Oh the joys and traumas of being a mother!! I wanted to tell you some things about the kids and what they have been up to lately!

Kadia is so struggling with Spanish. She just doesn't get it, and I am no help since I took French. I wish I would have encouraged her to take French instead, at least I could have helped her a little. But I must say it was probably one of the hardest classes I have ever taken. This is Kadia's 8th year of piano lessons. She is just astounding on that piano. She loves fast, dramatic pices, and she can really make those keys fly. I love to sit and watch her fingers!

Megan is the quietest of my children. She loves to read. For Make a Difference Day their class read books and took pledges based on how many pages they read. The money to be donated to the local Veterans. she read 1500 pages in 7 days, thus raising the most money and reading the most pages!! She gets to donate the check to the Veterans at a school-wide assembly, plus give a little speech. Megan loves to do any extra little school projects. Any time there is extra credit, she does it all even though she doesn't really need the points. This week she drew 2 beautiful maps, free-hand for Social Studies. She is busy studying for the Spelling Bee competition as well. She is a stubborn as a mule! and really puts herself into everything in a big way!!!

Lindsey, oh, she is so ornery! The things she does sometimes!!! She is sweet, but if anything is going wrong, like teasing or PINCHING it is probably her!! She loves horses, and books. When you go in her room, she will just be sitting on her bed amongst her piles of books, and on her dresser and her desk, and her floor. She says she likes to have them all out where she can see them!! She is bossy and likes to tell everyone what to do, like she is the mother!!! I tell her I can be the mother all by myself, boy she makes her older sisters steaming mad when she bosses them!!! She is a good student and wants to make me happy, so I think I still have hope with her!!!

Brady has suddenly, after having them around for 4 years, developed a big interest in his LEGO blocks. He is building elaborate structures and little cars and things that move. He is so happy when he is making something. He gets his cast off Monday, so he is very happy about that. He is very conscientous about everything, he double checks his book-bag to make sure he has everything packed in it. I have to read the menu to him 2 or 3 times each morning, to make sure he likes what is for lunch. He is eager to please his teacher and never wants anyone to be upset with him. Of course the bus ride home is a different story, as he got in trouble this week for rough-housing with a friend. Playfully pushing each other in the seat. boys remind me of puppies wrestling around. Lindsey was more than eager to tell me all about it when they got home!! He had to sit on his bed for an hour, and have a big talk with his dad and me about BUS Safety, so hopefully the lesson has sunk in.

That is what is so great about being a parent! You are never bored, because you truly don't know what will happen next!! Never a dull moment around here, that's for sure.

-- Melissa (cmnorris@1st.net), November 08, 2001

Answers

Forgot to write about a picture Lindsay drew for Art class. I have it hanging right here by the computer. It is an underwater scene. The slogan says "Get your junk out of here!" then she drew pictures of an octupus, a shark, some fish, all frowning or baring theri teeth (looking kind of scary) then there is trash scattered all around the ocean floor, like old tires and cans, and other trashy looking stuff. It is really neat,and I liked the idea that she was thinking about keeping the environment clean!

-- Melissa (cmnorris@1st.net), November 08, 2001.

Melissa,

I love to hear you talk about your family. It is always nice to hear Moms and Dads speak about how much they truly cherish their families.

It was hard for us when our family schedules began to change. Due to our two oldest boys becoming young men, we now have times where we can't always have those "family" times that have been important to us (eating meals together, birthdays and holidays spent together and some of our traditions)due to the various work schedules and school schedules that they and my husband have. It's all just part of a family growing up though and I am looking forward to each new step. It will be interesting to experience the next step when they marry and we have new family members and new traditions added to our own. I am looking forward to that time, also. Our oldest son, Justin, has graduated from homeschool and is working and saving for his own place. He has been such a help to us by being around. The second oldest, Derek, has graduated from homeschool and is serving in the Ohio Army National Guard and attending college two hours away from us. When he is home he helps out a great deal too. Our youngest son, Stephen, has Down Syndrome and we are homeschooling him also. This has been an exciting school year for us because he just started reading!!

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), November 08, 2001.

Terry, I know it will be sad when my kids are all grown up! Makes me wish I had a few more... that is really good news about your son learning to read, you must be a very proud mother yourself, and a patient one!

All of the rest of you can tell us about your kids, I'm sure they all have talents and stories, and exciting adventures you can share with us!! I would just love to hear them, as I truly love children with all my heart!!!

-- Melissa (me@home.net), November 08, 2001.

I have two kids-Thats all I can handle!My daughter Rachel is 7 and she sounds very much like Melissa's Lindsey. Loves to read and write stories, and she loves to do any kind of craft project and her room is always a huge mess because she loves to have her stuff out too. She loves animals and would rather play with live animals than dolls- but if she can't get the real ones, she plays with her stuffed ones. I have a dreadful time getting the child in a dress! She's very sweet and thoughtful-always making little cards and notes on birthdays or when someone is sick but she can be very bossy as well. She's bright, and gets upset if she makes a 90% on a test instead of a 100%

My son Aaron, 10, could care less about grades! Computers are his passion. He's very quiet and small for his age and has trouble fitting in at a school where athletics are stressed. He has been identified as both gifted and learning disabled-you can imagine the challange! He can do anything on a computer, he can work complex math problems in his head, and he loves tinkering with electronics and engineering things, but he has difficulty getting words on paper. Writing an essay for school is torture for him. They both have livly imaginations and I never know what they are going to come up with next! Melissa's right-there's never a dull moment around this place!

-- Kelly in Ky (ksaderholm@yahoo.com), November 09, 2001.

Animals,animals, animals. That's all John Michael wants to talk about. He is a cowboy thru and thru.Last night I had to take his belt,boots and spurs,hat and rope off him last night after he fell asleep by the dog in his red thermal union suit!!I had to take a picture. If he's not interested in something, I just call it something cowboy and throw and animal in and he's hooked.He'll be 6 the end of December and now he wants hunting videos!We skipped the "kiddy" movie stage and went right to the bullriding,horse and animal movies!!I was a tomgirl so this wonderful.I am not for sure if I could do the barbie thing!

-- Micheale from SE Kansas (mbfrye@totelcsi.net), November 09, 2001.