So what's lower than low gear?

Today was okay...but harder...or something

Today's Accomplishments
*  Finally returned dish to Sis. L hopefully the tomatoes were compensation for the tardy return
*  Walked to Sis. L's with the boys and stopped to play at the park for awhile on the way home
*  Dishes finally got done
*  uhm.....

Daily Gratitude
*  Sis. Cabrera's kind offer to share dinner with our family
*  Roxies love and playfullness....the boys really enjoyed playing catch with her
*  Tyrant boy willingly took a nap

Memorable Moments
*  Tyrant boy asked for more sleeps when I checked on him after an hour and a half
*  The Engineer giving Sister Cabrera the third degree about how Mexican food differed from "real" food (someday I need to figure out how to teach that boy tact....)
*  Kar listening and really caring not just offering empty words and being willing to help out even though she's got a full plate of her own

**and I can't forget miss Corey's creativi-TEA and thoughtful card....

Okay....any prayers are welcome tomorrow is going to be rough.  Mr. Music Man is off to the Zombie Prom all day/night and I need to make it through it all with the boys.....single parenthood is so not my forte'

Functioning on Low lately....

So lately (as evidenced by the lack of posting here) we've been (okay I've been) functioning on low.  Not coping well with the stresses of life and becoming a bit of a turtle stuck in my shell.  So today....I'm going to go back to what I know works for me and notice

Today's Accomplishments
*  Made french toast for breakfast for all three boys 
*  woke up and got dressed (yep lately that is a huge accomplishment)
*took Mr. Music Man lunch, kids to the park for a few hours, finally bought toothbrushes (don't ask how long that has been on the list), did a bit of grocery shopping, shook money out of the piggy bank, and bribed paid the children to do cleaning jobs....

50 cents--bathroom fully cleaned
                sweep and mop kitchen
                vacuum and dust living room


5 cents--put silverware away from dishwasher
              sort laundry
              fold one load of laundry




Gratitude

* True friends who show they care; not just say they care and move on.  Those who help me to carry the heavy burdens and not just tell me they know I can do and that I am strong.

* Prayer....

* So grateful my Tiny Tyrant is okay after his fall last weekend....although I wince everytime I look at the mottled bruising all over his face.......



Memorable Moments
*  My sweet Comedian who is encouraging me to orchestrate a family adventure

*Goose the visiting cat asking when the house will be clean...or barring the house just his litter box.

*The Engineer and the Comedian both figured out how to pump on the swings by themselves today.  Later the Engineer told me that he was sure glad he "trusted" me and kept going even when he didn't seem to be moving much.  The Comedian wants to build swings at out own house.....hmmm...something to think about...





Hopefully I'll add to this throughout the day but if not. . . .All is Well!

Tra-la-la la-la-la -- Life goes on. . . .

Things are still really tough here and yet we are making our best efforts at keeping life moving and working hard at finding joy each and every day.  A few days ago I commented to a friend that I did not know if we would ever find "GLEE" in our life again.  Yet, there is joy in our life it is just more sparsely peppered in amongst the heartache and pain right now.

Some things that have been soul healing are long walks with the boys looking at the birds in the nearby nature preserve, playing at the park (the weather has been wonderful, healing sunshine, cooling breezes, and wonderful spring flowers beginning to color the world), we've been (albeit slowly) weeding flower beds and beginning to think about planting some veggies.

It has been a work in progress but I think we have a good plan for the re-design of the boys' room.  They want it to be blue, green and yellow (which in and of itself is a wee bit of a design challenge).  But when you throw in the dinosaurs, volcanoes, hot lave, sunshine, star cruisers, etc. . . .it gets to be a bit much.  We went and got the rest of the paint today and got about half of the blue painted. 

Painting the room was a fun thing, all of the boys were excited and wanted to "help" with each and every step.  Whilst I was shopping for supplies I swear I was inspired to pick up some watercolors for the Tyrant.  So while we were painting with the real latex paint, he used his water colors to decorate a wall we were not ready to paint yet.  I have hope that it might look nice when it is all finished.  I'll post pics when we get to that stage.

