Tough Times in Texas

Our poor Clara is sick...again.  It seems to be never ending.  She's had one throat infection after another.  Major episodes with hugely swollen tonsils and pain and fever.  She's out of school for who knows how long at this point.  She feels miserable and neither she nor I have slept decently in days.  We saw a pediatrician, FINALLY last Friday.  She seemed nice enough...nothing like our wonderful pediatrician back home, but nice enough.  She diagnosed strep throat, again, and prescribed some pretty major antibiotics for our Clara for 10 days and wanted to see her at the end of 10 days again to re swab her to make sure the strep really did clear out this time.  Only, she's been so sick over the weekend that we didn't make it anywhere NEAR the 10 days for a recheck.  Instead we were back in there this morning.  She ran crazy high fevers all weekend.  Higher than any fever any of my children have EVER run.  She hung on to a 104.4 degree fever for hours and it was a battle to get it down below 101 at any point.  We were in the office first thing this morning and the doctor agreed that her throat was in terrible condition.  She still has huge puss pockets in her throat and her fever and pain continue to hang on as well.  In order to rule out anything else, the pediatrician pricked Clara's finger and also ordered a blood draw for more tests.  THAT was traumatic as Clara panicked as she remembered her LAST blood draw where the tube was bad and she ended up sitting for much longer than she would have while the nurse ran to get more tubes and straighten it out.  So with all of her panic and freaking out, of course, the nurse missed the vein the first time and could not get it.  So we ended up having to calm her down, give her some water, walk her around a bit and then start the whole thing all over again.  It was excruciating, but we finally got the blood they needed and were on our way.  We are still waiting for test results from all the things the doctor ran today, but we are on our way to the ENT tomorrow afternoon regardless.  I was glad that we were on our way to that...until I researched the possible abscess that the doctor mentioned today.  And now I am pretty much just freaking out.  I am SO not looking forward to that appointment now and all the yuckiness that might be involved.  My heart is breaking and terrified for Clara and we have not yet even set foot in the office yet.  I am SO hoping that my worst fears are NOT confirmed and that we will have a much different outcome than what I discovered on the internet.  That's what's on my mind tonight.  Nothing else but that and just getting through tomorrow.  Ugggg.  Life just stinks sometimes.

McMama Giveaway!!!!

Howdy there blog readers!  Wanted to let you know that McMama, over at My Charming Kids is giving away an AWESOME HP Touchscreen computer.  It appears to be capable of running pretty much the whole universe and so easy to use that even her 4 year old can orchestrate unassisted entertainment options for his younger siblings!  Which  means....it should be easy enough for MEEEEEEE!  Which is why I would be most delighted to win it!  Wouldn't that make for a groovy Christmas?!  Anyway.  YOU can win it too.  Of course...if you do win it and you found out about it through my blog, then the only appropriate thing for you to do would be to give it to me.  But you already thought that.  Right?  Well...just so long as we're clear about that!!!  Hey!  Go on over and check it out!  Her blog lives at www.mycharmingkids.net.  Great stuff there in her blog world!  HOURS of entertaining reading!  And the pictures are beyond gorgeous! Go on....head over and check it out!

A Day in the Park

I'm in picture taking withdrawal!!!  I am rather accustomed to being SWAMPED and overrun with people wanting me to take their pictures at this time of year.  But as we are in a brand new place...that is NOT the case right now.  And I'm missing it!  I'm missing all the silly smiles and shy looks and uncooperative two year olds!  I'm missing seeing how much they've all grown over a year and swapping out their little heads to get that "perfect" family photo.  I miss seeing my families and catching up and hearing all that they have been up to.  I'm just missing it!  The kids and I went to the park this weekend.  Well...two out of three kids anyway.  It was a beautiful day.  Not hot, not cold, sun shining gorgeously!  The kids played and I snapped away.  There is a trail that goes along the park and leads alongside a huge pasture where there are often longhorn cattle grazing.  We walked over to see if any were grazing there that day, but none were around.  It still made for a gorgeous picture though!  Anyway, here's some shots of our day at the park!

Rough Days of Tough Love

Last night I got an e-mail that has thrown our family into a storm of turmoil...It said this...

Hello,

Have you checked Max's grade in Skyward?  He has a forty with 12 zeroes and two failing grades.  The most important thing to note is four of those zeroes was a project they had six weeks to work on.  What do you want our game plan to be?  I have had more than one personal conference with each student about what they are missing and because I haven't been able to keep up with who is here and who is not, everyone has been allowes to turn anything in with no penalty.   

NOT the kind of e-mail a parent enjoys getting by any means.  We went through this last 6 weeks and I stepped in, went to talk with his teacher, got all of the work he had missed and sat on him until he got it all done and turned in.  He brought the grade up from a low D to a high C...maybe even a low B.  I can't remember now.  But he did bring it up to at least a C. I THOUGHT he had learned a lesson.   Then, 3 weeks ago, progress reports came home.  And he had a 48 in his english class and a 60 in his history class.  We talked with him about what was going on and pointed out that after LAST six weeks, he KNEW what he needed to do.  I have asked that child faithfully every single night if he has finished his homework.  And he faithfully answers YES.  Then, I usually ask him if he has finished ALL of his homework...just a little reminder to dig deep for any assignment he might have forgotten.  He assures me again...yes.  So imagine our surprise when we get this e-mail, clearly indicating that he certainly has NOT been doing the homework.  While profoundly disappointed, I will admit I was not surprised.  See...I've known all along he didn't have this under control.  I've known every single time that he has done no homework for this class.  I've watched him look me in the eye and tell me he has, knowing that he hasn't.  So I wasn't surprised.  Sad...yes.  Disappointed...more than words can say.  But not really surprised.  Chris and I have talked endlessly about this child of ours who just refuses to fall in and take his responsibilities seriously.  What to do?  How to handle it?  What should we say?  What should we NOT say?  How is it that we never seem to say whatever it is that would get his attention and turn this around?  So this six weeks we have said nothing.  No over the top, excessive reminders.  No hand holding.  No begging and pleading with him to get his assignments done.  Essentially we set him up to fail.  That's not really true though.  I should say...we are ALLOWING him to fail.  He's set HIMSELF up nicely enough for it.  He had little to say about the 12 zeroes last night.  There was a definite "oh shit" moment I saw pass across his face.  But it was ever so brief and fleeting.  And then the excuses and blame began.  See...it's not Max's fault.  At least according to him.  It's the teacher's fault because her class is so chaotic...he can't concentrate in there.  Even though she gives the exact same homework assignment every single week and that has NOTHING to do with what is happening IN class.  He refuses to take the blame himself.  He refuses to acknowledge that he simply WON'T look at his planner after school to see WHAT exactly he DOES have for homework.  He refuses to acknowledge that he tries to take the lazy way out doing the work.  When I asked him why he has 4 zeros on a project he has had 6 weeks to work on, he confessed that he chose a book he had already read.  THINKING that he would not have to re read it and that he could just do the project.  So naturally he waited until the night before the project was due at the last second and at THAT point realized that he could not do the project without reading the book.  And of course, there was no time to read it at that point.  So he just didn't do it.  At 6 o'clock last night...moments after the e-mail from the teacher and our "discussion" of it, Max remembered that today was to be the Thanksgiving feast for his social studies class.  He signed up to bring a jalapeno cheddar bread that I have a recipe for that he loves.  You make it in the bread machine.  He had not mentioned this all week long, not since we first talked about it.  So in order to make said bread, Chris had to make a special stop at the grocery store to purchase the ingredients.  Max really needed two loaves to have enough for a whole class.  But the first batch didn't start until after 7 p.m.  And since it takes nearly 4 hours....obviously there was not going to be but one batch.  He was angry, but there was little to argue about.  It was lights out time.  When we got up this morning, I saw that something had not gone real well and his bread had fallen.  It was  bit of a lump.  Hard and sunken on top, damp and squishy on the bottom.  A disaster in my book.  Immediately, Max wanted me to make another loaf.  I told him no...that he should not have waited until the last minute to do this....again.  And that he would have to come up with something else.  I suggested wild rice...I had two boxes he could cook up and take.  He did NOT like that idea and fought me on it the whole way.  He kept insisting that I had to help him and I insisted back that I did NOT.  That he was simply going to have to suffer the consequences of not being prepared and not doing things ahead of time.  He was so angry and then proceeded to argue that the fact that he would have nothing for the feast then was MY fault.  MY fault because I would not rebake the bread that 1) he FORGOT he had to bake, then rushed on and 2)he screwed up in the first place.  And that whole conversation just made me realize all the more why we are allowing him to fail right now and strengthened my resolve in the matter.  He refused to see his fault in this.  He finally said "Fine, I forgot, I messed up, I was not prepared.  NOW will you help me?"  But I realized he was just saying the words so I would help him...NOT because he actually believed them.  He still doesn't think it's his fault.  It was tough this morning.  On the one hand, as a mom, I want to fix it.  I want to step in and just take care of it for him.  But I realize that if I don't let him fall, and fall HARD with some consequences that hurt...he is NEVER going to get it.  If I carry him through eighth grade...I'm going to have to carry him all the way through high school and I'm not prepared to do that.  If he fails the 8th grade...well, that will be so unfortunate.  But at least it's a somewhat "safe" grade to fail.  If he fails 9th grade it's a whole different ball game.  With MUCH on the line and consequences there that may haunt him for a lifetime.  He has to learn this lesson, NOW...hard as it is.  And it is hard...on the mom anyway.  It was a very rough morning in our house.  Sometimes love just hurts.  Who knew it would be this tough? 

