The world would be better off without us...

I woke up this morning to read this article... http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091220/sc_afp/lifestyleclimatewarminganimalsfood
Perhaps it is just me, but why in the world did God give us animals, if we are not supposed to have them? Maybe it is like the whole forbidden fruit thing, and we just don't know it? I don't think so, the Bible that I have read tells me that He made animals to be our companions. Adam was told that he could name them as he pleased. God realized that the animals were not enough for man, and then he was given woman. Wait!!! That can't be right! God didn't give Adam another man? He wanted man to have a companion and He gave him woman???

I don't know what the world is coming to, but I can tell you that it would be a much better place if we just listened to what God gave us. It seems like our whole lives are devoted to trying to make everything fit how we want. Bending the rules, and becoming "tolerant" of differences. Concealing hatred by labeling people as "prejudice" if they choose to follow the plan that is set out for us to follow. We should just be more understanding of the folks that choose to find ways to make sin acceptable in man's world. There are many examples of what happens to those people also if you take the time to read the Bible. I don't want to be one of them.

I am not perfect by any means. I make mistakes and I don't do everything that I should. I just know that I am terrified by what I see the world around me turning into. I want to find a way to make the world a better place. The world that God intended us to live in.

End of rant for today, I guess.

It's that time of the year again...

Today was Ben's annual ARD at school. Over all it went pretty well. I think that we came up with some pretty good ideas.
The psychologist is going to work with his teacher to make him a visual schedule with digital pictures and Velcro so that things can be moved if need be, and she is starting a social skills group. (I have only begged for this for 4 years now, so it is a record in speedy response...)
I was pleasantly surprised by the idea that we try to wear under armor to sleep in opposed to a weighted blanket. This will be about $250 dollars cheaper than a new weighted blanket, and he can wear it to school under his uniform... I was even more pleasantly surprised when I borrowed a shirt from his more athletic brother, and he LOVED it when he put it on.
I had to make a choice between crying and laughing when we addressed the OT's goals for the upcoming year. I chose to laugh. They consisted of... writing using a proper tripod grip on the pencil, learning to write the letters a-z correctly, and proper word orientation on the lines with proper use of the margins. Hmmm... thousands of dollars and years later,we are still working on the same goals. Come on folks, it isn't going to happen. I did get a tiny little blurb actually written into his IEP this year about using the typing to learn program. I guess that is actually a step in the right direction. I am sorry, but it just seems like when he can't write after 6 years of therapy, perhaps it is becoming more discouraging to him, and could be causing him to have lower self esteem. Let's try to change gears and work on something else that he might be able to do well.
There was another major melt down this evening. He tried to bite me, and ran out the door screaming that he was going to run away. He came back really quickly when I went out the door carrying the phone and told him he had to come inside, or I had to call the police. I thought that getting through puberty was hard with an ordinary child, it is going to be a life changing experience with Ben...
Overall, I guess the summary of the day is this. I have made it through another one. All of my children are home and in bed asleep. They all have their fingers and toes still. The favorite khaki pants are now in the dryer. Everyone ate dinner and did their homework. So I guess that I must have done my job pretty well today. We'll start again tomorrow and hope for a tantrum free day.

Another Ben story....

We had some friends over for dinner and a game Friday night. As we sat at dinner, and we had conversation, it turned to our guest's new wedding band. There was discussion of what kind of metal the ring was made of. He was telling us that he had developed an allergy to gold, and was unable to wear his wedding band, so his wife had bought him a new one. He took it off to read the inside and tell us. The writing was too small for his eyes, and Ben sitting next to him, asked to see if he could read it. When Ben couldn't make it out, he got really excited when he remembered that he had a survival tool around his neck. He broke out the magnifying glass inside of it. "It says something about China!" he announced. And of course all of us started laughing. "What! It does!" he yelled, just to be met by more laughter.
Ben went to bed that night not knowing what was so hilarious to all of us. What a curse for someone that struggles so hard to understand humor.

The poll is over and the verdict is in!

So the name is Cujo! She is so vicious that she chases my 20 pound cat around the house!

It's time!!!

The new puppy arrived home last night after an exhaustive day at the air show with the kiddos.

We are all so excited, I don't know if I might be more excited than the girls even...

