Mary Engelbreit Monday

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.

---Mark Twain

Giving Up the Dew.....

I'll bet that most people who know me, know that I love Mountain Dew. For those of you who didn't know that, I love Mountain Dew, I really do! Yes, it's bad for me. Yes, I shouldn't drink it. And yes, it's a bad habit (I have many, trust me!)

Habits.......they're so tough to break, aren't they? I wasn't very willing to give it up, or I'd give it up for awhile and then go right back to it. I suppose that's how a lot of bad habits are. But, it's not impossible. I decided a few weeks ago that enough was enough and I was just going to stop drinking it. Which may be harder than you think, because Chad loves Pepsi. It's hard to watch him drink Pepsi and I don't get my Mountain Dew. I decided to do it, though and stick to it this time. I was determined.

So, has it worked? Have a manged to kick that bad habit of mine? Yes, yes I have. And if you can believe it, Chad hasn't been drinking Pepsi either!!! He didn't think it was fair to drink it in front of me. (I didn't think it was either) I guess I can pat myself on the back for kicking one bad habit and then get to work on all the other bad habits I have.

What's Up?

Chad is out of his sling and into therapy. Right now he's doing a lot of stretches to help him get his full mobility back. It's painful and not much fun, but I think he's doing good.

Noah has gotten on the bus both days this week without any problems. His teacher tells me he's doing GREAT! Yeah!!!!

Myshel cleaned her room and has kept it clean for 3 days now. (I don't remember the last time it's been clean for that long.) That's one of the conditions she had to follow to get to go to the homecoming dance this Saturday.

Vance is trying to get us to approve of him and his friends getting together to shoot their air-rifles on Friday. I trust Vance, but do I trust his friends?? How well will his friend's dad supervise???

McKaylie is doing great in school, but tends to be rather grumpy and moody at home. Is there such a thing as pre-pre-teen attitude???

I am wondering where all the extra time is that I'm suppose to have now that all my kids are in school, because I sure don't seem to have any extra time. Maybe I'm doing something wrong!

Mary Engelbreit Monday

I've missed Mary Engelbreit Monday..... She knew what all smart women knew:
Laughter made you live better and longer.
**Gail Parent

I Hate Mornings......

I bet I've mentioned that at least once before, because I really really do! I need to figure out how to skip mornings all together and jump right to the afternoon! I told you about the key fiasco just the other day, well I had another wonderful morning today......

I told the kids yesterday that it was going to get cold overnight (upper 30's) and that meant that it would be cold when they got on the bus. Which means that shorts would not be a good idea. I forewarned them! When I went to pick up Myshel at seminary it was 38 degrees. I came inside and told everyone it was cold, they need to wear long pants. Everyone put on long pants....except Noah! I knew this was going to happen. He always wants to wear shorts and clothes are always an issue with him. (Thanks, Chad, for passing that on to him......we know it's you, we've heard the Young World story!!!!) For a passing moment, I had the thought, "just let him wear his shorts and see how cold it is, then he'll want to wear long pants". Why, oh why didn't I listen to that little thought!!!!!! As soon as I told him to change into pants, I knew I was going to regret it. I didn't argue with him, but we had a long "discussion" about it. After which, I relented (a bad mom moment-I know) and he wore his shorts. They were longer shorts that he doesn't like, but still shorts. He calmed down and we headed out for the bus. I was hoping that things would still turn out ok.......I was wrong!

When the bus pulled up, McKaylie turned to me and said, "I don't want to ride the bus today. I want you to take me." I don't even know why she tried that, because I don't do that. So, McKaylie got on the bus.......but Noah didn't. He wasn't having any of it! I could have physically forced him on, screaming and crying, but I didn't. (apparently that's another bad mom moment which I'll explain later) We went home and I tried to calm him down, but that didn't work very well. I tried to take him to school, but forcing him into the van kicking and screaming wasn't ok with me. I had a meeting to go to at 10:10AM at the school. I figured that would give Noah a chance to calm down on his own and I'd just take him with me, when I went to the meeting.

He calmed down, but mumbled everywhere he went that he wasn't going to class, he was going to stay in the meeting with me. Talking with him wasn't helping, so we just loaded up and headed for school. I signed in, told them what I was there for and told them that Noah needed to go to class and was having a bad morning. One of the counselors happen to be right there and she walked us to my meeting and then took Noah. His classroom was right by the meeting room. So, I got to listen to Noah cry and cry and cry and listen to the counselor try and reason with him and listen to the counselor call on her little walkie-talkie for extra help. Then he cried and cried some more. After what seemed like an eternity, he did finally stop crying. His class and teachers were walking to music, so they helped him get in line, all while his new speech teacher and I sat in the room, listening and feeling terrible for him.

