Robin's Nest

Sometimes I get up rarin' to go and have such high hopes for the day....and then my feet actually hit the floor.  Take this blog for instance, when I first tackled the idea of "blogging" I thought "hey I can do this how much time could this take after all".  Then real life got in the way, you know taking out the trash, feeding the kids, the dog and all the other animals we hold hostage. Next thing I know it has been months since I wrote anything at all! Now it is time to vote and have already hastily placed my ballot in the box I discovered that I may have voted in a manner that goes totally against what I stand for... bummer. In an earlier post I mused about why my Grandmother may have committed suicide... perhaps getting behind in every way possible had something to do with it. Well back to my original idea about getting up rarin' to go in the morning... Then I get tangled under dishes or laundry that is screaming to be folded or just the chores of d

Good Morning blog world!  I slept in sort of this morning... I did not get out of bed until 0815.  Nature called at that point and I had no choice, well I guess I had a choice but the alternative was not at all inviting.  Ms. Lily was up at her usual time but daddy got up with her (after some nudging). So far I have rewashed one load of laundry and just washed a second load.  Gotta hang this load out on the line then feed the chickens and goose. Kids have been bathed and are down for naps. I will be lucky if they rest 30 minutes but it is just the two of them today so not so much chaos.  That isn't entirely true.  They got a bath because they helped themselves to some peanut butter while I was looking for their shoes. Picture to be added later... then while I went to get the camera to document my evidence little Lily "painted" every thing she could touch a lovely shade of tan. She was so wrigglely I could not get a really good picture of the skin treatment! Now chickens

Well early this morning I stated I was one box away from being a hoarder, but after cleaning out that closet in the entry way... I think I am officially there.  It has been a few days since I wrote that first line and the rest of this week will be spent figuring out which room to tackle next.  I have been able to keep the entry way picked up and walkable but the kitchen has gone to pot.  I am hoping to get it tackled this next three days off but with the baby taking the first day of babysitting to get used to gramma's house after four days away it isn't likely. I am still trying to figure out how to get rid of stuff and it is not easy for me. It is actually overwhelming just to look at all of it.  On a different note my paternal grandmother committed suicide when I was very young... I often wonder if she was a hoarder.

Personally I don't want to but she has an EEG in the morning and they want her up til then and back up at 4am !! Crazy but true. So she is still up and a bit wired on mountain dew... three "sips" and she would have more if she had her way! As she staggers around the house I struggle not to laugh... it would be rude lol.  Well I am about to go help her find a coloring book..Now we sit here at the table waiting for midnight. I took the night off of work so that I could be here with her and also maybe get some ideas on how to work at home with all these people underfoot.  Along with our two little ones my daughter and her husband and two kids live with us.  My other daughter who has an infant used to stay with us while she and her other half were looking for a place to rent. She stayed on the days her sister was to babysit and then returned to his mother's house on his days off so he could babysit. Now that they have found a place to live and my older daughter has foun

I have neglected this blog for a bit...not really on purpose it just seems that the hurrier I go the behinder I get! Between working full time and trying to share babysitting with my adult daughter there is very little time for anything else. I can't beat myself up over it because then there wouldn't be anybody to do the dishes! A sad but true commentary on the reality of my life! But change can start with me... We had a follow up appointment with the "autism" doctor and got a diagnosis...and some medication.   I thought I was going crazy this last month. Dear 4 year old was out of control 45 minutes of every hour while awake and waking at weird hours wanting to eat or watch a movie or whatever.  The only time it seemed she had any calmness about her was when we were traveling... odd in my opinion for a kid with autism. Using the cell phone I was able to video some of her meltdowns to share with her doctor.  Pretty much I was to the point that one of us leaving wi

Good Morning I said to my two year old at 0630 this morning....and why are you up so early? I tried to hold her back on getting up by giving her my cell phone to play with... no luck so up we get and make oatmeal with whipped cream on top.  That seems to be a toddler favorite around here. Today I tackle the entry way closet and try to make something look presentable on the first floor.  It is a disaster to say the least I am one box short being labeled a hoarder. I wish I was kidding but who in their right mind has ten strollers?  Granted some of them belong to grandchildren but not that many! I jokingly said I was going to have a stroller sale on the side of the road to get rid of some... I have already given away 3 that I can think of.   Unfortunately that is not the only thing I have too many of... food processors number at least four but I did give away my Ninja system... that just did not live up to it's claims. Well off I go to get something done!

