ELECTION DAY A LITTLE EARLY

I VOTED!! ARE YOU GOING TO?

howdy all

I am alive...just busy. Huge 3 day basketball tournament in which my entire family was in charge of the concession stand (for 10 hours a day), then my back went out for 2 days, then trying to get back into the swing of being home now. Kids held down the fort for some of the time, but it is amazing how quickly things fall apart when you are gone or unavailable for 5 days.

Also, my best friend is moving tomorrow...I (and my family) am helping her pack the uhaul tomorrow. UGH!

Hope all is well with everyone.

oh, and I hate Halloween...I wish it did not exist!!! Just sayin'

Why I hate T.V.

I am tired of shedding tears over E.R. Seriously. Every week is giving me an emotional roller coaster that I JUST DON'T NEED! I have loved this show from the beginning and I thought it wouldn't be hard to say goodbye. Well, my friends.....It is. We just got through watching it, even though it was on 2 nights ago...So, yeah. I am behind. But argh!!! Bye Abby!!

Anyone feel me on this?

I can't believe I did this......

I threw my wedding dress away!!! I kind of did it to manipulate someone, and it backfired. I had my daughter try it on, and it fit her (can't believe I used to be somewhat small)....so I asked if she wanted it. She kind of looked like "eh" and said "no, not really". I said, "fine, I will throw it out then"... "I don't need it". Thinking that she would say "no, mama...give it to me. I will wear it after all", BUT she didn't. And i forgot that I actually DID toss it in the trash can, until the day AFTER trash day. It wasn't a traditional wedding dress. It would have made a nice church dress, or she COULD have worn it at her own wedding, either way. BUT I THREW IT AWAY! WAH!!!!!!!!!!

sheesh, it's been a week already?

So, hi! How was your week? Mine was busy! The story of my life. Between robotics, robotics, and football, I haven't seen much of my husband and my oldest son. They worked the dominoes booth for our college team last week, and made 100.00 bucks, but it was allllll day long. Today they are an hour away at a mall, showing their robotic stuff to other robotic makers. This is a good skill for my oldest. He has learned how to operate a lathe, a drill press, a sautering gun, and many other things I can't think of. He is also learning about how to burn trash. That isn't a robotic thing....just a farmer/kid thing. I hope he is paying attention, because we may have to burn our own trash if we move to the country.

Still waiting on Rachel's wheelchair/stroller, and her bath seat, and her stander. Goodness! These government insurance companies/makers of equipment places are sure slow. We put the order in 2 months ago. She will surely love the stander though. She is always wanting to be upright, and this will help with feet positioning and bone development.

School is okay! I found out last week that one of my friends may pull her son out of school and homeschool him. She is tired of him being bullied daily. That is one thing I won't have to worry about anymore. What is wrong with kids nowadays? Oh, who am I kidding? I was bullied 20 years ago. (DID I JUST SAY 20 YEARS AGO????) OH, my gosh, I am old! wow. that was an epihany.

Okay, I have recovered. Best friend moving an hour away. That is par for the course. Everyone moves.....I am sad kinda. I mean, we really don't get together much, because we have struggled with things in the past between our oldest daughters, and then just life. But we do go out occasionally to eat a bagle and chat. And we talk on the phone. (yes, I know you aren't supposed to start sentences with and or but...but this is my blog :P ) We made our friendship work again, and are on an even ground now, but lo and behold, she is moving. So, it will be harder I assume.

Still struggling with wanting/not wanting to be pregnant. This is hard, yall!!! I know how miserable I am while pregnant, and just bending over feels great. I don't want to lose that! Plus, the whole Rachel thing. I am supposed to be getting more genetic tests done soon. Not that I really think anything will show up, plus I have 7 other normal (are they really normal???) kids, and what are the chances twice?

Anyway, hands cramping...house calling for lunch. Talk again soon........

remember this old room?

books, books, books!


More books! Overflowing bookshelves

Now, has been transformed into a bedroom fit for 2 queens. We have all the chapter/series books in here now. One door shelf unit is empty and the other one has magazines. The whole top row is empty.
Queen B is above, and Queen A is below. Now, we can have the dining room back for our exercise room and have all the kids down the hall. Oh, and the kids and I did this all by ourselves. Tony and Austin were gone all day. Go us!

someone is sitting unassisted!

beds and potty training....

