So...

Things are going along very well for us lately!  The kids are doing well, I'm doing as much as I can whenever I can, and helping my mom out.  Except now though, while my parents are out of town, I'm still spending more time at their house than I am at my own, which makes me feel rather like I'm neglecting my oldest, who refuses to take the bus to my parents house and instead spends the afternoons taking care of our animals, which I guess is good since I don't generally get home in the evenings until fairly late.  But that's the price I'm paying for agreeing to help my mom.  And of course, taking care of their farm while they're gone, as they are likely to be for a while this trip.  Mom's fairly bad off, and the doctor doesn't think it's wise for her to be traveling 400+ miles each direction between homes, so they're staying at their other house until she's a bit better and more fit to travel.  And while I love staying at their house when they're not here, it gets fairly tiring...  Especially since I can't do any crafting while I'm at my parents, due to all of my supplies being at my own house!  But I'll figure it out.  I just hope my sister doesn't decide to invade again.  I only just finished cleaning up after her last two nights here turned into nearly a week!  😝. But that's all for now.  I need to get going and head home, but right now, I'm watching my sweet little boy enjoy a cup of hot cocoa with whipped cream, and for now, that's all I need to worry about.  ☺️  He really does enjoy his whipped cream!  lol

Hmm...

It's been quite a while since my last update, but since I'm fairly certain no one reads this anyway, I'll not apologize for that.  

Right now, I am sitting in the very spacious master suite of a lovely resort in Orlando, Florida. Why, you may ask? Simply because my parents had the foresight to buy the last week of the year several years ago, and then got a dog, so they no longer use the thing.  But rather than sell it, they hold it for us kids to use as we wish. And we definitely wish to enjoy it this year! ☺️ My parents decided to get my entire family, all five of us, passes to Universal Studios, Florida!!!  And not cheapy-cheap passes either! They got us year-round passes with free parking and no black-out dates! From parents who are constantly complaining about having no money, this was definitely a surprise, too! So once the husband goes back to his home on Monday night/ Tuesday morning (he has to work on Tuesday, 😕) we will be heading to the park to see all the wonderful sites. I'm hoping there's not a huge line at "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter", because the kids all want to go there! Of course I'll take pictures, and hopefully I'll even remember to upload them, too! ☺️  But regardless, this is a week for family fun, to forget about all the troubles we have to deal with on a daily basis, and to just enjoy being US.

I'm really hoping that we have a great time, and not a stupid, boring, mediocre time, which would really stink, but if my older sister has her way, that is EXACTLY what is going to happen.  She is here too, of course, and she ALWAYS tries to take over EVERYTHING, especially where my kids are involved!  But I have a plan! It's called "let her walk ahead of us and go one way, them we take off in the opposite direction!" lol Seriously, I love my sister, I really do, but she is SOOO controlling! You've no idea, unless you happen to have an older sister like mine.  Then you know all too well!  :)

And so that's all for now! With the hubs here I don't have to cook a single thing until Tuesday, so I am going to enjoy my wine, my chocolates (gotta love half-off Christmas candy sales! lol), and relative silence, huh?  And who knows, maybe I'll start feeling ambitious and post a recipe or two once I start cooking again.  ☺️

Well...

So, it's been hectic and crazy for me, trying to get things done in the house, not go crazy with the kids, pay bills, make it to after school activities, etc., etc., etc., but I'm trying my best.  And it seems that things are actually going fairly well for us.  The kids have been behaving much better than they have in the last few years, they actually do the things that they're told to do, even the Eldest, who has almost NEVER done as he was told, much to my surprise and excessive pleasure.  My Wee Boy is still having some problems with school, and we're trying to get him the help he needs to figure out why he keeps having the problems he's having, and my Wee Girl is...  Well, she's still herself, and nothing about her has changed.  lol  I haven't synced my phone, which is currently my only camera, to the computer in a while, so I have no pictures to share yet, but I'm hoping I will soon, as there are a lot that I would love to share!  But for now, that is all, and I'll try to write more often than once a month!  :)

Away...

Well, it seems I've been away from here much longer than initially anticipated, and that is mainly because I still don't have a computer, never mind Internet, at home.  But I'm working on it.  I'm doing everything I can to try to get both within the next month or so.  I really need to as well, since I intend to try to open my online shop again.  I really need additional income, I'm not sure I can continue living on nearly-nothing each month.  But for now, I have the library close enough, and if I _REALLY_ get desperate, I can always use my phone.  Service at my house is spotty at best, but it's what I have.  That's all for now, I have email to check as well as other things to do.  Have a happy Monday evening!  :)

9/11...

12 years...

It's been 12 years since the events of 9/11/2001 left their mark on everyone old enough to realize what happened.  And in 12 years, so much has changed, but so much is still the same.  It's bizarre how that happens, isn't it?  A war was started, a war was ended, people blamed the ruling party in government for both, and neither was really at fault.  Oh, some could argue one way or the other, I'm sure, but honestly?  What's the point?  So where were you when you heard about the events of that tragic day?

