Christmas 2007

We spent Monday cooking and watching movies. We watched Elf and Christmas Vacation. We went to a candlelight service at 6:00 p.m. I had a spiral ham warming while we were at the service. Once home, we had a late dinner. We had been tracking Santa all day at norad.com. Loree decided it was getting too close for comfort, so "we'd better head to bed!" Darren and I did some more cooking and wrapped the rest of the presents.

Christmas morning I woke up at about 6:00 a.m. to start cooking the breakfast casserole.(I used some of the ham from last night and it was yummy!) Grandma Carole and Papa Bill were due to arrive around 8:00 a.m., so we let the kids get their Santa "stuff" and then they ate a little breakfast while we waited for the G.P.'s. Here is Grandma Carole and Ashlie...

Breakfast included:

Ham and cheese breakfast casserole(yum!)
deviled eggs
cantelope
orange juice
coffee


Santa brought everyone tennis raquets and balls for our YMCA homeschool P.E. class. (Tennis balls, that is...) They also received new toothbrushes, socks, gloves and other odds and ends in their stockings.



There were lots of ohhs...



And a plethora of ahhhs...


( I learned the word plethora from the 1986 film classic "Three Amigos". )

Although not all my kids express emotional exclamations, you can tell that deep inside, these kids are stoked!

yay.


And these pics were taken from a strictly photo journalistic perspective. No posing was used for these photos. I repeat... no posing was used!

On the lunch menu:

Turkey with gravy

broccoli, cheese and rice casserole

dressing

jellied cranberry sauce

rolls

iced tea

And here we are talking about dinner while we eat lunch. It's a tradition in my family passed down from many Swedish generations. As is beige gravy on just about everything.

If you look closely...you can see the limelight being stolen from Loree... Hello, Chelsey!

Foood...mfbl...lmflbm...klblmfl...pmpherfl

We're just introducing utensils to Aaron...

One of our Christmas traditions is to go see a movie and then have dinner at Ihop. We saw National Treasure 2. I highly recommend it. Great flick!

It was one of the best Christmases yet! I hope yours was, as well!

I hate to toot my own horn...

but someone here is a genius...

Actually, horn tooting is my favorite.

Super Skills

We had a visitor on our last day of school for the year. It's always nice when super heroes stop by to brush up on their math skills. Funny, though...Aaron was nowhere to be found. Come to think of it, you never see them together in the same room. Odd.

Um...Yeah...it's Saturday...I know.

So, I opened my big mouth on Tuesday and announced to the world to check back Friday for "after" pics of my messy school room. Well, the desk is still fairly tidy, but what have I gotten done since? Squat. Nada. Zilch. Diddly-squat. Zip. Zot. Zero. Are you getting the picture here, people? I jinxed myself. And I didn't enjoy it.

Here's the deal. I hurt my back carrying a ginormous load of laundry down the stairs. I felt better until I made the mistake of sleeping funny Tuesday night. No, I didn't sleep with a clown. Clown night is Thursday, silly. So, as you might have gotten from the paragraph above, I failed to meet my deadline. I am complaining and abusing vicodin sticking closely to my treatment plan of drinking whiskey and snorting Tylenol frequent stretching and alternating ice packs and the heating pad on my lower back area.

So bend over correctly

And lift with your knees!
I guess DH and I won't be doing this again for a while.

Ahhh...Progress

“I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right, there is no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.” -Charles R. Swindoll

Dude, I didn't know the top of my desk was wood...

And the word of the day is...

PROCRASTINATE

OOOOO! AHHHH! **applause** whistle**

Dictionary.com:

pro·cras·ti·nate (prō-krās'tə-nāt', prə-)

–verb (used without object)
1.
to defer action; delay: to procrastinate until an opportunity is lost.

–verb (used with object)
2.
to put off till another day or time; defer; delay.

[Origin: 1580–90; <>pro-1 + -crāstināre, deriv. of crāstinus of tomorrow; crās tomorrow + -tinus suffix forming adjs. from temporal advs.); see -ate1]

—Related forms
pro·cras·ti·nat·ing·ly, pro·cras·ti·na·tive·ly, adverb
pro·cras·ti·na·tion, noun
pro·cras·ti·na·tive, pro·cras·ti·na·to·ry /proʊˈkræstənəˌtɔri, -ˌtoʊri, prə-/ Pronunciation Key - [proh-kras-tuh-nuh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, pruh-] adjective
pro·cras·ti·na·tive·ness, noun
pro·cras·ti·na·tor, noun
—Synonyms 2. prolong, postpone.

