Let Me Tell You Where My Children's Tongues Have Been

The husband has flown the coop.  Mark is in Edmonton right now with his family.  They went to a hockey game last night and he is spending the day there today and will be back home tomorrow.  If I'm honest I could sit here and right a post ranting about how left out and lonely I feel, but it's really not so bad.  And I hate being a downer, so no rant today!

Instead I will ramble on about nonsense so I can avoid the productive tasks that I should be doing, like cleaning out our pets' cages and cleaning out the deep freezer so that my fridge freezer doesn't pop open at the least provocation.

Or I could even unpack more boxes in the hopes that my printer power cord will be found because as of this minute, it is still missing.  I never realized before I lost it how important it is to my life.  I'm starting to feel a little panicky about it.  Because, I mean, it's been three weeks I think since we've been here and it still hasn't surfaced.  That can't be a good sign.

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  In the sun it was just plain hot!  I love spring.  It's such a happy feeling when things warm up.  Yes, it is supposed to snow again (so I've heard) but I console myself with the fact that the snow usually melts by afternoon.  And my kids love to eat snow, so that makes them happy.

Actually, let me tell you about my snow-eating kids.  They love snow so much that they will eat it from anywhere: the ground, from the bottoms of their boots, from cars.  They eat clean snow and muddy snow, they don't discriminate.  I cannot get them to stop licking cars that have snow on them.  Or even cars that are just wet.  Lick, lick, lick.

Maybe I should ask my Mom-in-law if Mark had a penchant for licking cars when he was younger because I sure don't remember doing that.

School Time and Moving

So we had our first week back at school last week.  We took a 3 week Christmas vacation, mostly because we spent 2 weeks up north, so I wanted the week at home to let the girls get adjusted back to being home and also so I could do some more decluttering.

And it definitely helped, I have around 10 boxes and a garbage bag waiting to be trucked away to the second hand store in town.  And that isn't even including the toys I have planned on getting rid of.  It's spring cleaning in January.

Actually, it's more like pre-moving cleaning out.  Because we are moving.  Again.  We haven't even been in this house 6 months.  But I'm not complaining.  I complain in jest, and I mock ourselves for moving again so fast, but it is definitely a good thing for us.  One of the biggest factors, the rent will be cheaper.  $300 cheaper.  That is a significant amount of money for us.  The house is older, same as the one we are currently in, but it is in better condition.  We are also good friends with the owners there.  And it's on 7 acres.  That is sweet!!  A down side would be that the house is smaller, but it is a better layout, and the bathroom is bigger. Tit for tat.

Anyways, I was planning on talking about our school week.  The first day back went really well.  Abby was very willing to sit down and do all our work.  She was almost excited to use our schedule and get going.  But then Tuesday came, and that one wasn't as good.  Hahaha.  Second day blues?  Wednesday went well, and Friday was alright.  Neither easy or hard.  Just ordinary.  The book we were reading last week for Come Sit By Me was The White Stone in the Castle Wall by Sheldon Oberman.  And one of the activities was making a castle.  That was loads of fun.

Sometimes it's hard for me not to be perfectionist about projects like this.  Like, no, don't paint it that!!  Paint it like this!  But I just learn to relax and let them do it however they want to, since it's not for me.

