Emily- first day of 8th grade...cutie patootie!
Last day of 8th grade=last day of middle school=one mama that would like for time to slow down! One big change for Emily this year is she switched from glasses to a contact. Yep. A single contact. Its a long story.
Ridge- first day of school. What a nice shirt he has on...hope you like it.
Last day of 4th grade...oh WAIT. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. He is, in fact, wearing the same shirt as the first day of school. Which is not much different from the 3 out of the 5 school days per week that he wore it during the school year. Hey, what can I say. He doesn't need much to be happy! Ridge had a great school year and is growing up too fast!
Natalie- first day of jr high...what a beauty!
Last day of school....now this child has grown up alot too but, praise the Lord, has stayed her spunky and quirky self! She really loved the freedom that jr high brought this year and made lots of friends!
My two girls on the first day of school...a little apprehensive.
Full of confidence. Thus the socks.
I did not get last day of school pics of my littles which I will do this week and add their pictures in a separate post. But don't hold your breath. Because you'll die.
Written by Matthew Archibold-Feb. 4, 2010
WHY BIG FAMILIES MIGHT BE EASIER
A woman said to me recently that my five children were very well behaved. It's one of the best things I can hear so I thanked her. Then she asked me "how do you do it with so many?"
I told her that I don't think I'd be a very good parent of one child or two. She didn't believe my answer but honest to goodness, I sometimes think that having many children is easier than just one.
Why big families are easier:
Patience. I never have to teach patience. My children know that I can't drop everything for them if I have a baby in my arms.
Work Ethic. My children have learned to work because there are always chores to do in a small house packed with little messy lunatics. And they all learn quickly that sometimes they have to clean up a mess even though they didn't make it.
Humility. My children have learned it's not always their turn. They've accepted they can't always get their way because other people have to get their way sometimes. They've learned that some children are better at certain things than they are.
Foreign language skills. You can learn a lot of Spanish by watching ten years of Dora the Explorer that you just can't pick up in two. And now with the Diego spin off I'm practically fluent.
Laughter. The children have learned to laugh at the insane non sequiturs of younger siblings. They've learned that laughing just feels better when seven people are doing it along with you.
Competition. Do I really need to go into this? Everything is a competition in big families. The children compete over who reads faster, who drinks their milk faster, who gets to the bathroom first...etc. Everything is a competition and they're all keeping score.
Balance. The floor of the front room of my home is a minefield of toys and childhood paraphernalia. Just walking through the room requires great skill and balance. I'm absolutely convinced my two year old will be a favorite for Gold on the balance beam in the 2016 Olympics. (She might have to lay off the cookies a little but I'll deal with that later.)
Life isn't fair. Sometimes you just give it to the baby because you want a little quiet. Not all the time. But sometimes.
Just say "No." Being able to say "no" may be the most undervalued skill in this world. The need to be liked is pervasive. The need to be cool even more so. Having brothers and sisters teaches children to say "no" about 143 times a day. It's a good skill.
Praying. They learn that nothing beats praying together as a family.
Nature/Nurture. Having many children has taught me that nature has a lot more to with who my kids are than nurture. This is helpful, especially when your children misbehave you don't have to feel bad about it. Just say "Stupid nature!!!" and blame your spouse's genes.
Namecalling. You can occasionally call your child by the wrong name and still not be considered a terrible parent. They know who you mean just from your tone. Sometimes if you need something done you can call the wrong name and someone will still show up. That helps.
Spying. My children have learned that they can't get away with anything. I have spies who look a lot like them who are willing to drop the dime on them for anything. Even at school I've got a child in just about every grade. If they do something I'll hear. That keeps them nervous. And I like keeping my kids a little nervous.
Friendship. The children have many friends. They've got girly friends, crying friends, fun loving friends, consoling friends, and crazy friends. And they all have the same last name. And they'll be there forever for each other. No matter what.
Love. I think my children have learned to love because there are others around them to love and who love them. I honestly can think of no better way to teach children to love than siblings.
