Team Tiny Feet 2009

This post comes to you via an old friend. She and I met when our first boys were only 4 months old. After years of playgroups, and kids growing up, we don't get to see each other much, but she is an incredibly dedicated mother to four. She has somehow found the extra time to dedicate much of herself to the March of Dimes.

Please, read her story. If you can help, please donate what you can. If you cannot donate, see if you can help direct traffic to her walkathon team's site.


Hello Friends and Family,

I want to start off by saying Thank you for the support you've shown our family in our Annual March for Babies team Team Tiny Feet. Our team is inspired by Hanna and Rachel in support of the March of Dimes. The March of Dimes volunteers raised the much needed money that allowed Hanna and Rachel to survive their extremely early arrival. It's our turn to give our support to those new families that are facing the same struggles our family faced and continue to face as a result of Prematurity.

Our team fundraising has been off to a very good start, but we're not there yet. We are still down from our goal, and we need your help.

We need your help so that no family has to be separated for 92 days. This is the total number of days our family was separated while Hanna and Rachel were in the NICU.

We need your help so that no parent has to sit and watch their baby struggle to breathe.

We need your help so that no parent has to sit and watch their baby, rather than cuddle with their baby because their nervous system is too delicate to tolerate touch.

We need your help so that no family has to face chronic illness, and multiple re-hospitalizations as a result of Prematurity. Hanna suffered from chronic lung complications and was readmitted into the PICU multiple times due to illness.. illness that a full term baby would likely have had the immune system to fight off.

We need your help so that no family has to face lifelong complications, a result of prematurity. Rachel will battle with Epilepsy, Autism, and multiple other disorders due to her Premature arrival for the rest of her life.

We need your help so that no family has to say good bye to their precious child before that child has had the chance to live.

Please consider supporting Team Tiny Feet. Lace up those tennis shoes,and allow other families the chance for their dreams to come true, as ours have with Hanna and Rachel.

We are asking that if you are able to please make a $97 donation....$1 for each day Hanna and Rachel arrived too soon, too sick, and too tiny. If you are unable to make that donation, any donation will be greatly appreciated.

You can join our team and walk with us on Sunday, April 26th in Downtown Naperville. If you are unable to walk with us please consider making a donation to our team.

www.marchforbabies.org/hannarachel

You can watch our journey by clicking on the following link:

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=24f96eaf1b528042090356&skin_id=0&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Karri & Kirk

Ian, Hanna, Rachel & Will
--
Help Give Every Baby A Healthy Start
www.marchforbabies.org/hannarachel

I will be walking for the first time this year. Won't you help me reach my goal?

Late-night Ruminations from a grocery store parking lot...

This rain reminds me of how temporary we are: no sunny day lasts past sunset, no flower's bloom can be preserved, no one's childhood will linger, despite our desperate attempts to make it so...

Streetlights bend the light which dances like jellyfish across my paper while I scrawl with black crayon in the parking lot of Jewel. My eyes continually flick to the entry, searching for the figure that towers over all others... He is racing between the dark puddles, and we are off for an evening together...

I'm drawing a blank...

While the weather on Friday wasn't PERfect for the zoo, it was a good day. No stress, no time-frame, and no agenda. LOVED it. The big dinosaur exhibit opens on April 4th, and the dinosaurs we glimpsed through the trees and at the fountain were COOL. We will definitely be heading back to check out the full collection of animatronic, growling creatures.


I took tons of great pictures of the 3 stooges. Very cute, happy, etc. But my MAIN focus at this visit wasn't capturing their quirky smiles...




...Nor was it to take pictures of ideas for Justin and I to build for an art/natural science unit on animal habitats. (We are TOTALLY making a papier mache animal exhibit...)
And though I was glad to get another of my yearly "3 kids walking towards a tunnel" pictures...
(I only had to threaten Justin with a wildly embarrassing singing Mom at the zoo to make him hold hands with his little sister)...

It was the little things at the zoo that caught my attention!
While the kids were laughing at the animals, I was giddy over jonquils and daffodils.

While the polar bear paced, I was busy counting the crocuses...

But nothing compares to the effects of 5 hours of walking, running and climbing at the zoo.

(Yes, those are sleds in my van. What of it?)

FYI: If you are at the zoo, and find a lovely, black stuffed dog? Please turn it in! Corinne lost her big brother's doggy and many 6 year old tears were shed over this tragedy!

