Pretty things...

Go check out what else we did yesterday...

Hilarious...

The other night, while cleaning up after supper, our kitchen sink broke!  The head of the faucet ~ broke off!!  Daddy, being the great man that he is, went straight out and bought a new one to put on!  While he was gone, the older children had a little fun!!

 

Katie had a riot before this trying to see how far it would shoot out (I didn't willingly allow this by the way!  I walked in to find a stream flowing almost to the fridge!  Yes, I yelled ;).  Here she is trying to get water for Madelyn's bottle.  She tried tricking Andrea into turning on the faucet.  Andrea is such a smart gal that she noticed before hand that the faucet was broken!!  Until later ;)  She went to wash a bowl and turned on the faucet!!  I walked into the room and she was cleaning the floor!  She was trying VERY hard to be angry.  I asked her if she forgot ~ YEP!!  It was funny!  I then tried to get a picture of her using the sink to wash her bowl and wouldn't you know it, my battery died!!  Grrrrr....

Vent...

This may end up being rather long...I don't know.  Recently we hired an attorney to obtain full custody of Emma.  After leaving the attorneys' office I decided it would be best to contact her dad before going any further and trying to work it out without court interventions.  To my surprise he was agreeable!  He said that Emma coming to live with us was something that he had been thinking about for several months.  He said that she needed to be with her siblings and that she really missed Katie.  He also said that he felt bad because he never did anything with her ~ he was too tired.  We talked about homeschooling and he talked about how frustrated he was with the public school because of Emma's grades dropping.  Emma can tell you all about what she has read, but her answers on tests have "too much detail".?. He didn't like the fact that Emma knows the stuff, but continues to get low grades because of some state standards and test taking issues.  He said I was right about alot of things.  We discussed child support ~ ours would stop and he would start paying us ~ but only what he could afford.  I told him we did not want him to go broke, so if he could sit down and figure out what he could afford monthly and let us know we would be fine with whatever amount he came up with.  This was not about money, it was about Emma.  He asked that Friend of the Court not be involved ~ I agreed.  He said that he couldn't afford an attorney so if we could have our attorney write everything up, he would sign the papers.  The plan was for Emma to come live with us starting in the summer.  I did everything he asked.  There were no arguments, actually there was alot of laughing and talking.  The papers were typed up and sent to him.  He contacted me about an error in the child support frequency ~ I called our attorneys' office and had it corrected ~ they sent it back out to him.  He said everything else looked good. Those papers had everything he asked for in them! 

1. Child support amount that he set.


2. No friend of the court involvement.


3. No garnishment of wages ~ he was going to pay us directly, so that if he couldn't afford to pay at times we could work it out.


4. Flexible visitation and every other weekend.


5. Holidays were to stay the same.


6. He would still claim one of them on his income tax (even though they would both be living here) ~ so he didn't owe in taxes, and would hopefully get something back at the end of the year.

After not hearing from him for a month I texted him and asked him if he had mailed in the papers.  He didn't respond.  I texted him about a week or so later ~ he still didn't respond.

So, then I texted someone who knows him and who I thought was a friend of mine.  I asked her if he had said anything about not signing the papers (I was beginning to get that feeling).  She came back and said "no...sorry."

I finally got an answer from him.

For some reason he changed his mind.  He said he wasn't signing
them.  He said that the papers were fine the way they were!  WHAT????? 
Are you kidding me?  What the heck happened here?

I then texted, who I thought was my friend, again.  I needed to talk to someone who was aware of what was going on.  I was very hurt and felt betrayed once again by him saying one thing then doing another!  This time I got "guess i didn't realize you were getting legal physical custody.  Just thought this was an agreement between u two."  I was instantly offended (for more than one reason, but obviously she HAD spoken with him.)  This WAS an agreement between us.  The agreement was that I would have full physical custody.  The papers were typed up at HIS request, with EXACTLY what HE wanted, for HIS protection.  So, I texted back explaining this in minimal words ~ and left it at that.  She did text back asking what I was going to do now ~ I didn't respond.  I guess I don't know why I thought she was a friend of mine, or why I thought she agreed that Emma should be with her mom.  She works for him, she is his friend.

