Hmmm....Take Two ::snort::

Yep, I wrote another post first. A "warning deployed spouse zone" post and then I went back and saved it to draft. *I* don't mind being that transparent but years from now maybe my 4 yo would mind. LOL Here's Take Two -

Chapel was good and bad. We hadn't heard Ch C in months and so it was nice to hear him again (though I caught bits and pieces from the cry room). I also received some nice affirmations about my parenting...followed by a fairly low point. Wasn't it nice of God to balance things out like that? ::snort:: Upshot...My child was more defiant than I've ever seen a child of ours be...and he was very rude to another adult. He apologized. I called the lady later and she was gracious. I apologized. Before bed he asked if I forgave him. I do. I spent quite a bit of time today praying and thinking and "pulling myself up by the Bible straps".... I so want others to see the glimmers that I see in this jewel, but sometimes he makes that very difficult. Enough of this. I'll pray and debate and see if I want to post the previous post - later.

The boys had invited a couple of friends to go see Earagon (Eragon?) this afternoon. We attended the traditional service and brought two of the friends home. We had lunch, they wrestled on the trampoline (sounds more dangerous than it was - their father approved), they played RISK and went to the movies. Meanwhile, I played Dino Bingo, Mexican train and Apples to Apples with the younger ones. Josiah thought the movie was fine. Jamin and Jared thought it was bad. LOL It turned out that they had a group of 10 from the chapel at the movie. They needed to have fun.

I went to make bread and "somehow" ended up playing around with an old chocolate chip recipe. The older boys really like these better than the ones I've been making...more like the Toll House ones they remember....the youngers don't care (they are already forgetting life before whole grains and oat groats). ::snort::

I went to pay bills and realized that AGAIN the credit company had not credited a huge payment I made in December. My credit balance is now HUGE - way over the limit WE set, though *they* keep saying it's a "signature card" and we can go as high as we like - well we passed what we "like" the first time they didn't credit the payment. This is the third month. I called again. They again removed all fees and we again put the payment through. It seems they changed their system and it does something strange with our Alaskan bank....huh? I don't get it but the minute she saw the name of the bank she said, "Oh - we've been having a lot of trouble with this bank". ::snort:: She ASSURED me that it will go through this time. Ok - so you're wondering WHY I didn't catch this sooner??? Because my check register is on the crashed computer and I've been, well...anyway....I caught it. ::snort::

I took the opportunity to open a free, LOCAL, account as well. I realized I had $980 of checks to mail to AK - this isn't working for me. Mike suggested I open a local account a month ago, but every bank I tried wanted a fee bigger than what I wanted to pay (free). I discovered that I could sign up ONLINE. It's a free account because I signed up online....and the local bank is about 1/2 a mile away. LOL

I picked up my temporary AK driver's license. They extended it for a year. I can renew it in person this summer. I have a new goal...get slim before July DMV picture. ::snort:: I love the state of AK. Our previous state of residence insisted we send them signed, blank checks for registering automobiles etc. I hated that. They would then send us a receipt so we knew how much they wrote the check for. ::snort:: AK is so 21st century - probably because so many live in remote areas and NEED the internet access....so I was able to renew registration ONLINE, I was able to request the extension ONLINE - and all with credit or debit - no blank checks.

I'm debating here. It's late. I'm tired. Just got Stacia down. I still have things on my "to do" list that are undone....I need to pay bills...but it's late and who knows what mistakes I'll make...but if I try to do it tomorrow it will throw school, working out, and the day off kilter....what to do.....stay up late and frantically try to cross more off the to do list....go to bed and get a decent night's sleep....skip school another week or so....

The crib/toddler bed conversion

Jamin started the process while I was out with Jared. Jared finished taking the bed apart.

Arielle and Nolan moved the mattress and parts to Arielle's room. Arielle is driving this transition - I'm not ready to lose my baby. LOL

Stacia of course wanted to help
Think she likes the bed?
Hugs after trying it out...

Night One - went down and slept through the night...Mom and brothers checked on her repeatedly.

Night two - up at 4:00 and wandering the house with Arielle chasing behind her, Mom fits in some blogging time. ::snort:: I need to figure out that railing for my bed so when she does this I can put her in my bed with me. As is, she wakes up when I put her down and then pats me on the back when I pick her up.

