The Party.

This was 2 of 5's birthday present to himself. Sunday night he fell, I'm not sure what he was doing, and put his tooth through his lip. Trent had to pull his lip off of his tooth. I'm just glad he didn't damage his teeth. Boy does a mouth bleed. I didn't think it was going to stop until he bled out. These are the things dads are good for. Man this thing was fat this morning.

We did a birthday party for the 2 oldest on Saturday. It was a crazy day starting with spraying insulation in the attic. Thank goodness for Mark, who came over at 4:30 and took over my part so I could start bathing and feeding my kids before party kids came over at 6. I think this is the last year we do a combined party. I don't think I was going to be able to listen to girls scream and slam doors because boys were annoying them. We did Sunday's a movie, a water balloon game, then fireworks. there are some perks to having kids close to the 4th of July.

Sorry if your kids came home stinking like fire and sulfur.

Mothers Of Children With Disabilities

I was just sitting here minding my own business while taking a break from blowing insulation into the attic, and decided to browse a few blogs. I came across this, on a blog of a UT mom with a son with DS. I guess I needed to cry today still.

Blessings promised to mothers of children with disabilities.
I speak a word to mothers who have little children who are handicapped, children whose little bodies were born incompletely formed or whose little minds are limited. No one knows the depth of agony that you have suffered. By way of consolation, I read from scripture: Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory;the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand. Blessings will be extended to mothers such as you who have given tender and affectionate love to handicapped children. Trials such as these bring a reverence for life, a new depth of compassion and motherhood. I hope this brings anyone peace who is in need of it today and everyday. I also feel, personally, that in the next life blessings, we can't even imagine, will be given to our little children who have had to suffer here on this earth. I have truly learned a reverence for life with the birth of Sam.

Attic

So, our project for the past 2 weeks has been insulating the attic. And by 'we' I mean, Trent. Because as you can see, I couldn't fit in there, in my current state. He told me he had to crawl along the plank he set down to get in to the back of the house so he could fix a few wiring problems before we sprayed the insulation. I thought he was exaggerating. The hole in the ceiling is where out old swamp cooler vented, He thought central would be the best access, since it's in the middle of our house, that's where he went in. His other option was at the far East of the house in our closet.

I got up there and took pictures last night. It was no exaggeration. There's not even enough space to crawl on your hands and knees.

Unless you are under a foot on your hands and knees.

He said he's run across all sorts of fun stuff, dead mice, spiders...... This is why you marry a man, that can fix things. It saves you tons of money, we figure after the rebate, we won't be out of pocket anything, and you get to tell people your husband can fix things. And I admire him. It reminds me why I love him so much. He can pretty much do anything.

Counting Down

2 days until Kristy (sister) 's birthday
4 days until 1 and 2 of 5's birthday party.
3 days until kindergarten is out
2 days of 4 of 5's preschool down,
6 left to go
5 days until 2 of 5's 8th birthday
7 days until 1 of 5's 9th birthday
8 days until 4 of 5's 4th birthday
9 days until school is out
11 days until 2 of 5's baptism
14 day's until MY birthday
16 days until brother Mikey's birthday
21 days until my moms birthday.

Then I just noticed I have 85 day until this baby is due
75 days if my dr. still induces 10 days early.
Let the counting down to insanity begin

Father's Day and What Nots

I have decided that dad's really do have the good life. For the most part, as I see it. Maybe because I'm in my shoes. Don't most of you think your dad is perfect? Especially growing up, my dad could do no wrong. We were always so happy when he came home. I love to see my kids react that same way when Trent comes home. Now, think back, way back to the last time your kids reacted this way, when YOU came home. Don't get me wrong, 4 of 5 ALWAYS comes running when I come home. But the others are like ehh. ( but rarely leave with out them in tow, but that's besides the point) Here's my theory. Did you spend most of your time with your mom growing up? ( I'm not talking about my situation as a kid, that was very different, but I'm taking reference from my kids life) Was she the one that made you make your bed, do the dishes, shower, brush your teeth and hair? To sum it up, "nag" Did your dad ever make you do that stuff? Would your dad have noticed if you didn't brush your hair? jk. My point is, mom's kind of get a bad rap. I'm hoping that it's true for me, as it is for others, kids start appreciating their moms when they move out and realize everything the did. You probably didn't spend enough time with your dad to see his flaws. No, I wouldn't trade jobs. I love the time I get to spend with my kids. I love teaching them the importance of shower teeth hair clean clothes. It just makes their perception of me different than of their dad. I love that they think their dad is cool. He is. I think the same thing. They always want him to take them camping or fishing or just to the store. I don't blame them, which ever one of us got to go to the store with my dad, got a treat (to make sure we ate before we got home and someone saw) Dad's are cool. I would not want to do my job with out Trent, and in reality, I couldn't. Here are some of his Father's day scores. These are what make it worth while.

He ended up with 2 birds, the one that he rescued that we have now had for a week. And since it's started trying to fly we had to get it a cage. SO off to DI we went. Nothing there, so KSL was next, where we found this one, with a parakeet included. It didn't want it's picture taken, which is weird, it spends 20 hrs a day looking in it's mirror.

Seating Assignment

We decided last night to move the kids seats around in the car. We didn't realize by doing this we would be disturbing the pecking order in the house. We told them all where to sit when we bought the car with the promise of a rearrangement the next month. Well, 5 months later we did it. And man, what a catastrophe. It was almost as bad as making them sit some where else for dinner. And for some reason, the one who "looses" is the one that ends up sitting next to 4 of 5. I can understand. If you sit next to her in the car, you have to buckle her ( I know we are so mean) which is why we are moving them around. We want to promote them helping her. Right now we get zero participation when it comes to her. When you sit next to her at dinner, you end up with her food on your plate and her sitting so close, she's practically on you lap.
I have seen other families where the kids come see what the problem is when the younger sibling cries. Why don't my kids do that? Or offer to help get one of them dressed in the morning. Or pour them a bowl of cereal because they are sitting right there. Is it because I have always done everything for them, so there was never a need for them to help, so now it's a burden? Anyway, I think it's important for them to learn how to help one another, with out the fight.
So back to seat rearrangement. 1 of 5 acted like we had just taken all of her most precious things and smashed them. Have you ever seen a 9 yr old temper tantrum. Not cool. DO we force her to be nice, helpful, considerate to her little sister? Is that too much to ask from a kid that age? If 2 of 5 got that seat, it would have been the same fight. And 3 of 5 just spent the last 5 months there, so he was used to it, so it wasn't a battle. Any suggestions on how to get the kids to be more helpful? Or is that one of those things they are either born with, or not. Or you start when they are 2, or it doesn't happen? How do you promote kindness, consideration, and usefulness in your home?
Or am I just blowing things way out of proportion, and this is just normal?

Serious About Cereal

5 of 5 is serious about her cereal. She will only eat it if it's in a bowl, and has milk on it. She has to have a spoon in one hand, and she will use it for the first 2 minutes, then she'll speed things up by using her hands.

This made me sad. She doesn't look like my baby anymore. Actually, I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in about a year yesterday and I found myself a little jealous that her kids were all past the diaper stage.