Procrastinativeness is a cool word. I just can't say it fast. Pro-cras-ti-native-ness. Try it! Statistics is also a hard word for me to say quickly.

American Heritage definition:

pro·cras·ti·nate (prō-krās'tə-nāt', prə-)

v. pro·cras·ti·nat·ed, pro·cras·ti·nat·ing, pro·cras·ti·nates

v. intr. To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness.

That's a little critical, don't cha think, A.H.? Don't judge me!

Procrastinate around the world!

Arabic:يُماطِل، يُسَوِّف

Chinese (Simplified):拖延，延迟，耽搁
Chinese (Traditional):拖延，延遲，耽擱
Czech:otálet, odkládat
Danish:udskyde
Dutch:talmen, uitstellen
Estonian:edasi lükkama, viivitama
Finnish:vitkutella
French:remettre à plus tard
German:verzögern
Greek:χρονοτριβώ, αναβάλλω
Hungarian:halogat
Icelandic:fresta
Indonesian:menunda-nunda
Italian:procrastinare
Japanese:ぐずぐずする
Korean:지연시키다
Latvian:atlikt; novilcināt
Lithuanian:atidėlioti, vilkinti
Norwegian:utsette, somle (med)
Polish:odwlekać
Portuguese (Brazil):procrastinar, protelar
Portuguese (Portugal):protelar
Romanian:a amâna; a lăsa pe mai târziu
Russian:медлить; откладывать
Slovak:odkladať
Slovenian:odlašati
Spanish:aplazar una decisión, *tarea
Swedish:skjuta ngt framför sig
Turkish:bugünün işini yarına bırakmak, ertelemek

What? Get off my what? You get off yours!

We'll call these the "before" pictures...

I am posting this so I can be accountable to someone. I am ashamed that I say this is where I expect my kids to learn! I am committing to organizing this room this week! I'll post the "after" pictures Friday.

Don't try this at home, folks!

It all started innocently enough. I've had a lingering back ache for a few weeks and thought a nice bubble bath might help. I don't use the jets in the tub normally because I kinda forget they're there. I was deprived as a child. We didn't have jets. We had a hot tub that we crammed with 47 kids from my youth group in 1983, but no jets in the tub. That was for rich people like Krystle Carrington and Morgan Fairchild.

Soooo...I thought the jets might soothe my aching lumbar region. And ya gotta have bubbles. duh. It started like this:


It's foamy...spumescent, if you will. Than I turned on the jets.

OK. Don't panic.

Um. OK. Panic.

I did get in. I did get bubbles up my nose. But it was worth it. It reminded me of the Brady Bunch episode when the washer overflowed. Remember? That was good TV. So was Knots Landing. I spent the better part of the 80's trying to do my eye shadow like Donna Mills.

She's in the double digits!

Chelsey's birthday is today

American Girl Doll we have to pay

Ten, she is, and growing fast

On this day we had a blast!

Happy Birthday, Chels! I love you!!!

What the...?

Apparently, Barbie and Prince Derek need more supervision...

I think it's naked Hot Tub Night at Derek's. We're gonna get her the Barbie Margarita Machine for Christmas. (high pitched) ooo-it! ooo-it!

It's my foxy DH's B-day

This is my DH. In the late 80's. Isn't he, like, a tripendicular babe? I mean really. This is the only pic I have at the moment. He will not be happy, being the photo dude that he is, but it truly is one of my favorite pictures of him. I think the black office chair backgound really brings out his bad boy smirk.

His birthday was yesterday, but we're celebrating tonight. Date Night. I really dig Date Night. See? I capitalized both words. That's how much I want to have Date Night's children. Fortunately, we have an awesome babysitter,(Thank you, Smashlie) so we get to have Date Night often. Tonight we're going to a strip club. I'm kidding. I'm off tonight. And stop saying night.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, baby! You. Rock. My. World,

Chelsey

This is Chelsey. She came rushing in to have me take a picture of her with a third eye. "MOM! You have to put this on the blog!" Here it is...I always do as I'm told, you see.

Halloween 2007

We were a fairy, Kaya, SWAT and an 80's rock star. We missed Philip, but he had fun eating out with Nanny and Papa in Dallas and handing out candy. I am ashamed of how much candy a group like this can accumulate. Yikes! Make the bad candy go away!

