Polite Dinner Converstations

Dinner is always a wild family time over here.

Last night was no exception. The conversation went something like this...

Little Mr. "Did you ever see that metal bikini that Princess Leia wears in Star Wars?"

Littlest Mr. "Yes." Although he likes his food so it sounded more like "Yealph"

Little Mr. "Dad, you've seen the metal bikini right?"

Me "Let's not talk about Princess Leia and her metal bikini during dinner. Please."

Little Mr. totally ignoring me, "Mom could never wear that, know why?"

Silence.

Little Mr. "The behind the scenes interview said she had to work out and couldn't have any wrinkles or fine lines."

Littlest Mr. laughing, "Yeah, mom has wrinkles and fine lines!"

Ahem.

How did our dinner conversation end up being about my wrinkles and fine lines and what do little boys know about those anyway? I guess it's better, or at least as good as the nights they pick on my hair.

"Hey mom? Why do you have all those white sparkly hairs?"

"Um, because you're my kid?"

Like always, it's been a few days. It hasn't been that I've not been thinking of you or what to write. I have. It's just been a bit of a non stop interruption around here.

In fact I've been thinking a lot about what to write.

It's been interesting the way things are stacking up. That's really the best way I can put it.

I'm sure this will be a murky post, but considering I'm mostly writing to myself, it's okay.

Long before this weekend, I'd started thinking about risk and hope. In fact, since I became a Christian a little more than a decade ago, it's something I think about a lot.

It's always been clear to me, inside my muddled up mind, that to be a Christian, to really follow Christ is to live in risk. And in a way, it seems that you can't live that life of risk without hope. How could you?

How could you take all the risks that God asks you to take if you didn't have hope?

I just don't know.

Then I went to church on Sunday. Our sermon (click the one that says Risk vs. Risk) was about risk. Then we went to Kid Stuff, and it was about hope.

If you know God, that isn't such a big deal that God lined those all up for me, but I still wanted to tell you.

See, some of the things that have been piling up are only on my heart and not in "real life". Some are even only what ifs and I know that we are not to worry, let alone worry about the what ifs of life.

But, again, living this life, serving our Lord is risky. Sometimes it is only a risk of the heart.

As a mommy, there are a lot of kids and moms and families pulling on my heart these days. I'm trying to learn to live with a heart that loves full out right up front and all the pains that go along with it.

Some of those amazing people touching my days and filling my prayers are Hollyn and Stellan. I learned of Stellan over at Bring The Rain. I strongly recommend reading their story, talk about a woman both blessing others and being blessed through tragedy.

So even though my heart is heavy for these families and kids and even some potential things, I have hope. I'll continue to live with risk, to follow and to hope.

Having a Hissy

It's been a full week.

Hmm, I think I start out like this a lot. Oh well, it was a busy week. And that's normal for us.

But I've had an attitude problem, and it's just lingering around with me like a bad diaper pail odor.

I've been trying not to be cranky with everyone else knowing that who I'm really cranky at is myself.

I let myself let things go a bit around the house and got spanked for it. Matter of fact, yesterday I even got told by another adult--not The Mr.--to clean my room. Man was I cranky after that.

Truth be told though, she's right. I do need to clean my room. My room and a whole bunch of other places around my house. I got relaxed about clutter and junk and now there's just too much of it. Every little while I think it's no big deal and then I look around and realize I have a huge pile of no big deal to deal with and now it is a big deal.

I really just want to stamp my foot, Little Miss 2 year old style, and say, but, but, but. But what about the fact that I have workers of some sort in and out of my house almost every day. But what about that I have 4 kids and a dog. But I'm keeping these kids clean, and fed, and loved. They have toys and clothes and books. I read to them. I tuck them in. I kiss the boo-boos and calm the nightmares. I change the diapers. They get to their nine million doctor appointments.

But it doesn't matter. I agreed that I would live at a higher standard, their standard in order to serve these kids.

Sort of like being a Christian. Once you really understand it, you agree to live life at a higher standard, just because of who you serve.

