Crash course in parenting - Life as a foster mom

Well I know it's a day early. But I'm home alone right now so I have to take advantage of it! In October I set a goal of running 1,000 miles in 2011. Today, about 20 minutes ago, I completed that goal. Most miles run in a month: 138.8 (April) Most miles run in a week: 37 (week of May 2) Most miles run in a day: 26.2 (June 11, also set a new PR for the marathon) Now on to more important goals: Potty training C: Completed, with the added bonus of potty training Y as well! No more diapers for me except for when I am watching other people's kids. :) Being a better business owner/employee: Done, with the help of part-time daycare for the kids. Admitting I need help: Improvements made in 2011 Becoming more compassionate: Still working on, but hopefully moving in the right direction Losing 7 pounds: Not done. At all. But I haven't gained weight so that's gotta count for something! Getting up early to have quiet time before anybody else wakes up: Accomplished more often...

The boys had their first overnight visit with their mom since they have been in foster care which has been almost 21 months total. I wrote a page and a half on what to do for C's medicine, when to make sure he goes to the bathroom, some tips on making it happen without tantrums, how we put them to bed, etc. All she had to say about it in response was "We had a nice Christmas. Thanks for the picture." (we bought her this photo thing from Walmart.com, and it turned out kind of blurry which was frustrating, but it is still cute and has lots of pics of the kids on it) The boys seemed like they had fun but they were totally exhausted...they came home and napped for 2.5 hours, and then we decided we just needed to wake them up because who knows how long they might have slept! Last night C had a HUGE poop and told me "My butt hurts!" I asked if he had taken his medicine at his mom's...he said no. I asked if he had pooped at his mom's (he should have pooped ...

The little boys have been going to bed at around 7:00 pretty much since they moved in. I know, some of you parents out there are thinking WHAT THE HECK??? It's early, but I have to tell you - they have slept 11-12 hours per night the entire time they've lived with us, with few exceptions. Well now that Y is 2.5 and C is really almost 4 (FOUR YEARS OLD??!!!) I thought that maybe a little bit later bed time was in order. So for the past 2 nights we've put them to bed at 8:00. The end result? They still sleep 12 hours a night. Yeah, it's 8:18 a.m. and they are still asleep. So far, though, they seem less crabby in the morning so that's worth something. And it's nice to be able to stay out a little bit later or do things as a family in the evening. So I guess we'll keep this new bed time for a while and see how it turns out. The nice thing is that we should be able to get the boys in bed pretty reliably at 8:00 or 8:15, even on nights they have visits. So ...

I hate, hate, HATE visits that do not get cancelled until the kids arrive there. Needless to say, total meltdown going on right now. Each time this happens, sleep is the only cure. Hopefully it will come quickly for the C-Monster. ETA: I was just thinking about this. Her reason for missing the visit was a good one - but the kind of scary thing is that she is somewhere other than her home, with M and D, with no phone and the worker seemed to not know where she was. I find it odd that she can't take the two little boys when she already has the other two. As for the reason she is missing the visit, it is a good one. But there is no phone at all there that she could use to call us or anybody to let them know about this? It is just strange. Honestly I'd have paid the $2 or whatever it would be for her to call us collect! The boys ended up crying for about half an hour and are sleeping now, thank goodness. I laid with C in bed for a while and talked to him and he did finally s...

Just a quickie. My sister is home from Japan with my 9 month old niece whom I have NEVER met in real life. Though I think I was at least in close proximity to her when she was in utero. :) So we get to see them tonight and I am so excited! I guess I'm excited about seeing my brother-in-law too. ;) We had a team meeting on Wednesday and it was interesting as always. Sounds like all four of the kiddos are going to be spending the night with bio mom on Christmas Eve. It will be the first time that the little boys have slept there in about 20 months! After the new year, the little boys will start having one overnight visit a week and it will go from there. Also there is talk of D going home after the new year, followed by baby M shortly afterwards. So far the little boys still only have 4 hours as their longest visit, so I requested (for like the 4th time) that they be given one longer all-day visit before starting overnights...just makes sense to me, so they can get used to bei...