Happiness is my camera in my hand...

It's fall here in Texas and it's beautiful.  The air is cool, the leaves are all turning beautiful colors, and it feels just dreamy to have the windows open all day!  I've hardly picked up my camera since I got here.  Too much going on I suppose...but this weekend I did!  A few treasures from my efforts!

My sweet kiddos in a RARE moment of cooperation and smiles!

A beautiful knockout rose blooming just across from my driveway.

The tree in my yard!
Ain't fall just grand?!  I had forgotten what it looked like!

Twelve

Happy Birthday to our sweet Ben!  I can't believe he's twelve!  Wow!  

Wednesday

Wednesday night finds Tonya MOST grumpy in the Lone Star State.  Here's the latest.  Clara made it through the swine flu with no complications and returned to school the following Monday.  On her first day back at school, she managed to fall off the monkey bars and injure her wrist.  We watched it for a couple of days and she consistently continued to complain, so I took her in to the Urgent Care to have it x-rayed and make sure she was not broken.  Well, her wrist was NOT broken, however...the growth plate IN her wrist apparently IS.  And so...after a nice visit with the orthopedist, Clara came home in a hot pink cast which she will wear for precisely 4 long weeks.  Once the wrist was set in the cast it was amazing how quickly it started to feel better.  We were blessed to have a visit from Gigi and Pee Paw from Tucson.  They came out to Texas, checked it out, did some house hunting....and are excited about joining us here in Texas.  But a few days into the trip, Pee Paw got sick with a cold, and his cold soon turned into something ugly.  And that something ugly landed our poor Pee Paw in the Baylor Grapevine hospital for two nights.  He was discharged by the skin of his teeth early this morning, just in time to catch their flight back home to Tucson.  In the meantime, Clara developed a headache and sore throat that would NOT go away.  When she also started complaining about her ear area I made an appointment with a family practice here and took her in to be checked out.  They said there was nothing...her ears were clear and her throat, while slightly swollen on one side, was pretty good.  So she was given a clean bill of health and I promptly dropped her back off at school.  All was well for roughly, the next 13 hours when, at 2:30 a.m. Clara awakened me from a deep sleep crying about her "supposedly" healthy throat and headache.  I got up and gave her some ibuprofen, and on a whim, took her temperature.  103 degrees!  Yikes!  The kid was obviously NOT healthy and was indeed quite sick.  After calling 6 different doctors on the insurance list and being told by all six that they were only accepting newborns or newborns to age 3 or newborns to age 6....I was a bit frustrated.  And so we headed back to our old familiar urgent care...where I truly believe the very best of the best doctors in the whole Grapevine, Colleyville, Southlake area work!  They knew right away that Clara indeed had SOMETHING and set out to solve the great mystery.  They swabbed her throat for strep, which came back negative.  Then based on how crazy swollen her glands in her neck were, they guessed MAYBE mono....and a very difficult (for mommy) blood draw later, we were in the clear for that too.  At this point I must interject that there is NOTHING more painful than watching your baby be stuck and poked and prodded and having to sit and listen to their heartbreaking little cries of pain and fear.  I was there telling Clara that it would only hurt for a second and that we would have a BIG big treat afterwards and that she could totally do this.  They came and stuck the needle in her arm.  She, of course cried and went into mild panic mode while I....sat there and deep breathed and willed it to be over in a course of seconds.  Of course...it wasn't.  And after a minute the nurse said that he thought that the tube he had selected was maybe bad because it wasn't working so hot.  So he left the needle sticking in her arm to go run and grab another while I was left to comfort Clara.  At this point I was starting not to feel so hot.  It was really taking so much longer than I imagined.  I was no longer looking at Clara or her needle in her arm...but at the far corner in the opposite direction.  I was telling her, emphatically to breathe deeply and blow it out...but I was talking to myself.  I was patting her little back....thumping the heck out of her really is more like it and telling her it would all be just fine....and all the while I could see the edge of darkness there, playing at the outside of my vision.  The room was getting so hot and the darkness was creeping in...threatening to suffocate us (well...me, mostly).  Finally the nurse changed out the tube and finished the draw and the whole ordeal was over.  As soon as he left the room I thought that Clara should really lay down.  Truth be told, I was dangerously close to falling over and blacking out and thought it might be beneficial if we BOTH laid back for a spell.  After a few minutes, the darkness receded and my stomach settled down and I found I could start to breathe again.  I wasn't long before they came in with the news that the mono test was negative...but her white cells were nuts and very indicative of an infection.  We were given a good strong, broad spectrum antibiotic and some oral steroids to help with the swelling in her throat.  Official diagnosis?  Acute Tonsilitis.  

Anyway....Unfortunately, juggling Clara did not leave me much time to hang out at the hospital with poor Jim and Jackie.  I finally managed to escape for a couple of hours late on their last afternoon here.  I'm glad I did because it was the the last chance I had to say goodbye to them before they headed west again.  In hindsight...it might have been best that it all worked out that way.  That way there were no tearful goodbyes with the kids.  I'm not good with tearful goodbyes.

And so Gigi and Peepaw are now resting at home, in their own beds....and I  have had not only Clara home with her tonsilitis, but also Ben with an upset tummy today.  And honestly....at 9 p.m. tonight I am just DONE with all three kids.  Totally and completely done.  I'm tired and frustrated and absolutely at my wits end.  It has been a loooooooooooong day and I'm feeling more than a little cranky right about now.  I guess that pretty much catches things up.  Grrrrrrr.

