Three Yellows and a pair of wet pants

All three students passed their yellow belt tests. Now the house has three yellow belt Shotokan-Do Karate students. Watch out bad guy, they will kick your @$$. Life is great when the children accomplish tasks that are instrumental in their development as adults. Hopefully this karate class will help them maintain focus throughout all tasks that they are presented. Also the self confidence that these classes bring to them will pay off dividends later in life. No one will walk all over my children unless they let them. Oh yeah the wet pants....LELE did it. Thought this phase was over for her, but if Gini is a gauge of the girls, this may go on for a few years. Hopefully this will not come to pass. Smell smoke......Pizza is done....Time to eat.

Daddy's Turn

The last three days have been my turn to be Mr. Mom. I do not see what is so hard about this job. Women get all outta whack because they are not organized. They rely too much on their own strengths to get the jobs done. The children know how to clean up after themselves and get dressed. Letting them do the work that they are supposed to do helps eliminate the stress level. Oh yeah another tip, cook outside in the summer. NO pans to wash and dry!!
We recently were blessed with a washer and dryer from our karate instructor. Thank you Adam and Christy. Laundry has taken half of the time and is cleaner. Nessa is happy and it will help to make her job easier. It already is but you have to give her a chance to sound off. Nessa has been working at the horse ranch for a couple of days and it has been great spending time with the children. Lele has more energy than the sun. Michael thinks everything is funny. Gabe and Gini are themselves of course. Riding bikes and running all over the neighborhood is a normal day for them.
Today is the belt test for Gabe, Gini, and Dad. Testing for the Yellow Belt in Shotokan-Do Karate is easy for the children, they do not have to do all the steps that I have to do. Well it is good that they are in Karate. Gabe's focus is sharp and pays attention in class. When the other students are goofing around he is like a pillar in the class. Gini has pretty good focus, although she does start to goof off, she sees Gabe not doing it. This really helps her to re-focus on the class. She has come close to hitting one of the goofing off kids for getting in her face. She has controlled her anger pretty well and stopped before she leveled him.
Watching all the children playing together is magical. They all get along, and sometimes have their spats with each other. At the end of the day they pray and give each other hugs and kisses for bed. It is interesting to see them outside of their environment and how they react to uncomfortable situations.
I am glad that I have two boys to protect....Not the girls but the boys that the girls might have problems with. The girls have no problem taking care of themselves and I am sure that the boys will also join in the defense of their sisters. Maybe the girls can help the boys in their time of need.
Well I have to go and do school work. 25% done with school this summer and can not wait until I finish the degree. I am hoping that this will open more job opportunities in the future. Only time will tell.

Summer Time!

Wow! We have had so much going on these last few weeks. The children are growing like weeds! of course they're way cuter than weeds. Gabe is already looking forward to going to school, although Steve and I have mixed feelings. It's bittersweet, for sure. He is so curious as always, of learning how things work. He is getting much more mature, and is so much of a help! He loves to watch Transformers (the old hand drawn cartoon) with his dad. Very soon we need to get him his own small tool set and an old lawn mower engine or something that he can take apart and put back together and see how it works.
Gini is trying to be older, and recently got to go to a princess birthday party for her friend Natalie. I curled her hair and painted her nails, and put on her princess dress up dress. She had such a blast! She wants to go to school as well, so we may possibly let her go to pre-school. I struggle with wanting to protect them from some of the things that they will learn too early at school, but will continue to pray about it, and just follow whatever God leads us to do. She is very musical, loves to sing and dance and play with Lego's , her babies, etc. She loves Transformers just as much as her daddy and big brother. She is a good helper, and we recently when through a phase with her whining more than normal, but the last week has been amazing!
Elyana is learning so much! It's amazing, and I do see why they see children are like sponges! She can say her ABC's, she likes to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and she can count to 20. She is fully potty trained. We put diapers on at night til she starts waking up dry, but it is so nice! She wanted to potty train at 18 months and I put it off, kind of dreading it. However, a few weeks before she turned 2 she started going in there on her own and trying, so I had a choice. Either I help her, or clean up messes! So I used underwear and wool diaper covers that I had knit for my cloth diapers, and she trained so fast, with minimum accidents!
Michael is now saying bye, hi, all done, I got it, and some other things we don't understand!! lol He's very vocal and tries to do karate like the older kids. He likes to go in and try to sit on the toilet, so I am hoping that he wants to potty train early as well. He knows what he wants, and is all boy . He loves to watch his dad work, and is very interested in tools, trucks, wrestling, trains, etc...

I interviewed for a job at the local horse ranch to be a trail guide, and I got it! I'm very excited, and praying that lots of people come ride on my weekends, as I get paid by the person. We found out on Mother's Day that we were going to have another baby. Unfortunately, this past weekend, I had a miscarriage. I am dealing with it. I won't lie and say it's easy, because it's so much harder than I ever thought it could be. Gabe put letters in a row on the refrigerator and said "I spelled the baby's name" ( don't know what it spelled) and I lost it. I sat down to finish knitting Gabe's hat and lost it again. It brought to mind the little hat and booties, etc that I was going to knit for the little one. God has a plan though, and I will rest in that. He is in control. I will trust in Him! I will hold on to Jeremiah 29:11. A song that really touches me all the time, but especially today part of the lyrics are " I will praise you in this storm, and I will lift my hands, for You are who You are, no matter where I am, Every tear I cry, You hold in Your hands, You never left my side, and though my heart is torn....I will praise you in this storm." It's by Casting Crowns. It's amazing, and if you get a chance, you can listen to it on You Tube.
We are going to try to turn the car in, in June. We found out through Honda that if the car appraises at or above what the pay off would be (wholesale value) you can turn it in (a lease) and be free and clear of it. You have to have it appraised by a private appraiser, and turn it in within 30 days of the written appraisal. We are so very close, and believe it will work in June. Then we will pay cash for either a mini van or suburban, and save over $400 a month!!! We are so excited that God has given us this opportunity!! Then we have a plan to pay off the student loan in 18-24 months if possible. God is so good. We are so happy to have had the opportunity to take Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course, and learned so much, not just about getting out of debt, but about insurance, investing, college saving.

Mother's Day Extravaganza: The New 16 GB Apple iPad

Mother's Day Extravaganza: The New 16 GB Apple iPad

I entered to win an Ipad at The Thrifty Mama! Go on over and check it out! It would make for an awesome mothers day gift!!! :)