Um...?

I'm really bad at this blogging thing...really, I am! This is why it took me so long to start a blog in the first place (really boring person that I am). I enjoy reading other peoples' blogs though..and am in complete awe at how COOL they make themselves sound! Like, I just read a blog about this girl's trials in cleaning up baby spit-up and changing a nasty diaper on her first baby...and for one fraction of a second, I wished I could be as cool as her, and then thought to myself...I'm TONS cooler than that because *I* can change TWO nasty diapers AND I don't just have baby spit to clean up....I get the glorified "spit-up" of a 6 year old, a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a soon-to-be 1 year old! So, to all you bloggers out there...KUDOS TO YOU FOR SOUNDING TOTALLY AWESOME AND COOL!

LOL, all joking aside, here's an update. I'm still waiting to hear from the therapist on Tyler...not exactly on my happy list! He's actually doing SO much better than he was when they evaluated him. He's saying things that we can actually understand. Like tonight, he said "I'n sone bukkynilk." I know what you're thinking...but really, that's huge for him (I can see you rolling your eyes and laughing, but let me translate and you'll get the picture here). "I want some bunnymilk" (which in this house is chocolate milk). For him to not only say something cohirent, but to use a FULL sentence....it made my mommy-heart burst with joy! YAY! (yes, I'm a nerd)

Celeste is almost one...my baby is growing up! She's already in 18 month clothes and I can't even believe it. When we're here at home, she looks like a normal sized baby, but when we go out anywhere and run into anyone that has a child that same age...she dwarfs them! She's picking up on the infant signing that we're trying to get Tyler to do and is so proud of herself, too. She has a princess wave and a big toothy grin the melts the heart! She's also a tease...a trate she gets from her daddy! I've been trying to get her to say mommy and her response...DADDY! She does this on purpose! I know this because I succeeded in tricking her to say mommy...she gasped and then got this impish grin and immediately said daddy and then stared at me, as if daring me to try that again. LOL, she makes me laugh.

James is doing well in school. He still is a very tender-hearted little guy, but that's what people love about him. He HAD been giving the teacher some grief out on the playground, but I think that problem got solved really quick. One day, they had a substitute teacher and they went out there to play. When they blew the whistle to go inside, James hid, like he normally did, and the kids all filed inside...teachers and staff in front of and behind them all, locking the gates on their way out, leaving James outside all by himself. He cried and cried and it really only took them about a minute to realize they were one child short. When they called to tell me, I laughed and laughed and told them that he'd probably listen to them from now on and if he ever started to be defiant again, to just use that as an example to him to remember what happened last time!

Terra is reading! They're starting to teach them some sight-words and she LOVES it! She's just thrilled to be able to read things on her own and thinks that she's just the smartest kid ever! She sits down with us each evening and reads us the sight-word book she brought home with her and is beaming from ear to ear by the time the story is finished!

We all have been in the mend this week...all except Chris. He just HAS to be different! LOL He's actually just starting to come down with what the rest of us are getting over! I guess there was more than I first thought to blog about. These updates probably bore some of you, and for that, I'm sorry! See, I lack the talent of making diaper changing seem like a COOL job that you wish you could do too! Oh well...hope this finds you well and keep smiling!!

More and More Chaos...

Does that ever end (the chaos, I mean)? I don't think it does. It's my lot in life ("it's not a lot, but its my life" LOL, couldn't resist a bit of cartoon humor...name the movie if you can)!

Lately, it seems like my life is just spinning out of control! I've been doing ok with school (can't find a bunch of time for homework and such, but I'm managing, somehow). I just started my home-business with Partylite and have done 2 shows myself so far...and have escaped unscathed...well sort of. I was setting up for a "mock show" here at home so I could have Chris help me get to know the products. I set something down on the table, turned to grab another box to unpack and knocked the first thing off the table...of course it fell off and 1 piece shattered all over. I was sad, but am going to have it replaced soon. YAY! But, the parties themselves went off without a hitch...no hair catching on fire or any of that fun stuff.

