Catching Up Again - Our Somewhat Crazy Week

This past week has been a little crazy. In some ways not so great, in other ways wonderful, but either way very busy.

Tuesday we began our homeschooling year. We had a great day Tuesday and the kids really enjoyed it even though they weren't to excited at first. Math is our biggest challenge and it is done first thing in the morning and gotten completely out of our way before we move on to anything else. The other morning subject is reading and they are both loving the books they are reading. In the afternoons we are doing Bible, Science/Social Studies (alternating days), and Literature. We are also spending about 30 minutes each afternoon watching a video from Snag Learning. We watched 3 Points and I felt it really made all of us think about how fortunate we are and what role each of us has in making life better in some way for others.

On Wednesday we had two new kids start coming to daycare. Unfortunately I got up that morning and discovered that I had been hit with some kind of stomach but. There absolutely no way I could handle taking care of the kids so I had to call Doug home from work. I felt so bad doing that but Mona (my helper) had left early on Monday because she was sick and had not been able to work at all on Tuesday. I had no idea if she was coming in Wednesday or not but even if she was she normally doesn't get here until 10AM. This was 6:30AM and I new I couldn't handle things that long. Thankfully, Doug was able to leave right away and as soon as he got home I went to bed and stayed there until about 3:00 that afternoon. Also, thankfully, Mona was able to come in for a few hours and make lunch, clean up, and get dinner in the oven, before she had to leave again. I was grateful that the mother of the two new kids took everything in stride and understood these things happen and they were back the next day to a much more normal schedule.

Thursday evening shortly after Mona left for the day she had to turn around and come back because the radiator in her car developed a big leak. So Friday her son brought a new one and Saturday Doug put it in for her - with supervision.

Another wonderful fix-it project that Doug had to deal with when he came home from work on Friday was a stopped up toilet. It turned out that "someone" (translate that to Michael) had flushed the end of a paper towel holder (that I accidentally broke the other day and should have thrown away) and it was causing major issues. Lovely!

The church we attend just finished building a new addition and this weekend in celebration of that there were a lot of ativities going on all weekend long. We've had to miss most of it because of daycare schedules but we were able to go Friday evening to a concert by No Greater Love. It was great to get out for an evening and the music and singing were beautiful. We took our kids and some their friends and they had a great time as well. Michael was even out in aisle dancing for the last half of the concert. Also wonderful was getting see for the first time all the renovations and additions that have been going and I have to say the architects and builders did a wonderful job.

Amanda has adopted a stray cat the she originally named Lola. When we realized that Lola is a boy she changed the name to Toby. It was very malnourished and starving for attention and Amanda has been spending a lot of time nursing it back to health. She even bought him special food yesterday when she went grocery shopping with Doug.

 We have five daycare children so far today and three more scheduled to come later this evening but it has still been a pretty quiet and peaceful day. Hopefully the week is that way as well.

Closed Doors and Hidden Rooms

We know what we are, but know not what we may be.

                                                            - William Shakespeare

I've had some lofty goals recently and quite often failed fantastically. Actually, most of the time, I've failed fantastically.  I've truly considered giving up. I've had quite a few days when I thought maybe I'm just asking too much of myself.

Maybe these dreams of mine are just pipe dreams, mirages, castles in the air.

Maybe I don't have the backbone, the know-how, or the determination to make them happen.

And maybe it's just selfish of me to want anything other than what I have right now. I have a husband I love, wonderful children, and a thriving business. I have a roof over my head (admittedly it's a sometimes leaky roof, but it's a roof), plenty to eat, decent clothing, health. I have friends, and am blessed with a wonderful church family.

And I love all the people in my life and am very grateful for the blessings that I have. And yet I often feel that I am choosing to crawl at a time when I should be walking, running, maybe even flying. There are nights when I have dreams that I am literally soaring through a huge mansion that is beautiful, well appointed, with more mysterious rooms, nooks and recesses than I can find, filled with potential . . . and yet unused. Other nights I dream that I am living in a house and suddenly discover there are rooms in this house that I have never opened the doors to, filled  with potential and possibility for many uses and again . . . unused.