In our house, Baby Jesus is...a ping pong ball. Yes, that's right. And he lays in a manger which is a storage ottoman with the top removed and a blanket draped over it. And we have to be veeeery quiet when he is sleeping. And then when he starts crying... C: Oh no, he's crying! Me: Uh oh! What are you going to do? C: I'm gonna hold him, and wrap him up really good so he will be warm. (then he did that - soooo cute) Me: Oh, I think that is a great idea. C: I'm his Mommy! Me: Oh you are? C: Yeah and I will take care of him. Then a few minutes later... C: (holding a little dog toy that is a house) This is Baby Jesus's house and his Mommy is in there with him. Me: I thought you were Baby Jesus's Mommy? C: I'm not gonna be his mommy anymore. I'm gonna be a super hero! There you have it!

I hope I don't ruin this by explaining it too much! C was having a tantrum, and our time-out space is in the entry way of our home. There was a box sitting there with some brown paper in it. Our cat Alex adopted this box as her home for the time it was sitting there, and she pretty much was in the box unless she was eating or drinking. Alex is really weird, she is notorious for giving anybody and everybody the stink eye and just staring at you blankly if you are annoying her or not giving her what she wants. She is easily offended but is a pretty sweet cat. Anyway, C sometimes gets totally ridiculous in his tantrums and says off-the-wall stuff. Things like "I don't WANT to get out of time-out!" and "I don't WANT to stop cwying!" You have to picture this skinny little kid with a big scowl on his face and his arms crossed to really get the full picture. Also he still can't quite pronounce his R's and L's which just adds to the comedy of it....

I need some advice. C is perfectly capable of dressing himself, getting his coat on, getting his shoes on, putting toys away, etc. However, he is getting slower...and slower...and slower. Two mornings ago it took him no less than 35 minutes to go potty, get dressed, and get his shoes and coat on. This does not include time spent eating breakfast or even any tantrum time - that's just how long it took. I was with him the whole time, encouraging/reminding him and helping him along. Admittedly, this did include him changing his clothes once because he decided he wanted to wear a shirt similar to Y's shirt (of course he decided this after he got dressed). You ask the child to put on his coat...and he gets it off the hook. Then he starts doing something else. Then you ask him again to put on his coat, and he puts the hood on his head (the first step to getting his coat on). Then he does something else. Or he runs around, and it falls off. Then you ask him again...you get t...

OK, I am about to explode with excitement! I just started reading this book, The Introvert Advantage . It is soooo so so good! If you are an introvert, are married to an introvert, or have a child (foster or not) that is an introvert, you MUST READ THIS BOOK! You can download the ebook for $7.76 at Amazon. Or, you know, maybe check it out at the library for free? I was too excited to wait for the library so I just bought it. :) Only about 1 in 4 people is an introvert, and our culture values extroversion over introversion. The pressure on introverted people to conform to the world of extroversion is extraordinary. The author gave several examples of extroverted parents bringing their introverted children to her, thinking that something was wrong with them and requesting that they undergo therapy. I know many times in my own childhood where I was forced to try to be extroverted, and I remember instances where I ended up in tears because I just couldn't do it. All of my frien...

I think tonight is the first time C has said "I love you!" to me without me saying it first. It melts my little heart and almost made me cry. He can be so sweet sometimes. At court D did get an additional overnight visit, so this weekend he was gone for three nights! He came home tonight with a pretty bad attitude. I'm sure it's difficult to come back here after being with his mom for 3 days straight. Plus he is probably tired, I'm just guessing! M is walking. I had no idea, until I glanced at her as I was getting her breakfast ready this morning and she was taking a few very wobbly steps towards me with outstretched arms! Oh she is SO CUTE. I just love her so much! She slept for about an hour this morning, but I still got to hang out with her for an hour or so. Wish I could see her more but she is a busy girl these days with 3 overnight visits with her mom! I have less than 100 miles to run until I reach 1,000 miles for the year. I am excited! Oh also,...

