A bad seed

Deidra's been a friend of a girl who has 3 other sisters for a long time. She friended all of them, but she was closest to their younger girl (we'll just call her Said Girl). Deidra met Said Girl when we moved into this neighborhood when Deidra was in 1st grade. Said Girl was in 2nd. Said Girl was her best friend for a couple of years although she was in one grade higher than her. We never had a problem until said girl failed a grade and then Deidra became almost like competition and with some of the things that she would say to me at times, I could see that she was jealous of Deidra for some things. She would pit the girls against her at school and she would refuse to let them play with her and Deidra would come home crying and saying that she didn't have any friends. A few days later, they would be friends again, but the cycle went off and on like that all year. I told her that real friends don't treat their friends like that. She'd keep her distance from her for awhile and then said girl would start being really nice and Deidra would give her another chance.

Well, lately she's had to copy Deidra at everything that she does. It drives Deidra crazy, but I always told her that some people just feel the need to do that and to take it as a form of flattery. Anyway, there's been some drama this year, and when it came to her birthday party she didn't even want to invite Said Girl and when Said Girl invited her to her birthday party, Deidra didn't want to go. However, she changed her mind trying to be a good friend and went anyway. A girl moved to the neighborhood a couple of years ago and all this drama was always happenign between the 3 of them (we'll call her New Girl). I gave the New Girl a bad rap and told Deidra that it was all due to her and that she didn't need to be playing with girls like that who said bad things about her and so forth. For a long time she stayed away from her, but the things that Said Girl would say that New Girl said about her all of the time really hurt Deidra. Anyway, Deidra has stayed friends with Said Girl's older sister and she's been putting distance between herself and Said Girl, although she wouldn't go into a whole lot of reasons with me anymore about why.

She's friends with a few other people in the neighborhood and she's been trying to spend more time with them, but she went down to Said Girl's house yesterday to talk to her older sister and she wound up calling and asking to spend the night. We said that was ok. A couple hours later, her Dad brought her back to the house saying that there's been some drama with the girls and until they can get it sorted out, he was makign the girls go home. Deidra was in tears and spent the next half an hour crying to us about all that had gone on. Apparently New Girl was spending the night down there too with Said Girl and she had gotten sent home too. We put the little kids to bed and came downstairs still trying to console her when there was a knock at the door. It was New Girl and her Mom. New Girl was crying too. They wanted to know if Deidra could spend the night over there and we started talking. New Girl's Mom had taken all that Said Girl had said and had pinned Deidra as having a bad rap over the years and here I had taken some of the going's on and given New Girl as having the bad rap...something happened yesterday and it all came out. Said Girl has been spreading lies about everyone else so that she can get all the glory as being an awesome friend. She didn't want her friends having any other friends and so she was spreading lies about every one else behind their back and telling the girls that lies were being told about them, but that it was the other girls saying things. Deidra said that another little girl in the neighborhood won't even talking to her anymore (she was just here for D's birthday in Nov) because she thinks she's a liar. Deidra started crying again and said that it's all due to Said Girl. I don't know whether to go talk to her Mom or not as her Mom is a nurse in our doctor's office and we talk whenever we go in there and her younger daughter is a friend of my Emma's too. I've known that Said Girl has a not so nice side and anytime I've talked to her Mom about stuff, she's always taken Deidra's side as she knows how Said Girl can be. I just didn't realize that it had gotten THIS bad. I told her last night that I don't want her going down there anymore, even if it is to hang out with her older sister. Her older sister is more than welcome to come down here if she wants to and they can talk on the phone too, but no more going down there. I'm putting my foot down now as my Deidra doesn't need to be treated like that. Newer Girl's Mom told me she had told her daughter the same thing. I woke up a few times in the middle of the night thinking about it. I'm almost considering going to talk to Deidra's other friend's Mom's in the neighborhood to try to clear Deidra's name and to let them know that Said Girl is bad news and to keep their daughter's away from her as Said Girl lies about them too. And the next time I hear of the lies being spread at school, I just may take this to the guidance counselor. I'm pretty disappointed...It's one of those things where I wanted Deidra to learn to fight her own battles and so I stayed out of it. I just never had imagined that the problem had gotten this big until last night. I feel so bad for my Deidra. She's one of those people, just like I am, where she puts other people's feelings before her own, and she just wanted to be a good friend. Now that I know all of this, I'm going to help her stand firm in putting distance between herself and this girl. Nobody needs a friend like that that can't stand people being friends with anyone else and is going to sabotage friendships over being that jealous. Wow!! I had a friend that tried to do that to me as an adult and it was incredibly draining. I had to deal with phone calls from other friends asking me questions all the time, because she was telling them that I had this going on and that going on and didn't need them bothering me all of the time, yet she would try to swoop in and be the one to rescue me or whatever all of the time. Once, I finally figured out what was happening, she was surprised when I called her out on it and we pretty much stopped being friends because of it. That was hard on me as well, but I'm going to help Deidra firmly close the door on this friendship now...at least for a long while...who knew 5th grade girls could be THIS mean??

