VBS Overload

Okay, I know I signed on last year for this VBS director position, but now I'm remembering all the stress that goes along with it! I'm not complaining, I just have been spending so much time and effort on getting things in place for our church's Vacation Bible School. Last year it was in August, but they've scheduled it for June this year. That put a crimp in my time line, but everything will work out. I just have to get things done quicker! :) Hope you enjoy the pictures. The top one is the picture we found when we went into check on John David one night. He fell asleep like that! Well, this weekend was pretty busy. The wedding was on Saturday, and all went well. I wish I could share their whole story with you. They were getting remarried to each other after divorcing each other, and it was probably the most emotional wedding I've ever sang at. It was an absolute miracle that God worked in their lives! It was beautiful, and the kids did great at the sit down reception. Sunday was Caitlyn's end of the year drama show. She did very well, but wasn't as excited about it as I thought she would be, just further proof that she has gotten bored with the drama classes. This morning Dawn and Corey had a family visit at social services. It did not go well. Some of the family members ended up in an argument with the social worker. Please pray. I'm not really even sure what to ask you to pray for. When we're at home just hanging out, it's easy to pretend that none of this mess is in our lives, but the reality is that this is part of the deal. The kids are all doing great, and that in itself is a blessing. All it takes is one look at the kids all together to know that we are doing the right thing. It feels good to be in God's will. Because of my own choices, I haven't always been able to say that, but it feels good. Oh yeah, I have to tell you all about some of the funny stuff Caitlyn has done the past few days. I couldn't make stuff up this funny if I tried!! First, Wednesday night at the rehearsal dinner for the wedding, she sat with some friends of ours who have a son (4 yr.) and a daughter (5 yr.). They are very close friends with our kids, and somehow the discussion turned to who they were going to marry. To make a long story short, after their son revealed that he thought he was going to marry his sister, Caitlyn announced very loudly (in a disgusted tone), "That's against the law! That's not right!" That of course got a lot of laughs from the adults! Then the very next day, Dawn and Caitlyn were coloring at the table, and Caitlyn was lecturing Dawn on the effects of alcohol on your body. She read a poster at the social service office, and now thinks she's an expert. Dawn said her grandma drinks beer, and Caitlyn asked her if her parents drank alcohol, because "if you drink alcohol when you're pregnant it can kill your baby." I didn't hear Dawn's response, but it must have been yes, because next I heard Caitlyn say, "Are you going to be messed up in the head when you get older? Because if your mommy drank alcohol, it could make you messed up in the head!" Leave it to Caitlyn! Then lastly, Nanny sent the kids a box (Thank you!) with a really cute stuffed lamb. It's a character from a DVD story she sent them. Caitlyn really likes it. The other night, I was checking on the girls, because they were supposed to be sleeping, but there were noises coming from their bedroom. I opened the door, and hanging from the ceiling fan by a jump rope was the poor lamb. There was a noose tied around his neck!! I had to leave the room and let Jeremy deal with it, because I couldn't stop laughing! Caitlyn didn't realize that it looked like the lamb had committed suicide. After Jeremy explained to her that it wasn't appropriate to hang things by their necks, let alone tie something to the ceiling fan with her jump rope, he sent her back to bed and had a good laugh himself! :) The things they do! There's never a dull moment around here! Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these!

