I'm reposting this... an overview of last Tuesday...
7:30 ~ first three children arrive8:00 ~ feed them breakfast8:30 ~ older one is off to school10:30? (i'm already losing track of time ~ ahh! lol) ~ next two children arrive (Darwin gets one baby, Janique gets the other one)10:45? ~ next two children arrive
Somewhere in that time frame, we discover the banans on the banana holder (the hanging thingy) are beginning to peel themselves ~ falling down ~ so we decide to make banana loaf. (Would've done muffins but i don't like cleaning muffin pans, and i'm out of liners).
11:15 ~ one more child arrives ~ Brenden & Reagan will run after him and "try" to keep him out of trouble.
By this point, "time" is kind of a blurr between changing diapers, helping Janique settle the little baby, trying to keep the preschoolers away from the table & dishes until i've actually got lunch ready for them (i'm working on it), helping Reagan & Brenden with Robbie because when he doesn't cooperate, he's more than a handful for either of them, and just in general trying to make sure everyone is doing ok... except, i'm still watching the time because i need to bring one of the 4yr. olds to preschool by 12:45.12:30 ~ Scrambling to figure out who's coming with me, who's staying home with my kids (previously ok'd by the parents either way), getting enough safety seats into the van, shoes on feet, several children out the door, but baby's crying again (can't leave him like that, but i can't really take him along cause his infant seat goes on an attachment that i don't have) ~ ok, "Darwin, please get the kids in the van buckled while i try to settle baby again"... finally decide he's getting close enough to feeding time that it won't hurt to warm a bottle for him ("quickly please Janique ~ yes, i know, there's a pile of dirty dishes in front of the microwave, but hurry anyway" ~ lol)... by now Darwin is back inside, I hand him the baby and bottle, baby seems happy with that, and i'm off. The time in the van says 12:45 ~ i'm thankful it's about 5min. ahead. The drive to preschool is about 7min.Back home in 20min. Everyone was fine. Darwin had trouble burping baby, so Janique took over and did wonderfully. (She LOVES this baby cousin! and i'm seeing her mature so much and becoming more responsible ~ quite a good babysitter really). Darwin is really good with babies (and older children too), but i guess he just hasn't been in the situation too often where I help/ offer suggestions like Janique has been. I think Darwin is probably better with older babies where there's more interaction and action.Anyway, the rest of the afternoon kind of just happened. The older kids played fairly well ~ I held Robbie for a while, hoping he'd fall asleep, but not too determined yet. After a bit (movie was done) i let him play again for a while.About 2:30 the first mom showed up for her two boys. Before she left, the next mom came for her son (who had gone downstairs just minutes earlier, and now came up smelling sour ~ lol ~ so his mom quickly changed him), and during that time my sister showed up for her babies. It was a busy few minutes, but after everyone else had left, my sister chatted with me a few minutes, and really blessed me... she said something like "your family is like a rare gem" referring to how our children are learning to take care of other children, and babysitting and all. I don't always see it that way ~ sometimes i focus on areas where i don't see them being responsible enough (doing their chores, for example), but i guess it's true that they are learning responsibility in other areas too... and mostly doing well. This morning they are playing with the two little ones that are here now... all just "playing" together. So anyway, thank you Mary for the blessing!So after all that commotion, it was pretty quiet with just Robbie. I tried once again to get him down for a nap, and he did finally give in.3:40-ish, I drove Darwin & a neighbor boy to work (since our friends moved away 2 weeks ago, i'm happy to have someone else nearby to carpool with ~ this guy started on Monday).5:00 ~ wake Robbie to take him home since we're going to his town anyway for a 5:30 appt. to do our income tax.I had stuff in the fridge to make for supper, but i was so spent I suggested pizza and Jonathan totally went for it ~ we swung by the pizza place and just hung out while waiting for our order. The kids loved the pizza too... and i loved that i didn't have to cook :-)So there was our very busy day...And Andrew will be here shortly, so i'm off.
