Visit from the Police

I guess considering how wild my kids are, it was inevitable that the Police would one day visit my house.

JB rang our doorbell at 6:30am this morning. Bob got up and answered it. He asked if he could "take a nap" here. Bob told him he could sleep on the couch downstairs. He was out like a light until I got him up at 4pm.

So I'm outside this afternoon working in my flower beds, and a city policeman gets out of his car and is looking all over at JB's car. I went over and asked if I could help him with something. He said there had been a hit and run last night and someone died. The car involved was just like JB's Intrepid and had damage on the right front passenger side. JB's car already had damage there from a fender bender Prom night.

I explained that. He wanted to know who owned the car, what his relationship wast to me, etc. And I explained all that. I was SO panicking. I was on my way to go wake JB up and ask what was going on when the officer came back and said he'd cleared JB's car...it wasn't the one they were looking for. Whew!!!

Spill-My-Guts Libby Strikes Again!!!

They are building a house next to us. They started it over a year ago, and it's sat there forever with equipment and piles of dirt and trash in the yards...the weeds are grown up. It's been really hard to keep the kids out of it, and I've really gotten tired of looking at it. I was just about to call the city and complain.

I was out weeding my flowerbeds last weekend, and a guy on a motorcycle drove by...my new neighbor. He stopped and introduced himself and explained that they were finally going to start working on the house again and it would be finished in mid-August. He said he has a son who is Frank and Libby's age.

Last weekend, I hear my girls in the front yard talking to a man. So I go outside to see who they are talking to. Well it's my new neighbor and his son. I step out there and the new neighbor says "Well, it's been really interesting talking to your kids. They told me all about how you are tired of looking at it, and lots of other things!"

Nicccccceee. Thanks Libby!!

Kendra and Kathleen - Trip to the Hospital

I was single when I first became a Foster Parent. My first long-term Foster Kids were Kendra who was 5 and Kathleen who was 3. They were the youngest two kids of a sibling group of 6.

I had only had the girls a few weeks, when Kathleen got very sick. She was a teeny, tiny petite thing. She looked much younger than 3. I had no medical history on the girls and really we didn't know each other very well yet. At to that, I was really a pretty inexperienced parent.

I took Kathleen to the minor emergency center one cold night. She was wheezing and coughing, running a high fever and very pale. The doctor was a very handsome young man. He had dark hair and green eyes. I'm wondering if he's single. He starts asking me questions about Kathleen's medical history. He wants to know if she's been diagnosed with asthma. I tell him that I don't know...that they are my Foster Daughters.

It seemed like we were in there all evening. They are giving her breathing treatments and putting an oxygen mask on her. Every time they mess with her, Kathleen starts wailing. Every time Kathleen starts crying, Kendra gets scared and starts crying too.

Finally the doctor comes back in and tells me that he thinks they need to put Kathleen in the hospital. I'm terrified. I've never had a child in the hospital, and I don't even know this one very well. And there's tons of red tape when a Foster Child is sick. And what am I going to do with Kendra while I stay in the hospital with Kathleen??? As all of this runs through my head, my eyes start to fill with tears. The doctor looks at me and calmly says "If you start crying too, I swear thatI'm going to throw ALL THREE of you OUT of here!!!" That bit of humor helped me get a grip. LOL.

I call my Mom and she says she'll come and get Kendra and stay with her at my house. I pack up the two little girls and head over to the hospital. By now they are both exhausted and so am I. We haven't had any dinner. On the way to the hospital, Kendra sees a McDonalds. She starts throwing an absolute fit to stop at McDonalds and get something to eat. I have a three year old in the car who isn't breathing well....no way am I stopping.

We get to the hospital and I park in the parking garage. Kendra is into a complete meltdown by this point. I'm walking across the parking garage and she just falls down on the cement kicking, screaming that she wants McDonalds and having a Wall-Eyed Fit. I just look at her and calmly explain that I am taking Kathleen into the hospital whether or not Kendra follows us, and I walk off. Kendra lets me get out of sight around a corner, and then jumps up and catches up with me.

