You'd think since I'm not working during Christmas vacation,

I'd have lots of time for blogging on the computer.

Not so much.

But here are a few random Christmas pictures I managed to remember to take ;)

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We spent Christmas Eve with Steve's side of the family at our house, attended the evening candlelight service and then had soup and cookies at our house.

The morning of Christmas is reserved for our family at home and then we joined my family for the afternoon/evening.

Other than Taylor waking everyone up at 3:30am and then then again at 6:30am on Christmas morning, I think everyone had a nice holiday week.

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Taylor & Sophia

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Taylor watching Sophia paint her Christmas gift for Mommy Rachel.

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Grandma Sandy & Sophia

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Riley wanted military stuff for Christmas.

Looks pretty good, doesn't he?

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Zeke at the Christmas Eve candlelight service.

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Riley & Anthony with their new 3D DS's.

They even let me take a turn!

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The big boys playing with the little boy's new toy!

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Grandma, Grandpa & Anthony

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Christmas wouldn't be complete without a family game!

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Sophia is turning three!

 

Her birthday party will be held this Sunday at 4 pm at the Days Inn.

Family and friends are welcome to help us celebrate.

If you want to swim, please bring your own towel.

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Message me if you want more information :)

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Praise to the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,

who comforts us in all our troubles,

so that we can comfort those in any trouble

with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

II Cor 1:3-4 

Just a friendly reminder that the Mayan calendar ends tonight.  So if you have any Mayan friends, a new calendar would make an EXCELLENT Christmas gift. :)
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Christmas Vacation

I'm officially on Christmas vacation! Today we're tackling the house because it's a disaster and we all know how much I like to live in choas. Not!!! Gifts are all under the tree and just stocking stuffers left to purchase. Steve's working today and I'm comandeering all the children. I intend to stay in my sweats all day!
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A few posts that will be coming up as I work on laundry, cookies and the house in general:

Furnace quitting right before Christmas
Special gift cards
Sophia and Christmas
Potential school battle I talked about earlier
Guatemala funds and trip update
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I might even get personal and blog something deep and insightful. Don't hold your breath though ;)
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"He who controls others may be powerful

but he who has mastered himself is mightier still."

~Lao Tzu

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience

in which you really stop to look fear in the face.

You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."

~Eleanor Roosevelt

 

 

As I get older, I'm realizing that it's a lot easier to face what you fear when someone comes along side you. The bonus is that after a fear has been faced together, it's a lot easier to face it alone when it comes up again.

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Pics.of Taylor at ortho

Getting out on January,28 2013

Just got done Today at 8:00am     



BY TAYLOR ANNE WILKINS


THANK YOU FOR READING THIS!!!!!   

To Aunt Sharon

To Aunt Sharon:  Your comment yesterday really made me laugh! Which I needed :)

Zeke Says

Grandma Sandy:  "Zeke, what do you want for Christmas?"
Zeke: "I want a twin brother."
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The good................

Good.........every child had a bath or shower last night in preperation for church tomorrow.

Not so good................my towel was missing from my hook in the bathroom this morning, which I didn't notice until after I took a shower. In fact, there weren't any towels on any of the hooks or anywhere else in the bathroom.

Good................I checked under the sink and was blessed to find one clean, folded towel in the appropriate spot.

Not so good................it was a tiny hand towel.
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Someday I dream of a world where I can take an uninterupted shower and have my clean, dry, fluffy towel waiting for me! I think it'll be a few years.
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Needed something a bit lighter

so I could continue my relaxing day after typing the last post :)

The other night I received a phone call from a distraught friend. I'm not going to give a lot of specifics (and please don't ask me) because, like I said before, a significant portion of the story isn't mine.
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The short version is that they have adopted children and one of their children is really struggling right now. And when a child struggles, the whole family struggles. As I was driving around in the dark helping to seek their lost child, there were a lot of thoughts going through my head. I was worried because it was so cold. I was also very concerned because I knew the child was frightened. Even though the child portrayed anger and ran, the real issue is a deep sense of loss and not being able to trust anyone, which turned into a fight or flight situation.

I knew that there was little hope of finding the child unless they wanted to be found or unless God intervened. God and I had a long conversation that night. As much as I wanted to find the child and help keep them safe, I also knew that it was more important for the parents to pursue the child and show the child that they cared enough seek the child. (Side note: It's really hard to type a cohesive story without using he/she and specific information)

I also came to the conclusion that I needed to be open and honest with the parents about what I had felt as a child and what I feel now. I have the advantage of being able to use my voice now like I never could when I was younger. I can give them some bit of insight into what their child is probably feeling. Because their child doesn't have the words yet either. In fact, they probably don't even know why they feel so angry and lost.

So after the child was brought home safely (THANK YOU GOD!), I gave my friends a hug and talked to them for a few minutes about what their child was probably feeling. I don't ever have a problem talking about my adoption in specific facts but I never really discuss the feelings associated with it. But I knew it was important in this situation to be as open and transparent as possible for this child and these parents.

I also have the advantage of being not only an adopted child but also an adoptive parent. I could also cry with them and tell them I'm sorry that it's so hard and reassure them they are good parents.

