Then there was One....

One person in the house not sick that is. And wouldn't you know that it is wild man his self T-Monster, so not only do I have to contend with a sick two year old, a sick baby and husband, while slightly congested myself I have to deal with the wild, bored four year old who is tired of being in the house for two days because his brothers are sick. I put one child down to bed, play Candy land, feed and put to bed another child, play Chutes and Ladders, get first child up, play Candy land, and so the day went that way all day for two days. At least Little stray Puppy and Chuck-A got some good naps yesterday and somewhat good naps today. I begged off on the neighbors to send out their 7 year old to play so T-Monster could at least get out of the house for a hour. At least on Saturday, Computer Geek was here to at least help out some, but he was not feeling great either. I really hate that you can not give toddlers and babies and over the counter meds anymore, they are both really miserable and you can tell they are as sick of being sick as I am. I think a little something would be good to make them feel better so that they can fight it better. Neither have had fevers, so a trip to the doctors would be pointless. However Little Stray has his 9 month appointment on Monday so if neither are better by then I am going to beg for something for them. It gets tricky with Little Stray as he is a foster child and medications have to be prescribed by a doctor, even over the counter, and document. So for now they are both getting their noses sucked, lathered with Vick's, and for the record Vick's on the feet with socks over does not work on my kids and I think it made Little Stray a little wired.

To add insult to sickness, Chuck-A was going Mack 5 down the drive way earlier in the week and fell right onto his face and took the skin off his face between his nose and lip, as well as biting into his top lip. So now that he is sick with an extremely runny nose his scabs keep getting soft and coming off. He screams every time you try to wipe his nose and I do not blame him, his lip is so raw with no skin. He has now begun to point to his lip and say "ow wee". Poor thing, it's bad enough that you cough so hard you throw up (sometimes) but you have to have raw skin wiped every 5 minutes.

I did manage to get all of my scrapbook items out and onto the dining room table (we only use it at X-mas anyway). I have finally almost caught up on T-Monster's and Chuck-A's books, after nine pages, only three left and I will be done except for x-mas of 08. As far as Little Strays book, don't ask.

Normally I would have spent my Saturday cleaning (I know Aunt Sitter don't faint) and putting a dent in the laundry piles, but with everyone up and down and always needing something I did not want to have to start things I could just not leave half done or that would get left (like wet laundry) so I did scrap booking and boy do I feel better.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.


It was NOT ME that got asked if Little Stray Puppy was my GRANDCHILD!!, this week.


It was NOT ME that allowed my four year old to wear an earring in his ear, so he could pretend to be a pirate. (See earlier posts for more info on both of these)


It was NOT ME that spilled Fruity Cheerios in the floor and just made a pile out of them with my foot so the dog could eat them better, and it was not me that smiled when the baby found one later and had a snack.


It was NOT ME that set her orange soda on the door handle ledge in the car to get out the screaming two year old and put him in the house only to slam said door shut on my way back to the car, therefore spilling/send flying, my soda all over my car. I would have had a lid on it because who leaves an open soda in the door of the car with no lid, no one loses a lid to a soda in the 20 minutes that it took to get home.


It was NOT ME that is do excited that Little Stray Puppy's plan is now Adoption, hopefully things will start to move faster, just don't hold your breathe.


It was NOT ME that did not play NOT ME MONDAY last week because I was to busy having a fun family day with my family at the local indoor water pool.

GRANDMA??!!! NOT!!