I finally get checked in to the hospital. Granny has over a two hour drive, but I wait and wait and she doesn't come. She was driving in the dark and goes through a horrible thunderstorm. She said it was raining so hard she could barely see the road. Then when she got to Tulsa, she couldn't find the hospital in the dark. But she put on her "Towanda Suit" and finally made it to the hospital.

Mrs. Pool, I was really afraid for your kids!!!

When I was a high school teacher, I had been asked to go to a conference in Oklahoma City. My kids were ages 6, 5, 2 and 1 at the time. So Bob asked his mother, Arlene, to come down while I was gone and help him watch the kids.

I had also hired a high school girl that year to come and clean our house for us once a week. I told her that I was going to this conference, but that my Mother-in-law would be at the house, so she could go ahead and clean at her regular time.

Well Memaw took our new mini-van to the school to pick up Frank and Libby. Bob was at practice. When she got home, she said she was about to pee her pants, so she told the kids to stay in the car while she ran in the house to go to the bathroom, and then she'd come back out and unload the little girls and take them in the house.

Well while she's in the bathroom, she hears the Panic Alarm go off in the Mini-van "Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep..." She finishes her business and goes back outside. The kids (Frank and Libby) have locked themselves inside the mini-van....with the keys in there....and the two little girls....and have also somehow managed to set off the panic alarm.

**I** have the second set of keys in my purse with me....in Oklahoma City!! She tries to get the kids to unlock the door and they just look at her. Somehow she finally pursuades them to open the doors and she's able to get the little girls out....but even though the doors are unlocked, the panic alarm is still going strong. She presses the panic button, but it won't go off.

Note: When the doors are locked and there is movement inside the vehicle, the system assumes someone is trying to break into the car and sets off the alarm. The way to turn it off is to hold down the Panic Button for 10 seconds. But Memaw didn't know that!!!

Neighbors begin to call the house asking if She knows the car alarm is going off. The alarm continues to go off for another 15 minutes until it finally shuts itself off.

So when I come home from the trip, I ask how things went. Memaw tells me "Oh, we had this little issue of Frank and Libby setting off the car alarm, but we got it taken care of."

I really didn't think any more about it until I went to school the next Monday. The girl who cleans my house comes up to me during class and goes "Mrs. Pool...are your kids okay?" I'm like "Yeah, last time I checked....why wouldn't they be?" And Erica says "Well I was at your house cleaning it when your kids locked the keys in the mini-van and set the alarm off. And I was afraid for your kids!!!" And I respond "Yeah, I know about that, Memaw told me about it. Why were you afraid for them??" And she says "Well I went out there to try and help her turn the alarm off and get the kids out of the mini-van. And we couldn't figure it out. And when the kids finally unlocked the door, your Mother-In-Law was yelling and screaming and chasing them across the yard. And Mrs Pool, I was really afraid for your kids!!!"

Hmmmm....Memaw had neglected to tell me about that part. LOL.

J.B. has flown the coop

He's out on his own now. He's staying with a friend while he's working on getting his own apartment. I miss him, but it was time. We still see him every other week or so, and talk to him by phone a couple of times a week.

He works at Domino's Pizza almost full time and is planning on going to Butler County Junior College this Fall. He has a full Pell Grant.

Did I say I miss him? LOL. He's only been with us a year. I can't imagine how much harder it will be when one of my little kids flies the coop.

Kids Say the Darnedest Things

Well normally I don't post embarrassing things about anybody else's kids. But we had a couple of great stories this week that I just couldn't pass up sharing. Mostly because it makes me feel good that my kids are not the ONLY ones that spill their guts about everything.

First of all, any and all kids are welcome in my home as long as they are respectful. And we almost always have at LEAST one extra kid at any given time. Frank is in Oklahoma this week, so this weekend I took my three girls to see the movie Wall*E. We invited one of Carlie and Madi's dear friends to go along with us. This little girl lives with her great-grandma. Her Mom died in a car accident when she was a baby. She's a total sweetheart and not a bit of trouble. So on the way home I'm listening to the girls talking in the back seat. Madi starts talking about her birth parents. And this little girls says "Yeah, you know my Mom died when I was a baby. And my Dad, well he was all messed up on drugs....and he had to plumb leave the country before I was born. He didn't even get to see me!!!" I nearly drove off the road. LOL.