Recovering

My baby girl is slowly, but surely recovering from this nasty H1N1 flu.  It's been the pits for her...but this morning, in spite of some coughing, she seemed VERY much herself!  She was bouncing all over the place and I knew that it would be tough to keep her down on this, the first sunshiny day in WEEKS!  It's nice and brisk and cool outside today...not cold...just refreshing.  And the sky is so so blue and most importantly, overflowing with sunshine!  And so, after I exercised, she and I headed out for an adventure...the first time she's left the house in a week!  We headed over to Bear Creek Park in Keller where we found an AWESOME playground and a huge park with all sorts of wonderful walking trails and a creek and there is a huge pasture with long horn cattle along the trail.  It was really neat.  We took some pictures, Clara got to swing for a few minutes....but it was apparent that her energy level was a fleeting phenomenon.  The child has pretty not moved too much except from her bed to the couch and the couch to her bed for a whole week.  She was tuckered and coughing a good bit by the time we made it back to the car.  At that point, we proceeded to find some lunch.  I asked her what sounded good and pretty much told her she could have ANYTHING she wanted.  She's eaten practically nothing this week.  She decided she wanted some steak.  And so we headed into the Sawgrass Steakhouse.  We ordered her up a little steak and when it came....she dug right in.  And NEARLY finished it.  She ate steak and steak fries, and part of my salad.  I think she ate more food today, in that one meal, than she has eaten all week combined!  It was a bit pricey as far as lunch goes....but it was worth every penny to see her eat with such gusto and enjoy her food...for once!  After we finished up our lunch, we drove into Grapevine.  It's on the way home.  I wanted to check out just a few more things there.  We jumped out by the railroad tracks where there are some really cool, metal buildings.  I got some great shots of my princess.  She was SO exhausted by the time we headed home.  Total time out...just over two hours.  But it was more than enough for her.  She was barely able to stay awake on the way home and has been VERY quiet since we got home.  She realizes now why she was not allowed to go back to school today.  SHE may be ready....but her body is still recovering.  Next week....she'll be right back in the thick of things!  Here are some shots of my recovering angel!  

Update

Well, as Thursday draws to a close, it has been a long week.  Clara has been battling swine flu and I think FINALLY turned the corner today.  Yesterday she was just plain cranky and trying every nerve I had.  NOTHING made her happy.  She was achy and restless and tired (but refused to sleep), and coughing nonstop.  Her fever was down...but that was the only good news.  I was dreading today, but as the morning progressed, I saw more and more smiles coming from our little princess.  She has been MOST talkative...a clue that her throat is feeling OH so much better.  Though I have to say that I find myself longing for just a little peace and quiet by this point in the day.  We laid around today.  It wasn't too hard for me to just chill out and lay down with her today because my head has been splitting since last night.  And moving around a lot does NOT help it at all.  So we have just chilled out together...Clara chatting incessantly.  Around 2:30 this afternoon she decided that I am NOT good enough company and not a good conversationalist (did I mention that my whole FACE hurts?) and she headed upstairs to her playroom.  A short time later I heard music drifting down the stairs and when I looked in on her she was smack in the middle of her own little dance party!  She was dancing and singing and twirling and just busting out a lively boogie right there in the middle of the floor.  She is OBVIOUSLY feeling better!  And that's music to my ears.  Of course...she's also thinking she's going to school tomorrow...and that ain't going to happen.  While she may be feeling better...she's still got a ways to go to build up her strength.  She needs to find her appetite and EAT something.  And she needs to be able to tolerate a full schedule of activity...not just an hour or two.  And so...she will be with ME tomororow.  As a peace offering....IF the sun comes out....I'm thinking about taking her to lunch and over to check out a lake and park someone told me about.  My little social butterfly has had about all of the house bound activity she can handle.  On the bright side, she's done some awesome scrapbooking this week and also learned to stitch quite nicely.  Nothing fancy....but at age 7...it's fairly impressive.  She stitched a tea towel that has a tea pot and a tea cup on it and it's really pretty cool looking.  She's VERY proud of herself and is thinking of starting a stitching business now.  That's my Clara!  

What else?  Well....taking care of Clara yesterday, I managed to walk right into the leg of the chair in the family room...effectively smashing the heck out of the toes on my left foot.  The 3rd and 4th toes on that foot are VERY purple today and hurt like a booger.  Walking on the treadmill was more than a little bit of a challenge this morning.  I got it done...but only got a little over 3 miles in in the same amount of time I usually do 5.  But it was better than nothing!

Both boys seem to have dodged the swine flu....so far.  Ben was home yesterday with a terrible cough...but no other symptoms and it seems some better today.  Max...as usual....catches nothing!  That kid has one amazing immune system.  

Jim and Jackie are coming out in just two short weeks.  The kids are over the moon excited.  They have asked and asked when they are coming and I keep telling them....but they just keep asking no matter what.  I think they are just really excited to know they are coming and to have them around again for a bit.  Their room is ready and we are excited to pick them up and show them our new town!  I only hope they like it as much as we do!  

I got my new business cards today.  I rather like them.  They are totally different than anything I've had before and are kind of pearly finished.  VERY pretty and fancy-ish!  Now....at least I have them if I decide to go forward with rebuilding some business here in Texas!  

And on that note....my dinner is ready and my hubby is home!  So it's time to gather the troops and feed our little army!  Life is good in Texas!

Swine Flu

That is the official diagnosis for our little princess tonight.  We headed to Urgent Care around dinner time this evening as Clara became increasingly more feverish and her cough continued to escalate to a most unhealthy seal bark.  They tested her for flu, along with strep, since her throat is much more swollen than you would typically see in a flu case.  Her strep was negative, but her flu was very, VERY positive.  Bless her heart...she is beyond miserable.  Her fever keeps bouncing around 103...her throat is screaming.  She hardly eats...hardly drinks and just kind of whimpers every few minutes that she's awake.  Which is most of the time as she is too miserable to sleep!  The doctor sent her home with Tamiflu, something with codeine to help her sleep and phenigrin (sp?) for the pain, and a steroid to help with the swelling in her throat.  Plus motrin for the fever.  It has been a rough, rough day for her and I am so praying for a peaceful nights sleep for her.  I wouldn't mind one myself either.  In light of Clara's diagnosis, the boys are certain that they too get to stay home from school.  EARLY in the year a letter was sent home that stated that if one child in your family was diagnosed with swine flu, then ALL children in the household were to stay home for at least 5 days after the diagnosis.   The boys are counting on that holding true tomorrow morning when I call into the school to find out.  I on the other hand....am SO hoping that is NOT the case.  That the school will welcome them with open arms just as they always do!  I guess we shall see tomorrow morning!  It's time to go up and wake up Clara for her midnight dose of motrin now.  Until tomorrow!

Remember the Weed Torch?

Do you remember when Chris got that crazy weed torch and started torching the heck out of everything in our yard in Arizona?  INCLUDING the un-torchables....namely two of my favorite bulbine plants?  You can walk down memory lane at  http://arizonahighlights.blogspot.com/2008/03/if-you-want-something-done-rightgrrrrrr.html.  This weekend was somewhat like that.  What did he torch you ask?  Well...nothing...because he's not ALLOWED to touch the weed torch...EVER.  HOWEVER.  He was working on taking "a couple of branches" down in the front yard on Saturday morning.  See...we've had some vermin in the attic the last couple of weeks.  Some squirrels have literally gnawed their way right through the wood trim and into our attic area.  And they rather like making the walls of our house their nice dry, warm playground.  So we've had the vermin patrol out and they identified said vermin and mentioned that said vermin were using the crepe myrtles growing up along the corners of the house as a ladder to get up to their hidey hole entrance.  So Chris said he was going to trim those branches this weekend to help limit their access.  I glanced out at the front yard as I was getting ready to mow and noted that Chris was, indeed, working on those trees with the trimmer and the trimmer was hooked up to a long orange extension cord running across the yard.  So I made the decision to start in the BACK yard, so as not to disturb his trimming rhythm.  And THAT was my first mistake.  I very MUCH should have disturbed him because the little tree trimming led to the big tree trimming, which then led to the hacking to death of my holly shrub, followed by the hacking to death of the box shrub, and the TOTAL hacking of the big giant shrub thing....and in the end there was MUCH carnage.  Yes...I definitely should have interrupted his rhythm of destruction.  By the time I finished mowing the backyard there was a most definite new look to the front yard.  I nearly broke down in tears.  I could not BELIEVE what I was seeing.  Chris was quick to comfort and reassure me that it was all merely a "trim" and that it would grow back in a couple of weeks.  UNTIL....I pointed out the shrub I had already somewhat severely trimmed FOUR WEEKS AGO....though NOWHERE NEAR as severely as he had just done...and pointed out how it had so NOT even thought about growing back yet.  No....that hedge will not be back with us for some time now.  There is utter and complete ghetto gardening going on here at my house.  The entire street front from my driveway at one corner of my property, to the mailbox at the other corner of my property....covered with brush and trees.  And bush.  And goodness knows what else.  And that's BEFORE we even set out our trash.  As I looked at it and took it all in, I thought...."oh dear....what MUST the neighbors think?"  But more importantly....what must the poor garbage men think?  I think they must surely hate the Roberts family.  We've probably put out more trash and garbage in the 6 weeks we have lived here than the whole neighborhood has combined!  The garbage men are in for an extra special surprise this week.   In addition to our ghetto gardening and landscaping....we also did a MAJOR clean out on the garage.  And...as you might have guessed....there was MUCH garbage that surfaced in that process.  I can just imagine the look on the waste management faces tomorrow morning.  And so....without further ado....pictures from the weekend warriors.  LOL!  

