"Colored"

I had an incident with Alisha Thursday night. I took her to work with me for the "family picnic" they were having for all of our students and their families. The school I teach at is about 90% or more African American students. So Alisha blended right in with her appearance. They had an inflatable obstacle course set up for the kids. Alisha thought it was really cool. She played on it for almost two hours. At one point, while she was waiting in line, some of the high school students were standing near her. Then she came running over to me where I was talking to one of our new staff members and just grabbed onto my legs in a tight hug. Then she looked up at me and said, "those kids said I'm colored". What??? I looked at her, not sure what her little 4 year old mind was thinking and asked her if she was colored. "Yes, mom, I'm purple." Then she took off with a huge smile and got back in line. I don't think she understood what they were saying or implying. Now she keeps telling people that some kids called her "colored". But she reassures me that she is pink and purple. I'm not sure if she will forget about it first, or if we'll have to figure out a way of explaining to her about skin color. I thought she had figured it out when Matthew came home talking about it after learning about skin tones in Kindergarten, but now it doesn't seem like she really understands. I hope she will always know and believe that her skin color does not change her value. She is important because God made her and He made her special.

Another long week

Well, it has been another long long week. It was my last week of inservice and Tuesday my students will arrive bright (maybe) and ready to go (possibly). Of course, all of us teachers are exhausted after three weeks of inservice, so it is never a good thing the first week or so of school.
The kids have spent the week at my sisters and my mother-in-laws. Friday I got to spend the day with the three younger kids and my sister and her four kids and her husband. We went to the mall and shopped for school clothes for the kids and just searched for deals. Before we knew it, Aaron called and sounded shocked that I was still at the mall. I asked him what time it was and it was almost 3 o'clock. I was supposed to be home and ready to leave for up north when Aaron got home around 4 o'clock. Yikes! So I hurried the kids back through the mall and headed for the car. I expected it to take 45 minutes or more with traffic to get home. But we made it home in about 35 minutes and Aaron met us. We packed our stuff for camping and headed out the door. It was the first time that we slept in the camper with the kids. We had the three little ones in the camper with us. Matthew slept in the other camper with my parents. The kids enjoyed rides in the trailor behind the lawn tractor, playing in the creek, and just running around. The played under the pine trees for a long time. They picked flowers, shot the nerf dart gun, and played cars in the dirt. It was nice. I wish we had more time, but we had to come home Saturday night because Aaron was singing in church on Sunday morning. Plus, we left the rottweilers at home and so we can only leave them for one night.
Once again no pictures to post. Our internet is only working at our desktop now, so I need to put the camera software on it and download the pictures to post. Maybe I'll have time this week to get that done. I'll try.

Friday

Wow! This has been a long week. It is tough getting adjusted back into the schedule of work and kids and everything else. But we had a great evening yesterday. We went out for pizza. Michael ate 3 or 4 pieces and he really liked it. My mother-in-law had made a cake with the two older kids, so after dinner we ate cake. Michael kept "stealing" my pop every time I looked away. After cake we let him open presents. Then I had him and Matthew go over out of the way to play with his cars, so we could put the tables back where they went. When I looked up again, Michael was running circles around the tables and giggling. He was on a real sugar high. He does not do well with sugar and the cake and pop was way too much for him. So when we left, we took the kids to the park to run off some of their energy. They had a ton of fun. Then we came home and all the kids played with Michael and his new toys. Michael enjoyed setting up the three trees that came with his jungle animals (after counting them) and then he would run them over with his new car. Then we sat and rolled the cars back and forth. It was a fabulous evening. It was so nice that Michael went a whole evening without throwing a fit about anything. (well he started to when his siblings wanted to take his toys, but he stopped when we helped explain to them that they were his new toys and he got to play with them first)

Happy Birthday Michael Jadon

Michael is celebrating his first birthday at home with his family today. He is three years old and has been pretty good at telling us how old he is (Alisha still tells us she is 2.). We are going out for pizza for dinner and he is so excited as he LOVES pizza. I better take a bib!

I thought I'd share a cute story with you from the other day. I was playing with Kevin the other day and telling him, "I love you Kevin J ___." So Michael calls out for me and I asked him what he wanted. He looked me in the eyes and said, " I, Michael Jadon ___". He picked up that we all had the same last name and he added it to the Michael Jadon all on his own. I know we have said it a few times, but not many since he has been home. So I thought it was really cute that he made sure I knew he was a ____ also.