I've been thinking a lot about these dreams and, while I don't often feel the need to interpret dreams I am beginning to feel that there is something here I need to examine. My life is before me. My house, my mansion is here and ready to be used.  It is well furnished with family, friends, and so many opportunities. And yet I am not making full use of these blessings.

So I ask myself - What are some of the unused rooms in my life? Which rooms have I only peaked into, yet never made use of all they have to offer?

My own home is one. While it is livable and comfortable enough there is so much more potential for beauty, for providing an oasis of calm, of nurturing and caring, as well as of creativity, love and laughter.

My business in another. Business is good and growing and yet I am getting a sense within myself that I have been looking at it too narrowly and missing opportunities for growth, for greater outreach and positive connection to those served directly as well to the wider community.

Writing is yet another. Yes I've dabbled in it, played around with it, but it's time for me to get serious and do what I need to do to make the time to write. I have so many thoughts, ideas, questions and stories, words just welling up inside with no place to go. It's time to get them out and go where they lead me.

These are just a few of the rooms in my life that I need to make full use of.  I know there are more but these are where I need to start now.

What rooms in your life remain unused, gathering dust, and hidden behind closed doors, waiting to be opened and used as they are meant to be?

Day Two of Vacation

It's day two of our vacation and I am very much enjoying it. I love my work but am beginning to realize how much I need to schedule regular breaks to refuel. It's easy to think that since I work from home I don't need those down times but that's not true.

The kids have been enjoying it as well.

Amanda had a friend over Saturday evening and she stayed until early afternoon on Sunday. Today Amanda took Michael for a walk to visit the cows. This afternoon she went on a bike ride with another friend. Otherwise she's been busy on her computer playing WebKinz. And this evening she voluntarily cleaned up and vacuumed the playroom and living room.

Austin went with the youth pastor and a few other youth this afternoon out to eat and then to mow an elderly ladies yard. This evening he went over to the farm next door to help feed calves.

Since Doug didn't have to be up early to go to work this morning he agreed to be on call with the Rescue Squad all night last night. It was actually a quiet night but knowing that he could be called out any minute kept him from sleeping, so he's pretty tired today. But he still did some mowing and then took the van to the shop and had two new tires put on.

Later in the week we are taking the kids to the zoo one day and another day we are planning to visit Doug's parents who live about 80 miles south of us.

I told the kids that tomorrow morning they have to be up by 9:00 and we are going to finish the rearranging/reorganizing project we started in their rooms. They weren't excited about that but it has to be done and it's hard for me to help them when we have a house full of daycare kids.

As for me I've been doing a variety of things - writing, cleaning, napping. Just enjoying a slower pace.

As of today all my school age children that I provide childcare for are in school. So begins the days of waiting for the bus, arranging drop-offs and pickups and homework. No homework yet but I know it's coming.

The silence here was almost deafening today. Well, I guess that's an exaggeration because there are still my own three even if no one else shows up but it was much quieter without a houseful of school age kids - mostly boys. Although, honestly, some of the girls are louder than the boys.

This happened to be one of those days when the preschoolers were either home with their parents, parents were working a late shift or, as in the case of one child, were coming late because of a doctors appointment. So we took advantage of the extra time this morning and did a lot of work upstairs. Amanda still has things to rearrange from her room change. Austin needed to just do some general cleaning in his room. And I had lots of clothes to sort through and put away and laundry to do. There were four big boxes of clothes that were given too us to pass on as needed, use for the kids or do whatever with. I knew a lot of them were Michael's size or the next size or two up and needed to be put in his closet. I'm so glad that's done now.

Michael took advantage of the fact that I was busy and decided to give himself a haircut with Doug's electric razor.

I had to laugh every time I looked at him until Doug finally gave him a haircut this evening. He had to cut it down really really short, but it looks better than this anyway.

The salon that was in business right behind us has moved to a new location. Today the salon owners were back to finish cleaning out and offered to let us have four bookcases, and a small table that they no longer had use for. I was more than happy to give them a new home and now I'm full of ideas of how I want to rearrange the playroom. But the actual rearranging may have to wait until next week when we're on vacation and I won't have so many little ones to work around.

