Camera

Update on all those questions at the end of my last post.

Our camera is most likely gone. I can't help but feel it was stolen by one of their employees. The hotel has done everything in their power to allow the person responsible for it to get away scott free really. It has been a constant run around.

The manager who called to tell us it had been found and mailed to us? Totally wrong. Our name was NOT on said package. 4 days after the fact the person in charge of lost and found was finally notified and contacted us.

I'm so very sad about it. I know we left it behind, I take responsibility for that. What I don't get is someone taking something that isn't theirs and keeping it. Its unfathomable to me. Sigh.

Those memories too. Gone. Thats the worst part. My sons entire football season of pics. Gone. His 11 birthday and my DD's 5th. Gone.

Stuff

So many things. September is always busy with all the back to school everything and fall sports. The sports stop and we slide into birthday week and fall break from school. It just gets nutty...and ideally I'd like to record some of those thoughts here to remember at a later date. But actually getting here to do that? Never quite becomes reality. The fact that the 2 year old here spilt about 4 drips of diet coke on my keyboard resulting in the letters "asdfjkl;" not working. The asdf I get...thats where the drips were. But the jkl;? never got close to it!! Fortunately I have one month left on my warranty and got a new keyboard mailed here and I was able to install with ease...because well, I've done this before. Anyway. Recording thoughts while in the theores? Just didn't happen. So goes life around here.

Birthday week has come and gone....and was a sucess. J turned 11 on Tuesday last, I have mixed feelings on that one. Wow! 11 years, how did that happen...and oh my gosh we have a lot of adolescent years ahead of us. Hold on peeps! He did pay me a very nice compliment. DH was not going to be able to make it home for dinner. His excuse was extremely valid...the sort of excuse that is business changing like. Otherwise I would have thrown a stink. Birthdays rank in importance for me. Anyway. The compliment. I told J I would take him and his sisters out for dinner where ever he'd like to go. He said, "thats ok Mom, I like your cooking better" Did you hear my heart flip flop? But at the same time, darn, now I have to cook. The menu choosen by the birthday boy? Breakfast pizza, orange julius and peanut butter pie. Unique as the boy requesting. Mission accomplished Birthday was sufficiently happy. :)

Onto birthday number 2. Hubby's. As it turned out, we were out of town for the weekend. The kids and I were on a trip, Hubby was on a vacation. (We were in the same place) There is a BIG difference here. I do think he had a good enough time and liked his presents well enough. He certainly enjoyed the hugmongo strawberry margarita that went with his humongo plate of fajitas. He had no room for his strawberry shortcake.

Then birthday number 3. S, she turned 5!!!!!!!!! AHHH!!!!!!! She is just so "old" these days. So capable, so independent. So sure of herself so much of the time. She is is trying just so hard to be so big so fast. It happens when you have older siblings I guess. She had a fantastic day. She woke up in a hotel, had a doughnut for breakfast, went to a movie, went swiming, had pizza for dinner and chocolate Little Mermaid cake with a giant Little Mermaid balloon (I swear the thing is as big as her little sister). She got to sleep in the hotel again surrounded by her now unwrapped gifts. Life is great in the land of the 5 year old.

Wouldn't pictures to accompany this missive be just swell? It sure would. If I had them. We left the camera at the hotel. I've been just sick about it The hotel staff has been nightmarish to work with on this. We got word today that apparenly the head housekeeper had it, and mailed it. We are now trying to find out if she mailed it to US!

Well, to borrow my 2 year old words: "Mom, this is just super. Super Awesome" (said in a totall deadpanned manner)

Decisions

Thank you for prayers!!

I am a Catholic Adoptive Mother. I am 100% pro life. Had it been mine and my husbands decision, we would have welcomed any pregnancy...and as many as God sent to us. God had a different plan for us however. We would become a family through adoption. I have been so incredibly blessed by it...and there just aren't enough thank you's in the world to express what is in my heart.

Lately I have been frustrated that adoption means that I have to choose the sizee of my family. Does that make sense? We have 4 beautiful children we are busy raising. Most, to look at us, assume we are "done". And maybe we are. But how do you know?? If nature got to decide then maybe we wouldnt' be.

I have done some praying, but not enough. I get hung up on the unfairness of it, which is really odd for me. So much of the process hasn't been a struggle for me. Accepting our infertility wasn't this hard. The process wasn't overly hard to accept. So much of it I've been able to deal with reasonably well...or at least understandably.

