Filled to the Brim

Wow! Let me say that again...Wow! This month has been just crazy here at the house. We have our granddaughter and her mommy visiting us for 20 days. It's been so much fun to snuggle and spoil that little girl. The family is trying its hardest to convince mom to move here, and I guess we will see in time if she likes us all enough. 

We are still in a holding pattern for the kiddies that we are trying to adopt. Waiting for the slow hands of government to move along, but that's ok because it is giving us time to get little odds and ends all ready for them. I managed to get them registered in the same school, and totally bi-passed the waiting list. Now that will be so nice having all six kids in the same school. 

Today we were adopted by another pet. It seems a Pekin duck wandered into our yard and decided it was a good place to call home. So I am scrambling to figure out just what a duck might need to make it a happy duck. So very out of my realm, I know nothing about ducks other than they quack. Yeppers, they quack. I just read how to figure out the sex, so tomorrow when it's light out I shall check out those tail feathers. Knowing me I will probably sex it wrong, cuz that's just my way. I guess I will be hunting around to find some free stuff to make a shelter for it. 

We spent a good chunk of the day trying to get the duck into my fenced in garden where it would be safer, but every time we got it close, it took off the other way. So we just left it alone, and when I got home from the store, I spotted it in the garden. Guess it's not so stupid, just stubborn. Now I hope it doesn't eat my garden all up. Well at least the watermelon, it can eat the rest of the garden if it wants to. Ya'll know what's going to happen now don't you? The little bugger is gonna just eat the watermelon and leave everything else.

A couple of funny things about the duck...One, it likes Princess. A lot. She was walking back to the house and it followed her. Three times this happened. Two, it seems to like Babygirl. Every time I have put BG out it has slowly waddled up the yard. It managed to get about 5 ft. away from BG, and then it saw me come out the door. Kinda a good thing, because BG was just lying there waiting for it to get close enough to get. She didn't budge an inch, during the whole time. I think BG likes the duck too...just on a different level. One I don't plan on seeing.

So things have been a bit crazy here. Gearing up for school which starts in a week...YEAH (big time happy dance from me)! Being claimed by a duck, and visiting peoples. Never a dull moment here, no sir, no ma'am. 

               Ducky

Thinking, and Poof!

So today is Superman's Birthday! I am having a hard time taking it in that it's been five years since I gave birth to him. According to him, now that he is five, he is all grown up and knows everything. I am very happy that isn't the way things work for us humans, I would miss my kids too much. Then again there are days...ya know what I mean right?


We are still hanging in limbo as to news from down south. I seriously have a problem with hanging in limbo. I'm a let's do this thing kinda person, so I find the waiting to be a killer.


The last week or so we have been in a heat wave that broke records. Even with the air on, it still was...yuck. We finally got rain Friday, and I almost went out and did me a little jig. Before we got the rain I told DH he should be doing a rain dance, he just gave me a look and ignored me. Here I was having faith in his ability's and he hasta be like that. Poo on him. 


The kids are enjoying being outside again, well at least Superman is. He's loving his pool he got as an early Birthday present, jokester however only wants to be indoors playing games. Not gonna happen there young fella. I have been giving him a boot in the butt out the door every 30 minutes. This kid is gonna kill me. 


The house is almost back together after having to re-arrange everything except the kitchen. We finally have enough beds for the additions we hope to get. We are going to be packed in like sardines here, but we'll work it, and it's only going to be for awhile. That is until we find a much bigger home that is. 


DH really wants to try a juicing diet. I'm not really on board with it. I like to chew my food, but I have to admit that the thought of the weight loss is appealing. If we do this it means my food budget will be really tight. It is amazingly expensive to only eat fresh fruit and veggies, and my poor garden isn't big enough for something like this. Plus,there is no way in hell the kids would be on board with this. So that means I will be making "six" meals a day. I have enough problems getting the three we do eat on the plate some days. 


So I guess all in all, life is moving along. Some parts are going faster than I would like, while others are barely moving at all. I guess I must just figure out where to place myself so that it all balances out. 

Happy Mother's Day and a Side Note to Go.

I just wanted to do a little blurp to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day, and to share some news.

Sometimes we forget to be thankful for our children when they have gotten on our last nerve, but we must remember that we need to be thankful for the craziness that our kids provide in our life. There are some who have lost a child, or maybe they aren't able to conceive, maybe their kids were taken from them. There are so many variables to list, that I could go on for some time. 