Philip

That is Philip in the back. ***sigh*** I love this kid. ***Disclaimer-I love all of my kids. But, today is Phil's birthday and he's not here. :( The one thing he wanted for his birthday was to spend a week with Nana and Papa in Dallas. So he's there and I miss him.

This kid was special from the moment I felt him squirming in my belly. He was conceived on Valentines Day, due on Thanksgiving and born on Halloween. And he was fat. I like my babies fat and he did not disappoint. He weighed a whopping 9 lbs. 9 oz. And he was a little early. He had (and still has 'em) huge eyes with ridiculously long eye lashes. There were so many kissy places on that kid he was like a walking hickey.

Philip liked to dress up. He wore a cape for the first four years of his life. One year my mom made him a Santa costume. He was crazy about Santa. He wore it until June the next year. The year he was Spiderman for two months Halloween, I couldn't get the mask off of him. One day, while driving in the minivan, cars would pass me and these people were just staring at me. I thought maybe my tire was going flat or something. Nope. I looked in the rear view mirror and Phil was in the back seat peering out the window with his Spiderman mask on his head. That couldn't have looked normal.

So he's 12 today and he's really good at it. If you have a 12 yo boy, you feel my pain know of which I speak. To say he's easily distracted would be huge understatement. And fuggedabout keeping his attention if there is a T.V. on within 100 feet of him. My DH jokes that if we just sit him in front of a lighted box, he'd be happy. I don't know how many times I've walked into the living room and he's standing there with a bag of garbage watching the boob tube. It caught him while he was trying to take the trash out, you see. "Close your mouth, son, and keep on moving."

The one thing I respect most about Philip is his huge heart. He is so tolerant. He sees everyone as a potential friend. He's not intimidated by race, disability, wealth, coolness, etc. I think most of us have subconscious standards that we judge people by whether we like it or not. He's able to look right past the surface and concentrate on what is good about a person. I want to be more like him in that way. If someone is hurt, he's the first one to try and give comfort. He can't stand to see someone in pain.

He likes Harry Potter and has read all of the books. I am so proud of him because he was such a reluctant reader before Harry. He loves to listen to audio books. He also went through the Star Wars phase which I think has become a right of passage for boys between the ages of 7 and 12. I have yet to meet a boy that hasn't used a stick, pole, pipe, tennis racket, pencil, pen, or any other similar shaped object as a light saber.

Philip thinks he wants to go into the military. He'd like to be a police officer some day. He loves to watch war movies with Papa Larry. He also loves to cook. He made his cake for his birthday. And makes a mean meatloaf!

Happy Birthday, Phil. I love you sooooooo much!!!!!!!

Here's Phil with his cake that he made and a nerf gun Nanny and Papa bought for him.

Aaron and Loree

I've said it before. They have a love/hate relationship. And I use the love part loooosely.

Today's language lesson included this:

Me: Loree, remember how we talked about common names of people like mother, father, sister, brother, etc.? These words could mean people in anyone's family. Today, we are going to name the special proper names of these people in our family.

Here is where I prompt her to name special names for these common nouns.

Loree: blank stare

Me: OK, Loree, name someone in your family.

Loree: Aaron.

Me: And he is what to you?

Loree: Mean.

Excellent.

Ashlie

This is Ashlie...my teenager. I have a teenager. See, before I married DH 3 1/2 years ago, I wasn't scheduled to have a teenager until October of 2008. And that teenager was (and still is) a boy. But with the acquisition of my soul mate/significant other/all-around-stone-fox-of-a-babe DH, I got me a teenage daughter. And she's, like, seeeeew awesome!

I started homeschooling all my children when we married. I was also selected to administer the "talk" to my new teenager. The thought of this area of education made me want to curl up in the fetal position. You see, I have a really juvenile sense of humor. I am not kidding. Don't believe me?

5 things Katy laughs at:

1. Flatulence

2. People tripping (falling: a bonus)

3.When someone says "duty"

4.When my youngest dd points at something, she uses her middle finger

5. We are in the middle of building a new Children's building at our church. In the project timeline handed out to the ENTIRE church body it said (I kid you not)

"October 12, 2007 Complete erection of all structural steel"

**note- Reading that in church will make you laugh so hard you might just pee a wee bit. Not that I did. I have complete control of my bladder. Even when I sneeze.

