So sad

Hannah got dropped off today by her grandma and told me some terrible news. Caleb, Shannon's boyfriend, went to the ER last night cuz he had migraines so bad that he was throwing up. They did an MRI and he has a brain tumor. :(
I can't get him off my mind today, it's so awful. I'm just praying at this point that it's not cancerous. If its not, then hopefully it's in a place where they can remove it. He's so young, you just hate to see someone who looked so healthy 2 days earlier suddenly fall so sick. Shannon is beside herself, of course. I'm anxious to hear how things go.
On a happier note, Jason picked up the camper last night. Looks good in the driveway. LOL He was actually cutting down a few tree branches on the side of the driveway so that they wouldn't hit the camper being parked there. When he cut one of them down, it flung back at him and he ducked his head. The branch ended up hitting him in the back of the head and gave him a pretty good gash. I didn't see it until hours later when I got home from work. By that time, it was pretty dried up, but it was long. I don't think he would have needed stitches, but they would have probably glued it together or something. It's not bad and it's sealing together so it should be fine. He sure had a headache last night though.
We're heading to Ill. tonight when Jay gets home. I'm getting packed....eventually...and doing laundry and stuff. Hopefully, we won't run into any traffic.
I'll check in after the weekend is over.

woohoo

I have a follower! Hi Sarah!

Things have been pretty normal since Monday. Back to daycare, back to kids driving me crazy, back to not having any time for anything....oh well.
I should be cleaning and packing today. We are leaving for Illinios tomorrow for Chris's wedding. I"m anxious for the trip...even the 5 hour drive. It's forced relaxation and that's something I could use. I'm torn right now between heading to the park or something or getting stuff done around the house. Whatever doesn't get done today has to be done tomorrow, so I suppose I should just stay here. We'll see, I haven't decided yet. I'll rent some movies before we go so we can at least keep busy that way in the car. The boys are charging their MP3's and gameboys, so that helps too. Me....I'm bring a good book and a pillow.
Jay and I had some errands to run last night and then we met up at Trappers for some food and bingo. Jay actually won a game, but so did another person so it was a split pot. That was still $28 so that paid our bill and some of the bingo. I'll take a cheap night out like that any day.
I have to work tonight, but Jay is going to Chucks to pick up the camper. I am SOOO excited to have it and be able to use it. We are going camping with Chuck and Amy next weekend. We will break in the camper and they will use their trailer for the first time, so it should be a ton of fun!

Lighthearted moment.....Yesterday I took Tanner onto my lap and laid him back like I was rocking him. He looked up at me and touched my hair and with the most sincere voice said "mom, your hair is so pretty...it's the prettiest hair I ever saw" Awww....so sweet and so wrong....I think it's been 4 days since I washed my hair. I guess the saying is right....Love is blind.
My baby boy.

Memorial Weekend

Leroy and Lil are in town this weekend. They arrived on Friday in the midst of chaos with the daycare kids and parents picking up....but that's okay. Once it settled down we were able to sit outside and relax and visit. They took us out to dinner at The Outback where I ate way too much but had a great lunch for the next day saved.
Yesterday, mom and dad came over at about 3pm. I had to work until 1pm and then Lil and I went to some garage sales for a bit. I was so excited to find junior size golf clubs and a bag for Tyler for only $15. I'm no expert, but they look really nice. I didn't show them to him cuz I'm going to give them to him for his birthday....I know most parents don't shop for their kids' birthdays at the neighbors houses, but when I get a find like that I like to save it as a surprise rather than just come home and give them to him. I'll throw some other things into the pot, but he will be so excited about those. When mom and dad came, we sat outside and talked...played some "Battle of the Sexes" and won, of course...then we threw some burgers and brats on the grill. It was a nice afternoon. I can't remember the last time we were able to just be home and chill.
Today, after going to church with Leroy, we all took the kids to Lilli Putt to do some mini golf and go Karts. We had such a good time, and thanks to my online check for coupons before leaving, got a really good deal on a fun afternoon. They paid for everything including a trip to DQ to finish off the day. They insisted saying that they aren't able to ever treat the kids, and us, this way like they are able to with the grandkids in IL. Very nice.
They are at dinner with Casey right now and we are hoping to reconvene our pinnacle playing that we started before they left. The score is 1-1...so a tie breaker is definately in order.
We met up with Greg and Sherri after church to touch bases about the Couples in Christ group we'd like to get started. I had invited Dawn and Corey to join us and it looks like we now have 6 couples ready to go. I can't tell you how happy I am about that. Not just that we have a really good start on things, but because it hasn't had to be all up to me. I'm not used to this....having other people take the reigns and be as anxious as us to get going. What a blessing...I'm very excited to see how it all works out.
I think God knows that we really need this. I know I do and I know Jason does. We need some friends who we can connect with that share our faith, family values, and priorities. I think this is just the place to find that.

