Cheese again

Lifetouch comes to the school twice a year for pictures. Once in the fall when school starts.They must wear their uniform for that picture. Then they come again in the spring, and they can wear regular clothes. I don't normally buy the pictures very often. Mainly because they usually aren't too great. But Brittany's didn't turn out half bad this year. So I decided to buy some. It has been awhile since I have gotten a picture of her by herself. Thought I would share it with everyone since their wouldn't be enough to go around.

Field day

The high school had their annual field day event on Wednesday this week. This is a day that they go to a local park and have competition between themselves in different events. I think they kind of enjoy doing it. They have running events, 3 legged races, baseball tosses etc. And they receive ribbons for 1st , 2nd, & 3rd place. I wasn't able to go for the whole thing to watch Brittany, But her dad and I got her a subway sub and took her lunch and made it there right before the final event The water balloon toss. The whole high school participates in this. I think they like the getting each other wet part.They stand in pairs across from each other and toss a water balloon to each other. Hoping it won't break, they get farther apart and keep tossing. I guess the last ones with their balloon intact and farthest apart wins. I got a few pictures of it. Brittany got ribbons in 2 events. She is not my athletic child. She received 1st place in the 3 legged race and 2nd place in the girls 440 yd relay. She complains she is sore now. Goes to show we all need to excercise more. This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog

We are so proud

This week our kids received their grade cards.We'll start with the bad news first. Andrea our kindergardener (sp?) is not doing so hot. She has done horrible all year. She is one that just doesn't care. She hasn't cared about learning the whole year. She did not want to learn at home. And I suppose it's partially my fault for not working harder with her. But I thought maybe she would try when she went to school. But she hasn't, so I'm sure she will be taking kindergarten over again next year. Unfortunately she also had a brand new teacher this year who is very young and how do I want to put it... lacks the experience and she is very meek and quiet. I'm sure she will get better with more experience but my child didn't benefit from the teaching this year. By the way, my 3 youngest go to public school. So no reflection on the private school here.
Zachary who had trouble in kindergarten got a second chance at it in the public school where he flourished last year. So first grade this year has went very well. He also has a new teacher this year, but she is wonderful!! He is doing quite well in his reading. They have this thing they started after christmas where you start at a certain level like 1.1 and you get books in your level and read them and bring it back and take a comprehension test. And after 2 - 100's you move to the next level. He came home yesterday all excited that he's in level 1.8. He actually outreads all my kids. And he loves to read. Yeah! I do too. He of course is doing well and got all Excellent grades on his report card.
Jessica who has struggled for all her grades over the years is doing so well!! For those of you who don't know the whole story about our struggles with school with Jessica she has come along way! In preschool she struggled, and we should have listened and made her stay another year in preschool. But we felt she was getting too old because of her birthday being in October` she already would be one of the older ones in the class. And if we had waited another year before starting kindergarten she would have been turning seven shortly after starting. Well, our mistake, we should have listened, but you always think things will work out. She failed kindergarten. So I taught it to her again at home. Still not doing the best, but I moved her on. Of course the Abeka system is kinda hard, so I switched to ACE. We struggled through, but still the reading just wasn't where it needed to be. Finally after alot of prayer and struggling with what we should do, we put her in public school last year. They placed her in 3rd grade. She really should have been in 4th. She was in a regular class setting, but still was not able to do most of the work without help. After many conferences and finally getting testing done through the school she was put in ESE classes for her math, reading, spelling and English. She would be in her regular class for Science and Social Studies. We met with the teachers and guidance counselors so many times last year. At one meeting as I was big as a barn about 3 wks from delivering Meagan, I just burst into tears. I'm sure they all thought I was nuts!I am very emotional when it comes to my kids. Well we made it through last year, but the big problem was she had to pass the FCAT to be moved on to 4th. That didn't happen because she only started in the special classes in Feb. and Fcat was in March. So she failed the test. So she had an opportunity to take summer school the whole month of June and try to pass the FCAT again. Needless to say, we lost a whole month of summer and she still failed the FCAT again. So back to 3rd grade again this year. She has a wonderful classroom teacher and her ESE teachers are wonderful too. She has shown much improvement this year and has made the teachers honor roll all three 9 weeks so far. It has really boosted her self esteem as far as school work goes. After making honor roll the first nine weeks we bought her a cell phone.And she doesn't want to lose that priviledge. But I am so happy she is finally learning what she needs to. Hopefully she passes the FCAT this year, but if she doesn't she can't be held back again. Although it was a hard decision to make about putting her in public school, it was the right one for her. Below is a copy of her honor roll certificate from this 9 weeks. She is so proud to show it to everyone.This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog

A picture moment

Meagan loves to eat! She has from day one. She gets so mad when her food is gone that she throws a little fit if there isn't more coming. She will go to anyone who has food and give you that look saying I want some. Lately she has this thing for the trash. Guess she's figured out that there are scraps in there. So you don't dare leave the trash where she could get to it. Sounds sick I know. And she hasn't gotten anything gross. After Rod's birthday cake, someone decided to empty the trash and for whatever reason sat it on the floor. She became very quiet, so upon investigating she was found. She had gotten into the bag and found the plates with cake on it. She was having a feast.Or so she thought.She definately will keep you on your toes. And don't take the food away whatever you do This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog

busy, busy.......