New Girl's Mom let me read a text that she got from Said Girl yesterday too and I was completely in shock that she thought it was ok to talk to an adult like that. It just drove the stake in further...I don't want her around Deidra anymore. New Girl's Mom told me some of the lies that New Girl has been hearing as well and I just found one of them laughable. Deidra invited New Girl to her bday party long before she invited Said Girl. She wasn't going to invite Said Girl at all, but I told her that if she was going to invite Said Girl's older sister, that I thought it was only fair of her to invite Said Girl too. Trying to nice, she finally did. After the party, Said Girl went back to New Girl and said "did you know that Deidra didn't even want to invite you to her birthday party and wasn't going to?" New Girl's Mom said "that's bs as Deidra brought the invitation down here." She was surprised when Deidra said "it's Said Girl that I wasn't going to invite, but my Mom didn't think I was being fair." If I knew back then, that it had gotten this bad, I would have supported her in her decision. I just can't believe all the lies that have been put out there and so forth. Said Girl has some issues that she's going to have to work though, that's all I'm going to say. Wow!!

Lord, I ask that you bring some GOOD STRONG faith girls into Deidra's life that she can share true friendship with and help her to weed out those girls from her life that don't have her best interests at heart and just want to cause problems for her. Thank you, dear Lord. Help Deidra work through all of this and give her your peace and comfort. Amen.

Emma's Alice in Wonderland Party

making birthday wishes and blowing out her candles...



Emma's cake


We had Emma's 6th birthday party today. She wanted to invite friends from school that lived in our neighborhood. We invited Clara, Hope (Hope's sister Taylor that's in Deidra's class), Eden (she goes to church with us and was also in her class), and another little girl named Jessica that lives up the street. Hope and Taylor were the only ones who came...I felt bad, but it is the summer and I know families have a lot of summer plans. Anyway, they had fun watching Disney's Alice in Wonderland, making princess masks (we got a pirate for Josiah), getting princess tattoos, and eating cake and ice cream. She was spoiled with the Alice in Wonderland movie from Grandma, the Disney version was from us, $6 from Grandma and a 4th of July shirt too, a gift card to Toys R Us from Cousin Hannah and Uncles Miles and Aunt Kellie, a Walmart card from Grandpa Hoffman, and a princess DVD player from Grandma Hoffman...Melina loves that thing so I have a feeling she's going to be fighting over it with her. She had a great day. It was nice to have my Mom here for the day too. She stayed and spent most of the day with us and we made dinner together...goulash, garlic bread, and salad. Mmmm!

A day of babysitting...