So I'm done whining and I'm getting off my butt and back to uncluttering and dejunking.

It's A Date, No, It's Not

I bet God is trying to tell me something.

Again.

I'm a slow learner.

This time, it's about flexibility or maybe it's the same old thing about control.

You know this lesson. The one where God reminds you over and over that He's in control and you just long to be in control.

It's been a week of changing dates and times. None of it is even a big deal, but it's still irritating.

Sometimes I just get a little put out with the county and all it's ways.

Between case workers and therapy and such they are making appointments with me and then calling to change them.

I understand. I really do. They have things that come up and need to be flexible in their schedules, so in turn I need to be flexible too, but sometimes it just is a pain.

I check out the calendar at night before I go to bed. I try to be ready for the day ahead and then bam, it all changes. In just a matter of minutes I can go from a day with no visits and no appointments to a full schedule and then back to nothing again.

That seems to be the nature of this thing.

Over all, I really am okay with it all. I'm a pretty laid back flexible sort of gal, but every once in a while, I'd like to know that I can start and finish something without a change in the plans.

Ah well, as long as you keep going one foot in front of the other I guess it doesn't matter.

Just An Ordinary Week

Well, life is never stagnant around here. It just keeps going by.

Little One seems to be recovering quite quickly from all his surgery. I'm glad he's so little. He is all perked up again this morning, happily tipping toy boxes and exploring them. He's busy unloading the bookshelves and bugging Little Miss.

Little Miss is still being quite stubborn about the potty training, but I think everyday is progress. I'm starting to discover the things she wants that will help us all reach out goal. She wants dresses and Tae Kwon Do. I know, I know, how on earth do those two things go together, well, she's a complex little girl. All princess and punch in one.

The Littlest Mr. is just waiting. When will they call and tell him which baseball team he's on. When will practice start. When is the first game. When can someone go catch with him? When can we pitch to him? Life is baseball for this boy.

Life is always changing. We were thinking about sending the boys off to public school next fall, but The Little Mr. had other plans.

He's going to school. This year. Maybe this week. He's going to do his placement testing on Monday and I'm guessing get assigned to a classroom later in the week. He's very excited.

Change happens. It's a big part of being a parent. You always evaluate where you are and what you're doing. You work to find the best solutions for your kids and your family. So sometimes that means changing the plan, even before you thought you would.

I'm looking forward to working with the school and Little Mr. to make this as good as it can be. It's time for them to have some new experiences.

Finally for The Mr. a land mark week. He turns 40 on Monday. The Mr. has a good handle on things though, no mid-life crisis around here. He firmly declared this morning that old is a state of mind, and I'd bet his mind is out on the water. The ice is thawed, the spring wind is blowing, it's only a matter of hours before the life jackets come out of the closet and the sailing gear goes in the trunk.

Sweet sailing and Happy Birthday Mr. Always and forever.

Guess What?

This is post number 500! I guess I knew I was wordy and chatty and all that, but I didn't realize I was quite THAT wordy!

I had been thinking about this post, knowing it was around the corner and trying to think up all kinds of cute ideas, but it never got there.

Somehow, life happened.

I know, shocking around here.

Today, I'm simply really happy to be home, even if my kids are all wonky and out of sorts.

It's been a long week. I'm tired and wonky and out of sorts.

We started out with The Mr. having a training day last Saturday, then leaving on a business trip on Sunday. Talk about throwing off your sense of what day it is. Monday was sort of regular except we had giddy kids because grandma was coming. Tuesday was a crack of dawn appointment at Children's for Little One. Wednesday was pack him and myself up and check in.

Thus beginning my time in the black hole that is Children's Hospital. On one hand it's an amazing place and has lots of fantastic people. The nurses and other help staff are generally patient, helpful, friendly and generous. On the other hand, that place can suck the life out of you. Depending on where you are in the building it can be dark, hot, cold, dry and inconvenient. Sometimes it is a long way to find a rest room, a place that a cell phone connects or even a vending machine. And lets not talk about the prices in those vending machines. Add in the never ending construction at Children's and it can be a lot to take.

