It's a Vivas Thing!

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Newest Family Members

Ok, yes, it's true. We have added two more to our already crowded family. In all fairness though, we couldn't help it! My boys were begging me and they had the funds…and well, here they are!

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Falkore

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No Name

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I wanna see, too!

To recount our family:
One Husband
One Wife
Three Sons
Two Daughters
One Niece
One Nephew
Two Pups
One Rabbit
One Ball Python
One Hamster
Two Neon Dragons
One Toad (ok, he stays outside eating cockroaches, but he sure seems like a pet at this point!)

And no, we don't have a partridge in a pear tree!

Laughable Moment #10

Perhaps this should be mornings with B-Boo revisited. At any rate, the girl is a crack up.

First, a note about B-Boo. She is very organized. She likes things just the way she likes them, and she functions and learns when things are in an orderly fashion.

Somehow we got to talking about scars and how weird they feel. (We both have surgery scars on our tummies…must be a mother daughter thing.) Anyway, she mentioned that her belly button scar felt weird. Then, we went on to discuss belly buttons. I mentioned to her that a friend of mine no longer has a belly button from her tummy surgeries.  She thought that was so weird. Then the following conversation ensued.

"Mom, you have to have a belly button."

"Well, she doesn't".

"Mom, you need to have a belly button for health reasons."

"She doesn't have one anymore."

"In CPR, they show you how you have to find the area between the chest and the belly button. You need a belly button to save someone's life. I could never save her life since she doesn't have a belly button!"

To my friend without the belly button…please don't ever choke on anything when we are around. B-Boo wouldn't be able to save you since you don't have a belly button. I'm really sorry, there's just nothing I can do about it.

Another note: Just in case you are ever so inclined to type in belly button on google images…please save yourself! It is amazing what people can do with their belly buttons! Now I'm not only physically scarred, but mentally scarred as well!

Worth It!

She has so much trouble in school. She spends hours trying to read and do her homework…or rather not do it. But we press on.

Most days are just miserable, I'll admit it. And after a week like I've had so far, one might start to wonder.

But then….something great happens….and it makes you think, ah…ok, we CAN do this together.

Why?

Because she came home today with this!

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She was paying attention AND finished all of her work…and knows the dance!

And it's not even six…and she's done her homework all by herself…and even volunteered to read. God is good and faithful…and ok, it really is worth it!

You Know You Have Good Friends…

When you can have ask them go in late to work (or spend yet another day off with me) and drive across town early in the morning to spend the next hour…or two, filling out paperwork, getting fingerprinted and signing their lives away, all in the name of helping a friend!

Indeed, I am blessed…eight times over…with friends such as these!  (And now I have legal babysitters, too!)

(And it's a good thing I'm feeling blessed, too…cause that van costs me eight hundred smackeroos!)

My No Good, Rotten, Bad Day!

Today was one of those days that you just want to end…I mean, you really, REALLY want it to end. Ever have one of those days?

It started off with me trying to get B-Boo ready for school. I make her breakfast and a hot chocolate every morning and then we sit and read the Bible and/or study for a current test. The past month has really made it hard; but the past week has gotten especially bad. The two newest additions are very demanding in the morning and completely stop B-Boo from being able to get ready for school. So, I implemented a new rule; hopefully it works. From now on, if they wake up early, they are not allowed to come downstairs and interrupt us, instead they have to wait. I'm not talking about a long wait, but enough of a wait. Then, I can totally focus on them and getting their breakfast just like I'll be able to focus on B-Boo.

This may sound crazy, but when you have to get six kids ready in the morning, shifts sound like a good idea!

Anyway, after getting the two older ones to school, I got the younger ones ready for the day. My niece had her dental appointment at 10 am. It was across town, so we had to leave by 9:15ish. We finally pulled out at 9:24 am and headed down the freeway. I got off at our exit and headed left. I've only been there twice, and one of those times was given a different direction to go. I looked at the instructions from the last time and so turned left like it said. Only, it meant left later, not sooner. After a while I figured out that I was going in the opposite direction. So now I've completely confused myself and call the dentist office that we normally go to, who give me the number to the office of where we were headed. Seems I was supposed to turn right…and then left. Oops. I explain what happened and that I'd be there soon.

I ended up only being about 10 minutes late. After checking in, we sat down to either do our schoolwork or color, depending on the child. At 11:30, I ask them how much longer since our appointment was at 10 am. They check again. Chart's back there now, we must be soon. OK….long story short, it was over 3 hours before we were finally able to leave what was really a short appointment. By this time, the kids were starving and spied a Kentucky Fried Chicken. UGH..but ok, if we must. It was now 1:40 pm. I realized that I had a 3:00 pm appointment for my nephew, so I told them to hurry up because I had to take them home before heading back out for the next appointment. (This is what I do; I go from one appointment to the next every day of my life. It never ends.)

I get them finished and we head home. As I head up the on ramp to the freeway, the van just dies. Stops cold in it's tracks and refused to move any further. Great! My nephew starts asking me if we're going to die over and over again. No honey, we're not going to die, the van just won't start. I call my father-in-law to get me since my husband is unavailable. Then I call our mechanic who gives me the towing company number that he uses and they head out to help.

They both arrive a little after 2:00 pm and we head out. Father-in-law was so sweet and offered to take me to the appointment so I wouldn't have to miss it and said he'd take the kids home while I am in the meeting. He drops me off at 2:30 pm and heads off with the kids.

At 3:30 he calls to say he's there. I let him know that I was told that the man I had an appointment with was in a meeting and he'd be out soon., so I told Dad to go ahead and head home and I'd call him when I was done since he just lives down the street. Finally, around 3:45 pm a supervisor comes out and introduces himself and tells me that the man I was supposed to meet never came to work today; he's out sick. (It seems the secretaries never spoke to anyone, just assumed he'd be out when he was done. OK then!) Anyway, I lost it. Those dern tears just started pouring out and wouldn't stop. I really hate it when that happens.

The poor man took me back to a room and I explained to him that I was trying to set up counseling for my nephew, but that after the day I'd had I was pretty sure it looked like I was the one who needed it. He apologized profusely and said he'd figure out if he could help me. He did…he found the paperwork that I needed and made sure I knew how to fill it out. Turns out he also had some information on another person that I've been trying to get into contact with for the kids…and I was misinformed earlier…so I get to start fresh tomorrow on those calls, too!

Anyway, I finally ended up getting home around 4:30ish, just in time to grab the Drama Queen and run the 4 or 5 blocks down the road to the rec center for dance. I just didn't have the heart to tell her she was going to miss it after the day we'd had.  We walked back home afterwards, arriving just as Daddy pulled up.

And that, was my no good, rotten, bad day!