Kya Time, day 1

I am the last one of the group to get pictures posted of our two wonderful days with friends last week. We had such a blast! Candy came in form Oklahoma, Natalie and Angel live on the southern side of Houston, and then me, north of Houston. When Levi was falling asleep this night, he looked and me and said, 'I sure love Kya time'. That says it all, son!

Day 1 Angel couldn't make it, so I picked up Candy and kids at their hotel and we headed off to natalie's house for a birthday bash for Kya. The weather was perfect, her home is perfect and all the kids were perfect. No, I am not fibbing, they got along fantastically! Here is the proof.

Levi with Nat's little one, Caitlyn (hope I spelled that right) He loves cute babies!

Jagger taking a forced break from the excitement. 

Spontaneous swim party. The weather was nice but not quite this warm, but that didn't stop them.

Cheesy frosting grin.

I call this 'Moose and Tank Play Ball'. These two are very much alike, not at all built like most Guat people. I think football is better suited to them.

Achingly adorable, and she let me hold and snuggle her!

Levi helping jagger swing.

This one is full of personality, but so loving and sharing. An amazing child.

Oh Jagger, you are infectious with that smile!

This is how the swimming expedition got started. I am not sure who turned the hose on (Levi?) but Kya ended up with it and the boys were wisely keeping their distance!

Girlz just wanna have fuuu-un!

Why Miss Natalie, Yes, yes I do like my cupcake, thank you very much!

Drivers Ed for Tots

More b-ball.

This one cracks me up. Have you ever seen anything so adorable as Jagger?

A writing assignment

Katie wrote this for her AP English class. 

The Value of the Small, Everyday Events in Life

  I wake up to the sun peeking through my blinds. As I get up and begin to do my normal everyday routine, I can't help but think my day can't possibly go shy of great.

  Wrong! I'm late to school. As I sit down in class I notice I forgot my lunch. My teacher scolds me and sends me outside. I slip on a puddle of God-knows-what on my way to class. I hear my friends talking behind my back. When the day finally comes to an end, I rush to my car. As I get in I can feel my eyes stinging as they fill with tears. I can feel my face turn hot as a tear rolls down my cheek. My whole ride home I do everything possible trying to hold back the tears. I take a deep breath and enter the door of my house. As the door slams behind me I hear shrieks and my name being screamed across the living room. I can no longer walk as little arms wrap themselves around my legs. I pick up my littlest brother and once he is safe in my arms he plants a wet baby kiss on the same cheek which minutes before had a tear on it.  By now my other brother has a hold of my hand and with all his might is pulling me towards the fridge to show me what he made in school today.

  I stop for a moment to take in everything that has happened that day. I realized, something as little as my brothers showing their love for me made me forget all the horrid events that had happened tome earlier that day. The little things are the ones that matter. Though we sometimes take them for granted, it is the everyday events of life that keep us grounded.

Rainbow Cake

This recipe was in a neighborhood flier the other day and I thought it looked fun.

Start with one white cake mix and follow the instructions on the box to mix. Separate into small bowls, one for each color you want to make. We did 6 colors (we also were making 2 cakes at once, so we have more than if you make only one) Add gel food coloring to each bowl and mix. Drop spoonfuls of different colors into pans. Bake per directions. Cool and frost. I used canned white frosting mixed with instant pudding mix, then added sprinkles. (Everything is better with sprinkles!)

Hardwork Yardwork

I don't know why I can't seem to ever put the pictures on here in the order I want. I know how, but I am apparently too lazy to do it. Oh well, I have a very good reason to be lazy, and tired. Very tired!

Here is the finished kiddie cushion mulching of the play set. Four inches thick of soft specially-treated mulch to catch falling munchkins safely. (I am amazed at how much of the stain is gone after only 1 year from our over-priced name-brand set)

Mulch prior to relocation.

My best Green Acres impression. Photo by Levi. Hair-do by Mother nature.

Little super-helpers at the ready.

Nothing runs like a Deere! (Oh boy was I happy we had a tractor to move stuff)

Once the mulch was done, we moved on to the stone. Did I mention that the 3000 pounds was only 5 rocks? Yeah, boulders. I challenge you, stinkin landscaping munching deer to eat these!

