How do you get a 10 yr old to believe in herself and know she is worth it?

 Because she is adopted she feels like she is not worth it because she thinks her birth mom didn't want her. We have explained to her many times that her birth mom DOES love her and DID want her but she got caught up in the disease called drugs and alcohol and because of that she just couldn't parent.

 

I don't think Raven has ever taken the time to process things and go through the grieving process up until now. She spent the first 3 years going to a therapist that just could not get her to talk, but since we switched therapists, she has opened up and let her thoughts and feelings be known.

 

Today was the icing on the cake. I have heard my kids tell me that they hate me, especially Carson, so it doesn't bother me as much as it used to. I am able to say back, "I have heard that one before." But today Raven told me that she was tired of me telling her what to do because I am not her "real" mom.

I'll admit, it stung bad, but I took the time to calmly talk to her and ask her what she thought a "real" mom is and her answer was "someone who gives birth to you". I responded back with, "that is called a birth mom". A "real" mom is someone who takes care of you, raises you, protects you, loves you unconditionally, etc. is what a real mom is. By all that is in me, I am your "real" mom.

 

We always knew that that statement would eventually come out, but it still does not take the sting out of hearing it.

 

Later, she did come and apologize and gave me a hug and said, that I am her "real" mom and always will be. She also said that she has been testing us to see if we would leave her just like everyone else has in her life. We have told her that no matter what happens in life and how mad she makes us, we will always be here for her and will always love her no matter what.

 

Like I said, I think she has been in denial for so long that she is finally coming to grips with things and knows that she is not going anywhere no matter what she does.

She wants to make sure we will still love her if she makes mistakes. I think this past week has proven to her that we were not going anywhere.

 

 

I think I need to also put this up on our door where the kids can see it often.

Every time we tell Raven that she is worth it, she starts to cry and says, "how do you know that I am worth it, when my own birth mom didn't want me". It completely breaks my heart because I know without a shadow of a doubt that their birth mom does love them, but again, drugs and alcohol does nasty things to you.

 

Carson is on a level Q in reading and we are only 3 weeks into 1st grade. He will be through the entire alphabet before the middle of 1st grade if he keeps reading like he is. Way to go son!

 

Quynsie started knee rehab today. She messed her knee up 3 years ago jumping on a trampoline while with her birth dad. We never did anything about it until it kept getting inflamed, then I took her to the doctor about it. I am hoping that volleyball does not mess it up even more. I hate to tell her that she can't play because she has wanted to play for awhile now.

 

Our own personal pedicurist. She is massaging mine and grammy's feet.

 

Nadia, well, she is staying clear of the radar right now. She is doing awesome in school and we don't usually have much of an issue with her except in the car when she can't keep her hands to herself. She is going to be starting piano lessons this week and she is really excited about that.



Not much to tell about today's events.

Quynsie made us breakfast in bed.

I woke up with my throat on fire, head and nose clogged and itchy eyes.

We went to Home Depot got more things for the basement.

Came home, I slept most of the day while Joe and my dad worked on the basement.

Kids played.

Went to dinner at my brothers house.

Came home, and now Joe is outside working on the truck.

Kids have showered and are in bed since we have to be up an hour earlier tomorrow for Quynsie to go to physical therapy for her knee.



Finally got the kids chore charts hung on the wall. I put them at the end of the hall so that they would be out of the way and for the most part out of sight so we don't have to stare at  them all of the time.

 

 

Joe's phone for some reason took red/pink pictures when he took these.

 

 

Look he fixed his camera!!!

Quynsie was at a friends house while this was going on.

 

Quynsie was supposed to have a late night with her friend, but she got caught on the internet while at her friends.

We have a rule that there is to be no internet while at friends houses or while friends are at our house. There is just too much liability if something was to happen. I also can't trust that the kids friends parents are watching what is going on.

Anyway, she had been responsible all day texting me and asking if she could do certain things that involved the internet and I kept saying no because I was not wavering from our rule. Then I am not sure what she was thinking when her and her friend got on her friends facebook page and decided to send me a friend request. We don't allow our kids to have a facebook page until they are 18. Ummm if you are at your friends house and on their facebook book page, I am sure it is not wise to send your parents a friend request.