They have a long road ahead of them so please keep their family in your prayers. And if you have a little extra time, maybe ours too :)
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I'm looking forward to a semi-relaxing day today. But I'm prepared to be flexible if something comes up that's not on my agenda :)  The old me wouldn't have been so flexible but there's much less stress when my expectations aren't so high.
Sophia and I are spending the day together. All the big kids are already at school and our next scheduled event isn't until 9:30am so we've got an hour to relax. Sophia's watching Max & Ruby and I'm drinking coffee and blogging. Then we'll head to SDSU for PALS, which is part of the early headstart program. We'll play/participate there until 11:30am, have some lunch and then drive over to Camelot for Riley's first band concert at 12:30pm. After that, we're free for the afternoon. I see a nap in Sophia's future and some reading in mine!
Tonight, Riley is spending the night with a friend, Anthony is going to The Club and Steve will actually be home. So after gymnastics at 6pm, Brittney and I are going to do some Christmas shopping together. She's looking forward to it and so am I now that we received some gift cards to use.
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Last night after all the little kids were in bed and Steve was still working at the Swiftel Center, Brittney ordered pizza and we settled on the couch downstairs and watched a few episodes of Criminal Minds together. She loves the show but she always fast-forwards the gory part at the begining. Interesting that my girly-girl won't watch the sappy Halmark or Lifetime movies with me but she does want to watch CM. Of course, she's also always trying to get me to watch the singing and dancing shows too!
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Sophia and her cousin Adaya

(Her bio Aunt Amanda's daughter)

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I'm not kidding when I say that Sophia loves her bible!

She wouldn't even let go of it to sleep.

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The hooks are up in the back entry.

Now we actually have room for the coats, backpacks, snowpants and gloves.

Next we'll be putting up shelves but that might be a while yet

since we need to get through Christmas first.

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Tough, tough night last night. Most of the story isn't mine but part of it is. I was able to open up with some friends at a very necessary time, giving them my time and sharing some of my past to try to give them a bit of insight into their present. I'll try to figure out a way to post about it without sharing too much of their information but still giving mine. Meanwhile, please pray for strength and wisdom for them as they are going through some really, really tough parenting issues right now.
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Brittney

Brittney injured her foot/ankle a few months ago doing some stunting/tumbling during the cheer season, which required an emergency room visit. It still hasn't healed properly and is preventing her from competing in gymnastics. The orthopedic doctor wanted her to have an MRI. It was scheduled for last Monday but was complicated by the fact that school was 2 hrs late for my other kids and then the MRI machine wasn't working properly. So I got to hang out in the hospital waiting room with 4 of my kids for two hours until Joni Weber rescued them and took them to school!

The verdict from the doctor after the MRI is:
Brittney has a bone adema (bruise to her bone) and her tendons have had a stress response to it. Basically, one of her bones slammed into another one of her bones and everything she does including walking, continues to put stress on the injury. She will be back in a boot for at least three weeks (no gymnastics). They are hoping this will give the tendons enough time to heal and the swelling to go down. Then she'll start up with physical therapy again. For anyone counting, the boot should come off three days before we leave for Guatemala. We juggled quite a few schedules, including the doctor's, to get Brittney  in to the doctor in Sioux Falls on the 31st to see if she's healed enough for the boot to come off.

It's still possible that she'll be able to compete the last month of the gymnastics season. But if not, there's always next year.
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Just a quick note to say that we're still waiting on a phone call from the orthopedic doctor for the results of Brit's MRI yesterday. A combination of school being two hours late and issues with the MRI machine caused a glitch in my schedule yesterday. But I can honestly say that I was calm throughout the process, even with four children in the hospital waiting room for two hours. I was pretty frazzled by the end of the day though. I was thinking I needed to phone a friend to unwind a bit, then a phone call from another friend changed my perspective yet again. She's struggling much more than I am right now and I need to get my head in the game so that I can offer her the support she needs instead of finding someone to listen to me!
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Isn't God Amazing!

I gave my word yesterday that I would write about the latest development in my God trust walk. It's a long story but I always try to follow through on my committments, so here you go Vickie:

I am such a do-it-myself person that I have a really hard time asking for help, both from people and from God. You'd think eventually I'd learn. Especially since God has done some pretty cool stuff in my life. But I still struggle.

After a lot of internal debates back and forth a month ago, I turned the mission trip money issue over to God. He's shown he can provide and if we are meant to go, He will make a way. We've had so many subtle reasurrances from God that we are supposed to go that I feel confident that we are following His direction. And as He promised, He is providing generously. Brittney and I have so much joy in our hearts when we open each letter, many with notes of encouragement, or glance at each check from the people God has placed in our lives who are willing to help.

So every week, hundreds of dollars are funneling through me towards the Guatemala trip. I'd be lying if I said it's not exciting! Meanwhile, in the past month, our family has an issue with daycare costs. Because Sophia used to be in foster care, we can apply for daycare assistance while I work. It's a mound of paperwork but it enables me to remain at Headstart. The assistance pays for Sophia's daycare for the hours I work - Monday through Thursday from 9:45am-1:45pm. Which is practically perfect for our family.

