Right now at our house

A and b are wrestling:

C is saying: "guards! Seize him!" :

And Abs is sitting on my lap in a pink poodle costume refusing to eat dinner or climb off me:

SOS! Please send reinforcements! 

Snow days

We have had so many snow and poison water days off school so I thought I would share some of what we've been doing to stay busy.

Just a little rant

I have been wanting to write this for a while but kept putting it off, blogging seems like such an effort with Instagram being so easy to use and share photos. I have just been getting so bigger by people bashing doctors, the healthcare system, drug companies, etc. while talking up their oils and supplements. First, let me say that natural health is important to me. My family is deeply involved in the culture of natural health. And I agree whole heartedly that it is important for us to take control of our health and do what we can to cate for our bodies. This includes exercise, eating right, and taking supplements as needed. What I don't understand is the doctor bashing. Yes, healthcare is expensive! Lewis has gone to school or done training for 11 years after college! Not only has he gone way into debt for this, but he has made very little money along the way. When you come to see him as a patient you are paying for his expertise. He hasn't gone this far in his training for selfish reasons. He isn't trying to take all your money. He genuinely wants to help you.

There are more than one kind of doctor. If you get in a car accident and smash your face I would like to see you use your oils or supplements to repair it. Seriously, I am fed up! Enough! 

Also, I have many friends who are scientists. They do medical research and they are funded by drug companies or other organizations like Komen. Quit bashing them too! They make very little money and work very hard because they want to find a cure! These are good people. Good, honest, hard working people who want to make a positive difference in the world.  They are not motivated by money but by a desire to do something meaningful.

Yes, they do want to earn a living. So do doctors and it know there are some who abuse the system but I am confident that they are in the minority. Did you ever stop to think about what motivates the head of the company that makes your oils? Or your supplements? What do you think drives them? I would be willing to bet that they are much more interested in making money than any doctor or scientist doing medical research. They want you to make money because it makes them money. Plain and simple. 

So, that's terrific that you got rid of all the medicine in your house. Good for you. I'm glad that you are "eating clean" and working on your beach body. Just please keep all of your complaints about doctors and "healthcare today" away from me. 

Life these days

Saturday was such a beautiful day! It has been really cold and icy and snowy since before thanksgiving so we were grateful to be outside!

And today it is snowing again, so I'm glad we took advantage of the nice weather while it was here. I am ready for spring to come already!

Award assembly

A received student if the month, AR award for getting her AR goals, and Principal's Pride which is all A's and S's.

B also got student of the month, Principal's Pride, and AR award.

C got Star Student (all S's) and student of the month. 

All three received every possible award for their class. I am so proud of them for working hard at school and for showing good behavior. Since no one really reads this blog any more I don't mind a little bragging! Ha! But really, I have been blessed with the greatest kids. This school year hasn't been easy but they have stuck together and have tried to make the best of the situation. Cate is doing better in her class. Her anxiety seems to be better,but maybe that's because she didn't have school for a month! Aiden being the safety patrol in cate's classroom really helped ease the morning stress, but they just moved her to the special needs classroom. She has still been walking cate to class every morning and that seems to work wonders.

 A and B finally finished he process of being placed in the gifted program. Because it isn't federally funded at all there is a very small gifted program in our school system. In wv you have to test in at least the 97th percentile to be eligible. After weeks of testing then waiting for it to be analyzed then a meeting to discuss their eligibility then an IEP meeting--breath-- they finally started when they went back to school. A goes all day Monday and b goes all day Wednesday. They bus kids in from a bunch of other schools, but they are still very small groups. I love the teacher they are with, she is amazing and has a son who is a general surgery resident. :) the good news is that they are both on an IEP so they can get gifted services anywhere we go!

Another bright spot has been a's viola class. There is a strings teacher who goes around to a few schools and teaches classes. I love that she is getting that training. She is also doing all county chorus and her school choir which has been really fun for her. 

B loves his class and he has a great teacher. I'm really grateful he was put in that class. She pushes her students and moves them along as they are ready.

Poor cate has had a rough time but I so have to say she is reading and writing very clearly! She has yet to bring home any cutesy artsy projects (all year-- seriously) and has yet to had any free play time in KINDERGARTEN but seems to be doing ok.. I'm telling you, you have never ever seen a class of ks sit like these kids do. They sit silently, on their spot on the rug or in their assigned seat and don't make a peep. They walk down the hall silently in a perfect line! It's totally insane. One more gem: A has had several kids from her class who have received in school suspension which they  do in Cate's kindy classroom! Because her teacher is possibly the scariest woman to ever teach elementary. (Although she did give me a huge, awkwardly long hug right before Christmas break. I guess she liked the jewelry we made her. ) (Also, I had a really mean and scary 3 rd grade teacher named Mrs. Williams. We had 5 projects per month and she had black frizzy witch hair and elaborately painted long long nails.)

Even though the school experience has been a change (children being disrespectful to teachers for example) and a challenge, I am grateful that my children have proven to be resilient and are thriving in spite of it all!

See, they are pretty amazing. 

My little Aiden is 11!

How can it be possible that aiden is already11?!?! It seems like just yesterday she was toddling around our grubby Hartford apartment, licking the salt off the floor under our shoes, and pulling all of our clothes out of the drawers. Now she's all grown up and is so helpful, kind, smart, caring, thoughtful, beautiful 11 year old I've ever known! Right before her birthday she decided to cut her hair and donate it.

She gets such bad knots and has a super tender head. Bad combo. Her haircut is adorable! 

Her actual birthday ended up being another snow day (shocking!!!), but when they finally went back they had a birthday lunch that Abby and I joined her for. 

For her real birthday dinner we ate at an Asian restaurant called Su Tei. We had sushi and Thai food. I'm not sure if our standards have changed since moving here, but we really enjoyed all the food we had. Lewis even got to have some Som Tum which is a really spicy Thai dish made with green papaya. 

We sure love our Aiden girl! Happy birthday!!

FHE fun

Last night cate was in charge of treats for family home evening and she wanted to make cupcakes. She did a great job.

Brooks was in charge of the lesson and he talked about ways we can show love to each other. We took some time to write notes to each other and put them in our little mailboxes. Then Aid was in charge of the activity so she had us do some minute to win it games. Here is Lewis stacking candy hearts, I think he got over 20!