Adiah getting started
ALL of my kids painting away...
Ridge chose a spider man piece...
Natalie had a flashback to the 80's and did a splatter paint heart...
Cutie pie Rhett
He chose a motorcycle and did a smashing job don't you think?
Adiah and Mommy...
Adiah picked a princess castle(of course!) and did a wonderful job, too!
Emily did a sun that she wants to hang up outside on the patio by the pool...
When we were done and waiting for our pottery to dry we decided to go get a picnic lunch and find a park to eat and play at. Right about the time we arrived Brian called from Rwanda so I missed getting pictures of our picnic but here are some of our fun time playing...
We did some sliding...
Some hanging out and face making....
Some posing on the slide while the wind was blowing...
Some looking at spiders...
Some dare-devil climbing...
Some quality sibling time-ing...
And some swangin'...
It was a great time! Its been a long time since we've all been at a park together like that. Just wish our daddy was there! Adiah loved that activity as well!
Next we headed off to the mall and (the brave mommy that I am) decided to do some ice-skating! I know you're all shaking your head at me. But listen...you do what you gotta do, mkay? So after the 900 minutes it took us to get everyone skated up we headed off to the ice. Rhett and Adiah have obviously never ice skated before. Adiah loves to watch it and has asked quite a bit if she could go. But Rhett....not so much. He was walking around really well on the skates but once we hit the ice he was over it! We tried for awhile but eventually took turns hanging out with him on the outside. Adiah did very well for it being her first time. She actually kept her balance most of the time and didn't want to leave when it was over! I wondering if I should enroll her in lessons? The older kids had a great time too and helped me out quite a bit with the littles! A memory we'll never forget! I wasn't able to take any pictures while we were skating because my hands were full but I took one after the fact. Look at Adiah's face!!
After ice skating we headed down the hall to Build-A-Bear! The little kids have never been and its been years since the older kids have been. Emily and Natalie didn't want to build a bear so they helped me with everyone else. Except for the loud "stuffing" machine Adiah loved every part of this! She loved picking out a Hello Kitty and her ballerina outfit. We all kissed the little hearts and put lots of love inside of her kitty! Ridge and Rhett even enjoyed doing this little activity!!
Here she is humoring me with one more "cheese" for the camera
Rhett stuffing his puppy
They gave Adiah a little golf club thing to push down the stuffing pedal because she was so nervous of the loud noise.
Mr. Cool Dude, Ridge getting his camo bear stuffed.
Cuties!
At this point we were all about wiped out but we needed to eat dinner so we headed over to PF Changs and enjoyed a yummy meal to end the day! I could barely keep them awake on the way home and we all slept really well last night! I think we all enjoyed Adiah's Gotcha Day/spring break celebration! But most importantly...we're all so glad Adiah is in our lives!
1.] Lets begin with my mother and her wedding dress- I mean prom dress! Aint those sleeves something!
2.] My fathers a cheezer! What can I say?
3.] Im pretty sure this group of ladies {one of which is my mother}were apart of the living christmas tree! Whats a living christmas tree you ask? If you really care to find out, please ask my mother! She'd be delighted to tell you! There's a video of it somewhere.. Hmmm...
4.] Aunt Sara- always a very proper, polite woman...
6.] Shout out to Mr. Ed Haas! I'm loving your hair in this picture- yours too dad! :]
9.] Honey Mooners!! Lets all do a collective "Aww!" One. Two. Three! *Awww!*
11.] I spy with my little eye...a closet door...with the lable "closet" on it! Click on the picture and see if you spy it too! Aside from that and the shirt she's wearing, my
22.] I dont now why I question why my sister is a very dramatic human being? The answer lies within this picture. When my mom saw this picture, she still remembered the name of the guy behind her- it was Jimmy, or Andrew or something...
26.] I pray to thee up above, that my mothers hair will never get to that extent again...
28.] " Ba da da da da da" Im Lovin it! What about you?.JPG)