Then tonight, one of Libby's best friends is over. I had never met her before. And she is also a very sweet little girl. At dinner tonight, she was telling me about her family. She said "Yeah, my Mom takes care of a Handicap (not a Handicapped person, a Handicap). He lives in our house and that's how we make our living. My Mom has a bedroom, he has a bedroom and me and my two brothers share a bedroom." So I ask her how old her brothers are and she tells me that one of them is 6 and the other is 13. And then she whispers "And my 13 year old brother....we don't really know who his Dad is. But I know my Dad. I went camping with him last week."

I nearly spit my Diet Coke all over the table. Like I said, I'm glad my kids aren't the only ones who spill their guts!!!

Is it a Full Moon tonight?

He didn't want me to take his picture being ugly, so he put the pan over his face.

For some reason having Frank and Libby together just equals trouble. Frank has been away all week visiting with Memaw and Pepaw in Oklahoma. I had very little problems with the girls while he was gone, and he got into very little trouble while he was away.

He got home late yesterday. The two of them started in on each other first thing this morning. Bobby said he sent Libby to her room early in the day, and she ended up spending a chunk of it there.

Then I came home from work and started dinner. Bobby had to leave for to run the Weight Room as soon as I got home. After we finished dinner, I asked Frank to empty the dishwasher and re-load it. I came back a few minutes later and he is gone, and the dishes are still piled high in the sink. When I called him upstairs he INSISTED that he'd emptied the dishwasher and reloaded it.

Well what he'd done was taken a couple of dishes out, stuck one dirty one back in there and said he was done. Now I was born in the day time, but I wasn't born yesterday.

So I make him empty the dishwasher and reload it while I stand over him. He gets a total attitude. He finally tries to run from me, but I anticipated what he was going to do. I got him by the neck and took him down to the floor before he could get more than a step. We stayed on the floor for close to an hour during which time he told me repeatedly that I was the meanest mom ever. When he was finally back in control of himself and ready to apologize, I let him up so that he could complete the chore of emptying and reloading the dishwasher. THEN he had to do additional chores for me since I'd had to spend so much time making him do the first one the right way. So now I have a really clean house!!!

While I was outside having Frank pull all of the weeds out of the patio, I hear screaming from the house. Madi comes outside dripping wet with a towel half-wrapped around her naked person. She tells me that while in the tub Carlie has thrown a Barbie at her head and caused a big knot. I herd her inside. I find Carlie in the bathtub, naked, looking very guilty. She explains to me that Madi MADE her hit her in the head because Madi was being a TOTAL jerk.

So I tell them they are both going to bed IMMEDIATELY. And not only that, I was going to make Madi sleep in the room they share, and Carlie was going to sleep in MY bed. That was the worst possible thing I could do to them. They begged and pleaded to be allowed to sleep in the same room. I calmly explained that they couldn't stand each other (or at least I thought so from the way they were treating each other) so I didn't want them to have to sleep together.

While they were finishing cleaning up the bathroom, they came up with a plan. They found me in the livingroom and informed me that they had kissed and hugged, so could they please sleep in their room together. So they are in bed right now chattering away to each other like the bestest of friends!!!

Awwwww...the joys of parenting.

June Quotes

When I get one of those 'mom' headaches, I take the advice on the aspirin bottle. Take two and keep away from children. - Rosanne Barr
****************************************************
Do or do not... there is no try. - Yoda - Star Wars
****************************************************
I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. - Robert Frost
****************************************************
I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much - Mother Teresa
****************************************************
Worry looks around, Sorry looks back, Faith looks up.
****************************************************

4th of July

We didn't have any big plans this year. So we went to the zoo for the afternoon for Wet-n-Wild. They brought in a fire truck and sprayed the kids down for the afternoon. We had alot of fun.

Then we came home and popped some firecrackers in the driveway. Even Madi and
Carlie were setting some small ones off. Here are some pictures.

House Work

Bob went to Oklahoma today to pick Frank up. So I gathered the girls up to help me clean the house. Carlie has been in trouble all weekend. I've spanked her about three times a day for being smart alec or flat out not doing what she was told to do.