Not much left when it was all said and done.  Needless to say...all powertool priviledges are, for the time being....SUSPENDED!

On another note....once Chris was finished hacking the yard to death, he moved on into the garage and we tackled the last of the garage organization.  This is always the last of the last and the worst of the worst I think.  I mean....he and I both HATE the garage and all the stuff that goes

 with organizing it!  We've put it off  to the very last of the last.  This weekend we bought a track system and all the fun hooks and Chris installed it.  The transformation was truly amazing and I am thrilled beyond belief with the results.  I'm tempted to forbid the kids from walking in there...EVER!  As they seem to be significant contributors to the garage disarray.  Shoot....they are significant contributors to ALL the disarray in our house....period!  But anyway.  The system is UP an it looks FANTASTIC!  Chris did a GREAT job on getting the shelves up and installed and the tracks and the hooks.  It was awesome and his hard work in THAT room is SO appreciated!!!!  It makes all the difference in the world.   Here...see for yourself.  

Before and after..,

And more before and after...

Happiness is clean garage and knowing the very last box FINALLY really and truly is UNPACKED!!!  It may be overrun with vermin and bit challenged in the landscaping department....but it's home sweet home to us....and we love it!  

Sunday

What an amazing day!!!!  Best Sunday ever...in like 5 years!  Totally!  Our weekend ended up a bit topsy turvy with several changes of plan...but worked out so nicely in the end.  On Friday afternoon....literally MOMENTS before I jumped into the car to run up to the Rainbow dealer and purchase a $2000 plus swingset for Clara, I happened to have a conversation with one of our neighbors and found out that her husband's coworker had a really nice Rainbow playset for sale.  I got the information about it but did not get overly excited as Chris and I had already called about a couple of them and they were sold before we ever could even get there to look at them.  But this one was still for sale when I called, so Clara and I dashed over there to take a look and it was AWESOME!  AND it was only $1000 as opposed to the double that that I was about to spend.  And so....Saturday morning became a day of disassembling the play structure in their yard and carting it over to ours.  It went remarkably fast and we had it all home by shortly after lunch time.  We were SUPPOSED to have our family pictures made in the stunningly gorgeous Ft. Worth Botanical Gardens Saturday afternoon....but we got rained out.  The sky started looking darker and darker and darker.  So I called our photographer friend and asked how the weather was looking in her area and she said it was dark and had just started to rain.  So we ended up rescheduling on account of the rains!  So Chris and I headed home and proceeded to assemble the hardest part of the playset IN THE POURING RAIN!  It would rain quite hard, then drizzle, then stop for about  minutes....then rain hard again and so on and so forth.  Despite the rain and being soaked completely to the bone, we did manage to get the major huge platform assembled.  Then we had to quit because it was just too cold and wet to do any more.  We came in, took hot showers and then Chris headed out to pick up some hot take out food for us.  Soon after that, as I sat in my PJ' s with wet hair and no makeup, my photographer friend sent me a message on Facebook suggesting I meet her at the movies in like...oh....20 minutes for a movie.  So after about a minute of deliberation, I jumped up, dried my hair, threw on some jeans and was out the door!  We saw "The Perfect Proposal" I THINK it was called with Sandra Bullock.  SO cute and funny!  LOVED it!  It was a nice and fun sporadic night out that I enjoyed IMMENSELY!  Then I slipped into bed and slept like a dream.  This morning we got dressed and headed out to church....back to First Euless for the third week.  And what a morning it was!  WHAT a message God had for me this morning.  Instead of Sunday School there was a big group meeting in the chapel and a presentation called Parenting with Purpose.  WOW!  Such insights and wisdom there.  It was as if God had designed it just for me to hear today.  I walked out of there seeing things differently as far as my children are concerned and seeing MYSELF differently as far as how I interact with them.  It was a GREAT time and I was SO blessed to be a part of it.   Then, just when I did not think I could possibly BE any more blessed, I went to worship.  The same couple who spoke to us about parenting with purpose were speaking in the worship service.  They talked about how we can leave either Blessings for our children or baggage.  We can create a heritage of blessing or a lifetime of baggage.  It was SO neat and so dead on and SO appropriate for where we are in our life right now with our kids.  I walked out of that service a new person with a new perspective and new insights and a new love of Jesus and a deep appreciation and fondness for this new church we have been so blessed to be a part of.  It's like this deep, deep hole is being filled right now...I feel so a part of God's family again and feel like there really is a church family there for us.  Best of all, the pastor does not cry.  The people are so nice.  There are classes and activities for all of our kids while WE are in OUR classes.  And I get to see my kids excited about hiding God's words in their hearts again.  We have had three AMAZING and blessed Sundays there so far.  

What else?  Well....I can hardly believe the weekend is over already.  It seems like just yesterday I was telling the kids....tomorrow is Friday...only one more day until we get a WHOLE WEEKEND off!!!  It seemed like SUCH a long break when we were coming up on it.  But in real life time...it was merely a blink and it's over.  We have plenty to show for the weekend.  The swingset got completed this afternoon after church.  Chris and I worked another couple of hours and then it was good to go.  It was such fun to watch Clara move from station to station and swing to swing...playing with it all.  I loved seeing the smile on her face when she got a big push on her swing and how proud and excited she was when was able to pull herself up and over the trapeze bar while hanging upside down.  She is SO happy to have her swing...finally.  The boys even jumped in on the play action and had a ball just spinning on the tire swing and swinging and climbing all over.  It's been so much fun to watch our kids just be kids and just PLAY outside in the grass.  I love to just sit and watch them run and skip and chase the dog and roll around and act like kids should act.  I love this state of Texas.  Totally.

