Wisdom from my walk

this is about our 9th month here, we moved Dec. 15ish and it’s after August 15th..so that’s 8 or 9 months right?  well I was starting to think finding friends and connecting was going to be near impossible w/ three kids to rangle all of the time.   then we met a couple who just moved here from MD and we got together this past week and had fun.   we have a lot of common interests so that helps!

a neighbor had mentioned to me about a co-op in our community and the other day I got a packet of info in the mail.  the name of the person who sent it seemed so familiar to me.  Dean came home and looked and we debated whether it was someone from our church.  In fact someone who came to a get-together aimed at starting a small group at our house, and that we had met several times before that as well.  Well I wasnt sure but knew I had questions about the coop and was torn over calling her or not.  So I gave in this evening and one of the first things she asked me was, do you know who this is.  I laughed and told her how we kept arguing over whether it was that family or not and turns out it is.  confusing I know.  but basically, she’s the director of the co-op and also goes to our church.

the co-op is only , brace yourself, $50 a year(per child, so $100 / year for us)!!! that’s all.  there’s a class for 1-3 year olds and a class for 3-5 year olds.  So Zeke would be in the younger class and Boaz the older class since he’s almost 3.   So for $100 a  year, and parent participation of course, the kids can go to this preschool program 2 days a week!  I will stay w/ Zeke since he is younger and Bo will go to the older class by himself.  which will be great for him!

So not only will our neighbor be going, this other family we know from church will be there.  I’m so excited!!  I loved taking Caleb to a co-op and the thought of something so  cheap and good for the kids and gets me out there socializing w/ other moms, I am so stoked!!

so friendship potential is increasing as we speak! wohoo!!

so my school schedule is going to be pretty busy.  Monday, my exercise class, tuesdays coop for the boys and I, Wednesdays morning co-op afternoon early intervention, every other Thursday moms group for me and the boys and hopefully exercise class for me beforehand and Fridays exercise class for me, and that’s just my schedule w/ Bo and Zeke that doesnt acct for anything Caleb will be doing after school.   sounds like the school year is going to be a fun one!! not to mention our evening plans that will involve moms group leadership meetings, coop meetings one a month, baby dedication meetings for church every now and then and on weekends serving on the tech team at church….and somewhere in there we’re starting a small group that we’re hosting at our house!!  wow….so much for not being involved and connected huh?

working on uploading some pics…hope to have them up later tonight

it’s once again a Saturday morning and I have been blessed to be able to sleep in!  Dean got up and took the kids out of the house again this morning so I could rest.  I wish I could do the same for him so he could sleep in one morning, but mornings kick my butt!  I woke up when they left just to get a potty break for myself and every part of my body screamed in pain.  I hate mornings.  I actually often say before going to sleep, I hate bedtime as well.  mostly because I know whenever I wake up I’ll feel worse than I did when I went to sleep.  for me sleep is never refreshing, if anything I wake up feeling like I ran a marathon or got run over by a truck.  it’s almost always this way.   tomorrow no one will sleep in since we have to be at church by 8, it’s our tech team weekend so we’ll be at all the church services.  so resting now is a good thing, but I can only hope in the long run resting now makes a difference.

we had new friends over for dinner and games last night.  we had dinner, played some games, well tried to as well had to keep up w/ Bo and Zeke were doing while we played.   it got a little loud, but there were a lot of kids here.  Caleb also had friends over to watch the premier of High School Musical 2.   he had bought the soundtrack a few days ago so he knows most of the songs already.  he’s following in his fathers footsteps, with a love for theater and my love for music.  it’s cool but we also know this love of theater and music at his age is probably not normal, but that just makes us feel prouder, he’s got a pretty good voice for a 6 year old, I’m determined to find a theater group that will take a kid his age and teach them the ropes and get him into something, even if small parts til he’s older.