Little One came through all his different things just fine and had the added benefit of his birth mom to boot. She was able to be there both before and after his surgery, so that was really great for him. Two mama's to hug and hold him.

I had the opportunity to put my foster parent training to the test. It was a long, intense 7-8 hours of shared parenting.

Thankfully for me, we live close to Children's and so even though I missed all the food hours at the deli, the cafeteria and room service, The Mr. and both Little Mr.'s were able to come by and deliver dinner.

I wish I could say we had a great night on 5 West, but not so. Our floor was pretty full and we didn't have the only baby who wasn't feeling great. The night was filled with the sounds of little ones whose pain medications had worn off.

In the morning I did have one marvelous nurse who found me a cup of coffee to get me through until Little One was settled down for a nap. As soon as he was out, I was too. Out to the sky walk that is for a sandwich, a mocha, some incredibly unhealthy dessert, plus junk food for later, knowing that I'd be stuck in the room the rest of the day.

Little One did real well though and I was home by 5.

The next thing I'm really, really thankful for is home delivery of medical supplies and visiting nurses. They rock and often save the day for me.

Even though Children's gives you training before you go home about what to do and how to do it, somehow when you unpack all the supplies you realize there are things you don't know how to do, like which way do the tubes go through that feeding pump anyway? You suddenly realize the blessing of visiting nurses when you start trying to clean up the incisions and put on the new dressings yet still keeping the port set up just right for good healing.

I also realize just how riotously unqualified I am to be doing these things. I'm a plain old foster mom. I only have medical experience because I've been in situations where I've been forced to learn it on the fly, simply because I'm the mom and a mom does whatever it takes for her kids, birth or not. I'm pretty sure I'm not cut out for the medical stuff. It's icky. It makes me queasy. I worry a lot. I'm never sure I'm doing it just right. There is no amount of training in this world that could make me feel confident in this stuff.

But, I also know that there just plain isn't anyone else to do it. Little One has no one else who is willing or able to even try, so try I will and most likely fail and learn the right ways by doing it wrong first. Mistakes are great teachers. Ask me about my stomach fluid bath on Thursday...I won't forget clamps again, you can bet. I'm going to count on God being my right hand, I'll believe that patience and wisdom will be provided. I'll believe that He planned for this inadequate human mom to be in this place with this tiny little one. I know that He's looking over this Little One way better than I or any doctors can.

So I think my 500 is really just a reminder that we all have a job to do, God expects us to do it and we can count on Him to fill in the gaps where we are human.

Spring

I'm still having the same issues. I keep writing out posts for here and then realizing that I really can't put them up.

It's a funny life I'm living. It needs to be absolutely transparent and yet in so many ways my tongue is tied.

But in a way, isn't that the life of a Christian too?

Not that we're not supposed to speak out about being a Christian and the hope we have in that life, but in a way, it's wasted words. It's our life living that really makes the difference. Don't tell me about this great unquenchable unjudging love you have, show me.

Spring cleaning season is great for the house, but great for the heart too. It's a good time to look under the stairs and see what's in those boxes. It's a great time to get under the bed and to the back of the closet shelves. It's good to sort through things and see what to keep, what to share and what to toss. Spring is a good time to check your priorities too.

I Don't Ever Have To Like Their Rules

There are days I have to take a break and not write for fear I will say the things that run around inside my head.

That alone isn't necessarily a bad thing, in fact it usually isn't it. But, once in a while, it's a really good thing for me to censor the thoughts that are up there and keep them to myself.

Not so much for myself, I just don't have that much pride anymore, but for the kids.

See I've chosen to play by their rules. I've agreed to live my life according to their standards for the sake of the children.

Once again, I'm reminding myself that all the things I want to rail at the world about aren't going to be worth it if it affects the lives of the kids in my care.

The kids are more important to me than making my point or ranting my opinions.

So I'll keep it to myself.
I'll conform.
I'll obey.
I'll comply.
I'll continue to play their way.