I got the Christmas tree put up today, and the little boys helped me decorate it which was fun! They were so excited. The only bummer thing about doing something out of the ordinary like that is that it is very difficult for them to transition back to doing "normal" things - playing with their toys and such. So there were some rough moments and bed time was completely awful for one of the two of them (just guess which one! ;) ). But it was fun otherwise and the boys were so excited! Another bummer thing is that I don't have any Christmas lights so our tree is light-less. But it still looks nice. We'll see how long it will stay up without being damaged or knocked over or having decorations removed and played with. I figure the chances are better this year since our dog is no longer really a puppy, and now we have a 2 and 3 year old instead of a 1 and 2 year old. I asked D if he wanted to help decorate, and he politely declined. Though I think he secretly wanted ...

C is always highly fascinated by his poop. I don't know why. We have had lots of poop issues in the past so maybe this is part of it. Today he pooped, then Y needed to go to the bathroom as well. C told him "Y, you can go on my snake!" Y got scared: "Dere's a snake! Snake!" Me: "No honey, it's not a snake. C was just pretending." Y after getting finished: "I flush the snake!" C and Y were coloring at the kitchen table. D plopped down and started coloring too. D: C you want to come color with me? C: Yeah! D: Come over here! (motioning to Y's booster seat) C: That's not my seat. D: Well it's a booster seat...you can still sit there. C: (getting out of his chair and storming off to the living room) I am not gonna sit there! I'm not Y! He was so mad. It was hilarious! Then he just went into the living room and started playing with his other toys. :)

Who had a piece of pie and pumpkin bread as her entire lunch today? Not me! Who has eaten no less than 5 slices of pie in the past 3 days? Not me! Who has had to give her dog two baths in three days because said doggy keeps rolling in nasty stuff in the back yard? Not me! And who has loads of cleaning (and laundry!) to do, even though she just cleaned basically the whole house a few short days ago? Not me! I stay away from pie. You could call me a health freak, if you wanted. After all, when you work your body hard it's important to feed your body the nutrients it needs to perform! Also my dogs are very proper and well-behaved - no rolling in poo or any other schmutz at our house, no sirree! And I always keep a ship-shape house, even when are not expecting company. In other news, I have run 7 days in a row for a grand total of 27 miles. I feel amazing. I thought I would be tired, but I actually have more energy than usual. Also my running times are fast - I have been averag...

We had a really nice Thanksgiving - we went and spent the afternoon/evening with my husband's mom, step dad, brother, and nephew. We got to go downtown and watch the Christmas lights turn on which was pretty neat. Then I very stupidly decided to go to WalMart for the 10 p.m. deals. Whoops! Never doing that again. Like, ever ever. It was terrible. I saw part of a fight and started almost feeling sick because it was so claustrophobic, you couldn't even walk around and people were just jammed in there going nowhere. I was able to get two things on my list but missed out on the other stuff - and I do not care one bit. :) Never again, my friends! Then in the morning I went to a sports store - I didn't wait in line before it opened, I just showed up about 10 minutes after they opened. It was so much nicer than Wal Mart. Still crowded for sure, but I was out of there in less than an hour and got everything I wanted (again). Then I went to Target and again was able to get e...

Time to update again I guess! I am finished re-finishing the kitchen table. I should have taken a "before" picture, but I didn't. But anyway, it looks really nice. It's not perfect but I think we can all agree that it looks a LOT better than it did. Plus I only spent like $15 on supplies as opposed to, say, $200 or more on a new kitchen table! Now hopefully it will stay looking nice for at least a few years. It was kind of hard work to get it all cleaned up and I don't think my brain can take any more chemical saturation for a while! Now someday I am also going to get new kitchen chairs...like, maybe we could have a whole set that are the same and not broken or otherwise chewed up by dogs. Ha ha! :) Or since I am feeling brave with one re-finishing project under my belt, maybe I can buy a set for cheap and fix them up. Brian's grandma passed away on Saturday, and we had the funeral today. We didn't want to bring the boys for several reasons - just ...

