Six More Weeks!

This is for you Cristal!

I really don't want to wish my life away, but my Introduction to Public Administration is killing me so I'm really excited that in six weeks, it will all be over. That's the nice part about college, get through it and you never have to do it again. I keep telling myself I can handle anything for four months. Next semester, I will be taking Teaching and Learning in the Digital Environment. I've been told it's the hardest library class I'll have to take. (Harder than Cataloging?!)

I do want to savor each moment of the next two years and I don't want to wish them away or I will miss so much of my boys lives. To make me stop and pay attention, I began to think of everything that will happen in the next six weeks:

• A will turn 13!
• D will start basketball
• A and B will have basketball league
• D will have completed his first One Act season
• Thanksgiving!
• I will have lost 10 pounds!

Ha ha on that last one, but hey! I can hope. There are so many important events happening in the next six weeks and really, Public Admin is just a grade. One more check on my list of classes that I have to take toward my goal of a Bachelor's degree. Not that important in light of everything else that is happening in the next six weeks. So, I'm not gonna wish the next six weeks away, I'll do my best to savor each one!

The End?

No, unfortunately, not the end of the snakes. I'll get back to them in a moment. This week I have shipped all my boys out to camp/mission trip. I do this every year and it's a great time. I usually accomplish a major project while they are gone so that is a nice bonus. This year it is the upstairs. Wow. I think this is our third (?) summer working on the upstairs? But, the good news is, if my arms don't fall off, we could be nearing the completion! Yay! I have been working on taking plaster down this morning. I started at D's door and am almost turning the corner around B's room. It got to the point that I wasn't sure I could hold the hammer or the chisel anymore, so I came downstairs for a break. I'm excited because I can see actual progress and I know Philip will be so much faster than me we'll really truck when he gets home! This is the last area to take down plaster and lathe in. The goal for the week is to take plaster and lathe down and get the drywall up before the boys get home. That way it's less people tracking through the mess. We have until Friday.

On the snake front, I've given up. Okay, not really, but life has gotten really busy so I've left them alone. P did kill two of the big ones last weekend which was great. I also talked to my dad and found out there is such a thing as snake repellent! Yay! I went out and bought some, but the instructions say to use it when it won't rain for a day or two. We've had rain every night for over a week. :( The rain is great, I just can't get rid of my snakes. The plan is to put it around the back of the house so they don't run there and then out around their favorite spots. I'm hoping it works.

Why am I so crazy about the snakes? I think there just got to be more of them and when you can't go outside without having a heart attack, it gets tiresome. It's just the startle factor. Thanks to my dad, I'm now scared to go into my garage or basement too. There are just too many hidey holes for them. But, if we get the upstairs project done a lot of the stuff in the garage can go bye-bye which is another reason to work like mad this week!

I'm off to spy on A at camp. They have a webcam set up in the dining room!

*SIGH*

Day 4

I was standing at the window tonight staring into the backyard and thought, "I know you're out there, just waiting for me." I was hoping P would get home early enough to go out and take a look around tonight, but as I stood there, the demon dog came trotting through the fence line and weaved his way in and out of the rhubarb. He then perused his way over to the strawberries, making sure to leave his mark along the way. I figure if there were snakes out there, they're gone now. Bummer.

Rain, rain, go away

Day 3

Foul weather today. According to my research, the enemy is unlikely to venture out in 60 degree weather. Troops were disappointed no battle today.

Troops were also very tired. Two youngest took naps! Actually told me they were going upstairs to sleep. Two baseball games this week and basketball camp every morning. Monday, we thought we would melt from the heat at baseball, last night we needed jeans and a sweatshirt! Crazy. A hit a grand slam last night! Very exciting for him. We played the other team from town. This team has most of B's classmates and other younger ones. The first inning took 45 minutes and we were up by 14 after we batted. Final score was 34-4 and we only played 4 innings that took 2 hours. Long night.

I also had a lady tell me her son is very impressed with D's BB skills. Reverse lay-ups, shots, moves, etc. Impressive. We never see that side of him here. He is still going to weight-lifting. He's not sore anymore every day so that helps.

D asked me last night if we were really going to get the upstairs done while they were gone. I told him my hope was to at least have drywall up and mudded. Painted, woodwork back up, and decorated? No. He thought that sounded much more realistic. :)

Success!

