Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Work We Go

I've discoverd that I like the color blue. It makes me happy! So, without further ado, it's off to work I go. I managed to crawl out of bed this morning to realize we would need to get some wood this morning. My husband, wise old Owl, has known this for quite some time but I refused to beleive it. You see, if I beleived it, I would have to do something about it. So, this morning I decided to join his team and help him get wood. Not in the traditional sense, mind you. We went Dumpster Diving. Yes, it's true, we went dumpster diving. Not into the traditional neighbors apartment dumpsters, but mill's dumpsters. We had to take my neice home and new my sister, who was wonderful to do this once for us, had gotten some for free. Where we live, they charge you for it. So over the river and through the woods we went. The first place we went to said it was 5 dollars a scoop and our trailer would hold 4 scoops. We thought "20.00 isn't so bad" til he told us his scoop was bad and we would have to hand load it. We said "is there a discount?" Nope!!! Off we went to find another place. We get there and indeed we can get the wood they have. There wasn't much but we could open the dumpster doors and dig through the saw dust and take what we wanted. We were more than happy to do this being it was free. We love free stuff, it helps us stay on a budget. There was only about a 1/3 of a load but it was better than nothing. Next thing we know these guys keep coming up and looking at us. We say Hi and then they walk off. What do you think they wanted? Don't know. Then a guy comes up with a fork lift and asks us if we want this. I didn't see anything at first but at closer inspection I see a 1/4 load of 4x4's on a pallet. I say yes excitedly. They keep coming and looking at us and next they bring us a metal container of larger pieces of dry wood. YES! Then another guy comes up and asks us how much more we want. My Owl says "How much more you got?" They then bring us a big box of wood. It was gorgeous wood. It is very expensive deck wood. We believe we got enough to do a project on our fixer upper of a house. We were amazed to see how God was blessing us. We had come upon a budget crises until the first of the month and did not have any money to buy wood. We usually heat with oil or gas but since buying our house we can't run the furnace because the ducts need cleaned. The money hasn't been there to do this and the wood has miraculously come in this winter. I stand (or sit) amazed at God's generosity. We have not had to buy wood since buying this house. We do want to fix the ducts and furnace and get oil in the tank eventually, but it will take quite a bit of money because the oil prices are high. We are warm tonight as the wood burned so nicely. The wood we were down to was very wet and slimmy. It was not putting out much heat. It was pooring down rain most of the day but of course, not while we got the wood. God is good!

I happily scrapbooked several pages by our warm fire. I loved sitting here watching the fire and doing what I love. I pray you all are doing things you equally enjoy. Have a great night.

To Infinity And Beyond!

When sickness is present it feels as though it is going to last "To Infinity And Beyond." I know it will not, but I must admitt this is how I feel. I took Christopher to the Doc's today, making that the third trip in 1 week! His asthma is bad so he has to go on steroids for the week. He hasn't had to be on them for almost a year so he should do fine. Eyore is finally taking a turn for the better and ALL of them made it to school today.

I was talking to Mrs. Darling about Tink and it makes me think there was some strange things going on up where they had Tink tested. Not while Tink was there, but while I was there with Eyore. I had told her not to get to excited but here she is with a diagnosis and I with none. They did so many things with Tink while my Eyore got none of that. I was excited and dissappointed because I think I must have gotten something else. The doc's say it is the same but there is no way. If we could get the same kind of testing that Tink got then I beleive we could get somewhere with my Eyore. He has a lot of the same traits as Tink but he also has a health component too. He was born 6 weeks early, which was not too early but it did seem to affect him. We do know that all his teeth are too soft and some of his permanent teeth are missing. His other teeth came in in the wrong position. We know that his asthma is uncontrollable, we know that his bones are not as strong as they should be. He has been a very ill child in the last year, however did well through the fall. He then tripped on his foot and fractured it just walking through the kitchen. He is always getting strange infections too. No one gets sick when Eyore is sick so we know it has to do with him. The genetics doc said he is sure Eyore has some sort of disorder, they are just not sure which one. They tested him for some genetic bone disorders and they came up negative. I have been debating going back for more testing which the doctor will support, I just don't know if I want to be disapointed again. I have been told about a hospital in Alabama, St. Judes Research Hospital. A friend told me that you take your child there and they keep you there for about 1 to 3 weeks UNTIL they figure out what is going on. I would really like to see about getting in there. I know there will be expenses and I hate leaving my other kids. My youngest, Roo has a hard time with seperation. She was adopted and her mom was a regular meth user while she was pregnant. She is a wonderful girl, just doesn't like any changes in her life. If anyone reading this has any info or first hand information on St. Judes I would love to hear from you. I think I will quit now and go get on the hospitals website.