Josiah, Emily, Ana, and Tracie watching the Strawberry Shortcake movie


Alaina and Melina playing blocks together

My friend, Beth, had surgery on her shoulder today, so we had 2 extra friends to play with today. My littles were so excited. We spent the day playing in the playroom, doing arts and crafts, playing outside on the trampoline (Ana's favorite) and on the swingset, watching Strawberry Shortcake during quiet/nap time which was also Ana's choice, and then we played with play-doh and with the legos. The day went really well and I was thinking to myself how having 7 kids here really wasn't that hard. Then the fussy hour happened around 4:30 and everyone got fussy, bored, and whiny. Dinner helped a little bit and then they played in the playroom and started getting really hyper and they all (well except for Alaina and Melina) earned a time out for not listening and running and jumping on the furniture and so they were mad at me. But that was really the only hard part of the day. Everything else went smoothly. Josiah had a hard time listening all day and kept hitting his sisters and so he earned a lot of time outs and Tracie kept thinking that Alaina was a baby like Melina and kept trying to pick her up and move her which had her in the time out spot a few times, but overall I really enjoyed having them and the kids all had fun. I did realize too that my kids have missed out on a ton of playdates and we need to start doing those. My kids have gotten a lot better around other kids, but the more they play with others the more they will learn. Josiah gets so excited that he gets loud and doesn't always remember about others personal spaces and Emma gets bossy and Tracie just wants to nurture everyone, but she needs to learn that her hands need to stay to herself and that others don't need her picking them up and so forth either. I told Andy that I think this summer is going to mark the end of therapy. They have come so far and are almost caught up anyway. Tracie will probably continue therapy a little while longer as she needs it, but I think Josiah is safe to end at the end of summer. His OT said he's pretty much caught up anyway...just a little behind...but it's his behaviors that are keeping him having to stay in it. I told Andy that I'm ready to just let them be kids and be able to go forward with other things. I want to see them be able to play with their friends, not be prohibited by therapy schedules running when and if we're able to do things. So, not only was today good for the kids, it was good for me too as it allowed me to see some things as well.

Memorial Day

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. I was so glad to have 3 days with Andy. We spent a quiet Friday night at home, Deidra spent the night with a friend, we tucked the littles into bed early, and curled up on the couch together and talked and watched a little tv. Saturday, we went to the Y first thing in the morning and then went to some thrift stores and then came home to rest for a bit before Deidra's volleyball game, Tracie had a little incident that I had to run her up to the ER for, but that's a whole other post by itself. We were still able to go to Deidra's volleygame as a family and that made me happy. They lost, but she did great...she got some great saves in and some great serves too. The littles were less than cooperative and so we couldn't watch as best as we wanted to with having to take them out and Melina was fussy with teething and just wanted down to walk and so Andy was out watching from the hallway walking her up and down the hall. Sunday, we weren't able to go to Church as I needed to monitor Tracie, Melina was still on the fussy side too. So, we stayed home and watched Mass on EWTN. Mom called to find out what we were doing and I was battling with Josiah. She came over and helped me with the kids while Andy was at the store and invited us over for hot dogs on the grill and to spend the day at her house as she was going to paint her doors. Well, her doors never got painted with all my kids around, but we had a good time eating hot dogs, potato salad and chips and just being together. Andy napped while Mom and I took the kids outside and let them run through the hose water to cool off. It was fun, but we wore her out. Monday, I got up and made Old Glory trifle to bring to Beth's house for a family picnic at her house. We went over there and it was a full house with 5 adults and 10 children, but it was a good time. Andy's nose had been bugging him all morning, so he wasn't feeling the greatest. I felt bad. :-( He can't take allergy medicine or it just knocks him out (whether's it's non-drowsy or not). But, the food was great and it was fun. The kids had fun splashing in the pool too. They were sad that it was time to come home. We came home and got a few things done, but mostly just rested. I thought a lot about my Grandma and my Mom and wished I could ahve gone to put flowers on their grave, but my Uncle wound up letting me know later that night that he had gone and visited her and put some silk flowers down for her. He told me that graves were really for loved ones left behind, but I guess I'm just sentimental about it. I went and visited their graves when we were back in MI last and put flowers on their graves and I wish I could do that more often. Next time we go back home to visit... Mom called me from work and asked if she could bring some old pictures that she found by to go through with me. They were of me on my first date...the rules in my house was that I couldn't date until I was 16 and only after I went out with my Dad first so that he could show me how boys were to treat girls properly. He took me out to eat (for the life of me I can't remember where we went), but then we went to the Grand Rapids Symphony. Some sweet memories in the photos...there were others too, but it was sweet. It was a great weekend!

Something to focus on...