Day 2-cont.

After my heart wrenching defeat by the enemy this morning, the boys came home from BB camp ready to snake hunt! I, being more interested in the ripe strawberries out there, persuaded D to come pick them for me. He just sticks his hand right down there!

As B, A, and I were standing there talking, our neighbors dog barked once, really loud and scared the bejeezus out of us. As I turned back to the strawberry patch I saw a snake slithering toward the bushes and I lunged with the shovel. Boy, they are fast. Thankfully, the boys all saw the snake and were able to track it going west in the bushes. I scrambled to the end of the bushes and slammed the shovel down on the back half of it's body. Yes! B and A then fought over who could chop the head. After several misses, in disgust I had A grab the shovel handle and took his hoe. I told them they didn't know what they were doing and then gave them an impressive display of how to hack a snake to death.

Triumphantly, we trooped back to the house. Unfortunately, we all had to agree, this was not the grandaddy one. He was a lighter color of black and just not big enough. We do believe we have discovered the enemy hideout though and figured out their escape plan. This may prove fruitful in future operations.

Solo Reconnaissance

Day 2

Today, I decided to try a little solo reconnaissance, employing stealth as my major weapon. I learned three things last night. #1 D was wrong, since the garter snake is cold-blooded, he is the temperature of the air. So, he is more active when warm. Great.

#2 Not only did I go into this with no clear knowledge of my enemy, I also went into battle unprepared. This hit me last night as I watched my husband go after the cold-blooded varmint. As P bravely trudged right through the rhubarb into the bushes in search of the little devil, he had no fear. Now, this might have to do with him being male and not female, but what hit me was, "Maybe if I were wearing boots and jeans, I wouldn't be so worried about stepping on him!" See, I wasn't wearing the proper battle dress. In pursuing the enemy, flip flops and shorts weren't going to do it. (For a devotion that came out of this revelation click here.)

#3 Most of you probably figured this one out all ready. I know I am in pursuit of one HUGE garter snake, but after yesterday, I'm pretty sure he's the Grandaddy and I have more of his family to deal with. Ick. I was thinking about how the he didn't seem so large the second time around yesterday, thinner for sure (I'm always astounded by how FAT the original is) and then it hit me, we were chasing two garters yesterdays. Lesson number three, don't underestimate the enemy.

This morning I was all hyped up by my new knowledge and armed with boots, jeans, and bug spray, I headed out. I did some silent reconnaissance and didn't spot anything. I lifted foliage off the ground with my shovel and nothing moved. Hunted around the strawberries, nothing.

The strawberry patch proved to be a distraction. Ripe berries were scattered around the patch and the robins were hovering even as I stood there. How could I let them have them? The temptation proved to be too much so I retreated to the house for a bowl. I picked a couple on the outer edges and moved to the east where there is less ground cover. As I bent to pick the first berry, shoosh! there he went! How?! I knew before I ever stood up he was gone, (and believe me I stood up fast!) and this battle had gone to him again. How does he do that? I didn't even see him, right there in the open! If this had been real war, I'd be dead.

In great defeat, I trudged back to the house.

All Because of Eve....

Day 1
This year I have declared war on the snake in the strawberries. He has tormented me and other innocents enough. I was hopeful we had eliminated previously when we killed three in our yard. False hope, I knew, as none of them were as large or as black as the perpetrator of fear. The boys told me this morning he had slithered out of the rhubarb yesterday when they were picking it for me. To quote B, "He was HUGE". Yes, I know, he's lived a little a too long.

Today, being the brave woman that I am, I sent D out to pick strawberries. He wasn't doing a very thorough job, so I grabbed the shovel, (just in case) and very helpfully pointed out ripe strawberries to him. :) Now that I knew the enemy had made an appearance, I was not sticking my hands down there. A came out to work on the rhubarb. We picked all the strawberries and no rustling of the leaves but our own. Whew.

On to rhubarb. Even though D had tromped through the rhubarb area once, I was being cautious and used the shovel to move a leaf before sticking my hand down to pull a stalk. {Shiver} Thank goodness I did. I heard just the slightest movement of dead leaves and spotted a FAT line of black with an orange stripe slithering toward the bushes. I took aim, but could tell he'd already gotten too far, I thrust the tip of the shovel down anyway and score! But, blast, the hard ground caused the shovel to jump and he disappeared. All I could think was, "Where is that demon dog, Gary, when you need him?"