We went on vacation to Florida, and it was pretty much awesome. I went running every day, and the weather was really nice except for the one day when I almost had a heat stroke. :) Southern FL is as flat as a pancake and kind of boring to run in as far as scenery goes. I got to get up when I wanted, I did not have to deal with any accidents or getting kids to the potty on a regular basis, I did not have to cut up any dinners except for my own, when I sat down to eat I did not have to get up 15 more times before the end of the meal, there was zero crying, I was not responsible for getting others dressed, bathed, etc. It was extremely refreshing and I got back and had a ton of energy and just feel rejuvenated. So even though we were only gone for 4 nights and we missed one of our flights, it was still a really wonderful experience. We rented bikes and rode on Sanibel island, we went on a boat tour to see dolphins (this was a substitute for going fishing, which I really wanted to do but a...

Bio mom canceled the visit last night, and bio dad canceled the visit this morning! It is very unlike them - they have both been so reliable lately. It was nice to have all of us home for the evening with no football practice, no church stuff, no games, no visit...just all of us at home on a cold, rainy day eating slow-cooker enchiladas. After I drop the boys at daycare and school tomorrow I won't see them again until Tuesday! :( I started preparing C today. I told him me and Brian are going to take a trip, and he and Y and D are taking a trip to go see a respite provider (thankfully, someone they know was able to do it so they know where they are going). And I told him when we get back then he will come back to our house. He seemed excited about it so that was good! I hope he'll still be excited tomorrow when they pick him up from daycare. The flooring we picked out for the kitchen hasn't arrived...so now, 2 days before our remodel begins, we are picking out new flo...

D fell asleep in the bathtub the other night. WITH the bathwater running. It overflowed and went down into the basement. Thankfully the bathrooms are right on top of each other, so the only damage in the basement was to the ceiling. Tonight at 5:20 he told me he was tired and asked if he could skip walking the dogs and go to bed early. He promised to be in bed by 8:30 if not earlier. This is a child that HATES going to bed and even if he was completely bored out of his mind he'd rather sit on the couch doing nothing until the very last second before his bedtime, and then sprint to bed to avoid being late. Needless to say, I don't think he's getting enough sleep at his mom's. I feel like he gets into a deep sleep deficit every weekend, then it takes several days for him to catch back up...then he just does it all over again the next weekend! Also his grades are getting bad...as in, he has a 29% in one class. And a D in another, and a C in another. He had all A's...

Saturday my niece came over while my brother, sister in law, and husband went to a football game. She was soooo cute. She is 10 months old and already able to walk a few steps unassisted. It was a lot of fun, until my brother got back and woke her up from her nap. He laid her on the floor to change her diaper, and she barfed all over the carpet. He picked her up and took her into the kitchen, and she barfed some more. OK, she barfed a LOT more. I would have never thought so much barf could come out of one baby! I am hoping that whatever caused that was not contagious, because I do not need to get sick and I for SURE don't need the boys to get sick! I can't even imagine. I have been so lucky so far that the only times they have thrown up have been a little bit, and never multiple times in a day. I am not sure how well I'd do with multiple little barfing children! D had his two overnight visits this weekend. It sounded like it went well. He was in a surprisingly good ...