I was kind of down in the dumps last night when we took the kids to Awana. I was hoping for some time with Andy and Melina to do something fun. Andy had it in his mind that we needed to go to the grocery store as it's something that we've been doing while the kids go to Awana. We have a schedule so that we make time for the things that need to be done, but I told him that I'm really missing time for "us" to just be and talk without getting interrupted. Neither one of us can say that we have friends that we do stuff with on any regular basis either. I told him that I don't want to get so regimented that we miss out on things that we need to make time for either. We wound up going to get Deidra's last Christmas gift and then while I thought we were going to find something to do for the last hour, Andy drove us home. By that time, I had come out of my funk a little bit as I had prayed that God would lift my spirits. I sat and enjoyed the Christmas lights that Andy had put up after we decorated the Christmas tree. Andy even held my hand and prayed with me. It felt really weird to do that together as this is very unlike Andy, but it was nice and I hope that we can make a point of doing that more often. I know that part of my deal is stress. The kids stress me out after awhile and Andy and I can't talk without interruptions. I told him that whether I have to run an ad in the paper or whatnot, we need to start getting out without the kids...and I'm going to have to try to make time to work on my friendships down here as well. He needs to do the same thing...he needs to find some people that he feels comfortable doing things with down here. We have so much responsibility on our shoulders with dealing with not only our own family but taking care of things with our parents too, that we deserve some down time as well. I'm not complaining about the responsibility when I say that...it's just that it all can be stressful at times...we need to have some fun to destress too.

Deidra and the New Kids...

I'm really proud of her and how she takes the new kids under her wing. I went and had lunch with her the other day and a boy and his Mom sat across from us. Turns out, he's a new student and we all got talking. I really liked his Mom and she just had a baby boy 6 weeks ago. Anyway, after she realized who she was and the kids went back to class she informed that he really adores her. He's coming to her birthday party tomorrow. She told me that the kids at school tease her that he's her boyfriend, but she just really likes to play and hang out with him and he likes to play with her too. I told her not to pay attention to the kids at school and that it's ok to have boys for friends too. They seemed to get along really well and his Mom just called to RSVP that he'd be there for the party and she said he wanted to get her the perfect gift so she was wondering about gift ideas. That's too cute! I'm not ready for all the crushes and stuff...but he is a sweet little boy.

Had a wonderful time!

We left around 8:00 on Friday and headed to Austin. We went and hung out at 6th street and seeing all the young people made us feel old. We drank a margarita at the Iron Cactus and just people watched. Some guy came up and blew us all kisses through the window and we just busted out laughing. Had fun laughing at all the outfits (or lack of coverage) that the girls were wearing and how everyone couldn't seem to walk with their high heels on. We saw some drunks who could barely walk and we just talked and had some laughs. Not our crowd really at all, but it was funny. Think we got back to our hotel (The Sheraton)around 2 am and went to bed. Andy woke me up around 6:30 or 7 the next morning with an update with how the kids were doing. Meshawn and I went down and got some breakfast and sat outside. It was fun talking and getting to know her better. We went upstairs once Julie and Amy were up and we got ready to head to San Antonio. We ate lunch at CiCi's and shopped at Big Lots on the way down. Once we got to San Antonio, we stayed at the Drury Inn on the Riverwalk and the room was really nice. We walked on the Riverwalk and took the bus down to the Marketplace. We all got Pina Coladas and shopped. We went back to our room and just talked and shared stories for awhile and had a good time just relaxing. We went back down the Marketplace for dinner and ate Las Margaritas. It was slow to get seated, but once we got our food it was good. We walked back to our room and watched some tv and talked some more before we headed to bed. Sunday, we got up and Meshawn and I went down and got breakfast while Amy and Julie got ready. We checked out and headed to San Marcos to shop at the outlets. Meshawn took us to get lunch at Centerpointe at an antique store that had really good burgers. We even saw some $400 flip flops (no joke). It was crazy! Got the kids all some new outfits at Ross, Carters, and Osh Kosh. I even got myself a couple new tops at Ross. I didn't find anything for Andy, although it wasn't for lack of trying. We got home around 8ish and I went and said good night to the kids and showed Deidra her new jeans and shirt that I got for her. She was excited. Of course, I had to shower Melina with hugs and kisses. I missed her so much. Andy sent me a picture of her while we were driving home of her smiling and it made me tear up in the car...I really missed her. I rocked her to sleep last night and enjoyed cuddling with her. I got up with her last night to feed her and I laid her down with me, I just wanted to cuddle her. Everyone enjoyed their surprises that Mommy brought home for them. :-) Mommy came home nice and relaxed. It did me good to get that break and to have some "girl" time. We're already trying to figure out where we want to go next. Thank you, Lord, for bringing me some friends and for giving me this weekend to get to know them better and to relax.

Going to Austin and San Antonio for the weekend!

I got invited to go to Austin and San Antonio for the weekend with some friends that I met while fostering. I'm so excited to go. Andy will be here with the kids. It will be good to get away for awhile, but I'm going to miss my baby girl. This is the first time I've left her for more than just a couple of hours. I know that she is in good hands though.