I can feel myself getting excited about vacation and feeling less focused on the day to day work. I can hardly wait to sleep in, read, write, and work on some projects that I've been looking for a chance to tackle. We are also planning a couple day trips - to visit Doug's parents and to go to the zoo. We've never taken Michael to the zoo and I'm excited about seeing his reaction to the animals.

As I'm writing this Austin and Amanda are outside with a flashlight looking at all the spiders that have shown up to take advantage of all the bugs that fly around our porch light every night. Because it stays on all night due to parents in and out picking up and dropping off their children their is a steady supply of insects to fly  into the webs. Amanda said there are about 12 spiders out there right now. And now Austin just came running in to tell me he found "a humungous gathering of slugs" outside.  

And on that lovely note I will say goodnight. I wonder what adventures tomorrow will bring?

From Twitter 08-14-2010

• Good morning. I`m enjoying my 1st cup of coffee. Hubby made it and it's very strong!
• Wonder if he's thinking I'm going to need some extra caffeine today.
• Making a list and checking it twice - grocery list that is.
• I guess the water for the pasta would boil faster if I actually turned the burner ON. Oops!
• I found something that I can sit in a roomful of kids and eat witout them all begging for a bite. Spinach.
• One by one they walk by, take a look and walk away.
• Wow, it's quiet. Four little ones napping, Doug, Michael and Austin went grocery shopping. Just leaves Amanda & me. :-)
• I guess I better clean up the kitchen and start dinner while I can.
• Dishwasher emptied and reloaded, dinner in the oven, laundry switched and two loads folded and put away, fresh pot of coffee brewed.
• And the kiddos start waking up. I'm surpised they slept so long. Making up for yesterday non-nap I guess.
• Michael just seasoned the green beans with taco seasoning. Wasn't what I had in mind but it wasn't too bad.

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From Twitter 08-13-2010

• So glad it's Friday. I guess this is going to be a full week now with no helper.
• RT @Nicheology: Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow. - Doug Firebaugh
• just had a butterfly come visit the kids while we were playing in the yard. It . . .
• . . . flew all around their heads but stayed just out of reach. The kids were so excited!
• This naptime is a disaster. Little ones can`t sleep because older ones will not be quiet. They keep interuping naptime to say things like .
• "Someone spilled milk on the carpet" (2 drops), "I`m going to go rinse my mouth out with mouthwash now" (I really needed to know that?) .
• "I can't find my shoes" " The bathroom curtain fell down." Ugh!
• I was going to try to do the dishes while the little ones slept but no such luck.
• RT @AutismTips: There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child.There are seven million. (Walt Streightiff)
• WHY does my 3 year old turn the thermostat up to 90 degrees in the middle of summer? This is the second time recently.

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From Twitter 08-12-2010

• I guess this is going to be day four of my helper not coming in. :-(
• Weather forecast says today will be another hot one with thunderstorms this afternoon. Looks like another inside day for us.
• Watching landlord load his truck up with paint cans. Wish I could believe he was coming here to paint.
• I ate way too much junk food yesterday. Today I'm eating heatlhy. Beginning right after I finish this bowl of Lucky Charms. ;-)
• I am seriously considering starting a blog called The Adventures and Misdeeds of Michael. lol
• RT @foldinglaundry: Sibling love: Anna (7yo) singing to Eli (4mos) "you're the #1 tooter but I still love you."
• One of Michael`s favorite activities right now is cutting paper and string.

• I let him do it in the afternoons at nap time (since he refuses to nap) as his special quiet activity.

• I wonder why the cat is so hyper tonight. He`s running around the house like a wild thing!

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Edited to add photo.

From Twitter 08-07-2010

• it`s a few minutes after midnight and Michael is awake and crying because he wants to go downstairs and play.
• Doug found some good deals on baby items at a yard sale this morning.

• He got a nice high chair with a feeding tray that attaches to the regular tray. It`s also on wheels and has a basket underneath for storage.
  
 
• He also bought a pack and play that has a mobile, a changing "table" and space for storage. it also has a protective cover.
  
 
• I like the cover because we provide care for an autistic 2 year old who throws things and I`m always afraid he will hit the baby.
• Ok, drank my coffee. Now I`m going to go scrape wallpaper off some walls so we can paint.
• Almost fell off the ladder a minute ago. Decided it`s time to take a little break.
• There are so many layers on these walls. Flowered wallpaper, white paint, blue paint, plaid wallpaper, tan wallpaper, tan paint.