It's been a very busy week. Seems like so much to do, so little time. Rod had some continuing education courses to finish up to be in compliance for his insurance license before the end of the month. He finally got that done and we can breath easier now. Rod and I have also taken on the duty as Treasurer for Haiti Gospel Missions with Brian Rauschenberger. So that takes some time as well. I haven't had much time to do the receipts this month because we have been having trouble with our computer in the backroom and so we all are sharing Rod's laptop. That poses to be fun. But I finally got to use it late last night and this morning, so all my receipts are done,stuffed and stamped and ready to hit the mail. YEAH! We have also been having alot of company lately. People leaving to go back north, birthday parties and all that fun stuff. So, I am getting partied out. Also it's not good for the diet, cakes, ice cream etc. So, I hope the diet will get better. Plus the fact of excersising has been few and far between. I'm just to tired at night to walk. But I hope April will be better. We have more company tonight, so more food and a house to clean. I need a vacation!!

Happy Birthday Rod!

Today is my Sweeties 39th birthday. He's not thrilled he's one year closer to the big 4-0. I'm already there and it's not so bad. So Rod enjoy your last year in your thirties. I Love You!

Andrea lost a tooth

Yesterday Andrea informed us she had a loose tooth. This was her very first one so she was really excited. Hard to believe she is old enough to start losing teeth already. She worked very hard all day wiggling and twisting. She informed us she had to eat something hard that would help it to fall out. So last night she ate an apple. It helped she said. But still didn't do the trick. So before bed we invented the tooth wiggler. (the little dental floss picks)She worked and worked. Finally it came out. She was so excited! She wanted that dollar her brother and sisters told her she would get. She's growing up! One more milestone.

A day at the park

Today we decided to do something different. The 3 younger ones didn't have school today, so we took our lunch and went to the park. Have you ever tried to eat with the wind blowing at least 20 mph? It's quite interesting. You should really try it sometime. Rod and I took the kids and got them Wendy's. I was good. I had a salad. But I'm trying to eat and hold bags and napkins and whatever else I get handed to put in the bag. It proved to be an exciting time.Of course the kids were not interested in eating knowing there were things to play on. So they hurriedly ate and they were off. We didn't get to spend alot of time because it started raining. Meagan didn't quite know what to think. Her face was hilarious every time she would swing. As she came forward she would kinda grit her teeth and hold on for dear life. But she liked it. Something we need to do more often. But you know how it goes. We seem to get stuck in a routine. Enjoy the pictures. This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog

Where did my waist go?

After reading several other blogs, I too decided that it's time to get back on the bandwagon. Thanks Leora and Mary Ellen! Now I just hope that I can do this. I woke up this morning thinking I really had to do something. This is just getting out of control. I too have only about 6 skirts I can wear out of the 40 some in my closet. I get rather discouraged come Sunday when I have nothing to wear. And the few that do fit just don't fit right ya know. I had lost some weight prior to getting pregnant and was feeling pretty good. I stayed pretty active during my pregnancy and only gained about 27 pounds. Which is low for me. It's usually 40 - 50 pounds. So I felt good about it. After Meagan was born I had roughly 10 pounds to lose. I thought it would be a piece of cake. Yeah right! Needless to say I gained about 20 pounds so now I have even more to lose. Yippee! Well today I had decided I was going to do the water thing. I'm about halfway there. And spending my day running to the bathroom. Somethings got to give. I have got to lose it not just to look better but feel better. I am so tired all the time and just don't have the energy I should have to keep up with all these kids. So here's to starting a good diet and excercise. Help!!

I don't like this timechange

Every year it seems like it's so hard to get use to the time changing. And as I get older it seems worse. The kids are having a hard time too. On Monday Jessica was so mad that Brittany had woke her up in the middle of the night as she put it. I tried to explain to her it is not the middle of the night, but she just wasn't gettin it. They don't want to go to bed at night and they sure don't want to get up in the morning. This morning Andrea was still in bed sleeping at 7:20. She just didn't want to get up!I can sympathize with her. I did not want to get up this morning. Meagan is really restless this week and she has been getting up all hours of the night. I was up at 5:00 with her and really was getting back to sleep good when the alarm went off. OH!! Why do they do this to us? I do enjoy the extra daylight at night. But getting use to the mornings takes awhile.

Oh for a grouchy baby....

Not much is happening the past few days. Meagan has been running a slight temperature. Hopefully just teeth or something. She won't let you look in her mouth for any length of time so hard to tell. So, needless to say she is kinda grouchy. She wants held, but wiggles and wants down. She doesn't really know what she wants. So this mommy is not getting much accomplished. My house is yelling HELP!!

the day after.....

