One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

That seems to be the theme of our lives recently, at least in some areas. Not that it's bad, just slow. For instance, I finally bit the bullet and put Matthew in regular underpants rather than the diapers he prefers. Frankly it's past time for him to be trained and to be honest, he knows what to do but is stubborn. So he's in undies now, which is one step forward. But he's still having accidents and is changing clothes at least once a day, which is is frustrating. And he actually pooped in the local pool a couple weeks ago. Two steps back.

Last Friday we went to the Museum Center for Free Friday (one Friday a month during the summer Union Terminal opens up its museums for 4 hours to everyone for free). The kids love it there and were having a terrific time. One step forward. But David slipped off a low carpet bench and knocked his face into a nearby concrete wall. The result? Scrapes all over his nose, blood all over his face and 2 front teeth missing, plus a nice lisp. Two steps back. Poor guy.

At the beginning of June, I went downtown to apply for food stamps and medicaid in preparation for the upcoming job loss. A very nice case worker told me we would qualify but she couldn't complete our application yet because we still had income. She put us in the system though and said this would save us time later. I was told to come back towards the end fo the month. One step forward. . . Last Friday I went down to finish up the application and was told that I couldn't do anything then since we still had income. Not only that but I was also told that because we would be receiving unemployment we wouldn't actually qualify for food stamps. Now does that make any sense at all? Definitely two steps back. I'll head back downtown later this week or next and try again.

An Update. . .

I can't believe that it's almost the end of June already! It's been such a busy month so far. The kids are thrilled to be out of school of course. They have been keeping busy making messes (which they don't clean up), playing outside, playing inside, plus of course fighting and whining (although those last 2 arte not limited to summertime only). Seriously though it's been a fun summer so far.

The Monday after school ended the older 3 kids started Bible Day Camp. It is a glorious program run by the church where David and Rachel went to preschool. It is a VBS program that lasts 4 hours a day for 5 days. I packed each of my kids a lunch and dropped them off every day. Then I had the whole morning to myself!! How glorious!!! My morning involved a bit of housework, some grownup (non-animated) tv and a nap. Aaaahhhhh!!! Now at this point the 2 of you who read this regularly are probably wondering what has happened to Matthew in all this. He's not at Bible Day Camp, yet he's not at home. What did she do to him? He was playing at a friend's house. My dear friend Lisa offered to keep him mornings that week if I took her older 3 kids to Bible Day Camp with my kids. What a great week :-)

The next week was VSB at our church. This was 2.5 hours in the evening and instead of dropping off my kids, I got to go too. I was a crew leader for a group of 7 and 8 year olds. We walked to different rooms in the church for crafts, snacks, games and storytime. It was a tiring week, but lots of fun!

We have also discovered a pool near our house that costs $1 per person to get in (or like $10 per person for the summer). The best part is that they give the kids free lunch! So we go, hang out and swim. The kids come home fed and tired. Yeah!!

As far as a job update, well, there's nothing to report really. Phil's last day is this coming Tuesday the 30th and he is getting increasingly stressed and discouraged as the days go by. We've been looking everywhere for jobs, sending out resumes, applying online with no luck. He's had 2 interviews but no job offers yet. I hate to leave Cincinnati, but we are thinking we may have to. Gotta go where the job is ya know. So keep praying for us and I'll try to blog at least somewhat regularly to keep you updated on how we're doing.

Fun times with David

So today I was hanging out with the kids and we were telling jokes. The kids are very into joke telling these days. I have a book called something like "Laughs for Lunchtime" that I got at MOPS convention a couple years ago. It has pages with clean funny jokes on them that are perforated and can be torn out and put in your kid's lunch box. So the kids were reading me the jokes I put in their lunch today for Bible Day Camp and we got onto state jokes. Ya know, like "What did Missi sip?" "She sipped a Minne sota!" Hee hee hee.

Out of the blue David looks at me and asks why there isn't a Mr.Ssippi. He reasoned that since there is a MISSissippi there should be a Mr. as well. After I stopped laughing, I thought for a moment and told him that "Miss" refers to a woman who isn't married yet. So naturally there couldn't be a Mr.Ssippi until Mississippi gets married! I just had to laugh!!! Ya just never know what kids are gonna come up with.

Matthew turns 4!

My baby is 4 now!! I can't even believe it. Where did the time go? I remember when he was born. The nurses in the hospital actually remembered us from the previous 3 kids we'd had there. Ok that and the fact that we brought a deck of cards and played gin rummy while we were waiting for my c-section to start. He was so little and adorable and helpless. Now he is full of energy, curious about everything and still wearing diapers. ACK! Yep it's true. I may have the only child in history who will goto kindergarten in diapers. Oh don't get me wrong-he knows what to do. He just WON'T. But next week after Bible Day Camp is over he is going to be quitting diapers cold turkey - he just doesn't know it yet.

