The Ickies have arrived!

Poor Hunter. He is feeling a bit icky tonight. I love this picture....... First of all it is going to make for great bribery as he gets older, but secondly because there are times when he cannot breathe that he will actually have Kleenex stuck in both nostrils. (Let me remind you this is the same little boy that stuck about six peas up his nose as a toddler. I remember finding them while I changed his diaper and would pull one out with the tweezers and another one would pop down. I would think are you kidding me how many could he possibly fit up there. LOL Great times.) Hopefully, he will rest well and feel better in the morning. Good night sweet pea, feel better soon!!

Semester Awards!!

Congratulations to my little Bryan!!! It is amazing to think that almost six and a half years ago this little guy was in the Neonatal Intensive Care unit with bacterial meningitis. We thought we were going to lose him.He went from just hanging out in his isolette and growing to being gravely ill in less than 24 hours. It was a very scary time. But he is a fighter and fought hard to heal. He does have a left ear hearing loss and wears a hearing aide, however, he does not allow that to slow him down. As a matter of fact, if you did not see his blue hearing aide you would not even notice that he watches and reads your lips.

Friday was the kindergarten awards ceremony and he was being honored. Each teacher was allowed to pick five of their students and honor them. Bryan was one being honored. Right before Christmas he brought home his report card and has mastered everything that he needs to master. He is a great student and loves to learn and please people. He is really shining this year in school and I could not be more proud. Way to go Bryan!!

I also have to mention that my heart broke that day............ as I sat back and observed the other three in kindergarten watch while Bryan got his award. They were so sad that they did not get anything. They are so used to always being together and getting the same things that you could just see the disappointment on their cute little faces.

Cassie just looked at me with her sad blue eyes and wanted to know what she did wrong. Jayson decided he was going to quit everything if he could not get his "reward". And Nathan, well he was happy for Bryan but still just cried that he was not good enough. Too cute. I have to say that their teachers were very empathetic and kind. It was a good teaching opportunity to talk about how we are all different and we will "shine" in our own areas. We are going to have our own award ceremony to focus on what they are all good at. This also reminded me how happy I am that I have the chance to separate them into their different classes so that they can learn at their own pace while not being directly compared to one another. It is so hard to always be lumped together and not seen as a separate entity. I am so proud of them all to include their older brothers. I also had a chance to have them in the same grade in school but opted to keep Hunter back a year. I wanted Tanner and Hunter to be able to shine on their own and not feel like they were competing in school as well. I am very blessed to have such a great group of kids each with their own strengths and interests. Sleep well my friends!!

Rain, rain, go away!!!!

AND COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY, OR ANOTHER WEEK!!! After a week of rain we are beginning to wonder if the sun will ever return. The kids have wanted to use umbrellas and have even been known to whine and beg to use them. Now they are whining and begging for the rain to go away! We did not even own umbrellas until a week ago. Who needs umbrellas in Arizona? Or winter coats for that matter. Well now we are the proud owners of at least five umbrealls and numerous winter coats. The kids are trying to convince me that they need boots. (if this keeps up they might be right)

If you notice in this picture the curbing that goes up to the sidewalk is GONE!!! We are also missing an entire lane of travel. And yet CA drivers don't even slow down. They still try to pass, it is amazing! And then they wonder why they are stranded in the fast water flowing down the street and the firefighters are rescuing them from the river. :>

Here is another area just down from our house that has the "flooded" sign out. Just in case you were wondering....... Reminds me of Bill Engvall..... "Here's your sign." (this is for those CA drivers that I mentioned earlier.)

This area also runs right below my housing area. Usually completely dry, it is currently a river basin.

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Finally...... this is Nathan's feet. For the record, today he did not jump in puddles to try and get wet, this is just from wading in the nearly knee deep water to get from the school to the van so we could venture home. We were all soaked. The kids came home got right in the tubs to warm up and we had hot chocolate. As I sit here and write this post I can still hear it coming down out there and I can also hear the shoes beating around in the dryer so they will be ready for another adventure tomorrow. Stay dry and rest well my friends!!!

Gotta Love Those Kids!!!

