Weeeeee!!!!

I didn't tell you all, but a few weeks ago our little family took a mini vacation. I have a few very dear friends that I met online. I know, it sounds corny, but it's true. This is a group of mothers with whom I share, laugh, cry, rage, worry, and celebrate everything life throws at us. We've been through a lot together, and sometimes I don't know what I would do without them! Well, one of them who lives out east was coming here to Kansas for the KU-Texas game. We decided to have a meet-up that weekend for all who could come. I was so excited! Sadly, all that financial crap hit us right before that so we couldn't afford to go.

But the really cool thing was that one of my dear darling friends was so kind as to send us gas money, got us a hotel room, and gave us money for food and entertainment when we got there! I don’t think words could ever express how much that generosity meant to us! She is such and amazing and dear friend.

So, we all met up at this place that’s similar to a Chuck E Cheese, but it has more amusement park style rides in it also. It’s all indoor. We got an all day wristband for J-man for $6! Woo Hoo! He could ride all the rides he wanted all day, and for the rides where a parent needed to go with him, we could ride for free! How awesome is that? So, guess what? Our little J is going to be a roller coaster lover like his momma and his grandpa! We had the best time! He and I rode together on a roller coaster type ride that went in a circle and had two “bumps” so it was around and up & down. Doesn’t sound like much but it was FAST! The first time we got on, I was afraid it would be too intense for him. But he loved it! There was also a train, a carousel, and a flying banana ride. There was also an actual mini roller coaster, but we didn’t go on that one. That was a bit too intense for J. We all had a blast. It was a fabulous weekend, and just what we needed to take our minds off our stressors for a little while. I came home feeling so refreshed. And it was so great to actually see and touch my friends. I hope we get to do this again some day!

Many Happy Returns of the Day

It’s the first day of Spring.  Many Happy Returns of the Day to all of you.  I hope you each get to see some sunshine today.

We're still around, I promise!

Sorry for the lack of updates in a while.  I’ve been so very busy at work lately.  This is a good thing.  Job security! LOL  I don’t even know how many stories I’ve missed telling.  Last weekend was good.  We had a visit from T and W.  Enjoyed the heck out of that!  But feel like a heel that I did not get out my camera for pics of them with J-man.  Hopefully W got some good ones on her camera.  Saturday we took J to the big city to go shopping for carpet for his room and playground equipment for his birthday.  He was really enjoying going down the slide at the play yard place.  WEEEEE…….*BIFF*.  Yep.  He lost his balance, leaned to the side, and hit his eye on the side of the slide.  J-man got his first black eye!  But it wasn’t very bad really.  Sure made me feel rotten, though.  So, we retired to the play houses for a while, which he thought were just fabulous.  Till he smashed his fingers in the door!  Poor baby has a fingernail that’s all red underneath now.

 

Sunday J figured out how to work the vacuum cleaner.  I was shocked!  He’s always been scared of it before.  I got it out and he started pushing and pulling it.  Then I started it, figuring he’d run away as always, but he pushed and pulled and turned and shoved it all over the living room while it was running!  I was so surprised.  Then he got mad when he tried to take it down the hall to his room, but ran out of cord.  We also got his hair cut this weekend.  It makes him look so grown up, it breaks my heart.

 

The other night we decided to take J for a ride in the big truck.  He LOVES to ride in the big truck and to play in it.  That’s like the coolest thing ever, don’t you know.  Got a few cute pics of that too.  Today R headed out for a long run.  He gets to go to Ohio!  Woo Hoo!  He is sooooo excited because this means he gets to spend the weekend with his oldest daughter M.  I told him to take the camera with him.  I hope he takes some good pictures.  I was also just SICK when I found out that his backhaul is coming out of Cincinnati!  Oh, what I wouldn’t give to be able to go along with him and see Elizabeth and hug and kiss and love on my sweet little princess Bella!  Heartsick, I am.  Heartsick.  There was just no way I could take the time off on such short notice.  Too many irons in the fire here right now.

 

 

ax²+bx+c

Ahh….algebra!  Like a breath of fresh air!  Straightforward, concrete, definite.  One  and only one correct answer to every problem.  If only all of life were as algebra…..

 

I got a chance to help my cousin out with her algebra this weekend.  Nice because 1) I hardly ever see her, 2) I love to teach algebra, and 3) I love to do math.  It didn’t take us any time at all and her confusion cleared right up and she figured out what she was doing.  She’s a smart cookie, that one!  Then we all got to play with J-man and chat, and hear all about cousin A’s new prom dress!  She’s so excited, and I’m so in denial that she is old enough to be going to prom!!!  I was having a hard enough time swallowing the fact that she DROVE to my house!  Where, oh where does the time go? 

 

(sigh)......Well, Crap!

We got the letter in the mail yesterday about the child support hearing.  Not only did they award the full amount that was requested, but they also made it retroactive to the date of the filing, which was like November, I think.  NOT good!  There is no way on God’s green earth that we can afford to pay that much every month, let alone catch up to four months back!  It’s insane.  I do not know what the heck is going to happen.  The order says that it will be taken out of R’s wages, but they can’t do that because he is self-employed, so the company he leases on with does not do garnishment.  So, we will be doing the very best that we can to send as much as we can every month.  But I am very apprehensive about what will happen when we are unable to fulfill the amount of the court order.  I really just wish that his ex would have had a heart and accepted our offer of the amount that we can reasonably pay, instead of being bitter.  I don’t even know what it is that she is bitter about, but it’s clear that she is.  I feel badly about that, because the last time we ever saw her or talked to her, it was all friendly and I had no clue there were any problems.  I just hope that someone somewhere will have the heart to see that we are doing our very best to keep our heads above water right now and that we are not trying to shirk any responsibility, but just honestly don’t have the money!  We are still trying to pay off the medical bills from J’s birth and subsequent hospitalization and he’s almost two years old!  We don’t live the high life.  We don’t even have cable or internet.  We don’t go out to eat.  We don’t go out for anything other than to buy food and diapers! 

