This morning I went to Stewarts Creek, the school that all of the kids are attending to help their teachers out. I started in Ali's room and did all of her teachers copying and cutting, then went on to Josh's class, where his teacher works herself silly and did not have anything there for me to do! I just love her, we spent a few minutes catching up and I got to hear a little about her wedding, she got married a week ago. Then it was on to Maveric's class where she always has a ton of stuff to do. I finished her things just in time to have lunch with Maveric and Ali. I love going to their school. When each of our children see me come into their class room they light up. It makes them feel so special to have me up there and I really enjoy being able to do that for them. I brought cookies today for Ali's class and she is going to get to pass them out at their snack time. I love being their mom. Which make me think of Eric. He works so hard for our family so that I can be available for them. I get all of the credit for being a great mom, but if it weren't for him I could not do what I do. I am SO thankful for him... he is really HOT too...I love my man!!

Savannah

With five children, sometimes I don't feel like I adequately concentrate on each child individually enough. I mean, I am with them all of the time, but I am with ALL of them together all of the time. It is a challenge that takes planning to overcome. I think that they all enjoy being a part of a large family and wouldn't want it any other way and I also know that they really enjoy time spent one on one. I thought it would be nice to have a special blog for each one.


I don't think I could ask for more in a daughter. Savannah is our leader. She is one of the most mature and responsible children I have ever seen. When we were homeschooling, Savannah made that job extremely easy. We were a part of a tutorial and I rarely had to even look at what she was doing. She handled the classes and work like a college student. Now that she is in public school, each time I have been up to her school her teachers track me down to tell me what a wonderful student she is and how much they love having her in their classes. This year she is playing the saxaphone in the band, which makes Eric really proud since that is what he played in school and Savannah is using his sax! She is also in the choir and the Jr. Beta Club. Next Tuesday they are having their school softball team tryouts and she is going out for that. She is a friend to everyone that she meets and is crazy about horses! Not long ago, Eric and I came up with some new family rules with a list of chores that they have to complete everyday and of course Savannah has not missed any of them. She helps me out so much with the other kids, sometimes too much. I will open my mouth to discipline someone and Savannah's voice chimes in! She has it all, she is beautiful, smart and talented. We are so thankful for such a wonderful girl and so proud of the young lady that she is becoming!

Pictures

My genius husband helped me with my flashcard. So he posted the picture of Piper underneath and hopefully I will be able to add pictures now that he showed me how. I love that man! Gotta get the kids to school, have a great day.

That's one adorable baby!

Piper busted at 2 am skinny dipping in our sink! We're going to have our hands full with this one.

Baby Wise and Random Phobias

What a rainy day! Piper and I have just been hanging out today. She took a very long nap because she stayed up almost all night. I think I need "Baby Wise." Does anyone have a copy I can borrow? I don't know why she has started doing this lately. She wants to sleep on top of me or nurse randomly throughout the night, like a 24 hour all-you-can-eat buffet! If she stirs a little and I am not there she starts crying. I have made the transition from her co-sleeper beside our bed to her bed in her room, but she is still doing the same thing. Which has just made it harder on me because now I am up and down all night. I have heard a lot about Baby Wise but have never read it. I have heard that she will sleep through the night with this magical method, so please if any one has a copy that I can borrow, I would be very grateful. None of the other kids did this, well Maveric did enjoy sleeping with us and still occasionally pulls what I call the ninja. He can get in between Eric and I without us knowing until morning. It's quite impressive. While Piper was taking her nap, I did a lot of cleaning. I mopped floors with a cleaner that left a film on them and so I got to mop them again. I also realized that cleaning sponges are really disgusting. Really, you can only use them one time and then they just look like they are harboring millions of bacteria! Yuck! You know the other thing that really freaks me out? Public swimming pools. I take my kids to them but I can not stand to get in them, especially small ones. I just look at everyone and try to figure out who has bathed and who has not and how long it has been between baths. Then sometimes, there is the creepy couple hanging all over one another in the pool:o This was especially bothersome when we were living in our condo at Nashboro Village. I would take the kids swimming there and just pray that no one needed my assistance in the water. At first, Eric made fun of me, like, "You're crazy!" Then he started thinking about it too, and suddenly was finding excuses not to get in the water. I said, "what's wrong honey, dive in!!" He had to admit it...it was grossing him out too. Got any phobias to share?