She slept in Sato's crate last night since she was too tiny to sleep in anything bigger. He laid in front of the crate twitching his tail for the longest after we got him to get out. I know, only Ben would have a cat with an identity crisis so bad that he wants to "kennel up". The night was peaceful with little crying and two trips out to the potty. We actually woke up for an hour before she was ready to wake up.

In Lucie's happy tradition, we have decided to put up the final names that have been selected for a vote. If no one votes, then I have the say. The first 4 are Japanese names. Akiko means Autumn child. Kioko means adored one. Kumiko means companion child. Keeki means cake. That one is because Sadie kept saying that she wanted to name the puppy strawberry cupcake, so we shortened it. Jordan was what Sadie was calling the puppy this morning when we woke up. Ben wanted Cleopatra, which I don't want because my sister has a cat named Cleo. Chris suggested Ping Pong. I have since wished that I had put Pumpkin on there. We had also tossed around Wednesday, Morticia, and Elvira since it is almost Halloween.

Thanks for any help, and let the voting begin!!!

Janet Reno's Dance Party!!!

Nothing like a rainy day of dancing it up...

Puppy week two pics

We all can't wait to see her with her eyes open, but here are the newest pics of her. Still searching for names. Sadie wants to call her Strawberry Cupcake for some reason... I think that we will probably go with a Japanese name, but I am still not sure. Got 4 more weeks to think on it...

Western Day this weekend...

Well, our "little" town of Lewisville is going to be celebrating the annual Western Day tommorrow. There is much excitement in the house. I think that the best part of it listening to the preview provided by Sadie...

Western Day is tommorrow, and the cows are going to walk down the road. Then they will tell us a knock knock joke. There is going to be a GRAND MARSHALL, and he will tell us "Ladies and gentleman, come one, come all to Western Day" The GRAND MARSHALL is her favorite guy.

The anticipation is almost too much to bear for another day.

I know that I can't wait to see Joey Chestnut stuffing his face full of tamales. There is just something really hot about a scrawny man stuffing food down his throat as fast as possible...
YIPPEE!!!

New baby pics...

I just recieved these new baby pics of our little girl. I am all giddy, reading up on the breed that she is, and planning for her arrival. This is the first time I have ever gotten a puppy like this, and it is almost like planning for a baby!

The name suggestions so far are Elvira, Morticia, and Wednesday since it will be October when we get her. And Sadie has suggested Cupcake. We are going to be open for suggestions before it becomes poll time...LOL.

Working on my insanity plea...

I have just made the decision to add this adorable little puppy to our family... She was just born 2 days ago so she won't come home for 6 weeks. I know that everyone must think that I am insane, but I just thought that I would share that it is part of my master plan for my insanity plea...

There, now you all don't have to be so worried anymore! I hope that everyone in my home sleeps well tonight.

Rainy days...

Perhaps the hardest part of having a child with sensory issues is when they don't like rainy days...

School is really going well, considering Ben and Lucie have been tardy every day this week. They didn't get tardy slips until today, and Ben looked like he was going to cry. Today was perhaps the most understandable tardy of the week.

Last night I got Ben to karate. He was in a great mood. He took two tests yesterday, and had gotten his new English pak. He has his Social Studies test today, and he is really on target for this year. I am so proud of him, and so are the teachers. During karate, it began to rain. It was all he could do to get from the door to the car. Not a fun experience.

Today it WASN'T raining when we got out of bed, but that changed as we were getting ready for school. He made it half way to the car, and then he just stood there frozen. It took like 5 minutes to get him to move, and he was drenched. It was lovely. Crying in the car. Trying to listen to Barry Manilow so that we can make it through the day. Can't walk through the puddles in the parking lot at school to get into the building. UGH!!!

I have to clean the garage out and get my door working again. He has to be able to just get into the car and go. This outdoor stimuli is getting to be way too much. I cant' focus on that right now, I have to work on the school stuff. Just want to go back to bed and cover my head up...

It was only 73 degrees outiside this morning!!!

I about froze my rear end off as I was at the park with Sadie and her best friend Katie. The only thing that keeps me going right now is the fact that they never mind if I practice my photography. I am just sad that my camera is broken and I have to work so hard to get the shots with my little one. Still comes out okay sometimes....

my son is an elf???