The Kids or the House?

The kids are ever so slowely getting better but I wonder????? Christopher has been on his inhaler every 4 hours around the clock now and I feel that has made all the difference in the world. Eyore had managed ok for the day but light of any kind bothers his eye. I finally put a patch on it so he could walk around with his crutches, but he took it off for the night. He still says it stings but the swelling is definitely going dow. When we woke up this morning my little Roo said her tummy hurt so I was once again home with three kids. Then what do my eyes see but my oldest son coming through the door. There was a BOMB threat at school. There was a lock down and then they had the kids go home for the day. So, did I get any projects done? Not a one! I was considering finishing a framed print that I want to get to a friend. I considered painting the entryway in the back. I started it but never finished it. I also need to shampoo the carpet at the bottom of the stairs. My son was being helpful one day and he wheeled the dolly from outside to inside on my BRAND NEW carpet of 1 day. I need to clean the basement windows again because all the rain has gotten them dirty. I also need to work on staining the molding so we can get some of that down. Then I look at the rain and just clean instead. I got the refrigerator cleaned tonight. I also managed to make all the beds today despite the late morning start we had. So, what will tomorow bring? I'm not sure, but whatever it brings I will enjoy the day and let God direct me. My niece is here for the day and she is 9. I think we will go see the horses and maybe walk them around in the afternoon. She adores them and they live a good 45 minutes away. I believe there is a good possibility that they will ALL make it to school. I'm off to do another project so enjoy the night.

Thanks to all who are looking. I am really enjoying getting to see and hear from some of you.

The Doc Visit and Beyond

I'm back to tell you how the day went. It appears that Eyore has an eye infection, maybe a stye but whatever it is it hurts him like #$%$#$. The doc gave him an antibiotic eye ointment and a prescription for oral if he gets worse. Of course, he got worse after 9:00 p.m. Go figure. He cried for about an hour! It stings and hurts and when he lays down he says it does funny things and gets hard. Whatever that means. To top it off my Christopher has been having mild asthma problems, until 9:00 p.m. when he starts having a major attack. I am out of nebulizer medicine so he can't have the meds I think he needs. I am out of oral steroids, but have a prescription for them, but of course, it is after 9:00 and all the pharmacies are closed. To top it off, Christopher starts crying at the same time. I was trying to hold both of them on one bed and I am rather overweight. Christophers chest hurts so bad and Eyore's eye won't settle down. They are restless. I finally had my mom put on a movie to get Christophers mind of the coughing. His coughing sounds like whooping cough. He had this a year ago and it was horrible. My hunch is that he has never fully recovered. Every time he has ashtma problems he coughs like the whooping cough. The movie helped but not near enough. So, I am tired and I'm going to let both of them finish the movie without me. I hope this works. They are both old enough and I'm pretty sure they will fall asleep watching the movie. What an exhausting night. Tomorrow they will probably need to stay home and I will have to make another trip into the docs for Christopher. They don't like me to give the oral steroids without a check-up. That will make the third trip this week. There goes any money I thought I had! Good Night All.

Sick Kids And More Sick Kids

We started out the week with Eyore being sick. He was having trouble breathing and such. The EKG turned out normal and he seemed to be on the mend. His foot fracture is healing slowly but all seemed to be well. The next morning he is raring to go to school but my next child is sick. Christopher tried so hard to go but he was just about falling over so I kept him home. He was complaining of his stomach hurting and his asthma was not to good. He slept for about 3 hours in the morning and was weak in the afternoon. I thought he was on the mend though. Then in the evening he started throwing up. I took Dick Bob to an appointment and got a call from Hubby Owl that Eyores eye was swelling. If Hubby notices it then it must be pretty bad because normally he can't "see" anything. I watched it and put compresses on it and put him to bed. This morning his eye is almost swollen shut. You guessed it, I'm off to the doctors this morning. Christopher is still home because he has the same complaints as yesterday. I opened the door to Dick Bob's room and there he was. He has a migraine and can hardly sit up. It's only Wednesday and I already feel as though I am wearied and exhausted. My little Roo didn't want to go to school either but I did manage to get her off. I shall see what the doctor says this morning about the eye and I'll let you all know. I'm off to get ready now.