In other news, the Comedian was recognized by his Teacher as having "The PERFECT Paper" of the day.  He was so proud of himself.  The recognition was accompanied by a free certificate for a kids meal at Texas Roadhouse.  So that is where we went for lunch today.  I honestly was not impressed with the food but the atmosphere was nice and most importantly Mr. Comedian felt really great about himself.

Mr. DJMan is out again tonight.  He's playing for a small High School's Prom.  I'm glad he enjoys his second job and with all of the challenges lately the extra money will be nice but I really miss him when he's gone.

Please keep us in your prayers. . . .

Don't Eat Pete!

The Comedian was introduced to the wonderfully fun game of "Don't Eat Pete" in his Kindergarten class around Christmastime.  In fact they made Don't Eat Pete gameboards to bring home to their family as their gift.  So for New Years Eve one of the rousing games we played was. . . .you guessed it. . . .Don't Eat Pete!

He has brought it up and we've played different versions off and on.  We played with all of his friends at his birthday party.  Today we couldn't find the original Alien Pete gameboard or the mommy created Snowman gameboard so he put about 20 stickers on a piece of notebook paper and asked to play.

I was quite occupied with bread dough all over my hands so told him we'd have to wait a bit until the rolls were ready to rise.  When I was finished with the rolls I asked him what we were going to play with (for this game the game pieces are usually small pieces of candy) and he says, "Hmmm we are out of smarties, so how about macaroni!"

I replied, "I don't want to break my teeth, so how about Fruit Loops!"

And the game was on.  Now being 6 the Comedian's strategy skills are not the best.  So when he chooses which spot is "Pete" he stares at the spot without blinking.  It kind of takes the randomness and surprise out of the game.  So during one round I was trying really hard to just play how I would play if he were not sending laser beams through "Pete" and suddenly he looks up at me and says, "Are you reading my mind?  That's cheating you know!"

(We have previously had discussions about mind reading here)

My assurances that I was not and could not know read his mind did not mean a whole lot for on the very next round (it was my turn to choose "Pete") he sat down and after having his hands hover over each and every spot on the board, his eyes looking up to meet mine with each pause his hand darted out and grabbed "Pete"!

He decided that he would rather go and play with the Engineer because he had not yet learned all the tricks of mind reading.

And I had a really great laugh!

Morning after. . . .

Yesterday was a busy, busy, busy day. Sometimes I felt like I should be a mom on a sit-com juggling everything. So today I took it easy.. . . . well easier. . . .

Today I am thankful for. . . .

1. Friends who pray for me, even when they aren't really sure what is making me struggle. I feel their prayers and it made for a much better day than I had feared it would be. I forgot to thank them and express my gratitude to them yesterday.

2. Snow and green air. . .

3. Naps! I really needed one today and all the stars aligned to make that possible.

4.

Today I accomplished:

1. Partially loaded the dishwasher before taking the boys to school.

2. Sent off my music selections for approval for this Sunday...with a huge apology for being so late.

3. Got the boys to school (even with unplowed roads) on time.

4. Took the Tyrant to his Autism class up at the University. He mostly had a good day and had made some amazing progress over the holidays.

5. Came home for 40 minutes and did some quick surface pick-up before heading back out to get the Comedian from Kindergarten, then home for microwaved Hot Pockets for lunch ....then....

wait for it. . . .

6. Took a nap with the Tyrant (while I was sleeping the Comedian watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (which is not a staple around our house but was a blessing to me today) and the DJman came home for lunch and shoveled the driveway and side-walks (bless him!) for me.) I had one of those weird dreams where I had to wake up but was too tired to wake up...for a while before I actually woke up...but when I did...I felt so refreshed and rejuvenated.

7. Remembered the almost full dishwasher and finished filling it and started the Homework hour.

8. Waited patiently for dinner (have I mentioned recently that I love my dinner swap group?) and then totally inhaled it...so good! Thanks Lotte!

Memorable Moments:
1. Napping and snugging with a 2 year old that doesn't like to be touched but did want to snuggle today! So nice! Often times I just want to squish him and have to remind myself that it is not a sensory sensation that he enjoys.

2. Sitting at the kitchen table with my little Engineer and working through some math concepts that have been giving him fits. About 3 problems in he beams "WOW! Now I see it!" followed by a hug and a "Thanks Mom!"

