life with 4 kiddos

First post of photo overload :)

Lots of stuff has gone on since I really have posted anything on here.  If you're on Facebook I more than likely see you there. This post will be a general overview of the last few months and about me.


Remember I said I got a lady bug tattoo at the end of last summer? It didn't heal correctly, well at least not evenly.  Here it is on day 2. Super red and puffy.  I could feel my foot jiggle as I walked... yuck! 

 

 So after it completely healed (which felt like it took forever) I had it touched up.  OUCH!!  The touch up hurt so much more.  I think because I wasn't all super excited about it.  But my lady bug was all spotty and missing the 'grippers' on its legs plus a couple of the legs were faded.  Here it is right before my touch up.

 

I don't have any after pictures. sorry.  But it looks the same without being so spotty.  The legs look better and I'm happy with it.  My friend decided to get a foot tat as well after seeing how cool mine was ;)  She got a  butterfly. I went with her and I think she would agree that foot tattoos hurt like heck!  I think hers turned out really well.

It has been one year since I started MMA.  I love doing it.  Pete and I do the karate class together twice a week and I do the jujitsu class by myself ( well, w/o Pete) twice a week.  On Saturdays is a mixed class with kids and adults.  So Sam, Joe and I sometimes do that together.  Joe just doesn't have his heart in it yet.  Sam also loves taking the classes.  Even after a year of taking classes I feel like I barely know anything.  There is just SO much to learn.  There are lots of Japanese terms used during class so I have also learned some of that as well.  Sam has too but I still try to study those with her during our schooling. 

See this lovely bruise?

That was my thigh around Christmas time.  We do different types of conditioning.  This one was from Sensei's shin.  No, he wasn't trying to bruise me up, I just bruise rather easily.  And trust me, this picture does not do it justice!

Really though, the classes are fun and the teacher is awesome. Great teachers make all the difference in the world.

Speaking of teachers... I finished up homeschooling Sam for grade 3.  Next year I will be homeschooling her for 4th grade, Joe for 2nd grade and Ike for Kindergarten.  However, Ike will be enrolled in the K12 program so it is considered public school but at home.  Teaching reading and all the basic stuff kindergartners learn these days kinda scared me.  So I'm trying this out.  Everyone I know that is enrolled in it really like it.  We'll see.  I may love the structure or I may hate it since I am used to doing my own thing with Sam.

At Joe's parent teacher conference back on October the teacher asked me how I felt about keeping Joe in 1st grade again.  I told her probably not.  He is very smart but just a little immature.  He is one of the youngest in his class if not the youngest. He was struggling with reading and writing. Spelling and Math he is awesome at and it seems to just come naturally to him.  So fast forward to the last month of school....

The speech therapist had been seeing Joe most the year but unoffically... as in he did not have an IEP.  The SLP decided speech would be good for him.  So with about a week and a half left of school I had an IEP meeting for Joe.  School did not know at the time that Joe would not be returning next year.  I didn't want to be screwed out of speech time he would be getting.  For district testing at the end of the year Joe had a 95% in Math, 91% in spelling and reading above grade level.  And they wanted to hold him back?  Could you imagine how bored Joe would have been?  Joe would act out in class the way it was (which is why they wanted to hold him back).  Could you think about how bored he would be and how much more acting out he could do?!  However, after I told them no at the conference they never brought it back up with me.  I loved his teacher but we'll do something different next year.

In July we are going to Alaska.  The kids are really looking forward to this.  I get asked every single day if we are going on the plane 'this' day.  Pete's parents drove their RV up there and staying the summer.  The kids and I will be flying out in July and staying for 2 weeks.  I think it will be super fun.  I am dreading flying with 4 kids by myself with all our luggage.  Pete's parents got each kid their own carry on bag for Christmas  in attempt to make it easier and cheaper to fly out there.

I feel like I have written A LOT already.  Be on the look out for more pictures to come.