Recovering Noah

... Public School! Yep, you read right. So, pick yourself off the floor, dust off your clothes, and sit back down at the computer. Nandi is starting school next week! Notice the exclamation (!) mark? Does that give you a sense of how giddy I am? Well, if Nandi could type, I'm sure she would have put a billion gazillion exclamation marks because that girl is hyped about starting school. Of all my kids, she's the one that will really strive in public school. She has such a thirst for knowledge. It's like her little cup of knowledge never gets full. I could seriously spend 8 hours non-stop teaching her and five minutes later she'll say, "More Nandi school?" So.... school it is. We originally had her tested for PPCD (public pre-school for kids with disabilities) where Noah went, but she didn't qualify. Did you catch that? My little girl who is missing a large chunk of her brain, who we were told would never be independent and who would have severe cognitive i...

Yikes. Has it really been a week since I last blogged? That just shows you how crazy - and busy - things have been. Well, it's Tuesday. And while I'm not sure if I'll do the Ten Things Thankful Tuesday list every Tuesday, I'm going to do it today. First of all, check this out........ LOOK WHO'S SEVEN!!! Isn't he just the cutest? Such a stunner. I wish I could take some of the credit but, alas, I cannot. Noah had his birthday last Thursday, so in honor of that I'm going to do a 10 Things Noah list. These all occurred in the last week. I'm thankful that: 1. Noah has started eating with a fork. This is huge! One of those "is it ever going to happen things". He mastered the spoon a few months ago, but now he's mastered the fork, too. And that means... no more spaghetti sauce fingerprints on the walls! 2. This is the first year that Noah has actually acknowledged his Halloween costume. My parents bought the kids costumes this year and Eli and...

Amy just finalized Kaden's adoption on Friday... which means..... Her blog is open to the public again! It's an awesome and uplifting blog. You should all check it out: www.buildingtheblocks.blogspot.com

I'm going to be honest. I didn't want to blog today. I haven't blogged in the last few days. Frankly, it has been a very rough week. Noah has had a HORRIFIC stomach virus. Enough said. Nandini has been running a 102.5 temperature for a few days now and is whiny, whiny, whiny - but still manages to fight with her brother every second of the day. Eli still manages to fight with Nandini every second of the day. And we have seen some behaviors emerge that I thought we had finally taken care of. I actually put myself in time-out yesterday because I thought I'd otherwise explode. Where's the Mother of the Year Award? Anyway, I just haven't wanted to blog. But then I read Shara's blog today. Every Tuesday she does a blog post about 10 things that she's thankful for that week- and, I thought, you know maybe I should do that. Did you know that when you're in a big, bad, funk that it's actually hard to think of 10 things (besides the usual health, home, an...

A few days ago I wrote a post about my friend Amy - who's adopting a sibling group of 5 children through foster care. This means that she and her husband, Todd, will be raising 12 children. And, apparantely, a lot of people think she's crazy. The only crazy thing about her is that she moved into a lovely house that was painted a beautiful shade of light green - and she painted over it with brown. ( She also doesn't understand the beauty of the blue house up the street, either. Maybe it's because she wasn't born and raised in the south. I really don't know.) But, despite being color blind, she is an amazing person. An amazing mother. An amazing friend. And she wrote - yep, you guessed it - an amazing blog post this morning. Since her blog is private until the adoptions are final, I asked her if I could copy her message this morning. So, here it is: ************************************************************************************ So I've definitely been a...

Think one person can't make a difference in this world? Check out this blog post: What's Love Got to Do With It? Amy got me hooked on her friend Carolyn's blog - The Stitch That Makes the Sweater Perfect. Carolyn and her family just adopted a little girl, Selah, from Ethiopia a few months ago. Two months ago to be exact. Selah is HIV+ and was literally dying when Carolyn travelled to bring her home. Check out the before and after pictures. Two months. This change happened in two months. Amazing.

I am a huge procrastinator and inherently lazy - so I wait until the last minute to do everything. Yep. I've lived here for two years now and never registered to vote in this county. I'm to blame for not voting in local officials who will push for a Target and Chik-Fil-A to open in our area. It's my fault. I take the blame. Anyway, Sim called today and "gently" reminded me that I need to get off my tail and register before 5:00 pm today. Notice how I put gently in quotation marks? Yeah. Because it didn't really happen that way. That's called sarcasm, my friends. Seems I'm married to a man who is also a procrastinator and who has been in this country for twelve years and is still not a U.S. citizen. Which means, 'ol Brit Boy can't vote in the upcoming Presidential election. And he's hoping that I'll cast my vote for him. Hmmm.. we'll see. Although we agree on MANY issues, I say that if anyone ever hurt my family or one my kids, ...

My friend Amy - you know, Amy who takes the awesome pictures and who has 7 kids and has an amazing blog and is just an amazing person - you know, THAT Amy - well, she's expecting again. This time it's FIVE. Yep, you heard me. Five. As in 7 + 5 = 12. Isn't that awesome?! Angel at The Voice of Adventure has done an amazing blog post today about Amy and her new family and has put up a paypal button for donations. Seriously, you've got to check out her post because it's really wonderful. I tell you, that is one GORGEOUS family. And well-behaved,too. Please share your secret, Amy. I have at least two kids who could benefit. :-) So do yourself a favor and head on over to Angel's blog . It'll put a smile on your face.

I drove to Target this afternoon to try out the new Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses. That's right. I drove all the way to Mesquite. Because when I get a craving, nothing - not even the price of gas - is going to stop me. In fact, on the way up there, Sim called and said: "What are you doing?" "I'm going to Target." "Target? Why??" "To get a bag of the Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses." "You're driving all the way to Mesquite for that?" "Yup. Got a problem with it?" Even Sim knows not to interfere when I'm on a chocolate mission. So, imagine my delight when I get to Target and discover that not only do they have a whole shelf of the Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses, but they also have CANDY CORN flavored ones, too! While some of you may recognize the start of the Fall season by the weather turning cooler or the leaves turning color or reruns finally being over... I know that Fall has officially arrived when I can walk down...

I was absolutely gutted yesterday when I discovered that the new Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses are only sold at Target. Absolutely gutted. You see, the nearest Target is an hour away. I know. I know. What is the world coming to do? If they can put a McDonald's on every 10 mile stretch of highway and a church on every corner... why can't they at least put a Target in every town? Hey, I'd be happy with every county . I think a meeting is in order with whoever is in charge of Henderson county. He's obviously slacking in his duties. And I say he because if there was a woman in charge you know darn well that she would have advocated for a Target by now. And possibly a La Madeline. Anyway, I was so excited when I saw those little hershey kisses in the Sunday paper- all wrapped up in their bright orange foil - that all my literacy skills went out the window and I failed to read "Target Only" underneath. I marched into Walmart with an air of excitement that I haven...