Big Winner!

At the Boardwalk, we went to the arcade. It was probably not the best idea to go in there outnumbered by children. By the end of our experience in there, Jimmy and I were quite frazzled by everyine trying to pull us in multiple directions, needing extra tokens and trying to pick out (cheap, ,going in the trash when we get home) prizes. Jimmy said, "I have some tokens, do you want to play something?" I tool them and went to play Deal or No Deal. I walked back to where he was standing with the four kids with a whopping two tickets in my hand. I was done. But, on the way out I decided to pop a few stray tokens in the last game. Wheel of Fortune was my Lady Luck! I ended up winning 805 tickets. Do you know how long it takes a machine to dispense 805 tickets?! a very.long.time.

  

BOARDWALK!

We were debating on whether or not to go to the Boardwalk because it was supposed to rain all day. We ended up going and being blessed with wonderful weather! I wanted to go on the Giant Dipper with the big kids, so Jimmy took the little kids to the bumper cars. He took this first picture and didn't realize that the little guy was too short... They went on the car ride instead- you'll notice in the second picture, one of them is not really the ride type.

 Preteens... you love them, or you want to shoot them. Today, I loved.

 Too much fun all day, we only got one shot with everyone in it

 I thought it was hysterical that Jimmy looked like a giant on this ride next to all the kids.

We had a great day- from opening until closing. On the way home, we stopped at Taco Bell in a less than best neighborhood. It was interesting. That was one meal where I wished the kids would eat fast... They were oblivious, but Jimmy and I were exchanging looks the whole time. Of course it's funny now- after the fact. I would count this day as a total success.

We're going to the beach!

After MUCH schedule arranging and rearranging, we are finally heading off to go to the beach house. This trip was to be longer, but many things got in the way. Now, it's supposed to rain!!! I don't care. We'll be at the beach, we're getting wet anyway...

Productive Day

4 acres of lawn mowed- check
teaching each child how to use lawn mower- check
3 out of 4 children contract poison oak- check
take 1 out of 4 children to dr.- check
try to fix the broken washer- check
completely unsuccessful at fixing household appliance- check
fall into to bed just grateful the day's over- check

I tell people when something is in their teeth

Because I am a good friend.
How would I feel if I went around talking to tons of people with a big ol green piece of spinach flashing out and about?!
So then, why is it that there are not people around who choose to show me the same courtesy?!
I did not have anything in my teeth- but I did go a full day in a large public arena with my cardigan on inside out!!!

What makes it worse is that the cardigan is 5 sizes bigger than what I wear now! I wore it as a drapey kind of thing. Seriously, if this were to happen with what size I wear now, I may have done it on purpose!

Friends, if you care to call yourselves that- please, please, please ALWAYS tell me when something is in my teeth, hair messed up, smudged eye makeup etc. I promise I will return the favor.

Jump Highway

We went to Jump Highway today... AWESOME! I am bummed because I am still sick and wasn't able to jump with everyone for the full amount of time. I did a tiny bit, but really regretted doing so.
Our family has already planned on going back for FHE.

Everyone was good today

It may be that the bulk of discipline came from someone wielding needles and a drill.

No, not me... we spent the first day of Spring Break at the dentist. For hours.

In between me switching loads at my friend's house- because our washer is broken.

Since Friday morning.

Do you know how many loads we produce in 3 days?!

Too many.

I've decided to make the kids wash their clothes in the Napa river by hand.

Then maybe they will stop changing their outfits every time someone sneezes.

(in case that reference was too obscure- that's like, 4 times a day)

 

 

 

Buried treasure

We had one of those shaking-instead-of-laughing-because-we-are-trying-to-reverent-in-church in sacrament meeting today. All the kids were playing with a little tin box that came with magnets. When the talking while playing got to be too much, I asked all of them to pick up the tiny magnet pieces. How the magnets got to be so spread out in such little time, I have no idea. But it was a veritable treasure hunt while the kids were all scavenging for the pieces. Just as I was closing the lid on a tin box, Kate whispered, "I found one more!". She then pushed her hand into the crevice between cushions and pulled out a moldy raisin. The look on her face when that girl realized it was a raisin, and a moldy one at that, was priceless. It took the rest of the meeting for me to stop shaking...