I immediately called her and told her I was coming to pick her up and explained why. She was really mad. When I got to her friends house they were sitting out on the porch waiting for me. Quynsie was crying and cried the whole way home and for another 45 minutes once we got home. I didn't yell at her, I simply asked what the heck she was thinking. She said she wasn't.

She doesn't even have internet access on her phone because I was afraid of things like this happening. If she wants to get on the internet, she can do so on our computer where I can monitor it.

I hope she has learned her lesson as well. Do not get on the internet at friends houses because mom will always find out.

 

Raven has been self harming again. She is making sores all over her arms and legs. She has told us the reason she is doing it is because she is angry at her birth mom and she hates her freckles and does not want to look like her birth mom. She keeps saying she does not understand how her birth mom could just so easily walk away from them and not care. When we tell her that she is worth our time and that she is capable of so much in her life, her response is "why should I believe that I am worth it when I wasn't worth it to my birth mom? All I keep hearing in my head is her telling me that I am not worth it!" We asked her if she believed us when we said that she is worth it, her answer again was "no, why should I?" "Why didn't she get rid of us sooner? Why did she makes us suffer so long?"

 

This completely breaks our hearts. We hate seeing her hurting and so angry. I often wonder how people can do these harmful things to their children. Why couldn't they admit a long time ago that they couldn't parent and let them go. So much heartache could have been avoided for these innocent children who did not ask to be born into this harsh world.

 

We have always told the kids when they say things negative towards their birth mom that we have no doubt that she loves them, but the drugs are talking and they are taking over her thoughts and actions and so she is not capable of showing them that she loves them. Unless and until she is sober, these kids are not going to believe anything she has to say to them. They feel abandoned, lied to, can't trust anyone, hurt and angry.

I hope and pray everyday that she will clean up and want to explain herself to these kids, but right now, the kids are not ready to hear it. They are so vulnerable. They need to process and understand that it is the drugs controlling her life and that is why she is making the decisions she is making. They need to know that more likely than not, if she was not on drugs, she would be a great mom. She could have been a great mom.

 

I saw so much potential in the kids birth mom and I wanted to be her mentor and guide her in the right direction, but she could not put down her walls and let me in. I wanted to be her friend, I wanted to have an open adoption with her, but again, she was not willing to follow our rules and expectations. There was a lack of boundaries.

 

We told Raven tonight that instead of being mad and hating her birth mom, maybe she should pray for her and pray to Heavenly Father that she is safe and that she can get the help that she needs, whatever that may be.

 

I am trying so hard to keep what little love I have for their birth mom in my heart, but it is getting so much harder as the days go on and the more things that come out of our 10 year olds mouth. We love their birth mom because she is our kids birth mom, but dang I am really struggling right now with my feelings towards her.



I went in to wake up Carson to get him ready for school and this is how I found him. Sleeping sideways with his feet hanging off the bed.

I'm impressed even with great grandma and grandpa at our house the kids went to bed last night without much of a fight and they got up and got ready without any hassle. It was 7:30 and Grandma and grandpa were gone and we were all up and ready for school.

I had to walk Raven into school this morning because of yesterday, Joe and I decided that Raven was not going to be going on a field trip today, but we were not willing to let her stay home either. She went to school, sat in another class for half the day doing busy work and had to clean windows and the lunch room the rest of the day.

The assistant principal sent this picture to me. She was not a happy child, but again, I hope she learned her lesson.

 

I feel bad that she had to miss the field trip, but I knew that if I caved and let her go, she would not learn her lesson. I hope she thought long and hard about her actions and how important it is to take responsibility for her actions. She has been in our home long enough that we have instilled better morals in her and she knows it is wrong.

She is really struggling right now and I am not sure what else I can do besides loving her, taking her to therapy and giving her consequences for her bad behavior.

I have been close to tears all day just thinking about how bad my heart hurts for my baby. I cannot believe how much dirty nasty things they have witnessed and have been taught at the hands of their birth parents, the ones that they were supposed to be able to trust. Because of this lack of trust that they have with their birth family, we have struggled with our kids trusting us. In their minds they are thinking, well I couldn't trust my birth parents, so why should I trust you not to lead us astray?