This morning she started whinning because she didn't want to help with the housework. Her first job was to empty the bathroom trash cans. She told me that was WAY too hard for her to do and she didn't like to do housework anyway. I said "Housework is a part of life. Get in there and empty those trash cans." She gave me a mean look and said "Well housework isn't a part of MY life!!!"

So she got to do not only HER chores today, but also some of the other girls'.

Not many kids get to pick their own name.

We'd had Frank and Libby nearly two years before we knew we'd get to adopt them. Frank was in Kindergarten, and Libby was in Head Start. At that time their names were Franklin Thomas Robey and Shawna Lois Robey.

Their counselor first brought up the idea of changing their first names when we changed their last names to Pool. I thought that was totally strange at first....we'd called them Frank and Shawna for over two years, how could we start calling them something different.

But I thought about it awhile, and first asked Frank if he'd like to change his name. Frank thought about it a few a minutes, and says "Yeah, I would really like to change my first name." So I asked him what he'd like to change it to....and he responds "STRING. I want to be STRING Pool!!!" So I quickly nix that idea and told him String isn't going to work for a first name. So he goes "OH, Well I know then. I want to be Mr. Mobley. Mr. Mobley POOL!!!" Mr. Mobley was the name of his much admired Elementary School Principal. So I nixed that idea too, and we forgot about it for a while.

Edited to add: Granny just reminded me that Shawna also had an interesting first idea for a new name. Her first choice was "Dora the Explora Pool" and like "String Pool" it was quickly nixed :0)

Then that summer though, Libby went to Vacation Bible School. Her High School helper was a girl named Liberty who went by the name of Libby. I had never really liked the name Shawna. We all had names or nick-names that ended in the "i" sound except for her. We had Bobby, Julie, Frankie, Madi Carlie....and Shawna.

She was very vehement that she wanted to change her name that summer and didn't give up on the idea. So when we adopted them, we changed her name to Shawna Elizabeth Pool, and she goes by Libby as a nickname.

What's really weird, is when I think about her during our earlier years together, I think of her as "Shawna"....when I think of her now I think of her as "Libby" its almost like two different kids.

Anyway, Libby has the uniqueness of picking her own first name.

Football is already breathing down my neck!!!

It's not even July yet, and we had our first FIFTH GRADE football meeting. The boys will be practicing two hours a day six days a week from the end of July until school starts. They are encouraging us to start conditioning them now so that they aren't puking their guts out when practices start.

He has the same coach that he had last year, and he's a good coach. Frank should learn alot this year. We'll see how tough he is once someone hits him with full pads on.

Lord of the Flies

I don't know why all the really weird things happen to ME. Bob had weight lifting tonight, and Arlena was watching the kids until I got home. I came home to a completely empty house. I drive up, and not only is the garage door wide open, but the door between the garage and the kitchen is wide open too. All four of our pets are outside.

I go in the house, and it looks like a tornado has gone through it. At first I thought maybe there'd been a buglar. There was clutter all over the place. There was jelly on the cabinets, the dining room table was filthy. Then I found the REALLY gross part. Quit reading if you are squimish.

I walked by the sink which was piled with dirty dishes and a SWARM of flies flew off the dishes. They were EVERYWHERE. There were probably 30 of them on the big picture window. I raised all of the blinds and started killing flies. I killed so many of them that you could see them piled on the hardwood floors on the kitchen and on the carpet on the landing. I went into the Master Bath and killed 14 of them on the window there.

When Arlena and the girls got home, I lined them all up on the couch and chewed some butt. I made Libby get the vacuum and vacuum up all the dead flies on the floor. I made Lena clean the kitchen. I made Madi get the windex and wipe the fly guts off all the windows. And I made Carlie take toilet paper and pick up the dead flies off of my bathroom floor. Carlie was screaming "I can't do it. I can't do it. They're still moving. I saw one moooovvvvviiiinnnng."

Bob called Lena afterwards and she told him "Boy, Julie is sure an intense person!!!"

I have never seen so many flies in a house at one time. It was GROSS....like a B horror movie. I may have bad dreams about it tonight.

Happy Ninth Birthday Libby!!!!

