Niah's 13th Birthday

First off, I have to say that it's very hard for me to believe that my little baby is now 13 years old. She is no longer a baby--in fact, she is no longer a child. She is now a young lady. . . a BEAUTIFUL young lady. We couldn't be more proud of her.

For her birthday, Niah wanted to return to the Jasmine Moran Children's Museum in Seminole, OK. When she was in kindergarten, her class took a field trip to the museum. This was one of the few school field trips that I was able to attend. I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with Aliya., and I distinctly remember that walking around the museum was a challenge!!

Niah wanted to go back to the museum because she remembered it being such a BIG and FUN PLACE! I knew that it wasn't going to be exactly as she REMEMBERED it because this time she would be seeing the museum through eyes of REALITY vs. eyes of IMAGINATION.

She did get to witness the power or imagination with Aliya, Kiahna, and even Isaiah. Niah enjoyed watching them play in all the different areas because to them, the museum was as REAL as it gets!!! Aliya and Kiahna were convinced that all of the stuff was EXACTLY like it was in the GROWN UP world.

Even though Niah is no longer a child, she still enjoyed exploring and trying out some things in each of the different exhibits. Kiahna dragged Niah into the nursery to "play" with all the babies! This was heaven for Kiahna--she LOVES babies!!!

Aliya and Kiahna spent a lot of time at the grocery store. Aliya was a very serious shopper. She probably would have paid with coupons if they let her!!! Unfortunately, there wasn't a store manager on duty, and the cashier didn't know what she was doing.

Kiahna filled her cart with donuts, cookies, cakes, etc. SOMEONE has a little sweet tooth--which led her to the next section...

Kiahna spent lots of time at the dentist's office. For the past 2 years, Kiahna has claimed that she has a loose tooth--at any moment, it could fall out! Of course, this all stems from watching Aliya loose her teeth one by one over the last 2 years. It has nothing to do with the fact that Aliya got MONEY for her teeth. Nope...not related at all.

Years ago when Niah was getting ready to lose her first tooth, she was scared that it was going to hurt. She didn't want to pull on it--she wanted us to pull it out instead. Her tooth was hanging by a thread, and we knew that she could easily pull it out. We also knew that she would be thrilled and proud of herself once she did. SO....to encourage her to pull it out, we told her that the price per tooth doubles if removed WITHOUT parental assistance. She walked out of the room and within a few minutes, she had a tooth in her hand! She has been ripping out her teeth ever since.

The day was winding down. It was almost time for us to leave. While Kiahna and Niah were playing dentist, TJ went to the front desk to tell them it was Niah's 13th birthday today. She was surprised when she heard this...

Niah, we hope that you enjoyed your special day. YOU are VERY special to us--all of us!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Daddy, Momma, Aliya, Kiahna, & Isaiah

Take Me Back to Snips!!!

THIS is my first attempt to clip Isaiah's hair. I think Isaiah and I would both agree that Snip-Its IS a better choice, but unfortunately the home brew is what we will be sipping on for now! Snips (as Kiahna calls it) is still an option, but only for special occasions. So. . . I hate to break the news to you, Little Buddy, but we are just going to have to make this work.

Look What I Found!!!

This afternoon we had a little Valentine's dinner/party. Everyone had a few little treats on their place at the table. Everyone also had a few pieces of chocolate--everyone EXCEPT Isaiah. He had blueberry oatmeal instead. I really didn't think that he cared OR noticed until a few hours later...he was caught rummaging through his sister's bags and was eating their chocolates!

Isaiah had the BIGGEST smile I have ever seen him have! He sure was a happy little guy!!! After taking the pictures, TJ cleaned him up and took the remaining chocolate away. As you can probably guess, Isaiah threw a huge fit. He really wanted more chocolate. Although I can empathize, candy needs to be put on hold for another year or two. Sorry, Little Guy. It really is the best for you. Besides...as long as you are not taking a cut, the portions are larger for me!!!

Fantastic Gymnastics

Kiahna was given a very special opportunity to attend a gymnastics class with her friend Carson. Kiahna was SUPER excited, because she has been waiting to do "balance" her WHOLE life!!!

A while back she was given a leotard with matching pants, so it was extra special to be able to wear them to the REAL place and not just around the house.

After the session, they got their feet and hands stamped with a "special" stamp. Carson and Kiahna were excited to show off their stamps.

Kiahna REALLY wants to continue doing gymnastics. Aliya wants to take ballet classes. We are considering enrolling them into a class. The classes are not cheap when you have to multiply them by more than one child! So for now, we will see...

Isaiah's 1st Birthday

Isaiah's 1st Birthday was a VERY full and fun day. This year the annual capital day homeschool event just so happened to be scheduled on his birthday, so we started our morning at our state's capital building. This was our first time participating in Capital Day. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but I was encouraged by some fellow homeschooling friends that Capital Day really is a fun and important thing to do.

We roamed the halls, toured the Supreme Court and Senate floors, admired the dome that cost millions of our tax dollars to build, and enjoyed the display booths from the Water Conservation exhibitors. I DID speak to ONE of my representatives--that's as much courage as I could muster for the first visit! Next year I plan on being a little more prepared, because I want to meet with all my legislators--we might even do the sit-down luncheon!!

When we finished with Capital Day, TJ left with the girls to pick up his Dad at the airport while Isaiah and I got ready for his pictures. We all met back at home, and I attempted to take his birthday pictures outside. It was really cold, and we still had some snow on the ground. I was only able to get one picture, so we decided to go ahead and have his birthday pictures taken at JcPenney's.

After pictures, we went to Incredible Pizza to have his little party. He loved all the attention from his sisters!!! They were excited to "help" him open up his presents! He also loved the Birthday Song, so we had to keep singing it OVER and OVER and OVER!!!

I'm still having a hard time believing that he is already 1 year old. Time has gone by too fast! It just seemed like yesterday that we were bringing this new little bundle home from the hospital. He has a special place in each of our hearts. Happy Birthday, Isaiah. We love you!!!

PE Fridays

We LOVE Fridays!!! We do most of our academics Monday through Thursday, and we do PE and Home Ec on Fridays. Technically, Isaiah is too young to participate--but he doesn't know that!!! Kiahna participates sometimes, but she mostly flutters around from happy place to happy place.

After PE, we do our coupon and bargain shopping. If you are not familiar with coupon shopping, then you might not appreciate all the effort that goes into each purchase. It's a lot of work, but it pays off in the end. On today's trip, I averaged $0.86 per item. That's not too bad, but there are other couponers who would have done better than that.

It's often 8:00 PM before we arrive home. Fridays are VERY long days, but we always look forward to them!