Last week, we had some therapists come in a review Tyler. It's been decided that he needs speech therapy, and some occupational therapy, some behavior and sensory help and a bit of social and emotional help too. The plus side...no autism! It was mentioned a couple of times in the review, but since he makes good eye contact and does a few other things, they ruled that out, much to my relief. I'd love him either way, but this makes my job as Mommy a lot easier! I just received an email from ECBOCES (East Central Board of Cooperative Educational Services) saying that they've already found a therapist for Tyler! They told me last week that it could take up to a month to find one, so this news is GREAT! To start off, he needs 4 hours per month of therapies, which can be adjusted as myself and the therapist see fit. Such a relief to finally get the help that I've felt was needed for a while now...reguardless of what others might have said about it!

I just recently found out that one of my friends from high school is expecting (well, his wife is...but same thing) their first child! Pray for them...I'm hoping that all is still going well with that...they've had a slight scare recently. Also, Chris's brother and his wife just lost a baby. She was only half way through this pregnancy...I'm still unsure of the details. Our prayers are with them as well...especially everything that they must endure tomorrow and in the coming weeks of mourning. Please keep them in your prayers too.

As you can see, there's never a dull moment around here. We're all getting by just fine and the kids love school time. Celeste is now standing on her own, but is still afraid to take those first steps by herself. Tyler is still growing. We finally scrimped up enough money to go shoe shopping for the kids, and Tyler is wearing size 11! James is only wearing size 12 because we know he'll hit a growth spurt sometime during this school year...go figure!

Anywho, I need to get to bed! I'm wimping out...it's only 9:30 here (not even that...sad)!

Aging...

My little girl is SIX!!!!!!! Where did the time go? AND, Chris just turned 30. I started bugging him about turning the big 3-0, and then stopped, thinking it might be a bad thing. I asked him if it bothered him, and he said no, that he hadn't given it much thought. It was just another number to him. We then started thinking about how old we still thought of ourselves. I said I still thought of myself as 20-ish...and that, in my mind, I hadn't aged much. I then asked him how old he still thought of himself....he said 15, then laughed! This might explain some of his teasing tendencies! Goober! LOL, gotta love him, though! Anywho, back to Terra...

Her birthday bash was on Saturday afternoon. I had planned a Partylite party that morning, completely thinking that I'd be ok and could handle everything. I started falling apart a day or two before trying to accomplish everything I had planned. I got most things done, and just vowed to never look back at the ones that didn't make it to the finish line. LOL For Terra's party, I got an idea from here (scroll down to "Disney Princess") and "stole" the invitation idea from here. (Thanks guys :o)!! And, for those of you on Facebook that can't get the links to work, you'll just have to come here to my blog - site is on the info page of my profile.) After tweeking a few things to make them semi-original, the planning was underway. The princesses showed up and sat down in the "princess-ifying chair" to get make-up put on. Then, they went to the tiara table and decorated their own tiaras. I had gotten small popsicle sticks to spread the glitter glue around, but the kids got the grand idea to make their own wands out of them. So, we had tiaras and mini-wands! Then I let them run around a bit just to make sure there weren't any late-comers. I called them all into the living room and the games began. We played "Pin the Kiss on the Frog Prince", "Dance Freeze" (the wicked witch from Sleeping Beauty was trying to put the whole kingdom asleep by FREEZING them...it's on one of the sites above), "Cinderella's Glass Slipper" (again, it's on the first website above), and then we had a princess-looking pinata filled with goodies and bling jewelry. I had Tinkerbell party-favor bags for everyone, so it was a big hit all around, I think. After that, we enjoyed the cake and ice cream and then ran around for a minute to let everyone finish eating what they wanted to off their plate. Then we opened gifts and after that, we watched one of the movies she'd received, and played with the stickers and tattoos and toys that she'd gotten as well. Then the parents that hadn't stayed started trickling in to gather their little princesses and take them home. Before anyone left, however, I decided it would be fun to get a picture of all the girls in their princess attire and tiaras they had decorated. One of my friends was taking the pictures, so I'll post them on here when she has a minute to upload them and send them off to me (Thanks again, Seandra, you're AWESOME)! I hope all the kids had fun, mine sure did!

What Makes A Hero?

To me, this dad is a hero to his son. My husband is a hero to me, as are my parents, siblings and my friends for various reasons. Thank you all for standing by me.

