What's been going on around here.

So, I bet you think I crashed, and stayed that way, huh?? Pretty much! My mother in law asked me Sunday what I was going to do with all my free time with the kids in school. And I say, "what free time?" I had envisioned a nice clean house, a little snack for them when they get home, where we would all sit down on the couch to talk about their day. Well, we MIGHT would sit on the couch to discuss our day if you could get to the couch that is full of laundry that I haven't gotten around to folding or putting up. Snack.....it is a free for all.....rummaging through the cabinets. That is after they ate all their lunch leftovers in the car on the way home. While they are gone, I might pick up a little, but most of my time is spent holding little bit. And today, I spend most of the day TRYING to get a much needed nap. Which I finally did get, stretched out in the recliner with Baby Z and we snoozed away, until I started having pains shooting through my arm for the awkward way I was sitting.

The baby has helped me get into a good schedule with the kids going to school. I go to bed as soon as I can after they do, and then I am up at 6:00 with them....or earlier if he wakes me up. And of course, a couple of times in between too. It really hasn't been too bad. It is mainly my mushy brain b/c I am too tired to think straight, and my messy house. He is fussy a lot....but I am remembering that Noah was about the same way I think. His new loving nickname is Mr. Disagreeable. And I we laugh when we call him that, even though it fits him well. I say all that with love though, as I don't regret one bit our decision to do this. He smiled at me for the first time yesterday. I was so excited about that, and he has a dimple that is so cute! I think he is realy warming up to me. There are times when he is fussing, and I pick him up, and he just snuggles in.

School is going great for us. I made the decision to put them in before I knew he was coming, I jsut couldn't talk about it before then b/c I was not sure of our decision, and was afraid I would change my mind. It was really very hard for me to do this. I think I would be very lonely for them during the day if I didn't have the baby distraction, but as it is, I know I would never be able to get any teaching in from taking care of him, and I would always be feeling guilty about the time he would be taking away from the other 3. And, they love it. Rachel was a little unsure the first couple of days, but she came home today excited too. When I got there to pick them up, she was holding a little girl's hand. Even she has made friends. Noah of course just soaks it all in. Leah has really surprised me. She made 3 friends the first day. Yesterday when I got there to pick her up she wouldn't get in the car b/c she was too busy waving at her new friend just a beaming.

I put Noah in 1st grade, so him and Leah are both in the same grade. I really struggled with that decision, but I feel good about it now. He is enjoying it. And really I think if either of the 2 are going to be bored, it is going to be Leah. The first day they send home their words to learn for the week. The letter said if they could already read them, then learn how to spell them. So I called them out to her, and she spelled them all right the first time. Then, later I saw her with the paper reading the entire instructions from the teacher and everything on there. I do hope that she is challenged enough with her reading. Last night, Noah's homework was to write his name over and over again, on the wide lines. He did it so well. Something he would never do for me. And he was so proud to show his teacher today. I think he is right where he needs to be. It is nice to say do your homework, and if they are sloppy, I just tell them to do it over b/c the teacher would mark off for sloppiness. And the happily redo it, something I would have NEVER gotten out of them. I love not having that battle with them, but getting to just enjoy their company when they get home. I can't wait to pick them up from school to hear about their day.

So, I guess that all about sums us up. I have been taking a lot of pictures along the way that I will eventually get around to posting. I am still behind on all my photography work, reading and commenting on blogs, and replying to e-mails, and I don't know if that will get better anytime soon. What is cool though, is I haven't even missed being on the computer.