Sophia Got a Delivery

Sophia's little "husband" in Georgia sent her flowers! Totally made her day!!!

Another Early Start

 Since I needed to get Zeke on his bus by 6:30 this morning and Taylor needed to be picked up at 8:30, I decided to put my time to good use and make one of our favorite breakfasts.

Pondering........

I read this in a book that our church is studying and I'm still pondering it.........


Excerpt from FaultLines by Steve Deneff:


I'm thinking of the ethicist John Kavanaugh, who visited Mother Teresa to seek advice on how to spend the rest of his life. When she asked what he wanted her to pray for, Kavanaugh already knew the answer: "Pray that I have clarity."


Teresa smiled and said, "No, I will not do that. Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of."


"But you always seem to have such clarity," he said.


This time she laughed. "I have never had clarity, but I always had trust. So I will pray that you learn to trust."

Brittney Says

Brittney, my 16 year old: "Mom, did you know that not everyone in Africa lives in grass huts?"


Me: Face palm.

It's Wednesday Again

On tap for today, taking Sophia to preschool and back, helping friends move in the midst of all the snow, trying to catch up on some laundry, reorganizing the front entryway, trying to sort out the current insurance mess. Oh yeah, and its early out day. The kids get out of school at 2:30. Then there's church stuff tonight.

Please don't let there be any crisis today because I don't have time!

20's Diner

Full Office

This morning, I was trying to get some work done in the office before getting ready for church. Taylor came in and plopped down in the papasan chair and started talking to me. As I was chatting with her, Riley came in and sat down right beside me and started asking questions about pictures. Then Zeke came in to tell me all about Special Olympics yesterday. In the mist of that conversation, Anthony and Buddy came in.

Our whole big house and they all needed to be within four feet of me!

So much for getting anything done. I guess it's nice to be needed. ?

This is what happens

This is what happens when you have a five year old that lives in a house with teenage sisters!!!

Grammar

I hate it that the stupid voice to text on my phone can't be grammatically correct! In my last post it used the word 'there' incorrectly and I can't get back in and change it!!!

.

UPDATE: I got on a computer and changed 'there' to 'their'. Not that it bothered me or anything ;-)

.

Closet

The girl's closet is almost finished. Just another shelf to put in and we're done. Here's a picture of the area I finished yesterday.

One of the things we requested for Christmas were different colored towels for each kid. No one could ever find a folded towel in the cupboard when they needed it and I had a lot of 'not me's' leaving wet towels on the floor. Now each kid has two towels in their own individual color hanging in their room.

It's kind of hard to tell in the pictures but Sophia has pink, Anthony has tan, Zeke has dark brown, Taylor has dark purple, Riley has black and Brittney has grey. They all picked their own colors. If I find one laying around, I know exactly who it belongs to!

I love simplifying my life!

Riley Says

I was actually sitting down and watching tv with some of my kids the other day. Because it was in real time and not on the dvr, we had to suffer through the commercials and I always hate wasting time. I thought about getting up and putting some clothes in the washing machine but instead muted the commercial and did my own humerous voice-over. The kids were laughing so hard they almost fell off their chairs! Pretty soon, they couldn't wait for the next round of commercials just to see what I would come up with.

The next day, Riley told me how fun it was and reminded me that I'm not usually that fun. I gently informed him that because we have so many unique challenges, sometimes it takes most of my energy to parent and I can't have fun very often.

He questioned, "For six years?"

Uhhhhh...........

Apparently I need to work at loosening up a little

Where There's Smoke There's Fire

I wanted to write some humorous antidotes this morning but got waylaid when the boys room smelled like smoke. I was a little worried because no one will be home today and I didn't want some kind of electrical fire burning in the walls while we are gone. Turns out I don't have to worry about that at all. Let's just say Mr Riley will not be spending the night at his friends house tonight as he had anticipated. :-(

Parenting Life Hack

Riley!!!!!

I was paying bills today after we got home from Sioux Falls and noticed that the cell phone bill was extremely high. Since it's usually the same amount every month, I scanned the bill. I nearly had a heart attack when I realized that over the past month, Riley has somehow managed to charge over a hundred dollars to our account for games/apps.


I'm not happy!!! Nor do I know exactly where that extra hundred is going to come from..............

Teeth

Yesterday - Riley's first orthodontist appointment. Surprise, surprise......he needs braces.

Today - Zeke has four teeth pulled. He's happily drinking chocolate shakes!