After they got him off to music, the counselor that helped him came in and talked to me. She was very nice and asked about his morning. I told her how it had gone. She very polite, told me I did some things right and told me that next time, I need to make him go on the bus, even if he's screaming and crying because then he knows that's just the way it has to be, basically. She also gave several suggestions on how to handle the "pants issue", all of which I've tried. She told me that she knew it was hard for me to listen to him like that, but that he'll really be ok. Well, I knew that he'd be ok. I knew it was going to come to that and I knew it was for the best, but part of me was saying, "whatever lady", and part of me just wanted to cry.

I then went to my meeting.....because I just hadn't been through enough yet. The meeting actually went really well. They're going to be working on speech with Noah 5 days a week, that's right, 5 days!!! That's amazing, honestly, that they would give him that much time. We felt that we'd be doing great if we could get 3 times a week. (I LOVE this school. They're soo awesome!) I was able to visit with both his teachers about him and his new speech teacher. They all seem to just love him, but then who wouldn't right?!?

After the meeting, I visited with his speech therapist some more and then drove home. Then, I sat and cried. I felt guilty. I felt bad for Noah and prayed he'd still have a good day. I was exhausted and emotionally spent. I regretted saying anything about his shorts and getting him started off bad. And I worried that come Monday, I'd have to force him on the bus. He's been doing so great, to possibly have it all ruined by one morning!

I hate mornings. I really do. I need to find a way to avoid them altogether.

She Makes a Mother Proud!

McKaylie and Noah ride the bus together. Before school stated we sat down and talked with McKaylie about how she needs to set a good example for Noah on the bus and show him the right way to sit and behave while they're on the bus. We also asked her to look out for him and help him feel comfortable on the bus and at school. She didn't say much about it and we wondered if she was really listened at all.

I always go and wait with them for the bus in the morning. The other day while they were waiting in line, another kid pushed Noah out of the line and he had to get in line at the very end. I watched as he got on the bus and McKaylie grabbed him and had him sit with her. McKaylie told me that afternoon that when she got on the bus that morning and turned around that Noah wasn't behind her. I explained to her what had happened.

The next moring we went out and waited for the bus and when it came the kids all got in line, but after the bus stopped and everyone started to get on, McKaylie turned around and took Noah's hand and held it until they were in their seats. It really touched my heart to see her look out for him and help him.

Noah's teachers have also told me that McKaylie walks him to his class each morning before going on to her class. We never asked her to do that and I know it's a little quicker to go straight to her own classroom. So, she goes out of her way to help him get started each day. She might not realize how much her little gestures mean, but I know that it helps Noah feel a little more confident that she is by his side. I am soo proud of her for helping him and showing him kindness each morning. I love it when I see my kids showing love for each other. It gives me hope that maybe I've managed to teach them something good!

Keys. Keys...Who's Got the Keys?

I woke up this morning and everyone was still asleep. Well, except for Chad and Myshel. He had already taken her to seminary like he usually does. It was nice and quiet and I was hoping that they would all stay asleep until after I left to pick up Myshel. I enjoyed eating my cereal with no one around to harass me and read the Ensign while I ate. It was a nice relaxing start to the day. When it was time to pick up Myshel I gather up my purse and reached for the car keys. They weren't on their hook!!! I always put them back on the hook! I thought that maybe I had left them in my purse. Nope, they weren't there either. I looked and looked but couldn't find them anywhere. I was really getting frustrated. The seminary teacher has to get her own kids to school and then go to work, so, she can't wait around to make sure that everyone gets picked up. The kids just have to sit at the church until their ride comes and gets them. So, I knew that Myshel would be waiting/wondering what was up if I didn't find the keys soon. I considered waking Noah up and asking him if he knew where they were, because he really likes to play around with the keys. I decided to call Chad first. This is the conversation....

Me: "Chad, do you know where my keys are?"
Chad: "ummmm, I have your keys?"
He took my keys and didn't tell me!!!!???!!!!
Me-trying hard not to explode: "What? Why? Where are your keys?"
Chad: "I don't know where my keys are. I couldn't find them, so I just took yours and figured you could find mine." (It's such a good thing that I love him, really it is!)
I couldn't say anything, I just mumbled some sort of a good bye and hung up.

I was so irritated at him. I couldn't believe he did that and didn't even tell me. I went and woke up Vance to help me look and woke up Noah. Noah was still half asleep and wouldn't give me an answer about whether he had the keys or not. We still couldn't find them. After about 10 minutes, I called Chad back.

Me: "You have to go get Myshel. She'll be sitting there waiting."
Chad: "Can't you call the church."
Me: "And tell her what? That we can't find the keys, she'll have to sit there and wait until we can find them even though we don't know how long that will be? She has to be at school in 1/2 hour."
Chad: "My class starts in 1/2 hour and I can't be late"
Me: "Then you'd better hurry!"