I made a comment the other day that I wanted to go visit a friend out of state by myself for a couple of days and they all lost it. They thought I would not come back. This has always been an issue and that is why I quit working. They didn't trust that I was going to come back after work everyday. Yes, I did work for the first year of having them, but it was really hard on everyone. They got to see that mom can leave and she will come back, but they don't trust that if I leave for a few days that I will be back.

I am writing all of this for a couple of reasons:

1. To get my frustrations out

2. For my kids to read when they are older so they understand what struggles we have had, but we made it through.

3. (MOST IMPORTANT) For their birth family to be able to see how the kids are doing even if it is me telling about our struggles.

4. In hopes that others will read this and maybe it will help them to be able to make better choices when it comes to doing harmful things to their kids.

This picture was taken 2 years ago. It popped up on my facebook timeline and it was taken on this day 2 years ago. Look how little that boy is!!! It was his first day of homeschool (preschool) and now he is a big 1st grader.

Our basement is coming along. I am really excited with how things are turning out. Joe, my dad, brother and brother in law are putting up the last few pieces of sheet rock tonight.

Joe will be gone most of the day tomorrow so I am not sure if he is going to work on the room or not, but hopefully in the next couple of weeks, we will be able to move Raven into her room.



Ugh!!! I am so worried about Raven

(I posted this note because I think it is important that our kids birth family, more specifically, their birth mom and her husband to see what these kids are saying and how they feel and how they saw things while with them. I want them to know how it has affected these amazing innocent children).

 

I got called into the principal's office today at the end of the day. Raven got caught kissing 2 boys on the playground behind some portable buildings. This kid she has had a crush on since 3rd grade and he the same for her. The scary part is that he offered her candy to kiss him and she did it. This worries us because what if some random guy drives up to her and offers her candy? Would she get in their car?

The sad part is that she is not taking any responsibility for her actions. Yes, she may have been taught that this behavior is ok from her life with her birth family, but we are not going to allow this to continue. It is not ok for a child (10 year old) to kiss another 10 year old. She has been in our home for a little over 3 years and we have tried to teach her right from wrong and what our beliefs and standards are. We want so much more for her than she wants for herself. She doesn't believe in herself and that just sucks. She doesn't think she is capable of having a great life. It just breaks my heart.
We want her to be successful in life. We want her to accomplish her dreams. She is worth so much more than what she is portraying herself to be.
Thankfully, we have the love and support of the principals at the school. 2 of them were her teachers last year. They are so invested in Raven and want her to be successful. They are always there for her. She is always welcome to go talk to either one of them and they would help her through whatever it is that she needs to deal with. I also have a great relationship with them. I feel comfortable talking to them. After talking with Raven in the room for a little bit, they excused her and we chatted for a bit. The first thing one of the principals asked was if I was ok? I said "NO" and she said that she could see that on my face when I walked into that office. I had no idea what I was about to hear, but I knew it was not going to good.

I am not sure what is going on inside of Raven's head right now. She has been so explosive the past few weeks and then she has been in trouble at school 3 times now and we are just completing week 2 of school. This is so not like her. I mean, I want her to talk and get it all out because it is not healthy to hold it in and not talk about things, but she needs to figure out how to do it in a more calm way. I am sure that she has a lot of built up anger and frustration and she has always been our shut down child, until about a month ago. We are trying to get used to this new Raven. I hope that this means we are headed in the right direction as far as her feeling safe and secure in our home and with us as her parents. We want her to always feel comfortable and confident in coming and talking to us when she has a problem.
 

Oh boy, I think Raven saw this come true today.

If you need me tomorrow, I am out of order. I need some time to process some things.



I woke up this morning with a major migraine. I think I got really stressed out yesterday afternoon. We almost got in an accident because Carson decided to throw his lunch bowl at my head while I was driving.

Anyway we got up and got ready for school. I had them all ready to go with a half hour to spare so the kids went outside and rode their skateboards before going to school.