5 rocks, 3000 pounds. 

King of what is left of the decorative bags of mulch. I need to get at least 30 more. 

Mr. Mad because I made him sit on the porch as we moved the rocks. We flew our kite (on the left) and colored with sidewalk chalk between chores.

Beautiful rock. Each year I will add to the landscaping. I figure it will take me about 10 years to get it the way I want it. So far I have only worked about 0.5 acres of yard. That leaves me 3 more acres to go......

This kind of work leaves some ugly hands, but the calluses are a sign of a person willing to work hard to get what they want. (That's my story and I am sticking to it!)

P.S. I have a secret. I never lived in the country, on a farm or anything close to it. I grew up in the city. I don't know how to drive a tractor. The horses belong to our neighbors and we just get to enjoy them. I am such a poser. hah!

Octopus, the other other white meat

Want a quick, easy, fun dinner for kids? Try Octopi (Octopus plural) Take a hotdog (turkey dogs work well), slice one end up to about 1.5 inches from the other end, slice into 6 sections (8 is correct for an octopus but tends to make the legs too thin and they break off) Drop into boiling water. The legs curl up!

Here is how they look when they are done.

Yum yum and so much fun.

Landscaping Day 1

Ow, ow, ow, ow. Oh my aching back.

Pictures to come (not of my back!)

Am I the only one?

Here is how a day around here goes:

Get up around 6 am, on way out to kitchen, stop and flush toilet in kids bathroom

Make coffee, stop to flush hall bathroom toilet

putter around, boys get up, stop off in the bathroom, I go back in and flush the toilet

Randomly throughout day, pause to go flush toilets

Bath time is before dinner, both boys go potty, I flush

before bed, once more on the potty, flush, flush

So with all that flushing, how come the toilets always NEED to be flushed??? I think we have a pee-pee poltergeist........

What do you get....

when you combine:

10 yards of playground mulch

45 bags of decorative mulch

2625 pounds of rock

10 yards of garden soil

edging

weed and feed

fire ant killer

various fertilizers, etc

Do you know?

One very tired but happy Wendy!!!!

Getting a social security card

  I took Ahren today and we visited the Social Security Administration. That place is waaaay better than Chuckie Cheese. Woohooo!!! Instead of rides and games we got to watch the most interesting characters all around us. There was the young woman, visibly pregnant, with a tattered double stroller holding two more kids in diapers, no shoes, filthy faces and hands. She talked loudly non-stop to whomever had the misfortune to sit down next to her, telling a tale of woe and misery, stolen identities, lost jobs and something about chips on a hotel room floor. Her kids screamed and kicked for an hour until grandma showed up and took them out. Poor Ahren just sat wide-eyed and watched them. I don't think he knew what they were. 

  There was an older man who seemed to be special needs, but obviously did not have anyone to take care of him. He was filthy, dressed in clothes one step above rags and had a long unkempt beard. He smiled sweetly at the children and laughed when they laughed. He might have been 50 years old chronologically, but he appeared more child-like. He needed a Mommy. 

  I stood next to a young man who looked like a rap star off of TV. He was dressed in that fashion, big gold jewelry, dew rag and hat on sideways, saggy baggy pants, etc etc. I smiled at him and he smiled back and we chatted for a few minutes. He looked kind of scary but he was really a nice young man. Plus he smelled a lot better than most of the people there. 

  A cute young couple with a blonde baby girl sat in front of us. The father was dressed rough, had many piercings, tattoos, etc, but you should have seen him interact with his baby girl. The big tough guy turned into a gibbering teddy bear, making faces to get her to laugh, carefully wiping off her hands after she fell on the floor, softly kissing her fat baby neck. It was so sweet to watch. 

  There were a lot of elderly folks there, most of them looking weary and tired, obviously worn out by the whole 'take a number and wait forever' system. I had a hard time navigating through all the information on line as to what I needed and what forms to fill out. I can't imagine what it must be like to be elderly, not good with computers, and trying to get through the system. 