I know I should probably be still resting but I feel so guilty sleeping in while he’s out managing the kids solo, something he sometimes struggles with.   I will probably shower and start some laundry.  luckily the house is clean already so I dont have any of those chores to do today.

hope everyone has a great weekend!

I really hope it never comes to this!  Very very sad…..puts my predicament currently into perspective.

On a good note, last night caleb used his birthday money to buy a new 20″ bike, helmet and cushy seat cover.   he’s so very happy!  he’s hoping we can go to the aquarium tomorrow and is excited that High School muscial 2 comes on tv tomorrow night.  currently he and dean are at Kings Island.  when they left Zeke was napping and bo was too, but Bo’s nap was very brief, between the dogs playing and getting into trouble and his waking up so soon I feel like I barely closed my eyes!  this morning we went to a different Y to meet up w/ the early intervention classes for a field trip.  it was a lot of fun, and much more relaxing since I had Dean w/ me!   (I dont usually have help at the pool during the day)

We were supposed to have small group tonight but no one RSVP’d.  theres a movie at the local park tonight so if no one really shows up for group thats what I’m hoping to do.   but it’s not until 8 and not sure the kids will be up for it after such a brief nap.

I just made a pan of brownies and it smells so yummy!  Zekes just now eating lunch since he fell asleep on the way home from the Y and has been sleeping until Bo woke him.  wont be long til I have to start dinner….so far day 1 of our mini vacation at home is going well.  i feel kind of crappy and talked to my dr and other than more pain meds, which I refuse to take, theres not many options left for me.  hoping to start back up w/ exercising after school starts, hoping it helps and doesnt make things worse again.

hoping the day goes by quickly..if I didnt know Dean was going to be off for as few days I dont think I would have managed to get through this day without help.   we went to walmart to get much needed food and diapers, it took forever w/ three nagging kids and I already felt crappy beforehand.  now I am just hanging by a thin string of patience until dean gets home…I really need to rest.  i think I’m coming down w/ a cold or something, but who knows it could just be another fibro flare up.  either way I really want to lay down….soon…and the kids wont stop being so loud….just a little longer….bedtime is a few short hours away…thank god!

never let it be said I didnt try to document our silly days! :-

proof that potty training can be fun!

more pics up on my flickr acct!

I really need to get a flickr pro acct as its been easier for me to upload to flickr than post all my pics here, one day..

Bo really does like to eat…and I know thats why a lot of people think he’s so big, but honestly the boy doesnt eat that much and most of the things he eats are healthier than what I do.   Last night he ate a pea and said “yummy”  this morning he’s telling me apples dipped in yogurt is yummy.   He likes food that’s for sure, but I did notice this morning when changing him that he is definitely getting taller and slimming down.

Zeke is also losing his baby look.  and he’s starting to talk some and if you give him instructions like “give that toy to bo” or something he does it.   yesterday for the first time I can recall instead of always telling me no when I ask him if he wants something he shook his head yes.  it was cute.   If I could Bo to stop talking for him I think he’d been a lot wordier but he’s definitely trying to talk.

Caleb on the other hand is our boy genius.  well, I’m sure he’s not that smart but he’s pretty smart!  he’s excited to spend his birthday money, he wants to get a bike and go to the aquarium.   I was impressed, but today though he said maybe he’d go to the toy store and get lots of toys w/ his money.  I’m truly against that idea so we’ll see.   He’s got a good amt of money, for a 6 year old I think.

Dean’s off starting tomorrow and wont go back to work til Tuesday!  since he had taken off to go to balto. this weekend we decided he’d still take off and we’d do fun stuff, like Kings Island and the aquarium.  I’m also hoping to go get some new glasses, I love Dean’s vision plan, we can get new glasses for free every year so that’s great since last year Bo broke my new pair and I’ve been wearing ones that are 2 years old and all messed up from the kids pulling on them.