I wish I would have had a video of Carson because I was worried we were going to have a broken bone before school.

 

After school, he was so much better today. The first thing I did when we got home was get him in his swing. I swung him for about 20 minutes and he was pretty well behaved the rest of the afternoon.

Apparently that is the answer is swing him after school and he will behave.

 

HAHAHAHA!!!! This is so true!!!

 

Tonight was karate night, which means that Joe's brother and his wife and kids come over for 2 hours. We take turns cooking meals and then we hang out for a few awhile after karate.

I let my brother in law get on my computer to do something and apparently my facebook account was left open so he posted this along with his profile picture:

 

Matt is the bestest brother in law in the world. He is so awesome and Nikki too! I should let them move in and cook for them and do their laundry. Gotta go, Joe needs a foot massage for working so hard. I am going to wash anyones car at my house next week because I love you all so much!

(Edited: my brother in law got on my computer and NO!!! I'm NOT washing everyone's cars)

 

He cracks me up. I told him I have already let him and his first wife live with us and I did cook his meals and took care of his kids. To be honest, I wouldn't mind having him, the kids and his current wife living here.

It wasn't that bad.

 

The closets are finally starting to take shape and make more sense. The back one is Raven's closet and the front one is our linen closet.

Thanks to my dad and brother for coming over and working on it while Joe was teaching karate.

 

I am still loving our family pictures. I look through them often because I don't have room on my walls to put them all.

 

I made these tonight and they were a big hit. Even my nieces and nephew loved them.

Carson screamed with delight when he saw that I made cornbread, but then he realized their was a hotdog in them and wasn't as thrilled. I made them in a regular muffin pan though.

 

 

I can totally see Carson saying this.

 



Dad took today off because he had a dentist appointment.

It was nice that he was here to help me with Carson getting ready for school.

He left before we had to leave for school.

When he got home, we ran to Home Depot where we spent another $180 on supplies for Raven's bedroom and Joe's karate dojo.

We came home had lunch and Joe got to work downstairs. I worked on the kids chore charts more. I just was not in love with how it turned out so I changed things a bit.

 

 

I went and got the 3 littles from school, came home done homework, chores and a lot of fighting with Carson.

 

Quynsie started Volleyball today after school so I didn't have to pick her up until later.

 

This has been our life lately with Carson. You cannot leave this kid alone for more than a second. To be honest, I feel at times, I can't even take a breath without him doing something naughty.

He was on a good one today. So bad that I almost got in an accident because he was throwing things at my head from the back seat. That kid has an arm on him. He sits in the very back of the van. Anyway, I was on my way to pick Quynsie up and I was coming up on a stop light when all of a sudden Carson took his lunch container and threw it at my head. Had I not gained my composure fast enough I would have been in an accident. Things were not any better one the way home either.

Finally tonight I hauled him to his room and put him in his swing and started swinging him. I need to remember that he has a swing in his room now and we can use it for such occasions. It calms him down. We are not sure how or why it does, but it works and I'll take it. He finally went to bed without much of a fight after I spun him for about 20 minutes.

 

Nadia doesn't want to brush through her hair after showers and it was extremely knotted up which makes it even harder to brush. There was a ton of damage from flat ironing, coloring her hair and chlorine from swimming during the summer. Her hair grows fast and before you know it, it will be long again but healthy long. She is really mad at me but I can't handle how damaged it was. Once I told her that it looks thicker, she was a little happier. I don't blame her for being mad because I also have long hair and it is my favorite thing about me. She told me that it sucks to have a mom that knows how to cut hair.

Personally, I think it is cute either way.

 

I have to save this so that when it comes to fractions, I can use it for the kids.

 

Our basement does not look the same. We finally have sheet rock going up on the ceiling and the walls. Joe also built the linen closet (where the blue stool is). Thanks to my dad and brother in law Troy for coming and helping tonight.

Tomorrow I will go down and clean up a little bit because tomorrow is karate night.

I also have to finish up a little bit of laundry, finish cleaning the kitchen, clean the bathroom and possibly clean up my room a bit. We also need to put the guest bed back up because my grandparents are coming up Thursday evening and spending the night. They will be leaving really early on Friday morning to go to a Dr. appointment and then they will be going home. I am excited to show them what we have done to the house. They saw it right before we closed on it, so they have not seen it since we moved in.



