November 18, 2007

I got up yesterday morning before the kids and thought I would get caught up on my blog. After discovering that my memory card that I had put into my computer to upload pictures (but hadn't done) was missing, I spent the day tearing this place up .... with no success. :huh: I'm still hoping that it will turn up eventually. I've offered everyone a big cash prize for its return, so maybe that will motivate them to work towards a greater good around here.

Things have been so busy lately. (I think I say that everytime I blog

) I enjoy having a lot to do and feeling like I'm being productive. The driving in the car has finally become a part of my routine and I no longer dread it or feel frustrated by the traffic. I never though I would get used to sitting at red lights or longish lines of traffic, but it doesn't phase me now (unless we're late). The long rides have been great for Amanda and I. I find that we talk so much more now than we ever used to. The cost of gas is definitely an investment in our relationship. She seems to be settling in now at her new school and doesn't communicate with any of the kids from her old school now with the exception of a good friend. Her grades have begun to improve and she is calmer and....softer. I'm so relieved.

Andrew is....entering the teen years with full fource lately. His grumpiness and moodiness is probably my biggest surprise. I have always found Andrew to be easy because I could really talk with him and he was so respectful. That is changing as his focus on his two best buds intensifies. His family is boring and embarassing

and he complains endlessly, questions my decisions and generally speaking has ripped the rug right out from under my feet. I never expected this from sweet little Andrew.

Alex and I spent some alone time yesterday and went to the movie "Bees". It seems like he really has gotten the short end of the stick this past year and I have resolved to carve out some alone time for him each week. He is such a good kid and because everything runs smoothly for him, he demands less attention...and sadly, he gets less attention. I have tried to start pointing out some of the good things and rewarding him for all that he does to help. Alex is truly my child who will put himself to bed at 8:30. I'll be in the midst of helping Andrew or Amanda with homework and will look at the clock and realize it is Alex's bedtime. After searching the house for him, I'll go upstairs and find him tucked into his bed in his jammies sleeping.

He just can't tolerate being sleepy at all. I feel guilty though. I want to be a part of his bedtime routine, but things are so busy around here that many times he just crawls into bed without me.

Aidan....turned 4 last week. :thud: My little Aidan .... 4? :huh: How did this happen? He was so happy and proud of himself. He got up in the morning and announced that he was a man...and that he had decided to grow a beard now that he was 4.

He spent the day showing off his "beard" to anyone that would look!

Now that he's older, he seems to be getting...a little wilder. He used to lavish me with "I love you's" and "Thank you mommy's" and lately he has turned from listening to me to saying "no" all of the time.

Again...I'm tossed off balance a bit. You think I'd have this whole parenting thing figured out, but each child presents a new set of challenges!

Zoe is...still the little princess...still my little snuggle bug. Though her clinginess can drive me over the edge, I also can't stand to be apart from her. I hired a nanny to come in one morning a week and she started on Thursday. I enjoyed the break and struggled with tremendous guilt at the same time. I got almost 4 hours to myself and headed to Caribou coffee so that I could get online and catch up on my blog, my emails, my PMs etc. uninterruped. As luck would have it, their internet service wasn't working properly. They kept trying to fix it (there were at least 10 other people there with laptops that were waiting!

). Ultimately, I just ended up working on writing a story that Amanda and I are sharing as a project together. She is doing the illustrating and I'm doing the writing. It's a blast and I love doing it....I started this as a way for us to reconnect again...she has outgrown the whole dollhouse thing. Some nights now she begs me to go to Barnes and Noble and work on the story so that she can read the *new* stuff and get to work on the illustrations. It's fun!

Lately, being a mom has just been incredibly rewarding on many levels. I feel content and happy with my life.

Beyond the kids stuff, I somehow managed to get involved in an unfortunate situation with a child at Amanda's school. One of Amanda's new little friends came over last week to spend the night. The girls ended up sneaking the phone book so that this girl could prank call a boy she met at the skating place.

Oh God, make this puberty STOP. I was so angry that I talked to the girl's mom and had her pick her daughter up. I didn't want to reward them with a sleepover.

This little girl went up into Amanda's room to wait for her mom to come and cried hysterically about how her parents hit her and hold her down and kick her.

I could hear the crying coming from Amanda's room and I snuck up into Andrew's room to listen. I was shocked and I didn't really know what to do with the information. Was the girl exaagerating? I didn't feel like the information in itself was enough to accuse the mom of child abuse, but at the same time, it made me feel uncomfortable. This is the same mom who is moving with her husband to the UK in February because she met a guy on MySpace that she plans on living with and marrying.

"I know it sounds terrible, but my husband will take the kids". Ummm, YAH that sounds terrible because it IS.

She doesn't know where her husband will move in the UK (maybe scotland

) and doesn't even know or care whether or not their mortgage payment is being made because it "doesn't matter".

right. ok. THAT is concerning to me.

While I was trying to decide how best to handle this, Amanda came home last week and told me that the little girl had come to school and said that her mom was so angry with her that she had ripped a chunk of hair out of the back of her head...and then had showed this little bald spot to Amanda.

Wow. So THAT was kind of the last straw for me.

I called the school the next day to talk to the vice principal who I have a good relationship with. She appeared to take my concerns very seriously, but called me back an hour later to tell me that she had talked with the principal and they had decided that they wouldn't get involve and talk to this child...She told me that I am a mandatory reporter (no!) and that I needed to be the one to make the call....then she gave me the number. :huh: Hmmmmm. I told her my concern was that this child claimed having an injury right now and that by the time social services would actually come out and look at her that any evidence of that would likely be gone. She sympathized with my frustration but said that they didn't want to "taint" any investigation by questioning the child. WTH?

I don't fel comfortable making a call like that....I don't want this mom to know that I reported something and even though these things are supposedly anonymous.....I feel like it wouldn't be difficult for her to figure it out because she came to me a few days ago and told me that our daughters had been emailing each other about the fact that the child was being abused and "my daughter is a liar" is what she said to me. I cracked open Amanda's email but couldn't find any evidence of these emails with the exception of an outgoing one from Amanda that said "I can't believe your mom and dad abuse you like that. You should take up kung fu and fight them back.

"

I still need to think about what I am going to do.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and my Dad and Rose are coming up for the week. They just called to say that they had arrived at the airport and picked up their rental car and are on their way. I stood up to answer the phone and then while I was talking, I walked over to turn off the fireplace that Zoe had turned on for the 30th time this morning. (It's her new trick). As I turned around, I noticed a blue, plastic chip lying on the coffee table. Yes...it was my MEMORY CARD.

Soooo...yesterday I turned the house upside down, cried, prayed and bribed God with a promise of regular church going for the return of my memory card....and this morning....well....there it is. I think I have to pick a church.

We are preparing for exchange students to arrive here and stay from Tuesday-Sunday. It will be a busy week with hopefully lots of fun and togetherness. I love Thanksgiving. My dad is going to deep fry a turkey this year....woohooo!

Have a great week! Now that I have my memory card (thank you, thank you, thank you!) here are the pictures from Aidan's Birthday!

No Family Birthday happens around here without a trip to Space Aliens:

Here is Aidan showing off his beard: