Update Time

 

So I know it’s been a couple of days but I really wanted to update before the weekend I have forgotten all of the things through the week.

 

So what’s been going on.  Well we had the parade last Saturday and Miss Maya was in the parade for Little Miss she was super cute and I think she REALLY enjoyed her time being in the parade.  I had Joyce do her hair and it looked SOOOO cute.  She was really done being in the parade by the time it ended but it was fun for her.  She only has two more parades left and then she’s done until next summer J

 

This past week Nikolai has been really cute in him learning how to say Please and speaking more.  He has learned quite a number of words and has been using them more and more frequently.  We still have periods of time where I can’t understand what he’s saying but compared to where he was before it’s truly been good.  He did say “I love you mama”  of course it was prompted but I was excited that he started saying it.

 

Lehna meet some more friends up the hill.  When we first decided to move back to Indiana Lehna was so worried that there wouldn’t be any kids her age to play with.  Well Lehna meet two little girls that are RIGHT up the hill from us (you don’t even have to walk across the street) that are 10 and 7 so they are the perfect ages for Lehna and Maya to play with.  So I’m really excited about that.

 

This weekend we have playtime at the hotel.  The kids are going to go spend the night at the hotel after swimming of course and then tomorrow we have the FOP golf tournament.  It’s a tournament was play in every year.  This year it feels a little strange just because of things that are going on in the background but I’m hoping it’s still fun.

 

Anywho… that’s what’s going on right now.

Empowering thoughts.

So I came across a few quotes that I really liked so I thought that I would share them.  They are all by Steve Maraboli, from the book “Life, the Truth, and Being Free”.  I think I might need to read this book I like some of the thoughts that Steve has to say.

 

“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don't.”

What I like about this is it is impowering.

“Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them.”

Seriously isn’t this the truth.  I mean problems will happen that’s part of life but isn’t this the truth!

 

“Forget yesterday - it has already forgotten you. Don't sweat tomorrow - you haven't even met. Instead, open your eyes and your heart to a truly precious gift - today.”

This is truth I need to worry more about the present and stop worrying about what I did yesterday.  What a few empowering thoughts.

 

Now if only I could actively use these. 

 

Any who that’s my thoughts for today… and they aren’t even mine LOL

Investigation is my Middle Name

The search for a the perfect daycare

 

So we are searching for a daycare for Nikolai when summer ends.  We have been very blessed this summer by having Don watch the kids while we are at work.  So we are looking for other options for when summer does end, as Don will be returning to school.  I joined Care.Com and was able to put a job posting online and I have had people respond to it.  We have had one interview from it so far.  I really liked her and I think she would be a good match for Nikolai, but we have two more interviews next week to see if all of the options.   We also talked to a couple of daycare facilities that we are touring next week to investigate this option as well.  I would like Nikolai to be in a facility b/c I think he would REALLY LIKE it and he would enjoy the socialization.  I think it would also help his speech development as well.  So the search will continue until we find the best fit.  The problem will be space as both locations we spoke with, although they are in our cost range, they do not have space, so they put us on the waiting list.  But both of them want us to tour.  So I don’t know if that’s just what they tell parents so they can interview them first or if they truly don’t have space.  I guess we shall see. 

 

The search for the perfect school

 

I’m also investigating some other options as far as graduate school for myself.  I sent a request to Purdue to see what kind of requirements they would need and to start taking the tests for grad school.  I really would like to grow my education b/c I think it would only open more opportunities for myself and my career.  I’m looking in this area as well for schools and finding out what kind of schools and programs that they offer.  Just looking for additional education and opening so more options for myself.  My job right now is pretty easy and don’t get me wrong I definitely need that, but I want to expand my horizons and I think that this will be a great route to do that. 

 

The search for the perfect balance

 

So I started another blog, which is my weight loss blog.  I don’t know if you can see it or not… doesn’t really matter.  I have jumped on the workout train and let me tell you… yikes am I OUT OF SHAPE.  Tait and I work out with a personal trainer 1 day a week and she gives us HELL and then we follow that routine the rest of the week.  We are working out 5-6 days a week and my body HURTS.  It usually takes me about 2 - 3 days to recover, which is totally sucky!  I am also trying to eat better.   I am entering my food in Lose It again which is so crappy.  I hate watching what I eat…  but I NEED IT SOOOO BADLY.  I mean it does me no good to work out like a slave and then eat like a horse… I mean the two have to have balance.  So I’m searching for balance. 

 

The search for the bottom of the boxes

 

So we are allllll moved in.  Tait is now here all the time.  THANK GOOOOOODNESS!  So we are still shifting through boxes and putting stuff away.  Tait moved some of the boxes to the attic and told me that if I wanted them they were close.  My issue that I’m having is the lack of having places to put things.  I am really used to having closets and this house seriously lacks closets so most of the stuff is just staying in a box.  But even like spare winter blankets or even spare sheets… no closets.  There isn’t even a lien closet for the bathroom so towels, soap, even shampoo I have made a bookshelf a “closet” and have been putting stuff on that.  It’s kind of annoying b/c I like hiding that kind of thing.  Oh well though what are you going to do.   We also got all of our appliances up and running so we can wash our clothes and cook our food now.  So goodnews on the home front. 

Two weeks in review

So where to begin.  I’ll start with the oldest information first.  So two weeks ago I traveled north to Wisconsin to see the performance Wicked.  It was a good weekend.  We had a GREAT time, the kids stayed with Tim and Helen with a last minute change, but they had a great time.  The show was amazing.  I didn’t know what the story was about at all.  I know Jackie and I had talked a long time ago what the story was about, but I truly didn’t remember any of.  The music was really good as well.  Our seats were AMAZING.  We were two rows from the front!  We could see them sweat and spit!  The spit a LOT.  But the music was wonderful.  I liked it so much I downloaded the music to my kindle later that night.  I’m glad that we were able to see it.  It will be in Indianapolis in November and we would like to take the girls to it.  I think they would REALLY enjoy it. 

 

 Tait and I were also able to get a nice hotel room and had dinner out in Milwaukee.  It was a great weekend.  We really enjoyed having our date weekend and the best part was it was only one week away from when he was coming home for good. 

 

He came back on Friday and the kids were excited.  It was amazing and it is wonderful having him full time.  He has this week of “vacation” before he starts with Indiana DCS again.  He’s so excited about being an investigator again.  We both really enjoy being back in Indiana.  It really is good being so close to family.  It still feels like we are visiting but it’s good.  It adjustment time for us as well. 

 

So that’s two weekends ago…

 

Now for the big news from THIS WEEKEND! 

 

Maya won the Little Miss Miami County pageant.  We were so excited for her.  Her rein will be from Now – until the next fair 2014.  She will be in three parades this summer and then will be able to judge and crown her replacement come next summer.  We were very shocked but Maya was just herself and really was cute.  (not that I’m biased) 

 

The girls were asked 4 different questions below are the questions and answers she provided.  (the first 3 questions we knew what they were going to be the 4^th was a wild card question from her information sheet)

 

1.       What was your favorite thing to do at the fair? 

Maya’s Answer – Eat Cotton Candy

2.       Where would you like to go on vacation and why?

Maya’s answer – To my cousin’s house Zach and Evan, b/c they are my favorite cousins

3.       What is your favorite animal and why?

Maya’s Answer – an Elephant (which she was carrying) and why, because if you had one in your home they could give you a shower every day (she then proceeded to lift it above her head upside down) 

4.       What do you like about your favorite TV Show Peppa Pig?

Maya – They fall down when they laugh

 

We can that Lehna coached her a little but she did these things on her own.  At practice she said totally different things, so we didn’t know why was going to come out of her mouth.  She just was really natural and she smiled really well and blew the judges a kiss.  It was really good.  She was shocked and was happy that she won.  She LOVES her crown and sash.  It should be interesting watching her on the parade routes.  I know she will really like being on the floats and waving.  She keeps asking if the people are going to throw candy at her and we keep trying to explain that SHE will be THOWING candy not the other way around. 
 

We have had some green with envy from Lehna, which is totally to be expected.  She cried a little bit when Maya was wearing her crown.  But Lehna wants to do the Denver Pageant and we told her she could.  I don’t know if she’ll win or not but I hope regardless of what happens she doesn’t turn into a sore loser.  She told Maya that she couldn’t do the Denver pageant and we told her that she already had a crown she doesn’t need to enter that pageant.  So hopefully that will settle her down. So we’ll see what happens. 

 

I have more pictures but they are not off my camera yet.  L  I know I know I suck big time.

A new beginning

It’s update time.

 

Well yet another chapter of our life is beginning.  As I put on here before we were moving to Indiana.  We have moved into our new home in Indiana.  It’s a nice house, we still have an overwhelming smell of dog.  But I think slowly it’s starting to fade.  It’s been a challenge but we are still a working progress.  Most of our of boxes have been put away, we just have a few random ones left, that I’m mainly doing one the weekend.  We only have a handful left and they are boxes that are “hard to put away” mainly b/c there isn’t a whole lot of options of where to put things.  We were used to having more clothes and that kind of thing so now we are just having to move things around a bit.  Still settling.  We have had a couple of dramas with appliances but we are on the upside.  We didn’t have an oven and then my wonderful aunt said we could have her old one.  Which we took and brought to the house only to realize that the plug that this house has and the plug that we had on the appliance was different.  So Tim, thank goodness he’s available to us!  He was able to switch the plugs out.  So it has a SELF CLEANING SETTING.  Love that!  And it’s cleaned and up and RUNNING!  Then we had a gas dryer which we were able to run the gas hook up BUT the dryer didn’t work… L  So we had to get another dryer.  So when we got the new dryer this past weekend.  Well we got it home… and wouldn’t you know it the heating core is broken L  So my Tim again came and helped us… so they had to order a part but HOPEFULLY we will be up and running today with a dryer.  So like I said minor drama but it will be exciting when I can get everything up and running.

 

I started my new job.  It’s really kind of a fun job.  It’s nothing too exciting to be honest with you, but it’s a fun place to work.  Everyone I work with is similar in age with me so that’s kind of nice.  I am up front so I have the accounting people that sit behind us and they are fun group.  So that’s kind of what’s going on job wise.

 

Kid wise.  The kids are adjusting to their new spaces and being around family.  Lehna has had more tough days she really misses the neighbor Nadyne, but she’s doing okay.  Maya is LOVING her time with Deklyn.  She really enjoys her new space.  The girls room is VERY large and they have managed to mess it up about every day.  Since we still aren’t established yet in our house (still adjusting I mean) the house is messy pretty much every day.  I need to find a better place for toys.  Right now they are in tubs and some are in their rooms, their front room, and the den which is kind of annoying b/c the kids are CONTSTANTLY making messes.  So I need to really work on that with them. 

 

Tait is still in Kenosha.  It makes me super sad that it still isn’t here.  I’m hoping that he just goes back tomorrow and tells them that this week is his last night so he can come back with me after this weekend.  This weekend we are going north to Wisconsin because we have tickets to see WICKED I’m super super super excited about it!  Mom and Terry are taking the kiddos and we have a hotel in Milwaukee so it should be an exciting trip.  It would make it even better if Tait just said “let’s get out of here” and he comes with me.  He only has a week left, but I really don’t want him to stay another week L 

 

Let’s see what else… I think that’s it for now.

BLAAAAAAAH A SEA OF BOXES!

Okay so I KNOW that I just updated yesterday but I thought, ‘heck why not, right?’ I have some time to kill just due to what I am doing on a normal bases at work right now. I have been training the person who will be taking over my spot and she is pretty much trained. She still has lots of questions but I basically just sit in the room and she does the job. So it’s been a pretty boring week to say the least.




So I wanted to update and let everyone know that we will be packed and ready to go tomorrow. We are very excited about moving. I of course am anxious over moving because we have a deadline in getting out of here just because our helpers are going to be waiting for us on the other side by a deadline. So as long as we don’t hit traffic or anything else we will be fine. I am hoping that we have people that want to help us move out tomorrow because that will help tremendously especially because we have that deadline. The idea of moving almost 9 months ago made me sick, but now I’m kind of excited. I can safely say that I’m tired of packing. I’m tired of trying to pack 8 new boxes at night and that kind of thing, but at least this time I have had Tait helping me. Last time it was all me and that was sooooo hard. We have almost all of our lives packed in boxes. The worst part has been the garage only b/c a lot of the stuff packed in the garage has been packed from before so we went through those boxes just to get rid of some stuff. We have had a lot of stuff we got rid of. It was kind of exhilarating getting rid of so much stuff. I got rid of baby stuff a lot of baby toys and equipment. Since I am done having children. I still have the crib left, but Nikolai is still currently using that, but we are talking BIG BOY BED. I don’t think I’m going to transition him into a toddler bed only because I just don’t think he’ll need it. I think just moving him to a regular bed will be the best thing for him.



I think it will be interesting when we are able to move them into the new house. I am hoping we don’t have any “sleeping” problems with being a new space but I guess we will find out. I just will have to take patience, or at least try to remember to have patience. That will be the tough part for me, just remembering how to have patience.



We have a lot of new changes coming are way so adjusting to new work schedules, adjusting to time schedules (they are an hour difference), adjusting to be around family/but not in the same house, new schools, new friends, and etc. so there are so many changes, it’s a good thing our children adjust well to change or we would be in trouble. I’m fully expecting some resistance and some minor issues with behavior as we go into this new situation. I’m most worried about how they will respond when Tait isn’t here during the week. I’m hoping that they are SO busy with the grandparents and cousins that they don’t really notice, but I know that Nikolai will notice. So it should be an exciting month to say the least. I know that we will be overly excited when Tait is home with us instead of just on the weekends.



Soooooo that’s the latest and greatest!

Moving on UP

Well we are getting ready to close a chapter of our lives. We are digging up our roots in Wisconsin and replanting them back in Indiana. We are actually moving close to where we grew up as children. I remember when I was in high school telling myself “I will never return here” and now I’m so excited about returning. Tait and I always talked about returning, I knew when we were dating and his dream of being a high school teacher, specifically history and a golf coach for Peru I knew then that we would be returning, which is fine because I want to return myself.


So we are almost done packing, the truck is reserved, we have calls out to the wards in both locations so hopefully we will have people willing to help us. I’m just anxious about everything. I want to be there and setting up our house and up packing. I wish I had a couple of days to do that but it’s okay. I was telling Tait it will give me something to do when I get home from work. You know like taking care of the three children won’t be enough. But I’m excited still.

The girls are excited that school is coming to an end. Every day they bring more and more stuff home. I feel like my trash can is just full of school papers. I just have to do it when they don’t look, b/c if were up to them they would keep every paper they colored on! So as they bring home their stuff it goes into a box (the stuff that I’m keeping any way). I have packed most of their clothes and I wash and dry their stuff I put it in a box.

Lehna initially didn’t want to move to Indiana. She wanted to stay and live in Wisconsin. She was nervous about moving to a different school and starting to make new friends. Once we explained that she would be going to a school where her cousins when then the move didn’t sound so scary. Her only request was that she could finish the school year. We told her she would be finishing this week, so she won’t finish one day as we are moving one day short of the school year. After that she was TOTALLY fine with the move.

Maya can’t WAIT to move. She has been asking for weeks about when are we moving and when are we going, etc. She refers to the house in Denver as her “home” and keeps asking when we are going there. I keep explaining to her, her “home” is where we all our and regardless of the state we are always home. She doesn’t care. This goes right over her head and she continues to ask when she will be going home. So it will be okay.

Nikolai is really happy about moving as well. He doesn’t quite understand what all is going on, but he’s excited about being able to see Tim every day. I have been packing their toys so we only have one bucket of toys left for them to play with and yesterday he made a mess all over his floor with the toys. So I was excited that he was playing with them because the last couple of days, since we live in a sea of boxes he didn’t have any interest in playing with any of the toys. Now boxes he has been LOVING. Yesterday the girls drew a house on the box and he was going in and out of the box pretending it was a house. He also LOVES his riding toys. He has a TON of them let me tell you and in the new house we have carpet so it should be interesting in him playing with his riding toys. He’ll get really strong legs pushing himself around that’s for certain!



So it’s official however Tait did get the CPS job in Howard County so it will be official that he will be employed when we move to Indiana. I will be starting my job in Wabash on June 10th, which I’m excited about that. It should be a good match for me as well. So it should be exciting times at least a lot of changes. Lord knows I do enjoy as many changes as I can make for myself!

Tape and Boxes!

So what can you do with a box and tape, what can you do with a box and tape, what can you do with a box and tape everyday is magic. So I may not be a song writer but that is what we are living in. A sea of boxes. I am kind of excited about next week b/c we will get to pack the stuff we are actually using. That will be fun to get all of that ready to go. So next week might be a little crazy but it will be good at the same time. It will be fun to be back in Indiana again and at the same time I am sad that I will be leaving here. As it comes closer and closer the wheels of regret and second doubts come to full circle. We still have some things we are anxiousness about some things I know that isn’t helping. I just we had finalizations on everything; that would make things a little easier. But we are taking a leap in faith that everything will work out and the way it’s supposed to.


So we are venturing down this weekend to the house. We are going to paint a few rooms and clean cabinets and toilets… you know really exciting stuff like that. I’m excited about it b/c then when we move next week those things will be completed, well almost. Tait still won’t be with us until the end of June. Which I have to say I am totally not looking forward to being separated again. That was REALLY difficult last time when we moved to Wisconsin but unfortunately with his job not starting until July he really wants to work the entire month of June, you know for the income flow. So it should be good but it will be difficult. With the new rules of the county he won’t get to take any of his days, as “pay out days” so he will be taking off the 5 days he has left during the 4 weeks he will remain behind so he will have basically 3 days weekends so we will only be separated 3 days before he comes back or leaves. So it will be fine. I feel badly for him b/c he won’t have a lot to do while he’s in Kenosha, but he’ll be able to clean and ready for our “final inspection.” At least I won’t have to be doing that  Yeah for me!!

So I’m going to really try hard to get into shape when we move. My friend Abby weighed about the same as I did and she lost all of her weight; she when from a size 24 to a size 5 in a year. She is now a physical trainer and I have asked her to train me! I told her that I want to get where she is. So we have an appointment set up the first week we are back. She is going to help guide me and mold me. She is SO excited and I have to say SOOOOO AM I! I’m going to be working in Wabash and that’s where she works is in Wabash so I will be able to go there either before work, during work, or after work for training sessions and I couldn’t be happier about it. It’s going to be a lot of work and I’m okay with that, but I have to change my life style. I know I have tried this before but having someone that has done this before and knows the challenges I will be facing will be good. So I thought about blogging about it. I know it will be harder to do because I won’t have the time in front of the computer that I will before, but I’m hoping that I will keep it up, even if it’s one a week or twice a week I can keep a record of what’s going on and maybe it will keep me motivated. I thought even about joining a group that is already established… maybe that would help too. It will be hard trying to work, take care of the kids, and work out especially with Tait not being with us… but I have to try. I’m hoping that I can make the commitment and get where I want to be. I hope I can “drink some of the Kool-Aid” if you know what I mean. So we’ll see.

I think that’s all of the update that I have for now. We are just busy getting ready for another life change. I’m excited it will be a good move for us and it will be so wonderful being back home and having some access to things we to wanted have before. Kind of our “dream list” so it will be good.

Cat is OUT of the BAG

So the bag is no empty. We are INDIANA bound! Yes that’s right we are returning home. Man it’s weird to type that. We have lived in WI for the past four years. Crazy crazy times. So much has happened since we left the state of Indiana. We added a family member, met some GREAT people, learned a lot of things, was able to be humbled in ways that I never thought possible. It has been an adventure but I’m so ready to be home. It’s so strange to think that we are going back home… yep home where we grew up. Now we are going to return… Bitter sweet I would say. I will LOVE the fact we are by family again. THAT I can’t wait for. We will be able to participate in family activities. And the best part is our cost of living won’t kill us anymore… SIGN ME UP FOR THAT! We are packing packing packing packing packing packing and packing. We have gotten stuff done, but there is SO much to do. We cleaned the garage this weekend. It’s ALL SET. The basement is packed. The upstairs closets are pretty much packed. The rooms upstairs are not completed yet… they will be but not yet, after all we still have 2 more weeks in our house, so we can’t have everything. We have organized everything, we started cleaning cabinets and rooms as we empty them, but it’s again hard when you still live there. But we are making progress.

