Leukemis

Carlie got a life sized Barbie for Christmas. I really didn't think she'd play with it much, but she has. Yesterday she came through the house carrying the life sized Barbie cradled in her arms. The Barbie was wearing a hood that had been unzipped from someone's winter jacket, and Carlie had a horribly sad look on her face.

I asked her what was wrong, and she replied "Well, my daughter has luekemis. It's this disease, and the medicines for it cost lots and lots of money. And that's why we have Penny's for Patients at school. She has this hat on her head, because when you get Leukemis, all of your hair falls out and you have to wear a hat. It's so sad Mommy."

I explained to her that JB had had "leukemis" and almost died from it. She asked me if his hair fell out too, and I told her it did.

Lucky for us, Barbie's luekmis was cured a few hours later and her hair was back. How I wish it was that simple for the kids who really do have it.

January Quotes

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Some people mistake kindness for weakness. Some people mistake a decision to take no action as passivity. I am neither weak nor am I passive - Julie Pool
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People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind. Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack if you help them. Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway --- Kent M. Keith
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Night or Day?

Poor Carlie has been so sick the last few weeks. Two weeks ago she had really bad Strep Throat. Last week she had a stomach virus. This week she has a cold and a cough. Bob had a late practice yesterday, so he picked the kids up from school. Carlie told him that she was too tired to help with housework and needed to take a nap. So he told her to go lay down. Sure enough, she was out like a light a few minutes later. When I came home at 5:30pm, she was still sleeping and was running a mild fever.

I let her sleep for a while longer and cooked spaghetti and garlic toast for dinner. At 6:30pm, I had everyone’s food dished out. So I went and woke Carlie up. I said “Come on, sweetheart, wake up and go eat.” It took me several tries to get her to wake up. By then the other kids were already done eating. Carlie sat at the table and asked “WHY are we having spaghetti? Can’t I just eat the toast?!?!?!?!?” That’s normally one of her favorite meals. She was crabby so I told her she could only eat toast if that’s what she wanted. She took a nibble of it, then whined “Can’t I have some cereallllll?”

I don’t normally cater to such requests. But I knew she didn’t feel good, so I fixed her a bowl of dry cereal. I went on about my evening chores. A few minutes later Carlie walks by me wearing a different outfit. I asked her “Why did you put those on?” And she goes “Is it Saturday?” I replied “No, it’s Wednesday.” I’m thinking she’s delirious with fever or something. So I say “Why don’t you go put those clothes back up and put some pajamas on?” Again she looks at me funny and repeats “Is it SATURDAY or is it THURSDAY?” Now I’m REALLY starting to get concerned. I repeated “Hon, go take those clothes off and put your PJs on.” And she yells at me “WHY would I want to wear my PJs to SCHOOL!!!”

Ahhhhhh…..she thought it was morning. I woke her up….she’d been asleep for a long time….it was dark outside….food was on the table. No wonder she didn’t want to eat spaghetti for breakfast. LOL. I thought I was in the twilight zone there for a minute. I’m sure she was thinking that way too. LOL.

Ace Bandages

A bit before Christmas, Libby discovered my Mom's first aid kit. She went nuts over it and said she wanted one for a Christmas present. So Granny got one for Frank and one for Libby. The kit included an ace bandage.

Well apparently they snuck them to school last week. Libby said Frank had his arm wrapped from wrist to elbow. The school counselor pulled her aside and said "Libby, I need to ask you what happened to Frank's arm?"

Sheesh. Those two are going to get me turned into Child Services!!! Thankfully she told the counselor they were fake. LOL. Granny and I sat them down and explain exactly WHY wearing them to school like that was a bad idea!

Curse you!!!

My ten year old son came upstairs last night and told me "Mom, Carlie told me a bad thing." I asked him what she said. Apparently they were playing Wii. Carlie got mad at Frank and yelled at him "Curse you. CURSE YOU!!!!" (I think she got that from Phantom of the Opera.)

But after Frank told me what she said he goes "So what does that mean, anyway???"

December Quotes

Do what you will with another person; But never put them out of your heart. --The Dalai Lama
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He that raises a large family does, indeed, while he lives to observe them, stand a broader mark for sorrow; but then he stands a broader mark for pleasure too. - Benjamin Franklin
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You are 100% Responsible for the Success of Your Relationships. You are 100% responsible for creating what you get. And you get exactly what you deserve. - Dr. Taylor Hartman.

Would You Get OFF of ME!!!

When we first moved to Wichita, Carlie had just turned two. It was the first time we'd lived with the kids in a big city where we had access to things like the YMCA.