All for the sake of the children.

One of Those Days

I just can't seem to pull myself together today. I've been thinking it's the weather, all up and down, spring then winter in the blink of an eye, but then maybe not. Maybe it's the lack of solid uninterrupted sleep. Or the constant refrain of "Do you need to use the potty?" and "Did you pee your pants?". That endless standing in the doorway to the bathroom and waiting for the toddler to figure it out can be mind numbing and distracting.

I'm wanting to be encouraged and hopeful for my Little Extras, the fosters we have. They are special if not to any one for any reason, they are at least special to me.

In a way I travel their journey with them. I imagine the words to the feelings they are too small to even begin to understand. And I live with them in limbo land.

Little Miss is on hold. We thought we were progressing right along to adoption. Her case was even found to have grounds for termination of parental rights. But there has to be more, there always is. Now we're waiting for a hearing to determine the best interest of the child. That translates to answering the question, in the 2+ years she's lived with you and you've been her family through all that went on, good, bad and worse, have you all formed a real bond? Are you a family? And what about the fact that your white and she's obviously not?

Well, we thought we'd at least be going to court to proceed with this hearing in the next week or so, but we've been cancelled. Simply told there is a scheduling conflict. We'll be notified at a later date what our new court date is, oh and be ready to testify that the invisible thing that makes a real family is there in your life with her.

Sure, no problem. I won't worry about planing summer activities or setting appointments wondering when the new court time will be. I won't stress over finding child care to cover these days of being on call to testify. You just let us know, we'll rearrange and jump through all the hoops with smiles on our faces, again.

And then there's Little One. Again, I want to be encouraged.

Really and truely I entered the land of foster care with the intent, the goal of helping families get back together and stay together. So I want to be thrilled and yet I can hardly bite my tongue hard enough to prevent the sarcasam.

So I've had your child for months and months. There's been a call or two, a few outfits and plenty of good intentions. I have no doubts that you love your child, in fact I'm quite certain you do.

But, I am the person making all the appointments, giving the meds, arranging therapies and doing home care. I'm the one filling the humidifier and changing the diaper pail. It's a laundry pile in my home and baby food in my grocery cart. It's me up all night. It's me looking under the seats in the van for the favorite nuk. It's me who knows which one is the favorite nuk.

It's taking too long. Little One cries when I leave the room.

I'm thrilled you're trying again and starting to provide.

I am.

In my heart of hearts I am.

But it's a journey for both of us.

He's too little to get his hopes up and have them dashed, but I'm not. I long to see happily ever after, a family put back together.

As deeply as I love Little One, he could go home, he's supposed to. They're all supposed to. We're meant to be a temporary help. A stop gap before disaster. A baby sitter long enough for everyone to pull themselves back together and get back on their feet.

Things happen. Unexpected, unplanned. To all of us. Things happen and we need help. Most of us have a support network, even a loose and shaky one.

But it's like the song says, "we get by with a little help from our friends".

All this to say nothing I guess, just a long and rambling dumping.

Progress is progress, even when slow or shaky or superficial, who am I to say it's real or not.

I will see hope in it. I will.

Today in my boring little life, I'm playing the battle of the strong wills game. Who will win, mama or Little Miss?

See, it's potty training time. Or as I like to think of it, a week or two in hell.

I'm sure you'll tell me that if it's hard or not happening right away that I'm doing it wrong, she's not ready, she's too young, not the right method or whatever. Yeah, that's a possibility, but with this little chick, I don't think so.

Even though she's under 3, she's been able to control herself in this area for a LONG time. She just simply prefers a diaper.

Thing is, I don't.

I don't mind diapers, especially on little ones. But we're having leak issues. All the time. I've tried all the brands, all the sizes.

Frankly, she's overdue. I should have leaped on the potty train earlier, but I was thinking all those other things, too young, not the right time, not a good season (potty training in winter is one of my personal no-no's).

I've just cleaned up one too many accidents for my liking.

So, now it's potty season.