The week ahead will be another busy one.  I am hoping to get back into the gym tomorrow morning.  This bursitis in the hip is making me nuts....along with a nasty rib flareup this week.  I have been more than a little bit out of commission!  I hope to be back at it this week.  Like first thing tomorrow morning!  I have to go back to the chiropractor on Wednesday....but hope to get a release back to "as needed" status after this one!  Here's hoping?!  I think Chris has to put in an appearance in Arizona and I'm sure the kids will be off and running homework and project wise as tomorrow is the first day of the new six weeks.  I have come to the conclusion that I will only Max the same amount of reminders and assistance that I give the other two kids.  It's more than enough really.  And if he fails....then he fails.  If I continue to hand hold him and bail him out, he will never learn to stand on his own two feet and take responsibility for his grades.  And this cycle will just go on and on and on and I have NO desire to spend the next 4 years of high school after this year babying and hand holding and begging and pleading to get Max through school.  I feel like maybe Max just isn't doing his part.  He refused to make his grades a priority.  And so, therefore, I cannot make them a priority either.  He HAS to do this on his own.  He HAS to learn to get organized and how to take control and charge of his responsibilities.  He has just refused to do it thus far.  I can't MAKE him do it.  He has to see it, and understand it and design and follow his OWN plan for making himself a success.  It may well mean that he does not go back to the beach with us this summer, because he has to stay and do summer school.  It may mean that when all of his friends move on to the high school next year...he doesn't.  I have no idea really what it all will mean.  It's a scary road for sure....but one we absolutely MUST take.  Max is the captain of this ship.  It may sink.  Or it may sail.  Only time will tell for sure!  Wish us luck and be praying for us as we navigate these stormy waters.  It so hard to know that you are stepping back and that your child probably WILL fall and fail when you do so.  But as hard as it is...I realize that it is completely necessary if we are to move on into life and if he is ever to be successful under his own guidance and desire.  Tough times ahead no doubt!  All aboard!

And THAT wraps up our weekend.  Next weekend....we're relaxing....for sure! 

A Shameless Addiction

My name is Tonya Roberts, and I am shamelessly addicted to Farmville on Facebook.  I mean...it's bad.  I find myself calculating and scheduling where I might be when my crops come due and am careful not to plant things that I'm not positive that I will be home to harvest.  Because I can't bear the thought of something wilting in my fields.  I find myself giddy when I get new animals.  I got my first goat today and I hardly knew what to do with myself I was so overjoyed.  Oh...and I also got my first little piggy!  I just LOVE that game.  I would truly be embarrassed to tell you just how many times a day I actually check in on my farm.

In OTHER news...I am thrilled that it's coming up on Friday.  I love the nothingness of our weekends....and the kids do too.  This week has gone really, really FAST!  It's been a bit of a tough week.  So thank goodness it's flown by!  My hip has been bothering me since this summer at the beach.  And when we got back to Tucson, I did see the chiropractor and he DID fix it....twice.  But then we moved and it was hurting...but then got better...then hurt...then got better...then hurt and hurt and hurt.  Finally, on Monday I had had enough and made an appointment.  I ADORED the new chiropractor the second that I met her.  VERY very nice...but then...aren't most people here in Texas just so crazy nice?!  She was SO thorough and it was just a great visit.  HOWEVER...on Tuesday, my muscles spasmed in response to the adjustment and I was in quite a state.  My fingers were tingling and threatening to go numb.  And so after a quick call and check in with the doc, I was right back in her office first thing Wednesday morning.  I was a mess!  Lots of spasm and swelling and pain.  I spent quite a long time in her office, then had to go back in again at 5 for one last check before the end of the day.  I was doing a lot better by then and got to take Thursday off.  I do have to be back in there at 8:30 tomorrow morning...but I'm feeling some better.  Not cured.  But definitely better than on Wednesday!  

Max continues to struggle in his classes.  Not because the work is hard, but because he's just not real motivated.  I have decided that, as I watch him, I am the ONLY one stressing over his grades and that Max is not really doing his part.  I decided that from here on out I will give him the same amount of guidance and reminders that I give the others.  But beyond that....he will be on his own.  I am releasing him into his own responsibility and if he fails....well...then he fails.  And HOPEFULLY, if and when he fails, he will find the proper motivation to do what needs to be done.  I think it would be different if I wondered  if he maybe had a learning disability or any processing problems....but I know he doesn't.  That kid is crazy crazy smart.  He's simply unmotivated and I cannot seem to motivate him...either through punishment OR reward.  And so it will HAVE to come from within Max himself.  If that means he flunks...then he flunks...and if he flunks enough....then he will be repeating the 8th grade.  Or doing summer school.  Which would really be a bummer.  Especially since.....

We made our reservations for a month in San Diego next summer.  It's going to be a heck of a drive to get there, but SOOOOo worth it in the end!  I can't wait!  We had SUCH a good time there last summer.  I am really REALLY glad we are doing it all over again.  The kids really love it.  It's so hot here in the summer...much like Arizona.  So it will be a great escape from the heat for our kids.  It would be sad for Max to have to stay behind and do summer school because he couldn't pull his act together.  But I guess that will be up to him.  I told him three times to go do his homework this afternoon.  Once he disappeared into the bathroom, the next time he headed off in the general direction of homework, but then got distracted before he got there.  And the last time I told him, I found him about 10 minutes later just laying in the floor...doing nothing.  I refuse to sit on the child and force him to do it.  At 13, he's too old for that he KNOWS what he needs to be doing.  If he refuses to take responsibility....so be it.  That will be his choice and he will have to take those consequences.  I am at peace with this plan of action.  I feel like it's just going to have to be this way.  I have fought against it for over a year now...but have come to realize that it just may take exactly this to reach Maxwell.  Wish us luck!

What else?  Clara's foot is all better this week.  Both Chris and I have had our flu shots.  Work is good.  Life is good.  Oh...and we are having our pictures made this weekend!  Woo hoo!  THAT should be fun!  I have everyone's outfits all ready for action.  Oh...and we will visit First Euless for the third time.  We had yet another visit from them last night.  The first time they came, they brought a nice little welcome and a gift bag with a cool coffee cup.  Then last night they came with another welcome, an invite to a different Sunday school class, and salsa for us.  They are some of the nicest people I have ever met...like ever!  We really enjoyed the Sunday school class we visited last week and are looking forward to visiting a new one this week.  I really, really like this church a lot.  And that's such a great feeling!  

Looking forward to this weekend!  And the cool weather that has been promised for it!  Stay tuned!  

Catching Up

I can't believe another week has gone by...another weekend gone and it is MONDAY again!!!  Wow!  What a week!  Life is so amazing and good here in Texas.  I just love Texas.  Have I mentioned that yet?  That I simply ADORE this state and the sweet and kind people in it?!  What happened this week?  Let's see.  Ben went back in for his follow up for his contacts.  Everything went great and was hunky dory in that department.  He is all cleared and good to rock and roll with them and every day seems to get a bit easier for him with the contacts.  I picked up his new glasses today (they also look really, really nice on him), so vision wise, whatever the circumstance, the kid is set!  

I met with Max's teacher last week about his grades.  His English teacher anyway.  She was really REALLY nice and helpful and did a lot of talking with Max and I.  Max was shocked to find out that those worksheets she handed out every single week were supposed to be turned in every Friday for a grade (yeah right).   And he had a plethora of excuses about WHY he had managed to miss turning in 8 out of 10 assignments due.  In the end I thought the teacher was AMAZINGLY gracious and gave Max all 8 assignments he was missing so he could do them and turn them in for credit.  She's really, really nice and apparently had a brother very much like our Max.  So she had a real heart for him and an unusually accurate understanding of what it's like to live with a child like him.   I appreciate that young lady more than words can say  So Max worked MUCH of the weekend on that stack of assignments, getting those ready to turn in.  He also talked to his math teacher (mostly because I refused to fix this whole entire situation FOR him) and she also was gracious enough to give him an assignment to do to make up some points and try to bring up his grade of a D.  Friday is the cut off for grades...so hopefully, he made some progress in getting those up?

Ben had a project due today and he finished it Saturday night.  I took one look at it and cringed.  So, Sunday after church, we bought new posterboard and I took what he had done on the computer and tweaked it for him.  I completely  redid (I mean helped with) his project.  It didn't take me very long at all and when it was all done, it looked SO much better.  I felt good about turning it in ( I mean...he felt good about turning it in) for a grade.  

What else?  We had a GREAT day at church on Sunday.  It felt very much like home.  WONDERFUL Sunday school class...wonderful service.  My goodness it was a great day there in that church.  I can't tell you how refreshing THAT is after feeling so NOT connected for SO long.   It was our second week at First Euless and it was really, really great.  