So to you, I wish you a big ole HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO YOU!!!!! Today is your day to sit back and have everyone wait on you. Now if your house is like my house...good luck with that.

We are hoping that The Crazy Life will get a bit more crazy around here. You see we are trying to adopt three additional family members. I can't go into details yet, but I just wanted to let you know that if you see strange posts on my wall...it's me just trying to get through this process. I am writing posts about this, but due to the sensitive nature, they will have to wait until we either get to adopt the kids, or we don't. No matter what the outcome, it's going to be an emotional roller coaster around here for a bit. 

Now for those who know me in person...I have yet to tell my father about this, and I'm trying to figure out the right way to do this with out him thinking I'm totally off my rocker. He already thinks I'm a bit strange ya know. So in the mean time this is our little secret. I'll let you know when it's safe ;) 

Thankful for My Problems

Sometimes I have a very hard time being thankful for what I have. I at times get so focused on all the shitty things going on that the little things just evade me. I have to make a conscious effort to stop my line of thinking and get it back on track, but sometimes...it's just so hard. 


I hate when I get into the negative mind frame, it tends to be a real downer, and I much prefer the uppers. (no I'm not a pill popper in that sense) I hate being depressed, and one of the only ways for me to get out of that funk is to kick myself in the ass, the other is to take some "happy pills" which I hate. I take enough medicine, and I would rather not add more, but occasionally it is something I have to do.


When we were living off of only $451 a month, it was really hard for me to go into the store and see all those cute baby clothes. I wanted to shop myself silly with all the clothes that would have been so adorable on my baby, but I barely had enough to buy the diapers. I would get down because I couldn't buy my kids all the cute clothes and toys that they "needed". 


Then there was the time that we were basically homeless. I mean we had a place to stay, but we weren't supposed to be there. It was a building that DH was trying to buy. It had apartments upstairs but they weren't up to code and there was no electricity. We ended up staying downstairs in what would have been a place of business. We had electricity down there, but there wasn't any heat or hot water. Neither the boiler or the water heater worked. We made a "tent" house to keep the little bit of heat we got from the electric heaters in so  we wouldn't be freezing, and heated up water old style to take baths. I HATED that time in life. 


Then we finally moved back to Minnesota and the five of us plus one dog ended up in a hotel room for 4 months. I seriously didn't have a stove for like a year and a half. I have to say I am VERY VERY thankful for stove and the house we rent now. People say that being poor is more enriching because you are so thankful for what you do have...I say bullshit. Don't get me wrong, I was very thankful for what we did have, but being that poor and down and out is a total mind fuck. It's humiliating, degrading, embarrassing, and stressful as all hell. My self esteem hit an all time low. I really struggled to find the good in those situations, and I'm happy to say we are doing better financially now.


Then there was the time when Superman was first born. This poor kid would throw-up every time he was fed. I'm not talking the spit-up that babies do. I'm talking actually throwing up. For two very long months I sat and watched my baby loose weight and cry non-stop, and nothing we did seemed to help. We tried different formulas, medicines...nothing worked.  We finally got him scheduled for x-rays on his stomach, and the night before the appointment he got really bad and we drove the fifty miles to the hospital. They were slammed and the doctor checked his vitals, and since they were ok, he sent us home as we already had the appointment the next day. The next day I drove the fifty miles again while DH stayed at home with Jokester and Princess. They took Superman into x-ray, and came out twenty minutes later telling me they were prepping him for surgery. I was devastated and scared shitless. It turned out he had Pyloric Stenosis, and in the 150 times the doctor had seen this and operated, Superman was the worse case he had ever seen. Superman improved immediately after the surgery, and has been shoveling food into his mouth non-stop since. 


So there have been many times in my life where I was totally overwhelmed with the events happening in my life, and I'm not sure exactly how I got through it all, I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I had to stop focusing on the bad, and start looking for things to be thankful for. While the boys were babies, I may not have had the money to buy them new cute things, but they didn't go without. I may have not lived in the perfect house with the perfect conditions, but I did have a roof over my families head and food to eat. I may not have had the ability to heal Superman when he was sick, but there was a doctor who did, and he is now a typical kid with no residual health problems.  