Then the daycare provider changed her rules and said that Sophia couldn't come unless we paid the full $95 per week. Steve and I talked it over and decided that we would just have to pay the difference of $50 to $60 per week. Since I'm not working very many hours and I don't make much per hour, we would be spending most of what I make on daycare. But I love my job and it's good for Sophia to have a few hours at a good daycare. Plus we decided with as many times as I'm running other kids to doctor's appointments, various therapies and meetings, we could utilize the daycare more often. For example, if I needed to run Anthony to his therapist in Sioux Falls or Brittney to her physical therapy appointments, then Sophia could just stay at daycare since we were paying for it anyway.

Then the rules at daycare changed again and it was decided that the kids have to be picked up by 5:15pm every day. Steve isn't done at work until 5pm at the earliest and on the days that I needed to utilize the daycare for Sophia in the afternoons, we were having trouble getting her picked up on time. We could always get her by 5:30pm because that allowed enough time for Steve to finish up at work and get across town or have Grandma Sandy, who is also off work at 5pm, to pick up Sophia. But 5:15pm was cutting it too close to many times. And of course, it's a late fee if you're not there by 5:15.
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Meanwhile, the daycare assistance state people decided that instead of the usual 6 months of being qualified, they bumped it down to 2 months because I worked for two different employers during one month of the fall and they weren't sure how to process that correctly. I could still re-apply but I would have to wait until the two months were up and then re-submit new paperwork with just the one employer and then wait for the state to process the new papwork all over again. Which, they assured me, would enable us to requalify and it would be retro-active so that we wouldn't have any gap in the daycare coverage.

Which would have been fine. However, our daycare wanted their money immediately instead of waiting for the state. So for the past month and a half, I have had to write a check each Friday for $95. Which puts us WAY over budget normally, not to mention right before Christmas and an improptu missions trip!

By the way, I've since put in Sophia's two week required notice at her daycare and made other arrangements that aren't going to cost us more than I'm earning.

So as I'm watching all this money pass through my hands for the missions trip and praising God for it, I'm having a little pitty party because I only have $20 in my purse and I need to decide what's most important for the next two weeks, gas in my almost empty van or milk & cereal.

On Saturday night, I finally wised up and decided that if God could provide for the trip, He could provide for our family also. (Again) So I visualized myself with a basketball and passed it over to God. "Here God. You can handle it. I don't want to stress about it any more." I'll do what I can and You'll do what I can't."

Done.

Sunday morning, I was juggling my bible, my Bible study workbook, my teen parent group study book, my phone, my purse and my coffee. I asked Taylor to run downstairs and grab my bag to put everything in so I could head to church. Instead of my normal bag, she brought up my larger disney bag that I hadn't used since my Colorado trip.

It was completely empty except for the front zipper pocket, in which I found a bank envelope containing my leftover cash from my summer trip. Because of added car expenses, hotel, utilizing my debit card and being crazy busy with six kids and a husband when I got home from the trip, I had completely forgotten that the cash existed.

The amount of cash was within a few dollars of the amount we'd over-spent for daycare!

Isn't God amazing!
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Sophia Says

I was bemoning the fact that I used the last of my coffee cream in my cup this morning and I didn't have any more. I was kind of sad. Then my beautiful little three year old says, "It's ok mommy. I'll give you a hug." She hopped down off her chair and threw her arms around me.

Suddenly my day was better.
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Random Pictures

All walls are down in the back entryway (thanks to me),

electrical wiring is moved (thanks to Erick),

one wall primed (thanks to Steve),

painted (thanks to me),

and ready for wall hooks (thanks to Steve).

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Steve & I went out for supper last week and he let me have this for dessert.

Carmel Apple Pie :)

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Kids decorating the tree.

 

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Sophia trying really hard not to touch the little christmas skaters.

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Zeke somehow managed to put a hole right through the middle of this hard plastic plate.

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Steve got SDSU basketball tickets from the bank so we went on a date without kids.

We did, however, bring home a little leftover popcorn for them! 

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Awesome lunch with my mom at Bracco's in Sioux Falls yesterday.

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When I woke up this morning, I found these two in the tub

with their swimming suits and goggles.

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Taylor pic. blogging

Taylor nicely posing with her viola

before her concert.

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The real Taylor

Taylor Anne Wilkins

Taylor's name means she has great LOVE for the outdoors and when she was coming home from school her brother and his friend where throwing snow balls at her. Just bocaus she has love for the out doors and she was taking her time walking home.  And she was not walking fast and she said"It does not matter your speed."Her brother Riley said"Who cares!" So Taylor ran home and toled mom(Tricia)Riley and his friend where throwing snow balls at ME!So the moral of the story is NEVER throw  a snow ball at your Sister.