American Idol

Oh my gosh! I had to watch the American Idol finale this morning. I quick skimmed through the Tues. night show to see how they did....then I went to last nights 2 hour show and fast forwarded it all the way to the end. I didn't care about the rest. I literallly screamed and jumped up when he announced Kris as the winner!!!! I am SOOOO excited. I haven't wanted a winner this much since Carrie Underwood was in the finals. My guy always seems to come in about 3rd or 4th, so this was so fun to see my favorite from the very beginning go all the way to the end to win. Especially since I think he was so underrated by so many. He kinda just slid under the radar long enough to surge ahead. He's so humbled by it all, you can just tell. I want to call Jay and tell him, but I don't want to ruin it for him.
Too fun...that was exciting. Just had to share. Carry on....

Brothers

You'd think that word would spark togetherness and comradary....right! Jay and I are at the end of our ropes with Timmy and Trae and their fighting. We have dealt with this for a few years now thinking it would get better and go away, but that's not happened. It's gotten worse. They aren't happy unless they're bugging eachother, telling on one another, pushing, shoving, hitting, teasing.....you name it. Timmy has this attitude that since he and Trae are practically the same size, he has to constantly remind him he's older, stronger, tougher. Soooo....on the event this weekend that broke the camel's back....Jay and I decided that the best way to get them to find a way to co-exist is to do just that....make them co-exist....in the same bedroom. The plan has always been that Tyler would get the second room downstairs once I was done with daycare and then Trae would take his place in the room with Timmy. Well, we moved that plan up a year. Tyler is now going to take the upstairs spare room and Trae will be moving in with his loving brother. Maybe if we do the opposite of what makes sense....something will change. Jay kept them up last night until I got home from work so we could have a talk and let them know the plan. We had already talked to Tyler about it the night before. We laid it all out there and told them that this stops NOW. That's it. It stops. I told them that from now on when they fight or are mean to one another there will be swift and serious consequences. They weren't allowed to talk...only listen. And they did, but we'll see how much good it did. All we can do is hope and pray.
They sure LOOK innocent enough.....

Kids in every corner

7:30am - There are kids everywhere! I have 10 kids today and Tony is the oldest at age 5. Holy cow! This should be interesting. I have 2 extra girls this week, but this is good in a way cuz it will help me see what it would be like if I up my license to allow for 2 more. They would be the two I'm hoping to get. It would be crazy, but it would be $1000 more a month and that sure would be nice.
Well, I am off to fix breakfast for all these ying-yangs. Lord, help me.
11:30am - I can hardly stand this. It's all I can do to not just call parents and give notice TOMORROW. I seriously do not know how I'm going to do this all summer. I was always an 'on the go' mom....we never stayed home during the summer. Between the wading pool, and softball, and parks, and the zoo....I was always doing something with the boys. I am NOT doing this next summer, I don't care where we're at. THere's just no way.
1:30pm - I canNOT keep my eyes open. If I stop and sit for one minute, I"m going to doze off and not wake up until tomorrow. Oh my gosh, I have 8 hours of working left. UGH!