I think I'm brilliant

But then, things usually back fire in my face.

 

At the opening of this here Spring Break,

I am a little nervous about being home with everyone all day... every day.

So, I instituted a one time only system in which I have attached a monetary value

to the usual reward ticket system we have already in place.

Let's see how much money I have at the end of the week.

It's only been a day and I'm already out quite a bit of cash...

We are a game playing family

There are two games in our house that have turned into traditions- both introduced to me by my dear friend, Shari.

One is "The Water Game", in which you have a tiny cap full of water and the player who is it holds it very close to each person in the circle in turn. The player holding the water thinks of something in a category and keeps it, then shares the category with everyone. (for example: they think of 'blue' then tell everyone else they are thinking of a color). As the water holder goes around the circle, each other player names a color. If they happen to say, "blue", that guesser gets a splash in the face. It is soooo fun!

The other is called, "Huckle Buckle Beanstalk". There is one person hiding a small object (we use a playmobile person) while everyone else leaves the room. The object must be in plain sight. Then everyone comes out and tries to find the object. They do so quietly and sneakily, then sit and shout, "Huckle Buckle Beanstalk!" when the object is found.

Well, Jimmy and I played a version of both games- we found the 'hidden' playmobile person in the washing machine pipes that happened to clog while doing a load of laundry. Then, opening the front loading washer, we also got to play "The Water Game"...

Busy Busy Lady

Every Thursday is library day. I sat on the floor all night with each kid,  petting the library dog while they read. I was so into what the kids were reading- helping them with hard words and offering up an occasional, 'good job' , that I failed to realize the after math of petting a dog (in the Spring) for an hour. It wasn't until I was in the car that I noticed my furry pants. It must have been nice to see a lady toting all those kids through the library who apparently forgot to shave...

Choose ye the good part

I spent an hours in one of the kids' classrooms cutting out minuscule pieces of paper pizza toppings. Probably about eleventy billion of them. So many, in fact, that I had to take the rest home to finish cutting. When I got home, I broke out my Heinkle scissors given to me by Tommy and Ellen and whipped out those remaining pizza toppings in a jiffy!
The job was still difficult and tedious, but my tool was different.
It's kind of like life. It will be tedious and hard- it's life, after all. But you choose what tools to use to navigate the path. My recommendation is to choose the really good tools: prayer, scripture study, faith and hope. Most importantly- love.

The WAITING room

Jimmy had to come be with the boys at the dentist while I went home to be busy having a 103 fever... he didn't come home for almost five hours and only ONE of them was seen!
They all had appointments!
Home with a fever or in a dentist office with four boys for over four hours?
Honestly, I think Jimmy got the raw end of deal...

I'm a winner

What's the deal with the FHE meltdown?!
I swear, every Monday night, someone has a complete and total hissy fit right.before.fhe.
RIGHT BEFORE!!!!
I think the adversary wants to win, but I know who the winner is and I'm sticking with that team, thank you very much.
Next week, we are picking lemons, juicing them, talking about making something sweet from something sour we've been given and putting together lemon squares. Fun, huh?! I hope no one gets lemon juice in their eyes, then has a meltdown while the other three are goofing off and break something valuable, while the youngest gets poked in the side and starts wailing... you get the idea.
Isn't it exciting being on the winning side?!

St. Patrick's Day!

We had a great day with Corned Beef and Cabbage, of course!!! And a rainbow cake! Both of which the boys have never had. Both of which they liked (except for the cabbage...)
I always raost the carrots and potatoes rather than boil them. Also, secret to keeping the cabbage green??? Put baking soda in the water before boiling it.

Imagine Dragons Concert!

Jimmy, Hillary and I went to an Imagine Dragons concert and it was awesome! I was kind of dreading going to the Tenderloin district in SF, but we survived... I may have gotten into a cat fight(ish) and gotten a couple of scratches- but what's a concert without a brawl?! Just for your information... I won. I cannot wait to see them again!!!