How do I love thee?

One time, Patrick and I were at the zoo with our kids. It was frigid out, so we headed into the dolphin show and managed to get great seats, despite the arena being absolutely packed. Each show is a bit different, which is nice. You just never know what you're going to see!

At this particular show, the announcer asked for 2 adult volunteers. No WAY was I raising my hand! I had 3 little kids and was wearing a winter coat. The last thing I needed was to get covered in fishy dolphin water!

Thankfully, some other poor couple got chosen. HA! Poor thing, I thought as the guy dragged his woman to the stage...

The instructions were pretty simple: dolphins have great memories and will know things that we could never understand, blah blah blah, something about echo location, yadda yadda.... Ok. FINALLY, they have the couple throw a big, sealed container into the water, stating that the dolphins will know which ones are empty and which have things inside of them, simply by the way the sound bounces off of them. Strangely enough, Flipper* brought back one of the "empty" containers.

"That's odd," said the guy in the wetsuit. "They never make mistakes! Here, my hands are wet. Can you open this to make sure it really is empty?"

(If you're here from the linked site, you know where this is going, right?)

Sure as shit, inside that container that was thrown into a 20 foot deep pool filled with legless mammals, was an expensive engagement ring. The girl gasped. The audience Awwwwwed! The man was on one knee as hundreds of cameras flashed.

I? Was bawling. And then I slapped Patrick's knee. (All I could reach around our 3 offspring) I slapped him realllllly hard. For he will never live down the fact that his proposal to me was nowhere near as romantic as that one was!

If you want to see more lovey dovey crap, look over at The Glamorous Life. And let me know if you post your own romantic gestures for the whole world to coo over. I'll make sure to forward them to Patrick...

:)

*name was changed to protect innocent pinnipeds...

He wears his heart on his sleeve...

He held me so tightly this morning... Rather than a squeeze and a pat on the head, he let me hold him a bit longer and we rocked back and forth. I smoothed his hair back and was glad to see the tears from breakfast had dried...

"But you said Daddy would be awake for breakfasts!"

"I'm so sorry, baby. We're still working on the schedule. He misses you, too..."

His devastation was palpable. As are all of Evan's emotions. Like the rub-on tattoos he can't bear to part with, Evan wears his feelings right there for all the world to see. You would think that this level of high emotions would mean that he throws tantrums and screams. Well, he DOES do that, but only when he's angry. The trait that truly breaks my heart is his ability to hide in a corner and weep silently. Honestly, there have been parties and playdates when I have looked around and said "Where'd Evan go?" only to finally find him hiding under a blanket, hot tears soaking his pillow.

"Baby, what's wrong?!?" After repeatedly asking and hugging and asking quietly and hugging again, he will allow me a tiny piece of his version of the Worst Thing Ever, usually involving a friend slighting him or calling him a name.

"I felt like my heart was just breaking, Mama!"

And he does. He really does...

I'm telling you, he's got a future in something expressive. Be it writing or photography or the most sympathetic Dad in the world, I can picture Evan doing it well...

That, or a stand-up comic.

God. SEVEN. He will be 7 years old in just 8 days...

A random lady in an elevator actually gushed over him at this age
and called him a "beautiful creature"...
Creature? Um, like, something from the black lagoon?

Some numbers are harder for a mother to wrap her head around. Is 7 really that much older than 6? No. But it's soooo much older than I ever really imagined my Evie to ever be. That whole middle child dilemma rears its ugly head again...

He gone!

(White Sox fans know what I'm talking about...)

Day 1 of weird-vampire hours...

Patrick headed off to his new job today, after sleeping in until 9 am!

Yeaaaahhh, that's enough sleep to keep him moving till 3 am. Sure thing! After "sleeping in," he headed off to continue the hunt for a job that will allow him to SEE his children. On his way home, he stopped to get some supplies for eating nocturnally. While at Aldi, he also remembered a big bottle of this for his lonely wife....

(is there anything cuter than a Winking Owl on a cheap bottle of wine? I think not...)

He knows me so well.

I'll miss you, honey. I love you....