My blessings...

Thank you, Abba, for all of the blessings in my life. I thank you so much for my family, my friends, my beautiful house, my pets, I have so much to be thankful for. I know I can get caught up in things sometimes when I feel overwhelmed and I complain a lot. I need to take more time to see the positives that are going on and pray more about the things that I cannot change. I just wanted to say a quick thank you this morning for all of my blessings that you have given me.

A visit from Racheal

Racheal flew in late Wednesday night and stayed with us until Sunday morning. It was SO good to see her again. We had a lot of time to chat and she was a huge help with the kids and all too. It was so nice to have someone that didn't mind all the kids and was used to running their own circus as well. Thursday, we toured Waxahachie and then drove out to Cedar Hill and spent some time at Uptown Village. After Andy got home, we ate dinner and then went up to Applebee's for some drinks and dessert. Friday while the littles were in Mother's Day Out, I took her down to the square (with Melina and Deidra) and we shopped the Square and had lunch at The Dove's Nest. Friday night, we went to watch the start of Josiah, Emily, and Tracie's first t-ball game and then we had to leave to take Deidra to her volleyball game. Jimmie met us up there to watch her play. Deidra is doing awesome at serving now and got in about 18 points for her team. I was SO proud of her. She's come a long way since playing last summer. We came home and put the kids to bed and stayed up late talking. Saturday, we went up to North Park mall for some girl time...decided that's a way too upscale mall for us to buy things there, but it was fun walking around and laughing together. We came home and she watched the kids so that Andy and I could get out by ourselves for awhile. Andy and I went to Outback for dinner and then for a walk in the park...then we got a phone call saying that Deidra had locked her bedroom door but left the key inside so we had to make a trip to Wal-mart for something to pick the lock with. Crisis was averted thankfully. Sunday, we had to get everybody ready to take her to the airport...I was sad to see her go. However, I know Tony and her girls missed her as well. I'm going to try to plan something for hte fall so that I can go up there and spend some time with her. We're going to see about making this a yearly thing. It was really good to see her and spend time with her. I miss her already!

Made some banana bread...

as thank you gifts for those that watched the kids while I was in the hospital having Melina. Brought some to our neighbor for keeping Deidra for free and getting her to and from school and homework done and all that fun stuff. She was shocked that I did that and told me that I totally didn't have to do that, but I wanted to. I brought some to my friend, Beth, too as she kept Tracie for me and helped so much with getting her potty trained that week as well. I wound up staying for awhile and chatting with her and that was nice too. I need to devote more time to my friendships that God has brought me here.

Guidance and prayer

Abba, so many of my friends are struggling and worrying about things right now. I ask that you give them all your peace, love, and guidance during their struggles and that you keep them and their families under your hedge of protection. Please protect them and give them your loving guidance to make the right decisions or to cope with whatever comes their way.

So thankful...

I am so thankful for God, my faith, my parents, my family, my friends, God has really brought some amazing people into my life. I am going to start spending a lot more time with them. I decided that I get too busy tending to things around here, that I don't spend enough time with the people that God brings to me and want to be a part of our life. I am so thankful for my children. They all bless me in different ways and I am constantly learning from them. I am so thankful for their unconditional love that they give and for their loving little hearts. I am so grateful for this baby that I have growing inside of me. I am SO thankful that yesterday marked the first day of my 2nd trimester. I am thankful that God has really been leading me lately and that I am letting Him guide me. I am thankful for my husband and how great he's been with my pregnancy as I know that I can be quite moody sometimes with how sick and tired I've been at times. The nausea has been the worst over these past couple of weeks and it seems to set in around 4-6 pm. He's eaten my slop that I've cooked because I couldn't manage much more. He's helped take care of the kids and he takes them out on the weekends for Daddy/children time so that I can get some quiet time to rest or do whatever I want. I am thankful that the girls' adoption is finally starting to get rolling as well. I really want them to be adopted by the time this baby is born. I am thankful for my beautiful house and for all the blessings that God has given to us in Texas with Andy's job and that his company is so great to work for and that they always seem to be understanding of him. I am thankful for friends old and new. I am thankful for a lot of things and I could continue to go on and on. I am also thankful that my parents are able to be friends. I still continue to pray that they'll be able to get back together, but God's hands are in that and He knows what is best. Abba, thanks so much for blessing me and my family. Thank you for all that you do for us! I ask for your blessings over all my family and friends during this Thanksgiving season and always.