 

Honestly, I don’t know where I would be right now if it weren’t for my parents and other extended family!  I just want to take the time to thank you all soooo much!  From not having to drive to work every day, to not having to pay for daycare, to having virtually ALL of J’s clothes, shoes and toys given to us……..We are eternally grateful and hope that we never forget to show that.  I assure you all that I take none of your generosity for granted!  NONE! 

 

God has truly blessed us with good family and friends, with our health, with our jobs, and we have a roof and clothes and food.  So…..I will continue to chant my mantra: “I’m too blessed to be stressed.”  Some days I have to work very very very hard to keep that in the front of my mind!

I'm a Big Kid now!

It was a big day for the little man yesterday. I got a call in the afternoon stating that he had somehow managed to climb out of his crib at my mom’s house! No injuries, thank goodness. Just a little raspberry on his earlobe. Now tell me, how the heck does one fall on one’s earlobe? Sheesh, only my child, I tell ya! But we all knew that was the big sign that it was time to face the hard task of switching over to the toddler bed. So mom and I both made the switch yesterday. You should have seen how proud he was showing me his big boy bed when I went to pick him up! He had the biggest smile ever!

So, since R happened to be home the same night, we decided to bite the bullet and go ahead and convert his crib to the “transitional bed.” I’m so glad that the crib we had bought used two years ago was a convertible one! Because if I’d had to go out right now and get him a whole new bed……we’d be so screwed! Well, the conversion project was just about the most exciting and interesting thing J-man had seen in a good long while! And of course, he insisted on being right in the middle of it. Literally, in the way in the middle of it! He was so excited he was bouncing off the walls! I finally had to cheat. I gave him cookies and milk in front of the tv with one of his movies playing! LOL Then R and I were quickly able to finish up the conversion. I had to take the mattress into the living room to get the sheet on it because J would NOT stay off it for two seconds!

We got it all put together and J climbed into it……as proud as a little peacock! I mean, he was totally beaming! He kept climbing in and out and in and out like he just couldn’t believe it. I went and got my camera and snapped a few shots of him playing in it. Then he decided to go back to the living room, but I just sat there in the rocking chair staring at that big boy bed and crying. I feel like the last vestige of his babyhood is gone now.

I was very much anticipating a LOOOOOONG night of fighting to teach him he had to stay in bed. To my shock and amazement, we put him in bed and he never budged even once! I was on pins and needles listening to the monitor for any sign that he was getting up. All we heard was every few minutes the sweetest and most joyful little giggle! It was like he was looking up and checking to be sure he was still free and it just tickled him. It was the sweetest thing I have ever heard! And he never left that bed all night long! So proud of my little man today! So proud…….

Miniature Monet

This weekend was a pretty good one. Friday night R found himself with the night off. A fairly common occurrence lately, as the grocery hauling business is in a bit of a slump at the moment. So, we decided on the spur of the moment to all three go out to supper and to Wal Mart that night. We had a lot of fun. J was excellent in the restaurant, which is not always the case. Usually he is restless and asking to get down by the time the food arrives. He did get rather beside himself in the Wal Mart, as by then it was well past his bedtime. But we got through it ok.

Saturday it was nice to be home and not have to go anywhere. J and I went to the store in town for our meat, as that is the one thing that I refuse to buy from Wal Mart. IMO, the meat there just plain sucks! AND it’s cheaper in town. Later, we were able to go out to the backyard and play for a while. J sure does need a swing set out there. I wanted to get him one for his first birthday…..and here we are nearing his second and he still doesn’t have one. That night, while R was out working, I decided to get brave. I got out some paint for J! He had so much fun. He really loved it. He liked dipping the brush in the paint over and over and over. I took his clothes off and set his easel up on top of a big sheet on the floor. I put an oversized t-shirt on him and he painted his little heart out. When he was done, he turned to me and asked for a “bass” (bath). I looked him over and said, “good idea!” We went into the bathroom and I decided to take a few quick pictures of him before the bath. I was having a hard time getting him to stand back away from the camera so that I could get a good picture. Then he reached up to the counter and grabbed my toothbrush. I thought ‘good, he’s distracted. Now I can get a picture.’ And then it was one of those moments. You know, the moments that you experience and remember like slow motion but they happen so fast that you have no time to react to them? The moments they dramatize in movies with slow motion effects? Yeah, it was that kind of moment…..he looked up at me with that ……glint……and in a flash he reached over, lifted the lid on the toilet and chucked my toothbrush into the bowl!!! As I was diving toward him with my arm extended saying “no….No…..NOOOO!!!” So, now I have to buy a new toothbrush. But the painting was lovely. I forgot to take a picture of the actual painting. I’ll do that tonight and update with the pic later. For now, here are the pics of the artist!

Sunday was fun. J and I went over to spend the afternoon with The Great Aunt C for her birthday. My mom and Grams were there also. J really enjoyed running around on the tile floor and the sound his shoes made. He also loved playing with Aunt C and Uncle C, and he especially loved running loose outside since they live in the country. We took him out to see the goats, but he was so impressed with being unfenced that he didn’t stop running long enough to really notice them. He ran till I was out of breath and then we made him go back in!

Hope everyone else had a great weekend too! Thanks for dropping in on us!