Spurred on by my bravery I called for D to come running. A and I stayed on one side of the bushes while he ran into the neighbors yard to cut the opponent off. Alas, he was gone. No sign of him. The brave lad that D is, he pulled weeds and rhubarb to make the line of sight better, but it was for naught. The slimy invertebrate had disappeared. I wasn't ready to give up so we continued to peer into the bushes and pull rhubarb when suddenly, there was a triumphant shout from A, "I found him!" Praise the heavens!

I ran to A and spotted the creature. He began to make a break back to the other side, so D ran into the neighbors yard again. We worked him back and forth between us down the line of bushes, (he even tried to make a run for it past me, I've decided screaming and whimpering only attract the enemy, I must remain silent from now on) until he escaped into the neighbors rock garden. Drat.

At this point, I feel I should explain the inexperience of my fellow soldiers. We haven't had a snake, other than the sneaky snake that enjoys the strawberries, in our yard in the eight years we've lived in this house. That would make A four at the time, B practically a baby, and D a whopping 7. They really have no clue how to do this. I've endured this nemesis for three years because he seemed harmless, but last year I noticed how large he was getting and he startled me one too many times.

We tried to spook him out, rattled a few rocks and branches, but to no avail. I declared a siege. No one was going anywhere until that snake lie dead on a shovel. We continued surveillance on the bushes until D decided he'd had enough of the mosquitoes and deserted to the house. A and I retreated to the picnic table to stand watch. Determined to keep my hands busy I lopped the ends off the rhubarb while I watched. As the sweat ran down the back of my legs, I watched. As the mosquitoes continued to search for my blood, I watched. A, ever faithful, stood guard beside me. Eventually, the heat, boredom, and sheer ridiculousness of the moment forced me to call it a truce, for now.

Thanks to my brave and true husband who loves me in spite of all my neurosis, we attempted a night raid. According to D, because the enemy is cold-blooded, the heat makes him sluggish and he would be more active in the evening. Really? I thought it was the other way around? At that moment I realized I had failed to follow basic battle strategy, know your enemy. Time to hit Google and arm myself with ammunition for tomorrow. Hmm, ammunition......

Love, Twue Love.

P and I have spent 3 1/2 days out of the last four together. Miraculous. 1 1/2 of those days have been without the boys. I'm beginning to feel like we are actually married! Sometimes, in the business of life, you forget that. Or, what that actually means. These past few days have reminded me I have married my best friend. I don't worry about what our marriage will look like when our children are all gone, because we still have a lot of fun together.

Case in point: Sitting here trying to organize our finances now that we have our tax return back, been shopping two days of the last four and P has to sort out receipts from his trip last week and personal receipts.

P:I can't believe I can't find that list.
M:What list?
P:The list.
M:You mean that list we made?
P:Yeah.
M:And you lost it?!
P. Yes!
M.I can't believe you lost the list.

But, the funny thing is we both knew exactly what we were talking about! You must know that we have been up since 5am this morning and have spent way too many long hours trying to accomplish things this weekend. :)

But it's love, twue love!

Better, muuuch better

Well, right after that last post I went to bed and lo and behold our devotion for the night is about giving things to God. Hmmm, maybe I should have tried that a week ago? So, I did and I woke up in a much better frame of mind this morning.

Other good news-I ordered a solution book on-line and it showed up today. This book has all the odd problems for my book worked out, not just the answers. This helps so much sometimes when you just aren't getting it. Maybe Algebra won't take two hours tonight?

We had a full crew in the kitchen today. Wow! What a difference that makes. I didn't come home exhausted and I was home before 3pm. The lady who lost her husband was there. She had one moment that she had to go cry for a while, but we all told her to do that whenever she needs to. It's going to take time and she needs to be at work, otherwise, she's home drinking. She has a middle school age daughter and a high school age daughter, I'm not sure they are dealing with mom well, but I can't imagine what they are all going through. Keep praying for them.

I have high hopes of a snow day tomorrow so that I can be home for a day. I'm in a baking mood and I really should make some food for a couple of families. Better late than never. And thanks to my husband and boys, the house is cleaned and laundry is done so I don't have that hanging over my head. Love those guys!!