Finally a day to relax from the weekend festivities. My house is trying to recover from all the parties. I actually think it's more of a mess today then it was all weekend. Guess I relaxed too much. I actually have done many loads of laundry. That's about all that's been accomplished. We took Jessica to get a new pair of glasses after school. That's always an adventure. But not like the one several weeks ago when we went and got contacts for her. Now that was fun!! I have never spent so long in Superwalmart in all my life. What we thought would be a short trip turned into 4 hours. And the sad part is most of it was spent in the vision center and not shopping. After finally getting in for the exam they showed Jessica how to put the contacts in, then of course removed them and had her do it. Well, that was easier said than done. We spent about 2 hrs or more with her trying. And the person helping was getting frustrated so they gave up. It was forever before someone else came in to help. And I had all the kids with us. They were getting tired and frustrated. Needless to say it was not a fun day. thank goodness she is getting better at getting them in, but we had an issue at school today, so thought we better get the glasses now rather than have problems later.
Also any of you who know Gay Armstrong, please pray for her and her family. She received a phone call at 3:30 this morning that her mother had a stroke. She is paralyzed on one side and no brain function on that side as well and her other leg is paralyzed. Gay is on her way home to see her mom and be with the family.
Rod is at a meeting tonight so guess I will continue to finish up the laundry and maybe sit down and read a book.

Meagan's 1st birthday

My baby girl turns one on March 5th. We had her party today to allow more people to be able to come. We had 24 including us for lunch. We made 4 big pans of lasagna, 5 loaves of garlic bread, a big salad and of course cake and ice cream. Meagan was a little grouchy at church so Rod brought her home early and got the rest of the food going. She just wanted held when I got home with the rest of the kids. So that was fun trying to help finish up. My arms were falling off!! I think she really wanted to go to sleep , but with all the comotion in the house it didn't happen. Needless to say we made it through the party without too much of a fuss. Meagan is not the social one of the bunch. She kinda likes being alone or just her inner circle and no more. But we had no screaming and crying like I anticipated. She actually started to enjoy opening presents especially the ones that played music. She seems to like music and has to shake her little bottom whenever she hears it. Hopefully she will be my musically talented one. Is that too much to hope for? Someone in this family needs to play an instrument!! Meagan has also set the record in the Brown household. She started walking at 11mos. Most all the others were 13 and 14 mos. before they walked. So I hope that means she is advanced! I need a smart one in the bunch! I can't believe my baby is one. Time has flown by so fast. I suppose she'll start school before we know it.I think my princess is awake and crying. I will go and enjoy her while she still lets me hold her even if its only for a few minutes at a time. This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog

The party

We had a birthday party for Brittany on Friday night. She turned 15. So hard to believe my little monster(her nickname when she was small)is growing into a lady. We made homemade pizza and had a delicious cake made by Cindy Marroquin. Brittany had a few girls from school and we had some friends and grandma and grandpa Brown. She got a lot of nice things. She had her friends spend the night and they stayed up late talking and watching movies. The main thing she wanted was a purity ring. So her dad and I broke down and bought her one, and she pledges to stay pure until she is married. Brittany was not thrilled last year when it was a possibility her baby sister could be born on her birthday. I think she has gotten past that now since she was born 3 days later, but it's still too close for comfort. So we have to have 2 special parties back to back. Way to cost mom and dad some money!!But I guess they are worth it all!! This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog

Brittany's birthday

Today Brittany turns 15. Seems like yesterday she was born . She has grown up so fast. She has turned into a fine young lady if I do say so myself. We are having a party for her tonight with a few of her friends and family. It's hard to believe she is old enough to get her drivers permit to start driving. Scary thought if I do say so myself. So I will forwarn everyone when she takes her test and passes so you all can stay off the road. This weekend is going to be a busy one since Meagan also has a birthday on Monday March 5th. She'll be one. Hard to believe also!! We are planning the big bash on Sunday with about 25 people for lunch and a party. Like we really need all this cake this weekend. Gay, I think we need to increase our walks to every day for an hour or more, because the cake is sure to stick to the hips. HA!This is definately not the weekend for the dieting and excercise to work at all!But all kidding aside, it has been a priviledge to be blessed with both of these girls in my life. I wouldn't trade either one for the world. Love you both Britt and meagy poo!This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog

Lucy wil live

After waking up yesterday to pack lunches and get the kids off to school I found a nice puddle of blood about 3 x 3 under my dining room table. Obviously I didn't know what to think. But after investigating realized it must have come from our basset hound Lucy. Rod got the joy of cleaning up the majority of the mess. Of course I got to finish with mopping and sterilizing the floor so Meagan wouldn't get into it. Lucy laid around looking rather sick all morning. So before lunch we decided we better call the vet. She was able to get right in. Fortunately for her, she will live. She apparantly got into some garbage (being the glutten she is)Lucy just doesn't know when to stop eating. This time she's paying the price. So after a few minutes at the vet and 2 shots and 2 medications to take for 5 days and a much slimmer wallett we found out she basicaly had food poisoning. Yippee! Maybe she will learn a lesson. But probably not. She loves to eat.