Decisions I've had to Make Since Becoming a Mother

• Cloth vs. Disposable - well, I put this here since it is a tough decision for some folks, but let's be honest: for me, it wasn't a decision at all.  I have never felt the urge to use cloth.  I give a big thumbs up to those who do, but that's about all I do for it.
• Formula vs. Breastfeeding - I am very pro-breastfeeding but with Abby she had formula as well, so I don't really care what others do.  I like the breast because it is free!  Well, yes it is time, and time is money, but if you had to give them a bottle it is still time so it is money on top of money.  I'm thankful that I've been able to breastfeed my girls.  
• Diaper bag vs diaper bag - There are so many out there!  I had my first diaper bag given as a gift, so there was no decision there, but then when Leigh was born, my first one was falling apart so I bought another one.  Which I promptly lost, maybe a few months into it's use.  I haven't boughten another one since.  Oh wait, I did buy a cheap $1 one at the secondhand store, but I think that I got rid of it because 1) I don't need it yet and 2) I don't LOVE it and I have decided that I want to LOVE my next diaper bag since I use it all the time.
• Colour coordinated vs sloppy rainbow - For the first 1-3 (ish) years of their lives, I got to dress my children.  I see pictures of cute children wearing cute, nicely coordinated clothing, and go, "Meh."  I am not a big fashion-type person.  My kids usually ended up wearing whatever came closest to hand and was cleanest.  Now I just let them pick whatever they want to wear and half the time we look a bit like hobos.  (Ok, well dressed hobos.)
• Independent 3 year old vs emotionally sensitive 5 year old - This is today's dilemma.  We made some mailboxes in school the other day and Abby loves, or maybe is obsessed with is the better term, sending and receiving mail.  But she figures that we all need to sit down at the same time and make cards for each other.  We can't wait for them to be deposited in our mailboxes randomly throughout the day.  But Leigh plays by her own rules and just wants to make a card for herself to put in her own mailbox.  This breaks Abby's heart.  It's like a preschool/kindergarten soap opera.
• Clothing vs skin - Not so much a battle anymore, but they both went through phases where they didn't want to wear clothes.  We would start the day nicely dressed and end it buck naked.  I finally just gave up figuring that we were home all day anyways, why not let them run free.  Thankfully they reamain clothed most of the time now, though Abby did tell me the other night that she wanted to "sleep in her skin."

These are just a few of the many decisions a mother has to make.  It's a tough life.  Now I've got to go make some cards to mail to some hopefully-clothed children.

Motherhood Award, Maybe Not Here

Last night my kids didn't make it to bed until 8:30.  Well, maybe that's when we walked up the stairs so it really was later than that.  Oops.  I should maybe get a bad mama point for that.  If I was into keeping track of that kind of thing, which I'm not.  Really.  I may sometimes think that I'm not the greatest mother to ever live, but if I'm really honest, I know that I do alright.  Definitely not all the time, but sometimes.  I could do a lot worse.

Like today wasn't the greatest of days.  I got up sort of early (before 7) and even showered (Hallelujah!) but then my early alone time was not-so-alone time because Leigh was up when I came out.  So that's ok.  She ate some cereal, and sat with me some.  I ate my breakfast and then sat in my chair, and read a little of the Word.  But then I sort of dozed in the chair a little.  And I have determined that that doze is what killed my day.  I should have forced myself out of the chair and gotten my blood flowing and my day started.  But instead it sort of made me feel a little lazy and off.

So my day was therefore lazy and off as well.  Abby slept in until 9:15 which is another point that I'm tossed on, whether I should have woken her up or not.  Since we homeschool, I let her sleep.  I had some arguments in my head going, saying that we need to maintain a routine and keep with it and yada yada yada.  But my girls rarely sleep in anymore (they used to sleep in all the time) so I figured that letting her have the one day wouldn't kill either of us.  Besides, we didn't take yesterday off school, and all the public school kids did.  :-)

So today the kids just played and watched tv and played and did whatever else we felt like.  A bit of a lazy day.  Which is fine, I know.  I don't have to be go go go all the time.  But the only reason I feel guilty is that I know I could have done even a little bit better.  I could have done more, like maybe the laundry, especially since I don't want to get caught with 4 large loads of laundry and a broken washer like I had this last Saturday.  That wasn't fun.

Oh well, today is over and I am really trying to learn to just accept the fact that maybe I didn't do something perfect, maybe I was even a little wrong, but it is done now and I can only try again tomorrow.

I started writing this to contemplate whether I should go make my children be quiet and get back in bed since they are currently playing upstairs.  This has been a parenting question for me ever since Abby started sleeping in a big girl bed and was able to get out on her own.  What are everyone's thoughts on this?  Typically I just let them play, as long as it isn't for hours and hours and hours.  Ideally I think that I would like them not to, but well, I'm kind of lazyish so I tend to take the path that involves less conflict.  Tell me your thoughts.

Weekend Update

Abby had her IHCAN testing on Tuesday.  For those who don't know, that stands for Interior Health Child Assessment Network.  They were doing testing on Abby to determine if she had Autism Spectrum Disorder.