• Austin and Aaron finally got up. Austin stayed up until 4AM and Aaron till 6AM.
• Thew were playing games on the playstation and watching DVDs on Austin`s laptop.
• Darn! Michael turned the refrigerater off again. At leasr it ia the extra one and there wasn`t much in it.
• Just placed an order with Amazon for some homeschool supplies. Getting excited about starting the new school year.

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Edited to add photos.

Impressions

Today was so busy that I feel like all I have of it are impressions.

Baby smiles.

Phone calls.

Silly squabbles.

Diapers.

Lots of laughter.

Hugs.

Toys.

Paperwork.

Yummy salad.

More silly squabbles.

Questions.

New people.

Stories.

More phone calls.

Giggling girls.

Wrestling matches.

More hugs.

It was a good day.

Yesterday was a day of change with it being the first day in childcare here for one child and the last day for another. Welcome to our group Sebina and Gabe we will truly miss you.

We had a total of 13 kids in childcare (not all at once) today ages 5 months through 11 years. It was a busy day but good.

Fingerpainting, building,playing with the tool set, playing outside and finding lots of bugs (we had lots of school age boys today) were some of the fun things we did.

Yesterday evening Doug took Austin and Michael along with him to do some mowing at our rental house. On the way home they passed a tractor trailor that had tried to make a turn and went off the side a road a little. When the truck went off the road a tire on the trailor blew, causing the the truck to slide part way down a bank. They went back to see if the driver needed help. No one was injured but they stayed until help arrived and the truck was back on the road. Michael was one tired little boy when he finally got home and Austin was tired of taking care of Michael while they waited.

After the kids went to bed last night I did some cleaning. To keep myself awake and moving I listened to an audio book online. I found this site that has lots of older books recorded and archived. I listened to all of
A Message From the Deep Sea by R. Austin Freeman 

My One Big Goal For August 2010

I was going to post a whole list of goals for this month. There are so many things I want to accomplish before school starts and new routines and schedules begin.

But in the end I decided to stick with one simple goal. Get up every morning from August 2 - August 21 at 4AM (August 22-28 is our vacation). I often get up at that time. Sometimes it's closer to 5, sometimes if it's been a night with lots of interruptions from the kids it's later than that. But in order to truly stay ahead of things it needs to be every single morning.

 EVERY. SINGLE. MORNING!

Because if I accomplish this goal the rest will fall in line.

And I got a wonderful idea from this post from Inspired to Action that I decided to try. All ten ideas in this article are good but number 7 seemed like a really great one to motivate me. So last night before I went to bed I put an alarm clock right outside Michael's bedroom door set for 4:05AM. And I have to say there's nothing like the fear of having the three year old wake up at 4 in the morning to make me get myself out of bed when my alarm went off at 4.

Day 1 = Success!

Not a whole lot has happened today. I think the most exciting thing was when we heard Michael run a paper through the paper shredder and then figured out it was one of the monthly invoices that Doug had gotten ready to send to Social Services. So now I have to call the social worker tomorrow and ask her to send a replacement invoice for us to fill out. It should be interesting explaining this one to her.

And that's about as exciting as it gets today. But tomorrow is Monday so I'm sure I won't get this lucky two days in a row.

Trying to Walk a Rat, Burnt Pizza, and More!

It's been cloudy all day and rainy this evening, but I am loving the temperatures. It is 67 degrees right now and the forecast says a high of 79 tomorrow. My kind of weather! The 7-day forecast is showing temperatures in the 80's the rest of the week with a 30% chance of showers nearly every day.

Austin's friend Aaron finally went home today. Before he left he said he "I may be back in a week, or two weeks, or three weeks, or four weeks, or next summer." I have a feeling he's going to be back long before next summer. He and Austin ordered some things off E-Bay that they are excited about so I'm sure he'll want to be back to play with them when they come in. Plus they have so much fun together. They've been staying up way too late though and today it finally caught up with them and they didn't get up until about 1:00 this afternoon. Austin said they slept 12 hours so that tells me how late they were up last night.