A Little Quality Taylor Time

Just when I thought my parenting duties for the evening were over, I got a text from Brittney. She had asked earlier to borrow the van for the evening but when she went to work, she forgot to take it.


Brittney was working at Perkins and as soon as she was done there, she was supposed to drive to a wedding reception and pick up 7 little kids, ages 6 months to 10 years old, and take them home and put them to bed. She didn't have enough seats in her car for all of them. It also occurs to me that there are grown adults who wouldn't take on seven kids and handle them well. Kudos to you, Brittney!


Zeke was already asleep in his bed so I sent Anthony to bed and quickly put Sophia in her pajamas and asked Riley to watch Mickey Mouse with her. Taylor was almost asleep but I took her with me and we went to Perkins. I figured if I had to juggle everyone around and drive at that time of night, we would get a snack there. So we did! :-)

 

Bio Dad

Riley and Zeke's bio dad came for a visit today. I took Riley to see him for the first time last October and it went really well. Prior to that, they hadn't seen each other for eight years.

James came and took them bowling and then to Pizza Ranch. I was anticipating lots of discussion with Riley tonight but also knew we'd be dealing with a lot of emotional fallout from Zeke. He has a hard time controlling himself on a regular day, much less a really emotional one. I knew I would be in for a challenging evening. Did I mention that Steve's working at Swiftel again tonight?

.

Here's a picture of Riley, James and Zeke

.

The boys had fun but are on an emotional rollercoaster. I don't always know how to help them sort through their emotions when I don't even like my own emotions.  It's a work in progress.

I did have serious concerns about letting Zeke go today. I wasn't worried about his safety. I've been around bio dad before and am comfortable with him. I just wasn't sure how Zeke would react and how long it would take us to help him navigate through all of this with his level of reasoning skills. I did know we (I) would be paying for this visit for a long time through Zeke's negative behaviors. It took a while to get Zeke settled down again tonight but he's finally asleep. We'll have more to deal with tomorrow I'm sure, but for now, he's sleeping.

Riley is a different story. He and I have a very open relationship and he usually finds me and eventually starts talking. Tonight, after telling me about the positive and negative parts of his day and then combining it with discussions about the past, Riley told me he felt like crying but he wouldn't. I looked him straight in the eye and let him know that it was ok to cry

because this whole thing WAS sad.

Riley wasn't able to grow up and know his dad and his dad wasn't able to know him for the past eight years. It IS sad. Sometimes this broken world sucks. Just because there are good parts (hopefully like Steve & I, our house, his siblings, good education, able to play sports, etc.) doesn't mean that his life situation doesn't still make him sad and angry sometimes.

We talked for quite a while tonight. I told him not to be afraid of his emotions like I tend to. Riley and I spent an hour or so by ourselves in the office, mostly with him talking and me listening. He loves that I verbally give him permission to love his bio dad. 

Eventually, I could tell that he was wearing down and exhausted. He got up and came over for a hug. I told him that sometimes after having to confront hard stuff for a long time, it's ok to zone out for a while too. As long as he's dealing with the emotions first, then shutting down. Then I let him play Xbox so he could relax his brain and emotions for a while before bed.

He'll probably cry himself to sleep tonight.

.

 

Girl's Room Update

 Steve's working at the Swiftel Center tonight for the Miranda Lambert concert. When he's not home, I get kind of lazy with supper. Tonight we had corn dogs and nachos with cheese. The kids were happy and it gave me extra painting time. Now they're all watching a movie and it's giving me blogging time while I wait for the first coat of paint on the trim to dry.

When we started this project in the girls room, we had no idea how extensive it would be

or how long it would take us.

Since we're working only when we have the time and the money, it's taking a while.

I was going to wait to post all these pictures until we finished but who knows when that will be.

.

Here is the first wall I tore out when I realized there was probably no insulation behind the outside walls.

.

We tore out the plaster, lathe boards and the little bit of yucky insulation stuff that remained. 

.

It was messy but demo is always kinda fun!

Here's my dad and Steve tearing out the closet walls.

.

Another view of the closet. 

That's where I found tons of hornets' nests and a skeleton of a dead bird.

You can thank me later for not posting a picture of that ;-)

.

We took out the old windows and the ancient window air conditioner.

There were hornets' nest in that too!

Plus, there were giant gaps in the woodwork for air to leak in from the outside.

Our good friend Keith came over to help Steve install the new windows. T

hanks for loaning him to us, Nan!

.