Done!

I'm sooo happy to have this weekend over. All month I've been dreading it. Not because I didn't want to help out with the Springfest, but because the combination of that, the garage sale, my 2 jobs, and 5 kids just seemed a bit overwhelming.

The garage sale was a huge success! We made more than I even hoped for which will be great to add to our savings for the adoption. We have only a few larger items left, but for the most part sold it all. That is unbelieveable to me considering how much stuff we had. I am so grateful to all our friends and family for the things they gave us. What a blessing they all are to just give like that. It makes them all a part of this whole adoption process.
This is how it looked on Thur. morning....



I wish I would have taken a picture of it by Sat. afternoon....it was just a skeleton of this.
On Friday, I was a bit nervous as to how I was going to do daycare and a garage sale at the same time. Jay had taken Thurs. off to help, but when his mom got sick and couldn't come on Friday....I knew it would be interesting. Annie came over by 11am and stayed for til about 3pm so that helped a ton. The boys were all off of school because of the Springfest, and that ended up working out to my advantage. Just as I was heading into the house to get lunch ready for the kids.....Tyler, Timmy, and Trae had it already made and set. Awwww....that was the sweetest thing ever!

They made a very healthy lunch of ravioli, tortilla chips, applesauce, and fruit snacks. HA! It was so sweet.....although I'm not sure I can claim it on my food program. :)
There is one downside to having 3 boys fix lunch for you.....

It's all good though...cuz they cleaned it all up.

For Epiphany's Springfest this year, we were asked to co-chair the volunteer effort. This is a huge undertaking as the entire thing (except the carnival rides) is run by hundreds of volunteers. We spent the 3 weekends prior to this one setting up for and getting ppl to sign up after all the masses. Then this weekend we spent every waking moment there at the volunteer tent checking people in and out...getting their name tags, directing people that showed up to help but hadn't signed up for anything. We actually found out something interesting this weekend. Turns out that once you volunteer for a co-chair position....you commit to 2 more years as the CHAIR of that division. Sooooo.....the 2 women who chaired this year are hanging it up and handing it over to us. They even gave us the boxes of stuff for next year when we left yesterday. Um...okay? I don't mind....I really don't. But for us to commit to ANYTHING that is a year away, right now, is not realistic. We just don't know where we'll be this time next year....China, maybe? I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

I'm going to breathe a bit today and go to mom's and to the park with the kids. I should be here getting the house ready for this weekend when Leroy and Lil are coming, but I can do that tonight.

Garage sale day!

Well, it arrived. We finally called it quit at 1am last night in the garage preparing for the sale today. By the time we opened the doors at 8am and started to take stuff out into the driveway, about half the stuff wasn't even priced. It was crazy and hectic for a while and very busy too...but it all worked itself out and turned out to be a huge success. We sold AT LEAST half the stuff so far. There are a few big items we really hope to get rid of, but all in all...I'm very happy with today's result. I am beat, so I am not writing much today. These next few days now are just crazy! It's Epiphany's springfest that we are co-chairing the volunteer effort for. This means we will be at the fair Friday evening, Sat. evening and all day Sunday. I can't wait until Sunday night when I can celebrate that it's over.

Lighthearted moment of the day....there are 2. Yesterday was Tony's school track and field day and the parents could come to cheer them on. I was there with Tanner and the daycare kids to watch him. When they were all done with the final event, I gave him a wave and said I was going to go now. He said, we're not done...we didn't jump over the turtles yet.. I asked him what he meant. He said " they said we were going to jump over turtles." Then it occurred to me....."Tony, they're called HURDLES and you already did that" HAHA!!! Too funny.




Then just tonight, we were watching a TV show and he looks up at me and says "Mom, do you have any hiccup medicine?" HA! I love the things kids say.

Emailing Tyler's teachers...