Laying in bed this morning, snuggled up with Sadie, she began to talk to me...
"You know, Mom, Andrew is working at the toy store now."
Yes,
"I am so happy that he got a job at the toy store..."
"Yes, dear, I am happy too."
"My big brother is a elf! I bet he gets to talk to Santa every day! I am so excited. But it's a secret!"

I am so amazed! My son went from being a student, to a sailor, to an elf!!! That's a pretty amazing transformation over a year.

School update...

Ben did all of his goals today on his own! He was finished before dinner, and had plenty of time to go out to swim with us and then play on the computer. I was sooo excited and proud of him. I can only hope that things continue to go so well!

Lucie told me that she doesn't miss me at all being gone all day. She said that she did think about me for a minute at lunch, but then she just forgot again! She says that she loves it. When we were in bed tonight, I told her that her cousin got on yellow at school yesterday, and she looked like she was going to cry. She said a prayer that it would never happen to her again. It was too cute.

I have finished all of the ridiculous paperwork that I have to do for Chris, and he is ready to get going. He realized that his English syllabus has a listing of all major papers for the year, and he was ready to get writing. He just wishes that they offered a Pre AP class for English. I told him that high school is just around the corner, and he will be able to do as much of that as he wants then.

Andrew goes to work tomorrow and I am so excited that I am about to explode!!! I hope that he enjoys his job. I think that Toys R Us would be a great place to work for a first job! I wouldn't mind working there myself.

Houston still has a job, and I guess I always will. Things are still good, knock on wood. I think that this is the best start to a school year that we have ever had. I wish that we could transition this easily each time!

SCHOOL'S IN!!!

I wanted to take a minute to just share how GREAT yesterday was with the two people that I haven't talked to yet...

Ben did a whole pak of work on his first day. He was committed to making a good start and worked on it last night and got up at 6 AM to finish it this morning. He earned $10 merit money from his new teacher yesterday, and was very excited!

Lucie loved her first day of school, until she realized that she won't have homework until next week. She is busily learning the pledge of allegiance, and the Texas pledge. She was very upset about some kids that can't speak English well, and actually used the word "brats", so I guess I have dug myself a hole about this whole national language thing...

Christopher also came home very excited. He liked all of his teachers but one. He is in all the advanced classes except the dreaded math. He got into the technology course, so he will be learning about rockets and robotics and all kinds of cool things. (Boy middle school has changed since my day...) And best of all, he is in the 8th grade orchestra!!! So he was VERY excited. (Yes, he is in 7th grade.)

To ice the cake, Andrew got called about an interview. A friend called to let him know that he had been contacted from a potential as a referance, and on the way home Toy's R Us called and offered him a position. He starts on Wed.

Sadie has been dry on her potty training all day today finally, and we have been having a blast at home without all of the noise! Next week her best buddy will be here while her mother is at school three days a week, so she won't be so alone.

It has been a great start to what I hope will be a great year!!!

A little hope for the rest of us in life....

Sometimes it is just encouraging to know that the best looking people have off days also. This picture is one of those that just makes you feel good about yourself, no matter how bad your day is going...




Thanks, Sadie! You've made my day again!!!

Dinner blessing from Sadie...

Thank you for the bunnies and don't let anyone else kill them. Thank you for the squirrels, and thank you for the food. Thank you for letting Joker be nice to us. And Jesus said, AMEN.

My scary moment...

I was in the kitchen this weekend, doing some dishes, and the "men" were sitting in the living room watching some various guy programing. I walked around the corner to go and sit down and rest... I was met by this....



I just said, "OH my," and went to grab my camera. The thing is that neither of them realized that the other was doing the same thing. Who watches TV with their arm over their head??? This has to be some genetic problem that occurs when cloning people, or something... CRAZY.

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY LUCIE!!!

Lucie is 5 today, and we have been celebrating in style. We have some awesome makeovers...


A toast to a good five years, and five more to come...




And perhaps the pinnacle of livelyhood... Getting her very own library card!!!

Dinner time at the ranch...