3. Orphans are coming home from Haiti! and miracles are happening to bring their family members to them and bring them home to their families. True, AMAZING, unheard of miracles.

4. My little Comedian so excited about being able to get up at "zero-o'clock" on no school days! He's truly precious and precocious and he tries my patience to no end. I love him so!

Today. . . .

Today I accomplished:

1. Cleaned Living Room and Kitchen twice apiece
2. shoveled the sidewalk, driveway, neighbor's sidewalk, then started all over again on ours
3. Went sledding on nearby hill with the boys for an hour or so until we were all frozen
4. Read 2 chapters of scriptures
5. baked yummy banana bread
6. Read aloud with the boys so they could practice ( *sad face* they wanted to stop when I wanted to keep reading. I guess we'll find out the ending tomorrow)

Today I am thankful for:
1. Finally motivating myself to take the boys outside. It wasn't so bad once I was out and they had a blast.
2. Powdery snow, which was light and easy to shovel or sweep as the case may be.
3. Yummy smells of baked goods the pervade the entire house
4. Do-overs
5. Mostly obedient boys who learn quickly that mama means it and buckle down and do their math practice problems even though school is out and their teacher didn't say they had to

Today had some memorable moments. Most notable are:
1. The Comedian came in with a great big grin on his face to let me know that he was "all sugared up" (Heaven save us all, he has enough energy on his own)

2. This conversation is totally priceless!

B: “I don’t know how to read minds!”
S: “ I know how to read minds and your mind is saying “How can he read my mind?””
B: “How did you do that? Mommy, tell me how you read minds”
M: “I don’t know”
B: “Ha! Ha! Mommy doesn’t know how to read minds! S how do you read minds?”
S:” I’m reading my own mind”
B: “I’m reading my mind and guess what my mind says? “Hey give me your toys!”
B: "Now I’m reading your mind and guess what your mind says, “HANDS OFF!”

3. All my boys (including Papa) snuggled together on the couch watching OVERHAULIN'

4. The little Tyrant came downstairs with all his comfort items (his kitty cat wrapped in his blanket with a binky in his hands) and put them on my lap and asked me to "shnuggle" him.

Sunday in a Winter Wonderland

This past Sunday after returning home from church I had a headache so I went upstairs to lay down for a bit.




























While I was off in the land of nod the boys set their hands to taming the wonderous world of white that lay at our doorstep. In a little under two hours they built two glorious snow forts and a pretty good looking snowman. (Oh and there were a couple of snowball fights thrown into the mix as well) Enjoy the pictures. . .

I'm told that the Engineer was quite into the architecture of the fort building while the Comedian was more enthralled with the building of his new best friend Frosty. While he doesn't show in the pictures our resident Tiny Tyrant was in the mix having a great time as well. He had to some in and succumb to dreamland though before the camera came out.

The Fort with the yellow rake sticking out of the roof has been dubbed "Fort Claw"....can you guess who came up with the name?

Daily thoughts

Today (again truly yesterday) I am thankful for:

1. Friends who willingly take my boy to ease my load as I juggle the Tyrant's therapy schedule

2. Nap-time (both the children's and mine)

3. Writers who can truly take me away for a time (thanks Mercedes Lackey for the new book)


Today (although few in number they felt like much more) I accomplished:
1. Took the Tyrant to his appointments

2. Read Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit by M. Lackey and was taken into a much more believable and empowering (in a the "lady likely does not feint or simply live for bon-bons and cocoa puffs" way) tale of King Arthur (well more likely that of Gwenhwyfar) while the Tyrant napped and no one else was at home instead of doing housework....

3. Made a pasta salad (that we mistakenly abandoned--oops) and took the boys to the Church Christmas Dinner even though I didn't want to go

4. Watched "Numbers" even though it was a re-run and then went to dreamland

Some Memorable Moments of the day--

1. The Engineer was reading aloud a Batman novel in the van on the way home from the Christmas dinner and when I told him that maybe he should start reading me bedtime stories he replied, "Well I could do that....but could it be Batman?" (nice to know he'll fit me into his schedule as long as I do it on his terms)

2. Lottie made YUMMY mini-pumpkin cheesecakes and had me do the taste-test before taking them to the dinner

3. I was (literally) ran into by NT in the halls of the church and picked him and we tick-tocked while he counted to five. The first time he landed with his head down and told me the clock had to keep "tocking" because he didn't want to be put down on his head. Brother Arradondo rescued him but thought he was one of my boys.....he's definitely one that I would keep if given the chance.