This is the letter I just sent the three 6th grade teachers this morning. I'm not one to get involved too much with school incidents, but when it goes on like it has...it's time to get other adults involved.
------------------------------------------------
Hello,

I wanted to tell you all what has been going on with Tyler at school. Throughout most of the year, he has been teased and made fun of...everything from being called fat to stupid to gay. As the year has gone on, it's gotten worse. He tells us often about the kids saying he is stupid and dumb and how much this bothers him, esp. since he's a good student. Recently we learned just how often the gay term is used on him. This is obviously a hard thing for a young boy to have to hear from his peers. Yesterday when he said it happened a couple times.....once with one of the girls saying he was gay and once with a boy asking him how it felt to be gay.....I decided that I had to contact you and see if you can help us. This has to stop. We try and talk to him about not listening to it and trying to not let it bother him. I've talked to him about approaching the kids and asking them to please stop. Maybe some of you have heard in the last few weeks about the 2 boys (in totally different states), both in 6th grade, both called gay at school, who committed suicide. I'm not saying Tyler is at a point like that....but it did raise a real red flag with my husband and me about just how much effect these sort of comments can have on a child. My husband has been talking about him switching schools....but I don't think that's the answer.

Tyler is real concerned that if I tell you that somehow then the kids will know he 'told' on them. I assured him that this could be handled in a way that keeps his name out of it. Maybe some talking to the class from you or Ms. McCorkle about those other boys' stories that I just mentioned....let them know just how harmful those sort of words can be. I know you will think of something that can help us and help Tyler have a good last month of school. He's a sweet boy and this just breaks our hearts to see him hurt like this. I look forward to hearing any ideas you have.

Feel free to contact me via email or phone.
Thank you,
Jenny Janisch
___________________________________________
I recieved a message back almost immediately from one asking when this is happening at school, that that would help them.
Then his main homeroom teacher just replied saying how sad she was to hear this is still going on (I had talked to her briefly this winter) and that she thought things were going better for him. She also wanted to know when during school this was happening.
I'm glad they are taking it seriously, I'm tired of him being hurt. Kids can be so mean.

Flowers...for me?

I forgot to mention what Jay did for me on Saturday. He had gone and gotten a really nice boquet of flowers and a balloon to bring to me at work. He pulled up with his gift and went inside my work to find me....only one problem...I'd already left. I had gotten off a little early and left by 1:30. He got there at 1:40...just missing me. Everyone kept telling him how sweet he was and they felt so bad that he missed me. He brought them home for me instead...they are so nice.

busy, busy

It's been a few days. We've been so busy around here....more than usual.
First of all, Timmy's party on Friday night was a big hit. He was very surprised. We had some pizza and headed to Vertical Endeavors for 2 hours of rock climbing. The boys absolutey loved it! We got home by 10:30 and made sundaes and opened presents. Timmy and his friends camped out in the toy room and didn't quiet down until 2am. That didn't stop them from waking by 7:30 though. Geez..
Timmy came up to me at the rock climbing place and said this was the best birthday ever. A far cry from the tears just a few days earlier. :)
Yesterday, after working and then getting garage sale things done, we went to mom's for a Mother's Day dinner....no kids. Somehow it still managed to be loud in the house though. HA! We aren't a quiet family, that's for sure. It was fun to be able to enjoy the conversation and dinner without the interuption of kids there. Is it too early to start crossing off days on the calendar until the cruise?
So, here we are today...Mother's Day. Well, it wasn't exactly how I'd plan it if I had my way...but just because it's a 'holiday' doesn't mean things don't go on as usual. This whole garage sale is stressing me out. I am excited about how much stuff we will have, it's bound to be successful....but the work involved!! Holy cow, I hardly know where to go. I woke up at 7:20am this morning and instead of going back to sleep, I laid there thinking about how I have no idea how I"m going to get this all done and got up. I was out in the garage before 8am and worked until 9:30. It's amazing how much more you can get done on your own sometimes. Tyler did get up and so he was out there helping some too.
I had to get inside to get breakfast started for when Cindy was coming over. We had a nice brunch and then we were going to go to a movie. WE WERE...but that's not exactly what happened.....I made brunch and afterwards, I was so tired I was getting a headache. I literally make myself sick sometimes, it's rediculous. I told Jay that I just didn't think I could sit through a movie. So, instead, he and Cindy went and I went up to bed. I took a nap until 4:30pm. As nice as that was, I woke up all stressed because I had wanted to spend some time with the boys before having to go in the garage again. Plus, we were going to 5:30 mass at Epiphany. All in all, a lot got done for the sale. The whole garage got organized in the 3rd stall which was huge! I've got all the big stuff priced, now I just have to go through all the little things and price those. I'm still wondering how we get it all in the garage once Mindy brings over her stuff and Chuck and Amy. It's been really nice to have everyone help us out by giving us stuff though....can't complain about that. I just hope it's all worth it and we have a good turnout.
This is Tanner's way of helping...he's 'washing' everything in sight.