Staple Removal

This week has been a bit busy, but Thursday and Friday shouldn't be bad. Sunday night is Caitlyn's end of the year drama presentation. We're excited to see her on stage! Depending on how her violin lessons go this summer, she may not be returning to drama in the fall. Monday, I took Dawn and Corey to the dentist. I knew that they had some serious dental problems, but I was unaware of the extent of the damage. Both kids are going to have to have dental surgery, and probably lose some teeth. Dawn has already lost some, so we need to try and save the ones she has. Corey just turned two and the decay damage is sickening. I get frustrated just thinking about it. Because they will have to sedate the kids, there are some hoops that we have to go through because they're foster kids, and also lots of paperwork. We go to the specialist on May 14th for a consultation. Yesterday we got John David's staples removed from his head. He, of course, freaked out the whole time and didn't even realize when she was done! He was very excited though that he got his staples out. Now we can give him the haircut he's been needing! This weekend I'm singing in a wedding, and the rehearsal is tonight after church. Apparently, I've become the resident wedding singer for our church. I've done several in the last year. I enjoy singing, so I'm not complaining at all. Plus, Jeremy let me buy a new dress for this one! John David has been attempting the potty lately, and we are having some success. He is not in underwear yet, but definitely moving in that direction. Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

Adventure at Busch Gardens

We had a blast at Busch Gardens yesterday! We were even blessed enough to be able to trade in our FREE one day passes from Dupont in for season passes, and only had to pay $75 total for all of us!! I'm not going to lie, it was tiring keeping up with all five kids, but we had fun. We saw a few great shows, Dawn and Kylie got their faces painted, and Caitlyn rode her first rollercoaster. We discovered after we got home that Dawn and Kylie were both barely tall enough to ride the Big Bad Wolf rollercoaster, so we'll have to try that next time. All in all, it was a great day. Both boys were not feeling well so they were a both a bit fussy. Corey was scared to death of all the rides, even the carousel! But he was content to ride around in the stroller. I forgot to mention earlier that Caitlyn lost her first tooth. She had had one pulled not to long ago, because the permanent tooth had already started coming in behind it, but this was the first that actually fell out. She was so funny trying to wiggle it out with her tongue! She eventually let me pull it last Wednesday. She was very excited. Also, please keep the Virginia Tech families in your prayers. We didn't personally know any of the victims, but we have close friends that did. A couple of the victims were from our area. Please remember to pray for them. One of the funerals is tomorrow. Well, I will talk to you all later. Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

Remember

Violin Lessons, Tae Kwon Do, and My Thyroid

To the right, I added a new slideshow of new pictures of the kids. Enjoy! Today was a pretty busy day, but this whole week has been busy. Hopefully next week will be a little better. Dawn and Corey have checkups with the pediatrician tomorrow, but other than that it should be a pretty easy day. Jeremy's off and the weather is supposed to be great. Maybe a picnic at the park for lunch or dinner? I think that sounds good. Saturday we are taking all the kids to Busch Gardens! Dupont gave all the employees at Jeremy's plant tickets, and are serving a catered lunch there as well. It should be fun. We are going with another couple that have kids, a co-worker of Jeremy and his family. I'm hoping to get at least one chance to ride a rollercoaster! I haven't ridden one since before I was pregnant with Caitlyn! The weather is supposed to be beautiful all weekend, so we're looking forward to it. Caitlyn is scheduled to start violin lessons May 18th. She is very excited, and I've already stocked up on Ibuprofen, and ear plugs! Kylie and Dawn are going to start Tae Kwon Do in May as well, so that should be fun for them. As long as they don't come home and karate chop the furniture, I'm all for something to teach them focus, determination, responsibility, and perserverance. I know that Jeremy will enjoy practicing with the girls. He did martial arts for many years when he was younger. Please keep Jeremy in your prayers. He's been a little under the weather lately. He went to the doctor yesterday and got some medicine, so I'm hoping he'll feel better soon. We need him at top speed! :) As I mentioned yesterday, I've been having some difficulty with my thyroid. Last year, as I have written in the newsletter before, we discovered that I have an underactive thyroid. This explained many symptoms I had been having, including my trouble getting John David's baby weight off. It's hard sometimes though to distinguish between being tired and worn out from the kids and being tired and not feeling well due to my thyroid. Initially after I started the medicine, my thyroid responded well. The beginning of this year, however, my tests results started taking a strange turn and my doctor was mystified as to why my thyroid all the sudden was getting worse. I just received my latest test results, and it looks like my thyroid levels are going in the right direction again, but after several medication increases, it still is not responding like my doctor would like. They have increased my dosage again, and in eight weeks they are running a battery of blood tests to try and get a better handle on what is going on. If those tests do not come back well, they are going to send me to an endocrinologist for further testing. Like we didn't know my hormones were messed up anyway! Right? Please pray that we will be able to solve the thyroid mystery, and get me back on the road to being healthy. I am determined not to let my lack of energy, or not feeling well to get in the way of living my life. I have too much laundry to do!!:) Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