  We got called to window and a very lovely woman helped us. She was so kind and helpful and before you knew it, we were on our way. Ahren's SS number and card will arrive in 1-2 weeks. I had been dreading doing this, but it wasn't so bad. Ahren was perfect the whole time which made  it better. Now the next step is re-adoption and legal name change. Seriously, does the adoption paperwork ever really end? I have been working on it for 3.5 years and I'm not done. 

Wonderful weather

We have had wonderful weather this week. Every afternoon we head out to the paddocks to feed the horses carrots and pick wildflowers (shhhh, they are really weeds) 

That's Levi in the background using a stick to pound on a rotten log. (Don't ask, it's a boy thing)

Holly is checking out Levi's progress. She doesn't usually dress so funny, but we put a play shirt on her instead of her nice shirt.

Mommy, I picked you a flower. Awwwwww.....

More hard work by the boys.

Are you a carrot???

That's Banjo and Peppy, keeping their eyes on the carrots.

Oooooh, I gots me some carrots!!!

Thanks for the carrot little buddy.

The horses are so gentle and sweet with the kids.

Hello, carrot please?

I caught some funky cold virus that backed up into my eyes. Now I have Devil Eyes. They don't hurt, but they look nasty. Anyone need me to go give the Devil Eye to someone???? 

Updates and OJ

We have done everything we can to be ready for the rest of PBJ's adoption case. Now we just are waiting for the court hearing on March 9th. It all depends on how the judge rules. If the judge decides the birth mother is competent, our case gets to continue as it is. If the judge decides she is not competent, then we will have to start all over again under the new rules. Knowing how Guat courts work, I seriously doubt we will get a ruling right away. I predict the judge will order more tests on the birth mother and then set another hearing. 

All of Levi's tests came back negative. He is back up to 41 pounds, but still not eating and having some problems. Once our new insurance kicks in March 1st we will be seeing a pediatric gastroenterologist. 

For those of you interested in the mission trip, I will post details as I find them out. We are shooting for summer 2010. The rest is still in the planning stage. 

I have a new, economically-induced hobby. Couponing! I used to do this a lot, back before I had so many kids and so little time. Well, now I have more time and am getting back into it. I started clipping coupons and downloading them off the web. I made a binder with drop-in sheet protectors to sort coupons by aisles of the grocery store. The first pocket is to place the ones I use each trip as I shop, and the pocket on the front cover holds my list. It takes me about 30 minutes a week to clip and sort, and about an extra hour at the store. I am consistently saving about 25% off my bill. The trick is to only buy the things you really want and will use. Just because you can get something cheap doesn't always mean you should buy it (unless of course you save up things to donate).

I am loving having time to spend with the munchkins. We baked cookies last week. Well, actually, we baked the ones left AFTER they ate a bunch. (These are the pre-made sugar cookies that come in a sheet, OK to eat the dough)

We have another model in the family! Levi ended up on the cover of the brochure for his private school. We didn't know until we got the registration packet for next year. How cool is that?

I also was asked if I would let the swimming place the kids take lessons at and Katie's teaches at use pics of my kids for advertising purposes. I said yes and we spent an afternoon last week getting their pics taken in the pool, Katie, Levi and Ahren. One of the pics will be on the side of their company van. As soon as I can I will get a pic of the van and post it.

Now you must be wondering what is up with OJ? 

A friend watched an Oprah show recently where they discussed what women do that forces their husbands to have affairs. Apparently if a woman does not sufficiently show her man that she cares and appreciates him, he will be forced to seek out another woman's bed**. So yesterday I noticed that we were out of orange juice, the kind my husband drinks every morning. OMG, I thought, he is sure to be out looking for another woman right now!!! So I jumped in the car and headed to the store where I bought the super-mega size of his favorite OJ, then immediately called him to inform him that he could abandon his search because Baby, I am there for you! I got the OJ!!! Whew, that was close.......

**I absolutely, positively DO NOT believe a person can be forced to have an affair. It is a choice, a very bad, horrible choice, and to even try and place the blame on the other person is ridiculous. And yes, I had to re-write this paragraph several times to be able to say what I wanted to without any curse words!

P.S. My silly hubby just laughed and laughed when I called him. 