Michael was busy almost all day going places with Daddy. They started out at the laundromat early this morning (I'll explain why in a bit), then went to the grocery store, the landfill, Wal-Mart, PetSmart (more about this one in a bit as well), and then to take some groceries to a friend who is fighting cancer and unable to work right now. When he wasn't with Daddy he was pushing a stroller around the house. He told Gabe to get in and drink a bottle and then pushed him around the house.

And the trip to the laundromat? Well, Doug has been trying to help me catch up on laundry and finally decided the easiest way to do that was take it all to the laundromat and put it in the biggest washing machines he could find. When he came home with all that clean dry laundry it took very little time to get it all put away. And now we're enjoying the wonderful feeling of being caught up on laundry. . . . until tomorrow. Oh well. Sometimes it's worth it even if it doesn't last long.

And the trip to PetSmart? Amanda has been researching online how to train pet rats and decided she wanted a harness for her rats so she could walk them. So she convinced Doug (as in begged from the time he walked in the door from work Friday evening until they finally went this afternoon) to take her to PetSmart so she could buy one. We tried to put it on the calmest rat (Micki) this evening. Twice. But she didn't like it. I'm sure Amanda will go back online and get some more information on how to get a rat trained to wear a harness and keep at it until she gets it. That's just the way she is.

And now I'm laughing at myself because I just wrote a whole paragraph about training rats. Seriously? When did this happen! Sometimes real life IS stranger than fiction. I wish I had gotten a picture of it.

I did get a picture of this though. It's what happens when I get interrupted by wild kids and totally forget I put a pizza in the oven.

Thankfully we had three others so no one went hungry. And Austin actually ate part of this one just because he's goofy like that.

As for me, in between all these other fun things and lots of kids (seven daycare kids ages 6 months to 10 years, plus a couple extras just for fun) I worked on getting the menu and activity schedule and supplies ready for next week.

And now it's time to call it a day, read a few minutes and get some sleep.

Good night everybody!

An Awesome Interview, A Storm, and Other Ramblings

I had a great interview this morning with a mother and her three boys ages 8, 7, and 4. The boys were so well mannered and well behaved. They interacted well with the other kids and really listened well to their mother. I am so excited about having them join our group here. They will be starting here August 17, the first day of school. The oldest two will get on and off the bus here and the four year old will stay all day.

Austin's friend Aaron is still here. He came Friday evening of last week and is staying until sometime Saturday. The plan was for him to go home Monday but he asked and got permission from both his mom and myself to stay until Tuesday. On Tuesday he asked to stay until Wednesday. On Wednesday he asked to stay until Saturday but his mom said he had to come home today. This morning he asked again and she agreed to let him stay until Saturday. He and Austin are having a grand time and I enjoy having him around as well. Michael looks up to him like another older brother and Amanda treats him as well as she treats her own older brother - which actually isn't so great sometimes but. . . that's another story.

My helper left around lunchtime yesterday because she wasn't feeling well and called in this morning because she still felt bad. It was a really slow day anyway so it worked out well. I did end up ordering Domino's pizza and cheesy bread for dinner though just to make things easier. I hope she's feeling better tomorrow though. We miss her and want her to feel well. Get better soon, Mona.

A storm came through this evening that blew down some trees and there were a number of power lines down. Our lights blinked but came right back on. One of the kids was afraid of the storm and showed it by being hyper and trying to talk louder than the storm, most of the time right in front of my face. He was pretending that he was the repairman fixing all the electric lines and cable boxes, and telling me about every step of the way. I guess that was his way of feeling like he had some control in what to him was a scary situation.

Austin, Amanda and Aaron are at Bible school this evening. I'm glad they get to go and have fun but I will be a little glad when our schedule returns to something closer to normal. I'm a little too much of a schedule person sometimes, I guess it's my OCD kicking in.

Enough rambling now. I need to work some more on the schedule and lineup of studies for the new school year. I can  hardly believe it's just around the corner again. We won't start until the Tuesday after Labor Day but I have a lot of work to do between now and then.