well if I want to make it to the Y today I need to get working on getting breakfast cleaned up and the kids dressed….I really didnt want to get out of bed today…as I showered I wondered what would happen if one day I just didnt….surely would be bad since two wake up in diapers.   oh well…if I can get through today I’ll have 5 days of having dean around to help…wohooo!!   i am still mourning the loss of our trip to balto. but I’ll probably feel more rested after 5 days at home w/ time to nap when I want/ need then i would have if we went to Balto.

we were doing so good financially once we moved here.  there was money in the savings acct and all was going well.  here we are again, back at the paycheck to paycheck and even then praying it all works out.  no major changes except for the fact we used up all of the money we set aside for Dean’s healthcare flexible spending acct which we were hoping would make it through the year to cover medical bills, copays, prescriptions and the like.  well I guess since I’m taking so many meds now and that money is gone it’s hurting us big time.  So now we have to pay out of pocket for copays and prescription copays.   next year I guess we need to up the amt he puts in there from his pay.  If we could all stay healthy I’m sure we’d be fine….but dumb doctors and meds are killing us lately.

we’ve talked about our options and the only one aside from getting rid of the things we love, i.e. directv and tivo….the only other option is for one of us to get another job, ok me a job or Dean a part time one.  but the thing is I’ve never been able to hold a job because I physically cant keep up w/ a job and kids.   i’ve tried and it never works.   I’d hate to cancel our Y membership because the exercise classes are really helping me(when the kids arent sick to take w/ me to the childcare and I can actually go), which reminds me I should call the insurance to see if they would cover it if the dr ordered it.

not much else we can cut from our budget.  trying like crazy to cut out diapers for Bo, but the boy just changed his mind, he wants to wear underwear but he doesnt want to pee or poop in the potty this week.  I dont have the energy to fight w/ him about it or to clean up poop underwear so I bought more pull ups.  which are expensive since they just go in the trash.

blah. tomorrows pay day and after we pay bills there’s little left over for things like food and other necessities, diapers, and school starts next week so the boy needs school supplies.  we’re the kind of folks that dont have a credit card for emergencies, which is good, no debt but also sucks when money is tight like this and the kid needs school supplies.   our savings has been depleted, again.  I am so pissed about that, but we used most of it to buy our van so that we wouldnt have a car payment, so in the end it’s a good thing and we know where the money went, but it’s still gone.   🙁

I’m sure you all needed to know our financial status, but I know there are lots of you out there that read and care and so I’m asking any of you that might, and might have time to add us to your prayer list, to please do!!  things always work out, but when you cant see how it’s always hard to trust!

we know a lot of this is because of my health, need for meds, doctors appts and inability to work and/or have to pay for childcare while I work.   (I doubt the two would ever balance the other out, so is working really worth it til the kids are older and in school?)

I cant believe school starts next week.  I’m dreading going school shopping.   at least the boy can wear summer clothes for a few more weeks and hoping his fall/winter clothes still fit for a few more weeks so then we can get some new things for him.   so far none of his friends are in his class.   there’s 3 first glade classes, and of all the kids on our block , which there are quite a few, they are all pretty much split up.   we were hoping he’d still have some of them in his class, hoping theres at least a few kids from his class last year.

well I need to go to bed. the boys wore me out today.   I must admit the pain has been better overall, but I’m taking it pretty easy these days which helps that out a lot.  I havent exercised for weeks.   I’m just so worn out all of the time.  we got to the Y in time for my class today, early even, but Bo had been freaking out all morning and was just screaming and I didnt have it in me to fight w/ him and Caleb who kept complaining about going to the kids class at the Y so I could work out.  hoping I can drag them, even if it means kicking and screaming, tomorrow so i can work out.  I’ve gained 4 lbs since I’ve stopped exercising and I dont want that to continue.  it’s not good for my health at all to gain weight, I really need to lose a lot so I dont get diabetes before I’m thirty!  but I’m thinking it might not matter which such a strong family history of it.

I did take the boys to the park this afternoon, hoping to download pics from that trip tomorrow.  I’m ready to crash right now so until then…have  a good night!