My little home school-ee

We enrolled Cameron in the same preschool that the older three kids went to, and he attended it for about 4 months before we decided to pull him out. It was mostly because we felt like we couldn't afford it. We had qualified for scholarships for the others, but this year Matt made just a little too much. I also really enjoy having Cameron around. He is so fun and happy and pleasant and easy going. When he starts kindergarten in the fall, he will be going all day so my days were numbered with him. Right before Thanksgiving I asked Cameron if he would like to go to my "home school" and he jumped at the idea! We have a simple curriculum. We do a little reading, math and writing in the mornings and play lots of games together in the afternoons while Rex takes a nap. Our favorite games are Super Hero memory match, Candyland, and Perfection. I really love my time with Cameron and I'm grateful I have this chance to give him all my attention while Rex sleeps and the others are at school.

The serial mess maker

We should warn the neighbors! Apparently there is a sick and evil person out there who breaks into our house (very regularly, like 3-4 times a day) makes messes and then sneaks out before anyone can catch them. Well he/she struck again today.

It Happened Anyway

Even though I wasn't ready for it, Nina's birthday came and she is now 7. We had her treasure hunt ready when she woke up. So after the traditional birthday breakfast of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, she set out to find her stash of presents. Then she got dressed all fancy in one of her favorite dresses and we headed to church. She enjoyed the extra attention in Primary and from anyone else she saw (and told it was her birthday). We loved another year of life with Nina and look forward to the year ahead. She brings excitement to our lives and keeps us all on our toes. A happy, happy birthday to the best daughter we've ever had!

Some rambling feelings

So my only little girl is turning 7 tomorrow. I took a little walk down memory lane, wallowed in my sorrows and decided I'm not going to support this annual event that takes a little girl and turns her into a big girl. Sure there are some very fun things that I get to enjoy with Nina as she's getting older, and even more fun things that will come in the future, but I still don't like it. And sure we've moved on from phases like getting into lotions and creams and spreading them everywhere, or coloring/painting/stamping/stickering walls and doors, but I don't care. I loved having a little girl. I loved cuddling with her, dressing her, doing her hair, and painting her tiny little fingers and toes. I know I can still do all that now, blah, blah blah, but she doesn't like the clothes I like, she doesn't want me to touch her hair half the time, and her fingers and toes. Okay, so that's still fun. Now, for anybody who hasn't heard me tell my sob story about how I really wanted another girl, here it is. I really wish would have had another girl, even if it meant a 6th baby. But Matt was done having kids after the 3rd so I got my way twice and my luck has run out. Matt is really done now. We dumped the crib, the maternity clothes and the baby clothes. We are closing up shop. Sorry about the TMI there. And so as loyal and supportive friends and family, thank you for your understanding as I keep bringing up how hard it is to finish that chapter and move on to another. I'll try to stop being annoying. And I'll borrow Jill's kids more often.

Comfort food

Rex has taken comfort foods to a different level. He doesn't use them to help him get over a broken heart or to deal with stress. Rex cuddles with them. I went to check on him while he was napping today and I found him all snuggled up with a doughnut. I didn't notice him take the doughnut to bed, but I miss a lot. Sweet dreams Rex!

Musical Beds

We've been shaking things up over here! It wasn't enough for me to just swap beds between the older boys' room and the younger boys' room. I moved Cameron up to the top bunk and graduated Rex to a big boy bed. The trasition was a lot easier than I was expecting. Rex took a nice 2 1/2 hour nap in his big bed an hour after the garbageman took away the crib. He goes down at night easily as well. I am so relieved because you worry about those little guys realizing that they have the freedom to leave their bed if they feel like it. It's so nice to have more space in their room, and it's cute to see a tiny Rex asleep in that big bed.

Something worth noting

Today we are officially done with cribs. The decision was super spontaneous too. It was garbage day and that special day always gets me motivated. I can't even tell you how many times I have been in a mad rush to finish a quick cleaning/organizing project so that I could get the stuff out to the garbage before our garbageman comes at about 11:30. Today was crazy like that. I had thought about moving Rex to a big bed maybe when school got out, but with all the work I have been doing on the kids' rooms, it's not a surprise that I woke up and decided it needed to be done today. I called my friend Karen and she came over and helped me take the darn thing apart. She's awesome like that. I didn't save it because it had been on it's last legs since before Rex was born. I'm grateful it didn't fall apart the whole 2 years he used it. I also didn't have any of those cute ideas that some people have of using different parts of the crib to make a cute shelf or other decoration. So we took it out to the curb and took a cute picture of it instead. Almost the same thing.

Nina's new room!

When we were first looking at this house during our house hunt, there were a few things that we thought were pretty bad, but that we felt we could change later on. At the top of that list was Nina's room. It was horrible!!!! Luckily Nina really liked the flowers on the wallpaper so she didn't mind how crazy the whole thing was. We also wanted to wait and see if Nina would ever outgrow her obsession with writing on walls, putting makeup on bedspreads and making potions that spill on the floor. As far as I was concerned, she could do whatever she wanted to this:

But after I started feeling that urge to get things in our house looking a little nicer, I decided Nina's room needed a change - FAST. I let her have a little bit of input. Meaning that she could pick out her bedspread. If I approved of course. So Karen and I went at it again, but we certainly weren't able to finish this room in one day like we did with the boys' room. It took us almost a week to remove all that wallpaper, tear out that gross carpet and paint over the wallpaper on the closet door that we could never peel off. I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I wanted to paint the desk and dresser black, but I was outvoted by Matt and Nina. I also have some ideas of decorations I'd like to put on the wall, but I ran out of money and out of steam. Even still, I'd say it looks a lot better:

We can add those little touches later on.

Cam's Sunday Cookies

We have been doing our Sunday cookies rotation for almost a year now. It's been a very fun weekly tradition that everyone enjoys. This week was Cameron's turn and he decided to make no bake cookies. I was pretty amazed at how much he did on his own. Really, all the kids are doing more and more on their own and it makes me feel like one proud mama. Part of it is that each of them are getting older, but they are getting better with the practice too. I have grand plans that they will also learn how to make dinner on their own, but all in good time. Right now this is perfect.