Laughing all the way....

to work! Yeah, I said work. I'm back to work (outside of the home that is.... don't for one minute think that I WASN'T working for the past 18 months) that pays!!

One of the young men that Greg has been working with the last couple years fired the worker that worked on Greg's days off. He needed someone to work the days Greg didn't cover so I asked if I could cover Wednesday and Thursday. It means that I can get out of the house, get away from all the things that can cause me to be "crazy". Caring for someone else a couple days a week actually gives me time to step away from the chaos of home and relieve some stress. It comes at a really good time, Greg quit his other job last week and this more than makes up for the hours lost there.

Speaking of stress, Greg gets to enjoy the craziness of getting everyone ready to go to Liyah's school holiday program tonight. Then getting the four of them out tomorrow night for Lauryn's program @ school. I think he'll be fine, it's only his first day.... he's hasn't been worn down yet!

I can't tell you how many things have gone on since our trip to OH. I forgot to take my anti-depressants with me. I was in bed crying the third day there. Greg took the girls out and let them play with there cousins and then went to grandpa F's house. I made it through the rest of the weekend without too much of a breakdown.

The girls had a great time, and I'm going to be eternally grateful to whoever made DVD players in vans!!

Liyah is going through the dress up stage, with tea parties every 15 minutes. She wanted me to have a tea party this morning and I told her I was sorry, but she would have to have a party with daddy today after school!! FUN, FUN, FUN!!

Lauryn sees things and wants to get them, I've not convinced her yet that if she doesn't have the money then she probably won't get them! Both of her grandma's and mom and dad had to pool their funds to get her the ONE Christmas gift she wants. She better like it!! I mean like it for LIFE, or atleast until the new version comes out!!

Greg and I have spent all the rest of our Christmas money on repairing vehicles this year, "good bye Christmas fund". We are really having fun keeping two cars running. I won't complain tho' since one car is free to us (I clean my sister's apt. each week for her to keep the insurance on it) since Cheryl got her new car. The other car is the van that Greg's dad helped us buy, so we owe him instead of an interest bearing auto loan. Family is soooo good, thank the Lord for all of them.

Example, today my mom is running Greg and GP into town to get Liyah from school, and will be taking them in tonight for Li's program too. Dad got a chance to look at the car, and has come to the conclusion that it is the battery (DEAD). Not the starter or alternator!! The list of ways our families help us could go on forever.

Well, as the holiday season is quickly coming and going this year, we are thankful that we do have family. Parents, children, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends too!!

Love, blessings, and Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night.

Alone again...

Well it's Tuesday morning and the girls are in school. Greg is off work today because we thought that we would be leaving for OH this morning, but we are going to be getting the oil changed in the car, gas, groceries, laundry, and getting things packed for our trip tomorrow. Lauryn's last day of school is today and Liyah's is tomorrow morning. We'll pick Li up from school at noon and then head off to Columbus!!! Thank the Lord for a DVD player in the van!! This might be the best trip to Columbus we've had in a long time.

It's been a rough week with Lauryn. She is steadily trying to get herself to the top of the Leader board (leader being the key word there). She wants so much to do whatever that she doesn't want to listen when told to do something. I know I'm not the only mother out here in "blogville" that has this problem. Liyah on the other hand thinks she can be goofy and get away with not doing what she's supposed to be doing! I don't like either of the paths they choose to get their way, so I'm the mean cop and put a stop to it!

Greg played drums in church this past Sunday! He hasn't done that since we started going to the larger church. He did great and everyone involved with the music program liked what he did. I, of course, know he's an awesome drummer. I spent a lot of time during out dating months listening to him play and practice with the groups and bands he was with at the time. Ahhh, those were the days!

And then there were 2.....

Greg and I have the day (well from 9am-3pm) to be with each other without any distractions, ie. girls or grandma! It has been a time of sitting in Biggby Coffee shop in BR and playing on the Apple and doing personality profiles. I have just recently finished reading The 5 Love Languages, by Gary Chapman. It was awesome and I would recommend it to any married couples... he also has a book for children. I think it is really going to help up relate to Lauryn a lot better than we have her first 6 years. Thank God, I was ready to pull my hair out, knock out a couple teeth (hers, they'll grow back), send her off to kiddie bootcamp!

I was listening to a cd the other day and a woman that was speaking read this little prayer:

Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray my sanity to keep

For if some peace I do not find

I'm pretty sure I'll lose my mind.

I pray I find a little quiet,

far from the daily family riot.

May I lay back and not have to think

what they are doing at the sink.

Who they are with,

Or where they're at.

What they are doing to the cat.

I pray for time all to myself,

did something just fall off the shelf?

That I need not cook, or clean,

Well heck I've got the right to dream.

Yes, now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray my wits about me keep.

And as I look around I know,

I must have lost them long ago!

How true, how true.