I remember years ago when I got my first job at the age of 15 being afraid not to go to work when I was scheduled.  Of course part of that was probably because I was in a co op program at school and it was part of my grade to go... And then later when my life began to rotate around my friends I became quite unreliable.  Perhaps didn't become reliable until I joined the Army and was forced to "go to work" each day lol! Of all the experiences working I do think that was the best value for my time! Last night was particularly annoying as there was an agency nurse scheduled to relieve me and she never showed.  I called the agency and they feigned concern and then called and asked if we could use a Qmap instead... long story short I was told we could.  The agency called back and said they had a CNA and they were trying to check her credentials to see if she was Qmapped... so I suggested they just ask her... a few minutes later I got the call she would be in in an hour cool th

Well yesterday miss Lily got her glasses!  She was so scared as the tech put them on and of course cried!  But once they were on she darted out of the office and into the eye center and just looked at everything.  She even ran to the fish tank to look at the fish!  I have tried the last three visits to the eye doctor to get her to look in that tank but it took a pair of $300.00 glasses to get it done!  Yes I said $300.00.  Vision doesn't come cheap for little ones and our insurance doesn't cover the actual glasses.  But to see her take in all the new things she can see... it is totally worth it.  Keeping them on her little head has been challenging at best! It has been a week since Lily got the new specs and probably she has worn them 4 out of seven days.  She has RSV and has been running at the nose like a sieve. Poor baby is miserable! Actually her little partner has it too.... sad little babies.(not sure why they continue to smile?! Well since returning to work I have

Well much to my dismay and then again my excitement I attempted to return to work this past week.  Of course the first day about an hour before time for me to leave my wonderful 3 year old, almost four, decided to dump vegetable oil on the kitchen floor! She and the 21 month old were gleefully sliding around, sitting in it, rubbing it in their hair and otherwise really having a great time! Thankfully DH was home from his adventures and we scooped them up and tossed them in the tub I watched the tub while he wiped up the mess.  Much to my surprise the floor looks better than it has in years! DH was also quite pleased with the result!  And too bad I didn't think to take any pictures! I guess I was too busy thinking I could not be late on this first day back to work. I arrived at work a wee bit earlier than I even planned for (they really should mark the calendar, cuz' that rarely happens!) Once there I felt okay I was relieved when they said I would have my old schedule that m

So tooling around the web this weekend I found inspiration to make homemade Hamburger buns!  It seemed easy enough and the last time I had attempted something like this had been at least 14 years ago... I made homemade egg bread rolls.  They were delish but took a lot of time to get done and at that time not only was I on active duty in the army I had a side job delivering newspapers... so basically no time for any extras. The original recipe was from another site but I found it on Blissful and Domestic blog please forgive me I broke down and purchased a new tower and it came with windows 8.... so far I am not much of a fan but maybe with time... I want to give her proper credit so I will probably have to back out of here and make more than one post to get you to the right recipe.  It seemed very easy although I did enlist dear husband to man the two littles while I stuck the ingredients in the bread machine.  that was pretty easy! And I honestly called up to dear husband to send the

At first I thought this blog would be about menopause.... but that is not the biggest change of life in our house.  Three years ago my husband and I added a six month old infant to our routine.  That changed everything!!! Truth be told in 2004 when we added two preteens to our family the real change started. Our life was already a blended family and chaos seemed to be the order of the day. This "draft" got lost and now we are thinking of adding more chaos to the routine... hopefully three more blessings but if not three at least two.  I am praying for guidance...  I close in prayer for the right path for my feet to follow.

Well in my last post... back when dinosaurs roamed the plains... I had promised to get a bag of donations together roughly every three days to help clear out the clutter.  I also said I would keep everyone posted and be held accountable.  Then again I did not count on computer crashing in multiple to happen.  Yes in multiple!  It all started when I loaned my recently restored laptop to my son.  Of course then the tower which had been working just fine decided to start "freezing" Then my kindle decided it was not going to charge any more (I think that was self defense, the 3 year old has been obsessed with watching "super Why" on Netflix) so I went to the netbook as a next resort.  It too has started acting absolutely crazy.  We already bypass the mouse and built in key board to get it to work but now it also has problems that are not solved with those techniques. Now this house has probably 10 computers in total most don't work and those that do belong to ki

Today was our big appointment with the Psychologist.  Long and short of it the appointment was set up by the wrong person for the wrong person.  The young lady at the desk let me know that they thought it was odd that we were switching therapists when they saw the schedule this morning but no one thought to call and ask about it.  We got into the office and she let me know that we would not be seeing a psychologist so I declined the appoinment. I do believe the play therapy helps in the setting that it is done in but once we leave she reverts back to her normal behavior.  So they rescheduled us for April and we can only hope she can make it that far or we can find another child psychologist in the mean time. Well not a lot got done today but I will plod on trying to accomplish my goal of de-cluttering.  We were good today we stopped at the golden arches but we only bought the very upset  kids some french fries.  small children do not understand when adults screw up their appointment