Tomorrow should be a relaxing Tuesday in comparison... we think.
But I'm really hoping that the rest of our adoption stuff arrives at the agency tomorrow so that our file can be off to Ethiopia. We're waiting for our payment to arrive (mailed it registered on Wednesday, so if it's not there by tomorrow i'll be a bit nervous), as well as the corrected letter of approval from the province. The last one only took a week, and tomorrow will be two weeks for this one, so i'm feeling a bit impatient.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Tired...
Hmm, wonder why...
I'm looking forward to having tomorrow off ~ it worked out that we don't have to babysit tomorrow and i'm ok with that! But i'll still be getting up early for an appointment. Oh well... it'll still be a break. I've been feeling really tired today, and wondering how i'll manage when/if this newest job goes full-time... but the way i understood it, this wasn't a permanent job either ~ just til summer if i'm right. Although she did say something about getting another job after that... but i won't likely be looking for anything full-time for the coming school year. Lol... i wasn't "looking" for either of these jobs! Just feeling like we wouldn't be doing justice to homeschooling if we continue babysitting full-time year round. I really like part-time babysitting best, but i guess we'll see. "J" will be in kindergarten this Fall, so it'd only be about every other day for her, leaving us just the little boy the rest of the days.
We've done 5 weeks now for my sister, so if she sticks with the 12 weeks she was aiming for, we're almost half-way done. (lol... sorry, guess my honesty is showing up a bit ~ it's not our favorite job ~ but we have come a long way!).
We had two other kids over yesterday for the afternoon (the first two boys that we began watching last year in June), and that was kind of nice! We've missed them i think!
Adoption... our agency received my medical and the amended letter of approval on Tuesday. For some reason, the letter was changed in a few other areas now, so it still didn't say what it was supposed to. We called our adoption worker again, and suggested they just go with the first letter, but change the "24mos" to "6mos" and then it would be perfect! Sounds like that's what she was going to do. I hope so! Didn't know it could all be that confusing ~ lol. I'm hoping it goes through quickly like the last amendment (one week).
Anyway, I should see if i can get Robbie down for a nap. I don't think i'll be trying longer than an hour anymore. I just don't have that kind of patience (or determination?) day after day. He just needs that nap. Today it's just him (and my kids of course) so hopefully it'll be easier.
I'm looking forward to having tomorrow off ~ it worked out that we don't have to babysit tomorrow and i'm ok with that! But i'll still be getting up early for an appointment. Oh well... it'll still be a break. I've been feeling really tired today, and wondering how i'll manage when/if this newest job goes full-time... but the way i understood it, this wasn't a permanent job either ~ just til summer if i'm right. Although she did say something about getting another job after that... but i won't likely be looking for anything full-time for the coming school year. Lol... i wasn't "looking" for either of these jobs! Just feeling like we wouldn't be doing justice to homeschooling if we continue babysitting full-time year round. I really like part-time babysitting best, but i guess we'll see. "J" will be in kindergarten this Fall, so it'd only be about every other day for her, leaving us just the little boy the rest of the days.
We've done 5 weeks now for my sister, so if she sticks with the 12 weeks she was aiming for, we're almost half-way done. (lol... sorry, guess my honesty is showing up a bit ~ it's not our favorite job ~ but we have come a long way!).
We had two other kids over yesterday for the afternoon (the first two boys that we began watching last year in June), and that was kind of nice! We've missed them i think!
Adoption... our agency received my medical and the amended letter of approval on Tuesday. For some reason, the letter was changed in a few other areas now, so it still didn't say what it was supposed to. We called our adoption worker again, and suggested they just go with the first letter, but change the "24mos" to "6mos" and then it would be perfect! Sounds like that's what she was going to do. I hope so! Didn't know it could all be that confusing ~ lol. I'm hoping it goes through quickly like the last amendment (one week).