Ketchup

Well, we stayed up as late as we could last night, trying to tire Patrick out so that he could sleep in this morning. Get your mind out of the gutter. I have an aunt that is visiting, so we played Scrabble (kicked his BUUUUTTTT!!!!) and then watched part of Hellboy before we both fell asleep somewhere in the middle of it (AGAIN. We have never made it through that movie.) before midnight. Not quite what we had planned.... I purchased black curtains yesterday and they are making the room much darker (and they're so pretty. Just like a dungeon!). Hopefully, that will get him to sleep until at least 10:00. Realistically, he should sleep until noon or 1:00, but I don't see that happening just yet, so I'm setting my goals at a realistic level.

BUT, I realized that I forgot to get clothes out of the closet, so I am debating if I should just wear jammies all day (tempting) or go digging through the laundry room. Chances are, there is a load of clothes in the dryer that I haven't folded, anyway.... But I do NOT want to wake him up just to get jeans!

I let Patrick in on my mind's leaning towards homeschooling Evan, too. He didn't flip out quite as much as I thought he would, but doesn't see the advantages of it yet. I'm just warming him up, as I warm my own mind to the idea of all 3, all the time.

Yikes. When I say it that way, it sounds suicidal! But as I was driving past the school yesterday, I went through the advantages of schooling or homeschooling Evan. And honestly? The advantages list looked like this:

- Easier for me.
- that's it....

And then I felt kind of weak and my courage got boosted up. After all, I AM teaching 2 kids already. I think we're doing well with the slow transition. It feels really weird when everyone is home, including Patrick, EXCEPT for Evan... Like he's being sent out to school as a punishment. Also, he comes home from school tired and not divulging much of his day. He has math and reading homework EVERY night, and I don't force the issue every day as he's in FIRST GRADE. He should be able to play at the end of the day! So, we both get stressed over the work he has to accomplish, when he could be getting that full 30-60 minutes of undivided reading attention at home EVERY day with me, in addition to 2 tutors in first grade math. (Justin could totally benefit from showing his brother. Not sure that it would work out, but it'd be worth a shot!)

Hmmm. It's 7:30. Since we ARE still using regular school for Evan, I HAVE to get them all up for school. Which SUCKS!

I am SO going to push for this family change. Slowly, but surely, they'll come around to my way of thinking....

Great. Now I'm hungry...

After slaving at the stove, Justin and I managed to make a cake so realistic and perfectly proportioned, that it is truly hard to tell which Xbox controller is the real one and which is edible.

Tell the truth: you're stumped as well, aren't you? Aren't You???

I thought so.

Evan's contribution to tonight's Cub Scout cake auction was much easier. A dump truck with loads of chocolatey stuff dumped all over it. Voila!

The mystery of this post is this: Seeing both of these cakes, what is the "theme" of the cake auction tonight?

Yeeessssss!!!!!!!!!

Words escape me.

Patrick got the job.

Granted, it is from 5 at night till 3 in the morning (holy shit) but it pays what he was making before and they have other opportunities in the (hopefully near) future.

My only problem will be keeping the kids quiet for him to sleep in the day, and figuring out how to have Patrick and Evan get any face time during the week. He'll see the other 2 plenty with them both being home, but poor Evan will be getting home JUST as Daddy is leaving.... Which is not good, but there's no other option. We kinda need to eat, you know?

I am so grateful for this. I know that many other people have searched for WAY longer than he has had to, and that the number of applicants per job is a ratio that isn't even funny. We WILL figure out how to make this work. I WILL remember that he will be getting the crummy end of the scheduling deal, and I will be kind about the change in workload and responsibilities that I will get to take on. Every night I GET to read all the stories! And I GET to do all of the soccer practices/Cub Scout functions/etc. He is the one who will be missing them, and I know that that sucks more than having the responsibilities. He is the one who is informing his band tonight that he can't practice at nights anymore. And I don't see how he'll be able to practice weekends, either, if he's not able to see Evan during the week, but we'll take that as it comes...

Deep sigh of relief...

And now, onto the next page in this chapter....

Gathering my minions...

Muwaaaahaaaaahaaaa!!! I have converted one of my offspring to the dark side!! He set up his own blog yesterday and is really excited to use it as a journaling method for homeschooling. I am really excited that he will be learning more about the computer and how to really USE it. He uploaded a picture and typed 2 sentences ve r r r y s l o o o o w l y last night. I found a typing program that he can practice online as a fun way to improve his skills and to encourage this outlet.

