Stupid Questions

I will never forget my CrimLaw and Procedural Law Profesor,
that tall skinny dude with long brown hair
that rides bike or jogs around
downtown.
Yep, he is a profesor at SCSU!

He began the semester by telling us that the only
stupid question is the one that
you don't ask.

Sounds good, in theory...but he never had kids either!

My motto is... stupid questions get stupid answers.

If you ask me a question that, primarily, you know the answer to...
something very common around here-
I will not get into the blame game
(but you know there are reasons!)

Here are some examples:
Q: "Did you buy clementines?"
As several people are eating clementines.
A: "No, the clementine fairy dropped some off today at the door.
(this is a joke for all my fairy minded parents whom love to entertain
their children, do not feel compelled to deliver clementines ;} )

Q: "Are you making spaghetti for supper?"
As I am clearly adding spagetti sauce to spaghetti noodles.
A: "No, we are going to put it out in the garage and go sledding on it later."

Or some other nonsensical answer. If they talk nonsense, why shant I.
Ooh "shant" that must be fresh on my mind as I was
busy decoding Shakespearean at the Guthrie last night.

And yes, stupid is on our list of words to not say, but for lack of better terms, that
describes some of the questions I come across. Must be the Curt in me,
but it only seems fair. I think the kids actually enjoy having to
figure out whether my answer is real, then in doing
that they answer their own
question and
get a little grin too.

Darn! I should be writing parenting books, I know:)

Iron Chef or Iron Stomaches?

You be the judge!
I play this little game in the kitchen, it's called...What's for dinner?

Not sure where it came from, but I will say that I have a
better ability to make it work than
to follow directions and use
measuring spoons.
I just
don't like
to.

So what was for dinner last night? The last time I took a picture of my food
I realized it wasn't very photogenic, but the meal was
actually pretty- but I have since refrained
from taking snapshots of my food.

Here is my recipe for Rainbow Rice:

• 6-7 cups of leftover rice with corn in it from our tacos this weekend
• frozen peas (the canned ones have forever made me gag)
• some fresh grated carrots (organic even, ooh!)
  
• some thai seasoning from the Depot (awesome store!)
• a chicken packet for ramen noodles

BUT THE THAI STUFF WAS REALLY SPICY SO I NEEDED TO PLAY
ANOTHER GAME CALLED,
"How can this be edible for my family?"

I really shouldn't be publishing this, I bet Gordon Ramsey will be trying to book me, but here
is the remaining recipe in my order of attempt:

• leftover pineapple tidbits
• mayo and sugar
• peanut butter
• diced tomato (also from taco night)
  

And they scarfed it up! Peanut butter really compliments a spicy and
does create that Thai flavor, and helped to soothe the spice.
The mayo and sugar was also helpful in giving it just the
right balance of creaminess with the sweet
conquering the spice.
Beef tips had been slow cooked with yellow and orange peppers and were
served over the bed of Rainbow Rice.

Funny how my little game in the kitchen usually leaves the kids licking their plates
for more. Am I the next Iron Chef?
Oh, is just that my kids have
Iron Stomachs?

Thankful I Am!

To have running water and
a washing machine.
Last week the control panel ($408.00 with labor) went out in my front loader.

It started with the boys heavy chenille robes in it and so I took them out and set them outside.

The wash still wasn't draining good and I called Maytag because the code wasn't on the trouble shooting page. Of course, they were of no help, as the model# was never transferred to the manual and the # is on the inside of the door. The door wouldn't open. A *wet* load of clothes were in there. This was Saturday, Monday the repairman came and opened the door and determined the problem. The clothes got brought out to the garage and I figured I would run them to the laundromat. Well it was Tuesday afternoon and she was up and running.

The original load didn't even get stinky, still amazed by that. My laundry got all caught up in the next day and all is good.

Except those robes. I should have taken a picture for the visual of it, but Luke has finally quit harassing me about it. Why would I have set soaking wet robes onto the cement steps in the middle of winter? I actually hung them on hangers and then on a ledge off the side of the steps, right out the side door from the laundry room.

It made sense at the time, it was helping me at the moment. Let's just say we need a chainsaw to break them free. I should find a 5gal bucket and try to free them from the steps. The worst part is that Bruno gets let out that door and found some canine reason to mark those standing frozen robes, repeatedly.

I assured Luke that he has done thoughtless things before and that I will likely again, so to not keep teasing me about how ridiculous and idea it was to set them there. Oh well. Spring will come soon enough, but I am guessing one of us will fix the problem before then.

But I am thankful for a washing machine and all my appliances we have the luxury of having in our homes. All it takes is a day off to realize this! The beat of my new dryer balls is a great sound!

ps- my internet has been having issues and next week we will be joining the paying population for internet services and should no longer have such issues- i am sure this post is quite boring, but such is life sometimes:)

Mommy Chronicles

Adam's most popular words are: actually, by the way, apparently, and really. He bought a skidoo sled and it is "really like a real snowmobile." Enjoying basketball Saturday mornings and has been doing great with his dishes duties.