Ok, so I was so excited to finally clean out my closest. I had five bags of clothes and shoes to donate (and two bags of trash). Goodwill has a truck located in the parking lot of an old grocery store in our area, so I headed there to drop them off. When I got there I handed the guy a small bag and said laughingly, to guard it closely some teenager would come along and fight for the prom dresses inside (ok so they were bridesmaid dresses but actually nice ones so they could be used for prom). And I said something about them hiding in my closet for the last 20 years and he says no way they could be your dresses it could not have been that long ago, meaning he could not believe that I had graduated from high school 20 years ago. I laughed and said yes actually it would be twenty this year. Well that made my day so off I went on my merry way. Well that high was short lived, after running a few errands with Little Stray Puppy I went to the Dollar Store to get cheep batteries for the toys we are putting in the consignment sale. I go to the register and the young women at the register says "Is that you grand baby?", HOLY COW BATMAN!!! I calmly said no he's mine with a laugh. I have always been one who others assume is younger than I am, I guess those days are coming to an end. My sister, who use to get asked it I was her daughter will be so happy.

In other stories T-Monster has been obsessed with all thing swords, light sabers etc. So he found a clip on earring at school this past week and had me put it on him, so he would be a pirate. Well I told him he better not let his dad see that earring, then I thought about it and said actually dad will not be able to say anything because he use to wear an earring when he was younger and T-Monster said "When he was a girl?":)

"Laughter Lives!"

This post is part of "Laughter Lives! Tuesday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Laughter Lives!" posts.

Instead of playing "NOT ME MONDAY" yesterday, I decided to play "Laughter Lives Tuesday" with the Riggs family. They are a great family who even with their very young daughter Abby, having Cancer they can laugh. Please go to their sight for more Laughter and more about their prayerful journey with daughter Abby.

So everyone who know T-Monster know we are usually in Laughter mode at any give time around here. One of my reason for starting a blog was to capture the funny moment in my children lives, so this games is just up my alley.

So here are two of my favorite memories of T-Monster:

1. A few months ago T was into watching the movie Mulan. Everyday after brother was in bed he would sit on the couch and watch it. Giving me time to do dishes, laundry etc.. In the movie the solders sing a song where they say they are looking for a "girl worth fighting for". Well one night I was brushing my hair in the Chair and T said he would do it for me. I said "OK" I little hesitantly and he said "Don't worry mom, I will make you a girl worth fighting for":)

2. The summer after T-Monster was potty trained we allowed him to pee outside. So he and I went to visit my sister at her beach house, the kind of house up on stilts. I was one the phone with one of my friends from home, watching T outside under the house playing. Well I saw him start to pull down his bathing suit, and though well he is just going to pee on the bushes. When I went near to him he said "go away", this should have been my first clue he was up to something else, but I was on the phone. I walked to the other end of the patio and say him trying to put his hinny in the bushes, should have been my second clue, but I just thought it was funny seeing him get poked in the hinny by the bushes, and I was one the phone. Again he said "go away", so I went around the corner. I few seconds later I hear screaming. I run around the corner and find T with one foot in the air saying "help". I look and find that he has "POOPED" all over my sisters patio and had stepped in it. I quickly got off the phone and tried to help him, it really was a mess. Well I was laughing so hard that T says "Mom stop laughing and help me".

Mom's day and night off

Ok, so it was more like 18 hours but it was much appreciated and relaxing.

Chuck-A's Sunday school teacher mentioned offering before X-mas to keep the kids overnight one night in the new year. I thought that was a nice idea, but did not know how they would do. You see the boys (since coming to our home) have NEVER stayed away from both of us over night. Ly (Chuck's ss teacher) has four children of her own and I knew she could handle my two and she already has a great relationship with Chuck. Another church family had asked several times to keep the baby for us, so I thought I would let Ly keep Chuck and T and the other family keep Stray Puppy. THEY DID GREAT!! NO midnight calls and no early morning; "come get your kids", so I considered it a success.

I dropped off the older boys after CG got home from work, so they could say bye. Then I went home and finished packing the baby and allowed CG to chill some before taking off. Then after some confusion as to where the other family lived we finally dropped off Little Stray Puppy and headed for dinner and a movie. We arrived home, still fairly early and ordered some books on with our gift cards we got for X-mas (thanks bro). Then the next morning (you would think some people would sleep in) but no I wake up to CG on the phone with the computer company. Apparently they damaged his lap top while supposedly fixing it. So I did a powerful one hour clean spree, as fast as I could. Then after checking on the kids we went to eat breakfast out, using another one of our x-mas gift cards (thanks "B" family). I had forgotten what it was like to order just for myself and to feed only me, it was a strange event. Needless to say we were done quickly, we are use to eating and feeding others as quick as possible. Did I mention that we also got to talk to one another with out interruption or having to get up to get something for a little one, NICE. After running a couple of errands we picked up the big boys. Boy were they tired.