And, suddenly my problems don't seem so big....perspective is everything!

(watch this video first http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDnrLv6z-mM&feature=player_embedded )



(and then watch this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GphmdhLMGE&feature=player_embedded )

Gethsemane Song

Below is a video with a slideshow of pictures of Christ with a song that is very moving to me. Enjoy!

If you want the direct link to youtube, here it is -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uSGSvKy6Io

Facebook vs. Blogging

Ok, so I completely suck at blogging! SORRY! I've been carried away captive into the land of Facebook and that's where a lot of my updates are given! I've thought of so many things EVERYDAY that I could blog about, and by the time bedtime hits and I finally get a minute alone at the computer, I've forgotten about every single one of those things. I seriously need to invest in a recorder that those reporters carry around ("note to self...blog about this particular mishap"). I guess I'll do my best to just update you the best I can.

Celeste:
She is growing like a weed and has graduated to size 18 month clothes already (and she's not quite 10 months yet). She had her 9 month check and was pretty advanced in many things. They gave me the 10 month screening chart to fill out because they couldn't find the 9 month one, and she could do everything on there except 1 thing...they said to give her a couple of weeks and she'd have it figured out. GREAT! Yet another creative child in my house! She's just shy of 22 lbs and 30 inches, so she's in the 90% in both with an average sized head! She also JUST got her 1st tooth the other day (after 3-plus LONG months of teething!). I'm hoping that teething goes a lot easier on her with the rest of them!

Tyler:
Oh, where to start. For a long time I've watched him and noticed little things here and there that just weren't quite right, but whenever I'd broach the subject with anyone, I'd get quips about how smart he is and there's nothing wrong, I'm just being paranoid. Well, after an incident that happened the other day, I brought it up with the Parents As Teachers rep that comes to my home every so often. She had given me some screenings to fill out a while ago for Tyler, so I sat down with Chris and filled them out. He's not quite where he needs to be and it's been decided that he needs to have occupational therapy. They'll do in-depth screenings for hearing, vision and motor/sensory skills. Anyway, the incident was...Tyler figured out how to open the back gates (which is difficult for an adult to accomplish since they're kinda rusty) and wound up out in the middle of the road. Anyone that has been to our home knows that we live on a blind corner. Some teenagers, goofing off, were speeding down our street and came around the corner, slamming on their brakes and just missing him. He just sat there throwing rocks in the middle of the road, and none of this seemed to phase him in the least. The screaching tires and the screams to get out of the way just went in one ear and out the other. That seems to be the norm with him...we could scream and holler, do everything short of cartwheels to get his attention and he'd turn and finally look at us like we were daft or something. So, I'll keep you updated on that as things unfold. In other areas, he's completely healthy and is STILL growing like a weed. He's almost surpassed James in growth. Some of the 4T clothing is getting tight on him, but we're making due!

James:
He's started Preschool this year. Now, he loves it. The first day, he was undecided. I went in and dropped him off and, as I was leaving, he asked if he could come with me. When I told him no and that he needed to stay in school, he offered to come with me and then come back later. I again said no and that I needed to put kids down for naps. So he reluctantly agreed and put his play dough right in front of his face to hide the tears that were forming. He never did let those loose, but it still broke my heart! What a huge difference from Terra's first day (she was telling me to leave). Anyway, each day has been better, but he still asks me to come in and talk to his teacher for a minute, but by the time I leave, he doesn't really even notice anymore. He loves riding the bus home everday, so that gives him something to look forward to!

Terra:
She is LOVING Kindergarten this year. It's all-day out here in this school district, so it's been really quiet. The schedule is, Chris gets up, and gets Terra ready and out the door to school, and then I get up and get everyone else ready and take James in the afternoon. She also gets to ride the bus home everyday with James and she gets so excited about that still everyday (and it's been 2 weeks). She comes home and tells me of all her friends that she's making, but when it comes to telling us about what she did in school, we have to pry that out of her. Secret combinations, I guess! LOL She's also growing like a weed, and her 6th birthday is coming up in 3 weeks. She's so excited. I'm kind of at a loss though. Not sure what to do for her b-day party. We asked her what she wanted and she just said, cake, ice cream and a pinata! Easy for me, but I wonder if she wouldn't want more than that. Something to ponder that's for sure!