So I will be perfectly honest here........3 weeks at Christmas time for vacation is wawywywywywywy to long for the families. (Maybe not families but definitely mothers)We had a lot of fun and it was great to not have to get up at 6 am every morning, or to have to make lunches the night before, or to have do homework. However, keeping the little six-pack out of mischievous behavior that lead to trouble was was virtually impossible. We did it all....... play dough, making models of jets, to making models of birdhouses. We played file folder games, we counted, sang, practiced and yet it just was still too long. So as I struggled each night, I realized I need to focus on the positive that they were adding to my life. They have so many wonderful qualities and I just have to reach a little harder to remember them and point them out.The answer that I came up with was to make cute little poster boards for each of them. Present them to each of the children and have them hang them on their doors. They love them almost as much as I did making them. Each time I was ready to run away screaming and hide until the storm would blow over.... I go to their room and look at their poster and point out one of the things I love the most about them. So far so good. I was thinking about doing the same thing for me. It would be nice to hear good things about myself besides the usual, this sucks mom, that is gross mom, you must hate me mom, you are not my friend mom, or the kicker lately, you wish I was not here. Seriously, how do kids come of with this stuff. Well my friends have a great night!!!

Child or Slave?

So being that it was ANOTHER day off of school today..... I decided it was time to incorporate chore fun again. We made cards for various chores that needed to be done. For example.... clean up dog poo, unload and load dishwasher, help with laundry, vacuum upstairs, vacuum and dust stairs, and clean bathrooms. They each got the chance to draw a card. And then the chore card they picked would be the chore they would help me with today.

As I am helping Jayson do the dishes, he looks at me with the most innocent look on his face and says...... "Why are we doing your work? We are not supposed to be your slaves!" Clearly it has been too long since I had them help out around the house. Have a great night my friends!!!!

Catching up!!!!

So we are finally getting around to sharing Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with everyone. Enjoy watching the fun and mayhem. It truly is a magical morning and day. It is one of those days that as a child you wait for year around however, as an adult it always seem to sneak up on us and is always here . I remember my mom always being stressed and wanting it to be "fair" for everyone. I used to think she was a little crazy and yet I find myself doing the same thing fretting each night, counting presents to make sure they equal number, counting money to make sure even money was spent. Despite the stress of it all....... I think we managed to pull it off again this year. They all loved what they got and they love to "BELIEVE". It is a truly "fun, fun, fun," moment. I love to BELIEVE and hope that that can stay with me forever!!! Merry Christmas Friends. Enjoy your gorgeous families!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our Thanksgiving Visitor!!

We would like you to meet the newest member of our family. His name is "Elfie". He arrived two days before Thanksgiving and stayed with us until Christmas Eve. The kids got to pick his name and register him online. They even got a letter of adoption from Santa.

His job is to report to Santa each night how we are all doing. For example....... is there fighting, tattling, hitting, yelling,or........... kindness, love, compassion,and calmness at the Kearl household. Overall, I do think that Elfie was impressed with what he witnessed. (And having a witness certainly does help keep the good works coming. :>)

Elfie cannot talk to us but can listen and take many messages back to Santa each night. We know that he leaves each night, because when we sneak up in the middle of the night to check on him...... he is gone. When we wake up each morning he has found a new place to perch and watch us.

We are not allowed to touch him because if we do...... he will lose his magic powers that all0w him to travel back to the North Pole each night. I must say it was so very fun to watch and listen as the little ones would tell Elfie what they wanted Santa to bring not only for them but also for their siblings. It was fun to hear them tattling of the naughty expeditions that occurred during the day or the sweet, kind things that they also saw happen.

Elfie left with Santa on Christmas Eve and went back to the North Pole to help get ready for next Christmas. He will return to us next year around the same time. The kids miss him and talk very fondly about him. Of course, they are already talking about what they want to tell him. I think Nathan has even started a notebook with his ideas so as not to forget them. This is the most fabulous, fun tradition I have seen out there. We love Elfie and cannot wait for him to come back.

Rest well my friends and may you always "believe". Christmas is so much more fun when you do!!!!