I was almost 100% positive that she didn't, but I wanted some kind of testing done because while she doesn't have any typical autism markers, she is behind a little.  I was a little stressed leading up to this appointment, and I didn't realize how much until after it was over.  Funny how that is.

I was worried, because while I didn't really want her to have a disorder, I knew that if she got a diagnosis, it would be easier to get her some funding.  Right now, because we are going through a private school, she hasn't been getting any speech therapy, which she definitely needs.  We're working on stuff at home, but the extra help would be wonderful.  So I was torn.

Abby did so well.  She didn't fuss about being separated from us, and she was polite and interacted with the doctors.  I was impressed with the doctors too.  They were friendly and not condescending at all.  They had obviously done this with so many parents, they were so excellent at explaining things so that we could understand, not too much medical terminology that only doctors know.

So she did not get diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, but she did get diagnosed with Mixed Receptive/Expressive Language Disorder.

I know, it's a mouthful!  Here's a link to a page where I really liked the description.

So that is my child.  I'm glad that we got a diagnosis of something because now we should be able to get her some speech therapy, hopefully.  I feel like we have something to work with and can move forward.  It was encouraging to hear things that we've known/noticed about her being seen by the doctors as well.  For me, it is like a confirmation that I'm not crazy.

On a completely unrelated note, Abby did something incredibly cute and funny yesterday.  I was in the master bedroom and she came in and told me that she was going to pray with God.  She was very excited about this.  I told her that was great and to let me know what He told her.  She said that she was going to pray upstairs in her room.  So up she went.  A few minutes later I heard Leigh head upstairs and she met Abby there and Abby excitedly told her that she had prayed to God for a baby brother!  and God was going to put him in the tummy (mine, I assume).  Then she came down and told me that.  What a cutie.

Outline of a School Day

Almost done the second month of school.  And I think that we are finally finding some sort of rhythm  to it.  I hope.  Here is what our typical day looks like so far.

Bible:  We have a memory verse that comes from Come Sit by Me, and sometimes they suggest stories to teach and read about.  I will usually find the stories in Kid's Bibles, and then find a craft to go along with that.

Reading: We are working through The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.

Printing: We are using Handwriting Without Tears.  Abby has fun with using the wooden blocks to make letters, as well as a slate to draw them over sized first.

We usually have a 15 minute break here.  The girls will have a snack and play or draw.

Math: We are using Right Start Math, which has lots of manipulatives to play with.  It's going pretty slowly right now.

Come Sit By Me: For those who don't know, this curriculum covers a variety of subjects.  It has different sections that you do, over a week or two.  You read a selected book every day and then they have activities to do that relate to the book.  Reading a book is always fun for the girls, and they enjoy the different things we get to do.

Depending how things are going we will take a quick break here.

Explode the Code: A mixture of phonics and printing.  It is focusing on lower case right now, and that is a little more frustrating for poor Abby so sometimes this lesson ends in a fight.

And I switch between Bingo games and Sounds Abound, a book and computer game that have kids listening to sounds, like rhyming.

That is the basic outline of how we do school.  Some days, like today, we are done almost everything by 11, but other days we got until almost 1.

School in September

I just put Leigh down for a time-out/nap and she is crying at the top of the stairs.  I am too lazy to go put her back in her bedroom.  I probably should though.  She is being sooooo incredibly cranky today.  I'm wondering if I am letting her play too many "video games."  Lately while I do school work with Abby, I let Leigh play on my iPhone.  Ideally I don't want to do this every day, but I feel like it's just so much easier.

I'm hoping that once the house gets more organized, I'll have more stuff for her to do.  I have lots of ideas, just none really implemented.  And maybe I should be taking more time with her.  Even while she was playing games on the phone today she wanted to stay cuddled with me.  I think that I don't take more time because I'm selfish and just want to get through the "work" as soon as possible, so that I can sit on the computer wasting my time and mind away.

Last week was a really difficult school week.  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, oh my, it was just rough.  Leigh was fussy and Abby wanted nothing to do with school.  I was stressed out.  I have ladies' Biblestudy on Thursdays, and I asked for prayer for help with school.  We didn't do any school on Friday because, well because I just didn't want to.  But we did some on Saturday, and it was seriously way better.  And so far this week it has gone much better as well.  I am so very excited.