By Taylor Anne Wilkins

I'm feeling very discombobulated today and seem to have a lot of nervous energy. Maybe I haven't had enough coffee ;)  I've got two stories I hope to twrite this afternoon. I wish it was easier to blog on my phone because Brittney has a physical therapy appointment this afternoon and I could blog then. Maybe I need to figure out how to blog from my nook. Until then, I'm taking my hammer and a flat head screwdriver to work because we are opening a coconut today! Headstart is so interesting.
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Cynthia quoted this in class on Sunday but I'm not sure where it came from originally.

Between the big things I can't do

and the little things I won't do,

the danger is that I'll do nothing.

We were discussing the fact that sometimes we get so overwhelmed with all the things going on around us in the world. We feel like we can't help anyone or anything because there is just so much hurt out there we don't know where to start. But we were reminded in class that we need to be aware of the people that God places in our lives and be ready to act immediately in small ways, because a small act of kindness can make a huge difference in someones life. It's worth repeating ;)

Between the big things I can't do,

and the little things I won't do,

the danger is that I'll do nothing.

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Brittney Says

Brittney after reading something online: "Can I soak my feet in vinegar?"
Me: "I guess so. Why?"
Brittney: "Because this says it's good for athletes.
Me: Really?"
Brittney: "Oh, never mind. It's good for athlete's foot."
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Stuff

Yesterday Sophia's bio grandma drove up in the afternoon and dropped off two boys. In addition, we had our kids and Hannah from down the street. When it was pitch dark outside and everyone was overly ready for supper, we gave up waiting for her to come and get them and Steve drove them home.
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When Sophia is taking a bath and accidently starts to drain out the water, she tells me "the tub is drinking."
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I'm ready for church and will be taking Riley, Taylor and Sophia with me. They'll go to class while I have my Beth Moore class on James. Then Steve will meet us for 2nd service church with the rest of the kids. Sophia's mom and mom's boyfriend have been consistant the past month about coming to church so I'll need to pack a bag to keep Sophia (and them) occupied for 2nd service. For that hour only, she's back to using a sippy cup and having snacks. I also try to put in some books and colors. We let Sophia sit with them for the entire service but they usually come over to where I'm sitting and need some assistance at least once (sometimes 4-5 times) during the service.
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Immediately following the service at BWC, we'll be dropping the kids off at home and going to Bethel for our teen parent group. It's a neat group of parents and it's fairly convenient because we only meet every two weeks.
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"I am the Lord, the God of all mankind.

Is anything to hard for me?"

Jeremiah 32:27

I think there are currently 9 children running around in my house. I think I can pack a few more in ;)

Guatemala Missions Trip

My mom wanted to read the letter we sent out for our upcoming missions trip so I told her I would post it on the blog. I haven't really shared about it on the blog yet anyway. So here you go mom... and the rest you!

Dear Friends and Family,

Three weeks ago, Brittney and I had the opportunity to help serve at a fundraiser for an upcoming short term mission’s trip. We’ve always felt called to be a part of helping others and have wanted to serve on a mission’s trip but life circumstances haven’t allowed that to happen yet. So we’ve served where we’re needed. Meanwhile, Brittney and I decided to commit to going on a missions trip later in 2014 so that we would have adequate time to earn the needed funds. God had other plans.

One of the people on the current team discovered she was not able to go on the trip in January and it was suggested that Brittney and I consider taking her place. I struggled with the short time-frame to earn the money needed for two of us for the trip. I felt strongly that we needed time to set aside money and because we’re on a very tight budget already, I knew we wouldn’t be able to go. Then God expressed very clearly that none of the things that I have or experience are because I have earned them. It’s all through the grace of God. If we are meant to serve in Guatemala, then God will provide a way. We will do what we can and God will do what we can’t.

This life-changing 6-day experience (January 2-8, 2013), will give us the opportunity to serve Christ in the country of Guatemala. Some people need food, some need clothes or shelter and many, like the children we’ll meet in a few months, just need someone to love them. God has given us an incredible opportunity to serve Him but this trip is a huge step of faith for us and we would like to ask for your support.

First and foremost, would you please pray for us? In addition to the challenges of raising funds, we’ll be traveling internationally into a Spanish-speaking country and adjusting to a new culture. We’ll be serving in Zacapa and several small villages. The focus of our trip will be children’s ministry, where we’ll be leading Vacation Bible School, and also a program called Happy Feet, which allows us to give shoes to local children and adults.

We would really appreciate your prayers that God’s love would be evident throughout the entire process of getting ready and though our service.

Second, would you prayerfully consider making a financial contribution toward our expenses? Each of us needs to raise approximately $1,500 for the trip by December 29. Brittney and I have committed to setting aside $20 per paycheck towards the trip and are also participating in group fundraisers through the church.  But we know that won’t be enough before the end of December. I am asking our friends and family to consider supporting us by contributing $20 (or more, if you feel led). Believe me, I understand how tight finances can be but I firmly believe that God’s hand is in this mission. If we each do our part, even if it’s only a little, God can move in a mighty way.

Thanks for partnering with us!

"The wisdom from above is first pure,

then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits,

without favoritism and hypocrisy."

James 3:17

Sophia Says

Last night, Sophia decided to paint herself head to toe with lots of Brittney's bright red fingernail polish. She stripped off all her clothes, except her little Dora panties, to do it. It looked like someone had picked her up by her head and just dipped her into red paint.