Chris:
He's been doing well. Dealing with frustrations from work isn't always easy, but he takes things in stride (better than I do, that's for sure). He's been trying to get his green house up and running and has finished a good majority of it. He's quite excited about that. Another thing he's excited about is one of our chickens hatched 2 eggs and both babies seem to be doing well. She's quite the fiesty momma though!!! He takes great pride in our barnyard we've got going out there. We've decided, though, that things were expanding a bit too quick, so we're having to remedy that today. Two turkeys will become dinner in the coming weeks/months. I just have to say that I'm SOOO glad that he's the one that takes care of that....ew!

Sandi:
I've been doing well. Some days go better than others, but that's with anyone, I suppose! I've started up a new chapter in my life. In my road to self-discovery (that I should have taken a long time ago, but alas...) I've finally decided what I want to do with my life. Idealy I'd like to become a midwife, but with the family and schedule that I have now, that wouldn't really be a realistic choice right now. So, instead, I decided to take another route at helping people. I registered for some online classes in Natural Health and Nutrition. My goal is to become a Bio-Meridian Homeopathic Practitioner. I'll get my diploma in Health and Nutrition and then take the course to become certified so I can get the equipment to start my own business. We live in a place where I could run this right out of my home. There's a room in this house that could easily be turned into an office area for me, and even has a door that leads outside, so it would be completely separated from the rest of the house. I've also started up another business that will help pay for all of this and it seems to be going well so far. I'm a PartyLite consultant. I don't have my website up and running yet, but will let you all know when it is so you can come check it out! I'm still doing my qualifying parties and stuff, so if you're interested in helping me out with that, you can visit my up-line's site and purchase things to help me put points toward my parties I've got going on.

www.partylite.biz/jeannemcghee
click on "shop"
click on "look up your host"
type in "Sandi Nelson"
Click on my name and go ahead and start shopping.
All items with be shipped to me with the rest of the party order and I will get them to you ASAP. If you live out of state, I will either have to come visit or ship them to you (whichever option is available to me at that time)!

I'm also enjoying having some quiet afternoons with the kids in school. I come home, put Celeste in bed for her nap and it's just me and Tyler, and sometimes he naps too! It's a huge change going from 4 wild and crazy kids running around to 1 or 2 to make noise! I love it and do miss my kids when they're gone! Crazy thought, and one that I never thought I'd say, but I do!

We hope everyone is doing well, and hope to hear from all of you soon!

Trying To Shop in English

It's easier said than done around here, I'm afraid! I went to the store a few days ago and we're looking for some hanging baskets for our fruits and veggies (if anyone has any suggestions, I'm open). While in Wal-mart, I searched and searched and finally just grabbed the last few items on my list and then as a last-ditch effort, I made my way to the produce section, thinking maybe they might have some on sale there. There happened to be an employee that was putting away some fruit, so I ventured to ask her if she'd seen any. She just shook her head and blabbed off something completely unintelligible to me (seeing as I only speak/understand English) and waved me on to another lady down the isle. I again repeated my question "do you know if you guys carry hanging baskets for fruits and veggies?" and she gave a blank stare and said, "basket bowl?"

"No, a basket to put things in...you know?"
"A bowl or basket bowl?" (very thick accent, by the way, almost sounding like she was saying "basketball")
"No (getting a little impatient, but keeping my cool), a basket, for vegetables and things!"
"OH!" She got a very excited look of comprehension and races down the isle. I follow her and she reaches out and grabs something and turns to hand it to me. It was a veggie platter, complete with dip in the middle.
"No, a BASKET!"
"Basket bowl?!"
"NO!!"
She then holds up her finger and runs to another lady and she comes over to "translate". Another lady with a thick accent. We went through much of the same conversation as before, without her getting the platter for me, and she finally said the word "housewares" and turned back to her work. At this point, I'm thinking it would be very beneficial to speak another language (and surprisingly, it wasn't Spanish they were speaking...LOL, one was an African dialect and the other was an Indian dialect!)!!! Better brush up on those learning skills, I guess!