I think that it's not that Abby is any different, well, maybe a little, but I have just more patience.  An that makes a huge difference.

How Playing Outside Affects Me

Is it just me or is it almost more disruptive when your kids are playing outside?  Ok, maybe not, but it comes close.  I like to think that I'm getting them out of my hair when they want to play outside, but my goodness, this morning it was like they couldn't leave me alone.  They were constantly coming to the door and ringing the doorbell, or else they were screaming at each other for any number of reasons, or they were absolutely silent, sending me into panic mode thinking they had been kidnapped.  Because I am nothing, if not rational.

Seriously, I think I answered the door about 20 times while they were outside.  It's very disruptive to have to stop what I'm doing to walk to the door and open it to find either a dandelion, or some other weed/flower, that I must proclaim beautiful, or the girls calling me Teacher and asking questions, like when are we going to the park?  

The time they were silent today, they were actually playing in the truck.  Which is kind of nice because it occupies them and I don't have to worry about them running onto the road and getting hit by the maniac speeding cars that go by.  But I always have to check to see what buttons they pressed in the truck, because the other day they turned on the lights in the car (unbeknownst to me) and when I went to leave the next morning my car wouldn't start.  Fun times.  But hey, at least they're happy, right?

Summer So Far, In Point Form

• Camping - We've gone out twice and it's been great.  We're hoping to go again later this month, but this time during the week.  I'm really looking forward to it.  Even though camping is still a lot of work for me, when I'm there it's like I can relax.  I don't have an ongoing list in my head of the million things I should be doing.  
• VBS - Abby is starting her third VBS this week.  We actually haven't completed a whole week of VBS yet though.  The first two she seemed to really like, but today I was told that she was fine at first but then she didn't want to be there and she hid under a pew for a long time.  One of the leaders basically hung out with her.  The big difference for this one is that her best friend isn't there, so I think she feels alone and left out and shy and all that stuff.  I'm hoping that she will still go the rest of the days though, we'll see.
• Waterpark - We're a block from the park, so I try to take the girls there at least once a week.  It's a nice way to keep cool.  I enjoy it because I can just relax on a blanket while they run around.  Well, as much relaxing as you can do while a soaking wet child wants to sit on your lap and eat grapes.  
• Canoeing - We had a canoe given to us, and I bless the couple that gave it to us everytime we go out.  It is the perfect way to spend time together on the weekends.  We went out on Sunday and the girls and Daddy even jumped into the lake from the canoe.  Fun times.
• Moving - We're moving!  Not until the end of August, but I included it in the list because now my life is filled with packing.  And I'm excited.  There is no basement suite in the house we're moving to.  It will just be us.  Yay!  

Just To Let You Know

I hate being sick.  I hate my kids being sick.  I hate my husband being sick.  Thankfully, he isn't sick.  But the rest of us are.  I even spent Friday night overnight at the hospital with Abby.  Leigh should have been there too.  Hopefully she won't have to go though.  So that is about all I have to talk about right now because my brain is kind of stuffy and foggy.  I'll resume more interesting posts when I'm not so tired. :-)

At Least I Got a Hot Chocolate Out of It

Yesterday's car-tastrophe (hehehe, I hate/love this kind of play on words), I know you all are waiting in impatient anxiety to hear my tale of woe.  Or you have completely forgotten my promise of telling you this tale and are busy doing more important things like clipping your toe nails.  Which reminds me, Leigh really needs a nail clip, toes and fingers.  She's quite dangerous.

So, yesterday I headed out of town to drop my daughter off at a friend's house.  It was my parent duty day at Abby's preschool.  Just after dropping Leigh off, I noticed that my heat vents were throwing out cold air.  I thought it was odd and annoying but shut it off and didn't think too much further.  But then I noticed that little light on my dash that said "Check Gages."  I thought Crap!

And then I looked at my gages and said Crap! again.  Because the temperature in my engine was close to the red line, AGAIN.  See, last summer we had problems with our water pump that caused all our coolant to leak out and the engine to overheat.  And it always seemed to overheat when I was driving.  Fixed that in the fall, and life was fine and dandy (well, in the vehicle department anyways).