Steve came into the bedroom with her and told me to clean her up while he worked on cleaning up the bathroom. I wouldn't have been very happy anyway but this happened 10 minutes into the season premier of a show that I'd been waiting three months to watch. One of the only two shows that I take time to watch.

So after cleaning her up as much as I could, I got ready to put her in the tub. I got down on her level and, with my eyebrows and mouth formed into a very upset look, I looked right into her eyes and told her forcefully, "I'm angry."

She calmly informed me, "I'm Sophia." Then she kissed my lips.

How can you stay angry at that?
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My uggg from yesterday has been replaced by a gentle sigh. I'm feeling much better after my mother-in-law baked me a banana cream pie, work at headstart went well, I had a virtual hug from my friend Val, a regular hug from my friend Kim and then my sister brought over pizzas for supper :)
There were no screaming kids (or parents) in the house tonight.............at least until Brittney eventually gets home tonight and discovers Sophia completely coated herself and Brittney's bathroom with Brittney's makeup and fingernail polish!
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UGGGGH!

I'm extremely irritable today. I think it started last night when Brittney, who is a 14 year old girl, went balistic when she realized that Sophia, who is almost 3, had been in her bathroom and gotten into her makeup. It was kind of like the story of the three bears when they discovered Goldilocks in their house. I thought Brittney was going to either chase Sophia out of the house or eat her alive. She did, in fact, take away Sophia's ice cream. It was pathatic to see Sophia sitting there at the table with her spoon and tears running down her face.
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Sometime during the night, when all children are supposed to be peacefully sleeping, Brittney went into Riley's room and put up hundreds of pieces of masking tape all over. Each one said, "Brittney was here". She was mad that Riley took her frosting into his room last week and ate it all. Did I mention we still deal with stealing/hoarding?
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This morning, Brittney was again in fine form. She was screaming at pretty much anyone who had the misfortune to be anywhere near her.
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Oh, and did I mention that Zeke stole from the grocery store while he was with Grandma and Grandpa yesterday? I'm not kidding when I say that we have to to keep an eye on that kid literally 24/7. He either has to be with Steve or I or be in his room where there's nothing to steal but his own stuff. Or Anthony's stuff.....but we check his pockets, hands and mouth before he comes out or goes in. And he's also pretty good at lying about it. When the other kids were asking him about his time at Grandma's, Zeke told them an elaborate story about seeing a 12 year old boy get caught stealing at the grocery story.
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I'm also a bit upset about another issue. Sometimes Steve's sister Staci doesn't realize the emotional devastation that she leaves in her wake. There's a story there but I'm not going to elaborate about someone else's story.
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Sophia spent another Sunday service with her Mom and mom's boyfriend at our church. I'm glad they're part of her life (another blog for another time) and especially glad that they're choosing to come to church but it's like having two more needy children. Then a bunch of her bio relatives came over yesterday evening right at supper time.
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Added to all of that is a complicated schedule for this afternoon. I'll need to go to work in a few minutes so I need to figure it out soon. I've got to take Brittney to her first PT at the clinic at 3:45pm (can't just drop her off because it's the first appointment and they need all the insurance/medical info), get Zeke off the bus at home at 3:50pm (remember, he can't go to The Club) and get Taylor to piano lessons at 4pm. Then we just need to make supper before Riley's basketball at 6:45pm. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to do it all yet. I think I can pick up all the kids at Camelot, including Zeke, right after school, drop the boys, sans Zeke, off at home, drop Tay off at piano early and then take Zeke with Brittney and I to physical therapy.
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Yesterday I was so tired that I accidently shut off my alarm and didn't wake up until 9:07am. I didn't want to miss my Sunday morning class and video so I flew into the shower and rushed to church. Riley was ready so I took him with me and we made it there by 9:20!
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After writing this, I think I'm grumpy because I'm just physically and emotionally exhausted. I think I need a break. But how do you take a break when so many people are depending on you? My therapist would probably say that you have to take care of your self before you have the energy to take care of others. Hmmmmm. Easier said than done.
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A couple had been married for 45 years and had raised a brood of 11 children and were blessed with 22 grandchildren. When asked the secret for staying together all that time, the wife replies, "Many years ago we made a promise to each other: the first one to pack up and leave has to take all the kids."

QUICK NOTES

• Cleaned the Swiftel Center last night with my fellow missions team members. We started at 11pm and finished by 12:15am. We rocked it! And we earned money for our trip. Gearing up to go back tonight for round two.
• Motocross participants and observers are particularly messy. Even the Swiftel staff said this is their worst event to clean up after.
• Steve's mom had a fire in her apartment last night while she and Staci were at a movie. Something was left on the stove but was it put out in time to prevent too much damage. Most of the damage was to the stove and wall. Now everything smells like smoke.
• Steve helped with the 1st Bank tailgating again at SDSU this afternoon and then I met him there for the football game. I think our tickets were from someone he works with at the bank. We did make it through the first half with heavy coats, gloves, hats, blankets and hot chocolate. Then we left so Steve could make it to Swiftel on time. SDSU was already up by 30.
• Best saying of the Thanksgiving weekend was when Anthony called Steve's sister Staci a hooker! Turned out that he discovered that she likes fish and thought she also liked to catch them - with a pole and a hook.
• Benefit of having relatives with a restaurant: Most of the family helps serve Thanksgiving dinner at the restaurant and then the rest of us show up, lock the doors and have the place to ourselves for a Thanksgiving meal! The kids loved it! Except for Sophia, who slept right through the meal.