Can I Get Off The Merry-Go-Round-Please?

A quick update, because I know not everyone is aware of life around our house right now.

1.I am working in the kitchen at school, indefinitely. One worker lost her husband two weeks ago and another's husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. I am the only sub the kitchen has and it's money we need. I was subbing because I knew I would need the time this semester, but the need for necessities won out.

2.College Algebra is kicking my butt. I've spent over 2 hours on the last two lessons each. Of course, this could be because I'm exhausted from working 8-5 for 5 days last week and having three basketball games at night! I'm hoping this week is better working 7:30-2:30.

3. I am also judging speech again this year. I committed to it many months ago when I thought I wouldn't be working much and we would need the income. This means I will be working 6 days a week as most meets are on Saturday. (Except this week when the meet is on Wednesday. Hallelujah!)

4. I am taking 9, repeat 9 credit hours this semester. May 2 can't come soon enough!!

5. My family is really feeling the effects of this. P has been fabulous with everything! When I got home from speech on Saturday he and the boys had cleaned all the downstairs and finished laundry! Love them!!

6. Pray for rest for P and I, pray for patience with boys, and vice versa and pray we make it through this semester!

Beans, beans, the magical fruit....

:)

Okay, not bored now. I went to the store to buy Great Northern Beans I had missed getting on the grocery list. They were $1.03 a can! Seriously? So, I checked out the bagged beans. $1.19 for a pound. Seemed the better way to go to me. But, I've never cooked beans, so I'm carefully reading the instructions on the bag and taking care of them.

I think it's safe to say, I have passed the point in the life of my family of when I can do laundry once a week and that's it. With four games this week, it's been a rush to get the uniform washed before the next day, (especially when you don't get home until midnight the night before). Then with it being winter, there just seems to be more clothes. So, I have yet another load of laundry in to try to get everything clean before a new week begins.

Doing my first college algebra lesson this semester is now out of the question because A's friends have showed up. They are two boys from a set of triplets in his class. He had called earlier in the day and one had to do homework, so they just showed up. I now have Mario Bros. going and A is being his typical loud, game playing self. Seriously, he is so loud! It's kind of funny to listen to him. (And annoying.)

Can you tell me how I lost a year's worth of pictures? I think that's a mystery I will go try to solve. I know I'm behind in getting pictures in albums because it's so hard to find just plain Jane albums right now that fit great quantities of pictures. I finally caved and bought one the other day that is a style I try to avoid, but seems to be the best you can do anymore. I sat down the yesterday to try to put pictures in and it got confusing. The last pictures in albums end at Christmas '06. The next pictures I have waiting to go in an album start in May of '08? What happened to '07? I looked through the boys albums and I have pictures in there for '07, it just seems to be the ones I term "family pictures". Those pictures that don't really have one boy in them or has all of us. I need to sit down with the '07 disk and the albums and see if I can figure what is missing. I also need to check Snapfish and see if any are on there. But, I think '07 is before I started using it. I'm wondering if I knew I didn't have a family album and I just printed off the boys pix that would go in their albums? Who knows? Apparently, not me!

Saturday, in the Park, I think it was the 4th of July....

Okay, so nothing about that title has anything to do with this post other than the fact that it's Saturday here. And I love the 4th of July.

I'm bored. Can you tell? How did I ever have enough to do when I stayed home before? I always felt like I never had enough time. Now, I'm bored at home. I'm actually thinking I need to go do some math, on a Saturday!!

I could be painting the floor in the storage closet in preparation for it to be carpeted, but I'm totally out of the remodeling mode. I think I'm ready to just do schoolwork and get this semester over. Time to turn my focus on something else. The remodeling gets frustrating because there is only so much I can do up there and then I have to wait on others. Others that get called into work on Saturdays.

I also don't think they should have a weekend break after going back to school from Christmas break. I mean, geez, they just had two weeks off, who needs a weekend? They are just bored again and picking on each other and fighting.