I really need a new bed!! What kind of bed is good for 2 overweight people who move around alot? I am waking up completely miserable and sore...Laying on one side makes that side burn, so I am left with my back and my left side. I don't want to pour lots of money into a bed and have it be just as bad...so, help!?!

On another note. This potty training business is driving me berserk. I tried it before with Nathan and he would kind of do it, but mostly not. So, we decided to stop for awhile, and let him grow up a bit. Now, he is content to do his business in the potty or in his pants. Doesn't matter to him. I tried the jelly bean tricks, and he will pee a tiny bit in the potty and scream for his jelly bean. I will make him get it all out, and he will...but only to pee AGAIN 5 minutes later. Why does he have so much pee? He might poop in the potty, but then again he might not. If I have a protective pull up on him, he will pee in it. If I have underwear on him, he will poop in it. I am about to pull my hair out with this one. It has NEVER been this hard with any of the other kids. He is going to be 3 the end of this month.

Good morning all! A role model post

Well, today is starting off with a bang. I totally forgot that my oldest daughter was supposed to go with a friend as a helper with her children, and so when the doorbell rang, and the door was opened by her, I had a mild panic attack. First off, I wasn't dressed. I was still in bed snuggling with a kiddo or three. Second of all, my house is a mess (surprise, surprise!) So, I throw a towel around me, let her in (there was no use letting her hang out on the porch as it was chilly, and she already saw the house anyway) and go wake up the daughter. ACK!! I hope she wasn't offended that I stood there in a towel to talk to her. Would that offend you? I really have no idea what I was thinking, other than it could have been my husband knocking, because one child said it was daddy...but I should have known better.

I am off to the next thing. I must shake these things off, because it does NO use to dwell on them. Really....why dwell on what you cannot change, right?

Homeschooling is still going well. I need to supplement with other things, just because I don't like the constant computer time. They are whizzing through their work however. Each day is logged on these programs, and they do much more than a days worth of work. For example, one child is already into the next year and he just started a little more than a month ago. Is it too easy?? Seems hard to me. Maybe this child is smart? That would be cool!

Speaking of smart. I was reflecting the other day about how I was in school. I never had friends, well...maybe a couple. My circumstances assured that I would never be popular though. My parents were poor, old, and unhip. They smoked, so I in turn smelled like I smoked. (I didn't actually start smoking myself until later) People made fun of me endlessly. Somehow, I was able to not let this bother my grades, and was generally on top of the class levels. When I got to high school, they had this program for the AP kids where you could leave campus for lunch. I would go smoke cigarettes at the local fast food place. Wasn't that what you would expect from an honors student?

I really hated my childhood and lack of parental involvement. Seriously. When my mom found out I smoked, she got mad, but didn't make me quit. She just told me I would have to buy them. My dad bought them before that. Anyway, lack of people interested in my welfare, and morals led me to become immoral and so I fell off the honors program and got pregnant. My junior/senior year in high school, I was only going to school half a day, working the other half, and lamenting my growing ankles and hurting back. I had my child, went back to school and graduated somewhat top of my class (I had fell far away from where I was) and promptly settled into my role as mom. I don't regret what I did, but I do regret what everyone around me did.

God was faithful, even when I didn't know Him. He carried me through LOTS of problems I experienced as a single mom. I made so many mistakes back then, but time heals all wounds, right? I was just thinking about all this because of how we parent. I can't imagine being the parents mine were. Not caring where I was, who I was with, what I watched, what I ate....Maybe they were just too old, and wanted it (parenting) to be over. I can't imagine!

A little query for you

Is this bad for her? She likes to chew on the bars, and as much as I try to move her and her attention elsewhere, this is where she lands again sometimes. I took the bumper out because she wants to see around her...so hmm? Any ideas on other cribs?

someone is learning to crochet

Looky...now my body AND my fingers hurt. Why does exercise hurt so much? Does this look good?

Youtube linky..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo_24_qTNac&feature=related

If you feel a little down about your situation, listen to this guy! He is awesome....

we got a wii!!!!!!!!!!