I admit it. I love Christmas music! And I sing along when no one is listening :)
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Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I am thankful for coffee and my husband. In that order ;)
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Favorite quote of the day

i toke taylor to work to day. when she got home she asked everyone "Was that helpful or hurtful?"
THANK YOU DIANE!!!!!!!:)
 
BY TAYLOR A. WILKINS

After work and a quick trip to Sioux Falls yesterday, I made it back to Brookings just in time for the gymnastics intersquad meet and parents night. We didn't think Brittney would be doing anything because of her foot but the coach had her performing on bars. I got there 15 minutes after it started and just missed her! It was fun to watch the other girls and chat with some parents though. It's the third year that Brittney's been on the team so by now we know most of the parents. Steve's favorite joke is that I say I'm anti-social but I'm famous for chatting and mingling. The truth is, I'd still prefer to be in my own house by myself but I can socialize if I have to. I'm pretty good at doing what's expected of me.
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Today I'll be at work and all the kids will be home with Steve. But I know he can handle it ;)
Maybe not the same way I would.........but that's ok!
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The same little three year old who was screaming at me last night, "You're mean!!!", crawled into bed with me this morning, threw her arm around me and said, "Love you!"
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This evenings post is brought to you by Steve-

Well today was day 1 of my staycation.  Come some clothes folded, the kitchen cleaned, and then ran some running around to pay bills.  The temp today was 55, so I decided it would be a great day to wash my car.  This evening, I went and my a guy that I had worked with when I was at Daktronics, and he was at the University of Wisconsin.  We had worked on projects for about 5 years before he moved and then I left Dak.  Now he works at South Dakota State, and we had to get together and actually meet face to face.

Tricia is feeling much better.  She is still not up to 100%, but is feeling alot better than she did on Thur and Fri from last week.  She was working on her Guatamala fund raiser letter this evening, so I helped add pictures and lick envelopes, now will have to get them mailed.

Well tomorrow I get to take Sophia, Anthony, and Brittney to Sioux Falls to the dentist.  Then tomorrow night, Brittney has a inter-sqaud meet for gymnastics, but she will not be competing since her Dr has limited her for the next three weeks, to get her foot better that she injured 2 months ago, and it healed funny, so they hope that the rest will allow her foot to get the full range of motion back with out it hurning.

Quick note about Brit's injury:

The orthopedic doctor has determined that her issues do stem from the previous injury, but it's actually a muscle in her foot that has been over-stretched and has now healed that way. She can still walk and won't have to wear the boot but she can't work out on it for at least three weeks. Her athletic trainer will continue to work with her and she'll be doing a lot of biking and swimming in rehab, in addition to physical therapy twice a week. She's not able to do tumbling for gymnastics for at least three weeks. The part that is killing her the most though, is the fact that she isn't supposed to wear sandals or flip-flops.

Conversation after leaving the doctor:

Brit: "I have to stop at home quick."
Steve: "Why? You need to get back to school and I need to get back to work."
Brit: "I have to put on tennis shoes."
Steve: "But you have them with you."
Brit: "Dad!!! I have to change clothes."
Steve: "What you're wearing is fine and you already have your other shoes."

Me: "She thinks she can't wear tennis shoes with her current outfit so she needs to go home and change into something that will go with the shoes she has to wear now."

How did I get a girly-girl?

Nearly killed me today that we had to turn down tickets to the SDSU vs USD football game!

I'm still not feeling the best, we're scheduled to ring the bells for the Salvation Army at Walmart this afternoon and I already have Brittney babysitting tonight because some friends are taking us out for supper.

But it's a beautiful day, a great college rivalry and I love football. Maybe next time :)

Ø The reason Zeke was kicked out of the Boys & Girls Club:

Zeke stole three things in one day last week and then he stole again yesterday. Last time, he took a pop that a kid had in the lunchroom. The staff talked to him about it. Then he went into a staff member’s office and took $3. Again, they caught him and talked to him about it. Then later that afternoon, he went into the lunchroom unsupervised and took another kid’s pizza. This time they talked to him and made him sit in the back hallway for a while. The next time he went back, Wednesday, he again stole from a staff member.

Their solution was to tell Zeke that he couldn’t come back to The Club for two days. I guess for a regular kid who wants to go that might be an appropriate consequence but Zeke 1)usually only goes on Wed and Fridays anyway, 2)should have had an immediate consequence that he would remember 3) should have been better supervised to begin with 4)does not have the same understanding of later consequences that other kids have. He probably won’t even remember by next week why it was that he couldn’t go this week. So the whole thing was really only a consequence for me since I’m the one that had to take him to Sioux Falls today to sit through Anthony’s therapy appointment. The unfortunate part of the whole thing is that it probably has less to do with stealing than it does with hoarding. Even yesterday when Anthony let Zeke choose some candy from his therapist, Zeke refused to eat it and just wanted to put it in his pocket. Bring on the effects of child trauma yet again.