To The Docs We Went!

Happy is my mood! I decided to go to the Doc's anyway because eyore still wasn't doing well this afternoon. I had to see the partner doctor whom I have absolute trust in. I told him I had taken him off all the meds because Eyore was complaining. He said he wouldn't be surprised if we were over medicating him. He doesn't want to put him back on any meds until we have to. He also sent us for an EKG, which we have never had before. We've had just about every other one. I also asked for an exray of his foot. Sure enough his foot was fractured and they agreed we don't have to put a cast on it too. The EKG looked good, which puts us back to square one but am glad nothing major showed up. We are just going to watch him for another day or so and put him on oral steroids if needed. I don't really like the orals but would like to try that instead of all the maintanence meds. If I could get away with just the orals every once in awhile it would be better than all the other meds. He has already been on advair 100/50, then on 250/50, then on 500/50. So you can see we have done our share plus other meds. I am happy with the turn of events and my fears were unfounded. Now, while getting the exrays my fears resurfaced. They were asking me how it happened, if the police had been called, if DHS had been notified. Talk about nervous. I was assured it was routine but still. What have we come to when we can't feel comfortable taking our kids to the hospital. Then they took him back and wanted to exray him by HIMSELF! You just have to wonder what they want to ask him. If I said something I was afraid I would look suspicious. It all came out fine though so I am one happy Mom.
Good Night All

A day planned and A day rearranged

I have been struggling with migranes lately and had made up my mind that today I was going to clean the house. Really clean the house. There was misc. stuff everywhere and that drives me nuts. Not to mention the dog hair, cat hair, and wood chips all over the floor. The kitchen needs mopped and the laundry needs done. This was the day. I had it all planned out last night when I went to bed. The first thing that went wrong was I couldn't get to sleep. I think I fell asleep around one in the morning and was awakened with a start by my Eyore crying at my bedside around 1:30. He was breathing badly and had a migrane. So I put him in our bed, he's 10, and got him some migrane medicine and his inhaler. I recently took him off some of his meds because he was on 6 of them and he was complaining of his chest feeling like it was going to explode. He has not complained of this or his every day, all day headaches. Now I am worring what to do and if I should put him back on his maintanence meds for his ashtma. I am so tired of all the meds with little result. He has major ashtma attacks even if he is on his meds but I don't know wether it makes them farther apart or not. He has never been off his medicines long enough to compare. He is now so short of breath and a little wheezy. His ashtma has been so bad that we have had to call 911 before but that has been about 4 years ago. There seems to be no reason we can see for his attacks. They are scary though. Now, if I choose to take him to the Docs I am worried they will be mad that I haven't been giving him all the meds. However, if they had to live with a child telling them that they think their heart is going to explode, I don't think they would give it to them either. So here I sit writing to you all wondering what I should do. I probably fear too much what the doctors put in their little charts. I have had to much exposure to how DHS works and how dumb they can be. They think , and have told me, that we foster parents are held to a higher standard than all you other parents out there. The doctors and other people in authority often think they hold all the power. Maybe my fear is unfounded but I do not want DHS knowing anything about me. I steer as far from them as I can. I am no longer a foster parent and wish to remain anonymous in their eyes. I have to say my Doctor is wonderful and I have a good relationship with her and don't really think she would disagree with me so much that she would do anything, it's just that I worry! I worry to much I suppose! So the question still remains wether I should take him in or not. He absolutely does not want to go in today. He hates them as he has been there too much as a child. So, I believe I will wait it out one more day.

