HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAMBREE!!

Saturday February 7th 2009 was Kambree's second birthday! I cant believe its already been two years since she was born. She has been such a blessing in our lives. I love her so much. I'm so proud of the little things she has accomplished in the last two years. She can walk, run, jump and she climbs on EVERYTHING!! Just this last September she had to have three staples in her head because she fell off of a chair. She is truly an adrenaline junky just like her daddy and grandpa Whipple. It really scares me to think she might actually try the things her dad tried when he was young. I'm surprised Kevin is still alive. Ok back to the subject...Kambree had an awesome birthday. We had her party at a friends house because it was raining outside and our plans for a nice park party were ruined:( Her best friends Monroe and Stella came to see her. Oh by the way I just love their moms!! Hi Esther and Adanda!! She got some super cute gifts! Of course my favorite was the sock monkey! I LOVE IT! I want one....!! We had grilled hamburgers and steak with baked chips and TONS OF CAKE!! I soooooo went off my diet that day...oops;) You gotta splurge sometime right!?? We took lots of pictures and had lots of fun watching the kids play and visiting with friends. All in all I think the party turned out great and I cant wait till next year! Thomas' party is next! YAY!!

the park!

So I absolutely love taking my kids to the park!...The weather here has been so nice the last few days. On Saturday the kids and I walked to the park close to our house. I pushed both girls in the stroller and Thomas walked next to me. I love watching Kambree play on the park toys as she learn's to go up and down the steps, she even figured out how to go down the slide all by herself! She's such a big girl now. Thomas loves to show her new things, he's such a great teacher. Kambree really loves her big bruddah. I healed Kathryn in my arms like a bag of potatoes while I took pictures of the kids playing on the toys. We packed a lunch and sat in the grass while we ate carrots and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We had our own little picnic. It was awesome to spend time with my kids like that. No worries, no rushing, it was nice to just sit relax and watch them enjoy playing. Aaaahhh the joys of being a mom:) I will learn to enjoy the good times and learn from the not so good times:)

Karate Promotion!!

Thomas had his first Karate Promotion on Friday! YAY! I am so excited for him. He is really working hard and I'm so glad he enjoys Karate! He promoted to a yellow belt yesterday and he is very proud of his accomplishment. Thomas will keep working hard to get to his goal of a black belt someday....Maybe we will put the girls in Karate someday if this turns out to be something positive for Thomas. YAY!! BLACK BELT BLACK BELT BLACK BELT!!

The hard things..

Sometimes I wonder if I am really doing my best at being a mother. Am I really trying my hardest? What else can I do to make things easier on my family? What will be in their best interest now and in the future? When my son Thomas goes to bed every night I feel unsuccessful as a parent because we fight like brother and sister. He has me wrapped around his finger and I'm so not consistent with him like I should be. This must change. He is so smart and has great potential to become a great man and father someday. I believe that his future starts now. Now is the time for Kevin and I to help him mold into a kind, confident and smart individual. He has been taking Karate classes two nights a week and he loves it! I wish my parents would have put me in something like Karate or maybe even dance when I was young. I think having something they can learn and use when they are older is important for their future. It kind of gives them a sense of belonging and accomplishment. Oh what I would give to have learned to play the piano or violin. Thomas will learn focus, discipline and respect in Karate. He will be promoting to a yellow belt this Friday and I as a parent am VERY excited for his achievement. Thomas will also be starting a Black Belt Leadership Program with in the next few weeks and we are all very excited for him. Its a five year program and by the time he is done he will be a second degree Black Belt. He will have an assigned reading list, learn to speak in public and learn the confidence to become a leader in his own life. This will be great for him and I cant wait to see the outcome!

Ok on to Kambree...the fact that I cant get her to bed at a decent hour really bothers me. Sometimes its midnight before she finally settles down enough to actually lay in her bed. I usually start at nine when I put Thomas down. I try to stay on a routine of dinner, bath and teeth. Kambree loves to brush her teeth. I don't feel like I am one of those moms who is consistent with her kids. I'm kind of lazy to say the least. I feel like I need to keep Kambree happy so I don't have to deal with the fits. Gosh could I be anymore selfish? What kind of mother am I!? So what am I going to do to fix this?.....Be consistent and stop being lazy! My goodness my kids need structure! Come to think of it, so do I!! Well things will get better and I will stop being LAZY!! I'm committed to being a good mom to my babies. Heavenly Father sent them to me for a reason. I will make sure they grow up in a nice family environment.

