Okay, okay, so I took another break!

Spring Break Vacation

I confess, I have been really bad about blogging lately.  I’m not sure why.  Perhaps it is the challenges of juggling five kids at home, two out of the home, a grandchild, a husband, mounds of laundry, cooking, cleaning, and trying to fit a little school for myself in there!  Yes, that has to be it.

Since I haven’t posted since January, I guess a little update is due.  The kids just finished the school year and are now officially going into 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades!  They are still all in the same school, but this will be the last year for that, as Jenna will go off to high school in 2014.  But, I don’t even want to think about that yet!

Kami and Claire had their dance recital in May.  Kami is still super passionate about dance, but Claire has just informed me she would like to play soccer.  Kami just finished a two week dance intensive camp where she danced 7 hours a day.  The performance was great and she was in 7 dances.  Needless to say she wants to add more dance classes to her already busy schedule next year.  I’m not sure how I will pull it off, especially since now I have to figure out soccer for Claire, and horseback riding for Jenna, and who knows what for TJ and Charlie!  I can do this, I can be in five different places at once, right?

Next week we are going on vacation.  We are packing up the suburban and getting on the road for Lake Tahoe!  The best part is T’s parents will be there, as well as his sister and her kids.  It is kind of like a mini-family reunion without all of the family.  I wish everyone was going, but that trip is planned for next year (2014 cruise to Alaska).

Now for the struggles.  Most know that Jenna and TJ are in resource at school.  They both get special help with the classes they struggle with, and they both work at well below grade level in math and reading.  The school staff indicated at their last IEP’s that the kids really should get official diagnosis’ to continue receiving help beyond middle school.  What they have now is only speech/language IEP’s, and that may not be enough to follow them through the years.  I don’t get this, as they are clearly so far below grade level, how could they ever be expected to do the same work as the other students?  Anyway, I asked the doctor to refer us to a neurologist and she did.  Jenna had her appointment last month and TJ’s is in October.  The doctor ordered a Chromosome Microarray test for Jenna.  She suspected she may have a chromosomal disorder.  Well, yesterday I got a call from the nurse that there were abnormalities with the test.  One part of me is totally bummed out, but the other part of me is glad we may finally have an answer.  I will be going in next week for the results.   Whatever they are, it doesn’t change who she is, or the fact that she is and will always be her unique self.  🙂

Thanksgiving and Picture a Day

Okay, well first, the “picture a day” is obviously not happening.  I am going to change that category name.  I will however make an effort to take more pictures and post them more often!

Now for Thanksgiving.   Jenna and Kami went to their dads and TJ, Charlie, and Claire Marie went to their grandparents.  T and I decided to take a trip to Arizona and spend the holiday with my brother, his family, and my mom.  We had a wonderful time.  We missed the kids, however it was nice to be able to catch up on life with my brother and his wife while being “kid free”.   Next year we will have all of the kids with us and hopefully the adult ones too.  We have so much to be thankful for.

Here are a few pictures from the day.

The group minus Tena (who was taking the photo)

My niece Monica and me

My mom and me

Family Update November

Well, as usual, life has been crazy in the Kinsky/Armendariz household.

School is going great for all of the kids.  Jenna loves it and recently said in an essay she was writing that this was the best school she has ever gone to.  It is so nice to see her happy, after being so unhappy in school.  She still is not a morning person and doesn’t like doing her homework in the after school program, but overall she is doing great.  TJ is actually being responsible and doing his homework.  This is a first for him.  He has a very strict teacher this year, a retired military man, you get the picture.  Kami has made a lot of friends in her class and has a great group of girls she hangs out with.  Charlie and Claire Marie are doing well too.  They also have great teachers and are making friends.  Overall, we are extremely happy with the school and the teachers.

Jenna & Kami and friends on Halloween

Claire Marie and friends at the parade

TJ on a school field trip

Kami and Claire Marie are both dancing again this year.  They go to a great little dance studio in Los Olivos.  They both performed little Halloween dances, which were adorable.  Charlie is playing football and they are going to the Superbowl this weekend!  Sadly, I will miss it as Claire Marie’s 7th birthday party is at the same time!  We had no clue this conflict would happen when we set up the party.

Charlie after a game

Terance and I just spent a weekend in Las Vegas.  His cousins Mark and Rob came, and I hung out out with a few of my really good girlfriends.  I don’t gamble, so my weekend was all about girl time and shopping.  Terance and boys had fun betting on football and playing craps and blackjack.  The weekend flew by.  Funny, at first I thought it was going to be a date weekend, but I barely even saw T. We probably spent a couple of hours together at the most, which is totally okay.

Mark, Terance, and Rob in Vegas

Gina, Karla and Carla in Vegas

Now for the most exciting news of all!  My mom is moving to town!  She will just be 4 houses up the street!  The kids are thrilled, as are we!  Will be so nice to have her close by.