Back to my other topic now. I gave him his meds and then he couldn't sleep either. By now, I am tired and want to go to sleep. I am trying to lay on a mere 6 inches of bed so I finally asked my hubby to go sleep on Eyore's bed. Finally I got enough space to sleep. Not so, Eyore was tossing and turning so much and his breath so labored I couldn't get to sleep. I finally put him in the recliner in our room and put a movie on for him. I believe he got some sleep around four and I got some off and on. I was so tired by 7:30 I couldn't even open my eyes! The house work is going so slow now and I need to get the bills in order and mail a few things. I don't want to take Eyore out but I don't want to leave him home either. I guess I will minimize what needs to be done and be grateful I am not a working mom! I did read my daily bread today and that is an encouragement. You can get it online at The Daily Bread. Com. It's short and encouraging.

Sunday is for Reflection

I'll settle for this color today, although I am not sure what it is. Sort of a peach I guess. I just like it. I got up this morning ready to go to church but oh so tired. I was wondering why I stayed up so late knowing I had 5 kids to get around and my husband. I know that every Sunday I go to church without fail unless there is sickness. I know how long it will take yet I still watched "Remember The Titans". It was a good movie but I am now tired. So, I started on my routine slightly late and had an extra girlfriend to get ready for church. She is little Roo's friend and they are both 7. She has long hair and I always curl Roo's so I had to curl hers too. We managed to get all 4 showers and 3 baths done and we were not late! Amazing! You could say the sermon had points about reflection and where you are in your christian walk. It made me think. When was the last time I asked God for a closer walk with thee? When was the last time I took a good look at myself and talked to God about it? I found it was over a week ago and that is far to long if you don't want to forget why you are a Christian. If you want to raise your children to be Christians. I do this, just not often enough. So, today I have thought about why my life was so tough this week and wondering if God was trying to get my attention. I spent too much, had 2 days of migraines, ran out of my money for the week and the brakes went bad on the van. I am ready and willing to pray, read my Bible, and ask God what he wants of me this week. I hope all of you reading this can remember why we are who we are. God Bless you all

Is My House Going To Get Clean Again?

My color is blue today. Not necessarily a depressing blue but blue all the same. We bought a major fixer upper the 1st of November and everytime I think we get something done, we have hardly begun. I think the house work suffers because we do things to fix instead of clean. We put in new floors, but not the molding, we fixed the dry rot around the 10 foot window, but not the molding. We put in carpet down stairs, but not the molding. We painted the uppstairs but are yet to finish all of the downstairs. We washed the windows but they won't come clean, so we need sheer curtains for over them. We have started repairing the steps but have yet to finish. We haven't even started on the laundry room, which looks like a big roller coaster of pipes all over the walls and ceiling. Some of the pipes actually go across the window. We haven't started on the egress windows for the basement either. The roof leaks and needs replaced but it rains so much here that we will have to wait until summer. The wood work on the outside of the windows is in bad shape and is starting to rot, and the outside definitely needs painted. This is only a partial list but as you can see, we have a lot on our hands. We bought the fixer upper because we needed a large house, there are 8 of us, and we wanted a bigger lot than normal. We got a half acre plus an inground pool. This was a big plus because we love to swim and have lived in a place where we had an inground pool and we used it 6 out of the 7 days a week. The back and front yard have auto sprinklers and it is 2600 square feet. We have 5 bedrooms and 2 baths and want to put another bath in downstairs. So you can see there are some plusses to the old house. It also has some charm, it was built in the 40's and has a cape cod look. The roof lines are very tall. In a couple of years it will be very nice, well, maybe a few more than a couple. So, instead of cleaning we have a tendancy to put up molding, paint, fix the leaks in the roof, or repair problem spots on the walls or ceiling. I did try to do some cleaning today. I got my bed made and the downstairs vacuumed but then I started organizing boxes yet to be unpacked and putting up coat racks and pictures. It was good to get those out of the way, but my living room leaves a little to be desired, along with the boys room. We do enjoy our fixer house though. Onward I shall go and hope tomorrow is cleaner. I have begun to work late into the night!

Part of my day was spent with my horses and what fun I had. I only cleaned the barn and petted them, but my husband and our friend helped us do some rearranging of the pastures so the horses are seperated. My pony is very mean to my quarter horse. It was nice to spend time with them because in this weather I tend to ignore them. We were so muddy by the time we were done and I had to shower the dog! I must be off now because we are all cleaned up and I want to accomplish SOME cleaning!

Someone Please Help!

