[pepper]

blanche is an terrific mom and freckle too. the more they don't think so the more you know it's true, ha! they'll appreciate you when their older, i PROMISE! cause and effect, it's a natural law.

no news, just hanging out enjoying the weather. 4-ish more weeks to go, little is enjoying school, the cottage is great.

[freckleface7]

blanche-

cause
effect
=======
results.

you are a very GOOD Mama!!
some foods might grow on tree's but that doesn't mean we don't still have to pay for it. (bad analogy, don't use it! )

frecklette's new laptop that she got for x-mas is going into the shop this afternoon, bc she's somehow managed to screw it up, loosen the sliding disk drive (?) & some other stuff the mr was really steamed about, and so she is going to have to pay for 1/2 the repair cost for it as well.

she has a fat amount of b-day $$ still, so we don't really feel bad about it bc we told her when she recieved it what the deal was and she's being cool about it.
cause

effect.

it's a big theme in my parenting anthem.

she had a final in her state-mandated computer class today, turned in what I Hope is her last Big Project in her Writing class too; EOG's are over... now we're approaching count down to sleep- in- time!!!!!

no set "summer plans" for us yet.. what about everyone else?


pepper: pepper-pot updates?!

[freckleface7]

WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Blanche & Mr & Mini!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am So totally H*A*P*P*Y for all of you!!!!

mini finally has a chance at a "normal" life (once she stops/after she/when she starts/ visitation bc it seems like that's how it would go w her record) and isn't He one lucky little duck?!!

I wish we could throw a party for you......... like an Adoption only Better Party maybe... hey- that's a thought, could you now petition to legally adopt him as well?


our weekend trip to the montains went wonderfully.
frecklette had a smashing good time and her friend's mom took them to the fair and frecklette rode a bunch of rides (over & over at that) w/ the mom that she'd Never ride w/ me and didn't really want us to take her home again. kinda makes me feel bad that I seem to "inhibit' her but will try to make more an effort to be more relaxed.
and the friend's mom said that she'd gladly keep her again if we want to do this again, which we def will as the next retreat will be held again in a few more months.

Yah-- a safe place for her w/out worry and guilt on our part.

we brought frecklette back a t-shirt of a bear chasing a group of hunters w/ the caption of " I like people- they taste like chicken." and it made her crack up as she's so anti-hunting.

she is taking Day One of the dreaded EOG's but feel really good she is going to rock it.


hurrah for happy families ( or Fappy Hamilies as frecklette used to say when she was wee wee) and good lives!!!!!!!!!!!

[moxiegirl]

Oh, so the discipline=feeling like lousy, aweful parents thing...that doesn't end? Oh.

Blanche, is mini still seeing the therapist? With all big transitions, even the supercalafragalisticexpialadocious ones, some help and guidance would probably be reassuing. Hell, therapy is reassuring for me during such times!

Anyway, I'm thrilled for you guys!!

[pepper]

that there is the best news i've heard all week. not that i'm surprised, you're terrific.
what's the story morning glory? feel free to crow about your magnificent triumph.

i've been looking for the "10 conversations" book you recommended a while back
but the library claims never to have heard of it. sometimes i love the library and sometimes i don't

i had to "help" little's tooth fall out yesterday, oh, the tears. i felt like a monster but it was
hanging there bleeding and gross. he was gonna swallow it, i just know it.
i still feel bad, he really cried a LOT!

[mornington]

yaaaay blanche! that's excellent news! I'm so please for you and mrblanche and mini!

[moxiegirl]

BLANCHE-WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Does that mean the visits can end, too? or be more on your terms?> This is SO GREAT for your family!

What's the storyboard on it?

WHOOOOOHOOOO!

[freckleface7]

* warning* Mama Whine ahead*

my boy deployed yesterday.

that young soldier of the mr's that was wounded and returned here early the other year.. the one frecklette & I picked up from the airport and totally took under our wing.