Church n stuff

We went to the Blend today at church. It is a new "old" service! The music is more traditional such as hymns. I really really enjoyed it Somebody asked me if it was better. I wouldn't say better, but there were things about it that I did like better. Like Ron leading worship, I miss him in the other service. He is immensely talented and a gifted servant. I think what he brings to worship is irreplaceable. He truely ministers to so many in our church, including our family. When my grandmother died a year ago, Ron drove to East Nashville to sing and play at her funeral. When Piper was born, he (and his daughter) came to the hospital to see us and pray over her. He and Eric connected early on in our marriage and he has had a huge spiritual impact on Eric. We love Ron. Anyway, I really liked the intimate atmosphere. I did not like watching Pat on screen, but Piper gets rowdy when he gets up to speak anyway so I always end up watching him on screen from the "nursing moms lounge", so I guess that was not much different than any other Sunday. I would definitely recommend it. The most important aspect of any service is to come expecting to meet the Lord and to give him your attention and praise. Not to be entertained. If a certain style of music helps you to better express your love to God then go with it. Well, I need to get ready for Zumba. If any of you have not tried this class at the Y, you need to. It is so much fun. It is Latin dance for exercise and on any given Sunday, you can find half of the ladies of our church there. This little Latino woman leads the class and I don't know how she keeps her composure while she sees all of the southern ladies attempting her moves! Too funny. A word of advice:Do not stand in the back because you will not be able to see what she is doing and everyone in front of you will be doing something different! Have a wonderful day!

Really Fun Girls Night

On Thursday night, my friend Vivian invited the girls and I to go out and celebrate her twin girls birthday. Her sister-in-law Debbie, her daughter Meg and Viv's friend Christy and her daughter Skylar also were along for the fun. She had extra High School Musical tix and had rented the Sweet and Sassy hot pink limo! We met at Macaroni Grill for dinner and then the limo pulled up outside to get all of us. I have never seen a group of girls run so fast. We were getting our cameras ready for a picture and the girls were gone, already in the limo. We made them all get back out for a shot in front of the limo then we were off. It was Hannah Montana blasting on the sound system and girls dancing everywhere! We had the video camera rolling so we decided to get in on the dancing action. You know, there are just moments when you are reminded that you are no longer cool, ie. It was my turn for a dance in front of the video camera and as I am breaking it down in unison I hear "MOMMA STOP!!!" from both of my girls. Yep, no longer cool. That's okay, being cool fell to the bottom if not off of my priority list a long time ago. Say, about the time that I was happy to own and drive a minivan. Back to the evening. High School Musical was awesome. Towards the end, Viv decided that she was going to sing along with the songs which was hysterically funny, but borderline humiliating all at once. I just knew the people around us were going to have us thrown out due to her singing and our laughter. The girls kept asking when they could get back in the limo. It was a super fun night. Savannah had fun while Ali decided that this was definitely the life for her. I'm thinking Saint Cecilia's all girls school for that one! I will try to add some of the pix later.

Reviving My Blog

Okay this is really sad that my last post was in July! Well, we moved and unhooked our computer and did not get reconnected until about 1 month ago, well I was able to use Eric's computer when he got home from work, but that is not really connected. Yes we finally moved...HALLELUJAH! So, I am going to attempt to keep the blog up and keep pictures posted of all of the kids. Thanks for stopping in!
Christi

Happt New Year!

Savannah, Bailey and Ali ring in the New Year!

Happy 2008!!!