Which means, I'm still cleaning up way to many accidents.

Today she is playing her strong willed card.

And she's messing with the boys.

Somehow today she managed to get both bunk beds at the same time. My boys get the blessing of clean sheets, blankets and pillows and I had the joy of 3 more loads of laundry.

Thankfully, the boys are finally big enough and capable enough to change their own bedding.

On the topic of boys, they are improving. I know if you chat with me in real life, I'm cranky about them, but they are making great strides of progress. Many, many changes in attitude have come about. Lots more chores are getting done and school is not life threatening anymore. It still isn't what I'd like it to be, but progress in a positive direction is at least encouraging.

Other notes in life, Little One is set for surgery next week. It will be a short, but yet long procedure. He will only be in for about a day, but I'll be in with him, so it will be a drain on all of us. Grandma is going to come and help us out. Again. Thanks!! I think his birth mom will join me, so that's encouragaing too. In a way it's set up great, he's going to have a whole bunch of "little" things done or taken care of all at once, but I'm a mama. So I worry. How many little things in one surgery can add up to a really big recovery? If he's stuck with 3 different healing spots, or more, how hard will the recovery be?

And he's just a little thing.

And I'm not his mama, but I am a mama and I don't want it to be. Not any of it. Even though I know it's for good, it will help him and it's all simple stuff, I just don't want to be part of kids in surgery or kids in pain or kids suffering or any of that jazz.

Not that I'm saying life should be a cake walk for them, not at all. I'm all for kids having to sweat it out and work for something and work hard at things and learn to live through the knocks of life, but all that said, somethings just make my mama heart ache.

Little One needing to go through more in his little bitty lifetime is just one of those things I wasn't ready for.

She Did It Again

You know, I'm not really sure how exactly it happened. But, it happened again.

I have a friend that has been talking me into things for more than 20 years and she's done it again.

About 24 years ago I moved into a quaint little burb and got ready to start high school. I had the regular jitters of being the new kid but just figured it wouldn't be that big a deal because the place was so small compared to the middle school I'd come from. The entire population of the high school was the same as just my class in my old middle school. How hard could it be to connect in the new place where there were so many less people to contend with?

Well, it turned out to be just the opposite. It was a small burb. Everyone knew everyone. They always had. Many of them had lived there all their lives. They had all been playmates and pals since diapers. They had their clicks and their identities.

I was an outsider to all that.

I still had hope that I'd be a novelty, you know, a new face in the sea of familiar and therefore be able to connect, fit in, make friends...just blend in. The desire of every high school kid, just be a part of things.

It was harder than I planned.

My first week of school, not a single student in the building spoke to me.

Talk about a long week. And boy can I tell you I was loving our families luck to follow the job to this location. Not.

Then along came this girl.

She decided that she was my friend. She decided that she was going to help me connect. She was going to get me involved.

Somehow I followed right along and ended up a cheerleader!

There were other things too, but that was by far the most memorable.

At the time of the 10 year reunion, I was not planning to go, but somehow, you guessed it, she talked me into it. There I was, looking around at people I hadn't seen in 10 years and not being really sure I wanted to be there.

Now, fast forward to the 20 year. Again, so not planning on going and yet, here I am this morning finding myself going to another reunion.

The thing is, this time, it's all different.

See in 20 years, I've finally managed to grow up a bit and realize a lot of things about myself. Mostly, I'm OK just like I am and even better if I remember not to play the comparison games that we all play.

For the first time, I'm really seeing my fellow classmates in a new light. Different than even when I was a student with them.

Way back when, all I could see was the clicks and their images. I saw all the distinct groups and all the places I didn't fit. For those 4 years, and many of those afterward, all I saw was the outside shell, like the candy coating on an M&M. I couldn't see the people inside of the outfits and the friend circles.

Now, 20 years later, I see a whole group of people that I never put much effort into getting to know. I was too afraid of who I thought they were. Thanks to things like Face Book, I am seeing a bunch of people who look a whole lot like me. Plain old regular people with regular lives.

