Luke's corner

Luke is in trouble all the time lately....he can't control his temper, and he's very impulsive...likes to throw things when he's angry, or pull hair or hit - he's very aggressive. Putting him in the corner has become standard procedure. In fact, it's so standard, I don't know if it's an effective punishment anymore?! The other day he was with me in the kitchen, and he got angry about something....he grabbed a magnet off of the refrigerator and pulled back his arm, ready to throw it. I scolded him and said "LUKE, YOU BETTER NOT THROW THAT....DO YOU WANT TO GO SIT IN THE CORNER?" He immediately stuck his lip out in a pout, dropped the magnet, turned and marched over to the corner and sat down!!




It's ironic...he's so obedient when it comes to taking his punishment - he goes to the corner when he's told, he sits there, and he doesn't try to get up until I tell him he can! Now, why can't he just be that obedient to begin with?! I guess he has decided that acting on his impulse is worth the punishment he knows he's going to receive.






"Don't look at me!"

STINKER!!!

Turtle Art

Yesterday Jesse had collected 8 turtles by 8:30am. Now that's a good day ....for most 4 year old boys.....but especially for Jesse, who loves turtles, snakes and all things reptilian or amphibian! He could hardly contain his excitement. I had to go to work for a few hours, but Aunt Angela helped him make a temporary habitat so that he could keep them and play with them until Hunter and Faith got home from school. Then they painted all the turtles' shells and had a turtle release party!!

As multicolor turtles marched off through the grass, Jesse said "Mama, do you think their friends will like their beautiful shells?"

"I think they will love it. You might have turtles coming from all over the neighborhood to get their shells painted by you"!

Jesse walked away with a proud little grin saying " that's cool, isn't it Mama?"

Dance Recital

Faith's dance recital was a blast this year. She performed 3 routines - jazz, tap and ballet, and was very good on stage (although I think she had more fun backstage with hair & makeup!)









There were only 5 other girls in her class, so they all became good friends over the season.

L-R: Mariah, Faith, Gabbi, Madeline, Emma










Faith got flowers from Daddy afte the show.....


















...and a Sonic Blast on the way home. It was a good night for Faith...and very entertaining for us. Hunter, on the other hand, missed the recital for a baseball game and his team lost miserably 15 to 3!

Getting over the Holidays

November and December have been busy, busy, busy - jam packed with birthdays, get togethers, family dinners, celebrations, cooking, shopping, cleaning, entertaining, etc....I like the holiday season, but I'm really ready now to move on to more normal things.

Here's a recap in pics of the last 2 months:

Mike got to go hunting - just once - but that was enough - he got a decent 8 point.

We had a couple of scurvy pirates on Halloween......

We found time to take the kids to the zoo on a warm November day. (That 's not a big rock - it's a giant tortoise- Jesse's favorite)

Faith had her 6th birthday on Dec. 10. She had 5 of her little girlfriends over for a glamour shots makeover party and sleepover. Becky came over and did fancy "up-do's" for all the girls, we painted their nails, let them get all dressed up in jewels and dresses, and sparkly face powder, and took lots of fun pictures.

We re-united with some old friends at a holiday party.....

New Year's Eve came and went without much excitement. We stayed home, made homemade pizzas and hot wings, let the kids stay up late and toast with sparkling juice at midnight. A few freinds stopped by to ring in the new year with us and we had a very low key celebration.

....I'm optimistic that 2008 cannot be any more challenging than 2007 has been!!.....We'll see!...

Wheeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

The thrill and excitement of childhood - it comes so easy. Now if I could only learn how to feel this way more often as an adult!!! Anybody know how?

Robots in disguise

Who are those masked children?! Its Lilli, Faith, Mariah, Stella, Eden, Jesse and Isaiah at Jesse's
4th birthday party on Saturday. He had been telling me for a couple of months (since Levi's transformer themed party) that he wanted a birthday cake with "two transformers sticking out of it" So - I did my best - it didn't quite turn out like I envisioned, but it did have 2 transformers sticking out of it! He liked it, and he had a great time playing in the park with his friends. Thanks to all of you who came to help Jesse celebrate. It was a great birthday!