O.K. So after I left my post last night I started to get a migrane. Now, I get a lot of migraines so this wasn't worring me. I took some imatrex and went down to bed. I thought I would just relax and semi watch a little tv. As the next hour went on my migrane got worse. It kept getting worse. Finally I was just withering in pain. It was so bad yet I couldn't cry. I was afraid to cry lest it hurt even more. I tossed and turned, moaned, held my head this way and that, then tried to hold perfectly still. Nothing was working. In the wee hours of the morning I got up and took another pill. I was sure this one would work. Not a chance. The rest of the night wasn't much better. It is now 2:00 in the afternoon and I can barely sit here and type. I have been getting more and more migranes over the past six months. In the last month I had one week where I had it off and on the whole week. Off and on meaning a two hour break here and there. It wasn't so bad I had to go to the doctor but I couldn't function properly either. My mom is begging me to go to the doctor and get a shot but I am allergic to all narcotics. I will get deathly sick for at least 2 days. So do I prefer the pain or the violent throwing up? So here I sit wondering if anyone out there has any ideas. Someone gave me some Sunbreeze, an ointment you put on your temples. It helps some but it doesn't really take it away. I am at my witts end here and very tired to boot. My house is falling apart and my children will be home in 2 more hours and will want to do something tonight. On Fridays we usually have a family night. So, pray please that I will get over this and be able to spend a nice evening with the fam. If anyone has any suggestions, I would be eternally grateful.

Oh, my ride at the arena with my horse turned out to be fun. The person wanting to ride didn't show up so they let me ride my horse in their drill team. It was a hoot. They even asked me if I wanted to join. I'm not going to though because the time committment is too great for me and the money is too. I had a good time though.

Oh Look, My setting were changed!

Now instead of having wife of one it now says what I want it to say. I don't even remember doing this. Could it have been the blogger fairy. Thanks to the blogger fairy I have a pretty good weblog. Thank you blogger fairy! I'll be back later but I've got to clean my house before my mother gets home. Now, didn't I grow up yet? I played today so now I have responsibility.

Afraid of Blogging?

Tis the question. I just started up this blog and I can't decide if I am afraid of it or not. There are so many things to think about. Who will read this? Do I care if anyone reads this? (of course I do) Should I talk about politics? How in the world do I change my settings? The list goes on. My friend showed me how to do several things. I get home and can't remember a thing. I have tried to change the "Wife of One bit" (this is up there thanks to Mrs. Darling), but I can't figure it out. I was so sure I knew how after she showed me, but noooo. I wanted to link a fellow blogger on here, but I can't remember how to do this either. I have to say I am having a ball on here and reading other blogs too. It feels as if there are many kindred spirits out there. We all have so many of the same joys, struggles, hardships, and adventures. I am quite excited when I see people have visited my site. Thanks to all who have!

I went over to spend some time with my horse this morning and what do you think I found? Mud and more mud and more mud. I thought maybe I would spend an hour over there grooming one horse. Noooo, it took me two hours and he still doesn't look that good. To top that off he has some rain rott on his back. This rain is absolutely depressing! The vet said there are many horse owners dealing with this because the horses can't get DRY! They told me I needed to get him dry and expose him to the sun. Now I ask you, What Sun? There was a brief ray of sunshine this afternoon, but I can't make it over to the horses before the sun goes away. So here I sit with a horse in a barn instead of outside. I want to ride tonight and I told someone else they could ride my horse tonight too. I don't dare let him out because there is so much MUD. I would never get him clean and dry by tonight. Not to mention that it most assuredly would rain the minute I let him out. Now, I could put a blanket on him right? The last time I put a blanket on him he managed to get his front leg through the neck hole and was caught up. He couldn't even walk. We had to try and put his front leg and his head through the blasted blanket and get it off him. Dick Bob and I were afraid he was going to rear or bolt right in the middle of his head and leg going through it. As it was he reared his head up so fast that it hit Dick Bob in the face. Ouch! It was one of those horse blankets that slips over the neck, not buckles. So, no more blanket for him. I decided after putting two hours into him this morning that he could stay in the barn so he looked half way decent tonight at the arena. I am off in the cold to watch him ride and see if he likes "Drill Team". Drill Team is where they do fancy riding stuff at Rodeo's and Parades. Who knows, maybe he'll become famous!