Yeah, there is much for me to be thankful for, I just have to stop and get out of my funk to notice the good things, and remember to be thankful whether it's a good thing or a bad thing. It is after all my life, and I have the choice to wallow and sink or rise up and live.

Floating Blubberingness

Why is it that a lot of women second guess themselves? You know I really never used to do this, but lately I've noticed that I've been doing this a lot. Way back when I was younger, I would look at all the information on something, look at the pro's and con's and just make my decision. Now...I find I'm wishy washy. It's almost like I have forgotten just who I am, and what I like. What I liked yesterday I'm finding that I don't like today. Hell for that matter, what I liked an hour ago, I don't like now. This is really starting to piss me off! I hate being up in the air all the time. I liked my little routine that I followed, and heaven forbid if I didn't have my lists! Now I hate my routine, I find my lists make me depressed, and I feel like I'm just sort of floating around bouncing off of stuff.  What happened?

I can't really answer that because every time I think I've pinned it down it turns out to not be so. I do know somethings though,

I know I'm tired, just plain worn out.

I know I am finding out that I really do not like Minnesota winters! Thinking I'm gonna be a Florida transplant someday when I'm older and retire...yeah like that's ever going to happen, I'm talking about the retiring thing, of course I'm going to get older unfortunately.

I'm finding I really hate waiting on people who are perfectly capable of taking care of their own shit.

Listening to Smokey scratching and thumping is seriously going to push me over the edge. Especially if he's doing it right outside my bedroom door. Damn it dog I need my sleep!

I really hate doing homework with Jokester. Good Lord child just write your spelling words already.

I really hate vehicles. All vehicles. I'm gonna get me a horse and buggy, then again that would be really cold here, so Florida here I come. With my horse and buggy. You've had your warning.

Stupid drivers make me turn red. They will probably make me explode when I'm driving the horse and buggy.

I love bringing the boys outside during the summer and teaching them all about nature. Jokester is the best, and just soaks it all up. Superman, he's too busy trying to climb up the truck or get on the roof  of the house to pay much attention.

I know I can handle a major emergency and not panic, that is until everything is a okay. Then it's time to collapse into a heap of  emotional blubberingness.

I know that if someone breaks into the house they will definitely wish they hadn't. Cuz I will go all ape shit up in their face with my trusty bat and three crazy dogs on them. I probably wont sleep for a year after that though.

I love watching my children sleep. There is no need to explain this one.

I love seeing the sparkle in Princess's eyes while looking at brochures of collages. She can't wait, but I sure can. I'm not ready for my baby to leave the fold. Damn it she better pick one close to home.

I know that I should spend more time with my family and friends, but lately I've been finding it hard to leave the house. It makes me sad and frustrated because I just don't know why this is. 

These are all little parts of me I guess, plus so much more. As thoughts of likes and dislikes float through my head, somehow I need to reach out and plant them firmly down just so I can see who I truly am. Maybe it's just my age, maybe it's the crazy life that I've had starting to get to me. Maybe it's just a time for reflection and change. One thing is for certain and that is that I really really do not like roller coasters whether it be an actual one or the ride that is  my life.

Sledding Down a Mountian

I have to apologize for some of these lame posts. I just don't seem to have it in me on some days, but I still write about a bunch of crap that doesn't really seem to go together. Got some things weighing heavy on the mind, and there are some days where I just really can't find my funny. I guess today would be one of them.

I have a lot of friends who say to me, "Kim I don't know how you do it, life kicks you in the stomach and you just keep walking." I have to say that yes I do just keep on walking, don't do no good to just stand still wallowing in the problems. While I continue walking I take a deep breath and just put one foot in front of the other. That doesn't mean that the shitty situations don't affect me, because they do. Just like everyone else out there I do get bogged down sometimes, but I have to keep going. I know that eventually whatever might be causing me stress or discomfort will eventually work it's self out. It sure doesn't seem like it though at the moment. Sometimes I just want to give up because it all seems too hard.

You know those time's when you are at odds with your other half, and the kids are raising hell and tearing down the house with you still in it. There's a dog pissing on your couch, and the damn truck keeps breaking down. Then there are the medical appointments, the stupid medical insurance, and the arrogant asshole doctors who refuse to listen, and for God's sake what's up with the price of gas? I am seriously going to get whiplash from bobbing my head up and down with these prices. Hmm, wonder if there is a lawsuit in there somewhere. Yeah right. 

