bleh

well, I have many reasons for not blogging. Mainly I have been using Josh's computer to check email (my computer and hotmail don't seem to get along) and I don't like to sign in to google on his computer because then it signs him out. Also, everything is pretty much the same old, same old. But today as I lie here next to a napping Beka I will try not to fall asleep and instead catch you up on our lives.

Nathan:
throws everything, sleeps all night most nights, has nights where he wakes up around midnight and doesn't go to sleep until after 3, loves cars, still won't talk, has said a few words that were distinct but refuses to say them when asked, loves ice blocks, playing outside in the sand pit, jumping on the trampoline and the time of day when Daddy comes home. He screams when the older toddlers come near him because they push him down but then he does it to the kids younger than him. If you say "bath" or "shower" he runs to the bathtub and tries to take his clothes off. Each night I give him a bottle and we sit and watch "The Zoo". He loves the animals on the show and always points and grunts and squeals. We sit together until he falls asleep and I take him to bed. I love how cuddly he is.

Beka:
still needs naps at least 4 times a week, still sucks her thumb when she holds her "fummy blanky", seems to be hearing better after her round of antibiotics, now to keep her healthy until her hearing test in April. She loves doing schoolwork and always asks for more and much prefers to use a marker or crayon to using a pencil. She alternately plays nicely and annoys her sisters especially Emma, her love for Nathan doesn't always seem like love and he lets her know when he's had enough. She has recently started loving to wash dishes by hand and does a really good job. Last night the dishwasher was running so we washed dinner dishes by hand then dried and put them away. Afterwards Beka said thanks for letting her help. =)

Emma:
oh, Emma, I don't know what to do with this child sometimes, she can be so kind and loving and helpful and other times she's selfish and hurtful and proud. It hurts to watch because I know how she's gonna struggle with this later on. She's doing well with her schoolwork, very good with math and right about where Catie was last year this time with reading. She knows her phonics but always says she can't read. Of course then she'll turn around and read something to me. It just clicked one day for Catie and she started reading everything she could lay her hands on. I'm sure it will click with Emma any day now but I don't know that she'll be one to spend massive amounts of time reading. we'll see. Along with her love of math comes a love of counting money, figuring out how much she can spend, finding things in her price range, spending money, etc. She might be a banker!! =) She loves to do crafts and saves every little bit of anything to make something with. She always draws pictures or makes cards for people when they visit or we go see them.

Catie:
well, Catie has read the entire Little House on the Prairie series in the last week or so. It's good in that it forces Emma to play with someone else. Not so good in that she can get cranky when she's spent too much time reading. As much as she loves reading she does NOT enjoy schoolwork. She'll do it but it takes way longer than it should. She is so very helpful and loving with her siblings and is most always willing to do whatever I ask for help. She is just growing up so fast and it freaks me out a bit. What freaks me out even more is that little boys are noticing how pretty she is! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

In general:
homeschool is sorta bleh, it doesn't always get done but then we do extra on other days. Nate makes it a little difficult so we need to make better use of his naptimes. The girls are going swimming on Monday afternoons with the school. This gives Nate and I time to eat lunch with Josh or do some shopping or just hang out. We've had a lot of rain recently so laundry is piling up. bleh. but there is no money in the budget for the laundry lady. bleh. I'm very uninspired when it comes to cooking lately. bleh. I just cannot get caught up on sleep. bleh. See? That's the real reason for no blogging. BLEH! that's life at the moment, no motivation, no inspiration. just bleh! Oh well, it will get better. the weather is getting cooler, the bleh will go away, I'll read through my cookbooks again, we'll establish some sort of schedule. This too shall pass. =)