 About that time, Joe came over to rewire the entire room. This room was the last one we needed to remodel on the upper level and it was still wired using the old knob and tube type of wiring. I wanted it all torn out and replaced safely with new wiring.

.

After that, we put up new insulation and sheetrock.

Some of the angles in the room were really interesting to mud and tape.

 

.

After lots of sanding and re-mudding, I could finally start the priming and painting. 

I told Taylor she could pick the color as long as it was something I could live with.

.

Once that was done, Joe came back to finish wiring up the outlets, lights and fire alarm. We even have a light in the closet now.  

.

Currently, I'm working on painting the trim.

It might take a while because not all of the old trim was re-usable. I'm sanding and repainting what I can. With the help of my dad and his router, we're creating a few new boards to look exactly like the old ones that aren't usable.

.

.

After the trim is put up, we'll begin work in the closet so the girls have a spot for their clothes again. Then we'll build their beds.

Right now, their mattresses are laying in the upstairs hallway.

I tip them up on their sides in the morning so we can walk through and Steve tips them down at night so the girls can sleep.

.

I'm not sure how long this project is going to take to finish but I do know that this is the last of the upstairs projects.

.

By then it will probably be spring and we'll need to start on some outside projects.

.

Now I think I'll join my kids and their movie night.

. 

House

I know I've posted this before but everyday when I drive up to my house I thank God for blessing us, even though it's taking a lot of work and continues to take a lot of our time and effort.

It's so worth it!!!

So here's another look at the before and after of the outside from almost a year ago.

Coffee Fixes Everything

This Morning

My sleep-deprived mind has no idea what's going on but they appear to be having fun this morning!

Anthony Says

Yesterday I was so tired that all I could think about was crawling back into my bed. I felt like I was going through the evening in a fog. I retreated to my bed by 8pm but I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned until 3am and now I'm back up at 5:30am. Needless to say, I'm not in the best mood but since coffee is my best friend, I'll make it through the day.
.
This makes me laugh every time I think about it and I could use a few good laughs today. So here's one of the conversations at Anthony's therapy appointment on Wednesday:


Anthony: "Mom and I get along, except when I get in trouble."


Me: "You weren't really in trouble. I just needed to separate you from the other kids because it was obviously hard for you to settle down."


Therapist: "So you were having trouble staying regulated?"


Anthony: "Yah, I was running around and getting everyone riled up."


Therapist: "So, Anthony, what do you think was happening?"


Anthony: "I guess I was going a little commando."


It's hard to keep a straight face when you're explaining to your child that 'commando' generally means going without underwear and what he meant probably had something more to do with Rambo!

Random Pictures

Nearly Going Postal

So back to the comment about nearly going postal on the middle school secretary. It all began when I needed to take the kids to the dentist. I know my friends think I'm insane for taking all six at the same time but it seems to work out ok. When they were younger and their behavior was terrible in public, it was awful. Now that they're older and I've spent a significant amount of time teaching them how to behave in public, they usually do ok.


Did I mention that this is a long story? Feel free to give up and go about your day. It's really not that great of a story anyway.


In order to get all the kids to the dentist, I first have to find a day that the dentist can see all six of them. Then, on that day, I have to pick up all the kids at their various schools at various times in order to make it to the appointment on time. Looking back, it would probably just have been easier to have them all miss the entire day. However, the appointment wasn't until 1pm so I thought I should have time alone to mentally prepare myself for an afternoon with six kids  they should have as much educational time at school as possible.


It took a bit of thinking about who to pick up at what time and in what order but I figured it all out. Brittney drove herself home from the high school at 11am and drove through Taco John's for herself and Sophia.  As soon as she came home, the three of us took my van and picked up Anthony at 11:30am at Camelot. Anthony was sitting in the office patiently waiting for me. I handed him the sack lunch I made for him and we proceeded to the Middle School to get Riley, Taylor and Zeke. Did I mention that I also had to figure out what time each kid had their lunch period at school so I knew whether or not they would have time to eat before I picked them up.  I had called all the schools that morning to let them know when I would be picking up the kids so we would be on time for our appointments.


When I called the middle school that morning, I very specifically asked them to excuse my three kids for dentist appointments in Sioux Falls. I asked that they have them waiting in the entryway at 11:45am and if they had any questions or concerns, to call my cell number. I thought it was pretty straightforward. The others schools didn't seem to have any problems.