Well, I did have a wonderful time with Greg for the day. We had a great evening with the girls going to AWANA @ church. We drove around Greenville in the dark and the rain, but we were once again alone and with each other. Quiet conversation and coffee!!

I'M TIRED

I'm tired of dishes, laundry, cooking, cleaning, dressing, feeding, making, washing, brushing, wiping, driving, buying, carrying and most of all acting like I'm not tired of it all......

I know, quit the whining (although that seems to be one thing I haven't gotten tired of doing). Everyone has to do these things in one degree or another. I need a break, a vacation, an escape, a getaway. I've been thinking a lot lately about running away. The only thing that keeps me from doing so is I don't know where I'd go. Sure I know there are friends and family that would let me come and stay for a little "visit", the problem is I don't want to visit!!! I want quiet, and peace, and nobody expecting anything from me!!!! Oh, sometimes I could just CRY!!

Things are going as usual. The kids complain and whine, GP sits and fusses at them. I stand and fuss at them. GP doesn't like what I fix for dinner, the kids complain and whine. It's cyclical, around and around, I'm quite dizzy and don't like it!

I'd like to know where I can come up with some meals that everyone would like. I would like to know how to get the laundry caught up and keep it that way for 2-3 days. I'd like to have a dishwasher installed so that I can atleast have a clean countertop and not see the dishes all day long. I'd love to have my 6 year old pack her own lunch, backpack and do her homework with out being asked. I'd love to have my 3 year old put her toys and dress up clothes away when she is done with them. I'd love to let my mother-in-law clean up after meal time and then do the dishes (it's not that she doesn't want to or hasn't tried). I'd love to get my back fixed once and for all so that I'm not hurting and grouchy because I'm in so much pain. I'd love, love, love for my husband to have the most awesome drum kit made on this planet!!!!!!!

It's coming into winter time and the sun isn't shining as much and that makes me sad. FOR REAL! I love the seasons, I'd just like a little more sun and not as much rain.

The world will continue to spin, I will continue to live in my little house with my family of 5. The seasons will come and go, I will still have to get up and help my family get through the morning routine. The days will start and end like clock work, I will continue to make meals, do laundry, find crumbs, beads and juice stains (I think that's what they are) on the floors. The nights will continue to go quickly, and I will continue to look forward to the day when I feel good, calm, in control and loved to the fullest!!!

Lauryn did have an awesome report from school. She is an awesome reader. She does so well at school, I'm really seeking to find a way for her behavior to be consistent throughout her whole day!!

Liyah is loving pre-school. She loves her new friends. She never remembers what she did, ate or played with at school, but I'm sure that will come!

Grandma Patty's day come and go without much change. She gets out when she can and she sits and watches tv when at home. I truly wish for her that she could do more, as I know she wants to!

Greg goes to work and brings money into our household. He is a blessing, as without him working we'd be without so much.

I continue to do the things that need to be done at home! Somedays it easy, other days not so much!

I 'm sure that we will all be better off when my back gets back to "normal".

Hey, drop me a note and let me know what you are up to. I don't hear from many of you, I don't even really know how many of you are reading this blog. But I'm always open for insights, tricks of the mothering trade and laughs (please tell me other moms have incidents that are worth laughing at!).

Gotta go now, --j

Time goes on

and waits for no man (or woman or mother)....I think that it has been a while since I've written. I thought (naively of course) that once both girls were in school this fall that I would have more time to get things done. WRONG!!

There seems to be things with school that come up every week. Having the girls in two different places right now makes for two different schedules, calendars, field trips etc. So that means mom is always going, checking her calendar and going some more. Of course I wouldn't be insane without mentioning the day that Liyah had a bowl-a-thon for school and mommy forgot about it. Not only did I forget about the bowling, I forgot that she was going to need to be picked up at the bowling alley!! That was the day that Greg, G.P., Grandpa Frump and I were all in Big Rapids doing grocery shopping etc. and I had to call my mom and ask her to go get Liyah. So you see, not only did I not know she was to be picked up at said bowling alley, my mom didn't either!! She finally got home around 2-2:30 in the afternoon. The wonderful thing about little kids is that they don't usually have a clue that their parents goofed up and have gotten frantic when they can't find their kid!

Things seem to have slowed down (atleast inside my brain) a little. We have had two field trips and another one coming up. They are always fun, and I'm really glad that I get to go with the girls.

Greg and I got to go on a trip to Milwaukee, WI this past weekend. I don't think Greg will EVER want to move to the Chicago area. We got to our business conference late because of traffic and stuff on Friday afternoon. The conference was great, just the getting there and back wasn't.

I was supposed to feel like a nice getaway from kids and mother-in-law. Not so much. While I did learn lots of things about running this business, I didn't have much down time to sit and enjoy the company. If I wasn't sitting in conferences, I was eating a quick meal or sleeping.