I don't accept help well...

I've always had a difficult time asking for and accepting help. I think it has something to do with how I was raised...if I wanted something, I had to do it on my own. I think that's something I've just carried with me.

Tonight, a friend brought over dinner for my family. I felt a bit awkward about it when she first brought it up a couple of days ago, yet I was extremely touched that she wanted to do that for us. B, I thank you so much for being so sweet and bringing over dinner. It was delicious! Pizza bread and salad. You could sell that every time you decided to make some for dinner...it was really THAT good! You totally didn't have to do that for us, but we SO appreciated you doing that for us. Your friendship is an answered prayer! Love you!!

Fun weekend...

We had a good weekend together as a family. Friday night, Deidra spent the night at Madison's house. Us parents hadn't met yet, so we made introductions before Deidra spent the night over there. They seem like a nice couple. Saturday, I really wanted to go to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, so we asked Deidra's friend, Madison, if she wanted to go with us. We had a good time, but it got a bit hot towards the end. We got a lot of nice pictures though. Afterwards, we went to Red Robin for dinner. The hostess was just enthralled with our family, finally after she kept watching us for awhile, she said "I don't mean to stare, big families have always fascinated me." I really don't mind, I must just get used to it after awhile as most of the time I really don't notice. We came home and watched The Velveteen Rabbit as a family. What a sweet movie! After that, we put the littles to bed and then I got invited to Starbucks and so I went up and met a friend up there. It's always nice to spend time with her, so it was fun to go out for a bit!

Sunday, we got up and went to church and I was sad to find out that Father Paul is getting re-assigned. He's our parochial vicar, so they get re-assigned every 3 years. It hasn't seemed like he's really been with us that long as he came shortly after we moved down here. Time flies! We went to Sunday school and then came home and decided to go for a Sunday drive. We went on a 300 mile drive to get more pics of the courthouses. We got 4 more while we were out. Then, we came home and I made Andy mow the lawn while I did some laundry and then we got the littles to bed. I had Deidra come in and take a shower and then we had spelling words to practice, homework to correct, and we did some reading. Then, I got her to bed and I went to bed right after she did. I was tired!

Wow...

We had meet-the-teacher day at our church for our Sunday school program today. The littles got to meet their teachers and I went and met our students with Mom. We met a lady that her son is going to be in our class and she volunteered to translate for us since she could speak spanish if needed. Anyway, we got to talking with her and what a very blessed lady. And she has a heart of gold. She talked to us for over an hour and Mom said that she could see Mother Teresa and St. Theresa all over here. She has been trying to help teen mom's with their babies and she said that she really has a heart for children. She said that she never should have gotten married...she said that she realized her true vocation too late and now her obligations are with her husband and her children, but she was trying to help in little acts wherever she could with what she feels that she truly wants to do with her life. She wants to talk to me about fostering and adopting and she told us about some work that she did in El Paso with some very troubled students that the teachers referred to as "garbage kids that would never amount to anything." She got them all to graduate. She was truly an inspiration and it was good to talk with her. So, I lift Martha up to you, dear Lord, and bless her. What a beautiful person with a true heart for You!

What a relaxing Friday...

I took Deidra to school, Josiah and Baby T went to Mother's Day Out from 9-2, and then Little E went to pre-k this afternoon. I asked a friend if I could come over for a couple of hours while Little E was at school. It was nice just to chat and color with her little ones and I got to hold her baby. Her girls are so sweet! The pizza we had for lunch was yummy too. :-) Went and got the kids from school and fed them their after school snack (applesauce and milk) and then did some listening exercises and read a story. I got a book from a teaching store that teaches social skills for little ones. I explained at the beginning of the week that we were going to do some listening exercises and that anytime they followed directions on the first time given and used their listening ears I would let them pick a candy or a reward strip out of the jar. I've been able to give one reward all this week. They just don't stop and think and everything is so impulsive. Today, I gave them each three chances to earn a reward during story time and it was only because they each had two warnings and were about to lose their reward that they finally stopped and listened and were able to earn their reward. Then all chaos hit when my Dad called. I don't know what it is but they all just fall apart when I'm on the phone or the doorbell rings. Little E is wild after school anyway...she's loud and into everything and I'm constantly having to redirect her or put her in time out. Finally, I had to send her to her room as I just couldn't tolerate all the loudness and she thinks it is hilarious of course. Her behavioral assessment is coming up on Wednesday and I'm really hoping that it will bring us some peace and some extra reinforcement. I just really don't know how to get through to her when she just laughs about discipline. Anyway, they are back to playing nicely and quietly again and I think I'm going to make Deidra's request for dinner...spaghetti and corn and some garlic breadsticks. Once they go to bed, I would like to sit and talk to the hubby. I miss him. He's planning on brewing all day tomorrow (what fun!...my house is going to stink like hops). But shhhh...don't tell him that I said that. I guess if you like beer it smells good, but I'm not a fan of beer...I'll take wine anyday...but forget beer.