Updates on Jobs.

I start my new job on June 10th at a company in Wabash. It’s a headquarters. I’m very excited about it. I will be able to work my way up and proof myself and it’s definitely an opportunity for me! It’s going to be great. Tait. Well his update is a bit muddier. He hasn’t been officially hired yet by the county he interviewed for. They have told him multiple times that they want him and please don’t take another job, but the hitch is the job they want him for there is a lady in the spot. She is leaving the spot b/c she’s her husband took another job south and so she is trying to transfer to another county. So she’s waiting her hire date before she is turning in her end date. So that means they can’t hire Tait “officially” until they get that date. So we are kind of in Limbo but we are taking faith that by the end of June he will be hired and in the July training class. That is our hope  It would be even better if he was hired by June 17th, that would be my birthday wish. So we’ll see what happened. Time will only tell and as you all know I’m LOVE to be patient.

I am apprehensive about the move. There are some things that I’m really going to missing from Kenosha. I have made some great friends and I’ll be sad to lose those friends. It will be strange going back to Indiana and trying to “relearn” how to make friends once again, in an area that I grew up in. It’ll be strange.

Kids update!

Okay so the kids are more than excited about the move. Lehna has said she is worried about leaving this house that we are in. she said that she doesn’t want to leave our house. I told her that the house doesn’t come with us.  I know that once we get there she’ll adjust. She just wanted to be able to finish the school year and she’ll be able to do that. Oh and Lehna was baptised.  She was baptised in four days!  She decided she wanted to be baptised before we moved.  I totally understand the reasoning and was happy to have her get what she wanted. 

Maya is ready to go. She wants to be gone and moved and there. Nikolai he doesn’t really care. I know we will have some adjustments to new bedrooms and such so that will be some adjustment.

I will be happy when we get in the house and really make it ours. I know that we will need to do some cleaning and getting some things taken care of and once that’s taken care of that will be good. I’m excited. New adventure here we come!

Why is that the weekends go so fast?

I know I say this all the time but could the weekends just slow down just a LITTLE bit! I mean by the time I actually get to sit down it’s like the day is over!


Part of it was we went traveling again this weekend and that just sucks all the time down the drain. We have been trying to decide what our future will hold for the Wagner family and well we still don’t have anything nailed down yet. So we are still in the planning stages and well the LIMBO Stage to be honest with you. Hopefully more to come soon.

We did leave earlier this time to come back only b/c I KNEW my house was a disaster and I wanted to get it in some sort of order before the week started. I mean the week it only gets messier and messier so I wanted to get ahead of it. Tonight I won’t have any kind of time to do anything because Tait has training and I have speech therapy. I’m half tempted just not to show up. I truly am not looking forward to 3 hours of them blabbing at me about how music encourages communication. But it’s for the best I guess and I will go and hopefully not be too bored out of my head. Hey maybe I’ll learn something! That could happen. It might… don’t laugh!

Let me see what else. Oh Mother’s Day was this weekend. I wasn’t able to talk to my mom but I did leave her a message on her cell phone. I know she had some things going on with her mother in law so that might be why she was unavailable. I am going to call her on her birthday however  which is in 2 days. I did get some cute things from my kiddos. Lehna made me a book mark; both girls made me flowers from tissue paper, and cards.

We did get to see my nephew Landon play base ball this weekend. He had a game so we were able to go down and watch them play. There were more balls outside of the ball field then there were on the inside, every few minutes you heard “heads up” b/c another ball was hit outside the fence. There are two fields right next to each other. It was fun. The girls were able to play at the park at the same time so it was nice. But when we were at the ball field I saw a dog that looked JUST LIKE CHELEASE! She was huge just like Chelease used to be. She was just a bit more brown then Chelease was but it was amazing, she even had the rubbed off fur on her legs where she laid down. I sent a picture of her to Marcus and Marcus agreed it was crazy strange!

So this week we have another fun filled week of cleaning and sorting. I’m still not done with my purging. There is so much to do its CRAZY! I have decided that I’m not going to take anymore to the church donation any more however, I was way too embarrassed by the amount of stuff we were giving and didn’t want them to be like “this is all from the Wagner’s” so I’m going to donate to goodwill. I have given the church almost three van load… that’s enough.

So that’s all I got for now.

Update!!!

Don’t you just hate it when time gets away from you? I had been doing SOOOO well with my little updates and etc than… you know I stopped. Sometimes you know…




Anywho. Soooooo life. Well I can’t go into much detail but things are going to be changing for our little family. We have stuff going on behind the scenes that I can’t get into too much but change is near and coming upon us FAST! So stay tuned for later updates. I feel like a news caster that is giving you a “teaser” for more on this tune back in at 10. No I’m hoping that I will be able to release more information soon, but can’t… not yet.



So let’s going on with things I CAN talk about. Well I started my job at the Sheriff’s Department. It’s fine. I wouldn’t describe it as WONDERFUL, quite honestly it’s BORNING. I have to go and look for work all the time and I hate that. I was assured that I wouldn’t have to do that, but apparently I do or they don’t realize that they truly don’t need a full time person in this position. But whatever I am not the chief I’m just a soldier. It’s kind of strange getting used to everyone around you carrying a gun, and they are very proud of the fact that they are carrying a gun. I still sense the arrogance when they walk around me, but that will take awhile for that to fade. It’s kind of a bizarre thing to be honest with you. Law enforcement what a crazy field. I work at the detention center so it’s like Ladoga Academy. You can’t go anywhere without control having to pop doors on you and you are constantly on camera. You just feel like you are being watched at all times. Which you are and it’s for your own safety so its fine. We have pretty mild inmates/detainees here so it’s fine. I am supposed to be teaching other departments, which I learned the front desk position. That was a BUSY position. I’m sure she does it VERY quickly but I felt SO slow at it. So I wrote lots and lots of notes on it, so when I go back in the role in however long I will have some idea of what the heck I’m doing. As long as I can continue to have time to be able to compile my notes after doing the job. I should be fine. I have to tell you though my chair is so uncomfortable. It’s seriously the worst chair ever. I’m going to have to do something about that. Anywho… enough about work blah!



The kids and etc. The kids are great. They are really in slow down mode since school is coming to an end. Lehna works everyday to get more AR points for her swimming party. She only needs 1 more point which equals two books and you would have thought that this is something she will die over if she doesn’t get. Life or death let me tell you. She normally reads 2 – 3 books per week so she is of course being very dramatic.