I like things in my timing

This morning, I had been admiring a gorgeous woodpecker. It's been hanging out all morning. Now it's time for the first nap I have ever taken since we've had the boys and I am done admiring...

Yes ma'am

As I was out this evening with the kids, we got a (few) pleasant surprises...

At one establishment, as we were ordering- I was insistent on proper manners while doing so.
A kind older man came up to us as we were leaving and stooped down to talk to the boys. He shook each of their hands and with a grin congratulated them on how well they ordered dinner. Then with a wink, he said to me, "Good job, mom."

While walking out of another store, I had the kids reading all the signs and sounding out the difficult words. A sweet woman walked by and exclaimed, "What great readers! Good job guys!" Then she turned to me, "I'm a teacher and it makes me so happy to see you using this time to teach your kids!" the woman shared.

At the library, I was reading to the kids and helping pick out books. One of the workers commented on how well the kids were behaving. In the same fashion as our previous experiences, that worker also complimented me.

This post is not to brag. It is not to point out how today was a good day for everyone (which is not always the case...)
What I wanted to share is how important it is for us to see the good in others. It is imperative for us to share common decency with all the other people sharing in this earthly experience. There are days when I feel like a failure as a mother. There are days when I feed them all the wrong things just to get them to stop whining and sit them in front of the TV to leave me alone.
But, in those sweet moments when my patience it at a premium, when my teaching is stellar and I try to be fabulous- it was really nice to have a pat on the back.
What was so wonderful is the way each stranger complimented the children first. Such a nice little treat for them to get positive recognition. In the car on the way home, we all talked about how it felt to be noticed for doing a good job. "It felt good. We all like feeling good. Let's try our best all the time to have this feeling as much as we can!"

Heavenly Father has given us ample opportunities to have teaching moments with these foster children. It's like a super crash course- the moments come at us fast. Jimmy and I really have to be quick on the uptake because once you let the moment pass, it's gone. Fortunately, we are all working hard to be at optimum performance lately. I would really hate one of these moments to pass us by.
Today was just such a sweet reminder to keep on truckin'. (in totally related news- the kids' first initials spell MACK. We joke about how Jimmy and I were hit by a Mack truck with all of this. We think we're pretty funny...)

New Life

In the odd quiet moment between two siblings bickering and someone flushing something too large to go down the toilet, I had a moment of peace. In this moment I thought, "I have a piece of my old life back."

I sat there happy with the way things were going and thinking it was the way it always used to be. Then I realized, "Wait! This life is NOTHING like my old life!" The dawning of the truth came to me. The only thing that was the same about now and then is this: I am happy. I have found and settled into our new normal.
There was always crazy- now it's just different crazy.
I was always busy- but now it's freaking insane busy.
There was always underlying contentment- now I've found that same comfort.

My new life has none of the same logistics, but I still go about it the same way. Lots of scripture study, TONS of prayer and a sacred Sunday to top off the week. Because of the adversity that comes with being a parent, I have always had to rely on the Lord. I am grateful for His help. In this trial, I have never felt alone. I may not talk to my friends and family as much as I used to. It's only because I am in constant contact with Heavenly Father. He must be sick of me by now. I just love how things go when I let Him in. When I let Him guide. There is no way I could navigate life without the tools I've been given.

My days of quiet pondering with one sweet little girl have gone to teaching how to properly excuse oneself from the dinner table to fart loud...
Yet, the safe haven is still intact.
Love still abounds.
My joy is full... it's just louder.

Hangover...

What I ate yesterday:
See's Candy
Bacon and mushrrom egg white omelet
3 thin mints
2 samoas
tortilla chips
cara cara orange
mini m&m's
kraft mac n' cheese
pizza (whole wheat- haahaa, like that makes a difference in this day, hmph!)
cashews
rice crispy treat(s)
salad
buttered popcorn
hot fudge sundae with more whipped cream than I care to mention... although, if I care not to mention it, I am pretty sure you know that's code for a mountain of whipped cream- and then more when it ran out.*

How I feel today:
Stupid



*that one was for you, April :)