Where to start

School started with all of the kids except Alyssa returning to school. Kailyn goes in the morning and she is doing very well. She has had a few moments that made us wonder if it was a good idea sending her to school. She is picking up some bad habits from the other kids. We gave her a hair cut yesterday. She looks so cute. We have really been struggling with what to do with her hair. It has a mind of its own. She got a cute little bob and it looks adorable. We will see how she fairs after a full day with her messing with it. She only goes to school half a day. Then she comes home and has a little lunch and takes her nap.

Jacob goes to school when we pick up Kailyn. The only thing he tells us he is learning is to write his name. He is such an air head. He is doing other things I am sure, but he can't remember long enough to tell us what is going on. He seems to like it and is always happy when he comes home. He meets up with Jaryd after school and we pick them up together. We are still having a little bit of discipline problems with Jacob. He hasn't given up the idea yet that he is in charge. The other morning he spent the morning shower time showering the bathroom with toothpaste. He was of course disciplined for this and then the next morning he used the toothbrush full of toothpaste to decorate the bathroom once again. Of course, that followed by some more discipline time. Thank goodness he decided not to do it the next day. The paint is starting to get thin in the bathroom.

Jaryd is doing super at school. He has also been helping Dad in his shop a lot. Jaryd loves that kind of work. He reminds me so much of our oldest son Shohn. I am sure that God sent Jaryd to Kevin to take over helping dad now that Shohn has grown older. Jaryd is also taking responisbility for getting Kailyn to her classroom every morning at school. He does better when handed lots of responsibility. His first report card was good. He got a couple of undesireable marks, but nothing that wasn't already expected. He seems to love playing his leapster and that is helping his English immensely.

Now for Mom's news. I had elbow surgery on January 8th. Just a minor tendon repair and to clean up some tennis elbow. Never played tennis so I am not sure where that came from. I was in a cast for about 10 days. Kevin's mother came and stayed with us the entire time and that was a huge blessing. She helped with all the meals and the bathing and dressing of the girls. She was also the taxi driver for all the trips to and from school. We would not have made it without her. I have always been blessed to have such a wonderful mother-in-law. I do not think of her as a mother-in-law just as my other mother. The elbow is doing nicely and I start physical theraphy this week. Hopefully things will progress and I will be pain free from now on.

Dad is doing well. Nothing much different in his life. Big kids are great.
I will try to post some pictures of the kids later. Alyssa has her 4th birthday party on Sunday. Where has the time gone? She is having a princess party at home. We have a castle jumping balloon coming. The boys will dress as knights and the girls like princesses. What fun we will have. The weather is supposed to be in the 70's so it should be a great day.

Talk to you all again soon. Sorry for my tardiness.
Tammy

Christmas

What a Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The kids all seemed to enjoy the thrill of all the Christmas events. We went to a Candlelight service on Christmas Eve and they got to enjoy the true story of Christmas. It was a beautiful sight to see ALL my children sitting there enjoying the Christmas service together.

We then came home and Nana and Papa brought over dinner. We had a wonderful dinner with my Dad and Nana and Papa and Tiffany and Nathan. Then we retired to the den to open presents.

Everyone was a little slow getting into the moment but it didn't take long for them to figure out the process. I have always wrapped everyone's packages in the same paper. Every child has their own paper. It didn't take Jaryd long to figure that out. Kailyn on the other hand didn't quite understand the process. I am sure next year the race will be on. We had each child put their trash in the trash can as soon as they unwrapped a package. Kailyn became the trash woman. She enjoyed putting the trash away more than unwrapping the packages. Santa came the next morning and that was a real surprise for all. I think next year they will be a little more savy to the whole procedure. They didn't understand all that was going to happen this year.

After Christmas, we went to Kevin's Mom's and then on to Kevin's Dad's. It was fun visiting with all the family. Kevin's brother and family was there and they got to see the kids for the first time. All the family has really rallied behind us and loves the children as though they had been there all their lives. As I stood on the stage last week at church and looked at the children, I realized was a true miracle it was to have them in our lives.

Here are a few more pictures of the mayhem. Thanks for all your prayers and love during this time. We can never tell you how much all of you have meant to us. Those we know and those we only know from the blog. We hope to meet all of you some day.

Merry Christmas

Well where should we start.

Jaryd: Tonsilectomy went perfectly and he is well on his way to being well most of the time. He also, had a little boy surgery done today. He is feeling fine and he will be better in a few days. School is going well. He does still have some concentration problems, but that is improving all the time. He really likes his teacher so that makes things a lot easier. He wants a bicycle for his birthday on Monday. I am sure that is what he is getting. He can't wait. We have been counting the days for weeks. He would like a remote control car for Christmas. I don't think they really understand what Christmas will be. His English is remarkable. He is taking on the role of big brother beautifully. He helped me last night when I took all four kids to Taco Cabana by myself. Kevin had aboard meeting and I tackled this alone. I wasn't sure, but Jaryd was a life saver. He loves responsibility.

Jacob: Our prefectly wonderful healthy child. He also had a little minor boy surgery today. Glad those are over with. He is a little aggressive at times. He is so quiet you would not expect it from him. We have to be careful not to overlook him sometimes because he is so quiet. He will start to school after the Christmas holidays. He is excited. He will go in the afternoons. Jacob is quite a charmer. Jacob and Alyssa are big buddies. Jacob is maturing quickly, but has a long way to go. Jacob is really into "Cars"

Alyssa: She loves being a sister. I think God had already prepared her to have these siblings in the house. She hasn't missed a beat. She is so unselfish with all the toys. She doesn't like any of the kids to be gone. She likes to have them all home with her at all times. She is into princesses at this time. All we have to do for her for Christmas is buy something with princesses on it.