After church we went out for a yummy lunch and then came home and tackled some yard work!  Chris and I both hit it  and had it done in no time.  I mowed while he weed whacked and edged and trimmed the hedges.  It was a job well done and the  yard looks so nice!  Of course...we'll be right back at it next weekend!  But still...it's so satisfying to see the progress and to see it shape up so beautifully and nice and neat.  I LOVE it!  

And before we knew it, it was Monday morning and we  were off!  Normally, I would have been off to the gym or off on a long power walk with the neighbor, but instead, this morning I found myself at the chiropractor....finally!  I came to a point where I could take it no longer!  And so I finally dragged myself in there and I have to say...it was a wonderful, wonderful appointment.  I learned more about what's happening with me and why in that short half hour than I have....ever!  The doctor was amazing and so sweet and the things she could see in such a short time....astounding!  She fixed problems I wasn't even aware that I was having!  I feel so much better tonight.  I'm still sitting here typing...which is HUGE, as sitting has been so painful for the past few days.  Like REALLY really painful.  But I can actually do it tonight.  I know what's causing all of the misalignment...and I know what to do to help it now.  So I'm feeling equipped in a new and useful way!  I'm bummed because I have a no exercise status for the next week until I see her again on Friday.  But confident that when I do see her, things will be looking up and up!  

And I guess that's about it for now.  Oh....I had lunch with my sweet realtor friend today.  I ADORE her.  She cracks me up...is as SWEET as they come and just makes me smile and smile and smile.  I enjoy her more than words can say.  We are going to have us a little camera day.  Seems she has been given quite a sweet little camera set up and has NO IDEA how to use it.  So we are going to go and play!  I'm going to teach her how to use it and teach her how to get it off those auto settings.  I can't WAIT!  We're hitting the botanical gardens...which should be fun, fun, fun!  I'm so looking forward to it!

And now...I'm off for some shut eye!  Sweet dreams!

Total Conditioning-Take 2

Today I went back to Total Conditioning.  The whole morning before I went I was filled with dread.  That class is just plain hard.  And exhausting.  But I went anyway.  Instructors are different from class to class and my friend had said that she thought this one was even tougher than the last one I tried.  Of course...everyone interprets hard in different ways!  So I went and gave it a whirl.  Here's how the class went down...First thing, right out of the shoot we did 30 push ups.  That should have been my first little warning right there.  We did 30 pushups on our toes with our hands on the bench.  I survived that okay.  Then we turned around and put our FEET on the bench and did another 20 pushups.  Can you say....eat the floor Miss Shaky Arms?!  Those were tough.  Then there were another 10 pushups where we jump down into the push up with our hands on the bench and us on our toes, do the push up, then jump our feet back up to the step, do a big jump up in the air...and then do it all over again...10 times.  Well....to tell ya the truth I was pretty tired right about then.  At the end of those pushups I felt WORKED OUT!  But lucky me...I had another 50 minutes to go!  We moved on past the push ups and into the land of the lunges.  LOTS of them.  We stood up on top of the bench....with a weight in our hand...and lunged back nice and deep.  Then back up top on the bench.  To the tune of 20 times.  Followed by then taking that lunge and when we lunged back, lifting the weight up over our heads, then lifting it up over our heads again when we came back to the top of the bench.  Then we did a bunch of jump ups on the bench to really take our heart rates right on up into the death zone.  I think they use some other fancy term for it....AT Zone...stands for some kind of something Target...I can't remember now.  It's all semantics after all....AT zone....death zone...same thing.  Anyway....we did that little lunge diddy...then did it again....and then did it again...because these things apparently come in threes.  Lovely.  While we were doing these the Police were singing "Sending out an SOS" and I was thinking yes....I should be sending one out too...I need someone to save me from this class.  Soon thereafter I began to think that "I see your SOS there and raise you some smoke signals...because I'm pretty sure my butt is about to burst into flames with all these lunges".  And the instructor is up there just smiling and asking if we are feeling it yet?  Well I had long since been feeling it and was quite ready to be over that experience.  The police song faded into the old 80's classic of "Shiree don't like that" and I was thinking that Tonya ain't so fond of it either brother!  FINALLY, the lunges all came to an end.  We moved on to some nasty little squat things....where you stand with one foot on the edge of the bench and pick the other foot up and proceed to do one legged squats basically.  You do 20 of those....then you pick up a weight and do 20 more while you press that weight up over your head.  Then you move on to some more jump things to get back into the death zone.  After all of THAT fun I was now watching the clock and starting to just pray.  Biceps were next...my thoughts on that?  Ouch.  I was thinking to myself  "HOW can so little weight hurt THIS much?!"  Because I had definitely lightened up my weights by now.  So our biceps didn't feel left out, we then worked our triceps extra hard.  THEN there was a particularly grueling exercise with the resistance band.  HOLY COW it hurt so bad!  If you're looking for some pain, take up a long resistance band (mine was red) and stand with your feet a little wider than hips distance on the band, while you bring the band up to your shoulders with your elbows bent and tucked into your waist.  Then you bring one knee across at a time and put it back down again....all the time holding that band.  Tougher than it sounds, I promise you.  Then, after you've done 30 or 40 of those little jewels, just kick the foot back against the band and alternate feet.  My poor glutes.  The honestly have no idea what happened to them today or why I surely must hate them  so badly that I would have done this to them.  Class ended with some side planked hip raises.  I was torn between just crying or laying down and going to sleep.  Instead...I gingerly walked my very sweaty self out of that torture session and drove myself home and am now just too tired to move...at all.  I need to go to sleep desperately.  It was a VERY rough day.  And THAT was my total conditioning class.  I've scheduled some maintenance for the car on  Thursday...so I won't be able to do it again.  Darn it.  :)

Weekend Wrap Up

I can't believe our long weekend is OVER!  The kids were out of school on Thursday and Friday for teacher inservice days.  So we had a glorious 4 day weekend to just kick back and RELAX for the first time since we moved here.  I'm not really good at relaxing.  On Thursday, the first day of our "vacation" I met a friend in Grapevine for some picture scoping and shopping.  That was fun.  Then on Friday, it finally stopped raining long enough for me to get out and CUT MY GRASS!!!  THAT was fun and nice, but totally exhausting.  Yard work totally kicks my butt...but I love seeing it all come together so pretty and nice!  Then Saturday rolled around and Chris and I spent a great part of the morning returning the busted curtain rods to JC Penny that I had ordered and got delivered all banged up and broken.  We picked up other ones that we liked better at Lowe's.  Then there was grocery shopping, dinner cooking and the hanging of the new curtains.  And before we knew it...Saturday was gone!  Today, we visited yet another new church.  First Euless Baptist.  It was really a very nice church, a super friendly congregation, a wonderful service, awesome music...I was nearly giddy sitting there taking it all in!  It was the very first time in nearly 5 years that I just was delighted for the whole service.  I LOVED the music, I enjoyed the message, the choir wore choir robes, the praise team was great and the music was grand!  Did I mention how much I enjoyed the music?  When the choir and congregation let loose with "All Hail the Power of Jesus' name, let angels prostrate fall..."I was just beyond happy deep down in my heart.  It was a GREAT, great service.  Loved it, loved it, loved it.  Before we knew it, church was done and we were headed home.  Once home, we reevaluated Clara's foot and decided it was time for medical intervention.  She was QUITE swollen and could barely get her foot in her sandals on the loosest setting.  Plus, there was a big red ring there and her foot was starting to feel hot on top.  Urgent care decided it was indeed time to act and start some antibiotics...among other things.  While I was there I got my flu shot...so now 4 out of the 5 Roberts clan are flu protected!  At least for NORMAL flu.  Swine flu vaccines have yet to begin for anyone...though I am quite certain that Chris and I had that beast back in early May.  So maybe we are safe?  Here's hoping since we aren't really in a "high risk" category to receive the vaccines.  Once I got Clara home from the doctor and settled with her Benadryl, motrin, foot propped up and her games and t.v., I headed back out the door to run some errands.  Namely, to stop at Kirklands and shop with my birthday giftcard and to hit Old Navy to look for a sweater I need for upcoming pictures.  Also I picked up Clara's medicine at the pharmacy and put some much needed gas in my car!  As soon as I got home Chris had to go and work with his boss for a bit so the kids and I picked up the house and cooked up some dinner.  We were just putting it on the table when Chris got back home.  And then dinner was over, and so was our wonderful weekend that went WAY, way, way too fast!  It's back to the grind tomorrow.  A full week this week!  First one in a while!  LOL!  How spoiled we've gotten with all of these days off!  Oh well....time to put our noses to the grindstones and grind out another weeks worth of hard, determined work.  Let's hope Max actually GETS determined about his tasks this week and is inspired to actually turn in his work for a change and get organized.  Here's hoping!