And then just a couple weeks ago, I came out of the grocery store and saw a big puddle of neon coloured liquid under the truck again.  Flashbacks of last summer haunted me and I was praying that my hubs wouldn't blow a gasket when I got home and told him the news.  It turns out the plug was loose, and once he tightened it, it was fine.  Or so we thought.  Until yesterday happened.

So I noticed the over-heating situation, and pulled over.  I was only about 5 minutes from my friend's place.  Still out of town, so not like I could walk there or home or anything.  I called my hubby who said he was on his way, once he stopped to pick up a new plug, since that's what we figured the leak was from.  The downside of this is that he was also working out of town, but on the OTHER side, so he didn't come for about 40-45 minutes.

Abby and I just hung out, in a turned off truck.  At least it wasn't anything like -20, maybe only -10ish.  I had her sit with me because my legs were cold.  Haha, and to keep her warm too.  Thankfully we had cell service so we watched some You Tube videos to pass the time.  But despite the service, I couldn't get a hold of the nursery school because their number isn't listed.

Anyways, that's the gist of it.  I didn't make it home until 10:30 (I left the house that morning at 8).

But so I don't leave you all depressed about our vehicle situation (Ok, maybe it's just me) here is a conversation with Abby.

Me: It's supper time now.

Abby: Soup?

Me: No, we're having chicken and rice.

Abby: I don't want chicken.

Me: Yes you do, you love chicken.

Abby: No!  No Chicken!

*I take the chicken out of the oven and put it on top of the stove.*

Abby: What's that?

Me: Chicken.

Abby: I have some? (said very hopefully)

Me: Yes, you may have some chicken.

My Whole House is Now Covered in Glitter...Seriously

I am officially glittered out for today.  We just finished making some Valentine's cards.  Only 12, and I never want to see glitter again.  Or at least a day.  I was just going to make the cards for the girls' grandparents, but then Abby liked the glittering so much we just kept going so I figured these could be for her class too.  So now I need something like 20 cards.  We did 12 today.  So 8 more, plus family cards to do too.

Valentine's is a week away.  I didn't seriously realize this until a friend reminded me of this.  We're not very big holiday people around here anyways, so it's not like I have these huge Valentine's plans.  Hubs and I aren't planning on going out, mostly because it's the month with the cheque with Christmas break on it, so we don't really have the money for a babysitter plus a fancy dinner (or as fancy as you get in a small town!).

But it did remind me that I have some random thoughts floating through my head, not fully developed or anything.  I just kind of wanted to do a bit of a nice dinner at home maybe, and have a sort of "date night" or something.  But I'm not fully sure on any details or ideas of what exactly I want to do.  I'll have to check Pinterest, they have everything there! ;-)

Nothing Really Important to Say, Just Blabbering About My Offspring's Cuteness

I'm sitting here, wishing that I had a cup of tea but am feeling a little too lazy to go make one, listening to my girls play together and hearing them say things like, "More water!" "10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, BOOM!" "The flowers" "Quuaaaaack, quuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaack"

One of my favourite things is to watch and listen to them play together.  The things that they imagine are sometimes so funny.  And a lot of the time, they don't even need toys to play.  One of their favourite things is to take all the condiments out of the fridge door.  Leigh likes to line them all in a row and count them over and over, while Abby likes to play with them.  The salad dressing might turn into a super hero, while the BBQ sauce is an animal in trouble.  Apparently all the toys in the play room are over rated.

I'm thankful that they like to play together, but am also constantly reminded that they definitely aren't perfect.  Just now they started a loud whining "Nooooo, No, No."  I think Leigh wanted the toy Abby had, or something.     

One cute thing that my girls do is switch places.  They seem to have their system worked out perfectly.  Like the other night they were both sitting in a laundry basket listening to Daddy play the guitar and sing songs to them.  And after each song, one of them would get up and say "OK" and move to switch spots.  And the other girl would get right up and move.  Then it would happen again.  They do this with colouring books, or playdough too.  It's pretty cute.

Getting Snowhere

Here is my front yard.