As for Kathryn, she is soooooo wonderful! She never argues with me or throws fits! AAAHH its nice having such a great baby! oh yeah babies don't argue;) hee hee... she smiles ALL THE TIME! She loves to be talked to and I really enjoy being her mother. I love my kids and will be the best mother they could ask for.

Thomas AGAIN!

I really want the best in life for my son Thomas. He has ADHD and is impossible to control without his medicine. Previously he had been taking Adderall to help with the hyper behavior and to help him concentrate. His doctor took him off Adderall about two weeks ago and put him on Zoloft just to see how he does. Lucky for me he was in Colorado with his dad for this two weeks...when I picked Thomas up yesterday his dad informed me that Thomas wore him out...obviously the Zoloft is not working. Great...now what....I sent Thomas to school today as usual and warned his teacher about his extreme hyperness. Kevin picked Thomas up from school this afternoon and was confronted by Mr. Phillips (Thomas' teacher). Mr. Phillips said Thomas will not be allowed to attend his class anymore if his behavior does not improve. He is a disruption to the class and he can not teach the other students with Thomas in there. Today was the worst day Thomas has ever had. Apparently he was sent out into the hall and during that time he was disrupting other classes and teachers! Mr. Phillips suggested putting Thomas into a special class for kids with behavioral problems. This is not what I want for my son. I want him to go to school in a normal class with a normal teacher. He has already been labeled with ADHD I really don't want him to be labeled A BAD KID. I thought about home schooling him, can I commit to that? Can I really give him the education he needs? What about socialization. He needs interaction with other kids his age. I'm lost and I really wish I could just FIX this. All I can do is support him and let him know that we (our family) love him no matter what. I know things will get better for him and he will get the education he needs.

need to vent...

OK so my son Thomas is 8 years old and he does not like homework! Today is Sunday and he has been doing gobs and gobs of homework all weekend. Not to mention it is ALL due on Monday (tomorrow) and he is not even kind of done. We started at 4:00pm and it is now 8:19pm and he has yet to finish, not because he just has sooooooo much and he has been working hard all day to get it done, but because he cant sit still long enough to write even his name at the top of his page. He does have lots of homework to do, but he would have been done already if he would just do it! I have taken things away and grounded him from TV for a week. Still nothing works! I am so frustrated with him and his attitude. I tried sitting with him and helping but still nothing works. He knows how to do this. Thomas is a smart kid and I just don't understand why he refuses to do his homework. I guess I will try to think back to when I was his age and I had lots of homework. I wonder if I even did it:) Did my parents go through the same thing with me??? I'm pretty sure I remember putting up a fight just as bad as Thomas is fighting with me right now. I hope this doesn't last forever........gosh.....Grrrrr!!!!

the little things....

Ok so I'm not the best speller in the world and I really don't think I make any sense most of the time so just bare with me:) I think this whole blog thing can be helpful to me in some ways. I'm on a mission to get to know myself. Maybe writing things down every day or even a few times a week can help. Kinda like keeping a journal (just hope I can keep up with it). Ok so on to other reasons why I should blog.....lets see...my step mom ( Erin) always told me I should write down the little things my kids say or do....my son Thomas is 8 years old and I STILL have never written down anything he says or does....call me a bad mom, but I'm just lazy. Ok that's bad....No more being lazy! Its time to cherish the gifts God has blessed me with. I want to remember the little things my kids do and the funny things they say. Erin used to have a little book full of funny little comments she wrote down from when my siblings and I were little. I remember one thing she read to me not too long ago. It was a comment I made to her when I was about 15 years old. At the time my little brother and sister ( Corbin, and DeAnna) were about 4 and 5 years old. I was sooooooo sick of being the older sister. They always wanted to be in my business. Whats Raydean doing today and how can we annoy her. Anywho I decided to complain about kids! Yep, I came up to Erin that day and said to her " I AM NEVER HAVING KIDS"! Well she laughed at me, pulled out the book, wrote down my little comment and to this day she teases me about it! I'm so happy to have had a mother who knew she would look back on those little comments. She knew they would bring back precious memories of the time when her children were truly innocent.