As we were driving D to school yesterday, a fire truck drove right by us with sirens on and horn honking. Needless to say, the boys were beside themselves with excitement! C: Why is he honking his horn? Me: To tell people to get out of the way! C: So they won't get hurt? me: Yeah. Then I heard this gem come from the back seat: C: Ironman did not get out of the way for the firetruck and he got DEAD! __________________________ C: I'm a BAD T-REX! Y: Don't get me T-Rex! C: RAWR! (Chasing Y around the room) Then the boys collapse in giggles, and do it 100 more times. :) Sometimes it's a huge pain in the bum to have two kids so close in age, but watching them play together is so much fun (when they are being nice to each other, at least). ____________________________________ C: When we get home, I want to play outside! Me: We can't play outside because (caseworker lady) is coming over. C: I don't like (caseworker lady)! She is UGLY! I totally freaked out on him abou...

D came home from his Saturday visit looking, as my husband stated, "Like Dave Chappelle." He had on a wife beater, a "steel red" cap, and a big gaudy plastic rosary. Is his family Catholic? No. Are we Catholic? No. So why the rosary, you ask? I have no idea. I kind of feel like it's disrespectful to wear a symbolic religious item when you don't even know what it stands for or what it means, and when you honestly don't know anything about the religion itself. I talked to him about it a little bit, but only because he wanted to wear it to our (Christian) church on Sunday morning. I told him he can wear it on his own time but I would prefer if he didn't wear it to our church. He agreed to take it off which was good. I haven't seen it since. All I could really remember about the rosary was that it was used to pray to Mary...which, no offense to any of my Catholic readers (if I even have any), we don't really believe in at all. And I poin...

Welp, D and M both got granted additional overnight visits. So starting next week D will be gone on both Friday AND Saturday nights. I'm a little nervous about it, more from a behavior aspect than anything else. Right now he gets here and has a decent bedtime on Saturday night, sleeps in on Sunday morning and then is OK to go to school on Monday. If he has two late nights and early mornings in a row, Mondays might be kind of difficult for him! I guess D has been giving his bio mom a really hard time which stinks. Her life is already pretty difficult and he is making it harder than it needs to be, especially now when she is trying to do the right things to get her kids back. I don't really know how to support her or if she even wants support from us. I suggested that she read Love and Logic, but I don't know if she would be interested in doing that or not. The caseworker said she will wait on starting overnights for the two little boys because of their behaviors. C ...

A year and four months ago when the boys first moved in, I was given a set of bottles for Y. I was told to pass them on when I was done with them. Well, Y stopped using a bottle probably about a year ago, and they just sat in our basement. Finally 2 months ago I put them in the van, with the very good intention of donating them to the Crisis Pregnancy Center here in town. They continued collecting dust in the van until today. As I parked my car in front of the center, I saw a young girl walking in. When I walked in, she was sitting on the couch and filling out paperwork. It was all I could do to contain the tears that threatened to well up. I can't imagine the tragedy of an unexpected or unplanned pregnancy, especially when you are young and perhaps without supportive and loving people in your life, and without the financial and maybe even emotional resources to care for a child. My tragedy is the one where you hope and wish for a baby, but it doesn't happen. I feel so much...

Our little guys we are doing respite for...I'm going to call him "Spike" because of his awesome hairdo. He calls my husband Daddy. It is sweet but also kind of sad. I just feel like the words "mom" and "dad" should mean something, and not be assigned to a stranger you just met yesterday. I know Spike has visits with his real dad so he does have a dad in his life at least to some extent. My husband keeps telling Spike over and over "No, I'm not Daddy, I'm Brian!" and Spike will say "Hi Brian!" but then 2 seconds later calls him daddy again. Maybe his dad is the only real man in his life so he isn't sure what to make of my husband. Who knows. Spike is so polite. He always says thank you and you're welcome. And when you ask him to stop doing something he says "Sowwy!" He may or may not actually stop doing what you asked him to stop doing...but it's still pretty cute! I am pretty exhausted. Spike...