We got this thing about 2 weeks ago, and boy howdy!!! It kicks my butt when I play it. I know...I know. Waste of time and all, but not really. We all play as a family, and plus it is exercise for miss fat momma here. I am literally sweating by the time my turn is up. We got the wii fit, but haven't opened it yet for different reasons. My husband thinks it will be awesome, but I am not sure yet. It weighs you and all that stuff, so maybe I just don't want something on the tv telling my weight? Ha! I never thought we would be owners of such expensive stuff, but without cable (been almost 10 months woohoo!) we need an outlet. And did I mention it's exercise for miss fat momma??? Puff puff!

He wishes.........

Rachel and her beads....

or bling bling like her therapist calls them. She loooves her beads. I mean, loves. They motivate her to crawl, reach, sit...you name it. I don't know what it is that appeals to her, but ever since we found this out, we look like we are stocking up for mardi gras. So, if you ever hit a clearance sale of beads, hook us up. She has broken several of them, and while you would think they are dangerous to let a little baby play with, she only does so under supervision. Also, it is a long string of attached beads, so they don't break into little balls. So, whatever motivates her, huh?

You know what makes me sad right now???

If I had learned about Rachel's disability before she was born, they would have asked me if I wanted to abort her. There are people out there who have aborted babies just like her because they are told that their quality of life would greatly harm them. I know for a fact that my world and my children's worlds are much better off having her. Why can't others see that?

They asked me if I wanted to abort Aaron when I was about 20 weeks pregnant with him. Why? He had classic markers for Downs syndrome. We said most emphatically NO!!! Lo and behold, he was born completely fine, and I shudder to think what could have happened if I wasn't so against the idea of abortion.

Everyone deserves to live, even if they aren't wanted by their parents. Someone would take care of that child. And if they didn't practice premarital sex so wantonly and without thought, they wouldn't have to worry about it. I had to accept responsibility for my actions, and it most certainly didn't kill me to do so. Also, if God wants to give them a child with a disability, then it's their responsibility to care for that child either themselves, or adopt the child out and allow it to live it's life until God calls him/her back home. PERIOD!

Does she look like she hates being alive? I didn't think so!

i hate titles....who can think of good titles????

Yeah, so...titus2 conference. It would be an extreme lifestyle change, and would be super hard, but we can't even begin implementing anything unless we (husband and I) are on the same page. He is all over sports, and doesn't see anything wrong with it. He feels that because they don't control him, that they wouldn't possibly control the kids in the future. I feel like they could, and while it is a learning experience being in a team, it is setting them up for possible failure later on. He also likes tv, and movies, and is always mentioning getting tv back, which is am adamantly opposed to. Soooo, without going into much more, we obviously do not agree here, and that is sad.

They were great speakers, and their kids were very nice and well mannered. It was neat seeing a "celebrity" in my world. But it just made things more painfully aware to me.

On to other news. Rachel is eating many more soft solid foods now. I need to weigh her, because we haven't done that in awhile. Also, she must look somewhat disabled now, which saddens me. An ped. opthomologist came up to us at the conference and was talking about her, and one of our "friends" said "she does have a wee little head, doesn't she?". What is up with that remark??? I am probably too thin skinned, and he was probably just affirming to himself what he already knew, but it is getting more and more obvious. It will become more so when her stroller/wheelchair comes in. Its one that is plainly for handicapped kids, but I am excited about it because it is easier to push than a regular stroller, plus it holds her up so she can look around.

Homeschooling is going okay. We are doing switched on schoolhouse this year for some of the kids, and while I like it, I don't like the computer time...is it setting them up for being addicted to a computer? They are only on it for about an hour a day, but still?? We were thinking about VoTech for our oldest, but now....the Maxwell's brought up a scenerio involving a christian family who sent their child to a secular votech, and promptly lost him to the world. So!!! Hmm?? See, radical thinking, but it really makes sense.

House falling apart slowly again. I just did a massive cleaning of the outside. People would stop and think we were having a yard sale, because of the sheer amount of toys etc in our yard. So, we gave away, or threw away a bunch, and now our yard is nice and pretty. I am focusing on the house again now. It's so pretty outside though, and it made cleaning outside easy. but alas, the inside must be done too? darn it.

oh, come on....surely you know them??!!??

Does titus2.com ring a bell with you at all robyn?

Guess who we got to see today????

You can now return to your regularly scheduled programming...or laundry (robyn) or house (joann)

Okay.....so. 9/11/08 wont be a hard date to remember for next month. I need to buy stock in pregnancy tests. Goodness, we went through a bunch this time. I am a pregnancy test addict. There should be some support group or something. :)