Anyway, I should see if i can get Robbie down for a nap. I don't think i'll be trying longer than an hour anymore. I just don't have that kind of patience (or determination?) day after day. He just needs that nap. Today it's just him (and my kids of course) so hopefully it'll be easier.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Funny how i can have so much on my mind, and when i finally get a chance to sit down and blog about it, i'm not sure where it went, or how to get it all into words ~ lol.
I know at the time i was thinking about all the babysitting jobs i've had in the last year ~ i'm not sure how common it is to have so many new/different jobs in such a short time, but i find it somewhat interesting anyway. On Monday I met my new family (the mom and younger 2 children), and on Tuesday was their first day here. As I was anticipating meeting them, and maybe even after that, i found myself thinking how i don't particularily "enjoy" the "getting to know the new family" part ~ i think maybe God is revealing to me that i am still dealing with some inferiority issues. That could be one of the things He's chipping away at in my life by bringing all these new jobs to me?? But then, i find it hard in any situation to be "out-going" and make the initiative to meet new people... so yes, it is stretching me.
At any rate, the new job seems to be going ok... although, Andrew and the new girl didn't get along too well when they were both here. I hope we can help them work it out ~ but we'll have to watch them a bit longer to figure out if it's more one than the other.
On Thursday we just had the little boy (he's almost 3). Robbie wasn't here either, so it was a farily relaxed and quiet day.
On a different note, we've been thinking about this for a while, and have decided to take Brenden back to the Hope Centre for NeuroEducational Development and get him on program again. I'm scared of the commitment (which is what's been holding me back for so long ~ i've often thought we should come back to this), but want so badly to help him achieve as much as he can before he's all "grown up." (He turned 15 on Monday). And I'm thinking that we should maximize the time we have now while waiting for our adoption to happen. So we were anticipating a wait of about 3-4 months to get the first appointment, but they called this week and offered us a spot in two weeks! Looks like i might have to do this without Jonathan since he's still on probation and we're thinking it's probably not a good idea for him to ask for the day off.
Oh... I finally located my "original" medical form on Thursday. It was in my files at the doctor's office! I guess i never had the original ~ they gave me a copy. Back then, it didn't realize everything had to be the "original" so i didn't think to check or ask about it at that time. So I made a trip into the city that day to pick it up, and brought it to our adoption worker who said she'll mail it with the ammended provincial letter of approval. Whew! I had just mailed an envelope to our agency the day before, and registered (or Xpresspost) isn't cheap ~ i was wishing i'd waited, but this worked out ok too (well, i'm trusting it IS working out ok ~ lol)... and i'm glad i didn't need to do another registered mail right away.
It actually took until this week for our financing to come through too ~ we might have been ok (although a bit delayed at the agency end) if it took another 2-4 weeks, but this worked out better overall, i think. Because Jonathan's job is new (probation), we didn't qualify for the Bank of Canada adoption loan... so we made some adjustments to our mortgage so that our fixed portion remains basically the same, but we have a line of credit available to use as needed. We have a great broker :-)
Anyway, it's Saturday, i was actually getting some tidying done ~ really, the extra babysitting seems to be adding to the messes ~ not really looking forward to the next few weeks of mud to boot (lol... sorry about the pun). I've been feeling more crowded in our house again, wondering where to put what, dreaming of more room (still would love a family room addition to the back of the kitchen/dining room ~ oh, and a bigger entrance would be great as well ~ i have a dream plan figured out for that too), and feeling some guilt about not being content with what we have. But yes, i "should" get back to work. Might not hurt to get the kids doing their chores too ~ i'm pretty sure they aren't doing them without being told/reminded!
I know at the time i was thinking about all the babysitting jobs i've had in the last year ~ i'm not sure how common it is to have so many new/different jobs in such a short time, but i find it somewhat interesting anyway. On Monday I met my new family (the mom and younger 2 children), and on Tuesday was their first day here. As I was anticipating meeting them, and maybe even after that, i found myself thinking how i don't particularily "enjoy" the "getting to know the new family" part ~ i think maybe God is revealing to me that i am still dealing with some inferiority issues. That could be one of the things He's chipping away at in my life by bringing all these new jobs to me?? But then, i find it hard in any situation to be "out-going" and make the initiative to meet new people... so yes, it is stretching me.