We are beginning our 2nd week of school and today was the first time I have done anything remotely cute to Nadia's hair. Raven and Carson is pretty easy. I just have to add some gel and they are good to go.

 

 

"You are free to choose but you are not free from the consequence of your choice."

 

I am so excited to have finally accomplished this project. I have wanted to put it on my living room closet door by the front door so that the kids could see it often and be reminded that yes, they have their free agency, but there are consequences for every choice, good or bad.

 

Raven started back up at her private violin lessons after having the past 3 weeks off.

 

I am adding homework and practicing instruments to our chore list.

I am tired of having to fight with them to practice. Right now we have Quynsie playing the flute and Raven playing the violin, but in about starting next week, Nadia will be taking piano lessons.

Playing an instrument is a requirement in our home. We feel that it is important for them to learn how to read music and understand how music can strengthen your mind and uplift your spirits. There are no exceptions to this rule. I am hoping to get Carson into playing the piano as well just because Carson and Nadia are too young to play an instrument in school at this point, but I do want to give them a head start on learning how to read the music.

 

Quynsie starts volleyball tomorrow. She has wanted to play since she came into our home. We just have not had to opportunity to get her signed up. Last year she played basketball, so when I got the email about the school offering volleyball for the junior high kids, I jumped at it.

 

At what age do you think is appropriate for the mom to not help her son shower anymore? Carson is almost 7 and I am starting to feel uncomfortable going into the bathroom to check on him. I know that he still needs guidance, but should I be the one doing it or should his dad?

Anyway, just a thought I had tonight while Carson was taking a shower because Joe put him in the shower, but then went back downstairs to work on the basement so I had to go in and check on him. Every time I went in to check on him or remind him to wash his hair or his body, there was new huge mess. He got into Joe's razors, he filled the entire bathtub full of bubbles (no water, just soap suds) and it was all over the floor. I was like this is just crazy. He needs someone in there at all times to make sure he is not destroying things. Yes, we have a shower door and shower curtain to allow for privacy in the shower, but I am going to lose my mind. The other night, he flooded the bathroom so bad the hall carpet was wet.

 

Joe got these for me a week ago for our anniversary and they still look this good. I took this picture today.

 

 



Happy birthday Dad!!!

 

Today is Joe's birthday. He turned 37. He is now the age my mom was when we got married. Crazy! Thank the good Lord that we do not have any children that are even close to getting married.

Anyway, I just wanted to take the time to wish him a happy birthday. He is the most amazing husband and daddy!

 

 

We went to breakfast at IHOP this morning. It was not that good, but we went.

We then went grocery shopping and came home and got to work on the basement again.

The poor guy has chosen to work on the basement all day even though it is his birthday.

Happy birthday babe from me and the kids. Love you!

 

This is what happens when you make a water baby after your dad told you not to. Your mom pops it all over you and makes you clean up the mess.

 

The rules for the chore chart are now completed.

 

The wall is standing, not yet secure, but it is standing. It looks like a hallway, but that is going to be Raven's closet and then we will have a linen closet as well. We need some place to put our sleeping bags and extra blankets.

 

 

And we have one closet built. Next is the linen closet.

 

Our basement does not even look the same. I didn't think it would look all that different. I thought the main room would obviously be smaller but I was having a hard time picturing how things would look. The rest of the space down there will be for Joe's karate dojo and then once that is all done, we will move onto Quynsie's room and the bathroom. After that, we will work on the living room down there. We are not going to know how to act with a completed basement. Yes, our basement at our old house and this house were complete, but at our old house, it was dysfunctional and here, there was just so much space that we are able to do what we have always wanted to. We have always wanted a nice basement that our kids and family would love to hang out in with friends and stuff.

We knew at the old house, it was not going to be worth us redoing the basement because we would have had to rip everything out and rebuild it, plus we would have had to add a bathroom.

We are loving that we have room to designate how we want to. We have space for everyone plus some.