I had an interview today with a mother about providing childcare for her two year old daughter. The interview went well and the plan is for her to start attending the week of May 17. I'm excited about adding another child to our group. Since her mother works in retail her schedule will vary quiet a bit but we have a lot of parents here who work those types of schedules so we are used to that. Currently most of our kids are in the 20 month to 3 year old range,along  with some before and after school kids. Later this week I'm supposed to find out for sure if we're going to start providing care for a sibling group ages 2 months, 2 years, and 3 years. If that happens we will be bringing back my helper full time which I would absolutely love. I had thought a few months ago that we were going to be able to bring her back and then things fell through and the child I was sure was coming didn't come after all. So I hope I'm not getting excited for nothing again. I guess we'll see. Even if the three don't come, though, we will definitely be needing her back for the summer as there will be three full time school age children added to the mix.

*

I'm really missing Austin and Amanda this week while they are on vacation with family. But I know they are having a wonderful time and I"m glad they get this opportunity. Michael is starting to ask about them. He's handling it better this time though than he did when they were gone for a week in October. He had a really hard time with them being gone that week and it was hard for all of us too. I guess he's growing up a little and I can tell him they will be back understands.

*

Michael's adoption worker called today and to tell me that Michael's birth mother has requested some recent photographs of Michael. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I completely understand that she would want to know how he's doing and be able to see pictures of him. On the other hand I feel uncomfortable giving up the feeling of anonymity that I have when I feel she doesn't really know what he looks like now. I did say I would send a few pictures though. I will send them to the adoption worker and she will send them on for me.

*

I made a decision today that I am going to have to start going to bed earlier. Now I have just have to follow through on that decision. I like the quiet after everyone else settles down but sleep deprivation is really starting to get to me so I guess it's time to give up and start getting some more sleep.

Quiet

It's quiet at the moment. The only people home are Michael and me and Michael is asleep. Austin and Amanda have gone on vacation with their grandparents, Doug is on duty at the Rescue Squad and the last daycare child left a few minutes ago. I'm sitting on the front porch enjoying the breeze and the quiet, a cup of coffee next to me.

Earlier today Doug and Michael and I went shopping. Now the cupboards are welled stocked with food for the week and our craft supplies are replenished. We bought ink for the printer after being out for over a week so this afternoon I was able to get our papers ready for the week. The letter Xx is our focus this week.


Amanda and Austin called this afternoon and they are having a wonderful time. Michael was thrilled to get to talk to them on the phone but cried when the call was over. He loves his big brother and sister so much.

And now I'm going to enjoy a couple hours of relaxing before I go to bed and get some rest so I'll be ready to start a busy day tomorrow.

Bits and Pieces

Doug had a brave moment yesterday and decided to take three little boys, ages 3, 2, and 1 along with him to pick up a welder at his cousin's house. I was amazed but certainly wasn't about to argue since that made my afternoon a whole lot quieter. So he loaded them all up and off they went. Two hours later they were back, mission accomplished and everyone happy. Doug said the boys were great and they had a good time.

                                                      *

Some afternoons Doug picks up two children at their neighborhood bus stop. Yesterday their mother called and said she wanted us to be aware that an older man has been spotted in the neighborhood watching the children get on and off the bus. He doesn't live in the neighborhood and isn't visiting anyone in the neighborhood. He simply shows up not long before the bus comes and leaves soon after the bus does. He doesn't always park in the same place and has been seen in two different vehicles. So everyone is on high alert right now. The police have been notified and are doing extra patrols in the area. The kids no to stay together instead of some running home from the bus stop and others walking slowly. It's sad that kids have to be nervous walking home from the bus stop but at this point there's no help for it. I think most parents will be walking to and from the bus stop with their kids until this is settled.

                                                        *


I was not happy this morning when the Department of Social Services called this and left a message that they have no record of our childcare license being renewed, so they believe it ran out the end of January. I knew the license had been renewed and I knew we had sent this department a copy of it. And I left them a  nice message telling them so. A few hours later I received a call saying yes they did have a copy of the current license and had simply overlooked it . I'm glad they found it but I didn't appreciate the stress of thinking our purchase orders for services provided were going to be denied until they found it.


                                                           *


Amanda went to do her online school assignments this morning and discovered that someone had put some toys on the keyboard of her laptop and closed the lid on them. The screen on her laptop was destroyed and she was heartbroken. I wasn't sure if the best option would be to try to get the screen fixed or to replace the whole laptop. When Doug came home from work this afternoon he looked at it and decided we would simply replace it. So a new one has been ordered and should be here in a week or so.