I can't believe how much you've changed over the years. Happy Birthday, Long-Legged Libby!!!!

Rain, Rain, Go Away - Garage Sale Blues

Well we tried to have a garage sale this weekend. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. We went ahead and opened the garage sale anyway, but we only had about five customers and sold ONE item. LOL.

But the kids got out their umbrella and had great fun sitting at the end of the drive way with garage sale signs trying to lure in customers.

Granny and Papaw came and we had a good time sitting in the garage and visiting with them.

Donuts - $12
Garage Sale Signs - $8
Ad in the Paper - $14
Proceeds from Garage Sale - $5

Fun day with the kids in the rain - Priceless



A few more pictures of the fun.



Libby escorting Granny in the rain. Granny has lost 23lbs...doesn't she look great!!!

Snack Wars – Part II

The next issue we had with snacks was over snacks stored out in the garage. I have a shelf that sits in the garage right outside the door to the kitchen. When I have extra food items, I’ll sometimes store them out there.

I had purchased a case of apple sauce in individual containers from Sam’s Club and stuck them out on the shelf. Then one day in the garage, I notice that there are empty apple sauce containers out there.

I’m telling my Mom on the phone about the empty containers I found. She always tries to stick up for Frank and Libby. So she says “Well maybe some mice got into your garage and ate the apple sauce.” Ummmm….last time I checked Mom, mice don’t use red plastic spoons to eat apple sauce!!!!

So that evening, the whole family is in the kitchen area getting ready for dinner. I casually mention to my husband “Bob, be sure that you don’t give any of that apple sauce out in the garage to the kids, because I accidentally dumped a bunch of it in the cat litter and got cat pee on it. I’m going to throw it away.” Frank and Libby’s eyes got as huge as saucers. And I haven’t had any trouble with them taking snacks out of the garage since then.

Imaginary Friends

Some people’s children HAVE imaginary friends. My child WAS an imaginary friend for a while. I was concerned for a little while that she might have the beginnings of Multiple Personality Disorder!

Last summer Carlie had just turned four. Our Nanny at the time (Loretta) would tell Carlie stories about things her children had done when they were little. Some of Carlie’s favorite stories were about Loretta’s daughter named Krissy.

So there for a while… Carlie BECAME Krissy. When we were talking to her, we never knew if we were talking to Carlie or Krissy. Krissy was 15 years old, and Krissy was Carlie’s cousin. Carlie liked Mac & Cheese, but Krissy did not. Krissy liked to play on the swing set, but Carlie was afraid of heights.

If Carlie was in her Krissy persona, then she would not respond to the name Carlie. So I’d holler “Carlie, it’s time for dinner.” And Carlie would just sit there like she hadn’t heard me. If I stepped it up and raised my voice, she’d cut her eyes over at me and ask why I was calling her Carlie when her name was Krissy.

If we asked Carlie to come inside and take a bath, we’d be informed that “Krissy” didn’t like to take bathes. Krissy should also have a later bedtime because she was after all, fifteen!

It was an interesting summer, and like most imaginary friends, Krissy finally disappeared

You aren't a real Dad until you've been puked on!

Father's Day was just a week or so ago, and I want to take a moment to brag on my husband. Bob was about 33 when we met. He'd never been married. He'd spent his whole life focus on sports and coaching.

We met in September 2000, got engaged in November 2000. Got married June 3, 2001 and got Frank and Libby July 17, 2001. We'd barely been married a month. within a year Bobby went from being a committed bachelor to being married with two kids.

Madi came along in April 2002, and Carlie in March of 2003. In two and a half year, he went from being single to being married with four small kids!!! That couldn't have been an easy adjustment.

When we first got Frank and Libby, Libby would eat anything and everything in sight. She would scavenge for food in the trash cans, under the couch, anywhere she could find it. She would also sometimes eat until she threw up.

We'd only had them a few weeks when we decided to go eat Mexican food and then go to Walmart. Libby ate and ate. When we got to the store, Bob and I each put a kid in a shopping cart. I had Frank in my cart and he had Libby in his. He said he was going to take Libby and go look in the sporting goods section.