 

Uncle Sonny is so tolerant of my girls doing whatever to his hair.

 

I wish I would have had this picture when I wrote the blog post about the break up letter to the kids birth mom's side of the family. It was not like I was expecting them to stay in contact once a week because that was way too much, but I would have liked at least once a month in order for us to build the relationship, but it just was not happening. They acted like the relationship was only worth it when it was on their terms or convenient for them. When it is like that, it is just time to move on. We wish them well in the future, but right now we need to focus on us and our kids.



CONSTRUCTION WORK:

 

 

A boy and his tools. I was cleaning up our construction mess outside and I looked in the window downstairs and this is what I found. He is too cute not to take a picture of. He for sure loves to be with his dad, doing what his dad is doing.

 

I don't normally believe in paying kids for chores. I feel like it is part of being apart of a family. We pay the bills, take them to various activities, friends, doctor appointments, therapy, I cook their meals for the most part, we buy them things, etc. I can't do everything around here so kids need to help out.

The only problem is, is that the kids will not do anything unless I have to fight with them. I can't handle that anymore because I am so stressed as it is, I need to eliminate something. We will pay the kids to clean the kitchen ($4 a week), Clean the bathroom ($1.50 a week), Vacuum either the stairs or the basement (.75cents a week), and folding/putting away their laundry ($1.75 a week). That equals to $8 a week in allowance. So here is to hoping this works.

The rule is that if you don't do something on your chore chart during the week, you don't get the money for that particular chore.

 

 

We went to home depot again today. I am beginning to dislike that place. We spent $415 dollars there today. We got two lights, 8 can lights (spelling?), all of the outlet boxes, electrical wire, my sheet metal for the chore charts, and 20 sheets of sheetrock. We are actually five sheets to short. We still need to buy mud, mudding tape, paint, mop boards, and carpet. This is just for Raven's room and the ceiling in Joe's dojo. We have not even thought about Quynsie's room, the bathroom, or the living room downstairs. Ok, so we have thought about it, but we have not begun any planning work yet. We want to get the bedroom done so that we can move the two girls into it while we work on Quynsie's room. Then we will move onto the bathroom and living room.

 

We took the garbage that we cleaned up off the front lawn all week to the dump this morning. Apparently they have changed the rules and they now weigh you if you have a trailer. The bad part was that we had some concrete in it that we pulled out of the basement. Well, we weighed in over a ton so it cost us $41. I just about wet myself. It was just crazy. I think we will just use our truck from now on. Forget taking the truck full and the trailer full. Dang!

 

Tomorrow is Joe's birthday!



Well, we all survived the first week of school. Barely, but we survived it.

I have never had such issues the first week of school and for sure not with Nadia in the past, but things worked out.

We shall see how next week goes when the 3 littles start bringing home homework. I am not looking forward to that...LOL

 

I love laying in bed listening to the crickets chirp. It is one of my favorite childhood memories when we would go watch my dad race and then we would go straight from the track to my grandparents and spend the weekend. Loved lying there in bed at their house listening to the crickets. At our old house the traffic was so loud we couldn't hear them. I love hearing things in nature. Love our new house.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESIDENT MONSON!!!

In our religion, we have a living prophet who guides and leads us in our religious beliefs.

I have always loved to listen to this man speak. He always has funny stories to tell.

 

The look on the tellers face at the bank when I

 asked for 30$ in 1's and 10$ in quartets = priceless.
Going to start something new with the kids and chores and behavior. Hope it works.

 

I am not doing our chart exactly like this one, but it gives you an idea as to what I am wanting.

 

After last night, this is true. We left Quynsie in charge at home while Joe and I ran to see his step mom in the hospital and to give her a blessing. While we were gone, Carson decided that it was a good idea to take a cup with him to the tub and flooded the bathroom by filling the cup and dumping it out all over the floor. Needless to say, I swear the girls used about 20 towels to clean up the mess. It was so bad that the hall floor was even soaking wet. I am not even exaggerating. They really used that many towels.

But it is not even just the towels, it is all of the laundry. I don't allow my kids to change their school uniforms after school because if they do, then I have an extra outfit to wash and I have a hard time as it is keeping up with it all. Thankfully, we just got a new washer and dryer that are bigger so I can do more at a time.