So, this might give you an idea of how "the talk" went over. There were giggles, hand drawn phallic images, awkward pauses...and a history lesson. One of the pictures I drew actually looked like this. Which led up to the climax of our discussion. So to speak.

About her...she is the most responsible and trustworthy child I've ever met. Ashlie makes me want to be a better person. She opened her arms to our relationship and has allowed me to step in as her mother. She came through a very traumatic time when her parents divorced with true grace and wisdom. She puts up with my flaws without being judgemental and acts like she values my advice. :) She's so mature for her age that most of the time, I see her as a third partner in running this household. I have to be careful of that because with seven people in this house things get busy and I fear I might give her too much. I have to remind myself that she's still just a punk kid that needs to be able to mess up and be a punk. It doesn't happen very often. Ever, really.

But Ashlie? It's OK if it you mess up. Even though I never do (wink, wink), I will try not to laugh if you trip or break wind. Or say duty. hee-hee

Ashlie likes:

Shopping

Christian music

Shopping

Primping Loree (Not pimping! You have such dirty minds! Hair, nails, etc. You should be ashamed of yourselves!)

Shopping

Starbucks

Shopping

Bible Study

Shopping

Email

Shopping

80's music (thank you very much)

and.....shopping

I love you, Flashlie. I want to be like you when I grow up. No pressure. ;)

Rich with forks

Look at all of my forks, man!

I am in the process of de-crapping my house. I am a terrible housekeeper. The book I'm reading says I shouldn't say things like that about myself but it's a fact and I want to change. So, I started last week by shining my sink. It has stayed clean for five days! Every morning I am waking up and getting dressed to the shoes. It has really helped me stay motivated and I've gotten a lot accomplished. Today, I got rid of 27 books and I organized my utensil drawers. When DH and I combined our two households, I failed to get rid of extra stuff. Along with what we've accumulated in the last 3 1/2 years, well, we have a lot of crap. We have 42 forks. 42! We have 4 peelers and 7 mixer thingys.(looked this up...they're called beaters) Not sure where the eighth one went. Or why I didn't know they were called beaters. Don't say beaters again. Or crap.

So, I mentioned I love my thesaurus. I think I sound unclassy using the word crap so I got out my little buddy and tried to find another word. I really liked horse$**t, but that kind of defeats the purpose and doesn't convey the meaning I'm looking for here. Other choices were piffle, bilge, ca-ca, guano, poppycock and malarky. None of these really work either. So I went to junk. Riff raff, scrap, debris and folderol. I'll stick with crap. Sorry, Nana.

Anyhoo...I'll be posting regularly my progress so I have some accountability. I'm also learning the whole picture "thang", so bear with me.

Bonbons and Oprah

I felt like it was time for me to try to add something here. I joke with Katy when I get home sometimes and can tell she had a rough day home schooling and managing our household. I say, “Ahh…a day of lying on the couch and eating bonbons and watching Oprah.” (never happened). Katy is kind of busy planning for the seven of us to attend two weddings and have two birthdays along with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and helping me run my business. By the way, did I mention that she is doing this while keeping up with the kids’ schooling and the house and taking excellent care of me? I try to help when I can, but most of the time I think I slow things down or upset the system. I will ask what I can do to help and 99% of the time the answer is “you are doing it”; I do not understand what it is but will be glad to keep it up because it is easy. Did I mention she is HOT?!

This is one of Katy's favorite places:

Katrina's Big Fat Butt...or Why My Laptop Died

This is Katrina. She has a big, fat butt. She likes her sizable tuchis to be warm. Apparently, this can be achieved by placing the large, corpulent arse on my laptop. Many mornings I would come downstairs to find said tush on my computer. I would shoo her off to find my computer screen filled with kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk...

You get the picture.

I finally wised up and started to close the laptop, but Katrina's colossal keister had taken it's toll.

Katrina is now an outdoor cat due to unrelated issues. (She started peeing in my closet. I think she was acting out because I got rid of her bun warmer.) She now finds thermal satisfaction on the hoods of cars and various sunny spots in the yard.

Disclaimer: I took this photo. My DH is an excellent professional photographer and these shots make his hiney cringe. I'm just learning the ins and outs of actually getting the pictures off my camera, so be patient with me.