It IS a private blog, but if you're interested in commenting, please email me and I'll let you know. FYI, it's a KID blog, so it will be, well, CHILDISH, and also, every stroke on that blog took concentration. Oh, another FYI, if I haven't known you for more than a short period, please don't be offended if I don't accept you to comment for him. He is, after all, only 10 and it's extremely freaky to think of him having international online access. Which is WHY I am allowing it NOW. I want to help him learn about the internet while he's still willing regarding my complete access rule.

We are all staying home AGAIN today, as Evan still had a 102 fever last night. Thankfully, it seems to have broken, but his barking cough is horrible. I can't imagine how empty those classrooms are at school! Everyone is coming down with this cold. It's awful!

I apologize for not commenting much this past week. My computer time is limited and has been completely altered. I am still adjusting to the change in my schedule and still READ you guys. I just do it quickly and on my Bloglines.

I'm off to search for some work stuff that Patrick needs. Have a lovely day!

A post that is highly laced with sarcasm. Tread wisely....

Ooh! Ooh! Guess what? Guess WHAT?!?

All 3 of my kids are sick simulaneously!!

And!!!

AND!!!!!!

I am sick, toooooo!!!!

But the best part? The piece de resistance?!?

It is GOR.GEOUS. outside!!! Like, a beautiful, sunny, rare, 70 degree March day in Illinois! With tiny tulip bulbs, and baby grasses poking their heads through the wet dirt. Where the ground is warming up so the air is filled with that wonderful, earthy smell that makes your insides sing. There will be children riding bikes, swinging and sliding, and naked little arms will be baring their pale skin to the sunshine for the first time since October. The neighbors will be waking up from a long hibernation of solitude in our own homes, and conversations will surely last until the sun goes down tonight, as they all catch up on the months that have passed.

So the fact that we will all be miserable inside, with 2 feverish little ones and the eldest still hacking all day won't rip me apart AT ALL.

Neither will the fact that Patrick's unemployment money isn't coming through properly, so he drove in this morning to try and figure it out! That will be such fun!!! Especially when he comes home, feeling even more down, thanks to having to talk to the helpful and courteous government workers at the Unemployment office. I can hardly wait to hear his delightful description of THAT novelty!!

I hear my BEST patient whining for Moooommmmeeeee upstairs right now. I am SO HAPPY!!

Rumble, grumble, gurgle, roar...

In which I discover a few unsavory tidbits about myself...

I am such a horrible mother. I mean, what mom actually gets ANGRY at her kid for coughing too loudly? Huh?

But it is SO. Annoying. And right behind me. And the hack-hack-hack is usually followed by a whine of "you don't understaaaand how much this hurts..." which then leads into me gritting my teeth, biting back my words, before I utter "You don't even want to KNOW what kind of pain I've suffered, kid!" because what kid wants to hear about childbirth while he's trying to do a spelling list and math problems? Eh?

Yeah.

So, eldest child is coming down from the horrible, hacking, coughing, puking, cold that he has had since Thursday. And, right on cue, Corinne awoke this morning with a sore throat, warm forehead, and pitiful cough. Perfect!

Patrick and I muddled through the government's insurance (All Kids. I've heard good things about them, for anyone who's interested) and it seems as though the whole family will be covered for free right now. Our first bonus for no income!

I had a couple of moments of incredible gratitude and eye-opening introspection this weekend. First, a bloggy friend was very generous in an offer to help clothe my boys for the summer. Thankfully, we are not without clothing (yet!) so we are covered (HA!) for a while. But it was tremendously sweet. (And I appreciate it, dear friend. I'm sorry if my email was anything but grateful.) I have never been in a position where I actually NEEDED the help like this, and it's coming to me as a bit of a shock. I've never had problems receiving freebies before. If anything, I LOVE free stuff. It makes my day! But it feels different when you are on the true side of needing charity. It makes me uncomfortable and twisty inside...

Speaking of charity, my dad is a huge worrier when it comes to his kids. He wants to protect and care for all of us, and I know that this job situation of our family is bothering him waaaaay more than one would assume. He gave me several bags of groceries last night and I had to try hard to not cringe, knowing that they weren't because he just happened to overbuy groceries (a common problem for him. He loves to grocery shop.) but because he wanted to help us financially....

Swallow thy pride, woman...

