Stressed with 5

Well, seems the children are always the most important in a family so I will start with them.

Chandler: he is having a ball being in tackle football. He is the smallest on the team but is full of spirit that drives him to prove himself to be just as good as the bigger boys. And he has done that and has more playing time then the lazier boys. He is doing really well in school. His first report card consists of all A's and B's. We are really proud of him. We know how much harder he has to work to get good grades. He is now in 2 resource classes. One is for language arts and the other if to help him in his other classes but they focus a lot on math. He is loving 8th grade. He is such a blessing in our lives. I always call him my peace maker.

Tevin: when I think of Tev I just laugh. He may drives us crazy, but he keeps things fun. He has strated guitar lessons and is loving every minute of it. I am finally glad to have Tevin involved in something that he is passionate about. His teacher (Hal Stead) is amazing and knows exactly what Tevin needs. I love to hear them play together. School on the other hand with Tev is ok. His grades range from A's to D's. I have to say that he did have F's but got 2 of them up to C's and one to a D. These are classes he is bored in. I told him if the grades don't stay up then the guitar lessons with have to stop. So he is trying hard. I took Tevin out on a date night the other night and had a really good talk. A lot of it was about 2 girls he likes and him wanting a cell phone, and me telling him no to a lot of things he wants for Christmas that cost over 300 dollars each. I think he just likes to talk the talk and try to get me worked up. He is now officially taller than his mom who tops out at 5ft 11in.

Harrison: Harrison is not involved in anything right now after school, but he is our straight A student. I was so proud when I saw his report card. He works so hard on school work, and is still afraid that he is going to do poorly. When he handed me his report card he had the biggest grin. I told him he is going to put me in the poor house, because we pay 10 dollars for every A. He is enjoying 6th grade and learning to play the bass. Man that is a big instrument. He loves to play night games with his friends in the neighbor hood. They ususally play every night but Sundays. We have good kids in the neighborhood. He is into girls as well, and he was telling me a girl wanted him to be her boyfriend and he told her not tell he was 16. That made me proud. I feel like Chris and I are raising him right.

Sloane: Our sweet little princess. For the last month she has and still is counting down the days until her birthday. She has a list that has about 20 things on it and she tells us what she doesn't get from us for her birthday that she would give the rest of her list to santa. She has lost her 2 top teeth and has a little bit of a lisp. She is also getting more freckles across her cheeks and nose. She reminds us often that Uncle Dan loves her freckles. She loves school and is doing really well. She is now doing 1st grade math and are starting to read at 1st grade level. We are so impressed. She has homework nightly even on the weekends and right when she gets home from school she gets in done. She counts all the time and starts to drive her parents crazy, but we know she needs to practice and loves the praise she gets in return. She is a big tease. He daddy has taught her well.

Holden: hmmm, oohhh, naaaa. Our little stinker. I can't believe he is almost 2. He is a spit fire. There are days where he is wonderful, but then like today he is a monster. He loves to go for rides. When we get him dressed in the morning he automatically thinks we are going bye bye, which we usually do so mom can get her 52oz diet coke for the day. His brothers are his hero's. He adores that ground they walk on. He loves to go crawl into bed with Tevin at night. It is so sweet. And the boys love him just as much. Sloane is really good with him as well. He was in trouble today and Chris put him in his room and after the 1 minute time out period Chris went in to go make the peace and Sloane had him laying on her lap telling him a story. It was so sweet. Tonight he also wanted Daddy to do push up with him. They both were on the ground and Holden was grunting and breathing hard like his daddy usually is. He talks a lot and understands so much. He is a blessing in our lives.