Happy Birthday to Me

Today was my first birthday in Texas.  Today I am 38.  And it has been a great day.  The kids were out of school and at MANY points in this day I was ready to strangle them all.  Clara was dangerously close to being put to bed by 6 p.m., Ben was pretty much on the road to permanently grounded by 11 a.m. and Max....dear Max...he's stepping lively and ever so precariously as he has already spent a day in the mommy hot seat and is MOST DEFINITELY on the mommy radar...he was just trying to be good and fly under the radar I think!  I spent the early morning on the phone entertaining MANY good morning wishes and songs!  My sweet friend Gillian called first thing this morning and I heard these two SWEET, sweet, sweet little voices burst into a round of "Happy Birthday to You"!  Her little Sarah and Claire were belting out the most beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday!  I've smiled every time I've thought of it today!  Then I met a friend from Florida to scope out some sights for our upcoming family picture.  Yes....I've recruited someone to deal with the Roberts family and "deal" with us and create a family memory for us!  Tracy is awesome and I know she is going to do a great job! I'm almost looking forward to it!  While we were site looking....we happened to pop our heads into an amazing little boutique called Blessings Boutique.  And OH MY!!!  What an amazing little shop! WOW!!!  It carries mostly Christian themed wares....and FUN fun stuff.   Like t-shirts, jeans, purses, jewelry, home decor, etc.  It was so awesome.  And it was THERE that I bought my birthday present.  Are you curious as to what I bought?  I think I'll wait to tell you.  Better yet...I'll SHOW you...but not tonight!  This afternoon, after we got home, the kids played outside...in the rain.  Did you know it's been raining here like CRAZY?  Did I mention that previously?  It's been NUTS!  Like I'm nearly ready to build an ark kind of raining?  I would have thought I'd be crazy by now.  I'm hanging in there okay...but it's SO time to see some sunshine!  The roofers are coming tomorrow to check out our leak.  Grrrr....hopefully they will fix EVERYTHING...but I feel like maybe they will only fix the roof and NOT the damage CAUSED by the leak in the roof that they guarantee.  Chris started vocalizing his thoughts on fixing the damage in the family room HIMSELF tonight...uh oh!  I don't think there's any good news along that thought line!  Once Chris got home, we picked up some yummy hot wings at the Wing Stop and enjoyed wings and the season premier of Survivor Samoa.  In our new house, we have Verizon Fios...and the super cool thing about that is that we can put in a TiVo request (and I use that term loosely because it's the term I know from Arizona)....we can record whatever it is we want to watch or get a season pass for a show, and then we can WATCH it from ANY t.v. in the house!!!!  Which means we can put in for a "season pass" downstairs and then WATCH it UPSTAIRS in the media room on the really BIG screen!  Very cool and totally different from the Direct t.v. we had in AZ.  LOVE IT!!!  So fun.  We enjoyed curling up on our new leather couch in front of the big t.v.  and scoping out the new Survivor candidates.  All in all it was a GREAT day and a great night.  And a very happy birthday to me!

Here We Go Again...

Last year was a TOUGH year for us.  I mean TOUGH.  Maxwell was so chronically disorganized that he didn't know if he was coming or going.  He forgot major projects, lost his homework, or just did a really crappy job ON that homework.  His grades were continually in the toilet and our family was just in constant crisis mode and NONE to happy and smiley thanks to his unending state of craziness.  He assured me that we would NOT have another year like that.  I assured HIM that we would not have another year like that...not that he would live to tell about anyway.  And the year really seemed to be off to a great start.  Three weeks in so far and there's just been smooth sailing and no bumps.  Easy nights of homework and all good news.  And then this morning came.  It was a good and glorious morning.  A little slow to get moving, but good just the same.  There were the usual lost shoes and scrambling for things....guess who's shoes were lost!  But it was normal enough and not too problematic.  Then...about 2 minutes before Max headed out the door he hastily thrust a sheet of paper at me with the "Can you sign this real quick?" plea.  At first glance it was just an ethnicity survey.  You know...hispanic?  non hispanic?  white?  And so on.  Then I flipped to the  next sheet which happened to be his current GRADES standing.  And that's where the morning went all to hell in a handbasket.  I"m pretty sure my blood pressure went from low and smooth to SPIKED OFF THE CHART in about 20 seconds.  The child is currently showing TWO D's.  One of then in English and one of them in ALGEBRA.  The SAME algebra that I am making him repeat for the second year in a row.  For pete's sake!!!  Mind you...he did not flunk Algebra last year either.  He carried C's and D's and it was always a battle.  He did well enough on the tests, but always had low grades on his homework and other assignments.  He basically screwed himself in that class due to his disorganization.  We talked a LOT about that this summer.  And when it came time to enroll him here, I talked with the guidance counselor and asked that he repeat the class.  Max wasn't happy about it...but his high school transcript is taking some real hits right now.  I figured taking it a second time around would build his foundation a bit more solid and be an EASY A or B for him.  Silly mommy.  What WAS I thinking?!  The comments under this class state "assignments not completed regularly" and "lack of daily careful preparation".  SIGH.  How many times are we going to GO down this road?  I'm so SICK of this road.  I want the hell OFF of this road.  It's exhausting and frustrating and there is NO GOOD EXCUSE for being on this road.  He's a smart kid.  REALLY smart.  We should NOT BE ON THIS ROAD!!!!!!!!!!  And yet, we are.  He has a 69 in the Algebra class.  A 67 in his English class.  There are no comments for that class on the report.  And Max has "no idea" why his grade could possibly be that low.  Hmmmm.  Imagine that.  And THIS is why I am NOT going to be taking any pictures anytime soon in Texas.  There are no words to describe how angry I am right now with him.  NONE  though I am pretty certain that Maxwell has at least a hint.  To say that he was immediately and FULLY and SO completely grounded is an understatement.  If there are not at least B's in those classed by end of term, he will REMAIN fully grounded until mid term reports show either A's or B's in those classes...6 weeks from now.  And if he is still "struggling" with his organization....then he may just stay grounded indefinitely.  He and I are on some mighty bad terms right about now.  I'm just SO beyond disappointed that after all of the struggles of last year he is just going right back there.  I can't figure out how, if I am asking him every single night if he has his homework done and every single night he is telling me yes...it's done and I've studies....HOW then are they being IRREGULARLY turned in when they are being completed REGULARLY???!!!  HOW is this happening?!  GRRRRRRRRRR.  I am mad and grumpy and frustrated and disappointed BEYOND belief.  What DOES that child do when he walks out of here in the morning?  Does he not look around and see all of the OTHER children turning in THEIR work?  I keep hearing that Sesame Street song drift through my head.  The one that goes "One of these kids is not like the others".  How crazy true is THAT for my kid?  I feel like it's our theme song.  And so...it is with great frustration that I head off to the gym this morning.  It's STRIKE class again.  I'm going to do the class...but I don't think I love it.  It's tough enough...no worries there.  It's a good workout.  But it's not really fun.  Well...mostly it's no fun at all.  More like an instructor with a death wish and us there just asking to be tortured.  There is no playful and fun banter like I am accustomed to having with bodycombat.  It's fine.  But it's not fun.  After Strike, I'm off to lunch with my friend Jimma.  She IS a lot of fun and I do adore her.  She pretty much cracks me up every minute we hang out.  I LOVE to hear her talk.  Her southernisms are just so fun and her Texas accent only sweetens the pot for me!  She's a laugh a minute and I'm never bored with her.  Hopefully I can calm myself down and work out some of my frustrations with Max before I get there and can enjoy myself.  

