AWOL....

I don't feel like I've actually written anything of any substance in QUITE some time!!!!!  A lot has been going on in our lives... that's for sure. So, maybe that's why I haven't had the time to sit down and type.  Not to mention, I have been SICK for over two weeks... off and on.  It has been a HORRID virus that seems to have come to an end with my puking my brains out.... I have decided it was nature's way of ridding myself of all the bad germs inside me. So, now I am clean and able to move forward!  I can already tell that I've turned the corner and am on the road to health. Thank god, cuz it's been pretty rough....

The kids are doing great!  Just today, Ally completed a major homework assignment, a diorama/book report. She chose to do it on a Tales from Wayside High book, and she did a great job!  I need to snap a picture of it, and will do so and try to remember to post it!  She and I went to Michaels the other day so she could get all her supplies... $26 later, she had what she needed and then some.  :-)  She does love her art supplies.

She made the classroom of one of the teachers in the book as her diorama. We covered a shoe box with a plain paper, and then, she chose a color for the floor and a color for the walls. She made little desks out of these little craft pieces of wood we found, and put the names of the students on the desks.  She found these super cute stickers of kids, kind of whimsical stick figures of sorts, that she put on cardboard to make them "stand up" in the classroom. We made the teacher, Mrs. Jewel's desk and seated her behind it. She made a chalkboard and a "discipline board" with the name of a student from the book who was "always in trouble." Then, she chose to make windows on each side and remembered to make them for both sides of the box. She placed a boy by a window who was "always looking out the window" in the book. I was amazed at the little facts she could rattle off as we were working on it together.

She also created a playground on the other side of the box... the "outside" if you can imagine it being so. She found these super cute 3D stickers that she just had to have (that of course cost a small fortune!) because they would "work perfect!" I could not convince her to draw the things....  :-)))))   She just gets into a sticker aisle and about dies of excitement.

I was so proud of her..... of what she wrote in the report itself, as well as the scene she designed in a shoe box!  She had a lot of fun doing it too.....

She has really taken to getting her homework done early in the week lately.  I really commend her for this!  At first, when the school year began, she was getting daily homework... but after a few weeks, her teacher likely realized that the kids of different after school activities different days and created a system by which they get a "packet" of homework at the beginning of the week, that is due on Friday. I absolutely LOVE this!!!  It works perfect for Ally, because if she can't do her homework RIGHT after school on a given day, she is pretty much incapable of doing it at all. Once she is overtired, she's done for. We can't help her. She loses all patience and focus.  So, this allows us to chalk up Monday (gymnastics day) as a total wash. We don't even try to do homework on Mondays.  By the time she has gone to school, gone to gymnastics for two hours after, gotten home, had dinner and some down time... it's bedtime!!!

So, she has taken to doing ALL (or most!!) of her homework on Tuesdays!!!!  Today, she completed all five math worksheets (only getting one wrong and needing no help from me what-so-ever and YES, I'm bragging a bit. I'm the mom. I have the right!), 3 out of four of her spelling contract activities, AND her finishing up her book report and diorama.

I'm very proud of how she seems to be maturing lately.  Don't get me wrong. We still have our battles.... but most days, she seems a bit more peaceful than she has been in the past.... let's hope the trend continues.  :-)

Then, there's Luke.  Luke is 2... almost 3.  And, quite the handful!!!! Whew. Some days are just better than others and you got me on a bad day for Luke. He was just full of it tonight.  FULL.  OF.  IT!!!!  Even going to bed was a wicked battle (and it hasn't been for so long!).  He had to scream himself to sleep. I just thank god he stayed in bed to do so instead of running out of his room!!!!

He's been sleeping in his big boy bed for a long time now... and Scott is still yet to take down his crib! Yes, we have BOTH still up in his room.  I'm going to have to publicly state that I've about had it with this and it's time to get it down!!!!!!  Maybe this will convince my hubby???  Should you have his email address, I would be forever grateful if you just drop him a note.  ;-)  I suppose I should man up and do it myself.... that's what a good person would do right?  I guess I just feel this falls into the category of his job... and I want him to do it!  Luke is not going back to his crib... and I know it was really awful the last time around.... but I do believe it's safe to take the crib down now.  Very safe. It's been a month or two.

COME ON!!!!!!!!!

But... even though Luke can be a beast... Tonite he was pretty agressive. Angry. Didn't want to eat what I made. Didn't want to play with anything around him. Just disagreeable... he can also be the sweetest little boy in the world. I truly think that is more his personality. The sweetness.  He is always quick to say he is sorry. Quick to say he loves me. Quick with hugs and kisses.  He is more sensitive, and in that, his moods can be more extreme.  Oh Luke.... it's a good thing I always remember those sweet moments we have... cuz the number of times you said you hated something today was enough to make any mom cry!!!!

Kids, kids... life with them is never, ever dull....  :-)

We have been sick, running crazy with events - it seems as the older Ally gets, the more and more and MORE things she is involved in and trying to keep daily life as routine as possible for the kids' sake. That's what's been happening around here!!!!  We're doing just fine.  Just been quiet lately.  And you all know I'm gonna password the blog in a bit, so maybe I've been holding back since that's been on my mind too.  Who knows.  I promise to write more, because in this announcement of making things private, I sure have learned how many people out there enjoy the craziness of my life.  :-)

I will keep the crazy coming kids.  That's a guarantee!