I was so excited and enrolled the kids in several different classes at the Y. The kids took swimming lessons. I put Carlie and I in a class called Tumble Tots for kids ages walking to 2 years. It was a parent child class. Carlie always talked like a grown up when she was little (like my niece, Morgan). She was also very head strong.

At the beginning of the class, the Mommies and Babies were supposed to sit on the floor with the child and do stretches. Then after the stretches were completed the kids got to play on tumbling equipment with their parent. Well Carlie liked the playing part, but she didn't want anything to do with the stretching. She would get up and run away.

Finally one day, I decided I was going to hold her down and we were going to DO the stretches. So I'm trying to wrestle her into place. I look down the line of other parents and kids and all the other babies are sitting there with their parents doing their nice little stretches and saying things like "Hi, Mommy!" "Look, Mommy" "Find Ball".

Meanwhile it's taking all my strength to wrestle MY child down to the mat. Then Carlie finally yells at me (sounding like she's six years old) "Would you get OFF of ME!!!!" As everyone in the class stopped what they were doing to look at us, I just gave an embarrassed chuckle and shrugged.

New Years with the Pools

Memaw and Pepaw came to bring in the New Year with us. We had a quiet evening with the kids and Arlena. We had tons of snacks, funny hats and noise makers. We actually had to bring in the New Year twice...once when the ball dropped in Times Square and once again when it was Midnight our time. The little girls barely made it...they were drooping when Midnight finally rolled around.

Christmas Pictures

How blessed I am!!!









Carlie was particularly cute this Christmas. She was so excited about every single present she got. Every time she opened something it was "Exactly what I wanted!!!!"

My Fav Niece and Nephew

I LOVE this picture. This is Morgan Julia and her Granny.



Morgan is my birthday buddy. We share a birthday. That makes her AWESOME!! She is tiny and talks like a grown up.



This is my nephew, Parker. He wants to be an archeologist when he grows up...or was that paleontologist? This is his "bone collection" from our Ribs we had for dinner. He's all boy.



Morgan decided to open her Christmas presents in nakie style. I got her three pairs of shoes for Christmas, because she likes "Coot shoes". She stopped long enough to put her new boots on, and then kept on opening presents

Santa visited our house!! For Real.

We were in Oklahoma at the Pools' house on Christmas Eve. The kids were pretty sure that Santa had not visited our house yet because we were not there. However, when we got home late on Christmas evening, there were FOUR BIKES in the house, their stockings were full, and this note was left from Santa. We weren't there to leave out milk and cookies, but we had some oreo balls on a plate. He ate those and most of a banana. We left as soon as I got home from work on Tuesday. Hmmmmmm.

What's even stranger is that the empty stockings had been put away. I was the only one who knew where they were, and yet they appeared on the kitchen counter all filled up.

Thank you, Santa!!! I think the kids will always remember this one.

Self Service Cat Food

I guess in the zoo of five kids, two dogs and two cats someone forgot to feed them. So they helped themselves!!!! Ya got to be independent around my house if you want to survive!!!

Hitting Below The Belt

We've always been very open and candid in our house about the adoption of three of the four kids. The older two see their Birth Family several times a year. Madi's adoption is closed, but she knows the names of her Birth Parents. Carlie gets it that she's not adopted and that we ARE her Birth Mom and Dad. JB's birth grandparents come and visit and are around. They still drop by and call even after he's moved out. I thought we were doing pretty well for such a complex family with such a Crazy Extended Family.

But last night Carlie dropped a bomb on me. The two little girls share a room and have bunk beds. After they went to bed last night, Madi did something to make Carlie mad. Carlie screamed at her “I wish you’d just go back and live with your BIRTH MOTHER.” My jaw about hit the ground.

So she got a swat on the butt, and I shamed her for saying such an ugly thing. They are so close they might as well be twins. And normally they are as emotionally close as twins. I made her hug Madi and tell her that she was sorry. Boy they know how to hit below the belt even when they are little.

Five Going on Thirty

Granny called last night to talk to the kids. Carlie was downstairs watching TV and dinner was almost ready. I called her up to talk to Granny. When she got on the phone she said "Could you make this quick, please? I have things to do!"

Ah, yes. All the pressing things a Five Year Old has on her schedule!!!

Blah, Blah, Blah.

It's not been a good couple of weeks for behavior at my house. What is it about Christmas time that makes kids behave badly?

First JB, then Libby. Well today it was Frank's turn. He was uncooperative at school all day because he got mad over a spelling pre-test. At the end of the day, he refused to tell his homeroom teacher what work he had completed and what was left for homework. That's a trick he uses to try and get out of doing it.