Trials and Triumphs

Today was a better day for Tonya!  The day came and went...but not without it's share of trials and triumphs.  I had a long walk first thing this morning with the neighbor.  We detoured from our usual route, due to the mud involved with getting to our trail and walked a new route.  It was so fun to see NEW beautiful houses (have I mentioned how I SO love them here in Texas?  NOt a stucco house to be found!)  Today we walked alongside a beautiful lake.  It was cool and breezy and refreshing after being stuck in the house TOTALLY for the past 4 days due to rain.  We had a great walk, a lovely chat, and I was good and hot and sweaty when I got home.  My friend Patricia is a really good walker.  That makes me smile.  

Then there was a shower, a quick lunch, some laundry, and minor housekeeping tasks and I barely blinked and it was time to go pick up Ben for his eye exam.  He's a few months overdue at this point and we've noticed some increased headaches...so today was the day.  Ben has been asking for the better part of this year about contacts and if and when he can have them.  I told him we'd have to talk to the doctor and see what he recommended and go from there.  I didn't know if 6th grade was too young or not.  So we met the doctor....sooooo very nice.  And his staff is beyond lovely.  He did a very thorough exam on Ben and when it was all said and done, Ben's prescription had changed significantly this time (THAT would explain those headaches!).  The doctor also gave his blessing for contact lenses.  And so, while I went to get Clara from the bus stop, Ben stayed at the office to learn how to put them in and take them out and clean them and all sorts of stuff.  I wasn't gone too long...and when I got back, Ben practically flung himself into my car.  I told him to slow down...that I had to go and pay for his visit and the contacts, etc....and he burst into tears and told me he wasn't getting them...that they were too hard and he couldn't do it.  So just forget it.  Well...my heart sank.  I KNEW how much he wanted those contacts.  AND I know that Ben is most often my "quitter".  He quits pretty much EVERYTHING he tries.  If he isn't perfect at it practically from the get go, he's ready to throw in the towel.  So...I thought about it for about 10 seconds and decided the situation called for a mommy intervention...and that's what I did.  I told him that I KNEW for sure and certain how much he wanted these contacts...and that until I saw for MYSELF a concentrated FULL effort and was convinced that he simply could not do it, that I would NOT allow him to give up.  He was pretty mad, but I'm just so used to that by this point and three kids into the game.  Honestly...I wouldn't recognize my life if at least one of my kids at any given time didn't like me!  So I told him to suck it up and pull himself together and that I would be inside waiting for him when he was ready to get on with it.  Honestly...I had no idea if the kid would even get out of the car or not...much less try again.  This plan could SO seriously have backfired on me.  But within about two or three minutes, Ben came walking in the door.  Red eyed and sniffling...but he came just the same.  We had about 10 minutes of attitude then where he just went through the motions and made little or no attempt at following the suggestions of the VERY helpful nurse.  It took everything I had in me to remain calm and cheerful and upbeat right about then when I was really longing to just smack him upside his silly, stubborn head.  After that period of half hearted indifference, we seemed to turn a corner.  It may have been the announcement that I made that I was willing to sit there until they closed the office doors tonight and would GLADLY be there again when they opened in the morning IF that's what it took to get this done.  I think he was convinced because he started paying attention to the nurses' advice right about then.  It still took a good many tries, but with each try he was getting closer and his technique was improving.  I threw out the thought that IF he were to get these silly contacts in we MIGHT have to celebrate with Starbucks (it IS pumpkin latte season you know and a mom has to get her fix whenever she can finagle it!).  Ben let me know right quick that we would NOT be enjoying STarbucks and that I should just wipe that thought from my mind.  And then....about 5 minutes later...darn if that contact wasn't sitting just so pretty in my Ben's eye!  We were all surprised I think....even Ben! And of course...the FIRST words out of his mouth were "Can we go get Starbucks now?!".  You got to love that kid!  It only took two tries to get the left eye in...then a quick lesson in getting them out....and then he popped them both right back in again.  I LOVED watching the expression of pure joy and excitement wash over his face and to see pride and a sense of real accomplishment wash all over his joyful little face.  There were smiles galore and high fives and pats on the back.  A real moment of triumph after a more than a little bit stressful visit!  He was all smiles when he walked in the door of the house with no glasses on his face and proclaimed that he was WEARING his contacts!  He has said thank you about a dozen times tonight.  He's really glad that I stood my ground and made him try and ecstatic that he got through it and perservered and he's thrilled to be reaping the benefits of that hard work tonight.  

Clara was bubbling with her own triumphs tonight.  She is gathering sponsors for her Boosterthon run at school.  She gets people to pledge an amoung PER LAP and then, on the day of the event, she runs her little heart out and tries to do as much as she can in the time she's given.  Her dad and I had pledged $1 a lap for her and she was BEYOND thrilled to get off the bus today wearing a "team" bracelet.  In order to be on the official "team" one must have at least one pledge or flat donation on your file.  She was so happy!  She was over the MOON when I checked my e-mail and my sister had also pledged $1 a lap!  She was just giddy!  She now cannot WAIT to get to school tomorrow for more pep rally fun andanticipation of the big day...which is still MANY days away.  This run is a really nice distraction for her.  Her teacher's 6 year old son was diagnosed with leukemia last week and her teacher has taken a leave until AT LEAST February to be with Jackson.  So a new temporary teacher has had to step in at the last minute and pick up Clara's class.  She has struggled with the change a bit.  Poor baby.  There have really been a LOT of changes for her lately, with the move and all.  And she's worried about Jackson.  She prays for him long and hard each night.  And today we went and got a gift to go in a basket that her class is assembling for him.  She's trying to wrap her brain around leukemia and what it is and is trying to figure out why it made her teacher cry so hard at school.  She's seemed a bit overwhelmed processing it all...so this fun run is such a great distraction for her.  If anyone out there wants to pledge for her efforts and support Team Clara, you can do so by logging on to Boosterthon Online Pledge and entering her access code.  Her access code is VTT-KZY.  That will direct any pledges you make directly to Clara's file!  She's so fired up and excited...and I like that the focus is on physical fitness and fun...and not just another catalog full of giftwrap and other assorted useless junk!  She's so excited about running and wanting to do her very best for her school.  The really great thing is that the MOST they are allowed to run is 34 laps.  So you don't have to worry about going broke supporting them!  There IS a definite maximum!  

We finished our whirlwind of a day with Starbucks and homework and hamburgers out on the grill.  Chris is working in Phoenix for a couple of days.  So it's just me and the kiddos.  We enjoyed our cookout immensely.  We had a nice chat with Gigi wishing her happy birthday and all the kiddos were tucked in with big, sweet smiles on their faces tonight.  And you just can't beat that.  It was a great day in the state of Texas!  Tomorrow promises to be equally as great.  I'm off to lunch with my realtor whom I adore to pieces.  She's just about one of the funniest people I have ever met and she just makes me smile when I listen to her sweet southern accent roll off that silly tongue of hers!  She's a hoot and I am already smiling just thinking of our time together tomorrow!  Sweet dreams!  I'm off,  for tomorrow is sure to hold many trials and triumphs of it's own!