THANK GOD for friends!! My college friend Kim and her husband Paul (shout out!! BTW Paul, Greg had an audition @ GCC to play drums, they want to use him once a month in their Praise and Worship team) graciously opened their home to us. We didn't see much of them until morning when we crawled out and sucked down the coffee that Paul made for us!!

It was worth the 1 1/2 hour drive, each way, to get to their house. Who else will lay Hershey's and Snickers candy bars on your pillow each day (WAAAAY better than a mint!).

We had a wonderfully yummy time at the Texas Roadhouse for dinner with them on Sunday evening, I being the piggy I am ate the rib and chicken combo dinner. I stuffed it all in too!!!

The ONLY complaint I had about the weekend was there was not enough time to visit and hang out with the Bahrs, something we love to do!!

Everyone was well and in good spirits when we got back home on Monday evening. G.P. has gotten my cold. She seems to be doing better with that, and worse with the dementia. It's not easy taking care of her, but it isn't hard. I truly believe it is more taxing emotionally for me. She was happy to have us home, we were glad to get back home (although I wouldn't have complained if I could have extended our stay 2-3 more days). My mother is a saint and took over all of our duties @ the house. My dad even did some things, putting in a new faucet head (since ours has been leaking for 2-3 mos.) and finished putting trim up in the living room (that was only missing for 3 yrs.). It is truly a blessing to have family that help and support each other!! There couldn't be anything better.

Now, since we've cancelled internet at the house (really trying to cut corners) I will be coming in to the Lakeview library and using the Wi-Fi to get the blog and other business things done. That isn't such a bad thing if i didn't have G.P. with me, who doesn't read and doesn't look at magazines very well, and pretty much just sits next to me sniffling her nose and sighing..... oh that's what she does at home too.... no biggie!!

The insanity goes on, and I just try to keep things juggling and not let anything crash!!

PS. Atleast I don't have to travel to Disney with family..... yeah you know who you are..... I can smell the insanity on the horizon!!!

the In-Laws

Da-da-da-dummmm. Well here it is Monday evening. Greg and I made it home before Grandpa Frump pulled in. Whew, that was a close one. Greg and I had a 2:15 pm meeting in Grand Rapids this afternoon and didn't even get started until 3:50 pm.... the only good thing about it was the babysitter had to deal with Lauryn and her homework tonight, THANKS MOM!!

Grandpa Frump and Grandma Patty don't get along... to say the least. It has nothing to do with her dementia either! So she's not looking forward to him being here, and Greg and I are doing our best to make sure all goes well. Grandpa stays as happy as we can keep him, and we don't leave the two of them alone together for longer than it takes one of us to pee!!!

Grandpa came up because he has been gracious enough to loan Greg and I some money to get a minivan. That will relieve a lot of the stress of getting Liyah to and from school!!! Thank you Jesus. It will also cause us to owe G.F. money.... but that will be paid with the wonderful income tax return next spring. Again, Thank you Jesus!!

I think tomorrow will be quite the shopping experience with both G.F. and Greg looking at cars. One has certain opinions of what he'd like to buy.... call it two full weeks of internet research. The other one holds the purse strings. I told Greg it's not always easy to put away your pride and be grateful for what you get. But we WILL NOT look this gift horse in the mouth, WE WILL be grateful.

G.P. will probably think that she will be getting taxied around town everyday now that we will have a vehicle during the days Greg's at work. That will be nice to get out and about more, but it won't be everyday.... unless she wants to pay for a maid service. Something about keeping things running smoothly in a house of 5 keeps me home the majority of the time!

Although, the babysitter did do 3 loads of laundry while we were gone too!!! Now I'm going to have to pay her more money (although 0 x anything is still 0 right!) Thanks mom!!

Well, I may have some more interesting info to post tomorrow!! I'm hoping it isn't going to be a 9 am- 9 pm day!!! Whoo- hoo!!!

Here comes the Fall!!

The best time of the year, not freezing cold, yet cool enough to wear jeans and sweatshirts!

The girls are getting into the schedule of school and things. We just started the AWANA kids program at our church this past Wednesday evening. It makes for a late night (especially for Lauryn) and not much fun in the attitude department the next day. I think it will be worth it though.

I truly don't know where the time flies. I have yet to do the housecleaning at my sister's house. It's already Friday and I haven't quite found the time to run down there and get it done. Now today Liyah is home from pre school due to coughing and crying all night, so I will either take her down there and make her take a nap @ grandma's while I clean or go down after naps and let her play with Lauryn while I clean.... neither one is the best but you do what you have to. Cleaning is a must as it pays for the insurance on Cheryl's car that we are borrowing.

There hasn't been too many things driving me insane since the girls are in school. It is nice to know I'm not my own insanity maker. I'm for the most part pretty laid back and easy going.... until I had my own children.

QUESTION: Is it okay to tell your child she is acting like a brat? Then have to define brat to her?