D has a game today. The fourth one of the week. We have only gone to two. We just can't afford to go to all the away games. It would have cost $30 this week at least without figuring in gas money. Someone did call today and ask us to ride with them if we were going. When I said we weren't going, she made the comment about it just getting to be a lot. I let her think that. D made three free throws in the game last night and he played a lot on Thursday night because we were playing the freshman team of a larger school. They had 20 freshman, we took our four freshman and then four sophomores. We didn't lose as bad as we thought! :)

Apparently, A's team didn't get registered in time for league play so they will only be playing in tournaments. It's hard to be disappointed that you're not going to be going to basketball games every Saturday for two months. Especially if you have filled a number of Saturdays in those same months with speech judging.

B's birthday has kind of snuck up on me. I need to run to a nearby Wal-Mart and get some cake mixes and a last part to his birthday present. Unfortunately for him, that's just going to be underwear. :) He needs some and he has decided he doesn't like tidy whities anymore, so I need to get some boxers for him. He is so opinionated on clothes. He actually spent all his Christmas money plus some other he had to buy an Under Armour shirt and it had to be Under Armour. I tried to explain to him he was paying a lot for just the name. Maybe not, I do believe a lot of technology goes into their clothing, but does an almost 10 year old need that technology?

I feel like I'm griping so I better just sign off. No subbing on the calendar for the rest of January, which actually isn't a bad thing because then maybe I can get my hours in for my practicum without trying to schedule around subbing. The homework is not looking too bad for this semester. It's a 16 week semester and most of my classes just have 8 learning modules so that means I can take two weeks on a module (or unit) if needed. That takes some of the pressure off. I was also glad to see that even though my algebra is with a different instructor than I've had for the last two, he has it set up the same way.

Have a great Saturday and maybe where you are, it's nice enough to go to the park!

December to Remember

December is here! Crazy. It always seems weird to start December with no snow on the ground. That's not a bad thing right now because it's been cold enough that the pin oaks that border our yard decided to drop their leaves now, so the yard is covered again!

We are not concerned with the yard right now though. P is 3 pieces of drywall away from having A's room dry walled. We are then calling in reinforcements to do the mudding! We want the room to look nice and without Dad here to help, we are forgetful on what to do. They will also texture the ceiling for us. Then I can paint!! I can paint his room, his closet, and the storage closet upstairs. Hopefully the gentleman from church who carpeted the other two closet's is willing to come do two more! Still, the hope is to have all this done before Christmas.

I had two days of subbing at school last week and one day the Cup. So far this week I have two days of subbing in the kitchen on the calendar. Two more assignments for both of my classes and I am done with another semester! I realized the other day I won't have any internet classes next semester so that means no discussion posts! What a blessing. I will be doing two classes through the Learning Center here in town and then my capstone. My capstone instructor e-mailed last week to get more information on my library experience and my contact info. She says she will be calling this week to talk with me about it. Hopefully I'll know more this week.

D has had his first two BB games and has played some in both. The first night they really needed his size so he probably played two minutes total. He also made his first basket which is great. Gets those jitters out of the way.

A has started BB practice also and starts games in January. There is a BB camp for 3-8 grade put on by the high school boys the next three Mondays, so all boys will be gone then.

That's all I have for now, have a great week and celebrate the season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am being reminded of why I quit my job. It's draining. I come home and just want to sit on the couch and do nothing. Then, I think of the parents of these kids and can't imagine what it takes to be a parent to them. I'm so thankful for our boys. Yes, they have had bumps along the way and I would never say A's life is easy, but for the most part, they are healthy, smart, and doing well. We really only have minor things to worry about.

I think I mentioned an issue with another boy bullying A and us not knowing. We know we have to talk with the parents as we are going to terminate this "friendship", but that is soo hard to think about. Please pray for A in adjustment to this, pray for us to have the right words when speaking to the parents, and that it would be received as well as could be expected. Also pray for A in his self-esteem and understanding that it's okay to tell people what is not okay to do.

D had BB this morning at 6:20 and then he and I delivered cookie dough this afternoon. I have a lot of cookie dough in my freezer for relatives! And just when you think you can sleep in on a Saturday...your high schooler hands you a note saying he has to be a the school at 7am for Quiz Bowl!! (Did I mention we didn't know there was a quiz bowl until Wednesday? I'm pretty sure I haven't told P either, so pretty sure he'll be surprised.)