Maya well she is ready for school to be over. She doesn’t like school or her teacher and really doesn’t want to have to get out of bed every morning. And usually I am getting her ready and she goes back to sleep in the bed.



Nikolai is almost done with the speech therapy program we have had him in. He is still struggling with speaking but he does speak more. He is now working on developing the right sounds with the right words. So sometimes we can’t understand what he’s saying and we have to have him repeat what he is wanting. Tait has gone to the full classes and he said that they are so boring. LOL We only have one more class left and I get to attend it  After this last class they will then set up a time to reevaluate him. We can say that he has improved he now has the desire to want to talk; he just now has to figure out the words and sounds. So we can continue to do more individual therapy sessions, group speech therapy, or classes where it’s more individualized. The issue will be timing of course b/c a lot of the parents involved with this class actually don’t work so having their child scheduled from 10-12 okay b/c they don’t work anyway. For the other working parents it more difficult. The therapist asked if our daycare provider would be willing to bring Nikolai in for the classes or if she would be willing to have her come to her home to work with him. HUMMMMM I don’t like either of those options. Can’t you just arrange for an evening class from 5:30- 6:30 once a week or something and put all the WORKING parents in that… so who knows. Tait wants to be done with the entire thing. He doesn’t want to move forward with any more classes, he feels that they haven’t helped at all. Which I have to agree, I don’t think they have been that helpful. They have been a LITTLE but I think I could have just read it in a book for as much information we have ‘gained’ in this process. So we’ll see. With stuff a happening we will figure out a path.



So we took family pictures they are all over my facebook page. I like getting their pictures taken once a year and I’m so glad that we have done this because I love having the update of them. It’s amazing to see how much our children have grown from year to year. We get their school pictures but with Nikolai not being in school yet he would be “left out”. It love updating my pictures and enjoying the new ones. I know it’s such a silly thing but I truly enjoy having them updated.

 Family ~ 2013

 My Three Kiddos

 Lehna Marie

 Maya Elizabeth

Nikolai Anthony

Purging purging purging. So one thing that I AM doing is cleaning. We are purging a BUNCH of stuff. We have so much crap in our house that we have to reduce and reduce some more. It’s amazing just how much stuff you “collect”. I have taken FOUR van loads to goodwill and still have MORE. How is that even possible, but it is trust me and we are getting rid of stuff. We still have quite a bit more to go through but we have made a HUGE dent in what we are doing. Our church is doing a fund raiser for the Young women and they need stuff to sell for the yard sell so we are donating donating donating!!! I’m hoping we will get more to them before next week as the sale is on the 18th! We are going south this weekend so we will lose this weekend, but I think I can get in gear and get more to them. We are going to pack more of Helen and Tim’s stuff in the van on this trip to give it to them. I told them that whatever they want they better come and get b/c if they don’t take it, its going! So supposedly they are coming to get some, but we will bring what we can this weekend down to them. I have also been putting “free” stuff on our yard for people to take… that’s been fun too. Yesterday we put out a power wheels, that needs a new battery and it’s HUGE so we gave that away. Maya of course cried. But we told her that we needed to get rid of stuff and I promised her I would get another charger for her power wheels that she has right now. So she was okay with it.



Well that’s life as we know it for now. I know it’s not super exciting but sometimes life is just boring.

So what’s new and exciting.

So much has happened since my last update. So let’s get a going on updating.

So as you can tell I didn’t get the job at DCFS on Friday. I was more than disappointed after the news came out. It actually prompted a quick trip to my mom’s house. Sometimes you just need your mom. I also got the offer of going to the Sheriff’s Department for a position there. That I had turned down the week previously. So there were a couple of decisions to make. You probably don’t understand what decisions so let’s rewind.



Tait and I had been talking about moving back to Indiana. We have been struggling financially with living here and honestly the bump in pay from the DCFS job was going to help us remain here in Kenosha. And we kind of were waiting to see what was going to happen with DCFS. So we kind of just waited so then when I didn’t get the job but the Sheriff’s job was open again it kind of made it a little tricky. I mean the issue that we were experiencing was do I roll the dice and stay a temp, there wasn’t a guarantee that I would find another position and I didn’t know when it would happen. I didn’t know when my current position was going end, so I could have the issue of not being eligible for unemployment because of timing. So we wanted to make some decisions. By the time I left my mom’s there wasn’t a clear answer I was leaning towards turning down the position as I felt that I was only being offered the position b/c I was last candidate as they offered it to me again, and I felt that it might be a bad job b/c no one else had taken it, so what was wrong with it? This crossed my mind a lot. Then I felt that I would roll the dice on finding another position. I would apply to jobs in Indiana and hopefully be able to get there soon. Tait was planning on applying in Indiana and we would move forward.



On Monday I called the HR office and spoke to them further about the position. They said I was the ONLY one they had offered to them and wanted me to tour the position. They felt that by doing that I would be able to see the environment and kind of moving forward with that one way or the other. So on Tuesday I toured the facility and I got a good vibe there the people were really nice and I felt like they really wanted me there. So that kind of changed my perspective a little. I have had many roads and bridges to cross recently and so unfortunately the waiting for DCFS opportunity didn’t come to fruition so it was deciding on what to do now. So after touring I felt that I should take the position. If anything it builds my resume and it allows me to continue to work. I found out on Wednesday that my position for DCFS is going to end on Friday. So timing couldn’t have been better b/c of unemployment and the requirements and etc. So I went for pre-employment screening yesterday, physical and drug test. So I’m waiting on those results but I won’t have any problems.



So we are again at a cross roads. Tait wants to move back and so he has taken necessary steps towards that. He has been contacted by the recruiter for Indiana and they would like to set up an interview so that’s moving forward. In the time being I have also been contacted by a company I applied to in Indiana and they are going to do a phone interview next week. So things are kind of fuzzy at the moment. We are just trying to muddle through things and figure things out. I don’t know what we are going to do in the long term. There are some advantages of moving back but there are some disadvantages. The same is similar to staying in Kenosha. So it’s hard to figure out. I know the answer will come to us but in the mean time we need to stay positive, which is super hard, and these short term things will work themselves out. We just need to come up with some long term goals and what are we going to do to accomplish them.



The paths are opening for us again. We just need to figure out what we want. It’s interesting that the road was back open for me and I feel like I need to investigate the road that was given to me and kind of decide what to do. It’s tough. The kids are still young enough they don’t have a strong opinion either way. Lehna has said she wants to stay here. Maya on the other hand has said she wants to move. So there isn’t a push either way.



So we’ll see I’ll keep you posted either way. At least I will have a job and will still be building my résumé. I’m hoping that I can continue to grow and develop the way I need to.