                                                                 
                                                           *


Austin and Amanda have been excited all day and busy packing for a nine day trip with grandparents, aunt and uncles and cousins. They are going to a cabin and it sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun. I don't know what I am going to do without them for that long but I'm glad they're getting the chance to go. Michael is going to miss them a lot as well. Oh well, I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder as the saying goes. Amanda has two friends here for the night tonight and they decided they want to stay tomorrow night as well even though Amanda is going to be gone. I'm hoping that will help Michael a little with his sister and brother leaving. They went on vacation several months ago as well and Michael had a really hard time with it then.


                                                              *

Tonight is going to be a late night for me. One of our daycare kids will be here until around midnight because his mother has to work until closing time at Domino's. I'm hoping to use some of that time to study. I finished the class on Creative Learning Environments and now I'm working on Basic Observation and Assessment. I'm enjoying this chance to study at my own pace and have already been able to apply a lot of what I'm learning on a daily basis.

More Randomness

 Today's cool and rainy weather has made me want to curl up with a pillow, blanket and a  good book. Although I'm not sure how much reading I would get done because I am very very sleepy!

                             *            *           *          *          *          *    

One child left early today because she wasn't feeling good. A trip to the Dr. revealed she has Strep. Poor little thing, I hope she feels better quickly.

                               *          *          *          *          *          *              

I've enrolled in an online class called Creative Learning Environments that I am really enjoying. The current assignment is to describe a manner in which each of the eight learning styles can be promoted to learn about a single simple topic. I'm in the process of writing up a lesson plan that incorporates activities involving each of the eight learning styles. I'm also planning to begin using this style of lesson planning for the kids here in the next few weeks. I'm going a lot slower than I would like because I have such limited study time but moving slow is better than not moving at all I guess.

Today's Random Thoughts

I had to take a First Aid/CPR class yesterday because my certification ran out in March. My part time helper and I went together since hers was about to expire as well. The class was scheduled from 5-10:30p. Normally if the students demonstrate competency in the skill we are not required to do every single drill provided in the class and are finished well before 10:30. Not this time! Our instructor was adamant that we practice, practice, practice. I do see her point, I definitely have skills drilled into my head, but that was a really long class! And my wrist is sore from doing so many chest compressions on the practice dummy over and over and over and over. But now I'm certified for another two years. Yay!

I knew I was certifiable.

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As I was sitting in the office this morning doing some work I was listening to Amanda pointing out various stuffed animals in the playroom and asking Michael what color each one was. He identified nearly every color correctly - blue, green, purple, yellow, red. He had to try twice with orange, at first he said red, and when asked again correctly said orange. And I had to think how, when I first met him, in the hospital at five months old, and even for the next ten months to a year the professionals - Doctors, therapists, etc - said he was possibly blind and deaf, that he could not be expected to develop and learn much at all, that the damage and brain tissue loss from the many times he stopped breathing were going to cause irreversible damage. In fact, many times we were not even sure if he was going to live through the latest crisis. He's now 3 1/2 and counts to 10, knows most of the alphabet, correctly identifying most letters, knows his colors, most of his shapes, loves being read to and has memorized parts of his favorite books. This is the child who stole my phone and camera this morning and ran through the house yelling "Nana-nana boo-boo" with me in hot pursuit. The child who regularly gets my cell phone, redials the last person I spoke too, and has long conversations with them that leave them laughing. I say all this to say, Never, never give up. Miracles do happen.


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Today my most repeated phrase to myself was "I choose to be happy!" It's amazing how much difference it makes in my attitude and how I feel when I make a conscious choice to be happy, no matter what. Happiness is a choice, it really is. It doesn't mean that I like everything that happens or that I won't work to change some things.  But right now, in this moment, I choose to be happy. It is possible.

Say What?

Here are a couple things I heard myself say recently that made me laugh when I realized what I had just said.

Do NOT put the computer in the refrigerator!

Please don't run with the ladder in your mouth.

Why are the paper towels in the freezer?

It's amazing what has to be said when one lives in a house full of kids!