not to say that the other kids don't give me warm and fuzzy feelings too, just that I have to PULL it out of them. ;)

One more just for fun.. as I'm always blogging just before bed with a little one sleeping next to me. I COULD be sleeping... 

Bad boys, bad boys!

These two were delighted to have Uncle W* visit in his police car! Sam was full of questions and Emma pushed lots of buttons.

Warm snuggles! - Updated

Update - Poor, poor Emma has pneumonia :( 103.5 fevers for the past 4 days have not been fun! 

I secretly love when my kids get sick (not serious illness or puking). The littles always get so snuggly and want nothing more than my presence. Life slows down for a bit, and I get to re-watch for the 100th time various Disney movies. My tween and teen on the other hand, are a bit of a pill and act like they are dying!

Watching....

Wish I could bottle this energy

After school fun. Sam is enjoying kindergarten and Emma loves her alone time with me. Come 3 o'clock we brace for Sam's energy.

2 little monkeys!

This is what I do all day... keep an eye on these two! This pic was taken church... even there they are little hellions.