I finally opted to stay home today. It isn't fair to get anyone else sick, especially the little kids. If I was totally sick, it wouldn't be such a big deal but I just feel like crap and I can still walk and talk so I feel like I should be working. I ended up bringing my laptop, phone, books and paperwork into my bed so I'll just have a mini-office in my bed while I watch Criminal Minds on TV. And when I'm tired of sitting up and working, I'll just tip over :)
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Meanwhile, here are some random pictures

that I hadn't had time to post.

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Wilkins Family Band

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Artwork when a 3 year old is left to her own devices.

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Message found on the dry erase board Sunday morning.

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Steve's sister, Staci, & Shane's girlfriend, Dawn,

spending quality family time in our basement

playing Just Dance 3.

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Sophia & Riley

waiting for the Hobo Day Parade to start

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Anthony

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Still waiting for the parade to start

with Sophia's half-siblings & grandma Kathy

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Sophia

What happens when you don't learn your lesson from the 3 year old's body artwork and she's left to her own devices for another five minutes.

This would be three entire boxes of kleenexes.

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Riley & Sophia at ChuckECheeses

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View from my bed.

Unusual because there are only 4 other people instead of 6-8 :)

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Taylor's Bed/Mattress

One night I told Taylor to go to bed for the hundreth time and she was arguing that she wasn't tired and didn't want to go to bed. I responded that I didn't care if she slept or not, in fact, I didn't care what she did as long as she was laying in her bed.  My mistake. She took the opportunity to support our local college team by laying in her bed and writing on the edge of her mattress. Go Big! Go Blue! Go Jacks!

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Sophia 

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Back entryway

with cabinets, walls, carpet and wires torn out

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Brittney

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I'm sick. I do not make a good sick person. I try to keep doing everything I normally do but my body won't cooperate. I went to work yesterday anyway. I'm not sure about today. I'm trying to balance my sense of responsibility for work with my sense of responsibility for not getting anyone else sick. When I got off work yesterday, I came home, crawled into bed and didn't get back out until 6am this morning. To tell the truth, I'd still like to be there.

Steve had a baseball meeting last night so I sent a couple of kids to church and then bribed Brittney $5 to keep an eye on Sophia. That really only left one or two kids. The downfall is that the rooms that Steve and I cleaned on Monday are now completely trashed again.

Brittney has an appointment with an orthopedic specialist this morning. Her athletic trainer is concerned about the injury to her ankle/foot from this past cheer season. The original injury happened a few months ago when she was doing gymnastics tumbling at the gym downtown. When it initially happened, Steve took her to the emergency room for x-rays. She ended up in a boot and using crutches. The trainer and Brittney are concerned that there is still something wrong.

I'm taking Anthony to Sioux Falls for his therapy appointment this afternoon at 3pm. That was supposed to be easy today. I'm ususally out of work by 1:45pm, which would give me just enough time to pick up Anthony from school and leave town by 2pm, putting us in Sioux Falls by 3pm. Then Zeke caused a bit of a glitch. Which is a whole different story. But the end result is that I was planning on him being able to go to the Boys & Girls Club after school today because I'll be leaving town before school gets out and won't be back until 4pm.

But Zeke has been kicked out of The Club. So now I have to try to pick him up early from school too so I can take him to Sioux Falls with us. The first problem is that he's at a different school than Anthony so it will cause a major time crunch to try to get them both picked up and still be on time. Then there's the fact that I just plain don't feel good and it was already going to be a struggle to do the Sioux Falls thing today and now I have to take TWO of my most challenging kids. Added to that, I'm incredibly frustrated with Zeke right now and don't particularly want to keep him occupied during the hour at the therapist's office.

Oh, and Riley has basketball tonight and Brittney and I have a meeting for our missions trip. Yes, I just remembered I haven't really posted anything about that yet either. Maybe I should just suck it up and stay home today so I don't get anyone else sick. Then I can post about our trip and about Zeke.
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Looks like I'm in for another fight with the Brookings School District :(

It was not on my agenda this morning to have a mini crisis. Shortly before we were ready to leave to deliver all the kids to school, Zeke had a major bloody nose. He gets them quite often, especially when the air is dry but today it was a real gusher. It was literally running down his face and none of the usual techniques were working. I held kleenexes to his nose and tipped his head back. After a few minutes, I gave up on that and tried something else. By now, he had blood all over his face, his clothes and his bed. I tried a cold compress on his nose, Steve tried stuffing a wad a cotton between his upper lip and his top front teeth and we tried all the other stuff that usually works. I finally just had to stand Zeke in the bathroom over the sink and just let the blood run right into the sink. After another 15 minutes, the blood flow finally slowed down a bit. Steve left to take Sophia to daycare and I left left Zeke standing over the sink with Brittney so I could get the other kids to school on time. Then I came right back and cleaned up Zeke, loaded him into the van with a towel and we took Brittney to school. Then I brought him back home and made him lay down on his bed for a while to try to keep the bleeding from starting up again. It seems to be ok now so I'm going to take him to school, zip over to work and hope I don't get a phone call that it's started up again.