A big eye opener for me is that I actually HAVE pride about this. I never realized it until the offers for aid began to pour in. And while I am more than grateful, and will accept the help that we need, I am getting a first-hand taste of the difference between "hand-outs" and "hand-ups".

THAT said, my Cub Scout pack is organizing a food drive this week. If you have any spare food in your pantry, or are going shopping, please consider helping out at the food pantries. They run low at this time of the year (heck, at EVERY time of the year!) and could use the supplies...

Just a mini-bitch...

Well, waaaah effing wah.

I just got back from my bi-annual trip to my favorite children's clothing resale. Generally, I trudge out of there, huffing and puffing with the incredible load I have purchased. Generally, I have over a hundred dollars less in my pocket but entire wardrobes for my children in my basket.

(Insert visual of me with angry eyes and tongue sticking out)

It sucks to be broke.

Not that we've ever been rolling in the dough, but I was always able to scrape together enough money ($150 MAX) twice a year to buy my children tons and tons of clothing and shoes and books.

This year? $30. About 15 homeschool books, a couple dresses, 2 pairs of sandals (for Corinne and Justin) and an American Girl doll chair for my niece's birthday ($4! New condition!!! STEAL!!!).

Oh, the gingham dresses I had to forgo...

Oh, the sweet little sparkly shoes!

I didn't even bother looking through the older boy clothing as it is generally a bit more expensive than the toddler clothes. They will make do with clothes that are either a bit big or a bit small. It is what it is.

But it still stinks.

It could be worse. It could be worse...

There's that famous mantra of mine, again.

Do me a favor? If you're the praying type, pray that Patrick's real estate deal goes well on Saturday, ok?

No time to edit: husband keeps looking over my shoulder.

I swear to God, I love having my honey home, but he is encroaching on MY space and MY time and it's starting to make me twitch.

That said, Justin still isn't himself today, so he's staying home again. I told him we'd just start on our space unit early. I am going to call the school and see if he can still attend the music concert in 2 weeks if he's being homeschooled. He's had the songs memorized for weeks, for pity's sake! I sure hope so, because sending him to school right now seems like a waste of time and planning. I mean, we're READY to start, but in a holding pattern. Kind of ridiculous, eh?

I am starting to look at this lay off thing as a possible window opening thing... He's had a lot of leads on real estate buyers and even a house listing. Now it's just a waiting game to see who actually goes through to closing and if we can financially hold out for that long. He's been waiting for a concrete response on that first job he interviewed for (2 weeks ago!) but no luck, so far. They keep putting him off a few more days... We'll see. Maybe they really ARE interested but need to get things squared away, but it seems to me that if they really, REALLY had the interest in hiring him, they'd have called by now, before he takes a different job.

ANYway, my point is that perhaps this change in lifestyles is what we were needing? IF he continues with real estate (and the other 2 small-potatoes ways of making money that we are starting), our lives will be completely different. This will make homeschooling a bit easier (and harder, since he'll be around when we want peace and quiet). It may bring "family time" a whole new meaning as he'll be HERE for the fun stuff and activities and sports. We may actually get to EAT DINNER together on a REGULAR basis. It also has me considering what to do about Evan's schooling. I have this feeling that teaching and learning with Justin will be easier than with Evan. I love him to pieces, but he's definitely resistant to me at times. Then again, homeschooling HIM could be what the 2 of us need in order to reconnect... We'll see. I'll stick with just Justin for the spring and evaluate our lives this fall. A whole lot can change in 5 or 6 months...

Man, if Patrick were doing real estate and I was homeschooling, do you know what that could mean for our vacation opportunities? (I know, I know. My husband's unemployed. What am I doing thinking about vacations already??) We could go on the off seasons, when everyone else is in school! To be honest, I think that that one reason could be the selling point for Patrick... ;) We're suckers for vacations and traveling experiences...

I apologize for the craptastic method of blogging I have fallen into these past few weeks. I think that "blogging time" will take on a whole new meaning for me. I may have to revert to doing my writing at night, again...

Redirecting traffic.

So, sick of hearing about my homeschooling questions, etc? Well, I've started a new blog to document our journey. It's (of course) Just Another Homeschool Blog. I KNOW! So original, right??
Gotta mark my brand, baby...

Justin is home sick from PUBLIC school today, hacking and feverish. He just finished a book and now we're off to play a Pokemon board game. Right after I heat up some leftover pasta for breakfast...

