Move in and come home

Ok, so Jamie moved in on Sunday, Monday we went to get her student ID and parking permit. I then had to hurry up and get home because David had to go out of town. Well, school didn't start until Wednesday and that gave Jamie a day and a half with nothing to do. Her dorm is such a dud, there is never anyone around, when I was there it was like it was still summer time.

So, I get home and Jamie is down and saying she is bored and doesn't want to go to the cafeteria to eat by herself and she doesn't know what she is going to do for two whole days, blah, blah, blah.

Ok, so now I am almost in tears because I feel so sorry for her, so I tell her COME HOME! Of course not to stay, ...just until classes start. She says "really?!? what about the gas?". I told her forget about the gas, forget about what your dad will say, just come home. I think I did it more for me than for her. selfishly I didn't want to have to go through two days of worrying about her. So she heads for home.

I then call David, inform him of the happenings and threaten him within an inch of his life to not say anything to her, not to complain about the gas money, etc. Just deal with it. Poor guy, he just says "ok".

So, after dinner Tuesday she heads back for classes on Wednesday. On Friday afternoon she is back on the road to home. This going away to college is not quite going away yet, but things are looking up. This week was the first full week of classes and her staying there!

She had a rough start but then started hanging out with a couple of friends from HS. By the end of the week she was saying that she is starting to actually like it and is having fun. Whew!!!

Now David and I want her to get plugged into a campus ministry, and hopefully that's next. It can't be that hard, it's a very small campus! But, for now I can relax and know that she is doing well.

Jordan and Hannah had their first full week of school. Went well. We are back to them chattering from the time they get into the car, because, yes, I pick them up everyday, to after dinner when they go their own seperate ways to do home work.

Atleast it is somewhat more peaceful than last year. Last year Jamie drove them all to school. They would be fighting on the way out the door, and when they came home they would be fighting on the way in the door. It was like there wasn't eight hours in between. Like they just walked into the garage and walked right back in the house.

We still have some arguing, but not near as much, THANK GOD FOR THAT!

Josh and Caleb met their teacher this week and we went to open house. When we left Caleb was mad at me and wouldn't talk to me becauses he wanted to stay, good sign!

Now we are all back to home base for the weekend, long weekend. David will be working the game today so he will be gone and I will hopefully get some stuff done if I can stay off the stupid computer! So with that, see ya!

So Many Firsts

Well, today is the day we head off to college with Jamie. What a very emotional week it has been, for both her and I!

Right now I am sitting in her dorm room while she is at Walmart with her friend Shelby. She finally seems to be getting excited about things. She has moved her stuff in and is setting up house.

We kept going back and forth on whether I was going to stay the first night with her or not, guess I am.

Actually, I am kind of jealous, wish I could turn back the clock and go back to college. Although I knew it would be very difficult for me to send her off to college I knew it was the right choice for her. She didn't want to leave home, she wanted to live at home and go to the UofA. That is such a bad idea on so many levels. I don't think that she fully grasps the concept of having to study yet, and living at our house would definatly not be the ideal study enviroment! Also, she needs to get out on her own and live, have fun and experience the college life. I loved college, it was one of the highlights of my life and I don't want her to miss out just because she is afraid. This whole experience with her being so emotional and not wanting to leave reminds me of when I first signed the girls up to play soccor. They did not want to play! As I am standing there signing them up in the Rec. office they are crying and begging me not to make them. Well, once they started to play they loved it. I know this will be the same for her. David and I told her she needed to atleast stick it out for a year, although, really, if she wants to go to college and not have to pay for it herself she needs to stay because she has a full 4 year ride here.

Tomarrow Jordan and Hannah start their first day at High School. Hannah definately needs to go back to school. I know she is bored stiff because she spends all her time on the computer and if she is not doing that she is driving us all crazy!

Last Friday Jordan went and took her drivers test and got her permit. We were hoping that she could get a hardship to drive to school, but since she had only taken her written exam a month ago that was out of the question. You need to have taken your written exam atleast 6 months prior to getting your licience. So now I will be driving them back and forth for the next four months until Jordan turns 16, yeah me!:)
Then at the beginning of September the boys will start preschool. This is a first for them and a first for me. I never sent the girls to preschool. They went to mothers day out, but only for one day a week. I thought long and hard about this and I think it is the best decision for the boys, expecially Joshua. I am hoping that he will gain better social skills and language skills and I need a break. It's not as easy to drag the boys around to grocery shop, etc. They are so much more active than the girls were. It's like torture for them and me. It's amazing how much more you can tolerate when you are younger. I think it's just because I had so much more energy. Also, I think that I am getting anemic again. I am starting to crave ice, sure sign! I need to go and see what is the underlying cause, but everytime I bring my blood count up, quit taking large doses of iron, my blood level eventually goes back down and I have to start all over.

Well, atleast I get to pretend I am a college student for one night, then I have to drive home and go back to real time, which is not bad either!

Where To Begin

Well, here I am entering the world of blogging once again. I blogged during the process of our adoption of Joshua and Caleb, our twin sons from Liberia West Africa. Mainly I blogged to keep our family and friends up to date with what was going on, but I also found it to be a great way to release pent up frustration and stress.



Now I start this blog for me. This is a place I can come and just be. Share my crazy life of husband, kids, dogs, school, sports and those things I think are worthy of making it to "print".



With 3 teenage girls, twin four year old boys, two dogs and a cat life is kind of crazy around here sometimes and most of the time I am just crazy.



David and I adopted Joshua and Caleb in the later years of our lives. I would have done this much earlier in life, but it took a while for David to get on the same page as God and I. For atleast the last 9 years I had a burning desire in my heart to adopt, David didn't. It cause much stress and tension in our marriage, but I finally gave it to God and asked him to either take this desire from my heart or change Davids. Actually I thought God would change my heart before he changed David's. All I can say is t~hat it only God that could have changed his heart. I just wish that God would have chosen to do it much earlier in our lives while we were younger. Now we are by no means grands and gramps, we are in our mid 40's. But raising toddlers in 40's is not quite like raising them in your 20's or 30's. Not only are we raising twin 4 year old boys, but we are in the throws of teenagerdom with 3 girls! So we have boys running in every direction, throwing, kicking breaking and what not. Then we have 3 girls who are constantly at each other, fighting, arguing, talking back to me, challenging me - on word to sum them up is HORMONES!



But at the end of the day I wouldn't change any of it if I could (well, would have adopted sooner). I love my life. God has been and is and continues to be so good to me. I have wonderful healthy children, a Godly husband who loves me, a comfortable home and each day God provides me with all that I need to get through that day and look forward to the next.