Today; can I go back to bed and start it over again!?

Today has just begun and I have a feeling it Will just continue in the pattern that's already laid out before me.
6:30 am woke up late.( not so good)
6:50 Jacob shows up.(good)
7:00 Evan wakes up.(good)
7:05 Evan demands to be fed.( not so good)
7:15 Evan is being very obnoxious and messing with everyone.(no good)
8:00 Evan takes a toy from Jacob, I got on to him and spanked his butt for yelling at me.(bad)
8:15 Evan gets sent to time out for telling me " I wish I didn't have a mommy, I hate you."(very bad)
8:30 mom is sad and feeling very bad.(very bad)
So now Evan has gotten up from time out ad is doing better and said he was sorry. I'm not convinced he meant it. But I am feel less sad.(good)
I'm already getting over it, but it hurt my feelings this time. Normally I get "mom I hate you" or "Mom i don't want to be your friend" But this is a first for "I wish didn't have a mommy."
I know in my heart and head that hes a little boy and all little children need to find an outlet when they get angry. But how can I teach him the best way for him to release without showing him how much it hurts when he says such mean things? I'm good at hiding my emotions.... even as I type that i know its a lie. I'm not good at hiding my emotions with my kids..
I guess parent hood is never what you thought it would be.And I need to not be so sensitive! I love my boys but they do know how to hurt a person.
I love my boys and hope that they can become sensitive men and be more understanding of peoples feelings. But I think I will work with the older two for now, I dont have as much time with them....
Well thanks for reading, I do feel much better getting these sad feeling off my chest..

Happy New Year

Well it has been a wild year. We have had some ups and some downs. But all in all we have had a wonderful year. We all rang in the New Year by going to sleep before midnight. Well at least Jason and Evan and I did. Brady and Garett were up well past midnight and loved it!

So lets recap this past year:

Brady and Garett are home schooled and I am loving having them home. They participate in a one day a week class room program that has been run through our local PATHWAY charter school. Brady will be 15 in about a month and has been teaching himself guitar and really loving it. And every once in awhile I here actual notes. It wonderful seeing him have a passion for new things. He draws allot; mostly graffiti type drawing but he is very good at what hes been doing. He helps me out daily and I have really learned how important my oldest son is too me. He is turning into a wonderful young man. He has also made the choice to become more active in church he goes to seminary and hes reminding me when its time to leave. Hes going to to church and even when I don't feel like getting ready for church and going ; he is ready to go without me asking him. He really makes me want to be a better example to him, instead of the other way around. He is a GREAT young man.

Garett is now 13 years old and doing very well with school this year. He has gone above and beyond with most of his work.( I couldnt be more proud of him) We had a rough start to this year but he quickly turned it around and is making the most of his school time. He has also found a passion for music but his is a bass; also self taught. He has been focusing on drawing on every piece of paper he can get his hands on. Even after hes been asked not to use my printer paper. so for Christmas he was given two note pads for drawing, hes very talented. (so far my printer paper is safe..lol) he had been skate boarding and helping Evan get over his fear of the trampoline. He is also turning into a WONDERFUL young man. We are planning on sending him to Pathway school next school year.

Evan is turning 4 in about a month and we are very excited to say that this is his first RSV season when he hasn't gotten sick ( knock on wood!!!) We have never gone this long without him getting even a little sick. I decided to teach Evan at home this year(pre-school). He knows more then 25 words and can count to 10 in sign language. He knows his letters by sight and sound. He knows most of his shapes and he can count to 10 without any ones help. He loves to sing songs with me in the car his favorites being "I'm Bringing Home A Baby Bumble Bee" and "How Much is That Dogie in The Window". And I'm afraid that the rest of the family probably could do without the songs. Evan is a wonderfully creative, imaginative, full of life, never sits still, keeps me on my toes kind of boy. He always makes me laugh and amazes almost hourly most days.

Jason has been working an incredible shift 5am - 1pm. It may sound a little extreme from his old shift, but we have had more "family" time then ever before and that is AWESOME! He also is taking Saturday and Sunday off and going to church as a family has been more of a present then anything birthday, Christmas or anniversary combined. I love that man of mine!

I can't even begin to tell you how AMAZING the boys/men in my life are. They challenge me, thrill me, confuse me, astound me, love me, and keep me on my toes. So as you can see I never have a dull moment. I LOVE MY LIFE! I hope you loved hearing about it. I will try and keep up on my blog from here on out.

Love, the GRAHAM FAMILY edited by Julie Graham

Evans crayolla toes

Evans "crayon toes"

Evan crying over spilled crayons...

I took Jacob up the stairs and laid him down and turned and walked away. I locked doors on my way back down the stairs so if Evan went upstairs he could not get into anything. This is what I came down the stairs to find less then a minute after walking away from him.

How about Orange?

So these last few weeks I have been feeling very overwhelmed with my children. It was spring break and we stayed at home. Evan is on this new kick where he has to talk non stop 24/7 and it was cute at the beginning. like two weeks ago. Also he has become very violent with his older brothers; especially while we are in the car. And Garett takes the brunt of his attacks.

So while we are in the car a few days ago hes in rare form and I have reached my stimulation quota for the week. I blurted out without thinking " Evan if you don't knock it off right now, I am gonna beat your butt black and blue." He stopped and for like 30 seconds I thought I had gotten my point across. When Evan comes back at me with "Hmmm....... how about Orange?" I said "what" and could not contain my laughter. So instead of a black and blue butt, he wanted an orange one. I could not have defused that situation better if I had tried. He is going to be the death of me with his Evan-ness but at least I will be laughing the whole time.


love you all hope all is well for you.

ZOO lights

Pictures from Bradys new camera ( his christmas present.)

Pictures from Garetts camera ( his christmas present.)

more pictures of our Christmas

Evan and mommy playing mini golf. ( we had some pics of the others playing too but they were not very good.)

Evan infront of a fountian at Castles n Coasters

Riding a Giraffe

Jason and Garett and Evan waiting for Brady to ride the FREE FALL thing.( would not get me on it NO NO NO!)

Here is Brady waiting to FALL..WEEEEE

Evan on hid very first ride ever. He was a littles scared but quickly got over it..

We had alot of fun Saturday after Christmas. I only wish it would have happened on Christmas.

I hope everyone out there had a memorable CHristmas too.

Christmas

Well Christmas this year was different. Not bad but very different. Did you know that almost EVERYTHING in the Phoenix area is closed on Christmas day other then Walgreens and Dennys?Well its true and we found out the hard way. ( oh yeah the movie theaters are alos open)

We had a day full of fun planned; I did not call to make sure. I went off of the information given off of there web sites. For those of you who would like to do what we attempted this year the only advise I can give you would be CALL to make sure no matter what the web site says.

Despite the hang ups we had we had a wonderful Christmas.

We went to Dennys instead of all of the other things we had planned.Here are some pictures; enjoy