A memorable quote, for sure....

Not a lot of brilliance going on right now. No quirky quotes or deep thoughts. Having Patrick home makes me rush through blogging in a way that isn't conducive to long moments of quiet. Of course, having Justin home will probably have the same effect... What will these life changes mean for my blog?!?

Priorities, Trace. Check 'em, m'kay?

One of the fun things about blogging is having companies think you're cool. Cool enough to want a quote for an article ABOUT blogging. JumpStart Times is an online parenting site affiliated with the JumpStart children's virtual world. (which I love!) You can find my inspiring views here, or check out the kid programs here (there's a new Adventure World in the membership, which had Corinne cracking up over yesterday...).

Crud. Patrick's pulling up in the driveway (1 benefit of an unemployed husband is that HE can take the kids to school on frigid mornings while I type in my pajamas!!)

Sippin my cup o joe

My feets are cooooold.

But my coffee's HOT.

(insert happy face emoticon with coffee steam. Ahhhhhh....)

If only Patrick could get paid to stay home all the time... That would rock. (I mean, more than the unemployment. Cuz that's not rockin so much...) Having him home so much is actually working out nicely. (Except for having to share my computer so much. That is driving me a little nuts...) He's been showing a bunch of new clients real estate, so we're hoping for ONE sale. Just one would set us up for quite some time.

My checklist is daunting, but I'm slowly knocking the to-do's off, one by one...

Yeah. That's about it. I have been consumed by feelings regarding all of the unemployment/homeschooling/flooded basement issues. We're not really freaking out, yet. Though I did hold Justin extra long last night, wondering how he's going to feel that first Monday that he stays home and Evan heads off with his friends... Wondering how I'M going to feel, when he misses something that the school offers.

Shake it off, girl! COURAGE. That's all I need. A little medal from a man in green, assuring me that I am brave enough to do this....

Where's the rainbow after this storm?

Soooo... how was your weekend? Mmm-hmmmm... yeah. Sounds like a blast.

Mine? Really want to know? Because this streak of FABULOUS luck might just make you violently green...

Well, I spent all day on Saturday cleaning out the desk area and moving things back about 2 feet to make space for Justin's homeschool desk. I spent the moments in between cleaning and moving things feeling nauseous. Can I really pull my child from school? Is this something I am brave enough to do? Because HOLY CRAP, I AM SCARED.

Thankfully, Justin is so pumped about this idea that he cleaned the desk, organized it with pencils and paper and such, and even begged me for schoolwork. After I warmed up from hell freezing over, I scrambled to find some work online, but only found a few random math sheets and what-not. Because I am NOT READY to homeschool yet! I was planning on starting in a few weeks, after his recorder recital at school.

And then I got to thinking about all the things he would "miss" by being at home instead of public school. And then I thought about all of the things he might miss out on if he STAYS in school (like, oh, an education without being targeted as weird or difficult). And then I stopped googling homeschool pages and such because my little brain couldn't handle it. And THEN I startd to think about the lack of alone time I would be getting. That I was looking forward to time alone with just Corinne. And that I don't know if it's fair to any of my children to have different schooling experiences....

And then I had a glass of wine. Because I was mentally exhausted.

And then my pregnant neighbor dropped her 5 kids off for a few hours because she had to go to the emergency room for a high fever and bronchitis (she's ok. Thank God!).

This morning, after giving Justin a math lesson (he figured out dividing fractions. In ONE lesson. Big confidence boost!) I went into the basement to get the large pad of paper to do a science project he wants to start on the solar system.

Unfortunately, we never got around to doing that project because there was an inch of water in my basement. Again. And? This time, just for kicks, we got to deal with the freezer being turned off all night (lovely lightning storm last night). The SMELL was horrendous!! We also discovered that the sump pump wasn't working. So we got to buy a new pump in addition to needing to pitch craploads of spoiled food Which is fun, because our money situation is so stable right now...

boxes and boxes of books and Patrick's sports cards that narrowly missed the water. Again. Because I wasn't diligent enough the last time to see them in the far corner...

It could be worse. It could be worse. It could be worse.



I repeated this mantra as I squeegied the water into the hole with the new pump chugging away.
It could be worse. It can always be worse...

But man....

It could be so much better right now, too...