Pins and Needles right?

Okay so sometimes we get the Pins and Needles when all we really want is a break. And this time I got rusty old needles. So if you haven’t noticed that my tone is a little, over the top… reason well I didn’t get the job. Nope I didn’t get it. I have been sad all day about it. I found out over lunch time and I have to say that I’m just sick over the whole thing. I have worked my entire 9 month ass off for nothing. No reward just shit. So I’m still standing in the freaking hallway truly feeling like I’ve been forgotten.



I know sounds desperate doesn’t it? Yeah life sucks. Then you get more shit b/c well you life doesn’t suck enough. I have been given many things that should make me very happy… and to this I said F you… F You and F you too. You know… sometimes I just don’t understand why I have been given so many freaking challenges but apparently my challenges are not over. I was really hoping for that $6 pay raise but apparently we are supposed to struggle some more. Why… I don’t know I’m still in the freaking hallway screaming? Oh well. Truly oh well. I guess sometimes hard work doesn’t pay off.



So what now. Well I have asked to come off this assignment b/c I want it to be over with. I don’t want to give any more to this department. But unfortunately I don’t have the option. I must stay and continue this pain a little longer. I called HR today to find out when my position will end and of course they don’t know… They don’t know when this will sickness will end. Instead it will continue for god knows when. So HR called me later and then said… you know that sheriff’s job… well they are very interested in you still. Do you want it? Hum now what do I do?



Damn Stars they don’t know crap.



So Tait and I have decided that we are going North for the weekend. We are running away from our problems and having a change of scenery. Surely that will help clear the mind and the body and let me think of a new option.



ONTO TOMORROW! Boy I wish I truly felt that way. I wish that this didn’t hurt so much I wish that this wasn’t so shity. But what can I do? Nothing… everything was decided for me. Again.

Welcome to Break Down City... Population EVERYONE!

So I was watching the news the other day and it was talking about how this father has developed a blog called “Reasons why my son is crying” and it’s a blog of pictures of his son that he takes of his son while crying and puts captions under. He was recently on Good Morning America and I have to tell you I can totally relate with this man. It seems like the last two weeks we have had break down after break down for our kids. It’s crazy it seems like right now they are passing it from one kid to other.


Last night for example. Maya was put in time out b/c she was talking back and just acting horrible. So she was put in time out... than she was allowed to get up. Then she refused to get up and then started saying some pretty horrible things to me so I made her go to her room b/c she refused to change her attitude. So she was in her room just crying and crying. Then Tait comes in and he’s like “what’s going on” and I’m like break down time. So he goes and talks to Maya. Maya is now fine. Than que Nikolai. He was upset over not having his cup of milk. I gave him a cup of milk than he refuses to take it from me. So I walked away from his break down and he chases me asking me about his cup the entire time. So finally I got him to take his cup and he is fine than, then que Lehna. She starts getting all upset because we decided we weren’t going to go to Iwana last night because the neighbors weren’t going and it was guest night and we didn’t have guests and etc etc... So she started throwing a fit. So than She finally settles down and so than we decided we were going to order pizza for dinner... then Maya starts in again how she doesn’t want pizza she wants hot dogs... I mean it was a circle over and over again. It so drives me nuts when they get likes this. I don’t know if the weather or what the heck is going on, but seriously... YIKES! So anyway back to my original point. The blog I can relate with. I feel like I could write a book over why Nikolai cries. He is constantly crying over crazy things. I know its age but mercy it’s contagious. Like he keeps getting upset over having to change his shirt every day. Some days I don’t fight I just put his new shirt of his pj shirt. I don’t have for this crap. So hopefully the kids well settle down.

This morning we had another break down morning. It was time to have the kids get their shoes on and get in the car. So I make the announcement, like I do every morning, “okay guys time to get your shoes on and coats and go.” So Maya is sitting on a chair in my room and I go “come on Maya”... she says “nope, I’m not going to leave this chair today” I said “okay but you are going to be home all by yourself, b/c we are leaving” So than she comes in the front room laying on the floor “I don’t want to go to school today.” I told her that I was sorry but she was going to school today. I said “you have 5 minutes and if you don’t have your shoes and coat on you will go without b/c I’ll carry you to the car” So she finally gets her shoes on... Then que Nikolai. He’s playing with the case of DVDs and he picks out Dora and I go “okay buddy you want to watch that in the van today.” And so I “Okay let’s go get your coat on so we can watch it” This child falls down on the floor and refuses to put his coat on. Finally I pick him up take the DVD from him and get his coat on him... so he’s now standing their crying at me. So I tell the girls it’s time to walk out the door. Lehna is walking around “I can’t find my coat.” I said Lehna “you have four coats PICK ONE!” Nikolai is still crying... Maya has her coat on she’s by the front door, and Lehna now walks outside without a coat on... I say “for the love just go get a freaking coat on” She goes back in and selects another coat... and out the door we go. Then we all climb in the car and Lehna goes “mom we forgot our backpacks” REALLLLLLY! We do this EVERY MORNING and you forget your backpacks... So Lehna goes “Maya I’ll get them.” And I go “no you sit, I’ll get them” I run in get them and we are off... did I mention it’s raining like cats and dogs. BLAHHHHH It’s just been like this the last couple of weeks. I don’t know what’s going on but it’s strong in the air. Some of you might be wondering where Tait was with all of this was going on. He has been leaving early to take one of his clients to school so he has been abandoning I mean leaving before us every morning. But supposedly he’ll be back to being back with us in the morning.... LUCKY him. It’s just been a stressful time. We are just adjusting and I know part if Maya’s issue is she doesn’t like her teacher and I’m not all the impressed with her either but the school year is ALMOST over just hang on. I am also finding that one of the older kids in her class has been doing her work for her. They have 1st and Kindergarten in her class so there are older kids in there. I was reading something of hers and part of it was Maya’s hand writing and than the other was obviously another child’s writing on her work and I asked her about it. And she goes oh Mikayla helped me. I told her that she needs to not have her friend do her work b/c than the teacher doesn’t know what she’s struggling with and she’ll get behind. She already struggles in reading and sounds of letters. So the teacher has recommended that she go to summer school this year and I think that is going to be the best thing for her. I don’t know what she knows and doesn’t b/c I think this has been happening all year. Its funny the other day I was reading over her stuff and I was complimenting her on her printing b/c it looked so nice. Well now that I think back and seeing both hands writing on the page it obviously wasn’t her work. But I think she’s getting “extra help” at CLC too (after school and before school program) I think they are just doing her work for her so that has me concerned. I’m telling you this parenting thing... no guide book, it’s rough.