And just so you know, at the bottom is my weed patch, I mean vegetable garden

I like the look of snow.  Winter is here now.  I wouldn't mind winter if it weren't for the having-to-bundle-up factor.  Snow is so pretty, and can be fun.  It's the before and after math that isn't fun, namely wet boots, mitts, coats, pants, etc, etc.

Snow and winter mean changes.  Simple changes like not wearing flip-flops (so sad!!!!) and start wearing a warmer jacket, and bigger changes, like putting cellophane around all the windows in your house to eliminate drafts (speaking of which...).  Another change is that I pretty much have stopped walking with the girls to Abby's preschool, and drive the ONE SINGLE block there.  I admit, I do feel ridiculous.

But my strollers wheels are not made for this!  I really need to think about these things more before I buy something I suppose.  Anyways.  It's just nicer to drive, though it takes almost as much time when you factor in the time it takes to do up and undo car seat buckles.  Though if we don't warm up the truck, then I don't really think it's that worth it since it is just as cold.

One big bump that has come as a result of the snow is that dear Abby (hahaha) refuses to wear her snowpants.  When this snow first came, last Thursday, she was excited to go outside and build a snowman (which would have been pretty impossible since it is not sticky-together snow, just fluff).  I got the snowpants on, but right after that it was like something clicked in her brain and she whipped those things off as fast as she could go.

She practically spits on you if you mention them.  This could be a loooooooooong winter.  I could deal with her never playing in the snow, fine.  But her class goes outside two out of three days!  I can send the pants with her, but I don't know if she would put them on, even for someone who wasn't Mama.  I guess we'll find out.

I Want a Pill for Myself

I have deep suspicions that today, my children swallowed a drive-Mama-crazy-any-way-we-can pill.  I can find no other idea for the outrageous behavior we have experienced today.  They went to bed on time (and slept soon after), they are fed, clothed, not sick...well a little snotty...and ok, Leigh is cutting her molars, but she wasn't the bad one.  That title goes to Abby.

The day started ok enough, but after a couple hours some screaming and fits started, I can't remember over what now.  So I put Abby into her time-out chair in the corner.  This is my latest attempt of correction.  She hates being there.  I usually give her just a minute, upping it if she gets off or is too rowdy.  I usually let her scream and fuss, I just go on with whatever I'm doing, ignoring her.  And boy, does she HATE that.

So today I put her there, and she did ok, just some screaming.  But later she got a second (and third and possibly fourth) time-out, and she spit on the ground.  SPIT!  And when I was dragging  walking her to the corner she bit me!

She has been biting a lot lately actually, when I am forced to restrain her to get something done, like get her jacket on so we can leave wherever we are.  So it's not too surprising, but still upsetting.  And I will admit to those that don't know, I have a bit of a temper, so when she chomps down it is so very hard for me to remain calm.

I just wish I knew that what I am doing is working.  Am I getting through to her?  I don't know!  I tell my hubs that she is a child, it just takes lots and lots of time and repetition.  But I think I need to have a wife myself to talk to me...ok, maybe not.

Oh, I just looked at the time and I need to go make some mashed potatoes for supper (again, we just had them last night but hubby wants them because he wants gravy again tonight.  Oh the things I do!).

Permanent Sister Sleepovers Beginning Soon

My project today has been to move Leigh over to Abby's room.  I haven't finished yet since Leigh needed her afternoon nap, so I just left her in the old room.  But after the nap, I'm thinking it's time. 

We've discussed moving the girls into the same room for a few months now.  It was never a question of IF we should, it was just WHEN we should.  As soon as we have another baby and that baby needed the crib, Leigh would be moved over to Abby's room to share with her.  But we decided to move her now, while still in the crib.  Really, just for fun?  I don't know if I have any huge, good reasons for moving earlier.

Maybe with all the toys in the one room, I will only have that one room to tidy? (HA fat chance!)  Maybe they will adapt to being in the same room, so that once Leigh moves out of the crib they will be fine to sleep together, since Abby has a double bed and we are planning on making them share it.  So mean, yes we are!  (I say that as I'm thinking of their arguments once they're older.)

Or the reason I'm doing this is that I am stuck at home all day, every day, and I need some variety in my life so I get my kicks by rearranging the furniture!  Yes, I think that's it! 