Seriously though Matthew is a great kid even though he wears me out. He is always on the go, exploring things, curious about everything. "What will happen if I. . . " seems to be his motto. He loves to read books and will climb on my lap with stories for me to read to him. And if I read it wrong, he'll correct me. He has his favorite stories and loves to hear them over and over. Another favorite pastime is playing pretend. He'll grab a couple of the many action figures, Happy Meal toys or even toy cars and have them talk. And of course he gets me in on the action. He'll hand me a couple of random "people" and tell me what to say. And he's very serious about his games. He loves to help me out with whatever I'm doing - he loves to be wherever I am and gets upset if I leave the room (heaven forbid I leave the house without him!). He is very attached to his woolie scrap (a lamb's wool blanket that he drags everywhere!!) and a small red plastic figure that he calls "toy" (creative name eh?). Poor toy looks like he has been through a war - there's tape everywhere holding him together but Matt is very loyal to him. At night he can't goto sleep without his Blue's Clues blanket, his curvey pillow, the woolie scrap, toy and the most recent addition to his collection -- Marty the marty. Marty is a Webkinz zebra that Matt got for his birthday. Not only has Matt named him Marty after the zebra in "Madagascar" but he has started calling all animals by their movie or tv names. For example, a zebra is a "marty," giraffes are "melmans," hippos are "glorias," and starfish are "patricks" (from SpongeBob SquarePants). *sigh* It certainly makes like more interesting!

As I mentioned earlier, this week is Bible Day Camp for my oldest 3 kids. Bible Day Camp is 4 hours every day for 5 days - kinda like VBS on steroids. It's at the same church where David and Rachel went to preschool. And boy this church really goes all out for this program. It's amazing really how much they accomplish - and it's all free. The volunteers all dress up in costumes appropriate to the theme. This year the theme is "Power Lab" so everyone is wearing white scientist coats. They do skits of Bible stories for the kids, sing songs, play games and make really cool crafts. Today for example my 3 kids each brought home a lava lamp that they'd made themselves. It was some combination of oil and water my 9-year-old informed me. All we had to do was add one tablet of Alka-Seltzer and it started bubbling and looked like an actual lava lamp. Now how cool is that exactly? So what does all this have to do with the Bible? Well I'm honestly not sure, but I'll find out Thursday night. They are doing a program for all the parents to show off what the kids have learned all week.

The best part of this week for me is my free time! My best friend and I are carpooling. We each have 4 kids, 3 of whom are going to Bible Day Camp this week. So I take the older 6 and drop them off at the church. She takes the younger 2 back to her house where they play happily together and I have the morning off!!!! It was amazingly quiet at my house this morning with no children there. So what did I do? NAP of course (after I put in a load of laundry and started the dishwasher). AAAHHHHH!!!!!

Well it's official

We have known this was a possibility for a couple weeks now, but now we know for sure. Phil has been laid off. He fixes computers for the school district we live in. Our district has really high quality schools and a community full of people who typically pass levies and support the schools. Earlier this month there was a school levy on the ballot that was meant to maintain the services and value of the schools currently. State funding has decreased so the district had to ask for more money just to keep things at the level they are now. Well as you all know, this economy is in bad shape. So for the first time that I can remember, the levy failed. So the administration has been making cuts and unfortunately for us decided to outsource the entire tech department. They think they can save money by giving the contract to this other company. Good luck with that! So Phil's last day is June 30. The company has offered to interview any of the techs who are interested. Phil of course gave them his resume but found out that they only pay somewhere around $12-$15 an hour. That is less than half what Phil makes now. That's not a teribly realistic option.

So now what? Well we are updating Phil's resume and searching online for any place that is hiring computer techs. I have been contacting all of my friends and acquaintances across the country to get their help also. There's gotta be a job out there for Phil that will pay enough for us to live on and that he is qualified for. We hate to think about moving, but may have to if we find a job elsewhere. Meanwhile, Phil and I are both stressed and depressed and trying to deal with this the best he can. Phil tends to scream at the kids more often while I tend to cope by playing on Facebook and trying to avoid reality temporarily.

God is telling us to be strong and courageous; that's a verse in Joshua that He's been bringing to my mind quite often these days. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." We're trying our best. The kids have taken it better than we expected. We've cut out all unnecessary spending and they don't seem to mind. We are so fortunate that this happened in the summer when there's more to do that doesn't cost anything. Parks, pool, playgrounds, etc. If this was winter, we'd be out of luck. My kids hate cold weather so the best options for getting out of the house involve fast food restaurants with play areas. Ugh!

Anyway, that's the update from around here. Sorry it's not more cheerful.