Disclaimer: I am also declaring this Thesaurus Thursday. I love my thesaurus and use it often so I don't have to use cuss words. My Uncle Nate always told me that people who cuss have a limited vocabulary. Oh, wait, no he always said to tilt the glass a little more to get less of a head. He also told me to make sure to rinse off all of the soap when washing dishes or you'll get a tummy ache. Maybe it was my dad. But NO one can string a line of obscenities together like my dad when he stubs his toe on the bed. Well, whoever it was, they can go perform the marriage act with themselves. See what I did there? Thesaurus.

Teaching Hate

Lesson 39 of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons...I've taught three of my kids to read with this program and it works! But, somewhere around lesson 39, it gets really frustrating. The child almost has it down; they're almost over the hump. If you've taught a child to read, you know there is just a point that they "get it". By lesson 39 you have most of the letter sounds mastered and they start introducing words with silent letters. The words on the list usually rhyme. One of the tasks is for the child to read a list the words by sounding them out and then saying them the "fast way". Guh-aaate...gate. This list was:

wow

cow

ate

hate

gate

So Loree is reading the list. "wow" "cow" "ate"...we come to "hate". She hesitates a little...

Me: OK, Loree, it rhymes with ate...

Loree:"ate"

Me: No, it rhymes with ate...starts with "h".

Loree: Huh-aaaate...ate

Me: No, keep the "huh" on it...huh-aaaate

Loree: Huh-aaaate...ate UGHH! Mom I can't do it! (Hands in hair, squirm, hits head on book. see photos)

ME: OK...don't get frustrated...if you really don't like something, yoooou...

Loree: Ate? (bursts into giggles) Yeah, mom, I eat it...like a monster!

**Sigh**

Loree: It's hate. I got it now, Mom.

So, you see? I successfully taught my child hate today.

Friends

One of the mysteries of life for me is friendship. I have been so very lucky to know some of the people that I call my friend. Besides my DH, my best friends are, in no particular order:

Christy

Kathleen

Michelle

Jodi

Lisa

Man, I am lucky to know these women. Here's the mystery...I haven't talked to them in, like, forever! The totally cool part is that if any one of these friends showed up at my door, it would be like we saw each other yesterday. We were that close. And I love them that much.

I have five kids and a husband that I adore. I feel like it's the "season" of life I am in, but I have a hard time connecting with my friends like I want too. A homeschooling mom spends a freakish amount of time with her kids. Since we are in our house basically 24/7, we have to constantly stay on top of housework. No one leaves for school. They are here. All. day. long. When I do get some free time, I usually go sit in my closet and drink a bottle of wine. I'm kidding, of course.

It's a bottle of Jack, sitting in the van in the garage. I'M KIDDING! It'd be WAY too hot!

Where was I? Oh! Free time... I am one of those rare women that actually likes to spend time with her DH. My man is my favorite thing. We are very selfish with our time alone. So that leaves very little time for girl dates. I want to try and do better communicating. Actually, it's one of the reasons I started this blog. I want my friends and family to know we are still here and thriving, I just don't have time to have a meaningful conversation.

I'm an all or nothing kinda girl, you see, and I have sooooo much to say to these people that the sheer thought of the length of these conversations sends my heart into an irregular rhythm. I get light-headed and nauseated and I have to put my head between my legs just to be able to breathe. There...I said it. It's no secret I have issues.

I've had other friends that are dudes and, well, I feel funny calling a dude my bff. But there were those that had an important place in my heart. I never dated these guys. They treated me too well. I honestly believed they thought of me as a friend. My dude friends have included:

Galen

Matt

Mark

Jason

So...Galen. We have been friends for a longtime. He was my junior high boyfriend's wing man. He is one of those friends that I always thought, "Galen will always be there. I can call him later. He'll understand." Since graduating high school we saw each other here and there. I kept up with him through our moms. He married and I heard earlier this year he went into the Army to be a Chaplain. I was so excited to hear this because I knew he always wanted to be in the ministry full-time and this path seemed to make sense.

Well, I got an email informing me that he left for Iraq. Today. I am scared and sad and so happy he has this opportunity. I'm feeling a little uneasy because it has been so long since I talked to him. I hope he knows how important he is to me. DH and I will be praying that he reaches people. We pray that he is able to comfort those that need to hear from God. And we will be praying for his wife, his parents and his brothers and sister and their spouses and kiddoes. Most importantly, we'll be praying for his safety.