Oh let's not forget the evil mailman (oops mail delivery person, must be politically correct now don't we) who seems to have it out for me. What did I ever do to you? I make sure the sidewalk is all free of snow and ice for you, ok Princess does that part mostly, but I'm the one who makes her do it. Then there is the matter of making sure your not late on your electric payment, other wise the whole fricken thing will be due...yesterday. Let's just forget the fact that it was the electric company who screwed up in the first place. Ah yes you all can kiss my ass little ole electric company, made the last payment due to you and am current on my bill. Those times when the paycheck doesn't quite meet the amount of all the bills coming in, and one of the angels getting mad and whipping a dog bone at his sisters door which resulted in said door now having a hole in it. 

The neighbor having a drunken fight on their front steps...again. Really? Bring it inside or you will be dealing with me. Now let's talk about the neighbor person (see they wont tell you who made the complaints) who kept calling various city departments on us to harass us the first summer we lived here. It's funny how the police and everyone else that was called figured out someone was harassing us and put it in their reports. How surprising it was that when I was sitting out in the back yard and proclaimed loudly enough for the neighbors to hear, that I would beat the shit outta the cowardly bastards who kept harassing us, that suddenly the false complaints stopped. You know, come to think of it, I guess most of the above doesn't really matter, cuz the kids will have tore down the house. Problem solved. Gotta love those kids! Great problem solvers they be.

So if you are reading this and life has gotten you down, just remember there's others out there  just like you. We all got our problems, and they all seem insurmountable, but just like everyone else we will all get over that mountain...eventually. Just remember to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and for a really good time...make sure you bring a sled for the ride down the other side of that mountain...it's a total rush no matter how short the ride is to the next mountain. Scream like a little girl or boy, and wave your hands in the air, laugh out loud cuz I know I do. It's the only way to live.

Feeling Kinda Snargaly

I hate those days where you wake up with a head-ache already going full steam ahead. Today would be one of those days, and I'm feeling snargaly. Yes snargaly is a word, well at least today it is. If it weren't for the fact that my head feels like it's going blow at any moment and that for some reason I'm so tired my head is acting like a bobble head, I would be a bitch. Not just a regular one, but a super duper, over the top, I'm going to rip your face off and stomp on it, then shoot flames outta my mouth kinda bitch. Thank the Lord for being too tired to put forth the effort. You are saved my family. For today.

It would figure that the day I'm really struggling to function the boys are particularly mouthy. Especially Jokester. If I get a nap that boy had better watch out. I was stretching earlier today, and he asked me what I was doing. I replied, "stretching cuz I'm pretty sore today, and I'm getting old." To which this little devil angel, opens his mouth and oozing with sarcasm says, " Oohhh Nooo, guess your gonna die or something."  Little snot. I should have said something along the lines of, "Oh yes I am, then you cant drive me nuts anymore".

Now this driving me nuts thing has a story. You see Jokester had the word nut for one of his spelling words one week. Me being the awesome mom that I am, used his spelling words in sentences so he could get a better understanding. I found the perfect sentence for him...bad thing was it used a word that wasn't quite the word nut. The sentence I used was, "you and your  brother drive me nuts". Perfect sentence right? I thought so. Then the light bulb went on...damn that isn't really his word to spell, so I had to explain to him that his word was not nuts, but nut, and pray like hell he remembered that when it came time for the test. My boy made me proud, not only did he remember not to put an "s" at the end he also got a 100% on the test.

I totally have no idea where this post is going. At this point you are getting what just pops into my head. Sorry so discombobulated today. It's been a rough one.  Who am I kidding it's been a rough week. Why on earth would they give the weekend off after the kids have been off school for twelve days? I am not ready for the weekend, then again am I ever?

You guys must think that I don't like my kids the way I carry on about them. Well I do like them, in fact I love them. They can be, let's say be a bit overwhelming at times. Especially when I'm not feeling the best, and then like all kids they have that radar that lets them know mom's not all together so let's gang up on her. That's ok though, cuz on the days I do have it together, momma has some fun making them miserable. This is after all why we have kids, to provide entertainment for us. Na on second thought it's to rub it in from way back when we were kids and our parents always used to say, "just wait until you have kids". We can't be making liars out of our parents, that would just be wrong.

And now to end this post with some very irrelevant information. I can not make dumplings. Try as I might the making of a good dumpling eludes me.