Long story short...

I am considering homeschooling Justin. As in, really, REALLY considering it. And here is where my blogging friends can truly help me.

I need advice.

Real advice. Not on "he'll miss out socially" blah blah blah. Because I don't buy that. I am talking about legal advice, curriculum advice, organization advice. You name it. I need it. Also? Since Patrick is, you know, UNEMPLOYED, I'd really like the curriculum to be FREE or extremely cheap. What does the library carry? How do I go about making this switch?

I have 30,000 ideas swirling through my head because the main issue I am feeling here is that my son is NOT flourishing in public school. I truly believe that I can help him academically until he is socially ready to restart public school. He is an incredibly intelligent child without the ability to sit still or be 100% responsible for schoolwork. He needs the extra attention that one-on-one instruction can provide. I've been saying it since first grade. Only after these most recent issues (private) have I seen Patrick's resistance to the idea begin to sway.

So I need some good stuff, folks. Good links. Solid advice. A real direction on where do I first begin in all of this??

The blockade

And another sensitive topic rears its ugly head that I do not feel comfortable putting on the internet for all eternity... And so, instead, I simply go a bit quiet and enjoy the sunny days before me. I try to focus on the fun the kids had instead of the knock-down-screaming fight which sent the boys to bed early on a FRIDAY.

And a glass of wine. Yes. A glass of wine....

Friday winner!

The winner of the Woodgroove block!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sorry it's dark, but this video cracks me up! I swear, Evan IS reading really well lately...

Remember to comment!

I am off to ballet class with Corinne, but wanted to remind you all that the giveaway for the unique Woodgroove block is tomorrow! Your chances of winning are still really good, so click on over and enter your name!!

A new rhythm

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-da-da-da-da-dum.

That? Is an irregular heartbeat.

That? Is my world right now.

He's home, but it's not a weekend. It's not vacation. This isn't "fun time." Soooo... what exactly IS this rhythm we're in? This is the waiting time, isn't it? Wait and see. Wait and see. Hurry up and wait and see...

I can't quite capture the mood of the house. We aren't upset or depressed or floundering... yet.
We are focusing on the possibility of his interview from YESTERDAY (can you believe that?) being the silver lining on this turn of events. That we will find ourselves in a position where he is receiving TWO paychecks for a few weeks instead of the alternative which shall not be named on this blog...

Oh, and the third strike from this weekend? Our tv officially died. This time, to the point that Patrick can't jerry-rig it. Nice, right? At least all of the problems are fixable. A tv is expendable. A job is replacable. A basement can be cleaned. But people are a little more delicate than electronics and cardboard boxes...

My family is healthy and happy. If I focus on the "Now" that we are living, it isn't horrible. In fact, other than the 3 inconveniences I mentioned (love the downplay, don't you?) life is pretty good: Patrick and I are relaxed and united. Justin has been slowly adjusting to the new methods of accepting responsibility. Evan isn't fighting with his best friend anymore. And Corinne has been her usual cheerful, adorable self. It's a freakin love-fest over here! Whooot.....

Aren't we all glad that this is happening NOW, when I'm not in the midst of a gloom and doom mood? A month ago, this would not have been a pretty picture...
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I'll leave you with a photo op. Justin wanted a picture of himself and Evan together. I thought, "Awww! How sweet! He wants a picture of them hugging!"

Yeah. No. He told me later on that he was squeezing Evan's neck and stomach and wanted a picture of THAT. Nice...

Unfortunately for him, Corinne was NOT being left out of the pictures...
Twister from the basement which had been forgotten about until the water altered what were upstairs toys and what were downstairs toys... Also, the big one is still banned from electronics, so board games and card games are BIG around here. (Maybe it's a blessing that the tv is broken???)
Notice the younger brother being squashed by the older brother behind the girl with the tongue fetish?

Shoot. If only THEY could have controlled themselves! She was nowhere near the shot...

Such a shy girl.

I finally just edited her out of a picture. It looks sweet, doesn't it? Justin told me that he was using a wrestling move on him.... BOYS!

Root & Sprout

Check out the new March issue of Root & Sprout. The site has been redesigned to allow comments, which is the life-giving milk of every blogger. Please check it out and look for my article here.... And leave lots of comments, because all of your love has been truly helpful. Thank you so much, and cross your fingers for Patrick tomorrow....