When I asked him what happened, he said he hadn't talked to Emma when he made that decision.  This was a decision him and I made together ~ as parents.  He said that he didn't feel  Emma was mature enough to make this kind of decision and I agreed. He asked that, when Emma was mature enough, if she wanted to go live with him again that she be able to.  I said absolutely.

When he did ask her, Emma was not too keen on coming here.  We figured (him and I) that she wouldn't be.  He actually chuckled about it when we talked about it.

He has no rules (he admits that, says that is just how he is), there is no supervision (he admits that too).  He will tell you she does what she wants, when she wants.  If he asks her to do something and she doesn't want to, he doesn't make her.  He says (openly) that he doesn't feel the girls should have to do things they don't want to do.  I am all for choices, but there ARE certain things we HAVE to do to be productive members of society.  We have rules. Period.  Not a lot, but rules. There is A LOT of supervision in our home in regards to television and computer use.  She openly frowns on this.  For these reasons we figured she would probably choose NOT to come here if the choice was given to her.

The last weekend that Emma was here, she was all excited.  She had a list of activities she wanted to do when she was here being home schooled...band, bowling, theater, art projects of her choosing.  After I found out he wasn't going to let her come here, I called Emma.  I told her that her dad decided she wasn't going to come here to be home schooled.  She was surprised.  She said he hadn't told her that.  I asked her if she was okay with that.  She said she was okay with staying with her dad.  I will leave it at that.

I am praying for my baby Emma.  He has lost his house, he is filing for bankruptcy.  They are moving to an apartment.  She is going to a new school district.  This school district is HUGE!  They also have alot of money in this district.  Middle school is tough.  I pray that she fits in. I pray that she makes new friends, good friends.  I pray that her spirit stays strong if kids give her a hard time.

After 8 years ~ you would think I would know better!  Maybe this will be the time I learn for good that his word means NOTHING!!

I am praying that I stop crying...

Fun in the Sun...

Today was another busy day!!  It was also very hot and humid!  This morning I noticed that a paint can in our laundry room had been tipped over and leaked onto the carpet.  So, while Daddy was at Mass, I pulled out the steam cleaner and began scrubbing.  It really came out good :)  You can't even tell paint had spilled!  After I returned from Mass and ate some lunch, we all headed outside.  Daddy spent the afternoon mowing the grass and I spent it cleaning out the garage!  While we were working the littles played in the garage, breezeway and the yard.  Their imaginations were going crazy!  They went fishing, played guns, "worked" in the breezeway ~ Jonathon was using the computer at the picnic table to type everything up :)  When they got too hot, they all asked for sunscreen on.  They really weren't even out in the sun, but if it's hot the sun must be out.  If the sun is out, you better put some sunscreen on!  After awhile Jonathon and Sarah found the water hose and were playing in that.  I then hooked up a sprinkler and look at the fun they had:

Katie had softball practice this evening.  She was hit in the shin with a ball while playing center field.  I guess it hurt like the dickens and she hobbled off the field.  Coach iced it for her.  It looks pretty good so far tonight.  No swelling, although it is bruised and obviously tender :(  She is handling it well though! Okay, I'm off to document our day on Homeschool Tracker, then off to bed.

Hope you had a GREAT day too!!

 

Working Hard...

Well, it has been a very busy day indeed!!  We actually got alot accomplished on the house today.  I started the day out making our menu and grocery list for Dad so he could grocery shop.  After he left I started my day with the littles.  Daddy arrived back home as I was cleaning up our breakfast mess.  We put the groceries away together.  The fridge was being cleaned out at the same time and lunch was warmed up using leftovers!! :)  After eating and clean up we started back on the house. Two of the main rooms are completely clutter free and organized now ~ the kitchen and the laundry room.  Dad put new hardware on a couple of doors and they look much better! 