I have lots to do for Thanksgiving tomorrow and haircuts are a must for three of my guys, so it will be a busy weekend in preparation for leaving. Our pastor and his family own a van that is the same make and model of ours. They won't be doing extensive traveling over the holiday, so they have graciously agreed to let us borrow their travel topper. We hope this helps with fitting in all the food and gear for a family of five for 4 days! We are actively looking for a Suburban again, but want something close to or under 100,000 miles so we will probably have to wait a few months. We will have all cars paid off in a couple of months, so we should be able to save up our car payment for a few months and have a nice down payment ready to buy one by summer?

Speaking of cars, D's car is at Milford again having body work done. This is a great service from the technical college there. All we have to pay for is the parts and they do the work as practice for the students. Unfortunately, they weren't ready for it until a few weeks ago. We are praying for it to be done by the end of the semester because now is when we really need it. I made three trips to the school yesterday so was glad when P was home to make the 4th one!

Have a great weekend and Happy Thanksgiving!

Update on Basketball

Just thought I'd let you know, when I picked up D from basketball last night I received a positive report. I asked him if he was dead (because he was a little worried about the conditioning) and he replied, "No, it's not bad, I like it better than last year." So, that's good.

The bad? If he had sold 15 orders of cookies he wouldn't have to do the conditioning today! He worked too hard on selling for band and was running out of ideas for this one. He only had four orders. :( He'll survive though.

God is good....all the time

I haven't been really good about this lately and I apologize for that. I was challenged by a good friend about my negative posts on Facebook and it got me working on being more positive, but my, that's exhausting!! I'm not sure if I've been negative on here, but I want it to be informational, whiny, so let me know if I go there!

I am a goal oriented person. There are certain things that need done and it drives me nuts not to have them done. This week, I realized I'd been really putting off bills and paperwork and that the lawn needed raked. Due to continuous back problems, I cannot rake longer than 30 minutes at a time or I sprain my back. That drives me nuts because I am a very independent person and having to ask P or the boys to do chores that I think I should be able to do drives me crazy. P and I have always wanted to do bills and things together so we are on the same page or at least know everything, I don't think we'll ever be on the same page when it comes to money! So, I came up with a solution yesterday. I would stay inside and get things caught up if he and the boys would rake the lawn. It worked great! When it got too dark to rake anymore I was just finishing a bank statement and was $20.36 off. P was able to come in and look at it with fresh eyes and found what I missed. He also stayed and helped me make a few decisions with bills too.

I have avoided bills lately because with me not working, the checkbook is not pretty. This is a huge trust issue for me. I am terrible at living paycheck to paycheck. I want that security of knowing the money is there for emergencies and life's necessities. I also turn into a Nazi about if something is a need or a want when money gets tight so it presents some tense moments in the house. When I did bills last night, I was doing them on faith of money being there soon, because there sure wasn't any last night!

Anyway, part of the trust issue is that I am trying to work sub jobs to help make ends meet. Last night, the next two weeks on the calendar were wide open. Nice for relaxing and getting ready for a trip for Thanksgiving, but not nice because I have a list of food to buy for Thanksgiving and we will need travel money. Today, as of 4:00pm I have 4 full days of subbing at school now on the calendar! This is a huge answer to prayer because P and I had even went as far last night as looking at "Help Wanted" ads to see what kind of job I could get. We want to stay with the subbing if possible because we know next semester is going to be a doozy for me. I will be taking 9 credit hours and doing my capstone, which requires me to work in a library for 50 hours over the semester. (This cannot be a library I work at currently, so getting a job in a library wouldn't help.)

Another huge answer to prayer is that we are now getting A's Advair for free! The insurance that we were on when A was diagnosed with diabetes does not cover maintenance prescriptions. That means all his medicines come out of pocket. We have been blessed with getting information about Medically Handicapped Children's Program (MHCP) shortly after A was diagnosed with diabetes. MHCP pays for anything, doctor's bills, labs, prescriptions, anything that has to do with his diabetes. They don't cover his celiac or asthma because they aren't severe enough. To keep A's asthma under control he has to use an Advair inhaler, and take Singulair and Zyrtec. We have been on a patient assistance program for his Singulair for at least three years. Which means we qualify for free prescriptions of Singulair from the company. We have never found anything from the other companies. Zyrtec has now gone over the counter and has a generic, so that helps and this month I found that Astra Zeneca now has a patient assistance program. I went through the application process and we received our first three month supply of Advair this Saturday. This is huge as Advair cost us $176 the last time we purchased it.