But now? Not so well. I'm pushing 40 here. Its natural for people to think we are done. But I don't want to make this decision! Nor do I want to go through a process where I have to ask 4 people to again say, yup, they are ready to parent again. I don't want to ask a SW to agree with them, and have her ask her board. Sigh. I'm wishing for the first time in years and years that we could just be like other people. That we could have a whoops maybe if thats what God wants for us. And I do know that if God wanted to bless us with a whoops if it were his will. Some of this probably stems from the ability that we have had to say "when" thus far. Well, as much as any adoptive parents gets to say "when" lol, totally acknowledging that it was God who guided things.

I got to remember that God is still guiding. That we need to keep listening to him. I need to get over my stumbling blocks so I can hear.

That boy of mine

Its funny to come here and read my last post as I start to compose this one.

My son is so fantastic in so many ways. He is creative. He is a hard physical worker. He can keep up with any man out there in the physical endurance. He is so very tender hearted when it comes to animals. He talks big, but he will never be a hunter. He does very well with a variety of sports. He can sit down and figure out how to fix things that are mechanically broken. Ask any neighborhood kid, J is the one you talk to when your chain falls off your bike.

I love that boy so much I can't think about him and not tear up.

But he's having some struggles in other areas that have made life difficult lately. We're looking into some help with that. I don't have a lot of readers here, but for the ones I do, if you could please pray for my sons troubled heart I would appreciate it.

Thats all I can say as I've promised him complete confidentiality, which is hard too. I'm a talker! But I need very much to honor that. The reprecucissions of not keeping that promise are far to great. At the same time I need very much for him to be prayed for by as many people as are willing.

Thank you.

Your Lucky Parents

This was the statement my 10 year old made as he strolled into our bedroom tonight. I had to giggle. He had spent the day with friends at Valley Fair and I had just spent the last hour (and I'm not exaggerating) hearing numerous details.

Do tell says I. He went on to elaboratly explain how he spent a dollar at a shooting range (count your luck stars I'm only typing the abbreviated form) and came THIS close to winning a giant gorilla. Lucky us he missed. My "dodged that bullet" joke that followed only recieved eye rolls. I thought I was being quite witty LOL.

Anyway. I AM indeed a lucky parent, NOT because we are "missed out" on the pleasures of owning a giant stuffed gorilla...BUT because the people who were his host today said he couldn't have been a better behaved guest, a perfect gentlemen.

Yup...I'm lucky!!

Manna for Moms |

Anna shared this as part of devotional time at our MOPS meeting Tuesday. It was very timely for me as just last week hubby and I were discussing my "job". Anyone who is or has been a Mom for even 1 minute needs to read this.

Manna for Moms "Loving Two" by Megan Breedlove

Shared via AddThis

Rocks

Time to take at least one down, remove dust and evaluate.

Its time for open house at our "new" school. Dragging my feet is an understatement. I realize I"m being irrational. My two ES kids wouldn't be going to the school of my choice this year anyway, they've aged out. So I guess what I"m whining about is NEXT year. I am sad that my daughter will miss out on the kindergarten option my older kids had. YES I've heard the school that she will have to go to has a WONDERFUL program. Its its own little school within a school, isn't that just FABULOUS???

Um, no. Goes against my school/community philosophy big time. I don't WANT them cornered off into some weird microcosm we call kindergarten. Sigh.

Teachers. I wrote a big ol note begging practically for a good teacher for my son this year. I didn't request a teacher specifically because, I don't KNOW any of them here. I needed help. I put his strengths, his weaknesses, what we had trouble with last year.

We got the newly hired never had a classroom teacher. Who knows what that means. I'm trying to be positive, I was a new teacher once. BUT I BEGGED. J NEEDS to have a good year this year. He has too. I'm giving until the first report card, if things are still going down hill, I will more then likely yank him.

H on the other hand got the teacher she was hoping for. Not the one I asked for as he took a different job, but H is like a cat, always lands on her feet.

So anyway, I'm sad that J has to go through the ordeal of transitioning to a new school and that he will have to do it again next year as well. Its a difficult thing
for him and to do it three years in a row really sucks.

I'm trying my best to be positive. We're going to go to open house and smile. Its going to be a great year.

And if its not? I'll do it myself dang it.