Kailyn: Our little bundle of movement. She is never still. She can't concentrate on anything for very long. She seems to move constantly from one thing to another. Kailyn will start school after Christmas break also. We finished all the paperwork and got them enrolled yesterday. She is very interested in babies. She loves to play house. Her health seems to be perfectly normal. We are still doing some testing on her digestive system, but other than that she is doing great. She is still not gaining a lot of weight, but hopefully that will change soon. We are going to get some orthodics for her feet to help her fallen arches. The orthopaedists says nothing is wrong with her physically. Only her fallen arches.

We are going to do some traveling to see the grandparents at Christmas in the motorhome. We have made one trip without Jaryd in the motorhome, so he is anxious to go this time. It is the only way to travel with kids if you aren't flying.

Merry Christmas to all and hope that you all have such a wonderful time with all of your new children. What a different place our house will be this year. PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sasha and Ben, Thanks so much and Merry Christmas to your families also.

God Bless You All
Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, Kailyn, Breanne, Shohn, and Randi

HELP

Okay all you bloggers I need your help. We have some friends who are trying to adopt domestically. They already have the children chosen. These children are in foster care. The state has told them that they will try to have them in their home by Christmas for the last four months. The new twist is that they are deciding that they need a background check from Colorado. Colorado is telling them it could take 8 weeks. That is unacceptable. This will dash their chances for having these children by Christmas. If there is anyone out there who lives in Colorado or has had a background check from there and can help us pull any strings to get this done sooner, I would appreciate you e-mailing me or just leave a comment so that we can get these two kids with their family for Christmas. I will say THANK YOU in advance because I know God already has the person that is going to help us with this problem.

Let me know.
Tammy

New Pictures

Thought you might like to see some new pictures of the kids. We took these outside this morning. Man have they changed.

Jaryd is still doing beautifully with his tonsil surgery.

I will try to post again soon. Thanksgiving was very special this year. Lots of new faces at our table. Praise the Lord!

The Huckabee's

Jaryd's surgery

Jaryd came through his tonsilectomy beautifully this morning. The doctor did not take out his adenoids only the tonsils. He is feeling pretty good and has not had any pain medicine since he got home. Just thought all you would like to know his status. So glad that is behind us. He did better at school this week. God is definately working in his life. He has made some wonderful progress this week.

Thanks for all the prayers.

All the other kids are doing great. Mom has had the flu this week and is a little worn out. Hope this is gone soon.

We go back to school for more testing on Monday for Jacob and Kailyn to go to Pre-k. Hopefully this will get settled in the next couple of weeks. Alyssa will sure miss them while their at school. She is so used to having someone around all the time now.

Kevin got a epidural on his back this week and he seems to be feeling better. He is really having a hard time keeping up. God definately has given him strength.

Love to all
Tammy

Finally a new update

It is has been busy since I last blogged. Let's see where to start.

Halloween. What a great experience. Our church has trunk or treat and this year a cake walk. That was so much fun. I don't think the kids knew exactly what to expect. They all got lots of candy. We are still working on eating all of it. Jaryd won three cakes at the cake walk. Alyssa won one. Jacob walked forever and never won a cake. He tried hard though. He never got discouraged just had a good time. Kailyn walked too, but didn't win one either. She mainly stayed in the strolled and just watched the people. She is hard to keep up with if you don't have her in the stroller. She just takes off. There are some pictures of them at the event. Alyssa and Jaryd went with Nana to her church a little later in the evening and played games and had their faces painted. Jacob and Kailyn stayed with mom and dad. It can be overwhelming to take all four of them at once.

Then my dad found out that he had to go to Lubbock for an angioplasty. He received two stints. One of them was in the artery they call the widowmaker. He had a 90% blockage in that one. The other one was in the RCA. He had a 99% blockage in that one. The doctor said he was just about a month away from a fatal heart attack. God really blessed us in catching this before anything major happened. Thanks for all the prayers.

Next we took Kailyn to the doctor for another evaluation. They are going to do some more blood work to see why she is still not gaining. She eats all the time and more than anyone else. I have to take her for fasting blood work. I haven't done that yet. I hope to do that on Monday. Kailyn is coming along on her language. She doesn't speak well in any language. I know that Early Childhood will help her in this area. Hopefully she and Jacob will start school in the next couple of weeks.

Jacob had his birthday yesterday. He wanted a bicycle. So that is what he got. He was so excited. He didn't take his helmet off all day yesterday. We had his party at Chuck-E-Cheese. That was a new adventure. His eyes were as big as saucers. But, he was ready to come home and play with his new toys. Jacob is still trying to connect better with the English language, but has come leaps and bounds since Jaryd went to school. He is having a few problems with aggression. We are working on that. He is doing much better in the past few days.

Jaryd is doing great at school. We are having some discipline issues, but that is to be expected. He is a boy, right. I say with him this morining on Starfall.com and he read a book to me and sounded out all the words. Wow!!!! I was amazed. We are going to use this website more and more for Alyssa and Jacob and Kailyn. Jaryd tried to tell something to Jacob last night in Ukraninan and he had a hard time trying to speak the words to him. He was amazed that he couldn't remember.

Alyssa is still doing wonderfully becoming a big and little sister to more siblings. I am just amazed at how well she has adjusted. She is doing lots of homework with Jaryd. School is fun for her. We do extra work with her because she likes learning so much.

Mom and Dad are still learning to have more children in the house. It has seemed to calm down a little. I did get to sit down yesterday for a little while. Dad even got a nap two days this week. That is a blessing.

Love to all. Keep us in your prayers.

The Huckabee clan