My mother is making dinner tonight. I love it. She is making stew. It will be perfect for a night out when it is cold. My mother lives with us and she loves to do laundry and cooking. I hate laundry and cooking so it works for me! There are ups and downs but overall it works for us. For the record, They live with us, not the other way around.

I must be off now. Dick Bob bought a fixer upper pick up and he wants to go pay for it. He just turned 16 and is really growing up. He got a job and is paying for his own things. I am quite proud of him.

Tis The Night

I've decided to go with purple. It soothes me and after my night I hope this works. My evening out started at 4:00. I was off to pick up one child from the bus stop then off to the school to pick up the boys from chess club. Then it was off to the horses, they needed fed and put up for the night. I then rushed home because Dick Bob had an appointment across town. We got him over there at 6:00 and promptly headed out to do returns from Christmas. I promised my little Rabbit that we would do them. Did I forget my wallet? Oh, yes. The reciepts were in my wallet so grocery shopping it was. 8:00 rolls around and we head over to pick up Dick Bob. We finally arrive home at 8:40. Put the kids to bed and start a project. Off to bed would have been a good idea but I so wanted to scrap book. I got my first two kids' birth all finished. Time for bed now because it is 12:00. I will be tired tomorrow.

Oh, Happy Day

Today our former foster child came over. What a happy time. We miss him so much and enjoy every moment we get to see him. He was 2 when he left and is now 3. What a difference, we can now understand what he's saying. He was so busy running after his sister (they are half siblings) and trying to show us everything. He was doing acrobats off his sisters bed, they were happily jumping too. We gave him a buz and woody and he ran all over the house asking for BATTERIES! LOL. It was the highlight of his evening when we put the batteries in. We were all sad to see him go but he is doing so well in his adoptive home. He is much loved and is more spoiled there than here and that's quite a feat! He is definetly spoiled rotten with two families showering him with toys and hugs. He gets bombarded with hugs and we can hardly let him walk. We all try carring him around. We are going to have to stop as he is getting way to big to be treated like a baby.
Well, I must be off as my little roo needs attention.
Mrs. Kanga

What A Night

I have decided there is no where to sleep anymore. Everywhere I try I can barely stand in the morning. We have bought new beds, tried air beds, thin ones, thick ones. I have slept on all the kids' beds. Each one of theirs is different. I have traded one of my friends her new fangled water bed, I have slept on the couch, I have tried my mothers water bed and all to the same deal. I can barely walk any given morning. If I switch beds I may get a night or two but not much more than that. I am the only one up this morning because my back feels as though I broke it in the middle. It is excruciating to keep lying down and excruciating to get up. I decided to get up this morning and lay on my couch, but my son is on it. Now why is my son on my couch? Who knows. I keep taking Advil but I know that it is not good for me but how else do I function each morning. I take long hot showers and stretch all I can. By 10 or so each day I am better but I just dread going to bed at night. I stayed up til midnight chatting over a cup of tea with a friend but still my back aches so. I need to start our morning so we can get to church without much fuss but oh how I don't want to. I want to find a comfortable place to curl up in and try for some shut eye. However, I know better so I guess I'm off to the shower.

Just a couple of pics of my kids WHEN THE SUN WAS SHINING!

Mrs. Kanga

It's Still Raining!

They say it will never be as bad as the flood of 96 but I wonder. I don't want to do anything but read a book and watch the rain. I need a little sunshine. I just got back from Florida and it was beautiful. The beaches were wonderful and the water warm. Here, the wood needs brought in for the fireplace so we can keep warm, of which I am not. The grass is green, but it can't get any greener. I was driving down a the road here and the river is close to the bank. The park I drive by is almost completely under water and will be soon. There is so much rain. The only bright spot in this winter was during the freeze. It actually froze enough to walk on our inground pool. Then, of course, it started to rain. It took less than 24 hourse for the rain to melt the ice! AAAAgggg!

I should be helping Owl get the van cleaned out but it is raining. He is using his new shop vac, so I say let him have at it. We need to go get brake parts for our other van, but I don't want to go. I want to read my book. There is so much to do, Sigh. I guess I will go and motivate myself to get a fire going and help clean the van. Enjoy the rain.

Mrs. Kanga

Figuring it out!

Well, let's see what I have here. Mrs. Darling, please help.