Well, we got an email Tuesday night asking us if we'd do respite for a little boy from Thursday to Sunday. He is 2 years old, and he has his TPR hearing on Friday and then his foster family is moving on Saturday. The kicker is that he doesn't go to daycare, so he would be home with me. Also he has no visits with his bio family for that time. So, of course we said yes. :) He came over today and he is ADORABLE. And, this child is busy. I mean, I don't think I ever saw him sit still except while he was eating or restrained in his car seat. He runs and climbs like a champ. He loves our dogs and cats, and when he doesn't see them where they are supposed to be (which is apparently wherever they were when he first saw them), he asks about them. And he gives them kisses which is totally awesome. I'm not sure on his exact age, but he has got to be pretty close to Y's age. When he got here I put him down for a nap (he had fallen asleep on the car ride over). We...

Well today I asked bio mom kindly to not send money home with the boys from visits, because I don't want them to swallow it in the car when no one is looking. I wanted to say PLEASE don't let them play with money, but I refrained because I really don't think she cares what I say. She responded that she never sends money home with them, she doesn't know how they always find money at her house. I am wondering if we are supposed to believe that C randomly found and swallowed a penny which just happened to show up on the bleachers of a small football stadium minutes after she arrived. Or does she think that them just finding money sounds better than her giving it to them? Because she has an almost-one-year-old that is mobile now, and the baby "finding money" could be bad news and it is pretty much a guarantee that if she finds it, it will go in the mouth! I don't think I mentioned yet that she has been granted overnight visits with the baby. The longest the...

Well bio mom told C to tell me "Can I go to D's football game tomorrow so I can see my mommy?" And he told me it. Kinda shady and manipulative on her part, IMHO, but whatever. Anyway, she showed up at the game and kind of treats it like a visit, which is fine, whatever. So she is in charge of the boys. She is always giving them money to play with, they bring it home and we have to take it away from them and then they cry. Well I went to go get my jacket out of the car, and when I got back, she told me "Um, C just swallowed a penny." At first I thought she was joking...I mean he's three, it seems like he would be too old for that but what do I know. But no, it was the truth. And this, bio mom, is why we don't let little children play with money. I am hoping it will come out in the next few days and be no big deal. But apparently pennies made after 1989 can react with acid in the stomach and create a substance as corrosive as battery acid, which soun...

At what point do 12-year-olds stop making you want to pull your hair out? I don't know if I am just too easily rattled or what, but all of the ungratefulness and rudeness just makes me want to never ever do anything nice for him again. There. Now that I got that off my chest, I guess I can move on with my life. UGGGHHHHHH.

I have been trying to keep a cleaner home lately. And the first person to notice was C! "Why is there nothing on the table?" and "Why is there no hair in the sink?" were a few of his innocent observations. Me = busted! :) I ran with the little boys in the stroller the other day. Together they weigh about 15 pounds more than they did last year, and let me tell you that I feel every one of those extra pounds in the stroller. I was pushing them and huffing and puffing, and C kept asking questions. So I very kindly asked him to quit talking to me while I was running. But then... Me: Oh great. C: Why say 'Oh great'? Me: Because there is a raccoon. (for real, it was right there, and it was the fattest raccoon you've ever seen, and I was with my dog and two little kids on a road with no sidewalk and no real way to avoid it) C: What is the raccoon doing? Me: It's just laying there. C: Why is it just laying there? Me: Because it's dead. C: Why is it ...

D came home with a do-rag on his head the other night. He looked like a little gangsta and I am NOT a fan of that look. Anyway, my husband told him "You look like a guy in a movie we just saw!" and I definitely did not say "Yeah, and he went to JAIL in case you were wondering!" I am a big fan of freedom of expression and all that jazz and I would never stereotype people based on what they wear. :) C lied to me this morning. Oh, how I HATE being lied to. I feel like it's just a slippery slope, it's a bad habit to be getting in to at the age of three. When you catch him in a lie he always says "No I don't wanna lie!" but then he won't admit that he lied. Anyway, I put him in time out and then went and talked to him. I tried to explain that God doesn't want us to lie, and in the Bible He tells us not to lie. C was very serious for a moment and then he said "And the Bible says we don't go in the kitchen!" That is a rul...