So in a few months I'll go with her, again, to something I hadn't planned on doing, but this time I'm taking a new attitude with me. I'm going to see things and people for what they are. I'm going to realize that I'm not being constantly judged or dismissed. I'm not going to be too shy or too scared to say hello to anyone. I'm going to remember that I'm not 15 anymore and neither is anyone else. We've all done a lot of living and growing up in 20 years.

Thankful

All I can really say is how happy I am to have made it to Friday.

This was some week.

I did manage to get that super stroller put together and it is a blessing. 2 seats with 5 point harnesses is golden with 2 kids under 2. It's easy to push and wasn't too hard to assemble. It would have been great to have had an instruction manual in the box, but whatever. I'm sure I'll soon figure out how to transition it to all it's special positions and fold it up. I can fold it down, but it only seems to fold up half-way. Right now it takes up the whole back of the van. I'm guessing it folds flatter, and I'm just not seeing how that goes yet. It is insanely heavy to lift into and out of the van, so that part is not great and I'm really feeling it today.

We've made it successfully to every one of our appointments this week. We were even on time to most of them. We got some good results at some of them. Over all, pretty good.

But, I'm still glad to be done.

I'm also feeling real blessed. Even though my kids aren't perfectly healthy, they aren't battling for their lives right now, and I, as a Mom, am not trying to cope with the potentials. Even for the faithful, that's a long hard road to walk.

Hug your kids. Try hard to see the blessing they are even when they're single handedly destroying the house and being as crazy as they can be. Tell them you love them, even when you're not really liking them. Pray for them, even when you don't have the words.

Pray for Hollyn. Pray for Andrew. Pray for all the kids who are sick and suffering and fighting for their lives. Pray for all the kids stuck in the system, lost and lonely. Pray for the orphans and those no one wants to adopt.

It's a big scary world for a kid.

Funny Stuff Aside, Prayers Please

I know I've asked you before, but I'm asking again.

Follow the link on the side to Hollyn's Caring Bridge page.

Read her story.

Pray for her.

This could be our son or daughter, our niece or nephew, grandchild, student or neighbor. This could be a cousin or our child's best friend.

Just pray for her.

Woman With Tools

This week has been busy and full which means most of our breakfasts and lunches have been on the fly. It's a sort of everyone fend for yourself, eat when your hungry, go minimal on the junk foods and use your independence. Now, I'm talking to The Little Mr.'s here, not Little Miss, although she is a startlingly independent 2 and insists on doing lots of things herself.

Let me again stress the blessing of those cleaner wipe cloths in a can.

It's an unusual feel for us. It's a home school thing I guess, but we normally eat most meals together in a week. I normally eat all my meals in a week together with my kids, so that's 5 of us at the table together for breakfast and lunch daily, plus The Mr. for dinners and weekend meals.

This everyone grab something because we're moving at the speed of Children's Hospital--wait a minute, then we should have hours and hours at our disposal to eat 7 course meals--wait just another minute, we're at Children's, we could go broke just buying a bottle of water--anyway. This style of on the go can lead to some interesting foods and conversations.

Yesterday Little Mr. made the lunches for himself, Little Miss and Littlest Mr. Their requests.

Once again, The Littlest Mr. proves that he is, if in no other way than by his eating preferences and capacity, my child. He requested a sandwich. Not so unusual you might think. But, it was a white bread, cream cheese, bologna and day old pop corn sandwich.

Um, OK, not quite what would be the average lunch bag sammy, but he did eat it all and say it was good.

Today, Littlest Mr. sat down at the table for another snack. I have a food stays at the table rule, so as he sits down he looks out the patio door into the back yard. He says, "Hey Mom, look at the freak show out back!"

Ah, the love my kids have for each other....

Today's afternoon projects include the million loads of laundry I'm now behind on because of all the fun trips we're making to Children's and putting together the new deluxe stroller I bought last night in total desperation, again, because of all the fun one can have at Children's.

Anyone sense a theme here?