Last night Ben fixed us Rancho Baked Beans for dinner. Quite delicious, and there were none leftover as usual. I made the girls a quesodilla to go with it, since I am aware that they are not the biggest bean fan. We all sat down at the table, ate dinner, and then started the nightly ritual of coaxing the girls to eat some.
I got up and started clearing the dishes while my hubby was sitting at the table. "Sadie, could you eat just a little bit more? I know that you are going to be hungry later." She just peers up at him with those big blue eyes and says " I can't, Daddy. My diarrhea is all gone." As we all continued for the next few minutes trying to figure out what is going on, she picked up her plate and said "See, I don't have anymore diarrhea." OH!!! Quesodilla, diarrhea... It's all the same!

Ben kicks it!

We had an incident right around Easter 08 when Ben rode his bike down the road and fell over. It was like something out of a cartoon. He just plopped over. No feet down, no catching himself, just one minute he is riding his bike, the next he is laying on the ground on his bike. It was awful. He told me that he would NEVER ride a bike again. It is too dangerous.

Then for Christmas last year, he asked for a razor scooter. His Grandad went everywhere under the moon to find the blue razor since blue is Ben's favorite color, and Ben seldom asks for something. You just kinda have to guess about what he wants. Ben has loved the scooter. As a matter of fact, I still go to check on him at least two times a week that the scooter is in bed with him. The scooter has never seen outside action, because it is also deemed too dangerous, but it is loved.

Fast forward to my frustration with all things electronic. I had to take Lucie for her diagnostic testing for Kindergarten yesterday. When we returned home I announced that we would eat a fine feast of Taco Bell and then go out to ride bikes. Ben says "I'm not going." I told him that we would just get his bike out and he could sit on it and push it around with his feet. He finally agreed about this, and took it in the grass to play with it. He quickly got frustrated when he kept trying to get it to go in the grass. (I saw him out of the corner of my eye trying to pedal.) The girls moved to the road, and I finally convinced Ben to bring his out.

After several times of me standing there holding the bike, and him walking away telling me that he couldn't ride there, he finally climbed on with me holding the bike VERY steady. I then had him put his feet up and showed him how it was just like tight rope walking on the wii board. That clicked. He agreed it was just like adjusting his character on the screen when he played the game.



My Ben took off down the road on a bike. Furthermore, he can't wait to go back out and ride more! I am so pleased. I have to say that this has made the wii fit worth more than I had to pay for it!

Communication Barrier....

I am tired. I am tired of listening to people argue and whine. I am tired of picking up the same things over and over. I am tired of feeling like I am living in a trailer park again. (Just that whole house looking awful feeling, I guess...)

Andrew has returned home because he had a medical problem. Fine, we keep moving forward.

I guess that this turn of events has caused me to realize that I am in a very poor position with my family right now. I am disrespected. When I ask a simple question, I am met by lies. I am really furious.

Sorry, I am not going to keep dumping on my reader... I guess that what I really wanted to write about right now is I was tired of the shouting. Tired of the drone of the tv. Tired of little zombies walking through the house and randomly throwing things into the floor.

So I told the children to find something else to do. "Something that is not electronic" is what I instructed them. Sounds simple enough.

The funny thing is that the same barrage of questions assaulted me from every direction that did before I said this...

Can I get on the computer?

Can I watch a movie?

Can I turn the TV on?

Can I play playstation?

Can we watch a movie in Lucie's room? {I like this one in particular, because it is almost like implying that because you are in Lucie's room, it is not electronic...}

After several "NO"s and me hitting the point that I started to look a little like the sea witch in The Little Mermaid... I stop a moment for one more question...

"Mommy, is there anything in this house that isn't electwonic?" Lucie says...

Wow. I can't even talk to my kids anymore. I am so stressed....

Morning time with the girls...

Sitting at the computer checking my email, and the poll results for the guinea pig name, I am listening to the conversation of the girls. My little princesses are in the living room. Sadie is coloring and Lucie is criticizing. Lucie says "Saaa-dee! You can't cower that way. It is aww wong. Your supposed to cower with these fingers holding the cwayons..." Sadie says "Yes, I can, because I'm a giant and I know what I am doing." Followed by, the typical "NO, I am the giant, because I am smarted than you..." And you get the great childhood argument of yes, no, yes, no, me, me, me, me that makes me think debate team will never be a great option for my children. Then Lucie says "Fine! I am going upstairs! I AM THE GIANT IN THIS FAMILY!!! I AM THE SMARTEST ONE HERE!!!"