We had the best day ever yesterday!!! I guess it really is all about the little things because we didn't do anything important. Steve and I had all the kids dropped off at school or daycare by 8am. He even brought me back a carmel mocha and a blueberry scone from my favorite coffee place, Chocolatte.

We cleaned the kitchen and the dining room, which the kids had destroyed on their three day weekend. I had added to the mess with binders from the torn apart office/back entryway so I sorted and organized those too. After those two rooms were back in order, we worked on the back entryway. The back wall is now ready to paint. Then we snuck in a little snuggling time before we headed to BWW for lunch. After lunch, we picked up paint and headed back home for a quick nap before the kids made it home. Meanwhile, we decided since we were having such a nice, relaxing day that we called all the kids' teachers and made the kids go to the Boys & Girls Club after school, which bought us another two hours alone together ;)

Before our day of solititude was over, we stopped at the church and the grocery store. Then we picked up all the kids and went home for supper and then got the kids ready for bed.

Steve joined Taylor, Sophia and me for a Lifetime movie and the day was complete!.

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PS: My phone was found. Steve knew where it was. But I still didn't answer it yesterday :)

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I seem to have lost my phone again!!! The last time I remember seeing it was when I dropped it on the floor at church. Brittney picked up the front, back and battery and I vaguely remember taking the pieces and putting the phone back together but I don't remember what I did with it after that. I've now checked all the usual places and bribed the kids with a dollar to whoever can find it. Unfortunately, it's still missing. So when I said I wasn't turning on my phone tomorrow, apparently I wasn't kidding.
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• Taylor told me that the movie that Joan and Heather took her to tonight was "the best movie EVER!!!" :)

• Just called my birth mom because I was supposed to call her today. Left a message because she didn't answer :(

• Brittney is in the shower and I can hear her singing. Way off-tune but still makes me smile :)

• Finished getting the kids settled in for the night and Riley comes to my room to tell me he threw up. I helped him clean himself up, got him a blanket and settled him on the couch. Then I checked out his room. He managed to get his pillow, bedding, floor, instrument case and I'm not sure what else. I'm going for the mom of the year award again because I just covered it all with four big towels, shut his door and will deal with it in the morning :(

• Bummer of a game ending last night! Jacks lost on a 3 pt shot by the other team at the buzzer.

• Today I have happily stayed in my sweats all day and I haven't left the house.

• Our entry way from the garage into the house is entirely torn apart. It wasn't the best use of the space so we've gutted it. I really needed the power of the swinging sledgehammer that day. Lots of frustration can be alleviated by knocking a wall out. This afternoon, our friend came and helped move some electrical wires so I think we can do some painting tomorrow or Monday.

• I had an epiphany last night.  I realized that a few years ago I was so concerned with protecting myself that I completely disregarded a friend. Yesterday I stumbled on something that reminded me of her thoughfulness and I finally realized how badly I treated her without even realizing it. I wanted to run right over an apologize before I talked myself out of it.

 

• Anthony's therapist sent me an email asking how things were going. I wasn't having a very good week and this was my response

 

At home, he's still very angry/defiant when he has to do something he doesn't want to do, usually at least a couple of times a day. As long as he's doing what he wants, he's fine.

           

 Note home from Anthony's teacher:

 Anthony has been having some trouble getting along with others at recess time. He also had a hard time listening         and following directions today.

(He had 3 not following directions infractions)

 

Some of the notes we've had in the past three weeks in his planner are:

Not lining up when told

Not putting things away when asked

Not following along in reading

Tapping on his desk (and not stopping when asked)

Blurting

Running in the hall

Making inappropriate noises

Blurting during spelling, art and computer lab (all on the same day)

Bothering his neighbor

 

Out of the last 19 school days, there were only 7 that he had a relatively "good" day. It seems to me that he just doesn't think that any of the rules should apply to him. He doesn't express any remorse about any of these either. He's mad that it inconveniences him when he's repremanded but he's never sorry for what he does. I don't think he has any idea how he and his body impact everyone else. Even today when I talked to him about what happened at recess with another student, Anthony didn't seem to think that it was his fault or that he had "caused" whatever happened. For Anthony, it's always someone else's fault or problem.

 

I'm begining to think that his mentality and attitude won't/can't change. Maybe it just is what it is. I think we're moving from pro-active mode to survival mode until he's 18 and we turn him loose on society. Other than negative changes during the DSS investigation, which he's mostly overcome, I haven't seen any positive changes in Anthony in the past few years. If anything, he is more defiant and agressive every year.

 

Sorry to be so negative :( Right now he's sitting on a chair behind me because I can't leave him alone. A few minutes ago, he was mad at me because I explained to him why he couldn't throw a football in the house........so he pulled the leaves off my ivy plant.

 

Tricia