Mayans

I have a huge heart for the indigenous Mayans in Guatemala. I honestly believe that every child in the United States needs to see with their own eyes how the Mayans live. I knew what I was going to see and yet I was still shocked. The shacks they live in are constructed of pieces of corrugated sheet metal scavenged from the dumps. They have dirt floors, cook and heat with an open fire, no running water, no electricity. They live much as the American Indians lived 200 years ago. No schools, no healthcare, no dental care, nothing. I will say it again. Every single person in the United States should experience it firsthand, because you would never take anything for granted again. 

A dear friend of mine is working on organizing a mission trip for the summer of 2010. A trip to build houses for the Mayans and to supply them with stoves. A complete house costs $3000 to build, the stoves $150. We are going to spend the next year fundraising, collecting donations, and urging as many people to join us as we can. We can each make a difference in the lives of these people. A real difference for them, for their children, and for their futures. Not many of us get that kind of chance to make a mark in the world. 

Please watch this video my dear friend Jeremy put together. We will be joining him and his team on the mission trip. Think about ways you might want to join in. No pressure. Times are tough and we know that. But I also know that we can each do a tiny bit and together make a huge difference. I am sooooo excited!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/urpayd4   (You will have to go to it manually, I can't get the video to load on the page.)

Ahren says

This morning, Ahren was sitting at the table eating breakfast when he burst into song. He began to sing Happy Pancakes to You to the tune of the birthday song. That boy really loves his food!

We have a fun way of saying I love you to each other. Chris started it when he told me a long time ago that he 'loves me more than cheese'. Now we tell each other 'I love you more than _____' and pick something we really like. The other day Ahren looked at me and said, 'Love you ice cream' and my heart melted. A spontaneous show of love and he got the humor in it. You bet I gave that kid a million kisses for that!

Ahren is very inquisitive. At least a million times a day he says, 'What doing?'. He will say it ten times in a row, getting the same answer each time, but he never tires of the game. This is an especially fun game to play in the car. 

What doing, Mommy?

I'm driving the car. 

What doing Mommy?

I'm driving the car.

What doing Mommy.

I'm driving.

What doing Mommy?

Driving.

What doing Mommy?

sigh

What doing Mommy?

What doing Mommy?????

He is saying probably a couple hundred words now, talking in sentences, using lovely little phrases like 'you stink',  'I don't want it' and 'stupid'. Oh it makes a mother so proud. 

When he gets in trouble he has a couple of ways of showing us he is mad. He will run to his room and slam the door behind him (which is too funny because I just leave him there until he has cooled off - he is a self-time-out model) or he will stand there and spit. I hate the spitting! I don't know where he got that but it really irks me and he knows it. Chris came up with an  idea that every time he does that we just pull his shirt up over his head. Hah! The spitting is contained. I don't think he knows what to think of it, but the spitting is decreasing. Conversely, the door slamming has increased, but that I don't mind as much. 

Oh, and the Goodnights are a fantastic idea! Thanks everyone!

The pull-up low-down

I have mentioned before that my dear sweet Ahren has the most adorable little cheeks ever, both upper and lower! Unfortunately, they don't make a variety of pull-up pants that sufficiently cover his sweet cheeks and he is always walking around with a one-cheek-sneak. 

He is doing wonderfully at pee-peeing in the potty, but the poo-poo thing is a bit more difficult for him. Therefore we must rely on pull-ups to catch those 'incidents' that don't hit the mark. This is where the problem lies. You see, when one cheek is peeking, it means there is a gap in protection. The integrity of the poo-poo containment system has been breeched. This is not good. Seriously. Not. Good. 

This morning the familiar odor began wafting through the kitchen. I asked Ahren if he had poo-poo'd and he said yes. I then told him to take his pants off and come to the changing table. He tried to do what I asked, but you see, it just wasn't that simple. He had missed the inside of the pull-up completely, and pooped down his leg and into  his pants leg. In trying to get his pants off he had it on his hands, socks, the floor, and pretty much all visible surfaces within a 5 foot radius. I scooped him up and headed for the tub. After 2 complete changes of water and lots of soap, he appeared poop-free. Just for good measure, I changed the water and rinsed him down one more time. (Just for the record, a 40 pound toddler who eats as much as a grown man can make a LOT of bodily waste) 

Hello makers of pull-up training pants, I am begging you, please design a wide-coverage pair of pants for those with a booty-licious toddler. I am begging you......