Please pray for D as he starts basketball tonight. He is not excited. Long story short we talked a little bit this morning and yes, he felt a little pressured by us, but not near as much as from people at school. I know he took a lot of guff for not going out for football this fall. I will say I did push with this. D is way too content to lay on the couch and do nothing. He also is still the kid that can just push the right buttons and drive you nuts if he is bored. I needed him to have something to do so he wasn't home all the time! I also think you should do a little sports. It helps make you a well-rounded individual and keeps you healthy. If he is miserable this season, I won't push again, but I wanted him to at least try. Keep him in your prayers. I also know our coaches are not great encouragers or patient people.

A is also going through a time of having to learn to stand up for himself. When it came time to invite kids to his birthday party, one boy wasn't invited. This surprised me for many reasons. P talked with him about it and come to find out, this child is rather a bully. He doesn't like A to have other friends and he constantly tries to pull A away from conversations or he hurts A to make him pay attention. This was very upsetting. After watching interactions at the party we told A we thought he needs to make a clean break from this child. It's not a healthy relationship. This is very hard for him because he never wants to hurt others. We are going to try to encourage other friendships more and do what we can to sever the other friendship.

B has been giving his teacher some problems so we have had many talks with him and much communication with the teacher. We are behind her 100% and the issues she sees I knew she would have because her and I are a lot alike and there are some issues B and I have. I see though, that I haven't been dealing with them, just passing him on to P. That hasn't helped this situation, so we are dealing with that too.

Whew!! No wonder I found myself weepy today. We have a lot on our plate. I read on a friends blog today that parenting is not for the timid. So true!! This too shall all pass. In the meantime, we are praying constantly for our kids as they grow in the knowledge of Him and pray that they will grow to be the adults God wants them to be, despite our failings. :) God is good....all the time.

Trust in the Lord and Lean Not on Your Own Understanding

I've been meaning to write on here all week, but I think I think I forgot I was a stay-at-home mom this week! Whew! Monday I went grocery shopping, and then spent time with Z and the kids. Tuesday I worked at the Cup and found out that they don't have Wi-fi there anymore so I will have to be cautious about when I say I can work there! (That means I can't do homework while I am there like I planned that day.) Wednesday I subbed for a parent at the Polk County Christian School. Thursday I did VB lines. Friday I worked at the Cup all day!! Whew! Today, I've been cleaning.

In addition to all that I threw my back out on Wednesday. EXTREME pain. I went to the chiropractor on Thursday, but I know it didn't stay. I hate when my body betrays me. It's doable now. It'll start to hurt if I'm standing too much so I go lay down. VB lines Thursday night were a killer! Luckily, because of the Huskers playing, they cancelled the Freshman game and just had JV and Varsity. Between games the PE teacher I do lines with took me to the training room and put BioFreeze on the tight spots and that helped.

Philip and I have been a little irritated that with everything we did to our house over the last year, our utility bill actually went up last winter! Part of this is not knowing that if there was even a hiccup in the electricity it would reset the thermostat to default settings meaning it would run on gas, not heat pump and then not understanding what screen to find that on. So, anyway, we are the budget program here and they re-figure budgets every quarter. We had a nice surprise this month when the bill came and our total had dropped $40!

This was doubly nice because I've had a hard time trusting God to provide with me not working a steady job. I have peace about it, but.....you know how that is. P's last two checks have been great because of travel and the next one should be nice because he has worked the last two Saturdays trying to get stuff done. I'm putting away any money I make right now for our two trips coming up in November and January. (Thanksgiving at Jon and Kelly's and Kyle's wedding in Oklahoma New Year's.) Tuesday I made enough tips to pay for yoga that week so that was cool. Friday, it would have been better if they had closed instead of hiring me, I was so not busy!

A had a friend over last night that went home at noon and he just got back from a bike ride with friends and they are here. B went to an air-soft war at 10:00 and I need to pick him up here in a little bit. D has a movie night at the Cup for youth group tonight. They are watching "The Dark Knight" to springboard into discussions on spiritual warfare.