These are the before pictures....or the during....and there's more to come. Not sure where it's going to go. LOL

Timmy's 10!

I can't believe it. I mean, seriously....all parents say that when their kids have birthday or reach milestones, but it really is amazing when I stop to think. It was 10 yrs. ago today that I was sitting in the hospital with my 1 day old new baby boy. Makes me want to cry just thinking about it. Not because I'm sad it's gone, although time does fly and make one miss those days, but because I'm so amazed at the boy he's become and the boy he's becoming. He's wild and crazy and loud and great...because he's also helpful, sweet, compassionate, and so affectionate. He'd give me a hug, with a kiss of course, every 5 minutes if he could. He tells me he loves me as much as all the other boys combined...and they tell me everyday. I've been his first 'girlfriend' for quite a while now. Hey, I'll take it as long as I can.
Last night we went to Stillwater with Helen and her kids and to Leo's diner. It was good food and we had fun. We walked around a bit and climbed the stairs to the top of the cliffside. They thought that was pretty fun.
I'm mostly excited for Friday. We have invited some of Timmy's friends over for a surprise party and sleepover. I can't wait to see his face...esp. since he has been so sad about not getting a party. He say's I promised him one and that it's been 5 yrs. since his last one. I could hardly stand to look him in the eye on Monday and tell him that we just couldn't this year and that I would try and make it up to him this summer with a sleepover. I seriously almost wanted to tell him, he was so upset. It will all be worth it to see his face when he walks in the door and sees his friends. I will have some fun pictures that day.

Memories

It occurred to me today that it wouldn't be a bad idea to write about some of the funny things the boys have done from time to time. I wish I would have listened to my mom and wrote it all down when it actually happened. Gosh, what I wouldn't do for a journal of all the things that made us laugh over the years. It's really true what they say about each child having less and less memories about them around the house. Tyler and Timmy both have a baby book with a lot of stuff written in it, esp. Tyler's, Trae HAS a book....I just don't think there is anything really in it. Tony and Tanner don't even have one. :( Bad mommy!
Here are some of the recent classics I was thinking about.
Summer, 2008....We were in the car going to the zoo and Timmy asked me who fought in the Civil War. I explained to him, in my most teachery voice, that it was a war between the north and south parts of America and that the south wanted the black people to stay slaves and the people in the north wanted them to be free. I finished my best explanation and continued to drive. Within a minute, Trae, who was obviously in deep thought about what I had just told them, said "so it's a good thing then for Mindy....ya know....that the north won....ya know, for Mindy..." He said it almost hesitantly, but it was very clear what he was saying. I looked at his innocent and totally sincere face and couldn't help myself....I held back a laugh as I said..."you mean because she has dark skin?" "yah" Well, by now, I couldn't even fake it anymore....I was laughing so hard, I was crying. I said, "honey, she's still considered white" Hahaha!!!!!!! He was a bit embarrassed at this point..I just kept saying I'm sorry, honey. The vision of Mindy and her dark skin and Trae thinking that if she had lived 100 yrs. ago, she'd be a slave was just too much humor for me to contain. I called Mindy the first chance I got (along with everybody else in the family) and she could barely come up for air. Ahh...good times.