Letting His Light Shine

Yesterday, Hunter came home from school and told me this story, when I asked him how his day was......

"In math class we were working on our study guide and some of the boys were talking really loud. Katie, she sits next to me, raised her hand and asked Mrs. Barber if she would make them be quiet so she could concentrate. She did, and then Katie raised her hand again and said 'Mrs. Barber, I wish this was an all girl school'. Mrs Barber said, 'Well, Katie, sometimes I wish that too....but then I think about Hunter.' Then she smiled at me and winked........I think she likes me!

I've been so hard on Hunter lately, because of his grades (B's & C's), that I had forgotten to just be proud of the person that he is. And I guess I really did need to be reminded of that, as I went to parent-teacher conferences tonight. I went into it with the attitude that I was going to find out what the heck was going on, preparing myself to hear, and halfway expecting to hear, that Hunter is goofing off in class, not paying attention, daydreaming, etc.....

that is not at all what I heard

teacher after teacher (he's in middle school now and has 7 different teachers) praised him for his behavior and demeanor in their classrooms. They all said that he was so well behaved, respectful, kind,helpful.....One teacher called him a "blessing", One said "If I had a room full of Hunter Hill's, my life would be easy". I left there feeling so proud of my son; and with a new perspective on the whole grade thing. Okay - so he doesn't test well......so he has a few C's.......Even though Hunter is not the straight A student, he is being recognized for his good behavior and his character. That makes me very proud of him.

Back on the Blog

Okay - so it's been over a year since I added any new posts....



I know that's ridiculous - my apologies to everyone who has been checking for updated photos - most of you have just given up at this point (can't blame you), but Jessica and Marria have gently reminded me from time to time that they would like to see something new on the blog!!




It's just that this whole four kids thing has been far more difficult than I anticipated. What were we thinking?!! When I had three children, I had no time - now there's four of them - and i'm telling you - that fourth one is much more than simply adding one more to the mix - it increases the demands exponentially!!. ....But what lessons I'm learning from my sweet baby! And what a difference a year makes.....










It's hard to believe that Luke had his first birthday a couple of weeks ago. This year has slipped by so fast. Too much has happened to try and retell it all but some of the highlights are....

• I stopped the part time physical therapy that I had been doing just before Luke was born. I let my license lapse in January, so I am on "inactive" status. This was a bit of an inner struggle for me - after investing so much time and effort (and money) in getting my Master's degree- to just let it go like that. But I know that being ever-present in the lives of my children will have a much bigger payoff. I could have gone back to working part time when Luke was a few months old, but that brings me to the next thing.....
• Our new business Michael's Collision Center, opened in February of this year, after many long hard months of building. I used to refer to it as "Mike's new business", but since I gave up my career - a career that I loved, and that paid very well - to keep the books and manage the shop, I now call it "ours".
• Hunter played baseball throughout the summer, came in second in the tournament and won the sportsmanship award. He's now playing football in a junior league and sometimes gets to quarterback. (I prefer baseball)
• Faith started Kindergarten this year, and loves it. She continued with dance this season. Her freind Mariah joined her dance class so they could be together since they go to different schools. I think (I hope) this will be a lasting freindship.
• Jesse is being "homeschooled" with the same preschool curriculum that I used with Faith, which I found to be so effective at preparing her for kindergarten (Jesse has 2 more years til Kindergarten, since his birthday is in October.
• We went to Wisconsin in July for the Great Lakes Bible School, which is the only vacation we have had in almost 2 years since Mike began his endeavor to open up a new shop. Things are finally beginning to get a little better, as he only works about 70 hours per week now instead of 80+! And he is taking a few more weekends off now. (I think he has developed an ulcer). I continue to pray frequently that he not lose sight, in all of this, of putting God and family first. Sometimes it is a struggle.

Well, I think that's the best I can do in one sitting to recap a whole year. I'll fill in the gaps with a few pics and start fresh next time.....