 

 

Our kitchen is finally pretty much unpacked. We only have one more box that needs unpacking.

 

 

 

These pictures are from the stairs and what will be Joe's dojo for karate.

 

 

These two pictures are taken from inside of Raven's bedroom.



I woke up this morning hoping with everything that Nadia would be in better spirits, but that was not the case.

She was so emotionally unstable. She didn't want to go to school. She was so worried that things would turn out bad and she would be in trouble for something she didn't do.

I actually ended up walking her into class this morning. As soon as she saw her teacher she started to cry. We talked for a minute and then the teacher asked if she wanted to go out on the playground and Nadia said "NO!" So the teacher let her stay in the classroom and read her book.

I was pretty anxious waiting to hear how the day went. When she got to the car I asked her and she said that she was nervous when she was playing on the slide because this other kid was also playing on the slide. She said that her teacher helped her work through it and things were fine.

This was Nadia last night still so upset. She was crying in this picture.

 

Not sure what Quynsie did when she took this but she made everything green. Raven's shirt was red and her shoes pink. Anyway the girls walk the neighbors 2 dongs twice a week and they get paid for it.

 

Nadia then went to her best friends house after school. Her friends mom sent me this picture of these two cuties! I love that she has such a great friend and that they seem to love being together and have done for the past 2 years. We are going on their 3rd year.

 

Thankfully the only real homework this week has only been with Quynsie. I am sure next week will begin for the 3 littles.

 

This story made me laugh because it completely explains how I have been feeling this week.

 

Lannie Altenberger

An old tired-looking dog wanders into a guy's yard. He examines the dog's collar and feels his well-fed belly and knows the dog has a home.
The dog follows him... into the house, goes down the hall, jumps on the couch, gets comfortable and falls asleep. The man thinks its rather odd, but lets him sleep. After about an hour the dog wakes up, walks to the door and the guy lets him out. The dog wags his tale and leaves.
The next day the dog comes back and scratches at the door. The guy opens the door, the dog comes in, goes down the hall, jumps on the couch, gets comfortable and falls asleep again. The man lets him sleep. After about an hour the dog wakes up, walks to the door and the guy lets him out. The dog wags his tale and leaves.
This goes on for days. The guy grows really curious, so he pins a note on the dog's collar: "Your dog has been taking a nap at my house every day."
The next day the dog arrives with another note pinned to his collar: "He lives in a home with four children -- he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow.

 

 

This has been a hot topic in our home lately. We have been cracking down on kids behaviors because I want them to be respectful to others and be responsible for their own actions. I am tired of them telling me that they didn't mean to do (add whatever action) and so and so made me so mad so I broke my glasses.

The kids have told me more than my fair share of "I hate you's" and "you are mean".

I just respond, well that's good that you hate me, at least I know I am doing my job right.

My job is to teach you how to be an adult. A responsible adult who respects others. We are supposed to teach them how to work and not be lazy. It is my job to know where they are at all times and who they are with.

I do secretly love when my kids say I am mean because I know that I am teaching them the right things.

 

This afternoon Raven got explosive with her feelings. I am glad that she is finally letting them out, but dang, they are explosive when she does let them out. She was just talking in circles. It was so confusing.  We didn't have time tonight to talk with her about it because Joe's step mom is in the hospital and we had to go over there. Joe's dad asked him to come help him give her a blessing. She had surgery last week and she has not been doing well so she went to the hospital. She had to have a blood transfusion and now she has pneumonia and her kidneys aren't working right. She also has lupus and so that is not helping things either. She is a school teacher and has had to miss the first week of school. We don't know when she will be getting out either.

Anyway we thought it would be best to wait and talk to Raven tomorrow when she is completely calmed down.

 

Anyway tomorrow I take Quynsie and Nadia to the orthopedic surgeon for Quynsie's knee that is extremely unstable and then Nadia is still pigeon toed, trips over herself, rolls her ankles and her legs are always hurting. Hopefully we will figure things out and be able to make the right decisions in this because it makes me nervous.