I was laying in a hospital bed in Aurora, Colorado, having just given birth to my younger son two days before.  It was the day I got to take my sweet little bundle home from the hospital, and I was excited about it.  We'd been having a good morning, the sky outside my room window was blue with big, puffy white clouds, my little man had nursed like a champ, as he had since he was just 30 minutes old, and we were snuggling when some woman walked into my room.  To this day I don't know who she was or why she was in my room, but figuring she was a nurse or something, I greeted her with a cheery "Hello!" and a smile.  She stared at me with doleful eyes, then glumly said, "Oh...  Hello..."  I was confused by this greeting, after I had greeted her so cheerfully, and I asked, "What's the matter with you?"  She replied, in that same glum voice, "Oh, you didn't hear?  They blew up the Twin Towers.  Sorry."  Then this woman, who I didn't know and had never seen before in my life, turned tail, walked out of my room, and I never saw her again.  Figuring she was just some weirdo, I turned on the TV to prove to myself that she was some wacko, and it turned out she wasn't.  Well, she probably WAS, considering she walked into my room out of nowhere with all of this, but on that point, she wasn't wrong.  My heart hit the floor.  I tried calling my parents, my husband, everyone I knew.  I even called my work, where they had found a TV in a storage room and all the agents on the floor were watching in dumbfounded silence.  I think the worst part was that neither my parents nor my husband was answering the phone that day, which had me absolutely frantic trying to get in touch with them.  And being in Colorado, and so close to the mountains, there was concern that a plane might try to make a go at NORAD, the The North American Aerospace Defense Command, I suppose it was a legitimate concern.  All hospitals, schools, and government buildings were on lockdown, everyone was terrified of what could possibly happen next.

Over the next few days, things started to return to some semblance of normalcy, but the events of that day will always be indelibly etched into my brain and heart...

Moving...

My kids and I moved on Friday, 16, August. It was... Well honestly, to say it was one of the most stressful moves we've ever made would be a definite understatement! We left far later than we had wanted to, as the truck got there much later than anticipated, so we didn't actually arrive at the new house until about 2:30am on Saturday. And then the truck got stuck trying to get into my driveway, and it took over an hour to get it UNstuck, before we could start with the unloading. Which went surprisingly fast, considering how very long it took to load the darned thing! But once everything was in the house, we were able to settle down and sleep for a while. I think the kids fell asleep around 5am or so, but I couldn't manage to get to sleep until nearly 6am. But then we were all up and ready to go for the day by about 11am, go figure. That was when we started finding out all the things about the house that I think I would rather not know... But more of that later!

We spent the better portion of Saturday finishing our school clothes/ shoes shopping, getting food, and doing that sort of thing, then Sunday we went to get school supplies as well as a few essentials that I didn't already have because I left them at the other house for the boys there. And it was Saturday night/ Sunday morning that I realized my 11yo was definitely sick. >.< So he missed the first day of school to go to the doctor, was given appropriate medications to treat his malady, and he went the very next day. The Littles seem to enjoy their classes, which is good since most kids I know don't usually enjoy school, but the oldest... Well, he's an angsty teenager, he doesn't actually LIKE anything anymore! lol But he has expressed satisfaction with his schedule, and the fact that several friends are in many of his classes while his cousin is in none ( and believe me, for him that is DEFINITELY a good thing! lol) so maybe it won't be so bad after all. As for me... Well, I've been unpacking and trying to organize this place, all the while trying to figure out where I'm going to put things, how I'm going to get the rest of my furniture, which is currently at my parents house, to MY house, and slowly realizing how very much was left behind, things that are necessary and generally needed on an almost-daily basis, at that. Ah well, hopefully I'll manage to replace it all, but until then, I suppose I just have to keep doing everything I can to make what I have work, huh?

We've been here a little over a week and a half now, and I've still not managed to finish unpacking. The house is still full of bags, bins, and boxes that need dealing with. I think one of the reasons I haven't managed to finish unpacking is because I don't have the space for my craft stuff, and I really don't want to just toss it all into a closet or something. I want to be able to have it out and use it, since my craft stuff really is rather important to me. I mean, I really love making things, and this place is just about big enough that I can have a crafting area set up all the time, I just need to find a table so I can have it set up. And THAT is what's proving to be so difficult, finding a table to use. I know I will find one, it's simply a question of when, but until then my things remain in boxes, and that is so very frustrating. But I'll manage, I'm sure. After all, I always do! :)

Happy 10th birthday, my sweet little girl.

Today you are 10 years old.  It seems like it was just yesterday that you were a tiny little thing, though you were the biggest of my three babies, snuggled up in my arms.

You were a joy right from the beginning, though admittedly getting you here was a bit of a trial at first.

Ah, but I have never ever, not for a minute, wanted anyone other than you.  You are (most of the time) a joy to be around, such a wonderful little helper, and generally pretty cheerful.

 

Happy birthday, my sweet little girl.  It's hard to believe it's been ten years already, but proof is right there in front of me, for all to see.  :)