Today. . .

and by today I really mean yesterday *smile*

I am thankful for. . . .
1) making too much dinner and being able to share with an unsuspecting (but hopeful) neighbor (although I did have to borrow a pan from her in order to be able to pull it all off)
2) Brown rice- I love the smell of it as I toast it before steaming
3) NT sharing with me when I told him that "I was the meanest mom in the world" that surely I was wrong because "HIS mom was the meanest mom so I couldn't possibly be" I asked him if we were mean because we were mad or because we loved our kids and he responded "I think it depends on the circumstshances"

Today I accomplished
1) Three loads of laundry washed, dried, folded and put away
2) Made dinner for 5 families and delivered them all before 6 pm
3) Read 4 more chapters of scriptures
4) Read 5 verses of scriptures with the boys before rushing out the door to take them to school
5) 2 loads of dishes
6) said "No" when a request was made that overwhelmed me
7) talked to my friend briefly between both of us juggling the needs of our children
8) enjoyed Storytime and got a few books to read in all of my *cough* spare moments
9) had a great conversation with my husband about possibilities and options and which road we should travel down for awhile
10) kept my cool with the boys all day long and didn't raise my voice once

Today had some memorable moments. Some I want to remember are:
1) My Comedian said, "Gee Mom, I really didn't need you to shake it all over me. My mouth is up here!" when I shook his antibiotic and had already opened the lid (but didn't remember doing it) and it went all over the kitchen, myself and him.
2) The Tyrant in the middle of the night calling out "Mama! Mama!" and when I went to check on him he said accusingly. "My (b)kinky fell down (a)gain!" Then when we found it on his pillow he asked for two squishes and smiled while I was doing deep body compressions on him.
3) The Engineer who started a tickle war with the un-ticklish mommy just so I'd tickle him back.

Today was a good day! It was so full that I didn't even think of the sad or worry about what news might be arriving tomorrow, or all the needs that we just can't meet for our sweet little family right now.

well. . .not much. . .

Who needs a phone?

I'll just call grandma on my cracker!

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.
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This was a huge step today! Come celebrate with me! He thought this up all on his own with no encouragement or modeling or coaching. I felt like I was walking on air for a moment or two.

This little boy takes things so literally. Cars must be cars and they must drive flat on the floor/road. They cannot fly through the air or make any sounds that might vary from "car-like". Blocks are meant to be used to build towers, they can't drive like cars or be used to build roads. Blankets are meant to be used on the bed, not play hide-and-seek with or to hang up for the sides of a fort. In the last couple of months he has decided that in order to be an effective superhero blankets can be capes, blocks can be hand held super devices and today a graham cracker can be a phone.

HURRAY!!!!

We are finally moving into some pretend play which means that he's taking another step up the ladder of social play skills.

I hope he and grandma had a nice conversation.

I wonder what kind of reception graham crackers get...

Just getting by.....

Today I am thankful for
1. my three sweet boys
2. my friend, Lara, who called because she was having a challenging day and instead ended up listening to me lose it
3. a fireplace and wood to burn to help keep us warmer in the frigid weather

Today I accomplished
1. Fed my children
2. Read 4 chapters in my scriptures
3. Asked for help when I was at the end of my rope

Today I had some memorable moments that keep me going when times are tough. I particularly want to remember

1. Snuggling the Tyrant and him listening to me sing "Silent Night" before bedtime
2. Figuring out that when the Tyrant starts saying "No man, No man, No man" He wants us to sing the Once there was a Snowman, Snowman, snowman...tall, tall, tall. . ." and then singing it over and over again with him while he does the actions...SO MUCH FUN!!!!
3. When I apologized to the Comedian for screaming at him he said, "Sometimes we all have bad days. Some of us have more mistakes than others but I love you anyway!"