I KNOW it's ridiculous, he's not related in any other way beyond circumstance put us all together, but I really did grow so attached to him, he was so vulnerable and injured and young.. it brought out every-single-mama ing instinct I had to take care of him and that has stayed with me. the guys at the company would even tell him " hey V- your MOM is here" when I'd go to pick him to go somewhere.
he & frecklette totally bonded and became almost instantly like big brother and little sister.
she tried to con me into letting her go yesterday but no dice and now I am sorry for it.

he is as healed as he is going to get, married his (even younger) fiancee and is doing well.

when I went to the deployment send off ceremony yesterday, when he saw me he gave me a HUGE Hug ( I had been staying away sinse they got married, not wanting to be a meddling parent) and then Kept Hugging me, and I admit it.. I cried,, several times,, and I told him he didn't seriously think I'd let him go w/ out seeing him, and damnit; his own wife didn't cry as he left, but I sure as heck did.
I get so ridiculously emotionally cemented when I feel it's not my place.

the mr was this boy's platoon seargent, and he both totally fears and idolizes him,, and when he kissed me on the cheek he immediatley looked stricken and said " don't tell your husband!" which was so funny, bc it's the big joke that he calls me Mrs _ even tho his Wife Is Allowed to call me by my first name. (propriety & all, even tho there's almost 20 years in age).

and I got to meet his dad finally (he never really had a mom), whom I had spoken to several times following his injury, both when he was still in Iraq and then when he got to us here. he thanked me very emotionally for all that the mr & frecklette & I did for his son.



please mama's, say a little prayer for my boy that he remains safe?
I tried telling him that his MOM SAID HE CAN'T GO but damned the disobedient child..
someone please tell me to get a Grip already?

[pepper]

ha ha ha! it's not like i put in the whole bottle! just a few drops, enough to tint the water. it's fun.

oh yes, hope everyone had a wonderful mother's day. i got my surly little brother to come over on saturday to make cards for mom and then i pulled off a miracle. i got him to take us all out for sunday brunch, Early too, before she went to play the organ at church. it was actually pleasant, and the cards made her cry. i got a card too, very cute. no jewel on the forehead though, that's pretty neat-o. did you get any explanation? wonder what inspired the third eye tribute?

things are good, i think i found a house out here for sept. and we might just stay close to my mom instead of moving closer to my dad. she does drive me crazy but she's a great grandma and little's new school is absolutely, surprisingly amazing. we'll see. it's so irresistably gorgeous here in summer, it's hard to remember how different it gets when it's turns cold. oh well, nothing is forever, we can always move. and the nesting instinct is getting Strong right now! i want our stuff out storage!!

have a great weekend away freckle! hope it fabulous dah-ling, you deserve it.

[freckleface7]

I had the same thought about the food coloring in the water, but thought " hey COOL!"

Mother's Day here was ok.
the mr is away, so it was just wee girl & myself, and so bc I was feeling sorry for myself, and I really had been putting it off anyway, I cut the yards on Sunday and made frecklette help, by first picking up sticks and pine cones, and then sitting out there w/ me bc I know I look as inept at it as I truly am, and needed her moral support. towards the very end (I believe bc she was so ready to go back in the house bc she was b o r e d ) she was cheering me on clapping and w the thumbs up, and as cheesy as it sounds it made me laugh and finish that much faster. my kid always knows how to crack me up.

we are now preparing for this coming weekend where she is going to stay w/ her friend all weekend and even going home w/ her monday from school, bc it's the weekend retreat for the mr & I that we are muchly looking forward to.
.. I KNOW she'll be fine, but this will be the first time we've gone that far away (about 5 hrs) from her that she hasn't been w/ Family. I'm freaking out on a LOT of levels w/ that one, even though she is really blaise about it.
I think I may entrust her w/ the mr's new cell phone, for my own peace of mind, but am going to have to give her a crash course in it once we get it ourselves. (we're not much "celly" people.)

as much as I am looking forward to going, my heart is still heavy at the thought of this.

seperation pangs in my mama heart

[pepper]

ok, more, since i'm by a computer.
today grandpa opened the pool and guess who went in it? that's right, crazy grandma and little. then he ran around the yard in soaking wet clothes until he was a popsicle and had to be put into a warm bath. his lips were turning blue.
now he's thawing out in there with purple water (food colouring), a dozen of those grow creatures and some squirty toys. ALL the clothes we brought are soaked now though, both outfits. he's going home in pj's tonight!

last night i went to bed at 8:30 with him, so tired, and we had a disucssion in the dark about words that sound the same. can you imagine talking about the different between C, see and sea, I and eye, threw and through, feather light and light bright, etc with a 6 year old? it was hillarious.