Aubrey pierced her nose, no comment. She is an alternate for the dance team now that JV finished, I am considering volunteer coaching JV next year because it seems the get a really short end of a stick.

Lexi wants to take up Spanish with me, and for our private missionary training program I am happy for her. She also wants to help out in the kids church-time, so that is great. Now if we can just be sure that she makes it to her own class, no additional comments.

David refuses to wear his new tennis shoes and I cannot convince him that the snow will not affect their traction. He is liking Saturday basketball as well. He is really great with little kids too and I always hear compliments when he helps at church.

Libby was furious that her little tooth broke into 3 pieces and somehow it was my fault. She is now learning English at school too, which she was really excited about. Luke says she is a mix between my sister and I. She is not gluten free anymore either. what a hassle that was!

Noah has a sore shoulder and gets a lil date with mommy to the doctor today. Funny how that is what it takes:) He is enjoying the biggest kid bed of the house and I even found some awesome truck sheets for less than $5 at target. He tells great stories and has an awesome imagination.

Naomi was mastering standing last night and is on the verge of taking more than two tiny steps. She popped her top left molar and that continues to be challenging our sleep...why does it seem to bug her so much more when we should be sleeping? She has claimed a ratted old doll of Reany's, despite having 4 new babies from birthday gifts.

I thought that seemed short, but forgot Reany. Suddenly 8 kids just doesn't really phase me.

Reany is growing her hair out, even though she asks for a haircut nearly each week or when I cut the boys hair for sure. She has always had the cute bob, but I am hoping she can grow it out until dance recital in May, just for something different. She is working on her first research paper about President Zachary Taylor. She is also waiting for the tooth fairy, again. Don't ask me?!

Frustrated Irritated Disconnected from it all

So is it good to have a down right pity party sometimes? Must have gotten up too early today. How does one feel refreshed and sad. Why would I be sad? I have a beautiful family, a beautiful home. Just feel bummed out. Life has been hard lately. School stuff going on. My hat is crushing my head and there isn't many could be a helping hand. It's just what my life looks like right now. I know and accept that I am exactly where God wants me right now. No one said it would be easy.

What's going on? Hard days for hubby at work. Trapped in the house, don't want to drive on nasty roads, don't want to tense up from the cold, don't want to have confrontation.

Four IEPs- which Aubrey is off the richtar now and aside from trying to "be there," our efforts have to be restricted because 1) she is technically Luke's daughter and I control enough things and 2) even if I wanted to control anything the logistics of it is that she and her beautiful sister are in a different household that we have NO CONTROL over. She is serviced under TBI. Traumatic Brain Injury. She was four, fell out the 2nd story window onto a sidewalk. Frontal lobe reconstruction with permanent titanium mesh and a scar to prove it. Blessed for life and thinks she knows better now, ah well isn't it a blessing that those teenage years don't last forever? She suffers from nasty regular headaches, delayed processing, and some periodic emotional/behavioral delays. Overall she is a great kid, but has had the same case manager for her 3rd year now and doesn't seem to be making the progress I WOULD LIKE. The district even furnished a computer in her home to set up a reading program for her to be doing some audio work in hopes to increase her reading skills (that btw mom has never given a hoot about and has probably never requested leisure reading as an activitiy:(.) Guess what? They got the computer, yeah facebook!, but the program needs some code and they were going to check into that and it has been since May that they have a cool apple from the school with no programs for Aubrey. But the line is drawn somewhere and my hands get bound and tied with responsibilities that are in my face every day and so am I giving up on the situation? Not yet, but again- my excuses are logistics. I should add it to my list.

Adam is serviced under ASD, Autism Spectrul Disorder. That was new with his most recent 3 year eval. Previously he had been serviced under LD because of cognitive impairments. This has been my sucker lately. By sucker I mean of the energy from me. By sucker I mean sticky and icky, like one you find in your purse on a random search. Or perhaps like an upper cut to the gut. Maybe that is it. He is content to stare out a window for hours. That is troubling when over half his day is spent in the cozy special ed room. I am convinced that the teacher's paper weights are in his hand more often than a pencil in that room. I need to go observe. I am meeting with the case manager next week. She graded a RiDiCuLoUs paper that should have never been considered a final paper with an A. She circled that there were "almost no" grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors; when really there was barely a sentance that didn't have all three of that. Her reasoning was that he had spent 3 periods on it or something and after correcting his rough draft (as I stated that was the quality of the paper) she decided to not correct new errors. NOT HAPPY! So instead, she is educating my son that that research paper was A work and didn't have any errors in it. I will be praying for wisdom and collection for our meeting next week!