T had spent his time calling Ly's preteen son "Master" and himself "Obi-Wan". They had lots of light saber fights and other Jedi fun. A highlight of the night before was receiving an text message picture with T surrounded by middle school girls that said "Ladies man". I guess at the high school game they took them to, T and Chuck were the hit of the night attracting many girls for Ly's two older boys.

So after Chuck-A had a BIG lunch, he crashed for nap. T-Monster had some lunch on the couch and watched a movie and I went to pick up the baby and put him down for nap upon returning home. I finished up my laundry (six loads in all) and enjoyed getting back to normal with a (mostly) clean house.

Big thank-yous to both families I know all my boys were well taken care of in Christian loving homes and hardly seemed to noticed being away from us, hope we can do it again soon, hint hint :)

Not me Monday!!

Not Me! Monday was born out of a desire to admit some of our imperfections and reveal a few moments we'd rather forget. Why? Well, for one, because it's just plain fun to pretend that we really did not do the things that we actually so did do. And, two, because reading through great tales of other people's Not Me! Mondays each week is a great way to level the playing field. We're all human, we all take embarrassing shortcuts, and so we may as well show each other that we're all in good company!

So check out Mckmama at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ for more not me fun!!

It was certainly not me that let my two year old wear pj's for two solid days, without changing just putting clothes over top to go outside then leaving on said outside clothes to go to bed.

It was not me to be so happy with a new dishwasher that is so much larger that I only have to run it every other day rather than every day as before.

It was not me that had to go the store to buy more sippy cups, because all of the good ones that do not leak were in the dishwasher waiting to be washed (see above post).

It was not me that bought a new bigger laundry basket, so that I do not have to wash as often (that is how it works right?) bigger baskets less laundry? It worked for the dishwasher, or did it?

It was not me that laughed when my two year old cried because I would not let him watch Sponge Bob Square pants, what kind of mother would I be to let her two year old watch that.

It was not me that some what embarrassed when same two year old sang the theme song to said show, he has not seen before.

It was not me that was truly thankful for all of the prayers from strangers (who found us through this blog) who did not even know we needed prayers this week.

It was not me that was so impressed with God ability to move mountains and hearts to make it possible for Little Stray Puppy to be one step closer to adoption by us, yeah!!

Happy Adoption Day Chunk-A

One year ago today we finalized Chunk-A's adoption. I remember waiting and praying for Chunk-A with all of my might. 2007 started out as a hard year, I was so frustrated that we still did not have a home study done for a domestic adoption (a story for another day). Computer geek was not suppose to get out of the Air Force until September and between jobs we were going to take a trip to Disney, hopefully as a family of four. But then the Air Force made him get out in the spring and he would not have enough leave for a trip and adoption in a new job. I knew we were meant to have another boy for our family, a brother for T-Monster but did not understand why we kept having road blocks everywhere we turned.

We were final matched with a child in July and drove across several states to meet the birth mom and to be there for the birth, only to have the adoption to fall through. I was heart broken for our family and for T-monster. He was now over 3 years old and my hopes for brothers close in age were fading away. Boy did God teach me a good lesson. The child I had been praying for was already born and waiting for us in FL.

In September we received an email from one of the referral agencies we had signed up with that they had a 10 month old in foster care in FL ready for adoption. I have never responded to an email so quickly. It was a unusual situation, the child was in foster care and the birth mom wanted to release him for private adoption (they can do this in FL). The email said he was 10 months old, but the birthday they gave would have made him about 7 months old. So when the lawyer called about him she told me his birthday 11-7, and I knew that his was the child I had prayed for for over a year and had actually stopped praying for him several months earlier.