But anyway on the job front. I had my interview with the county for the job that I have been doing for the past 9 months today. I think it went okay. I don’t think it went badly at all. So we’ll see. But at lunch time today I got a phone call from a recruiter in Milwaukee that came across my resume online and is interested in speaking to me more about my job history. So I am hoping that’s not my sign from the big man upstairs that I’m not getting this job so he’s helping me get my next door open. So I asked when I should know something about the county job and they said tomorrow... so we’ll see. I have decided and it’s the truth there is nothing more I can do. Time will reveal its evil plan for me. Although my horoscope told me that the next TWO YEARS ARE GOING TO BE THE BEST FOR MY CAREER. LOL I don’t know what that means... but supposedly. Of course it said that it was going to take off this year and not slow down. LOL I don’t know “when” it’s supposed to happen but that’s what the stars said anyway. Who can rely on the stars right? They have only been there for centuries. I guess I’ll just have to have faith after all.



But that’s life in our crazy house right now... crazy crazy. I need a vacation!

News from the Front

Okay so it’s time to update my blog once again. I truly am trying to update this thing weekly but it’s TOUGH! Where does all the time go? I guess having three children, working full time, and everything else makes it more difficult. Okay but enough excuses. So another week has rolled by and we are here on Tuesday! So what has happened in this brief time. This weekend we had a great time playing outside. This has been the first item in awhile that we have been able to be outside for any length of time b/c of the snow that has been around and it has been so cold outside. So we took bike rides, went to the park, played ball in the yard, went on walks. It was truly really nice to be outside and exercising with the kids and playing with them. The last two days have been really crappy as far as weather so it will be nice when it’s nice outside again. Get the kids outside!



So on the work front I’ll hit that topic first. I’m sure everyone is on pins and needles waiting for the latest update! LOL Well there isn’t any. Isn’t that hilarious? Okay so here is the scoop, last week I was offered another position through the county for the Sherriff’s department but I have turned down that position. I decided that I wanted to wait and see what happens via this position. So far I’m supposed to be able to interview at some point. I have no idea of when the interview will take place but I know it’s happening sometime this week or next. So I’m still on hold. The good things about this. First of all my supervisor is back from vacation and I know he likes me so that’s a positive. So this means he will be a factor into the interview process. Also I was told by my supervisor either that my director has been talking to the other supervisors to see how I have been doing and they have agreed that I’m doing good. So that’s good. So so far we are still on the “hold and wait” but at least I know that we are moving in a direction. Just slowly.



On the home front.



Let’s start with Nikolai. This little cutie pie. He is just such a sweetie pie, he is SOOOO two right now but he’s still soooo cute. This past weekend I was able to take him on the bike ride with us. I have a little pull wagon that attaches to my bike so I was able to take him along. That was really nice and he really enjoyed it. He just watched out the windows and enjoyed being treated like royalty. So that was really fun for him. We also had speech therapy with him yesterday and he is doing very well. He is starting to put two words together in two word phrases. We are still repeating what he is saying to make sure we are understanding what he is saying. It has become a two prong approach with him. He is interesting in engaging with you, which is great. So now he starts to talk on his own and he is also learning new words. He has his default words that he is working towards growing, which is a great sign. Compared to where we were before when he was nonverbal and had no interest in engaging with us. So we are slowly getting there. His therapist is very excited and pleased with how far he has come. So it’s all good.



Daycare. Boy what a tough thing. We have had a few hiccups with our current daycare provider. She had some personal issues within her family that has made her unavailable to watch our little Nikolai on occasion. This is of course not a point to blame her b/c it something she really can’t control. It is frustrating for us to try to figure out what the heck to do with our son b/c we can’t keep missing work because of daycare. We are also concerned with the amount that we are spending on daycare for just Nikolai on a weekly basis. We spend about $63 per day for all three kids to be in daycare for full time daycare. And let me tell you this is a home daycare we are paying for AND for a very inexpensive way for the girls. So we have been really trying to come up with alternative plans as to decide what to do with our kids. So we were talking with a coworker who has a sister that provides daycare. So we spoke with her yesterday and she truly sounds really good. She will be taking the girls and boy this summer full time. She seems like she is going to do a great job with the kids. She has her own pool and they will be able to swim all summer long. She is VERY involved with the kids and plays with them and takes them places so it should be a good fit for our kiddos. We will be purchasing them season passes for Great America and she will be taking them all summer long. I’m really excited for the kids b/c I think this will be great for them. It will get them active and they will have a really great time. We will bring their bikes so they will be able to ride their bikes over there. It will be really good. I’m excited for them.



Maya, oh how the challenges continue. So the struggles continue with little Miss Maya. Tait is still her whisper and can get her to do anything where as I am still struggling to get her to listen, follow the rules, share, etc. We had much of the same issues this weekend that we have been having. She told Tait that she wanted to go on a walk without us. She just wanted some one on one time with daddy. She just is moody right now. We are working on it.



Lehna is still wishing away her life as she keeps waiting for “two more weeks” before she can change her earrings. She has been chomping at the bit to be able to switch her earrings. She has been having the conversation with me as to which ones she is going to wear first, than she wants my opinion of which ones to wear first. I told her that she needs to decide what she is wearing first than she can pick the earrings to go with it. She wants to go shopping this weekend to use her gift cards she got for her birthday. She really wanted gift cards in order to go shopping so that is what she got. She got two visa gift cards so she can use them wherever she wants to use them. She said she wants to go to Old Navy and Justus. I have never been to Justus so this should be an experience to say the least.



So that is my exciting life right now. Pretty routine pretty much status quo nothing new nothing exciting. Hopefully there will be some updates to come soon.

Easter in Review

So update time!!! You know when I say that the vision of Cinderella saying “It’s Present Time” in Shrek 3, okay random thought completed.


So this past weekend we went to visit Indiana. It was a nice trip. We were able to get there Thursday afternoon and were able to stay until Sunday. It was so nice to get to the see the family and enjoy their company. I know that the girls had a great time hanging out with the kids. Nikolai was SO CUTE when he saw his grandpa Tim. He RAN over to him and say “papal papal up” it was soooo sweet I know that it had to pulled on his heart strings b/c it was very sweet. You never know how the kids are going to react to people they haven’t seen in awhile and he was just great. As far as taking pictures this weekend... totally didn’t happen. I didn’t take not even a ONE, mainly b/c I didn’t bring my camera with me and my iphone is SOOOO slow when it takes pictures that is just plain didn’t happen. But oh well. We were able to see both sets of grandparents this weekend. Joyce was able to dye my hair, which I love! Lehna actually got in on the action of that as well and got her hair dyed... green... just a little section but it was good time.