We're Back!

Thanks to my "oh so smart" husband, our computer is up and running. In the process, we lost a few files (several folders full of pictures), but I have grieved and moved on. :) At least we didn't have to buy a new computer! Well, this last week has been a very busy and adventurous one. Saturday morning John David slipped in the kitchen and busted his head open. The way the wound looked I knew he would probably need stitches. We sat at the ER for at least three hours and then without any pain medicine they stuck three staples in the back of his head! That was an experience. Next time someone comes at him with a stapler and says, "Hold him down", I'm going to say, "You're on your own!" Hopefully there will not be a next time though! We have to take him to get the staples removed next week. He had a checkup with his ENT doctor today, and there is no more fluid in his ears. Unless his ears get infected again, it looks like he may be able to get by without surgery. Dawn and Corey had their first visit with their family today. It went well, although Dawn was a bit weepy this afternoon. That's to be expected though. Corey doesn't seem fazed by the visit at all, which I don't know if that's good or bad. Well, I need to go feed the trooops! I'll post pictures tomorrow and also share some info about some thyroid issues I'm having. Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these!

Computer Down

Just wanted to let everyone know that we have not fallen off the face of the Earth, or held prisoner in the attic by our kids! Our computer crashed last friday and we have been working on getting it up and running. It will probably be another week until it is fully functioning. i am posting this from the library, so I don't have pics to post, but as soon as I can I will post some from home. I've gotten some great ones of the kiddos recently. Everyone here is doing very well. Corey and Dawn have really opened up, and both are calling us Mommy and Daddy by their own choice. We heard advice on both sides of this issue, but for now, we are not going to correct them. i think they just want to feel like they're part of a normal family. I'm still surprised that I'm not more stressed out than I am, but God's grace is sufficient! Jeremy and I feel more than ever that this is God's will for us. How amazing to be used for Him! I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful having them with us has been. All the kids play very well together, and besides the occasionally argument over a toy, you'd think they'd been brothers and sisters forever. My favorite is the look on people's faces when my little "ducks" follow me in line into church or the store. people can't believe that they all behave so well. "Organization is key", I tell them! But truly the key to it all is love. And that is something our family is overflowing with! Well, enough mushy stuff! :) I will get back to consistent entries in the blog as soon as we get the computer fixed. We love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

Surgery Postponed

Here are a few pictures of the kids over the last few days. Yesterday, was a long day for us. Corey and John both had doctor appointments. and we spent an hour and a half shopping at Kohl's. that was an experience with all five kids, but they behaved well. You should have seen the looks I got! I got clothing vouchers for Dawn and Corey yesterday, so I was trying to get some shopping done while I was already out. Corey just has a little cold, and it should run its course in a few days. John David's doctor decided to postpone his surgery. He has another appt on April 30th to see if the fluid in his ears has fixed itself. In the meantime, they just put him on a nasal spray for his allergies. I was disappointed and frustrated, but what can I do? I pushed as hard as I could without being rude, you know? If they think we should wait, then we'll wait. They said if the fluid is still there at his next appt, then they will go ahead and do his surgery. It's been there since the end of February, so it will probably still be there. What do I know, I'm just his mother?! Anyway, enough venting! Please pray that he will stay healthy. Even though John getting sick would prove my point to his doctor, that's the last thing I want. Love you all and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.