I am on a rearranging kick, actually.  We moved the TV back OUT of our room now and back into the living room, and I am so so so so so happy for it to be gone.  My room is again a safe haven for me and my hubs.  Yes, the kids still invade it (that probably won't change until they're grown) but there is no more Dora or Diego or Gerbert or any other animated/puppet-like characters in there.  I can sleep in peace.

So my room is being rearranged, we rearranged the living room to fit the TV in again, and now it's the kids' rooms.  And it is such a refreshing feeling.  But back to the girls.

So what are everyone's views on room sharing?  Is it cruel and unusual punishment to make your children share a room?  And even a bed, once it comes to that?   

The Great Combo Post - Only 99¢

I have missed the last two Friday Weigh-In posts.  Just because I'm too lazy to do anything.  Not because I am giving up dieting or that I have binged so bad that I have gained 20 more pounds.  Actually, I am doing quite well and I am so very pleased with myself.  I have lost 10, count 'em 10, pounds since I started as of today!!!  That is a huge victory in my opinion.  There was a part of me that didn't think it was such a huge deal at first since this is actually 10 pounds that I have put on on top of what could be called pregnancy weight.  I have no little children to blame on this.

But that doesn't make it less important of celebration-dance worthy!  Now I am 163lb, and about 40 inches in the waist.  But I'm not confident on my waist measuring skills.  I know it should be easy, but I get different readings almost everytime.  Obviously I made the right choice in not becoming a tailor.

Abby started preschool this week.  She was supposed to start on Friday, but she woke up with a bad chest congestion.  On the first day of school!  Sick days aren't supposed to happen until at least October.  So I was slightly panicky because I wasn't sure how I was supposed to get ahold of the support worker.  But it all worked out, obviously.  I worry for nothing.  And I sent her on Monday, even though she was still a little stuffy.

She had a great time, from everything I can gather.  She isn't the easiest to understand, right, but she wasn't upset when I picked her up so that was a good indication.  And another miracle, was that she didn't throw a fit when we left!  She just let me put her shoes on, grabbed her backpack, and headed out the door with me.  I was amazed, and SO thankful.  That was my biggest worry, that she would have a huge tantrum because she didn't want to leave.

I am so glad that it all worked out.  Oh and something else that made me happy was that, totally by accident, I stumbled across a site of a Christian home schooling group that is in a nearby city.  They do enrolling or registering, and even if I enroll I still can pick our own curriculum, at least for the first 9 grades.  I just feel like it was God leading me because I never found anything about them before or even heard about them here.  But I think that they are what I was looking for.  There is a home group here in town, but they aren't Christian based.  Not necessarily a big issue, but if I had to choose, it's always nice to have people who are on the same page as I am.

So this is my sort of catch-up topics that I've thought about for the last week.  All in one convienent place.

The Start of September

Where on earth did July and August go?  I sure would like to know.  One minute they were here, and now, POOF!  They're gone.  Suddenly September is upon me with all this new school/speech stuff.  And then swimming lessons and Awanas and who knows what else.

Today was preschool orientation.  We got to go for one hour and let the kids play while us adults learned what all our duties would be on our duty day at the school.  Well, obviously we won't be having any separation anxiety issues about leaving Abby there.  She was gone from me first thing, straight to the rice table.  (Boy am I glad we don't have one of those at home.  Sweeping rice would get really old really fast.)

I am so very glad that she liked it there.  She even told the teacher her name when asked!  Score!  I was a little worried that her shy side would win out.  But that didn't come until we had a meeting with the speech pathologists and the support worker she will have with her.

It was just a sort of meet and greet meeting, since I hadn't met the worker yet.  And I am so SO thankful to my Lord that He obviously worked His ways because I felt good, almost great, after the meeting.  I didn't feel antagonistic or defensive with the one speech worker, and actually felt like we were working as a team for my girl.  Hurrah.

So Abby's first official day is Friday.  This day I will pack a snack in her new Barbie lunch box (that is not a metal one but I suppose I can survive) and put it in her not-new backpack and send her off into the world for 3 hours without me.  I think I might start having an anxiety attack now. 