Not very sympathetic, am I? I was beyond frustrated. After Noah had been up for awhile I asked him if he knew where the keys were. He hemmed and hawed for awhile and then like a light bulb going off in his head, he ran to the bench , crawled under it and viola, he found the keys! Needless to say, he'll never be allowed to touch the keys again! Chad called and asked if we'd found them, apologized and told me he was just going to drop Myshel off and not come in, so that he could get back to the base in time for his class. I don't know if he made it not. It was probably close. I hope he did, though. So, much for a nice quiet start to the day!

Rocky Ridge Orchard.....

Saturday we took the kids to an apple orchard that is just down the road from us. We didn't pick too many apples because we could buy them cheaper in the stores right now. But, we had lots of fun walking through the apple trees and picking the apples that we did. There were wagons to haul your apples in, but we were mostly pulling kids! They also had wagon rides through their hay fields.

There was a bakery, too! We had apple cider donuts and pumpkin/molasses donuts (YUMMY!)

There were also lots of pumpkins! We bought 3 of them and they look so cute sitting on my front step. We'll have to go back another day and buy some more! It was such a fun afternoon and I think we all had a great time.

Yeah for Noah!!!

Lot's of you know how worried I've been about Noah starting school. He's such a funny guy and very particular about what he likes and doesn't like. There's no "grey" areas for him. It's either black or white. He loves it or he hates it....period! I knew that he needed to have a great start to the school year, not only for this year, but for his entire school experience. If he didn't like Kindergarten we would be fighting him about school for years to come. I pictured it many many times in my head before school started. It was something that I prayed and prayed about. It helped when we were able to change the kids to the new school, but, as a mom, I still had that underlying fear.

Noah did great on his 1/2 days at school, but when the routine changed on his days off, I wasn't sure about how he'd do going all day. He was ready and happy to go yesterday morning, though. I hoped and prayed all day that he would have a good time and enjoy being there for the whole day. I worried for nothing, though. I met him at the bus and he was all smiles! He talked and talked about his day and how fun it was and how much fun PE was.

This morning when I picked Myshel up from seminary (One of Noah's teachers at school is Myshel's seminary teacher!) she told me that his teacher told her that he was the helper for the day and that he was so proud of himself and he sat in the helper's chair in front of the room ( I can't believe he did that!) and raised his hand to answer questions. She said he was great! I was so relieved to hear that from her and from him. It's been a huge blessing to have Noah enjoying school and that he has such a great school to be at.

I miss having Noah at home, but I know that he was ready to go to school. Most of the tears I've shed in the last couple of weeks have come over seeing Noah grow and mature and take on this school experience and do so well with it. I think he was more ready that I thought he was. Plus, this school has such amazing people and services there. What a blessing it is to our family. I am so glad that, at least right now, I can say, "Noah loves school", and that's all I wanted for him.

School's not for the Dogs.....

Yesterday was the first full day that the kids were at school. I think I did pretty well with it. The house was really quiet though and that seems to make that lonely feeling more pronounced. I'm doing ok with it, though. I can definitely appreciate having some quiet time. When the kids are home it seems like "quiet" doesn't exist.

The dogs on the other hand didn't like it. They paced and whined. Vanilla followed me around even more than she usually does. They barked and jumped at every little noise from outside or the neighbors. I finally turned the TV so that they'd have some noise and stop noticing all those little sounds that they weren't used to hearing. It seemed to help. Vance was the first one to come home and they were soooo excited to see him. They acted like he'd been gone for a week. Today they're doing better, but I think it will take them awhile to appreciate the "quiet".

Remembering.....

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Blogs I Read...Or Try To....

In the last couple of months, I've had several people asking me about blogs I read. I haven't taken the time to add a link list of them to my blog since I lost the last list, though. After talking to someone last night about blogs, I decided that since I have a little extra time these days, that I would add it. So, if you have been wondering/inquiring about the blogs that I read fairly regularly, then the list in on the bottom of my left sidebar, at least the ones that aren't private.

A Little Craziness Makes the Time Fly By.....

The first couple of weeks of school are a little nuts around here for us. Last Tuesday, Vance, McKaylie and Noah started school, but Myshel was at home. On Wednesday, Myshel started school but Vance was at home. (The middle and high schools do this to give the 6th graders and the 9th graders a day to themselves in school without all the older kids. It's actually a good idea.) On Thursday, Friday and Monday (yesterday), they were all at school. During all this time, Noah was only going to school for half the day, so he was home about 11:40AM. Today and tomorrow Noah doesn't have school, but tomorrow he goes in for his Kindergarten evaluation for an hour. On Thursday, he goes back to school and stays all day. It kind of wears me out just trying to keep everyone straight. I think it will be nice to just have everyone on their regular schedule.