Yeah. This one's all about me. I slept 9 hours last night. I woke up this morning at 7:10 which is very late for me, and we needed to leave the house at 7:20! And somehow we managed to at least leave the house by 7:25 which was still pretty darn good. And I feel awesome. 9 hours of sleep > 7 hours of sleep. :) I have been painting lately. We had some wood trim around our window sills that has needed to be painted for...oh...a year and a half? Yikes. Taking the time to paint means that I have no time for anything else! It's been kinda crazy. Also, painting gives you that up close and personal time with your walls that makes you realize...wow these things are dirty. And I had no idea we had so many cobwebs in here! We are going to remove a small wall in our kitchen. We picked out our new kitchen flooring and it is sooooo pretty. I mean, really. Here is a picture: Flooring It is going to look fantastic. Honestly we could put anything on the floor and it would rock -...

Sunday afternoon D had a football game, but when he and my husband left for it the little boys were still asleep. It turned out for the best, really, because the previous game went into overtime so they were at the football field for 3 hours, plus the 1/2 hour each way driving there. Bio mom did end up coming, and brought D's football pants for him so that crisis was averted. The boy's mom called me and asked if C and Y were going to be there and I told her no. I could tell she was bummed. I kind of have mixed feelings...I mean I want to support D, but asking the little boys to sit there for that length of time is not really reasonable, I don't think! And there is a park at the field that they could go play at, but she always just wants to sit there with them and feed them candy and chips. So anyway, when they both woke up I took them to the park a few blocks from our house. Oh man, I love taking the kids to the park. They are daredevils and always like to try to clim...

D decided that this weekend when he was staying overnight at his mom's house, he would take his football gear over there and wash it. He came back last night, and shortly after arriving he said "Oh no! I left my football pants at my mom's!" Now in case you know as little about football as I do, let me tell you - the pants are important. They have all these special little pockets that hold individual pads, so it's not like you can just wear different pants. Well it was not that big of a deal, because his mom was planning to come to the game so she said she would just bring the pants. Today she texted me and said she might not have a ride to the game. She cannot drive, but I am not really sure why. I know for sure even if she could drive she doesn't have a car anyway. So, she wanted to know if we could come to her house and get the pants. We have been learning about not bailing your kids out when they do things like forget their backpack or homework or whateve...

The other day I grabbed a handful of peanuts and went into the living room to munch them. I saw Y making a beeline for me. I like to call him "little vulture" because he likes to try to steal whatever food you have. I tossed them quickly all into my mouth because I didn't want to share. Y: Can I hab sum? Me: (with mouth full of peanuts) Oh, they're all gone! Y: ...Can I hab sum out your mouth? Grossness! But honestly I did open my mouth to see what he would do but he didn't try to get any. :o) I was trying to explain that the main character on Cars is Lightning McQueen, not "Lie queen!" which is what C says. Me: Say "lightning" C: Lightning! Me: "MaaacQueen" C: Queen! Me: No, MaaacQueen. C: (tearing up) No don't say it like that! That's not how you say it! He also got really upset that his shirt said "Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen"...he wanted it to say Lie Queen only! :) And my most favorite one: I took Y to...

Apparently it's mid-quarter. I think it's kind of weird, but we have parent-teacher conferences in the middle of the first and third quarter...not at all in the second or fourth. Anyway, last year when I went to these it was pretty much bad news - behavior issues (not serious, but almost every teacher mentioned his behavior in class as needing some work), some F's and D's, you know the drill. This year I was brought to tears after hearing all of his teachers talk about him. They all say he is smart, wonderful to have in class, and a good kid. He has all A's and one B, and his Science teacher wants to move him up to the Science class for smart kids! I told his mom about it and I'm not gonna lie, I got choked up. I am not sure if this change is because of anything we are doing or not, but it at least makes me feel like we are hopefully doing something right. And it just solidified in my mind that I will be very happy if we can leave these kids better off than ...