PS

I got a few more of the things on my "to do" list done. Cy is registered for the SAT. This was HARD. First, I had to find the SCHOOL code...then they INSISTED I give them TWO testing center choices but there is only ONE for our area. I called and they wanted me to give them all the towns around us. I EXPLAINED that they all send their children HERE. They asked if he couldn't go to DALLAS to take the test....I think not. Finally accomplished the task.

The lab tests were all on my "to do" list - though I really didn't PLAN to get them done...I knew I should and put them on the list. Guess God moved them to the top.....LOL

I ordered the last few books I need for our upcoming unit. I compiled a list of library books that we needed. Josiah ran to the library and picked them all up.

Office Depot called and my temporary license is in. I'll pick it up tomorrow. I still have 3 or 4 projects that I wanted to finish before school begins next week - but I have the weekend! ::snort::

NOTE - I got the photos for the "joy" post to upload - check out the cool banner and the cross stitch that Bre does....she taught herself - wish she'd tech ME. LOL

TGIF!!!

Shew. Fridays have become our busy day - but I planned it that way.

Speech at 8:30 a.m.

Pick up Produce at 9:15 a.m.

Sort produce from 9:30 - 10:15 a.m.

Run to doctor - stay there until 11:30 a.m. Thanks to Adrienne and Heather for handling the details of co-op. I found it funny that when I got home there were still ladies visiting in my living room. I was thinking on the way home that it was a bummer to miss the visiting.

Lunch. I'm moderator this week on SHS so needed to skim list mail etc. Did so.

Stacia fell asleep so Jamin watched her (work out, write) while I took the rest (Cy was at work) to the park to meet Tricia and daughters. Jared played with Zander as their friends didn't show up and this worked well. It was a beautiful 77* day. Had a nice time with Tricia and was challenged - iron sharpens iron type friendship. I'm blessed.

Home, get children settled and go out for my night out.

Heather and Teresa invited me to dinner and a movie. We ate at a new deli. I had some Chicken tortilla soup that was great. Then on to watch "The Pursuit of Happyness" - I love movies based on true stories. I fell asleep in some parts - or so Heather reports. I don't think I missed anything really good...but anyway I did follow the plot and enjoyed the movie. I'd been CRAVING some popcorn....movie popcorn...well OK - take a bag of popcorn, dump in m/m's and enjoy! I did. LOL I couldn't eat more than 1/2 of it...but it WAS good...next time I will not let them talk me into a large bag that is only .50 more than the small bag...who cares???? I can't eat the large....or medium for that matter!

Home and the children are watching Hogan's Heroes. I'm trying to upload photos since it is working....LOL

OH - Heather and Tricia looked at the crib/bed....I think I figured it out, and they agree. I think that we got the bottom part of the crib (the part the mattress sits on) put back together upside down...which would explain why the side rain WON'T screw into it....but the tape is holding for now...I'll have to take it all apart again and fix it...or wait for Mike. ::snort::

Doctor was surprised my temp is still so low...but I assured him this is NORMAL for me. He's checking all the thyroid things again, diabetes and cholesterol....then I'll be good to go for another year.

Photos from 4 Jan

Birthday decorations that I can recycle...

It was hard to get photos from Gatti's because 2 of the families don't want photos on the web. Which is fine....but it does make it hard to snap photos as the chidlren all play together. LOL I tried really hard to get some photos of Heather and her children and there are others in the background of most of the pictures. Bottom line? Stacia and Zander are the loaners and weren't playing with friends so I got photos of them that I can share. LOL

Zander loves bumper cars

Stacia - her hair is wild but she was wildly rocking and shaking in this photo

Zander plays basketball

WARNING: DEPLOYED SPOUSE ZONE

I'm not sure what I'm going to write tonight. It was a good day. Really it was. However, there were some decidedly hard edges to the day that tend to overshadow the good. Do I ignore the hard and focus only on the good? Maybe. I've really processed through it by now. I Thess 5:18 says, "In everything give thanks for this is the will of God....." Hmmm...dovetails nicely with James 1:2 - "Consider it all joy...." and so I have...and yet.....