He'd only been gone a few minutes when he showed back up at my side with a look of panic and disgust on his face. The first thing out of his mouth was "What do I DO???" He'd been pushing Libby in the cart and she'd leaned forward and puked all over his feet. He was wearing flip-flops!!!

So I'm standing in the middle of Walmart with a 2 year old covered in puke and a husband covered in puke. Bob took Frank and went into the mens room to wash off his feet and shoes. I bought Libby a new set of clothes and paid for them in layaway, then took her into the bathroom and changed her clothes.

And I told Bob that he was now officially a Dad, as he'd been puked on!!!

My Cherokee Princess

We have always told Madi that in the summer time, she gets as dark as a little brown nut. They went to the swimming pool yesterday. As they were taking off their bathing suites to get in the tub and wash their hair, Madi says "Mom, it's weird. The more that I go swimming, the whiter my butt gets!!!!"

Do they arrest parents if their kids cause a Train Derailment???

My parents dropped by during the day today to visit with the kids. They were on their way to a doctor's appointment in Wichita. While they were here, Frank and Libby showed my parents a bag of railroad spikes! There is an active railroad track that runs around the backside of our neighborhood. Apparently Frank and Libby along with the neighbor girl, Krystal, had spent the afternoon pulling up railroad spikes! They had a bag containing THIRTY EIGHT of them. Granny asked how they got them up, and Libby said "They came up really easily. We just pulled them up!"

When I got home, I told them that those spikes are what holds the railroad track together, and if they pulled too many of them out that the rails would come apart and the train would derail. Libby's eyes got as wide as saucers.

Not to mention the fact that they were playing on the train tracks at ALL.

So DO you think they put parents in jail if their children cause a train derailment????

The Snack Wars - Part I

For some reason, it is very very common that children who have been abused and neglected will horde/sneak/steal food. Frank and Libby have both struggled with this issue over the years. It goes away for a while, and then will come back suddenly with a vengence.

We've tried creative ways to resolve this over the years. And please note that healthy food (ie apples, oranges, bananas, cheese) is ALWAYS available in my house, and a request for a healthy snack is seldom turned down.

This past school year, I had three kids in elementary school. I decided that it was too expensive to buy them all a hot lunch every day, so we'd begin packing a lunch. I bought little bags of chips and Pringles. I made it clear to everyone that these were expensive and were for school lunches ONLY.

A couple of months went by and I cleaned Frank's room out. Behind his bed, I found a MOUND of empty wrappers from candy, snacks and chips. He was sneaking them out of the cupboard and taking them downstairs to eat them. We'd had this problem in the past, so it wasn't a big surprise.

So I showed Frank that I'd found his "Stash". And I told him there'd be consequences the next time I found empty wrappers down in his room. A few days went by, and I found a second set of wrappers in his room. I showed them to Frank, and he tried to tell me they were from a long time ago, and I just hadn't found them when I found the other wrappers. I know this wasn't true, because there was a half eaten powdered donut in the pile, and I'd just bought them the night before. I was also finding wrappers in Libby's room, but in a much smaller quantity.

So I thought about it all that next day at work. Grounding him from snacks hadn't worked, time outs hadn't worked, spanking him hadn't worked...so it was time to try something new. Most of what he'd been sneaking were the bags of potato chips and Pringles. So I went to Dillons that day on my way home from work. I bought $75 worth of chips and junk food....twinkies, ding dongs, candy bars, chips...the best. I also bought a small plastic container and filled it full of the snacks. I placed the container in the cabinet. I lined all four little kids up and told them that they could have as much stuff from the snack basket as they wanted (imagine cheering children)....there was only one condition.....they must STEAL the snacks from the basket without me catching them doing it (now imagine four kids with their eyes bugged out of their head). My intention was to take the thrill out of stealing the snacks. When they stole something out of the basket, they had to bring the empty wrapper to me the next morning.

The little girls really weren't interested one way or the other. Frank was absolutely FURIOUS. He said he would NEVER steal a snack out of that basket, and I couldn't make him. I calmly replied that was fine. Libby just couldn't believe that she could steal something out of it and wouldn't get in trouble. She asked me several times "And I won't get in trouble, right?"

Libby "stole" something out of the basket two nights in a row, and brought me the wrappers. That took all of the fun out of it for her, and she didn't bother it for a long, long time afterwards.