See a good friend of mine had a child born 11-11 of the same year and when she first got pregnant I had prayed for a child the same age, as she already had a daughter 3 days older than T-Monster, and I thought if we adopted another child the same age as her second child we would continue to stay close.

In the spring of 2006 had prayed for my second child to be close to my friends unborn child in age, be a good sleeper and eater, (neither of these T-Monster does well). Chunk-A has been a good sleeper and eater from day one, and three days older than my friends second child. Not to mention that he also sent us to FL for Chuck-A which meant that we got to go to Disney world. We picked up Chunk-A and headed to Disney. We spent a week in Orlando waiting for the ICPC and had a blast. Here is one of our first pictures as a family.

So that is the story to Chunk-A, HAPPY ADOPTION DAY my big boy, sleeping in a big boy bed, singing Jingle Bells and BOOTS song, and "no-ah" for yes, you make our days fun. You are still a great sleeper and eater and we are so glad that God chose us to be your parents and made us family.

Not me Monday

I came across this great web site, www.mycharmingkids.net , Mckmama has a great game on Mondays called "Not me Monday", it's a creative way to let go of those things that happened in our lives that we may or may not want to say we did. So I thought I would play along.

This is NOT my first time playing NOT me Mondays!!


I did NOT create a family blog so that I could play "Not me Mondays" with Mckmama, I am NOT in that much need for therapy or a laugh.


I did NOT have to clean up poo from my bedroom floor at 1:00am because my big incontinence dog could not make it outside.


I did NOT have to yell at my husband "throw up in the toilet", when he started running up and down the hall with his hand over his mouth, during the poo cleaning up.


I am NOT a little impressed with my two year old who has been sleeping in a toddler bed for over a week with no problems (i.e not getting out).


I am NOT thrilled to have finally moved the baby (and all of his clothes) out of my bedroom and into his own room with a real baby bed (not the pack-n-play).


I did NOT tell my four year old that he needed to do six minutes of time out since he continues to tell complete strangers that he is six years old when they ask him.


I did NOT then laugh when he told me that he was only four and would do four minutes of timeout and would not tell anyone he was six again.

10 signs of growing up too fast

Just in the last month I have been amazed (and a little sad) at how much my babies have grown up.
Here is the top ten signs that T-Monster is getting too big.

1o. When he has been riding without training wheels for over 6 months.

9. When he tells you he wants everything he sees on TV for Christmas.

8. When he has been sleeping in his bed without falling out for two weeks since you took the rails off.

7. When you no longer can shop in the toddler section for his clothes. (had to change out all of his pants for size 6 for the length, size 13 in shoes).

6. When he drives a true go-kart and calls himself Speed (as in Speed Racer)


5. When he can ice stake without help and without holding on to the sides.

4. When he can actually sit though a movie at the theathers without saying he wants to go before it is over (just asked if it WAS over 4 times ;).

3. When he does daily tasks around the house without being asked, (like taking dirty clothes to the hamper or bringing dirty dishes to the sink). Of course he reminds me that I did not have to ask :).

2. When you out in public and someone asks him how old he is and he replys "6" and they say "my your big for you age", mind you he is "FOUR".

1. That in 6 months my first baby turns 5 and two months after that will be going to KINDERGARTEN !!!!!!! totally freeking me out.

Very First Post

Most appropriate to start the NEW YEAR is starting by creating a new blog about our adventures as a family. I have always regretted not starting a journal for my first son when he was little, so I realized that I may never remember all of the cute things he has said or done in the past, so now is my chance to document it in blogging form for friends and family to enjoy.



So not only will I be documenting our adventures that are currently occurring, but recapping memories I may have just remembered. So I hope that you will enjoy our adventures and hopefully we will all look back and have good memories and laughs about them.

NEW BLOGGER,

KRISTI