The kids have been great all day, allowing us to continue working!  They have done lots of playing and they watched a movie.  Jonathon started a new collection ~ ice :)  He was so excited!  His sister helped him fill up one of his plates last night (it is divided into 3 sections) and he froze it overnight.  This morning after breakfast he pulled it out and put his new *ice ~ collection* up in his room!  Later this afternoon he was devastated!  I could hear him yelling..."OH NO, MY ICE COLLECTION!!  IT MELTED!".  Had no idea on how to comfort him... When we asked if he wanted to start a new one he hollered "NO".  ):

After supper tonight, daddy took 3 of the littles outside to play for awhile so I could clean up the supper mess.  By the time they got back I was just about done :)  The boys continued to play in the breezeway for a little while longer, while Sarah and Daddy watched some Michigan softball on television. 

Now, I am going to go continue peeling wallpaper of the stairway wall :(  Ya know how sometimes you get a boiled egg that is EXTREMELY hard to peel?  The shell comes off one itty bitty piece at a time?  Well, that is how good the wallpaper is coming off!  They stuck it to unfinished drywall!...Grrr

Good Morning...

Orthopedics...

Last Thursday night, Jonathon pulled a piece of cabinet down on his foot.  We thought he was ok.  We put ice on it, comforted him and monitored him for the rest of the evening.  He got up after a while, walked around, played, etc.  Seemed ok.  He was uncomfortable, we could tell.  He walked on the side of his foot, we figured this was because it hurt.  It was bruised, but not swollen real bad.  Our night proceeded as usual.

Around 10:30 pm or so, Jonathon started yelling from bed.  A terrible, painful moaning, rolling, crying.  We ran in their to check on him.  He was without a doubt in pain.  We looked at his foot.  Not good!  Daddy took immediately to the ER.  3 hours later...they are heading in the door and Jonathon says (with a smile on his face :)..."You can call me BIGFOOT!"

His foot was in a splint and wrapped.  They took an x~ray and are suspecting 2 fractures on the top of his foot.  He was sooo excited about all of the happenings at the hospital...the nurses, the Dr., everything, that he could hardly talk.  He kept studdering over everything!  His mind was going a million times faster that his mouth could :)

This afternoon we are heading over to see the orthopedic Dr. to get a final diagnosis and treatment.  He is very excited about going to see the "bone Dr."  Hopefully all that is needed is a cast (praying for a walking cast :). 

He is handling all of this very well!  He is crawling around, goes up and down the stairs (without using his foot), climbing, playing outside...!  He uses his knee as leverage instead of his broken foot.  A couple of days ago he asked that the splint be taken off because it was hurting.  He said he didn't want medicine because it made him too tired.  So we obliged him.  It made his foot feel worse.  Last night his foot was bothering him again...this time he asked for medicine!  He slept like a baby! :)

Fred...

Fred was our fish.  Actually, to be more exact, Fred was Samuel and Jonathon's fish.  Andrea got him (along with 3 other goldfish that died) for their birthday.  Sunday Fred died.  I got a few questions from Sarah about Fred yesterday ~ she handled it well!  Last night at the dinner table, Samuel noticed Fred wasn't in his fish bowl.  The conversation went like this...

Samuel ~ Mom, where's Fred?

Mom ~ He died.

Samuel ~ But I liked Fred! (Now beginning to cry, and heading towards the fish bowl).

Mom ~ I know honey, I'm sorry.

A few minutes later...

Samuel ~ We need to get the plunger.

Dad ~ Why do you need the plunger Sam? (At this point we are all smiling)

Samuel ~ So, EVERYONE can go down in the toilet and get Fred and his friends! (He said this very seriously while not skipping a beat eating)

Everyone ~ {{{ laughing }}}

Samuel ~ STOP LAUGHING AT ME.

Katie ~ Sam, we're not laughing at you, we are laughing with you.

Samuel ~ (Putting both arms in the air) BUT. I'M. NOT. LAUGHING!!!

Everyone ~ Silence.

:D