Yes, I realize it has been AGES since I last updated this thing! Things have been crazy hectic around here. I have four in school, with two different drop off times and four different pick up times. We moved. The kids have been sick. It's all just crazy. Would you believe I haven't even picked up any knitting in over a month? So sad. I have SO much Christmas knitting I've been planning, but have started on almost none of it, which means I'm going to have to pick and choose what I'm actually going to do. I'm okay with that though because I know that other than my mom and my husband, no one will really appreciate just how much time and effort go into a hand knitted object. (Just ask my husband, who has been patiently waiting for his second sock for almost six months! lol) There is no way I'm going to finish Drake's Christmas present on time...especially since I haven't found the perfect yarn for it yet.

Is it pointless to knit something for someone that you know they will probably never wear? I want to knit Ice Queen for my mom. I think it would look incredible on her. However, it's SO not something she would wear! Also, I have the yarn, and it's fairly scratchy. Even if she would wear it, I'm not sure she'd be able to handle it on her neck! I certainly wouldn't. However, I think it's gorgeous and while it may not be something she'd wear, I think it is something she would appreciate for the effort it took me to make it and it's beauty. But, I feel strange giving a gift I don't think the recipient will ever use. However, I really think that's going to be her gift because it's telling me that it wants to be.

The kids are all doing well. Caitlin ran for school president. She lost in the primaries, but I think it's wonderful that she ran. She's having some difficulties with friends. I'm hoping that it will pass now that the actual elections are over. She was very vocal about her hope that prop 8 would fail. Her friends, being the good Christians that they are, basically told her that God hates gays and that she's going to hell for not wanting prop 8 to pass. Not only that, but we must not forget that Obama wants to rewrite the constitution and kill babies and that she's just as bad because she wanted him to win. Thankfully, she is a strong, opinionated little girl who doesn't falter in what she believes just because others don't agree with her. She told me that her friends are allowed their opinions, just like she's allowed hers and she doesn't believe the government should make laws based on the Bible because not everyone believes in the Bible and that the government should make laws based on what is fair and right. I'm incredibly proud of my little girl.

Emma is also doing very well. She was chosen, along with a friend of hers, to be class representatives in the Student Council. She LOVES this. She looks forward to every meeting and takes it very seriously. She loves being involved in school and takes a great deal of pride in her responsibilities. She recently had 16 inches of hair cut off to donate to Locks of Love. This was SUCH a huge deal for her. She has had long hair for as long as I can remember and she LOVED her hair, but she just decided that it was the right thing to do. She looks adorable with her new hair cut and she LOVES it! She also loves how easy it is to take care of and how it has cut her showers down by about ten minutes. lol

Cole is Cole. He amazes me every single day with his academic abilities. In school this year, the younger kids are taking a test that usually only the older kids take. It's called the MAPs test. It stands for "Measure of Academic Progress." It basically allows the teachers to see where the student is, if they're progressing at the rate they want them to, etc. It's taken on a laptop and is dynamic in that when you get an answer correct, the next question is a bit more difficult. If you get it wrong, the next question is a bit easier. This allows them to really see where you are at, academically. I spoke with Cole's teacher about his results and she said that he got the highest score possible on the test. For the older kids, you just keep going and going until the test decides it has determined where you are at academically, just getting harder and harder until it decides you're at the right level. Unlike the older kids though, the younger kids test has a ceiling. Cole hit that ceiling on the math portion. He scored the highest in his class in both math and reading. Ooh, speaking of reading...he's reading the same book that my girls are! They're all reading "Twilight," by Stephanie Myers. (I think that's how you spell the author's name, anyways.) Caitlin isn't all that interested, but Cole and Emma are both really enjoying it. I thought it was a bit too advanced for Cole...especially being 500 pages long, but he's really enjoying it and actually "getting" it. I talk to him about each chapter after he finishes it to make sure he understood what he read and he definitely does!

Ethan is such a fun kid. He's LOVING school. He's doing really well in math. He was Superman for Halloween and LOVED it. He loves super heroes. He absolutely adores his teacher. I just wish he was a bit more organized. That's definitely something we need to work on with him! He's always SO happy, which makes life easy for me!

Sera is getting better about Ethan being at school. Every once in a while she'll still ask if we can go pick her best friend up from school, but those days are getting fewer and further between. She's had some awful night terrors lately, which is so sad. :( She wakes up just screaming and sobbing. Drake has taken to sleeping with her, so we're hoping that helps. She's such a huge help with Allie. She absolutely adores her baby sister and loves that Allie calls her "Sissy."

Allie is...well, Allie. She's...trying. I love her. She is so much fun when she's in a good mood, but she's almost never in a good mood. She screams, she hits, she scratches, she bites. If she doesn't want you near her, she lets you know, and she almost never wants you near her. She's just plain mean to Sera, which is so difficult to see because Sera loves her so much. My one saving grace, at the moment, is that she is REALLY good at going to bed. lol When she gets tired, she just starts climbing up the stairs saying, "Bye, bye!" and walks into her room and stands by her crib until I come in there to put her in and she always goes right to sleep. It's SO nice! lol She really is cute and cuddly when she's in the mood to be, though. She's taken a liking to stuffed animals lately, which is really cute. She carries her monkey, Yim, around with her everywhere. Occasionally she will give you kisses, and tell herself, "That's so nice..." because that's what we always say when she gives hugs and kisses because she rarely does it. She usually hits you in the face if you try to give her a kiss. She's talking up a storm. She has names for each of us, she can tell me when she has a dirty diaper, and her favorite word is "NO!" She can also use sign language to tell me when she's hungry or thirsty...which she always seems to be. lol

So, that's our update!