I love my alphabet soup child. I often think to myself that labels are useless....that we all have our quirks and I simply need to teach my child how to live with his quirks. I believe that. In a sense having vague labels helps because they can help someone with different quirks (i.e. me) understand your quirks. OK....so I can go along for weeks on end thinking "We've got it covered...not a problem...those labels were all mistaken" and then I hit a wall. Honestly, it happens most at chapel, which makes me want to stay home....and yet...I know it is because that is the situation where my child is most surrounded by a different routine, different authority figures, and those who don't understand his quirks.....but I have to train him to function.....Today my dear child was appallingly rude to an adult. Out and out defiant. I was shocked. None of the others would have acted like he did. He apologized. I realized that I need to do more work with him in this area. I've not noticed him being incredibly disrespectful to adults in general, but he was today. We talked some more this afternoon. He understands that he simply can't act like this. I called the lady he was rude to and let her know that I'm sorry he was out of control, and that I'm dealing with him. She was gracious.

I wanted to ask God this afternoon, "Why"? Then I realized that I have a dear and charming son, really he is. He IS a gift. He IS a blessing. I know that God is going to use him mightily. I know that there are things in my life that need to change and that this little one is God's tailor made gift and tool in my life. I also know that God felt that I was capable of training and mothering this little one. I didn't ask why...I quoted the aforementioned verses. I determined to stay focused. I determined to learn more about his quirks, labels if you will, not so that I can excuse his bad behavior but so that I can better reach him and train him. I wish so badly that others could see the glimmers that I see in this little jewel...but I fear it may be a while before the "general public" can truly appreciate this one.

At bedtime he came to me and said, "Mom, do you forgive me?" I assured him I did. He replied, "And I forgive you, Mom". This is hopeful...if he was concerned about forgiveness, he's not TOTALLY defiant. I believe God is going to reach this little one's heart and he is going to be a blessing to many. I believe. I will see this.

THURSDAY

I have a zillion photos to load but blogger won't work with me. OK - not a zillion but I did take 60 pictures today and 35 yesterday. ::snort::

Today is Jared's 13th birthday. Wow. Time flies. I now have 5 young adults. 4 children....do the math...the youngers have decided there needs to be one more younger...and since there are 5 boys, they need a girl. Go figure.

We didn't celebrate Jared's birthday today. We've all decided to wait for gifts until Mike is home. I did get out the pig hat. I also got out the celebrate plate. Collections etc. was having a huge sale before Christmas and so I got a birthday sign, a birthday welcome mat and some seat covers to go with the pig - permanent decorations. I realized I'll need a few more "things" other than the birthday pig to pass down...so we now we have lots birthday "things" that within a few years will be traditions. LOL

Today was also one year since our family met Tricia and Adrienne's at a local park. What a God thing that was. Within weeks we were all fast friends. I called them and Heather and her family and we all met at Ye Olde Gatti's for a celebration. We met Heather and her family at the park day the day after we met Adrienne and Tricia. It was a fun afternoon.

When we got home we tackled that impossible list of "to do" things for our week "off". We went and bought Jared shoes. We found a place to fax AK DMV. They are to fax me a temp license until I can get up there this summer. We bought a railing for my bed. This was needed as Arielle wanted to move the crib back to her room. We planned to convert it to a toddler bed...but since Stacia still sleeps with me, and the crib wouldn't be next to my bed to serve as a railing - I bought one. Our plan is to gradually get Stacia used to her bed....before Mike comes home.

Oh - Jared and I ran to the mall too. We visited Cy......and we bought some things to send the girls. Jared refused to go into the Bath and Body shop with me....I told him he was afraid of estrogen. ::snort::

Back at home we discovered converting the crib wasn't as simple as it looked. Somewhere in here Heather called and I told her we were going to have to drill holes in the crib. She told me to wait and tomorrow at produce co-op she'll look at it...she has some tool that may help. We got it all together except it really looks like we need longer screws and to drill through the railing to attach the safety railing. I went looking for the duct tape. Couldn't find it...but taped it all together with packing tape. Stacia LOVED the bed....jumped right on it. We'll see if she sleeps in it.....

The railing turns out to be in 36,829 pieces. ARGH. Why do they do this???? I'm desperately trying to figure out how to put it together...Stacia has fallen asleep and I'm going to simply put her in the new bed...maybe that will work. We'll see.

I called for a refill on my thyroid meds and they wouldn't give it to me - so I have to go to the doc tomorrow.....argh. This messes with co-op but it will all work out. Heather and Adrienne plan to come by and take over when I need to leave.

That's it for today - but I have some darling photos - some day.... ::snort::