Me, just sitting over at the computer trying not to die laughing and secretly wishing I had this argument on video tape, so Lucie could see that the genius of the family thought that the right word was giant...

Here are pics of said guinea pig for the poll. Thanks for all of your help.

Anchors Aweigh!!!

I got my call from Andrew tonight at about 23:30. I can't wait for the next two monthes to pass so I can see him again. When he ran from the bus with open arms to give me a hug today, I could see him as a little boy again. I didn't want to let him go, and I knew that I had to. My emotions are so mixed up right now. I really can't explain the pride that I have knowing that my son is serving in the United States Navy, but I also can't express the pain that I feel knowing that he won't come walking in the door anymore.

Lucie wanted to get all gung ho on cleaning out his room this evening, and I just couldn't handle it. We did a little work on it, but it just seems so final to put away his things. I will be doing all of his dirty laundry over the next couple of days, and he won't be here to wear it. 18 years is not enough time to spend with your child. I so hope that some day he will be close to me again. I don't know if he will ever live here in Texas with me, but I hope so.

It was very hard walking back to the parked car with the kids. Sadie just kept telling us that we just have to forget about Andrew now. Lucie was crying about how "he was a good brother... why did we have to get rid of him?" I am not exactly sure what is going on with Ben. He is really quiet about it. I can tell that he is very sad. He found a bunch of Yugio cards that Andrew had told him he could have. I have already been watching him just look through them like they are the greatest treasure a boy could ever have. I am glad that Andrew did that for him. I am sure that Ben will treasure those for a very long time, if not forever. Every bus that passed us was Andrew, and the girls stopped to wave. I can remember thinking that about planes for the longest time after my Uncle Ricky joined the Navy. I was about Sadie's age then, I believe.

I leave this blog with the last picture that I have of Andrew and myself together before he left. I wish that someone had taken one of him hugging me before he left, but I was probably holding the camera. Please remember him and all of the women and men that serve in our military in your thoughts and prayers. I know that he is anxious to see his 2 buddies from school that left for basic earlier this week, and there is another one of his friends leaving next Monday.

Military blahs...

I just have to say that when I was 20 years old, I watched my husband march away to go to war, and I never thought that anything could be worse than that. I was pregnant at the time, and I felt like I was just left with a hole in my heart. Today I watched the same child that I was pregnant with at that time get on a bus to move to Chicago and go to basic training. I think that over all I feel worse than when his dad left for Iraq. I just know that I have already done everything that I could for him in the last 18 years, and now I worry that it wasn't enough. Oh well...

Here is Andrew's "happy song" that he spent the last 2 monthes driving me nutso with....

Time for bed...

I wish that there were some eloquent way for me to put into words the things that I would like to say right now. All I can say is that I keep laying down and thinking that if my baby went in tomorrow and said that he didn't want to be in the Navy, it would not break my heart. I have asked questions like I wonder if Sadie will even really remember Andrew living in the house with her. Ben has cried, and then been very relieved to find the old Yugio cards. I keep trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I actually encouraged him to go into the Navy. I am really jealous of all of the other families that have the summer with their children after graduation. I wish that he was just going to college in the fall. I wish that I could go to bed tonight and know when my son might come home again, and if he ever will. I don't like the fact that I will not know where he is all of the time anymore. I know that the only important thing is that the Lord will know where he is, but it breaks my heart to know that I won't be able to just go to him if I want to. I also have to say that I am extremely proud of him. I am excited for him and all of the opportunities that he is going to have in the Navy. I am really jealous of the fact that he will be able to travel all over the world. I guess I will try to go to bed. I know that I get to see him as my baby just one more time tomorrow morning. A good night's sleep would do me good.

And now for my East Tennessee redneck moment... One more that I like to think he would be telling me. I can't help it that "bubble butt" got a song, and I didn't. It doesn't matter that it was derogatory...

out of town again.... :(

The last time that hubby went out of town, he loaded my MP3 player before he left. I am sure that he just loaded a bunch of random crap on there, but I like to think that he put this one on there for a reason.... I couldn't sleep tonight, and just had to hear this song so that I could be at peace enough to get some rest. It is the kind of thing that ANYONE would like to think that their significant other would say about them...

I love you, Houston... No matter how disturbing that might be to the kiddos...