The Ongoing Adventures of Matthew

This is the next installment in the ongoing saga of Matthew, my affectionate, lovable, curious, destructive, energetic almost-4-year-old. Yesterday my best friend called wondering if I wanted to meet at McDonalds so the kids could play and we could talk. Of course! The 2 oldest kids were still at school so I started rounding up the 2 youngest, gathering shoes, keys, cell phone and (in Matthew's case) clothes. But where were the actual children? I found them in the kitchen looking out the back door at one of our cats hunched over something. Upon further investigation we discovered that our beloved ball of fluff was guarding a baby bird Was she protecting it or tormenting it? Hard to tell. We discovered a dead baby bird nearby too. The kids were fascinated and picked up the dead bird. I scolded them and herded them inside to wash their hands and head to McDonalds. Fast forward 15 minutes and we were settled at McD's waiting for my friend and her 4 kids. I left the kids playing happily and went out to get a snack for us to share. When I got back Matthew had pushed a highchair up to the table. And what did I find sitting in the highchair? Matt's orange Diego Rescue Pack and. . . the dead baby bird. I believe my exact words at that point were "AAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK! Yuuuuuuuuuccckkk!" I am still not sure how he managed to smuggle the bird into his rescue pack or why he felt the need to bring it with him. Needless to say the bird did not make it back to our house again. Lesson learned? Check whatever backpack or bag your kids insist on bringing somewhere because you just never know what you'll find.

Mother's Day weekend

As usual I have blogged a LOT less than I'd planned. I have no idea where time is going but magically it gets away from me. I even have pictures on my camera from Christmas that I haven't downloaded onto the computer yet.

We are at the end of what has been a wonderfully fun but rather busy Mother's Day weekend. Friday morning I got to take David to school 40 minutes early for "Muffins with Mom" organized by the 1st grade classes. In his classroom are groups are 6 desks pushed together and called a table. Each table was covered with a plastic tablecloth and decorated with assorted projects that I soon learned were gifts for us moms made by our kids. David and I sat at his desk where he presented me with a paper corsage and tied it on my wrist. Then he gave me a portrait of me he had drawn himself. And last was a book he had made. It was called "Mom's Jobs" and had a hard cover on it and looked very professional. At least as professional as a book done by a 7 year old can look. Each page had a picture on it and a different job that I do. According to David, some of my jobs include chauffer, police officer, maid, chef, housekeeper and linen service. I had to laugh. It is very cute and he was very proud of his work. So then we got to eat a muffin and drink some juice together. Just hanging out with David one-on-one doesn't happen very often so this was fun and very special. Then all the 1st graders and their moms headed downstairs to the gym where the kids got up on stage and sang a couple cute Mother's Day songs for us. The only one I remembered started out "She's a V - I - P, a Very Important Person." By now the busses were arriving with all the other students so the moms left and the kids headed upstairs to begin their school day.

Saturday was a rare day with nice weather - we've gotten so much rain lately that I'm seriously considering building an ark! What to do on such a nice day? Rose suggested we goto the zoo. Great idea! I packed up the 4 kids and some snacks and headed out leaving Phil at home to nap and mow the grass (in that order). This was one of our first trips to the zoo without a stroller. What a concept! It's amazing how different it was. My hands were free - no stroller to push or diaper bag to carry. Yeah!! And we could go anywhere. There are a few places in the Cincinnati Zoo that we used to avoid because they aren't terribly stroller-friendly. But no more!!! Matthew was actually well-behaved and didn't run off. He stuck with us and obeyed me really well. It was a genuinely fun day with my kids. I came home with sunburnt shoulders and aching feet, ready to rest.

Alas, rest was not on our agenda for the evening. An hour later after cooking dinner, kissing a couple random boo-boos and taking 1 kid potty (Matthew, who at the age of almost 4 is STILL potty training) Phil and I left the kids with Brett and headed down to the river to meet some college friends of his. These are friends he has recently gotten in touch with again but hasn't seen in probably 15 years. We all saw the new Star Trek movie together then went out afterwards to talk and hang out. The movie was a prequel to all the other movies and featured a younger Captain Kirk and crew before they took command of the Enterprise. I really enjoyed it!! Great movie and awesome effects, especially on the huge IMAX screen!! It's a good movie to see even if you're not a fan of Star Trek. Phil really enjoyed catching up with some old friends. I hadn't met any of these people before and was a bit nervous but ended up having fun. We got home late and stayed up late talking and reading in bed.

Sunday morning was church. Then Phil and the kids wanted to take me out for lunch. I didn't feel like battling the huge crowds that were bound to be dining out also so we ended up taking sandwiches from Penn Station home and having a picnic together. I just love their food but don't get it too often. The kids had made me cute cards and gifts at school and church which they presented to me. I just love the homemade stuff rather than something store bought. They were so proud of their gifts and I loved seeing their smiling faces. I love my kids to pieces!!! But that didn't deter me from taking a nice long nap that afternoon. I woke up rested and refreshed to the smell of someone grilling. Brett had bought ribs, hamburgers and hotdogs plus all the fixings and was cooking dinner. I just love hamburgers off the grill. Yum!!!!! Of course Brett and Phil got involved in conversation, leaving me to clean everything up, but that's not a real big surprise! All in all, it was a wonderful relaxing day spending time with my loving family. I love being a mom!