When I pulled up to the middle school, none of my kids were waiting for me. It was just 11:45 so I wasn't overly worried. I decided to leave Brittney in the van with Anthony and Sophia so I could hurry the middle school kids along. Because of all the new safety measures (don't even get me started on how they're actually completely ineffective anyway), I had to wait at the locked door. I pressed the buzzer and waited.............and waited..............and waited. I pushed the buzzer again. Still nothing. I waited patiently at first but by the end I was ready to just break down the door myself, especially because my kids were already supposed to be out there waiting for me. I pushed the buzzer a little more emphatically the longer I stood there. I waited SEVEN MINUTES in that doorway, not that I was counting!!!


Finally, there was a click and they let me in. They didn't even ask who I was like they usually do, so it's probably a good thing I wasn't a serial killer or something. I guess they figured that a gunman wouldn't gotten frustrated and left long before they finally buzzed them in.


I made my way to the office to check in, which took another few minutes. I calmly asked the secretary if she had seen Riley, Taylor or Zeke yet because they were supposed to be waiting for me.


She haughtily informed me that the current class period didn't end for another 5 minutes.


"But" I replied," I called and asked for them to be waiting in the entryway at 11:45. Do you mean to tell me that none of them have even been released from their classes yet???"
She just looked at me like I've asked her to explain the theory of relativity in Japanese.


I gave up on her momentarily and went to find Zeke, since he's the one that usually takes the longest to get from one place to another and I'd rather get him out before the bell rings and chaos reigns in the hallways. Fortunately, his resource teacher had him waiting outside his classroom with his coat, boots and backpack. Thank you teacher!!!


I walked with him partway to the door and sent him out to the van. Then I turned my attention to the lunch room, which was currently packed full of hundreds of 7th graders. I hurried to the nearest table where I recognize someone and ask for Riley. That kid pointed me in the direction of Riley's table. When I got to Riley, I told him to go get his stuff so we could leave. He had to walk back through the entire length of the school to the 7th grade area and then needed to come back to check out at the office.


By that time, the bell had rung, releasing the hoards of students into the hallways. I was pretty frustrated.............and I still had to locate Taylor but I finally found her in a classroom. I went back to the office to check her out and wait for Riley to return. I opened the glass office window and questioned the secretary. I wondered if they hadn't gotten my message asking for my kids to be dismissed early. She said they had but they only dismiss them at the time that a parent states on the phone message. I told her that I had asked for them to be out in the front area at 11:45. She checked her message book, saw that it said 11:45, thought a moment and then let me know that "children will only be dismissed from class at the time that is given. If you need them dismissed earlier, you should have asked for them to be dismissed earlier."


I looked at her like - are you for real?!


I spoke a little more firmly when I told her "I specifically asked for them to be in the front area at 11:45. I didn't ask for them to be dismissed from their classrooms at 11:45. And anyway, you didn't even dismiss them at that time anyway. You were waiting for the bell at 11:57. Not even close to 11:45! So now I just had to chase down three kids in three different areas at 11:57 while wading through the entire middle school student body in the hallways between classes."


She shook her head at me and stated, "When you call in you need to give the time you want them dismissed. That's what we write down so that's when we dismiss them from class."


Again, I gave her the are you for real?! look.


I can put up with stupid people but I seem to have a real problem with stupid people that have a superiority complex and can't use simple reasoning skills. If I called and asked for them to be ready to go in the front area at 11:45, it's probably because I NEED THEM READY AT 11:45!!! JUST LIKE I ASKED IN THE MESSAGE!


Fortunately, before I went totally postal on her, I just walked away. There are some people it's just not worth arguing with.


On a much more positive note, the drive to Sioux Falls was uneventful, the kids did awesome at the dentist and not one of the six had any cavities!

AT THE DENTIST :-)

Sophia and Anthony calmly watching TV.

I noticed later that I accidently snapped this picture when the caption on the TV said

Danger 

Toxic

Children

.

Brittney playing on her phone 

.

Riley working on his homework 

.

 We gave the impression of a well balanced normal family!!!

hehehehehe!

.

Oops!

There's nothing like putting on comfy clothes and finally sitting down on the couch with a drink and a plate of nachos at the end of a long hard day, only to realize Anthony's school conference starts in 10 minutes.   :-(

And yes, I did make it on time.

Sorry

I should never say that I'll post something 'tomorrow'. Life tends to get in the way. Let's just revise that to say "later" ;-)  It involves nearly going postal on a middle school secretary.

People Are So Ungrateful

Story coming tomorrow................

Sophia