What a closing ceremony!!! Happy Birthday to Randi, Lucas, Tryston, Brianna and Mary!  Sorry I did not bake a cake for any of you!!  And in 2 weeks when the March Birthdays start... I probably won't bake any cakes either... I said probably.  I am not sure what I will be up to in 2 weeks I hope back to work only because I have bills to pay and I am not making any money staying home.  I have enjoyed watching the olympics and playing with my little girls... I really wish I could stay with them and not work.  So part of my goal this year is to get completely out of debt and to learn to do more with less. Part of that goal includes less procrastination... so I better get some more pull up pants made for Peyton.  We have to use less paper products and more reusable items.. no matter how painful!  Washing diapers isn't that painful but pull ups kinda bug me.  Only because I am frustrated that potty training is not happening!  Not for lack of trying but she just is not interested at

Sorry I have not posted since Valentine's Day... I have tried several times but small people in the very close proximity decided I was not going to post.  It has been a very busy week!  Monday was supposed to be return my wheelchair day.... that actually happened on Thursday.  so That should give you an idea of how far behind I am in goals for the week.  In fact someone needs a nap so I am going to post this and get back to it later as an updated post. I didn't post this because i really needed to learn how to find my drafts and continue them... I think i did it.  s So in my last post I bragged on a diaper store that I found and promised to go find the location of my former favorite diaper store.  Well we had to go to town so we located the store and looked for a pair of Super Undies.  I was disappointed to find they no longer carried them.  The new store is way bigger than the former location and in all fairness I will withhold my review at this time as the worker in the st

Good Morning! This morning started out as noisy as any other and perhaps noisier than some! Yesterday we ventured out to try and find "Super Undies".  I have bought diapers from the "Cloth Diaper Market" here in the Springs in the past and they are very good at helping you find what you need... but they moved their store and I haven't been to the new store yet.  I have limited time when I get to go out and I have been trying to get to "Baby Cotton Bottoms" for some time.  So that was where we tried to get to in our available time. And we did... What a neat store!  They had so many choices! And pretty, pretty diapers!  I will be back to this store!  I  didn't leave empty handed either... no super undies but they did have something called "Best Bottoms".  These have a size 5T... for up to 50 pounds. Now my 3 year old is 52 pounds but I thought they just might fit.  I also bought two soakers that snap in... truth be told I had picked up

Just when I really am starting to feel better I get paperwork in the mail that needs immediate attention. And of course I can procrastinate with the best of them but that did not happen this time. The original paperwork arrived after my appointment with the ortho guy....then the weather here was less than desirable for driving in for about 4 days, maybe 5. Next I ended up going back to ER because of the chest pain and didn't feel like doing anything for sure.  On Sunday my dear husband brings me an envelope and the contents demand a response by the 13th...tomorrow.  So on Monday I set out to get the needed information... First i could not reach the generator of the letter. Then the littlest had a follow-up appointment at 1100. Then we spent an hour and 15 minutes waiting for the pharmacy.  Section one on said paperwork was for my supervisor...who was unavailable due to all day meetings...so I left a message. Then I tried the sender again... left another message.  I tried to reach t

So what did you do this week? I spent most of it worshiping at the porcelain alter.  Yes the stomach bug hit our home with a vengeance.  And for some reason it seems it hit me the worst or at least for the longest... although it is still here visiting my husband last night and today.  Only 3 members were spared in this attack. So none of the anticipated projects were even attempted.  Rats and I am running really short on time for completion before I must return to work.  So now that I feel a bit better I will attempt to create a cloth bedwetting pant for the older kids in this house that comes close to working and that they will wear. For now I must close as today is Lily's 18 month well baby check-up... yes I know she is almost 20 months but hey at least she isn't 24 months! But gotta go!!!!

Today started off pretty rough... I tried to help my 3 year old change her pull-up.  While pulling her sweat pants off I could feel the pull of my chest injury from my recent accident and it wasn't pleasant! Needless to say I won't be doing that again any time soon. Tomorrow is a big day we meet with the school psychologist to hear what she thinks.  I am not sure if I have any ideas or not. I did spend some time looking up other posts from parents with similar situations.  I was surprised how many posts there were on children of the same age group as mine.  Today my daughter took her out for some one on one shopping and also my husband took her out early this morning to go to church just the two of them and then to the commissary and both reported her behavior to be better than with other kids. I sure wish we could figure her out. So along with trying to  keep peace around here we have started some early Spring cleaning.  This means anything that isn't needed or us

Yum!!! Is this not a face you can just love forever!?!?!?!? I think Ben & Jerry's should get a glimpse of this face!!! So I signed off yesterday with all intentions of getting something done.  However, the 3 year old had other plans she has some issues most of them probably stem from her bio-mom's drug use during pregnancy and while nursing her.  Other things are probably just her personality, ie being very strong willed I think that is the only reason she survived her prenatal experience.  She is an all hands on deck kind of kid.  The preschool had to send a teacher home on the bus with her on the last day of school. We had a special ed evaluation last month and they turned her down as not needing any extra help... So I got an invitation to meet with the school psychologist first thing Monday morning... hmm do you think they may have changed their minds!