Back to Work

Well, I need lots of prayers. I have been back to work for almost two weeks now. It is extra hard to balance everything. I am very tired. I am trying to figure out how to keep up with housework while still enjoying my kids. But by the time, we both work all day, we are exhausted. September 2nd will bring extra challenges as I will have to be to work earlier and Matthew will have to be to school. Then September 15th brings a new challenge as Michael and Alisha will be starting preschool. God is good and He will help us through it all. We are praising God that we were able to get both Michael and Alisha into the free preschool programs at the local elementary. So now we just have to figure out transportation and latchkey expenses.

Bike Ride

Well, our family had another first tonight. We rode our bikes to Burger King for dinner tonight. The bike ride itself wasn't a first, but Matthew riding a two wheeler with NO training wheels on our bike ride was. He has practiced riding it about 4 or 5 times in the yard. But he did very well. It is about one mile each way. We really enjoyed it. Aaron, Matthew, Alisha, and I all rode bikes and Kevin & Michael rode in the trailer on the back of my bike. Then when we got home, the kids played in the sandbox while I cleaned the pool and then we all went for a swim. It was a little cool, but we had a lot of fun. It was great to hear the kids playing and laughing together.

Sorry about all the posts today, but I needed to get caught up. So I posted on my blog while Aaron, Matthew, and Alisha did the Wii Fit. Boy is that thing a lot of work.

Trip to the Bounce House with all the cousins

Michael's first trip down the BIG slide.Michael on one of the smaller slides.
Alisha playing with her cousin Ashley.
Matthew at the bottom of the big slide. He was ready to jump over the side into the center to climb back up for another slide down.
Kevin driving the car. It was one of those motorized rides like you find at the stores. You know the ones that they want 50 cents to ride now a days. They have one at the bounce that is free with admission to the bounce house and Kevin LOVES driving it.

Trip Up North with All the Cousins

Papa in his makeshift pool (a tarp and some 4X4's) with the bigger kids.
The little kids pool. The other pool was two wild for Kevin and Hannah. Then Alisha joined them when the other pool got too wild for her.
Michael took his nap laying on a blanket under the pine trees. He slept very well out in the woods.
Michael really enjoyed playing in the creek. He was picking up muck and building a pile with it in this picture. He loves his new froggy boots.
Michael holding the crayfish that Uncle Will caught for them. Michael insisted that he had to hold the crayfish.

Zoo Trip w/ All the cousins

The pictures below are some that Matthew took. He was very upset that everyone kept getting on him for trying to help Brandon pull the wagon. He loves to help. Notice Brandon in the center of the picture pulling the wagon. I am to the left of the picture pushing Kevin and Michael in the stroller.

What a week

This last week has been nonstop. My brother and his family are visiting from Texas. They arrived on Monday, so we had dinner together with the whole family. Tuesday we went to the zoo. We had all 11 grandkids (ages 6 and under) and all the adults except my husband (who had to work). Wednesday my brother and parents went up north. But Aaron had the day off, so we did a few things that needed to get done and then we took the kids bowling. Matthew bowled for the first time by himself (yes, we used bumpers) and bowled a 82. Not bad! Aaron won with 112. But I was amazed that I almost hit 100, I got a 92. Alisha got a 72 with a little bit of help, but she had never bowled before. Michael had fun, but he got a lot of help as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to do. Thursday we went up north. It was a great day. My brother and I took the kids to the creek and found toads and crayfish. Then my brother found a snake for the kids. They took tractor rides (on a lawn tractor/trailor). They really had a lot of fun. It was a very long day. Aaron and I spent all day Friday preparing for Michael's welcome home party. I am always nervous hosting a party as we tend to end up not having many people show up. But it ended up being a great night. Including my family we had about 60 people show up. The rain waited until after everyone left and the tent was down (Praise God!). This morning we took the kids to the Bounce House. Michael did amazing. I was afraid of taking him as he has trouble controlling himself and tends to be way too rough with other kids. But he did very well. He loved the slides. I'll have to post pictures after I have a chance to download. My brother flies home tomorrow, so please pray for a safe trip for him and his family.