Children's is a blessing. No doubt about it. Lots and lots of kids live and live well because of it, but can I in all honesty tell you, that place is a curse too. Just walking in there sucks away your sense of time, season, reality. It's like a big black hole.

All our trips there this week have brought back to the front of my mind that we were long overdue for a new stroller. Not an umbrella stroller, those I've bought and tossed a ton of over the years. Yes, we're hard on our stuff over here. But I mean a real stroller. Sturdy and comfortable, reliable and decent. The last one I bought like that was over 10 years ago. We're still using it, but now with 2 under 2, what I'm really needing is a double stroller.

So I did it. I made the late night run to Target, checked out my options, choked on the cost, gave myself a back injury lifting it into the cart and begged for a stock boy to load it into my car. Once home, like a super mom...no, crazy woman...I tried to take it out of the van and haul it into the garage. I made it two steps before I dropped it to the ground and searched the garage for the wheel-ly cart thing-y.

Yes, I spend a lot of time out there in the garage...that's so my domain, because I'm so un-girl-ly.

Right.

I don't even take out my own trash if I can help it.

So that's one of the afternoon jobs. Get that sucker out of the box, assembled and ready to go and then back into the van, because, yup, you guessed it, first thing tomorrow morning, back to Children's.

Thank you, thank you, to The Mr. for the full Starbucks card. It sure helps to hit the drive thru on the way home from Children's. Somehow that hot sugary caffeine jolt seems to calm my frazzled nerves on the way home.

Sort of like those neon colored Gatorade's I hand to the boys and the milk sippy I pass to The Miss.

Odds and Ends of Life with Kids

You walk into the, no that's not it, you dash into the bathroom in the hopes that the kids all survive each other for the 2 minutes you're in there and you can get back out before the company arrives, only to discover beef-a-roni in the sink. As you wipe it all out with those fantastic bleach wipes you glance in the mirror and discover you're wearing a heaping helping of sweet potato baby food. I'm pretty sure it's not a hair accessory.

You find nuks in your coat pockets and Lego bricks in the bottom of the washer instead of cash.

One of your mantras is "your food is not a toy".

Your TV watching is limited to strict doses of Disney Channel and Sprout.

Snacks come in individual packets in bulk size amounts.

Stickers find their way onto to everything.

Under the seats in your van--note here, not car, van--you will find; coloring books, Frisbee's, sand pails and shovels, trash bags, toilet paper and first aid kits. Yes, more than one first aid kit.

There are freeze pops in the freezer no matter what the weather is.

3 am is the only true quiet time in the house.

It doesn't seem odd to you to do laundry for the entire duration of your daily waking hours.

Some of your best times happen while you're in the car waiting for someone to get done with something.

The sight of your spouse coming home is like the hit you used to get from a strong drink many, many years ago.

Someone asks you where you like to eat out and you wonder, what's that?

Anything Going On?

Well, now it's Tuesday. Time just goes by so fast.

We're just making our way through a pretty plain slice of regular life. Praise God!

I'm happy to have plain jane life any time God will offer it up to me.

As usual, we're having our share of appointments and court dates and county visitors and all that other junk. We've been doing some aggressive spring cleaning and sorting. Yup, being wishful that spring is on its way.

The boys lessons in need vs. want continue. They are learning quicker than I had hoped. Again, I strongly recommend both Dr. Leman's book Have a New Kid by Friday and Love and Logic--any version. I have both the plain and special needs book, both very worthy of a reading.

Little Miss is still abundantly 2 and pushing all available bounds.

Little One is waiting to be scheduled for surgery. In the end, a good thing. It will help him to get moving on with some of his issues. In other areas he is right on track. As I type he just did the army crawl all the way from the family room to the living room in search of the boys. After all, they have the coolest and least baby safe toys of the family. Where else would he rather be. He's making great progress on baby food eating too.

Over all, in a pretty good place in life these days. Things will happen and change to be sure, but right now we're taking a breath. Chaos will return, but until then I'm going to shoot for clean laundry, less dirty floors and maybe a little more sleep!