Whew! That was a close one!!! Okay it was a bit more than close...we collided and I have 2 broken legs to show for it.  Praise God for all the bruises and breaks I am doing okay and at home not in a hospital or nursing home! My Volvo will not be returning home ever again... sad but true.. here are some "after the fact" pictures... So this accident delayed me posting for a few days then when I retrieved my computer from the black bag in the back seat... I was unable to access my blog from Google... not sure why. But thankfully my resident sewing expert also knows how to get around Google! So it has been 9 days since the accident and now not only am I taking care of the 3 year old and 19 month old (now with more help than before) it is being done from a wheelchair!  Talk about a challenge! My daughter and I are going to try to start selling our creations from home since I will be out of work for a minimum of six weeks and I only have 2 weeks of EIB and PTO c

So I just spent another week without the computer because I thought I had installed an antivirus program.... nope!  Well really it was put on the computer but it was never set up so my computer has been very ill and had to go to the "doctor" ... again. But on the bright side with all the down time I did make three pair of pants for Peyton!  Who by the way also had a virus.  Poor little thing has the croup... so it has been a long weekend for her stuck home and isolated from the other kids as much as possible.  Tomorrow we are free to return to preschool and she seems excited but we will see if that goes as planned. I have three more pair of pants cut out to sew. Here is a pic of the first pair. Okay no it's a pic of our littlest angel I will have find that picture and put it in the next post....sorry

I love reading other blogs... then I wonder "how do they have the time?"  Right now the dishwasher is still full with last night's load, three baskets of laundry await the folding fairy, the 3 year old is at preschool and the littlest angel just laid down for her second morning nap (morning starts at 0400 in case you were wondering).  Not only do they blog, their backgrounds in photos are spotless!!!!  I can only dream of such organization and calm.  In fact just thinking about this makes me want to nap with the baby. But our tiny tornado needs some new pants and mittens so I need to cut material but even before that I needed a pattern for the pants.  So after digging through about a third of the patterns I know the location of ..I started the dreaded "google search".  I say dreaded because it never fails I find more than I can hope for and a lot more that I wasn't even looking for!  Most of it is wonderful information but the next thing you know the schoo

One would think that would be true... unless they live in our house.  The dishwasher is humming and the Preschooler and Toddler are in bed..too bad I am ready to join them! My youngest adult daughter from the bio group left about 2 hours ago for home with her baby daughter; she is so darn cute!!  They spend 2-3 days a week here so her sister who lives here too can babysit for her. So now the older daughter and her husband and two kids are getting homework done, food into tummies and backpacks ready for school tomorrow.  Yes it is a chaotic place to be most nights... and if I am at work the bulk of all the work falls on my daughter.  So if you drop by don't expect Susie homemaker or Betty to meet you at the door! Neither of them have been here lately... not sure why?! We went to the fabric store after church today and also to Wal Mart. Wow! JoAnn's was packed and we should have turned and walked out.... well we did $30 later. We learned a really neat thing today though... You

Good Morning Blog world! So my intentions to try and post everyday are already off course but when you work full time have kids 3 and under and grandkids living with you I guess blogging everyday may be a bit much. I will just be happy that I blogged twice in one week and didn't have to change my password!  Now since having written the above statement I had to get up stop a tussle between an agressive 3 year old and a determined 18 month old; hold a crying grandbaby so caregiver (auntie) could go to the bathroom; stopped a second tussle between the little ones; helped the 18 month old fall down and bump her nose; return the crying grandbaby to "auntie"; warmed my coffee twice and served popsicles .. oh I almost forgot, I reassembled a cell phone 3 times... no wonder I don't get to post much! To explain helping the littlest fall, she was trying to stand under the edge of the kitchen table and she was close to hitting the top of her head. so I put my hand on top of

Okay so I will be the first to admit that I procrastinate but really I looked at this blog earlier today and there were unfinished unposted drafts and now.. nothing, nada, zilch!!! So where do neglected blog posts go anyway? In fact I even started a new post which I totally intended to finish and post this evening... oh well. In that post I was explaining on how I intended this blog to be about the "change of life".  However since starting this blog my dear husband has allowed me to collect two more children... talk about a "change of life"!!! Rearing youngin's at our ages is no easy task!  So now with a 3 year old and an 18 month old whom arrived in our care at ages 6 months and 6 weeks respectively we started down the "parenting" road one last time.  Of course I say that with all respect to the Lord Jesus Christ who graciously allowed us to have this adventure! With that said I will close this post and try, try ,try to be more attentive to my blog