Some things that I am thankful for...

God is truly working with my parents. They resolved their arguments from the last week and realized that they both had misunderstood each other. They are taking things slowly and giving each other time, but God has been telling me that with time it will all be ok. They had a great weekend together. We hd a great time at their cook-out on Sunday afternoon as well. It was nice...Dad cooked the whole meal and Andy made the pie that I wanted to take over because I was so busy that day and I wanted to bring something over. My brother is always asking me for pie anyway. It was a great meal and great time spent togther.

My Dad is back in Texas. He's going to still be living out of his truck, but he will be able to be around all of us more. God is definitely working with him. I have had more conversations lately that I never would have had with him years ago. He is really developing his own personal relationship with God. It's a blessing to see.

I prayed for a friend here in Texas and God has brought one to me. I love hanging out with her and I can see us becoming great friends. Beth, I'm so glad to have your friendship. You are a beautiful person and I feel blessed to have your friendship!

I'm glad that Josiah is ours now and that he is making some small steps forward. He is a blessing. He is a handfull and a half, but he is a true blessing. I love that little boy and when he smiles at you, you just can't help but smile back at him.

I'm thankful for the huge help that Deidra has been this summer. Sometimes she just amazes me at how good she is with her brother and her sisters. She can calm them down sometimes even when I can't and they all just love her. Of course, she's good at getting them all riled up too. But, she really has been a big helper this summer.

I'm also thankful for a training class that we went to over the weekend at our agency. Neither Andy or I really wanted to go, but we left with renewed hope on new ways to deal with discipline and getting some of our behaviors that we're dealing with under control. It was also nice to share and laugh with the other foster parents. It was good! Deidra has really been responding well to it also.

Thank you, Abba, for all the blessings in my life and I pray for blessings for all my friends and family as well.

What a great day!

I got up bright and early and went to bible study at 6 am. Lots to ponder and it was wonderful! I'll share more when I have more time. Then, I came home and get the kids dressed to go to training up at our foster care agency. We had to take Common Sense Parenting. Andy and I really didn't feel like going, but it didn't turn out that badly. Lots of laughs, sharing, and we came away with a renewed spirit of things to try with some behaviors going on in the house. Came home and took a nap. Got up and got the kids up...the girls' baby brother got picked up and then we sat around the table talking about our training today and some things that we were going to implement. Put the girls to bed as they refused to eat their dinner, Josiah got to stay up a bit later as a reward for being good and eating all his dinner and he got a popsicle...then I read to Deidra for awhile. We're starting Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms. We read the first chapter and then she fell asleep on the couch. I'm going to spend some time with Andy before heading to bed here myself.

Tomorrow, we have church, and then I have to help sign the kids up for catechism tomorrow after both masses. Then, I have to come home and do a clothing inventory on both the girls, and then we're going to my Mom's for a cook-out with my brothers and my parents.

It's been a great weekend so far...complete with a great night out last night with a friend. It was exactly what I needed!

MDO starts again...

The littles start back up going to MDO today. It's just Deidra and I for the day. Woo hoo! My Dad has moved back to Texas and got in late last night, so I think we're going to spend some time with him this morning for a little bit. Then, I'm going to come home and try to spend some time putting laundry away and mopping the kitchen floor. Stuff that's easier to do without the littles around. Then, the girls' baby brother is coming to spend tonight with us and we'll have him until tomorrow. Also, tonight, I get Mommy night off with my new friend. :-) Today is going to be a GOOD day!