I wrote an e-mail expressing some misgivings on that. Do we have to go shock and awe to get a point across? Parents are invited to attend, but neither P or I have any desire to see the movie. How do we make that work? Scary movies don't bother D at all so I guess we'll let him go, but is something wrong if we won't go to a movie because it might creep us out and they are using it at youth group to discuss spiritual warfare? Is the Devil winning if we are scared? Should we be scared if Jesus has overcome the world? I may still go, P said he definitely wouldn't. I just don't want any new images in my head to freak me out the next time P is gone.

Snack ideas

I've hit upon two great snack ideas in the last two weeks! They are low-cal, don't know about fat and sugar. I buy rice cakes for A because he says he'll eat them and they are cheap. Problem is, he doesn't eat them, so I've gotten creative to help him eat them.

Choco-Banana Rice Cake
2 Chocolate Crunch Rice Cakes
2 T spreadable low fat cream cheese
6 slices banana
-Mix banana with cream cheese. (It will get kind of mushed up.)
-Spread on rice cake.
-Yum! Approximately 200 calories

A variation on this that I thought would be good-caramel rice cakes and then drizzle a little caramel topping over it!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Rice Cake
2 Chocolate Crunch Rice Cakes
4 T Cool Whip Strawberry Dips!
fresh or frozen strawberries

Spread the Cool Whip on rice cakes, top with strawberries!
Appoximately 200 calories!

Did you know that if you add 1T of baking cocoa to your smoothie you add 2 g of fiber and no sugar? Yum!

View from the Couch

Yes, this seems to be my view this week. How my life looks from the couch. (And a reminder that we seriously need a new couch. It actually hasn't looked too bad. The boys are doing an excellent job of picking up and taking care of things at night so I don't go crazy looking at a mess the next day. D made supper last night without grumbling or complaining. A and B are working on AWANA and homework pretty faithfully and all in all it hasn't been too bad. I really wanted to get the house cleaned top to bottom this week, but what's one more week of dust?

P was gone again last night. He is supposed to be home tonight, but I don't know if that's going to happen considering where he was when I talked with him at 3pm. Why his travel has to happen in spurts of all or nothing, I don't know, but what can you do?

Today was 60's/70's day for Homecoming. D fluffed his hair, put on a headband and his tie-dye shirt for this weekend and was good to go. I wish he had a big peace necklace and some of those tiny sunglasses, but he looked pretty cool.

I hope to be able to write on the shirts I have done tonight. I ran out of dye the other night, so am short a few yet. The kit said it would do 8 shirts, but we must of been heavy handed with the dye. Philip is going to try to buy me more somewhere on the way home. I used the old dye from this summer on one shirt and the yellow completely washed out! So, Grandpa, you have a blue and red shirt. It actually looks pretty cool.

That's all I know for now. I am anxiously awaiting news of the new nephew, but not too soon, because I want to able to come see him!

Okay, you all know me well enough to know that I don't deal with death well. I would say my week is catching up with me today. I woke up feeling like I could cry and it's carried on all day. Haven't broke down yet, but something stupid in the next day or two will probably set me off. Why can't I just cry right away anymore when there is a death? It's like my brain and emotions go into shock and it takes me a while to process.

We have an appointment at UNMC in Omaha, Thursday, at noon. We will do more lab work, (pee in a cup again and blood work again) and then have the appointment with the nephrologist. I know that this is also weighing on me. Part of me begs God, "Just don't let it be anything bad" and another part is saying, "Just give it to me straight. Don't wait on lab work to tell you what you are already thinking. Just tell us what you are thinking." I haven't told my friend Diane any of this because I don't want Bryan already knowing what it is and not telling me. I'd bug him to death until he told me. And he never would, so I'd just make him mad. :)

Part of it could be that I have felt like I have bugs crawling on my neck and head all afternoon. I don't know what it is. I took care of some flowers today so I don't know if it was something off of that or what. Ick.

Geez, I just realized we never gave P his present tonight. We got to watching the movie he picked out while we ate and I never went and got the gift bag once B told me where it was! I'm a loser spouse this year with the birthday!!

P is leaving for Texas tomorrow. I do VB lines Tuesday, we have PT conferences on Wednesday and A's dr. appt on Thursday and then D marches in Yorkfest Saturday and I have a VB tournament to do lines for that day too. He is going to try to be back Wednesday night. I'm so sleep deprived from the past two weeks I pray I can sleep this time.

I'll think I'll quit whining and go make dinner for tomorrow and then go to bed! Love you all.