Seriously, I was contemplating home schooling. Then that includes David too. Because of the social vulnerabilities, there is no way I would split them up. I need a tattle-tale, plus they are best friends! I met with their developmental disabilities social worker last week and she has encouraged me to be more involved. I guess if I was willing to dedicate my life to their education, the first step may be to become more involved at school. But my argument is that the time invested or what appears would need to be invested may be better utilized in the comfort of my own home:) So I need more information about the transition programs and also about the possibility of combining public and home school, or what type of assurance the school can give me to maximize their potential.


David is serviced under LD because of cognitive impairments, but is significantly higher functioning than Adam. He can read an analog clock if given enough time. His problem solving skills are higher. He is doing great in school but we are finding that he has gotten comfortable at the middle school and also is testing his levels of responsibility. We think he may be taking advantage of his memory issues and the special ed excuses.

Reany is serviced under OHD, Other Health Disabilities, as she was diagnosed with ADHD last spring. She needed that diagnosis; I was surprised that she actually met the guidelines. I had anticipated just getting that diagnosis because we needed it, not because she did. I never really thought of her like that. After her auditory processing assessment and SCSU, which I strongly recommend, it became clear that she has quite a bit of neurological activity affecting her ability to focus and identify information. She is however, doing great in school. Her neuropshych a couple years ago showed areas of "executive functioning" impairments, so is typical to not see in a 2nd grade classroom. She is excellent at fitting in with the mob of 2nd graders. It will be later on that they will see the difficulty in independent skills. We are not seeing her transfer her skills much though either, as requesting information from her is like pulling teeth some days.

Pacer said to send a letter to the director of special ed and cc her case manager that they are not in compliance with the iep- as I had not recieved the weekly reading probe results per her IEP. I fought for that last spring when they told me she was no longer eligible for academic services. Academic services she had had since 18 months old and yet still was testing below where they wanted her, but higher than eligibility marks.

I decided that was harsh, because I didn't discuss that with her new case manager yet. So since I did, she has been in compliance. I did need to remind her this week- but assume she was sincere that she had been working on it and there was some issue with her getting those results. Not my problem, right? Yeah, choose your battles wisely. You get more with honey. I am the IEP though and I care more about my kids education than anyone else could imagine, so at some point I may need to take out the big guns.

Sigh...so you just got a glimpse of my administrative world in education. No wonder I take joy in the leisure of immersion advocacy and parent involvement. It doesn't always have to be a sucker. Sometimes the piece of gum doesn't have lint and things wedged in the wrapper. And that is just if it escaped from the package when you randomly find it in your purse.

I am excited to see what God's plan is for my kids and I would be a fool to not surrender our household to him. When asked his name... " I am who I am." Nothing simple there folks, no matter where our minds want to go, no matter what jibber jabber this world of babel has to say- I know that our creator has authority over all and through Christ we have been set free and so to this I take great joy to know that His works were not in vain, that the prophets were correct, that the world has found proof, and I will wait! And in the mean time, I have my hands full working for Him. What are your hands full with?

Sing and Play Cousin Stay

Uncle Luke's celebration dance
with nephews
Emmett and Oscar
and
neice Ellie

Smile and say cheese...
cousin love!
Henry and Libs

These boys are only 26 hours apart!

Six months and four babies!

Naomi and I
Eva and Ellie
Reed and Oscar
Ryan and Emmett
Thanks for bringing in the new year with us!!

The start of our collection of photo opps.

getting bored

Cousin Libby, c'mere... I want you!

That's why... I give good kissers!!

Sledding

In Style

Needing a tow-rope

Hang on!

Scoot Scoot Ready Go!

Getta good push!
Lotsa Fun!

One Year Ago

December 26th 2009
We met for the very first time
Naomi Gladys Neuman

We have loved every minute of it,
even the rough nights:)
It doesn't last forever!
How beautiful in her birthday dress from Grandma Linda!
The glasses definitely top it off.
Bruno was even wearing a pair:)

Naomi was gladly directing her chior as we sang to her.

She was liking the frosting and sugar high to follow!

But most of all, she loves her new big girl toys!
She is now operating a daycare since she got baby dolls
from all 3 of her wonderful Grandmas...
great minds think alike:)

Happy Birthday Naomi!
We love you so much and are very blessed to have you
in our family and are so excited to see what
our heavenly Father has
in store for you!!
xoxo

Eighteen Cousins!

Whooee, look at the baby factory on us!

Uploading my pics is always confusing, this should be the
aftermath of getting 18 children
semi-arranged for a
picture that doesn't happen
often.

Tony has an gracious wave in the background and all the kids
were clearly done with the idea of this.
Plus, once I started snapping
everyone got their cameras out:)

I love little Noah's face peeking up to see the camera!
Thatta boy!