So I called the house and told Lena that he had to sit at the table "as if" he had homework until I get home since we didn't know if he had any or not.

Frank insisted that his counselor was coming to pick him up today....which is not true....they normally have pianos lessons today, but the teacher had to cancel because she had a funeral.

I told him he had to sit at the table until I got home, and he screamed into the phone (in my ear) and then yelled "Blah, blah, blah" to me and called me stupid. So now he owes me a couple of extra hours of housework for treating me disrespectfully. Blah, blah, blah!!!

Chocolate Thief

II sat all four of my little kids down and explained to them about JB getting in trouble with the law. I told them exactly what he did, his arrest and about him spending three days in jail. I told them several times that he thought he could break the law and wouldn't get caught, but he did. And there's not anything that I can do to help him now, he has to face his consequences. I thought maybe that might sink in with them.

Well Saturday, Bob went to the grocery store. He brought me back a small box of individually wrapped Dove Chocolates as a treat.

All that afternoon, Libby asked me "Mom, do you want one of those Doves yet?" Only she was pronouncing it like it rhymes with Stove. She kept asking and asking. My mom radar was picking up something, but I never did put two and two together.

She must have been watching, because as SOON as I opened the box Saturday evening and left the room, she swiped one and took it downstairs. It just so happened that Bob heard her behind the couch crinkling the foil wrapper as she unwrapped it and asked what she was doing.

So not only did she swipe one....she had it planned out. Had she asked, I probably would have given her one. I called her on the carpet and chewed her out. I reminded her about what happened to JB when he thought he could break the law and get away with it. She had to stay in her room all day Sunday, coming out only for bathroom breaks and to eat.

Sometimes I wonder if it's ever going to sink in. Sigh.

You're Fired!!!

Madi is normally my most easy-going kid. Everything is funny to her and she always has a giggle on her lips. However, when she gets mad....she gets MAD.

She got mad at Lena (our Nanny and Bob's niece) last week, and yelled at her.

I.AM.GOING.TO.GET.YOU.FIRED!!!!!

Don't know if she was going to get her fired as our Nanny or as our Neice. LOL.

Lazy Tooth Fairy

When our older two kids lost their teeth, we made such a big deal about. And the tooth fairy always came and left them money.

The older we get the worse and worse the tooth fairy is getting!!! The last tooth Madi (our third child) lost, the "Tooth Fairy" hunted under pillow but couldn't find the tooth. So the Tooth Fairy just left the money. Madi was so upset that she didn't take the tooth with her!!!

She lost another tooth this week. She made a note and put it in an envelope this time...with the tooth in it. Should be easy to find....right?!?!?!? Well the tooth fairy forgot completely this time.

When Bob got up he put $1.35 in change from the change jar in a baggy and left it on the kitchen cabinet. The note and tooth were still under her pillow. Madi looked at it with kind of a funny look on her face, but took it in stride. I guess the Tooth Fairy it too lazy now for pillow side service. LOL.

Crazy Schedule

Monday

4 - 5:15PM - Frank and Libby Piano at Benton (10 miles away)
5:30-6:30 - Madi BBall - Gym 1 at Towanda
5:30 - 6:30 - Frank BBall - Gym 2 at Towanda
6:30 - 7:30pm - Libby BBall - Gym 1 at Towanda

Tuesday

NOTHING

Wednesday

6:45 - 8:15pm - Frank Bball at Benton

Thursday

5:30 - 6:30 pm Madi BBall - Gym 1 at Towanda
6:30 - 7:30pm - Libby BBall - Gym 1 at Towanda
6:00 - 7:00 pm - Frank Counseling at August (7 miles away)

Friday

5:30 - 6:30pm Carlie Bball - Gym 1 at Towanda


Whew. Arlena's going to have to help me on Thursdays because I'm double booked. But the rest I think I can manage by myself.

Thanksgiving

It's been a while since I posted. This is the brief time of year when I get a couple of weeks "off" between football and basketball seasons. So I've been staying at home when possible and getting caught up on rest and housework.

JB is in some serious trouble. I'm extremely disappointed in the choices he's made recently. We'll support him emotionally, but the rest of the mess he's going to have to dig out on his own.

We spent Thanksgiving with Granny and Pawpa. Then on Friday, Bob and Frank worked to put the outside lights up while the girls and I put up the Christmas Tree and the inside decorations.

This year instead of putting names on the tags of the Christmas Presents, I have used a numbering system. The kids are busy trying to "crack" the code which is actually WAY simpler than they are trying to make it.

We also bought four new pairs of basketball shoes this weekend. Tomorrow, I'll post our insane weekly schedule now that I have FOUR kids playing rec basketball.