Miserable

Our Memorial Day Weekend was spent wiping snotty noses, checking fevers, consoling 4 miserable feeling little kids.  It started Friday night and we are still dealing with this cold bug.  I am exhausted and I think I may be coming down with it too.  I am trying to fight it.   This is the first time that all 4 kids got something at the exact same time, while it has been difficult, at least we can get it over and done with.  We have had some pretty rough nights and I am praying for a good one tonight, because we could all use some good sleep.  I am ready for this cold bug to take a hike so we can enjoy what looks like a great weekend, weather wise.

I'm No Good.....

at making decisions.  I have spent the last few days doing heavy research on "red-shirting", private schools, home-schooling and online school.  I am no closer to a decision than I was before I did the research.  I got opinions of a school principle and 3 kindergarten teachers and I emailed Margaret Scott to see their stance on holding summer babies back.  They all seem to come to the same conclusion, she is a girl and she will be fine.  Which means we will have this same discussion in 2 years when the twins turn 5.  Everyone acts like they have all the answers and the method of schooling they chose was the best.  Home-schoolers wouldn't dare send their kids to a (gasp) public school and public school parents would never dare (gasp) home-school.  I know we have to do what is best for our family, the problem is I don't know what is best and I don't think I ever will.  No matter what decision I make, I will probably regret it or second guess myself.  Margaret Scott's Kindergarten is half-day, so that is a pro.  The con is that it is a public school and ever since Bush passed the "no kid left behind" law, kids are slipping through the crack.  My mom said that her school has 3rd graders that don't know how to read, but they will never be held back to catch up because of the stupid law.  And there is the budget cut crap.  They are cutting assistants that help these kids catch up and help the teachers.  There are also like 30+ kids in each class.  *sigh  I guess I should start playing the lottery so I can afford to send 4 kids to a private Christian school.  At this point we could afford to send Aurora to private school, but then in 2 years the boys would be entering the work force and that triples the cost and Landon is the year after that.  Even at the cheapest school that would be about $15,000 a year for 4 kids and that would be with a multiple kid discount.  That is about half of Russ' income!  *sigh  The clock is ticking and I am running out of time.  I am aware that I will look back on this and laugh that I stressed about this decision.  I guess this means that I care about my kids and want what is best for them, when someone figures out what that is, please let me know.

Happy

This morning I walked in to the twin's room to find Wyatt pulling all the clothes out of his drawers.  He jumped back in his crib and said, "Good Morning!"  Then Trevor said, "Wise-guy is a naughty boy!"  In which Wyatt replied, "I'm not a naughty boy.  I am a happy boy."  :)

A Quick Update

Russ has been on overtime for the past 3 weeks, so not much is going on around here.  Boyd's is landing new accounts and things are looking up for the company.  It is probably getting to the point where they will have to start hiring to keep up with the demand.  They have also hired everyone back that was laid off last year.  Russ has been working hard and I know that this overtime is hard on him, but he still comes home and helps me as much as he can. 

I haven't made any decisions regarding Aurora's schooling yet.  I think Russ and I are leaning towards "red-shirting" her this year and just letting her be a kid.  Once you enter school there is no turning back! :) I registered for a home-schooling conference to gain as much information as possible.  So we will see if that leads us anywhere.  She is having a blast in her swimming lessons.  It was the first time she was ever in a big pool like that and the first day she jumped right in and listened to the teacher.  I had a proud Mommy moment last night when the other 3 kids in her class were goofing off and not listening to the teacher.  Aurora listened and did everything the teacher told her to the T.  It has been stressful but I think we have raised a wonderful young lady, the others are TBD. :) 

Wyatt has been on a rampage around here.  He is getting out of his crib and getting in to EVERYTHING!  He pulls wipes out of containers, he pulls clothes out of drawers and one night he even went in to the garage!  Yesterday we had a heart-stopping moment when I heard a loud crash and ran in to their play room to find the tv on the ground. Thank God none of the kids were hurt and the TV didn't break.  I think it may have scared him enough to not do it again.  Wyatt is pretty much the definition of a boy.  He wants to climb every tree he sees and wrestle every kid he comes across.  I'm not sure if I am prepared for this! :)

Trevor (excuse me) Peter Parker is doing well.  He announced that he is Spider-man, blowing his secret identity! Everyday he wants us to call him either Peter Parker or some other character.  Then when you get use to calling him that name he does a 180 and says, "I'm Trevor Robert!"  They like Wild Kratts on PBS, so for about 2 days I had to call him and Wyatt, Chris and Martin. :)  I love the imagination they have!

Landon is busy being Landon!  He is starting to talk more and he wants to make sure his voice is heard.  He has turned in to a screamer and boy is he good at it.  He is spaced perfectly to where the second we break the twins of a habit, he picks it up!

The weather has been fantastic the last couple of days and we have taken full advantage!  We walk them up to school right by our house and let them loose.   I feel like we are letting dogs out of the house. :)  They are usually so exhausted by bedtime that they haven't been putting up much of a fight. 

Well that is what is going on here. 

Just call me Mom

Russ and I never follow a crowd, unless that crowd is awesome! :)  We have and probably always will do things differently then most.  I think that is what I love most about us.  We are both shy by nature, but together we fight to get a word in edgewise.  I know it is hard to believe, isn't it? :)  When we started dating we used to talk for hours on the phone, almost nightly.  I am still not sure how I got any homework done?  I was only 16 when we met, but marriage was brought up fairly quickly.  I don't think any of us had one doubt that we met the person we were going to be with forever.  That is very rare and not the norm.  From the beginning we didn't follow the status quo.  We got engaged when I was 18, we got married at 21 and 23, had kids young and still manage to shock people.  We never rush into anything and we always think things through (sometimes we over think) and make the decision that is best for us.  Shortly after we were married I quit my job to prepare for life as a homemaker and mother.  It wasn't perceived as the best decision I ever made.  In fact I don't think I heard one positive remark about my decision, but I can tell you it was one of the BEST decisions I ever made.  If Russ and I got use to living on  2 incomes, the children we were blessed with would have destroyed us financially.  We probably would have gone in to a mortgage that we wouldn't have been able to pay and who knows where we would have ended up?  We got use to living on 1 income and even though we have added 4 kids to the family, we are still doing good financially.  I didn't have to chose a career over kids, I didn't have to worry about daycare (which with 4 kids would have bankrupted us).  I went against the grain and have never looked back.    I am happy, I love my kids, they love having me around and whether I send them to school or not my job as a mom is not over.  My calling is to be a wife and mother and that is exactly what I am doing.  We have been blessed beyond comprehension and I thank the Lord for every day our family has together.