Nicholas

Nicholas has really enjoyed Kindergarten this year. I was really nervous about him doing well since he is right by the cut off, but he has surprised us all. He works really hard to not get in trouble and to do well in his homework. Every Friday they have a spelling test and he always gets 100% plus his bonus words(totally bragging here). Well a couple weeks ago he brought home his spelling test and he wrote all of his words backwards. I was very confused and asked him why. He didn't really have an answer so I kind of let it go. Then on Monday he brings home another spelling test and his words were backwards again. I start to freak out a little thinking my child is dyslexic, but then I realize he never writes backwards when we do a practice test and when he writes for homework. I also thought the teacher would have talked to me if he was doing the backwards thing in school. I call Luke at work and tell him about it and how I don't get it. Nicholas hears me say this and he reveals that he did this the last 2 tests:

CHEATING!!!!(by the way I love this picture, brings back some memories of high school, not proud ones but I can still laugh about it, especially the guy with his hand up to hide where his eyes are going).

The kids sit at rectangle tables and there are 4 kids at each one. So there is always someone facing you. His friend Jaime faces him and he was looking off her paper which is why they were backwards. What a little STINKER!!!! So I kindly told Nicholas that cheating isn't good and when he goes to 1st grade he would get into big trouble if his teacher saw him doing that. This was his response "but mom my brain tells me I have to do it wrong so that's why I look at her paper". We love our little Nicholas even though is a cheater :)

What to do?

I think every family has that one child that is out of control. That nothing you do helps their behavior. Well we all know Parker is that child for me. Don't get me wrong I love this child. He loves to kiss and cuddle with me.
Parker was a perfect baby, seriously perfect!! It all started when he hit a year. He became mobile and started the hard stage way earlier than any of his older siblings. It frightened me to think I had to deal with this so soon. I was hoping since he started it earlier it would end sooner, but it is still going and even stronger than before. Parker is always on the go from the time he wakes up(which was 5:20 this morning) to the time he goes to bed. NONSTOP people! He makes me tired, really tired. If you don't hear him he is doing something naughty. Like a couple days ago when it was way too quiet and I looked in the playroom and found this:

Luckily it was washable but the marker he wrote on his new bunk beds with isn't. We only had them 4 days and he did that. See where I am going with this? We have tried everything with him. Time out, in his room, spankings(he just laughs at us), filling up a jar with marshmallows(he gets a toy if he fills it up), chore charts. Do you see why I am the counting down the days until he goes to preschool? His new thing the last month has been to be mean to Noah. Not just a little push. I'm talking biting, hitting him hard in the face to where he has a big red mark, pinching, jumping on him. Poor Noah is so scared of him. I can't even leave him alone for a minute because I don't know what he will do. The other day he sat on Noah's face. He sat hard and for a long time. I had it with him, so what did I do??? I sat on his face and asked if he liked it. I'm sure some of you are shaking your heads and thinking I am a terrible mother. You might even be thinking of calling CPS. But guess what? It worked! He hasn't touched Noah since. I think every kids is different and they all learn in different ways. Parker needed to know what it was like for Noah. See no one touches Parker because he is a tough boy and strong. So he rarely gets hurt by the other kids. Hopefully he will just laugh about it 20 years...hopefully.

Number 7

On April 14th my little sister finally had her baby girl. This is the 7th grandchild for my parents. I can't even tell you how excited I am for Sammy to have a girl cousin on the Zockoll side. Poor Sammy is pretty much surrounded by boys. Lucky for her she has 1 girl cousin on Luke's side that is a year older than her. Other than that it all boys. Sammy can't wait to meet her. You should see the smile on her face when she looks at these pictures. Poor girl needs a sister(but it's not happening).

Daphne June Rice
6lbs. 10 oz. 18.5 inches
Look at those big eyes!

My mom and 2 sisters. I wish I could have been there with them but it didn't work out. Lucky for me I get to go up in 2 weeks when all the visitors have gone. I am so excited to spend some time with Amers and Daphne. Noah is going to look huge compared to her.

Notice the headboard in the hospital? Looks more like a bed and breakfast to me.
Congrats Amy!

Easter at the grandparents

After naps we headed over to my parents house for their egg hunt and a yummy dinner.
All the grand kids waiting to go outside

Parker was very excited to get a blue egg

Cousin Owen

Uncle Andrew and Noah

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was great! It was so nice to have Easter on Conference weekend. The only downside to it is I didn't get any of them Easter outfits. Such a slacker! I realized this a couple days before and looked but everything was picked over. Of course we did the whole egg dying thing. This year was the first year the kids did it themselves and really enjoyed it. When they enjoy it, the parents enjoy it. They were very proud of their eggs as you can see:

Then they all woke up Sunday morning for the hunt. I had to apologize later that day to my neighbors for Parker yelling "I found an egg!" at 6:30 in the morning. It was very cute to see all of them running around like crazy trying to get the most eggs.

Of course Noah just sat and smiled with his ears on

Sammy in her Easter attire

Cousins

I'm trying to play a little catch up here. Life has been crazy with kids on track break, sick kids, sick mom, and more sick kids. Now were on the mend and I feel like I can breathe a little. A couple weekends ago Luke's brothers family came into town. We had so much fun with them. My kids love when their cousins come. Sammy was especially excited because she loves cousin Lauren. Lauren painted her nails and did her hair. She was very sad to see her go.
The whole gang

Two buddies throwing up a peace sign

All the girls. Sammy had to hold Noah because Lauren was holding Regan.

Dentist Time

I took the 3 oldest kids to the dentist last week. I figured I might as well get all their well check up and other Dr. appts out of the way while Nicholas is on track break. I went to a pediatric dentist that was recommended by friends. They loved it. They have huge TVs on the wall and fun things everywhere. Nicholas and Sammy have already been to the dentist before but this was Parkers first time and he thought he was soooo cool.
Nicholas was into the big TV in front of him that this was the only picture I got

Sammy was fine until she saw the dentist and realized he was a man. She flipped out! She ended up sitting on my lap and I had to pry her mouth open. At least she got to wear some cute sunglasses.

Parker was so good. Here is is getting his teeth cleaned with his nice shades

Can you say Dwayne Wayne?