Since Frank was the one who was taking the chips in great quanities, I had additional things planned for him. Later that night I fixed a good meal of lasgna...which is one of Frank's favorites. I fixed a big plate and set it in front of each girl. When it was Frank's turn, I fixed a plate heaped up with potato chips instead. I told Frank that since he had such an uncontrollable desire for potato chips, that as a good Mom, I was going to ensure that he got all the chips he needed. Frank would eat chips for breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner until he got his fill. Again, Frank was FURIOUS. He pushed the plate away and would not eat a single chip. When he got up for breakfast the next morning, the little girls all had a bowl of cereal....and Frank had a bowl of chips. He absolutely could not believe his eyes when I set the bowl of chips in front of him. Again he wouldn't eat them and started crying. He wailed "Moooommmmmmm......could I PLEASE just have some healthy fooooooddddd????"

So we talked about it a while, and he decided maybe he COULD exert some self control were the chips were concerned and not steal them out of the cabinet any more. And I gave him a nice healthy bowl of cereal to eat.

Opera Girls

For some reason, both Madi and Carlie have decided recently that they are Opera Stars. They have learned to sing with vibrato, and now feel the need to sing everything instead of speak it. So now conversations in our house often sound like this.

Mom: Madi, please set the table.

Madi: OKKKKKAYYYYY! Okay, Okay, OKKKAAAAYYYY! I WILLLL Set the taaabbbbblllle."

Carlie: "But I want to set it TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I said it FIRRRRRSSTTTT."

Mom: It's a one person job, Carlie. I asked Madi to set it.

Carlie: "Then can I please go outtttsiiiiiiiiiiiide!!!!"

Mom: Why are you singing everything?

Carlie: Well, its Opera, you are opposed (supposed) to SING everything. (Accompanied by her best Duh look)

Madison Days - 2008

This is always a big event in my family. We had a great time this year. There were train rides, turkey legs, face painting and lots and lots of candy at the parade.



Freight Cars



The Caboose!!!



Granny with a turkey leg in each hand!

May Quotes

We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life. But those who make their journey home across time and miles, growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them, are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among us by God's very own hands. - Unknown
****************************************************
What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? - Unknown
****************************************************
Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. - Randy Pausch
****************************************************
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. - Albert Einstein

Storms and Stitches

Bob runs the weight room for the High School on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. On those days, he needs to leave just as soon as I get home in order to make it on time. Well Thursday, they'd been predicting bad storms all day long. I got home at 5:30pm, and Bob was heading out the door. The storms had already hit Wichita and were quickly heading our way.

Frank came upstairs and asked me if he could go over to the neighbor girl's house. I told him that he needed to stay home. He whined "Well, LIBBY is over therrrrreeee." I told him to go and get Libby, because I wanted them all home when the storm hit.

Well I went ahead and started unwinding from my day, checking the mail, etc. I didn't realize that Frank had never come back from the neighbor girl's. I'd just been home a few minutes when Carlie starts crying in my bedroom. She hardly ever cries when she gets hurt, so when she does cry, I know it's serious. They'd been on my bed playing, and Madi and pulled Carlie by the arm and she hit the post on my bed

LIBBY is also in there with the little girls. I asked her what she was doing in there and she said she'd been asleep in my bed. It briefly registers in my brain "Well, where's Frank then?" But I am trying to take care of Carlie and see where the blood is coming from. She has a hole in the corner of her upper lip about the size of the end of my little finger. It's going to need some stitches.

I'm not freaking out, but there is an edge of panic there. My two-seater sports car is parked behind the SUV. So I decide that I will take Carlie in that to the ER to get stitches. I put her (bleeding and crying) into the car, and then Madi and Libby run out and ask "But what about US?" I realize that I can't leave them there alone...especially not with a huge storm coming. I don't know what I was thinking. So I get Carlie out of my car and into the SUV and get Madi and Libby loaded up and realize that Frank is missing.