[pepper]

little woke me up at 5:30 this morning moaning about how his arm was "laz-ery" ha ha ha ha ha. he had pins and needles and couldn't remember that the word is "sleeping". hee, funny.
he has some funny language issues that i am convinced are due entirely to laziness. he doesn't try very hard to remember things, even right after you tell him. he can remember Every Teeny Little Detail about things that he likes but he "forgot" the alphabet the other day. when i ask him "what letter is that" he pretends like he has No Idea and it is a supreme effort for him to guess (he guesses right mostly unless he's being totally ridiculous and then he says something silly on purpose). argh. he's supposed to be going to kindergarten tomorrow, i'm scared for his teacher.
i stuck up bits of paper all over the house with the name of the thing on them, desk, chair, table, etc, and we run around spelling stuff and saying what it is but he needs A LOT of attention to get into it and focus. le sigh, he's such a boy.
on another topic, My mother is driving me crazy. she still treats me like a 4 year old sometimes. i left a note for an old friend in her parents mailbox the other day hoping to track her down and as i'm writing it on her porch my mom is yelling at me from the car across the street about what to write and then about how to leave it in the mail box, wtf! then i called little's school to be to get some info about what he should bring tomorrow and she shouted at me from the table about what to ask and what to say, As i am trying to leave a message on the school's answering machine. mercy. are your mothers like this or is it just mine? are WE going to be like this? oh, goddess forbid. sometimes i actually hate her, what a thing.

[moxiegirl]

we went every year during elementary school, and I swear, its what inspired my love of social studies/history,etc. We're swampped this weekend, anyway, what with mother's day, and friends in from out of town, and a baby shower. Heh, i get tired just listing it all!

[pepper]

borrow away, it's my mom's thing that we borrowed from her that she got out of one of her multitude of self help books anyhow. he actually really digs it and it reminds him of all the great things that happened that day. it's a nice little daily recap and only takes a few minutes, we do it after story time right in bed. i like to think it gives him good dreams
mox, i emailed you today, we're here for a quicky visit this time with not much planning And it's grandma and grandpa's anniversary today but we'll be back again. i'll check out the village sometime, do you go?

[moxiegirl]

yeah, blanche, our BFF;s son's biomom (we refer to her as "the donor"), after telling the 11 year old kid that she was bored at their meetings and it was HIS fault, has since cancelled 2 more. That makes a grand total of 4 times since christmas she has seen him. He's getting pisssed now, though...which although miserable at the time, is a good stage of progress towards letting her go. I thought mini was to suffer through supervised visits with le hazard?

Anyway, pepper, I'm glad little enjoyed the science center...its one of my absolute favorite things about this area. For another cool educational trip, perhaps more appropriate for post bebe (its good for long walks), is Greenfield Village. I believe they have a petting zoo.

*Mwah* to my sistas!

[pepper]

hey, where is everybody?

well, WheeOooh, did we just have fun! we went to the science centre and saw a dinosaur movie in the imax theater, then we checked out the new fun factory, had a snack and saw another movie about constellations and such in the planetarium, FUN!!! it was excellent. i asked little what his favourite thing of the day was and he listed Every Single Thing that we'd seen or done, ha! we've been keeping a 'grateful' journal that we write his daily highlights in every night before bed and i'm sure tonight we'll fill a whole page!
i registered him for school yesterday too so next week he'll be riding the bus into town with the other kids 2 and 3 (alternating) days a week until june 27th (my due date, ha!). he wants to be around other kids and even though his lessons are going great i think a change of scenery will be good for him. we can keep doing his lessons at home anyhow, then he'll be really prepared for first grade. i'm excited but sad about losing some of our last precious 'just us two' time together. oh well, it leaves the whole day for me to clean and organize and get ready for the wee babe. still, what an adjustment for ME! he'll be fine, i know, it really is myself that i'm worried about

[pepper]

big hugs to you blanche, and fingers crossed good and tight too! it's looking positive and that's wonderful.

freckle, awesome! that does sound like a best birthday for sure, very very fun stuff! i'm jealous about the tent, i want one of those, they are so GR8!

things are good, little held up well on our 'week on the road' trip and we all had a great time seeing friends and family. we had a baby shower in TO and that was terrific, the kids ran around outside on the empty patio and we all ate and talked and hugged and took picutres and caught up, it was nice. now i'm tired but it was worth the thousand hours in the car. i loved it.