Friday was Lehna’s birthday and she got 3 different gift cards and she was SOOO excited to open up all the gift cards. She really wanted them this year for some reason. So she enjoyed that, now we just have to schedule a time for her to use them. She got Visa card so she can go wherever she wants to use them. She wants to go to Old Navy and Justus. I don’t think I have ever been in Justus but for some reason she wants to go in there and spend her money... girls. We also had an ice-cream cake for her birthday and it was a nice little gathering.

On Sunday, Maya’s birthday, the first thing out of Maya’s mouth was “can I open my gifts?” She had seen them since Thursday when we got there, so she had been itching to open them all weekend so she was able to open them. She got a lot of cute little things a doll house and a skip it. I’m hoping that eventually it will get warm enough to go outside and Maya will be able to play with her skip it! Maya didn’t have a birthday cake. We were planning on getting one when we got back to Kenosha but when Tait went out to buy one all of the stores were closed. So she didn’t get a birthday cake until Monday. She was a little disappointed but you know she got over it super quick and was excited to blow out the candles on Monday.

The Easter Bunny did come to Indiana to deliver a message to the kids that their Easter baskets were in Wisconsin and it went over well. They were excited about the “surprise” waiting for them, but I had to remind them about it once, b/c they kind of forgot about it. When they got home they searched for their baskets. Lehna worked on finding her basket but she would give up “really quickly” in my opinion about where her next clue was. And Maya once she got an idea of where the next clue was hiding she would TAKE OFF, to get the next clue. Then the great reveal Maya was OVER the moon about her basket. Nikolai was SUPER excited about his cars in his basket... Lehna... not so much she cried. She felt that Maya had more in her basket and she felt shorted. She told us that she wished she was 6 so she could have gotten fairy things. I tell you she is in the really in-between age of not little girl and not big girl. It is a tough age. She is just so sensitive right now about that kind of thing. I am hoping we can just keep up with the gift card thing. Hopefully she’ll continue to be excited about getting those b/c seriously I am running out of ideas of things to get her. I tried going with artsy things for Christmas like tie dye kits and jewelry making and etc. Yeah they didn’t go over nearly as well as I felt that they should.

I’m telling you it’s difficult this parenthood thing. It’s tough. I wish I had the answers but I just don’t. I am really struggling with Maya right now. I am having a hard time just having her not say such horrible things to me and hitting me. Maya is so unique. She has her own ideas of what she enjoys and etc. She is such a free spirit and is just a cutie pie. So the issues that I’m having with her are behavior related. I have figured out that she does the best without strict structure. She really gets tired of having to follow directions for 12 hours a day from school and then continuing it on with daycare. She is VERY opinionated and will tell you how she feels about something if she doesn’t like it. The other day she was upset over the fact that she has to go to the Boys and Girls Club this week for Spring Break. So she has been crying every night about having to go the following day. So last night she was upset and we talked a little bit about it and she just kept escalating and just wasn’t calming down. She was sent to bed b/c of her behavior and she cried and cried. I thought she just was tired. So after a little bit after she quieted down I went into her room to talk to her about it. And she said awful things to me like I’m her worst parent and that she hates me, etc. I used to be able to change the topic and talk about when she was a baby about the stories and she really enjoyed those stories. NOT THIS TIME. Yikes this only made the situation worse. I know that part of this behavior is all attention seeking. She is stuck in the middle and does want one on one attention. Every night when we watch TV she usually curls up on my lap and watches TV with me or whatever we are doing. Last night when we were talking it just was her and me and I just was holding her as she cried and tried to get her to talk to me but she just kept saying “get away”. So finally I left the room and I just couldn’t take any more because she was not being very nice. So I left the room and about 15 minutes later Tait went in to talk to her and he was MUCH more successful. He was able to calm her down, he was able to talk to her about returning to the Boys and Girls Club and he was very successful about it. I kept asking him what in the world did he do to make her relax and talk to her. And he simply goes “nothing I just talked to her” It was like a miracle but this isn’t eh first time. I usually do battle with her in the morning. Getting her to put on her shoes is a chore because she forces her feet in the wrong shoes and then gets upset b/c they don’t fit and she can’t tie them and etc. So Monday she kept going on and on and finally I told Tait that I couldn’t fight her anymore and that he needed to take over so I was able to get the other two ready and in the van. She came out the door happy, no longer crying, and was ready to start the day. I asked him again “what did you do to make her do it.” He said “nothing, I just told her to get her shoes on and let’s go” Really? Why am I struggling with her so much and he’s having such an easy time? I don’t know if it’s something I’m doing to create the environment or if it’s something he’s doing but it’s annoying to say the least. I guess I’m parenting all three kids the same... but for some reason the 2nd one needs something else, but not sure what exactly. Tait said maybe its b/c we are both the middle children. But it’s not like he’s saying to her “I know what I feels like” He’s literally doing the same thing I’m doing but she’s responding to his directives. It’s FRUSTRATING to say the least.

So Tait and I have been trying to find another resource for the summer b/c with the girls being out of school and the Boys and Girls Club not being as successful as I’d hoped we have put out some feelers. One of the MAJOR issues is cost! This town is so expensive as far as everything... groceries, housing, daycare, you name it it’s expensive. So we have been trying to figure out what to do when it comes to summer time and having them in a facility full time. I mean for us to pay full time daycare for three kids were we will not beagle to afford rent or bills or anything. So one of our coworkers was asking about daycare costs and how much we are spending and etc. So she said “well my sister does daycare and I would like to talk to her for you, if that’s okay?” So we said that was fine and she came back and her sister said she was upset over the amount of what we are paying for daycare on a daily basis. She said she would charge ½ the price we are paying for all three kids. And this isn’t a crappy place either. She has a home in a very nice neighborhood, she has a swimming pool. She has the parents get great America season passes and she will take them all summer long there for a couple hours there. She plays games with them, takes them to the park. She’s VERY involved in taking care of the kids. WE have talked to a couple other coworkers that have used her in the past but their kids are old enough not to need daycare anymore. So Tait and I are going to meet with her next Monday. So we’ll see. I am hoping that it works out.

So on the job front. Well things are more complicated then I would want them. So basically last week one of the jobs that I had applied to came through. Well the problem is that since the position that I want at DCFS isn’t going to interview I had a big decision to make. I had to decide to take the sheriff position or if I should wait for the DCFS position. Well after long debate a thinking I have decided that I am not going to take the sheriff position job. I am hoping that it is going to be the right decision but part of me didn’t know what to do and I had to decide on what I was going to do. So I guess time will tell. The best part about all of this is my supervisor comes back next week so the person doing the interviews will be someone that knows me and knows what I’m capable of so that’s a GREAT thing. It’s been tough for me but I feel that this is going to be the best decision. The worse case scenario is I end up not getting this job and then I end up landing another temporary job. So that’s kind of my plan for now. I’m hoping that this is the right thing. Time will tell I guess.

So that’s life on the in our home right now... decisions decisions... what challenges do we all face.