Last Additions

I had wanted to include this in my last post and forgot. I had another wonderful Mother's day this year. Being the mother of four children is something I would never have thought I'd use to describe myself. But, the reality is so much sweeter than I could ever have imagined. Our children are amazing, crazy, loud, silly, helpful at times, smart, caring, kind when they want to be, and they each tell me without inhibition how much they love me several times a day. Max came up with what to give me this year as a gift and each of the kids made something special for me. The only reason I'm posting Mark Thomas' is because I was so overwhelmed by it. He woke up as usual bright and early Sunday morning, I heard him open his door down the hallway and he ran into my room and handed me this note. I could barely open my eyes, and couldn't focus on the words, so I asked him to read it to me. When he did, I nearly cried. Mark Thomas is 100% boy but he has the sweetest heart and he loves his Momma as you can see. What a treasure this note will always be to me.

More Than I Bargained For

Well, this morning was supposed to be a relatively uneventful trip to the doctor's office. The boys needed physicals for Camp this summer and Ella needed a physical along with shots before she can go to kindergarten in the fall. They all lined up to be weighed and measured.

Ella weighed 56 pounds and was 4 feet .5 inches tall.

Mark Thomas weighed 62 pounds and was 4 feet 6 inches tall.

Ben weighed 70 pounds and was 4 feet 7 1/4 inches tall.

Max weighed 90 pounds and was 5 feet 3 inches tall.

I had been talking for the past week or so about Ella getting shots and had prepared the boys to be supportive and kind big brothers. Well after the Dr. came in and started looking at MT's chart she said, "he'll need two boosters today." The look that Ben gave me was priceless! I honestly did not know that any one other than Ella was going to need shots but it turned out my suggestions for support and kindness would be needed for the entire room. Max needed four shots, Ella five and Ben and MT two each.YIKES! Had I known I would have made Mark tag along for moral support too.

The kids did great. I told them we'd go get ice-cream after if everyone could remain calm. Ella had one little tear roll down her cheek, but she laid perfectly still and never said a word. Max giggled saying he felt strong already. Too much media about baseball and steroids lately for him. MT was a champ as always, such a high pain tolerance after three surgeries as a baby and Ben, well, there had to be one out of the four. As I mentioned earlier his anxiety started early and did not go away. So he went last, but put up a good fight. The nurse said, don't flex your muscle several times and finally I had to say, that is just how his arm is. That boy is solid muscle, not an ounce of fat anywhere, so she plunged away. He cried sweet tears into my shoulder and after two pokes we were done.

I'm thankful for four healthy children who are now immunized for at least a few years. Next time, Mark will be the parent on duty.


My two little beauties! No, not the boys, my new washer and dryer! For those of you with large families, you can feel my pain. With four, active children and two parents constantly on the go with them, our laundry loads are crazy. So these two little beauties have been such a welcomed addition to our home. Is it wrong to love your washer and dryer this much? They play sweet music for me when they're done and make our clothes smell so good. If only someone would come up with a machine to fold and put it all away.

Quick Post

I'm hoping we can get our camera fixed soon. I have so many things I want to add to the blog but without photos it's just not that much fun to look at. We're in the final stages of school. So hard to believe our first school year here in Texas is almost over. I took Ella today to kindergarten round up. She'll be 6 at the end of September so she'll be one of the oldest in her class and her pre-school teacher told me last week, that she's above and beyond all of her other classmates by leaps and bounds so we're hoping she'll be challenged in kindergarten. I told her that probably half of what she knows I wish I could erase since it's education derived from three older brothers.

The boys have finished their first year of TAKS testing. Ben and Max each earned commendables on their reading, Ben only missing one and Max only missing two. Ben also took math and Max took science. We have not gotten those results back yet but Ben's teacher told him that day he did really well and Max felt confident when he got home so we're excited to see how they scored on those as well. MT did not take TAKS this year but did take the ITSB and those results will come at the end of school. His teacher wants to recommend him for challenge next year so it looks like he'll be off to the GT program. Look out Gifted and Talented, here comes MT!

Max registered for middle school last week too. I cannot believe that my little boy is going to be in middle school. He is growing up way too fast for me. On our way to church yesterday, he was asking me the sweetest questions trying to get ideas for mother's day. I was trying so hard not to act like I knew where he was going with the questions because he was being so sweet. My only child thus far who has put any thought into this weekend. Maybe it comes with age.

I marvel each day at how much they change and grow. I spend so much time fussing at them for this and that and go to bed most evenings wondering how much psychological damage I've done with all my yelling. I can only hope and pray that through some of the yelling they remember all the hugs and kisses, Mark says I get a little carried away with that, but what the heck, they're free! Tomorrow is always another day.