Princess Abby

Compromises.  Life is full of them.  You go to the grocery store, they don't have the large size of salsa, you compromise and get the small jar in the meantime.  We lived in a trailer 15 minutes outside of town with one vehicle, we compromise and move into a main level house suite where we can hear everything that the basement suite people are doing (and vice versa).  I want to eat chocolate, I also want to lose weight.  I compromise and eat one teeny-tiny-itty-bitty piece of chocolate that takes up all the rest of my calories for the week.  They are everywhere.

So I am willing to compromise with my children.  Or another way to look at it is to pick my battles.  My husband isn't so convinced on this pick and choose theory, but I figure that he isn't home every day having to deal with all of the warfare that I do.

Abby is a wonderful, wonderful girl.  The cuddliest thing since they invented teddy bears (hmmm, I wonder when that was?  Maybe I should investigate, might be interesting).  She won't give you kisses on the lips, only the cheeks, but she is known to spontaneously, without any kind of prodding or threatening, say that she loves you.  Melt my heart.  But she is also very VERY strong-willed.  If she doesn't want to do it, I don't think wild horses could make her.

So when she decides, almost every afternoon, that she is done wearing clothes for the day, I usually let her.  Yes, I let my child run naked through our house.  I will even admit that sometimes she has been nude when her friends came over.  Horrible, isn't it.  But it's summer and it's hot, and I really hate fighting issues.  Somedays I think that clothes are overrated, but don't worry!  I don't prance around in my birthday suit.  I just go for pjs.

But Abby recently has found one article of clothing that she is in love with, and I am just happy that she's wearing clothing for most of the day.  Almost every day for a week now she has been dressing up in one of her princess dress-up dresses.  It is supremely adorable seeing her waltz around the house with her regal attitude, almost looking down her nose at you.  She likes to have tea parties while she is a princess, and sometimes will even share the royalty with her sister.

I am extremely happy to see this happy, firstly because of the clothing issue, but also because until she started this last week, she would never dress up, except on the rare occasion that her friends were over to play and they started it first and she would follow along.  I would try to get her to play dress-up with me, but she would always refuse.  So this is showing that she's growing and changing. 

The only problem I have with it is that she only likes to wear the one dress.  We have a decent sized chest of dress-up clothes, but that one pink dress is all she wants to wear.  So once it gets dirty, which it has, it needs to be washed.  But I am notorious for taking clothes to the laundry room and then leaving them there for a few days if the load they're in isn't ready.  Also if they require special care, which this dress does.  Hand Wash Only.  Why on earth would they make dress-up clothes hand wash only?  Do they know what a hassle hand washing is for me?  I don't have a laundry tub, I have to wash them in my kitchen sink! 

Oh the trials! 

On the Road and Nothing Gets Done

Yesterday I went to my ladies' Biblestudy in the morning and ran errands in the afternoon, so i didn't get home until 2.  Today I took Abby to the city an hour away for an appointment with a pediatricin, didn't get home until 1:30.  Both days, I have found it a huge difficulty to get anything done.  Partly from being gone for a fair amount of hours, but mostly from the resulting laziness.

But nobody wants to hear a complainer, especially someone continually complaining about themselves.  Instead I will inform everyone of how the doctor appointment went.

We went to the pediatrician on a referral from the hearing specialist.  The apointment was to see if we could pinpoint why Abby has speech problems.  I was apprehensive about the appointment since I didn't feel a super-great connection with the speech pathologist.  The speech pathologist actually made me feel like a huge piece of dog poo.  But that's a whole other topic that I don't need to get into since I've come to terms with it (really).

Anyways, blah blah blah, the appointment went fine, and the doctor is pretty positive that Abby does not have autism.  Which has been an on and off again fear of mine.  I knew that she didn't, deep down, but I still feared that she did.  Basically there are no physical reasons that can explain why Abby is delayed.  All her other developmental areas are fine.  So the doctor says, just start the speech therapy when they call, and that will be the best thing for her.

And despite the fact that I didn't really learn anything new, it felt reassuring to me.  Driving home, I felt empowered to do what I needed to do.  I could continue to do "preschool" at home with Abby, and send her to an actual preschool in the fall.  I could deal with the intimidating speech pathologist and stand my ground about my beliefs.  I could even clean and tidy my house...maybe.