He never came back from the neighbor girl's. By now, the storm is really close. The wind is blowing and it's dark. I drive to the neighbor's house, but no one is at home!!! I have NO idea where Frank is. Again, for a split second I think about just leaving him. LOL. I decide that I will drive through the neighborhood looking for him. The winding is blowing, and I'm driving around shouting from my car window "FRANNNKKKK....Where ARE YOU?????" I run into the older lady who lives across the street. She's walking her dog. I ask "Have you seen Frank?" She says "He went that way. He said he was looking for Libby." I go down a few houses and another set of neighbors are sitting out on their porch watching the storm roll in. They again point me in the direction Frank went. Eventually, I catch up to him, and get him loaded into the car.

We make it to the ER right before the storm hits. By this time Carlie has quite crying, and she's completely calm, cool and collected. Much more so that I am!! She was SO brave at the ER. She told the ER doctor, that she wants to be a doctor too, but she only wants to take care of 1st graders! They put a stitch in her lip and send us home. She did not move or make a sound as they gave her a shot in her lip and sewed it up.

On the way home, I call Granny to tell her what's happened. She is on her way to the cellar. The storm has just hit their area. Granny and Papaw had just made it to their cellar when a small tornado went over their house. It brought down one of their trees along with tons of other big limbs. It lifted up the edge of the roof of their house as well. But they were lucky they were in the cellar and there was no other damage.

By 8pm it was all over. Whew!!!

Seven Years Ago Today...

Bob and I were married. I can't believe it's been seven years, it doesn't seem nearly that long. I think that's a good sign??? It's been a really, really good seven years.

Happy Tenth Birthday, Frank the Stank!!!

It's hard for me to believe that he is 10 years old today!! We are so lucky to have some of his baby pictures provided by his Birth Dad. I love you, Little Man. Here are some pics of Frank through the years.

The Cemetery Party

Bob's family has a private family cemetery out in the country at Redden, Oklahoma.

The property has the original one room school house where many of the older generation when to school. Every year on Memorial Day weekend, the family gathers for a big reunion. When Frank and Libby were little they called it "The Cemetery Party". It made sense to them, we went to the cemetery and had a big party!!! There is always lots and lots of food, lots and lots of kids and lots of fun.

This year it was a little sad as Uncle Paul passed away last December. His wife and kids and grandkids didn't attend this year as the memories were just too hard. And we missed them.




This year for our vacation, we camped for a week at the family's private camp ground. We got to fish, swim in the lake and eat lots of junk food. Mom even got to sleep in most days!!!

One day Libby, Carlie and I went fishing with Pepaw on the boat. One of the distant cousins who is Frank's age went with us. The kids were getting restless and bored. Carlie was whinning to go home. I told her if she didn't quit whinning, I was going to throw her in the lake to cool her off. Well Nick said HE wanted to be thrown in the lake and stared whinning like Carlie. About that time Pepaw pulled in one of his jug lines and it had a dead Gar on it. If you aren't from Oklahoma a Gar is a long skinny fish that has a long snout with lots and lots of sharp teeth. It's very scary looking. I told Nick that if he got in that water one of those Gar would bite his ying-yang off. Carlie was listening quietly and piped up "Yeah, and then that would turn you into a girl and you'd have a VAGINA!!!" Pepaw laughed and laughed.

Graduates - A High-Schooler and a Pre-Schooler

Well I had two of my five kids graduate this year. JB graduated from High School by the SKIN OF HIS TEETH, but he made it!!! We had a graduation party at our house afterwards, and I got to meet his Mom (Debbie), sister (Ariel) and his baby half brother (Caden).



Carlie graduated from Pre-School. I can't believe that my baby is going to Kindergarten next year. She is so excited. Her Kindergarten Round Up results came in the mail the other day and she got Exceptional on all things except for cutting with scissors and handwriting. She even got the E's on things like sharing and taking turns which are usually not her strength. LOL.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh MY!!!

Saturday was our Koch Company Picnic at the zoo. We all had a really good time. JB even went with us. The company provided hot dogs and BBQ for dinner. They also brought in jumping rides, carnival rides and carnival games.

As we waiting in line to play the carnival games, Carlie told me that she was going to win one of the big stuffed animals. I told her that I wasn't sure how hard the games would be. She walked right up there and won. She was the first one to go. She was SO excited. No one else won anything big.