Interrupted!

I was at the computer putting together a message to my on-line instructor and taking care of some business when Levi asked me if he could wash his sunglasses off in the sink. Sure, why not. The bathroom is directly off of the living room, and he went in and I could hear the water running and him humming. I finished up and went to check on him.

I think I made a sound something like 'Grrreeehhhhccchhlllbbbftt'. He not only used an entire bottle of purple Kan-Doo kids Foaming Hand Soap (remind me to let that company know what I think of them!) but he had decided to clean the entire bathroom with it.

I mentioned under my breath that I was sure glad he didn't do that while grandma and grandpa were here, and he innocently said, 'Oh, I didn't think of it''. Well thank goodness for that!

Here he is, caught in the act. I didn't yell. I just grabbed the camera. He immediately said, 'Oh mommy, you can blog post this!' Um, yeah. He's got me there!

Hee hee, you think this is funny. Right? Mom? Funny.......uh oh.

The view of the total damages. Poor Ahren didn't participate but ended up getting soap all over him (collateral damages) The sunglasses are there on the counter and the foam soap bottle is in the sink. 

Here are the guilty, 45 minutes later. The bathroom is now sparkly clean (except for a few purple spots I can't get off the ceiling) and so are the boys. 

Now I think I will go look up the hours for the liquor store.....

____________________________________________________________________

Written before the above episode:

Well, it has been a little over 3 weeks since I lost my job and I think it is finally dawning on me I am not on vacation or maternity leave! Yeah, yeah, I know. A little slow on the uptake here! I have finally stopped dreaming about work. Stopped waking up thinking I need to get up and in the shower. Stopped planning my day to fit in errands and have-to's on my lunch hour and commute home. I am falling into a new routine and I like it! I know it will only be temporary so I need to enjoy it while I can. 

Today is just me and the boys. Katie has a Hurricane make-up day at school instead of the normal President's Day holiday. Levi doesn't have school, though. We are all three still in our pajamas, having bid my dear sweet in-laws good-bye at 6:30 am this morning. (More on their visit in a minute) The only thing we have on our agenda today is swimming lessons at 4pm. We may just go from jammies to swimsuits, just because we can! 

Levi is doing much better. Very few stomach aches and eating better every day. He has managed to gain 1 pound. (Thank you Blue Bell ice cream!) I still don't have the results on the Celiac Disease. Maybe today. His energy level is close to normal now, although about 5 pm each night he asks to go lay down in bed for a while. He just hits the proverbial wall around that time. Sometimes he is in bed for the night but sometimes he gets up after a bit of a rest and plays some more. Ahren likes to go lay with him and keep him company, and that frequently turns into lots of giggles. I need to get some video of the two of them giggling like little maniacs!

So as I mentioned, my in-laws were here for the weekend. We were all supposed to have gone to Missouri for their 50th wedding anniversary celebration the day before Hurricane Ike hit. It was a horribly hard decision to have to cancel the trip but in the end it turned out we got a lot more damage in this area than predicted. We did manage to convince the airlines to make our tickets re-useable, up to one year, so we will be planning a trip early this summer. We had a great time this weekend. it took Ahren about 2 minutes to warm up and soon he was going from lap to lap eating up the attention.  We didn't do anything special, just hung out, enjoyed each other, and enjoyed the kids. Yesterday we all went to Papadeaux's for lunch and ate fantastic seafood. All I can say is YUM!!!! Every time I go there I find a new favorite dish. I hope my in-laws enjoyed the weekend as much as we did. Poor levi is so sad they are gone. 

M is for Mess!

Little Miss Holly is a mess. An adorable, funny, makes me laugh out loud mess!

She is fascinated with underwear. She kept stealing Ahren and Levi's underwear and putting them on, so her Mommy got her some girlie panties. She has her own flair for wearing them!

Did you know that powdered sugar donut makes a wonderful hair accessory? 

Or that donuts are not for eating but for mashing into tiny bits? 

And here is where she ended up yesterday when Nanny was trying to do a load of laundry. That is the best cheesecake pose I have seen in a long time!