Here is an email he sent his mom yesterday:

Had a cool God moment yesterday.

All the flights have been leaving this week and my guys have been
flying out in groups on different days. I've gone in and hung out
with them and their families each day which can get a little sad as
you see everyone saying goodbye to their wife and kids.

Yesterday as I pulled up and saw the crowd all the emotion of the
situation hit me and left me with a bit of anxiety. I fought it all
morning as I kept thinking to myself that this will be me in just a
couple days, saying goodbye to Angie.

Then I noticed a young female soldier sitting in the corner by herself crying. I pulled her aside and to see if there was anything I could do to help. She replied that she was being overwhelmed with a fear of dying in Iraq. I asked her if I could read her something from the Bible that helps me, and she replied 'Yes.' I read to her from Ps 91, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."

I didn't get two verses in before I was choking back my own tears, my
anxiety was quickly replaced with peace as I realized that God is also
MY refuge and fortress! .how sweet it is to trust in Jesus.


We continued to talk about how God is going to be in control while we
are over there and what a great opportunity we were going to have to
learn to trust in Him on a daily basis. We closed by praying together
and she smiled and said she was already feeling better and asked what
type of services we were going to be having "over there." I told her
about the worship services and the Bible Studies and she got excited.


It's amazing how quickly God was able to turn my anxiety into trust
and then into excitement. I truly can't wait to go and begin a new adventure living and trusting in Him.


Thanks for your prayers,


G

Loreta Mae

This is Loreta Mae. We call her Loree. She has freckles. Lots of freckles. Click on her picture to get the total freckled, blue-eyed experience. And see a glimpse of our future in orthodontia.

She is the youngest and loves Nana. Don't believe me? My Mother's Day card this year read:

Happy Mother's Day I love Nana.

I'm OK with this. I like that my kids get special time alone with the G.P.'s. The only drawback is the deprogramming period after being under the influence of a doting Nana. She doesn't get strawberries on her waffles every morning here...she doesn't get her nails done with polka dots and a top coat. These are special Nana things and she is a lucky girl. Thank you, Nana. But stay off of my Mother's Day card!

Loree likes to play with Barbies, swim and her favorite show is Hannah Montana. Oh! And she loves Nana. She is crazy about her two sisters and one of her brothers. The other brother, Aaron, well...they tolerate each other. When I first brought her home from the hospital, he would hide her in the closet and shut the door. Another time, Aaron stood on the back of the couch behind her baby swing and peed on her head every time it swung back. Nice...


Things Loree says:

"Mom! My heart is beeping so fast!"


"Mom! Don't get soap in my eyes or I'll go blonde!"


Me: "Good night, Loree."
Loree: "Good night. Can we call Nana?"

Dad

My name is Darren. I am 38 years old. I am, as Katy calls me, DH. (Dear Husband) I am sure there are other translations that apply to me, but we will just keep those to ourselves. I am so excited to be a part of these six beautiful people’s lives. Katy is a rare find. She is my best friend and she is smart, funny (witty), and hot and the list goes on… did I mention that she is hot. I always have to think before I speak. She never stops thinking and can take a completely innocuous comment or conversation and make it something completely different. I have even gotten to the point that I will throw out set-ups for her and she almost always provides us with something to laugh about. When she does not, I get the thermometer to see if she has a fever. I have not even discussed how the kids crack us up almost always. I have been nagging her for the last eighteen months to do start this blog. I want everyone to see what I see.I love watching the kids grow in all aspects of their lives. To see what my wife has done with them in school is absolutely amazing. She has to be five different teachers every day, 24-7. She has developed a different teaching style for each kid and IT WORKS. The kids love it so much, Aaron our 8 year old wants to be home schooled through college. I see tremendous growth each and every day. I may have to go back to school before they pass me.I hope to share from time to time what I see from dad’s perspective.

Hammerhead

So this is Aaron. I think I had too much sweet-n-low when I was pregnant with this one. He likes sharks, action figures and Nacho Libre. He's an excellent artist and a quirky quipster. When he was a baby he carried around six (count 'em six!) pacifiers. In his crib, he would arrange them in an arc around his head. He quit the pacifier cold turkey without looking back. He potty trained himself in one day. He's a deep thinker, loves his mother and hates spaghetti sauce. We call him Hammerhead.

My peeps!

Here we are! 5 is my lucky number!