Yesterday Chad went back to work. It seemed very strange not having him around. I like it when he's home and I don't think there's every been a time when I've not liked having him at home with me. It's hard to believe that it's been 3 weeks since his surgery. But then, it's hard to believe that it's the second week of September already! Before we know it, it will be Christmas! Yikes!

My Most Asked Question......

What are you going to do with yourself now that all your kids are in school?

I've heard that question sooo many times lately, I can't count them any more. Even Myshel asked me. It's a question I've asked myself, too and also one that Chad and I have discussed. Unfortunately, I don't have a very exciting answer, at least not exciting to most people.

I considered getting a job outside my home. But then, I've never had a time since the kid's started school (10 years ago) that I could be completely free to volunteer at their schools and not have to worry about who was going to watch the little one(s) at home or whether it would work to bring them along. I would really enjoy being able to do that. I also feel like I need to be available for my kids when/if they need me during the school day and I don't want to worry about getting time off work to do that. And to be completely honest, I don't want another job right now. I feel like I have so much to do at home already. When I talked to Chad about it, he told me that I've earned this time to myself and I should enjoy it. He also told me he didn't want me to work right now. That made me feel good. He might have just been buttering me up for something, but that's ok.

So, with all that said, what am I going to do now that all my kids are in school?

*volunteer at the schools (3 different schools)
*finish editing my sister's web pages
*get caught up on my scrapbooking (is that possible?)
*finish my craft/sewing projects (there's sooo many)
*organize and enter all my recipes on the computer (a huge job)
*organize my "blog book" so that I can publish it
*enjoy "Cindy" time (I'm not sure what that is yet)

Not to mention....

*laundry
*dishes
*vacuuming
*mopping
*dusting
*cooking
*grocery shopping
* etc, etc, etc

In other words, I'm going to try and accomplish the things that I really didn't have any time to do before and all the everyday things that I need to do around my house. And, I have a feeling, I'm going to stay very busy with it all.

First Day of School '08....

Vance, McKaylie and Noah started school this last Tuesday. Myshel started on Wednesday.

It's been a busy, crazy week that has just flown by. But, it's been a good week. All the kids seem to be happy with their classes and teachers, even Noah. He gets off the bus each day smiling and when I ask how school was, he says "good" with a smile. I hope it continues; I think it will. He loves his teachers and his friend "C" that goes to church with him, too!Noah and McKaylie ride the bus together, which is nice knowing they have each other. This was actually their second day of school, but the first day that they rode the bus in the morning.

Not a Good Start to the Week...

Last Sunday I spent 6 hours in the emergency room....not for the kids or Chad, for me!

Friday morning I woke up with a sharp pain in my left side and it continued to get worse. The more I moved around, the more it hurt. Knowing that it would be a long weekend because of Labor Day, I finally decided that I should go to the ER and get it checked out on Sunday. I knew I'd be there for a long time, but I didn't think it would be 6 hours.

I also knew it was going to be "interesting" when they started walking me back to the exam room and turned to me and said, "now don't get paranoid or anything, but we're going to put you in the 'psych' room". You know the room where they put suicidal patients.....

There was nothing in there but a bed--attached to the wall, a chair--surprisingly not attached to the floor, a TV--completely boxed into the wall (The TV actually proved to be nice to have during the 6 hours I was there, not all the rooms have TVs) There was a TV remote. It was attached to the wall, so you had to stand there next to it to change the channels. There was also a bathroom attached to the room, a window that faces the nurses desk, and a surveillance camera. There was no light switches, no door handles, no trash can (in the bathroom) and nothing on the walls. It was actually a little creepy. Chad had a good laugh that they put me in the "psych" room, though and so did Myshel. I have to admit it was kind of funny.

So after a lot of waiting, an IV, complete blood work and a CT scan, the doctor told me I had diverticulitis. You can go here, if you really want to get the details about it, but in a nut shell, I have pouches in my large intestine (colon) that were inflamed and infected. Sounds really neat, doesn't it! Yeah, that's what I thought! They gave me antibiotics through my IV and then sent me home with some more, too. They offered pain meds, but I really didn't think I needed them.

The "pouches" never actually go away and are actually quite common. They just don't always get infected. I asked what could have caused it. They didn't know. I asked how I could prevent it again. They suggested the diverticulitis diet, but they didn't really know how much it helps. They were just bundles of information. I've gone online since then and read about it, and there just really isn't any solid findings about why and how and all that. I also had a follow up visit with my regular doctor, who told me pretty much the same things. Later in the week, I found out that my grandfather has it.....hmmmm maybe it's hereditary.