Winter 2009......I was in the kitchen with Tanner when I bent down to pick something up. Tanner says "mom, you have a big butt". Um..thanks? "gradma has a big butt too" HA! I said, "well, that's okay though, right?? We're still good people, right?" "Yah" Then I thought about it....he probably doesn't even know that this isn't a nice thing to say to a person...to him, it's just a fact. A depressing fact, but a fact none the less. So I said, "Ya know, Tanner, people don't like to hear that they have a big butt, it makes them feel bad. They would rather hear that they have a little butt. Okay?" "Okay". Done.
Fast forward about a week. I'm in my room picking up some clothes when my little truth teller is behind me once again. Only this time....."mom, you got a little butt" Holding back a bust out laugh "well, thank you, Tanner"......"grandma's got a big butt too" HAHA!!! Couldn't hold it back after that one. Called mom right away of course, and she thought it was hilarious. Hey, truth hurts...but sometimes I can be downright hysterical!

There's always the classic Timmy pronouncing his "F" as a "CH". This was most funny the night when he and Trae were running around in a circle through the living room and Timmy yells to Trae, "Chaster, Trae, Chaster" Or also the time I said something to tease him and he put his hands on his hips and said "Ha, Ha, very chunny" HA! Too darn cute!

It was also Timmy who was so excited about the fact that he was finally out of diapers that he decided to share it with everybody. This included the man sitting 3 rows behind us at church one morning...he turned around and said "Um, hello, hello....me wearing underwear" The tone of his voice in announcing this was the best part of the story...I hope I can always remember how that went. It was priceless.

How about when Jason was in Iraq so Trae would have been about 2. He was being so naughty in church that I started to walk out to the back and he yelled so everyone could hear him...."I don't want a spanking..." Oh Lord, nice. HA!

There are a million more and I think I'll keep posting them as I remember them. Hey, better late than never.

Decluttering

It's amazing how much stuff one family can accumulate in a short time. We were going to have a garage sale next weekend, but quickly realized yesterday that there was no way we'd be ready, so we're putting it off one more weekend. Half the garage is already full of stuff including things that a lot of ppl have brought over for us to sell. We put word out that we were having the sale as a fundraiser and got a good response. I hope we can get a good amount of change to make all this work worthwhile.
Last night, I read the book "You Are Special" by Max Lucado to the boys. It was recommended to me by Annie when I had told her about the trouble Tyler was having at school with the kids. It was a really good book and the boys really liked it. Tyler got it right away....he knew why I had gotten it and why I was reading it. Allowing God to be the one who values us and not letting others put us down and doubt ourselves is so hard and so important at the same time. I hope he can do that.
I only have 2 kids this morning (along with Tanner) and so I'm tempted to go do something somewhere, but I realize that this would be a really good opportunity to get a lot of things done for the sale. We'll see if common sense wins out over procrastination.

Decisions, Decisions...

We are so excited and anxious to get the adoption process started, but have begun to have some reservations about when exactly we should do it.
On one hand, the sooner, the better....on the other hand, it can't happen too soon for financial reasons.
When we listened to the webinar last week, they said that once a home study is done (around 4 mos.) that the longest it's ever taken a person to get their referral is 6 mos....the LONGEST. Wow...that would mean less than a year from start to finish.
I have this ideal time frame in which I think this should happen (end of next summer or early fall of 2010 would be perfect), but I'm trying to stay realistic and realize that I can't control this, and that, actually, I shouldn't try and control this. I have to believe...no I DO believe that God has a plan for us with this process and that He has a child for us that He's orchestrated since before I even met Jason. My main concern is that things go so fast that we won't be ready with the money needed at the end. I do not want to have to pause or delay the process because of that, so all I can do it trust. Trust the process, trust my gut, and mostly....trust God, that He will show us the way.