OOps! Cole is sneaking out of the pic here on the right! From the back row the blondies are Grace and Cassandra. Kneeling is Aubrey, then Antonio, Adam, Aryon, and David. That middle row is Logan, Vincent, Noah, and Reany. Libby is holding a squirmy Zachariah, and Isaac, Lexi holding Naomi, and Lyla girl makes 18. Beautiful children, these are the cousins on Luke's side. And Jenny only has one and Sonny has none, so perhaps this is just the start of the crew!! Great time for Christmas. Grandma Ann made all these kids (minus the bambinos) flannel pillowcases for Christmas and then filled their boxes with her usual fun jammies, a shirt, socks, yummy chapsticks, and for the girls some home made jewelry. She is one talented momma Luke has! For me and her daughters she hand crafted corn therapy bags for hot or cold, baked potato bags, and beautiful jewelry. Last year she made pantry boxes for us with some incredible canned goods and meal sides from Trader Joes and dessert jars too. Plus for the kids last year they got "Rainy Day Books" filled with activities and supplies to conquer any boredom. So glad she includes my trio of kids that are actually her x-husbands kids. How kind is that? Thanks Grandma for another awesome Christmas for us to remember and cherish. We Love You!!

The Spinning (of my head) Has Decreased

Have I neglected to address the holidays? Happy New Year! Getting into January I can begin to process the scurry of the holidays with all these field mice. And they all slept soundly as we filled up the 8 stockings. We busted Santa last year. Luke always wrestled with the "lying" about it, and let's just say a 13 and 14 year old that are stuck on Santa is real needs to be corrected.

My favorite thing is that they do not have that dreamy stare up to the ceiling and say: thank you santa! I searched long and hard, calculated, compared, and hid all those gift, usually single handedly...and I want the credit:) We are blessed. We all had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior and best friend.

Poor Libby though, after close to a week of her little tooth in a bag dangles it in the air and says: can you tell Dad to get some cash?!

We were never really good about impersonating fairy tale figures. Like the year Santa brought David a Spanish Batman movie. Luckily he enjoyed the visuals and was glued to the tv with little concern of the audio...haha.

The magic of Christ is all my kids need and there are plenty of surprises around here too, plus they still get the goodies, just not the fairy tale. So now, back to the swing of things. My voice has returned, after the *fun* Christmas break. I hadn't gone sledding in atleast a decade. Had even convinced myself I didn't like it. I am just not a winter fan. I know, I know, wrong state- but I was born into this bliss.

What's going on now? Posts to come of some great things like my siblings coming from 3 different states with their babies for their first reunion ever; sledding; fun in the snow; Naomi turned one; and some other fun stuff.

Adam and David started basketball this morning, hope they enjoyed it. I did forewarn the coach that Adam has some peculiar tendencies while concentrating in physical activities, like some verbal output. Maybe he can get cued on that, but doubt he has any control over it. In water he does it too, it is actually kind of funny- which is a good thing. Funny is good:) Except in this situation it is an internal funny, not an external funny. Big difference when dealing with this type of thing. I would not want him to know that we think his primate language groans and grunts are mildly entertaining. Just one of those things.

Noah started school this week too, "down the hill" as he says. Drop off care for $5 an hour never sounded so good! Wednesday and Thursdays from 9-11a.m. he joins the preschool for some activities and opportunities for following directions. I pray that he gets the hang of that:)

I celebrated my free time (WTH?!*@!) with the kids returning to school by overhauling bedrooms. The only thing I got help with, from my 5'11" 133# Adam, was lifting his bunk bed off the top. Otherwise for what it is worth, this was an independent task and I completed:
-taking down Adam and David's bunkbeds
-moving their beds into Aubrey and Lexi's room
-emptying out their old room, shampooed carpet
-moved Aubrey and Lexi's queen bed into the room
-swapped all their personal belongings and wardrobes
-painted the room
-assembled a bookshelf
I thought I would tire from just writing that, sure seemed like more work. Perhaps because I was doing it while my several daily loads of laundry, and everything else between breakfast and supper. Now I still have to do these things though:
-transfer all of Noah's clothes and toys to the fresh painted room (we are sharing the room and he gets the big bed except when the girls are here, he will have a sleep over with Omi in his firetruck toddler bed we will keep in her room for play)
-rearrange Naomi's room by taking out the expired dresser and of course without all the boy toys her cute lil' babies can make themselves at home.

Naomi is running a daycare now, as she received a dolly from each of her grandmas for her birthday. Super cute!

So spring fever seems to have come a little early, and this is just the start. When Luke has vacation in January we will get the Expedia bookshelf from Ikea and then overhauling my storage concepts to best use our space. I am really excited for these projects. This March we will be in our house for 4 years. How time flies.

Happy New Year everyone!!