[freckleface7]

hey everyone~

I know I've been mia awhile.. the mr returned a few weeks ago (safely & all original parts intact) and he's been on some time off so we've been doing day trips here & there and then gearing up for frecklette's birthday party, which is now at 2:40 Am starting to wind down w/ them out in the tent probably for the night.

it's been a WONDERFUL time.
a bit of personality conflict briefly, but w/ 4 teen girl's it goes w/ the territory.
I made up treat bags, which I called "Survival Kits" that had flashlights & candy necklaces and cookies/cream dip and notepads w/ gel pens and the most important: glow necklaces and Silly String and they chased each other around the front yard spraying one another w/ that, and then once it was Dark dark, I taught them how to play Ghost In the Graveyard (the mr played too, he really knows how to hide!) but not before I taught them all how to wish on the very first star they see at night - - picture 4 lovely girls standing outside looking up, w/ the closed tight, repeating the Star Wish and filling their wonderful hearts with hope...
, & then we ran around screaming and scaring each other and was too much fun.

then, after or in-between several dashes inside for more food (we ordered pizza & cake too) they've been out in the tent (found a big 8 person one w/ a screen room on sale for cheap- yah!) w/ the tv for x-box and the karaoke machine.

I've snuck out to scare them several times (see confessions thread please) and it's just hysterical and shameful on my part how much I am enjoying doing that. the mr even finally said ' leave them alone already' but but but...

'least I count my chicks before they hatch, I would almost think this may be frecklette's very best party EVER.
was a LOT of work to get ready for it (tho the mr put up the tent) but seeing her this happy.. makes you remember why we parent in the first place.


Syb:
much good luck on the house hunting and considering all the things about looking for one.
I would def do a community search for registered sex offenders were I you for areas you might be considering.. we actually have a few out here in our neighborhood and you betcha I keep up on who moves in & out in that regard. watchdog .com (?) is a site you can register at that will even email you if a known predator moves into your area.
you're all going to do great once you get moved and I wish you nothing but the very best for having a heart so big.

blanche: ditto for you.
every time biohazzard doesn't show up for something is another Victory for you.
why can't the courts see once & for all that the boy HAS a stable, Loving home and cut thru the red tape though? frustrating, but you know you're on the right side- His Side. he really is lucky to have you.

ok, getting swoozy sleepy and need to check on the girl's once more before crashing on the sofa, bc I am sleeping downstairs in the liv room close to the back door least they get scared or need me.

many & much hugs for mama's that rock in all ways and means~~

[sybarite]

Thanks blanche! My sister and I lived with our dad's longterm girfriend for a few years when we were teenagers, and she set a great example on boundaries, so I feel I sort of know where to start. Selfishly the things I'm most worried about is having space to myself and not being called upon to make dinner every night. I mean, I don't do that now... except on weekends. Basically, I'm very aware that the mister and I need to provide a regular routine for her, something we're really not used to doing; we both work irregular-ish hours.

On the flipside, we're looking at renting a 3 bedroom house so there's room for a study and everyone will have a bit of space, which I think will help. We're quarrelling over nieghbourhoods but y'know, things could be worse. And she is a good kid and great company when she's not immersed in her X-box...

[sybarite]

Moxiegirl, your explanation makes a lot of sense. Certainly the mister feels especially protective as he hasn't had custody for years, so when we do see her he wants to make sure she's looked after properly. And while she and her dad have a great relationship--she's not clingy which is impressive given that she sees him relatively rarely--it is totally possible she plays up the food stuff so as to get attention.

She does honestly get disgusted by some things though, but then I was kind of finicky at that age too.

I'm more aware of these things lately because she will be moving in with us fulltime from September *gulp* I'm optimistic--she really is a good kid and bright and interesting too--but am trying to anticipate possible areas of discord. That'll be my own control freak stuff coming out!