At any rate, the new job seems to be going ok... although, Andrew and the new girl didn't get along too well when they were both here. I hope we can help them work it out ~ but we'll have to watch them a bit longer to figure out if it's more one than the other.
On Thursday we just had the little boy (he's almost 3). Robbie wasn't here either, so it was a farily relaxed and quiet day.
On a different note, we've been thinking about this for a while, and have decided to take Brenden back to the Hope Centre for NeuroEducational Development and get him on program again. I'm scared of the commitment (which is what's been holding me back for so long ~ i've often thought we should come back to this), but want so badly to help him achieve as much as he can before he's all "grown up." (He turned 15 on Monday). And I'm thinking that we should maximize the time we have now while waiting for our adoption to happen. So we were anticipating a wait of about 3-4 months to get the first appointment, but they called this week and offered us a spot in two weeks! Looks like i might have to do this without Jonathan since he's still on probation and we're thinking it's probably not a good idea for him to ask for the day off.
Oh... I finally located my "original" medical form on Thursday. It was in my files at the doctor's office! I guess i never had the original ~ they gave me a copy. Back then, it didn't realize everything had to be the "original" so i didn't think to check or ask about it at that time. So I made a trip into the city that day to pick it up, and brought it to our adoption worker who said she'll mail it with the ammended provincial letter of approval. Whew! I had just mailed an envelope to our agency the day before, and registered (or Xpresspost) isn't cheap ~ i was wishing i'd waited, but this worked out ok too (well, i'm trusting it IS working out ok ~ lol)... and i'm glad i didn't need to do another registered mail right away.
It actually took until this week for our financing to come through too ~ we might have been ok (although a bit delayed at the agency end) if it took another 2-4 weeks, but this worked out better overall, i think. Because Jonathan's job is new (probation), we didn't qualify for the Bank of Canada adoption loan... so we made some adjustments to our mortgage so that our fixed portion remains basically the same, but we have a line of credit available to use as needed. We have a great broker :-)
Anyway, it's Saturday, i was actually getting some tidying done ~ really, the extra babysitting seems to be adding to the messes ~ not really looking forward to the next few weeks of mud to boot (lol... sorry about the pun). I've been feeling more crowded in our house again, wondering where to put what, dreaming of more room (still would love a family room addition to the back of the kitchen/dining room ~ oh, and a bigger entrance would be great as well ~ i have a dream plan figured out for that too), and feeling some guilt about not being content with what we have. But yes, i "should" get back to work. Might not hurt to get the kids doing their chores too ~ i'm pretty sure they aren't doing them without being told/reminded!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Sigh...
It's feeling like it could be a "long" day.
Sigh...
And while our file made it to the agency yesterday, they are missing my "original" medical form and need that. Our adoption worker says she doesn't have it, and i haven't heard back from our social worker (which is a bit odd cause she is usually very prompt with replies ~ i'm HOPING she's not away!). Agency needs the original. There was also a mistake made on our provincial letter of approval, so that needs to be corrected too before the agency can move forward with our process.
Ok... no time for the details...
sigh...
Sigh...
And while our file made it to the agency yesterday, they are missing my "original" medical form and need that. Our adoption worker says she doesn't have it, and i haven't heard back from our social worker (which is a bit odd cause she is usually very prompt with replies ~ i'm HOPING she's not away!). Agency needs the original. There was also a mistake made on our provincial letter of approval, so that needs to be corrected too before the agency can move forward with our process.
Ok... no time for the details...
sigh...
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
So much on my mind
and no time to write about it ~ lol. Ahh, i feel like i could talk up a storm already, but i've got my new kids this morning, need to get them lunch before their mom picks them up, Robbie comes in a few minutes, and my friend is bringing 4 of her kiddos around lunch time too... among other things that i need to get done.
ahhh... help! lol
k ~ later
ahhh... help! lol
k ~ later
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