it`s Not Fair

Ti`s Wednesday, the one day of the week Dad needs to be to work early, no issue there because it is worked into the schedule. Jared has gone off to a part time job he got catching chickens, don`t laugh to hard, it pays pretty well, he is in good shape and can catch those crazy chickens and it gets him outta bed early so it makes Mom happy. Karre, Lauren, and Allen have school today as well so that leaves me home with Hanna and Paul.

Paul is his usual busy self, running, playing with cars and chattering non-stop. I have learned how to work around him and get things done.

Hanna is wandering around here wearing only a pair of pink pajama bottoms with green frogs on, yelling at full volume "it`s not fair". She has been throwing things and kicking the wall so I have to stop everything and keep track of her in order to make sure that she does not hurt Paul, herself, and hopefully to preserve the walls as well.

I am sure she is referring to the fact that the older kids have school and she does not. Well who is it not fair to her or me. In my opinion it is not fair to me because I have to deal with her outrageous behavior all day instead of getting things ready for Thanksgiving in peace. It looks like I am not gonna get much done here today.

Whatever the older kids and I can put together tonight after some crazy acting loud, people go to bed is what we will have tomorrow. It does not matter anyway because all of the kids will be home for the day, healthy and full of youthful energy, and that is itself is worth being thankful for.

No Call But....

I did not get any calls from schools today, that does not happen often around here.

What I did get was a kid who had borrowed (if you want to call it that) a green marker from someone on the bus or at school, I don`t which and it does not matter. She had taken that marker and drawn stick figures of all shapes and sizes, with Botox lips (big lips) all over her arms and legs as well as on her stomach. She had also written BFF all over the place. When asked what she thought she was doing she claimed that those were her tattoos. There is only one problem with those tattoos, they washed right off with a little soap, water, and Mom power.

Waiting For The Call

There are only two days of school for the elementary kids this week with conferences and Thanksgiving break. Hanna was acting very weird, okay even more weird then her usual self, this morning. She was being really, really slow about doing everything. She actually combed her hair without being told to do so ten times, and volunteered to tie Allen`s shoes. When I searched her before she went out the door I found a toothbrush and a piece of paper with a bunch of junk written on it that made no sense at all.

I do not know what she is up to and I am sure it is nothing good, so now I am waiting for the call from school, that is if they happen to catch her in the act of doing what ever dumb thing she is bent on doing.

Sweet Sixteen

This beautiful little girl is sixteen today. She is the most lady like of our girls. Her favorite color is purple, she likes to dress up in pretty clothes and get her hair and nails done, and she likes all things girl.

It is a miracle that she survived infancy and given the fact that she was not expected to live everything she accomplishes is all the more wonderful. As a little girl she was such a happy, cheerful kid who would work harder then everyone else just to do the things that we all do every day, such as learning to feed herself, crawl, stand, and walk,to open a door, zip a jacket, or ride a bike. From twelve to fifteen years of age there were lots of really rough days as Lauren realized that she was different from other people. She could not walk or run like other kids, it took her a long time to write or color, she needed help to dress herself, feed herself, and all of the other things that come along every day. This frustrated her to no end, she just wanted to keep up and she couldn't. She has become much more comfortable with who she is and what her abilities are. We still have those days when she gets frustrated but they are rare rather then the every day routine.

I enjoy this young lady, watching her blossoming into a gorgeous blonde haired, tall, slender, more sure of herself person all the time, and she still has those same amazingly large baby blue eyes that melted my heart the first time I saw them. It is really special to have sixteen year olds around. They are amazingly immature, do some really dumb things, yet they are so sure of themselves and know what they want even if it is off the wall it is just a riot watching them and remembering being that age. Lauren enjoy being sixteen, its a wondrous time in life, Happy Birthday!!

Patience Do I Have Any More?

I filled out every form imaginable, answered every question a hundred time over, gone to numerous meetings, conference calls and appointments. I am working with two physicians, a public health nurse, a social worker, and a medical ethics board to get the issue resolved. I will only say here this involves one of my girls and it is a mom`s worst nightmare. The kid has missed a LOT of school and we have been working very, very hard to get this issue resolved for more then ten months now. We are making head way towards a resolution but it is taking FOREVER and I do not know how much more of this I can take.

One of the doctors told me yesterday that things will be taken care of in the next ninety days or less. I am trying, I mean really trying to be patient and wait it out. I hope that she is correct and and we get this resolved sooooooon, before this mom goes crazy!!!

December 24-31

Since we have four adopted kids all who have special needs, two of them have birthdays, one adoption was final during the last week in December we have a lot to celebrate. We do celebrate all of these things, but we do it our way. There is much routine here and we keep things the same for the holidays as well.

!. We have the same get up time in the morning and the same bed time too.
2. We draw names so each person is responsible for the gift or gifts for only one other person. This teaches the kids that they have to save their own allowance to go shopping. For the kid who has lots of anxiety in the store we let her shop on line.
3. We attend children's mass on Christmas Eve because it is geared toward younger kids, is a little shorter, and is at a good time for us.
4. Since Allen`s birthday is also Christmas Eve I have something in the oven to eat after church. We let him open his birthday gifts (wrapped in birthday paper) and then we load up the van, turn on Christmas music, and drive around looking at the lights while eating a plate of cookies we bring along. It is Allen`s day and he is perfectly happy with this celebration.
5. Santa has left presents for everyone under the tree Christmas morning. This Santa is very practical. They get things like tooth brushes, deodorant, pencils, socks, t-shirts, etc, etc, that the mom and dad would have to purchase if Santa did not. They will all get something that they do not need such as a gas card for the drivers, the purchase of the high school year for the junior,etc. Santa wraps everyone`s gifts all in the same paper for example Karie's is red plaid and Lauren`s is silver with snowmen this year. There are no name tags to mess with, how you figure out which one is yours is by digging in the stocking and finding a little gift wrapped in your paper.
6. To save on the chaos of opening gifts the youngest goes first and opens all of his and then we move up the line from there. Everyone to the best of their ability, waits until all gifts are open before leaving.

We do not go to visit the relatives during this last week in December because there are to many of them and we do not exchange gifts other then with the kids Godparents. They now understand that our kids can`t handle the get togethers at this time. Now that our kids are getting older and we are dealing with girl friends/ boy friends they know the routine and are welcome to be there but if they choose to have other plans that is okay as well. We will be home for them when they want to be here.

Car Wash

Paul LOVES cars, trucks, vans, trailers, tractors, and anything else that has a motor and wheels. He never cares where we are going just as long as he gets to go for a ride. He keeps track of all of the vehicles in the neighborhood and watches for them when we are waiting for his school bus to arrive. He knows the sounds they make and will let you know that the bus is coming before it even gets around the corner. Today he will get a special treat as it is going to be nearly fifty degrees outside again, so we are going to take my very dirty van to the car wash, that will make his day and he will talk about it for the rest of the week.

I like this thing where you can make a kid really, really happy just doing chores that need to get done anyway.