Lots of Topics All in One

We are staying busy. It just seems like time is flying by and we don't have time to stop and smell the roses. I guess that is not totally truthful but what is truthful is that we get in our ruts and forget how much we miss smelling the roses and so we don't even bother because we don't remember what it is we are missing. Make sense?? And I miss the roses-- so I am going to work on planting some.

Alex had another diagnostic test earlier this week up at Children's Hospital-- which is great because it confirmed that he would be a great candidate for surgery to assist in his incontinence. It was not fun waiting an extra hour and a half longer than our actual scheduled procedure but they made up for it by letting me don a big white stay-puff marshmallow suit with shoe and head coverings. Silly me brought home the suit-- now the kids have another costume for Halloween!

Adam came home hot and sweaty the other day--- his mean ol' crazy Mom forgot to pick him up from school. Dennis did not end up having school that day and so the normal schedule of picking both of them up afterwards was interrupted. It must have been a two mile walk all the way home! He was not too happy-- and her laughing to herself as she sincerely apologized did not help matters. It looks like he has forgiven her though.

We bit the bullet and went out and bought some boxes. This was incredibly painful for me-- who buys boxes?? The first time I went in and talked to the lady at the mini-storage place she was not willing to budge even ten cents off per box. I walked. John looked at me crazily that I left because I couldn't save eighty cents. My point exactly-- it was only eighty cents. I ended up going back inside and buying the boxes and when I had a little change leftover I told her I would buy one more box if she didn't mind shaving off forty cents. She didn't mind-- and so I walked out of there feeling like we both came out winners! Forty cents here, forty cents there-- it adds up folks and we have a change jar to prove it!

We finally had our van seat belt replaced-- remember the one Annalyn got tangled up in and we had to cut? Well $170 later and we again have a legitimate 15 passenger van. Just relieved that we didn't actually have to go out to a junk yard and pick-a-part like the dealer was first saying because Ford kept kicking out the order.

The girls are not getting along like I expect them too. Now I am not saying that they need to be bestest friends-- but a few of them are not treating each other right-- and that is not okay. A lot of mending needs to take place and so I spent a good hour talking with them last night praying and calling them out on their behaviors. This was long over due and I know it will not be a quick fix-- but the Lord impressed it upon my heart that I am a big part of the problem if I am allowing it to happen over and over and over. I shared how I am struggling as a Mom of daughters who seem to treat me one way and then turn around and treat each other another. Not big things-- just a dirty face here, a not so nice comment there, a snitch here, and cold shoulder there. But over time, the relationships have broken down and our family is suffering from it. Enough is enough and from this point on I will be working with the girls on how we could all mend our relationships and make them stronger. This will begin with some roommate changes-- I thought we would wait until we moved-- but nope-- that is starting today.

Over the last few weeks, I have had the pleasure of going out to lunch with my Mom and with my friend Tina. It was such a rejuvenating thing-- just a one hour lunch. How simple is that? I encourage you to take a moment for yourself and go out and have lunch with someone you care about but never seem to have enough time for. It will bless the both of you. Now that we are moving to Riverside County, I hope to get to know some of you better too. Are you up for lunch??

Our current school district has done a phenomenal job at providing services for my kids with IEPS. They have truly gone the extra mile to do what they can to help my children be successful, happy, and confident at their abilities. Just yesterday, the speech teacher called to not only set up an IEP meeting for Alex per my request but to also tell me that she will begin meeting with William's speech group out on the playground during recess to do hands on behavior modification where she equips them with right responses to different situations. This used to be done only during class-- and it was only done through role playing. She thought it would be much more powerful to actually teach them as they interact in real life. I think this is brilliant-- and hopefully she will be able to write how positive this added part of his services has been for him so the new school district could follow.

P.S. I may not comment on your blogs much but I do read-- especially the comments section. I love how many of you respond to your comments immediately in the comment section as well. The dialogue is fun to read. I am going to try doing this-- so if you leave a comment please check back because I am going to work on responding to you in my comment section as well.