Robin's Nest

 There are only a few days left in this year. I am sure I will have lots of thoughts of things that need to change. I need to keep the changes small. No one in this house seems to adjust very well to change. This past week I have spent organizing and rearranging the bedrooms and churning cream into butter. DH has tried to amputate his fingers with a circular saw and needs more practice to get a complete process. Though it won't be easy as his saw is not where he left it. The oldest kiddo's dresser her desk and shelf  Her bunk and the love seat under it Today I am starting on the third and final bedroom. I have ordered a new bed for the youngest. I hope it works out. She was not happy that the oldest got to have the love seat in her room. I was glad to get it out of the living room. This house is too small for big furniture. The bunkbed without the lower bunk helps the tiny room it is in seem bigger. The other bedroom is larger, but the child has an enormous amount of stuff tha...

 As I type this entry into the blog, the cream churns in the mixer. Butter is in the making. I recall some years ago, a small one throwing black beans into the mixer as the cream was being churned. That should have been a sign, lol she has been mischievous ever since! Her sense of humor is as vibrant as her fits of anger. She is 10 now, her mental age is about 8, her emotional age about 5 or 6. I will never forget the words of the therapists on our first visit last March, in unison they looked at each other and said "FASD", not so much to me, but to each other. I was bewildered. The acronym did not ring any bells. I looked at the two as if they had just landed on Earth from, perhaps, Mars? I asked, what does that even mean? As soon as I had, I had wished I hadn't. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder. Yes, now the acronym popped back in my head. I had heard of this, but only bits and pieces, I didn't know of any cases. Well, at least I hadn't. Working with the current ...

 It is super cold today and the dogs still want to go outside for a few minutes at a time. Not long enough to do much of their business but at least they go out and attempt it. I am not willing to go out in this frigid weather. I am glad that I didn't decide to pick up any shifts either, well actually I did but I had to withdraw from them due to a family situation that was urgent at the time. I may not have a job when I get back to being able to work. If I don't then I will look for another job and go from there. We have done minimal on schoolwork this week, but it is the holiday week, so I can say we are okay. There has been quite a bit of "life skills" and math related to daily living. Most of our games work into one subject or another. Logic and math are the easier ones to find. Spelling and writing are pretty common also. Keeping the youngest focused, even on games is challenging.  Even homeschooling kids need a holiday break though, or at least their parents do! ...

 Dare I ask? No, I do not! Apparently, the elf felt a need to bring us a souvenir from the North Pole this morning.  As if yesterday's challenges weren't enough to write about. I will elaborate in a few. For now, breakfast has to be made and four girls need something to do to stay out of trouble until breakfast is done. Breakfast has been served. Now it is time to share an event that happened yesterday. The list for the previous day was not completed, that left a need to go out and try to get some more things done. While I was out, I decided to take the adoption papers to the social security office and request new cards for the kids. To my surprise the office was quite empty. I filled out the necessary forms and handed them in when called for my turn. Now for the interesting part... Did you know that even if your social security card has the correct name, you need another document to prove this to be true? Sadly, for me, the adoption decree was not good enough. I shared what I...

 Yesterday I made a list of things that needed to be done and things that I wanted to try (recipes, for clarification) and things that I needed to get from the stores. This was not a mission that I could hand off to DH, nor did I want to drag the kiddos with me. Leaving the kiddos with DH knowing Amazon still had crucial deliveries to make was NOT an option!  As I made my list, I decided there were things on it that DH could handle if I took the kids with me. I tried to enlist my daughter, and she agreed to help after she finished her errands. Noontime arrived without a text stating she was available. This meant the list was going to be divided 3 ways, part for DH, part for me to do today and part for me to do another day. We reviewed the battle plan and made adjustments. It was made clear to DH that if he arrived back home first, he was to look for and hide any deliveries in the bedroom closet, likewise I would do the same. Off we went to accomplish our joint, but individual ...

 My 10-year-old just informed me that Christmas eve is 1 week away. Thank you, YouTube, for raising the expectations of all electronically connected kids to higher heights than last year. On this item I lowered the bar by continually reminding the kiddos of our goal to travel. I also remind them that the big guy only provides one gift to each child, the rest are provided by the family and friends. I justify this because why would Santa give one family more gifts than another? And our family has decided that less gifts will mean mom going out of the house to work less often. Also, that mom can plan more travel trips for the whole family. Not to mention there is no lack of toys, dolls, or electronics in this house. there they go,  way in the distance  watching them pull away this is the lead car on the trip   the youngest had a turn in the kitchen today Yes, I still owe on the motor home and the solar panels, but I may take the sage advice of a friend and take out...

 I had great plans to get two rooms completely done today. Perhaps I did set the bar too high. It took forever to get my body out of bed, then it took at least an hour to get motivated. I didn't need a list today as the mounds of work were right in front of me. As I dug through the piles of "stuff", and I do mean piles, I found myself getting overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that is needing to find a home. Maybe a home on a shelf or in a box, but definitely a home. DH is working in the basement and will be there most of the day. My job is the living room and kitchen for today. Tomorrow will be dedicated to decorating the tree. I think anyway. If the elf moves, that is. You never know what will come up at the last minute. Time is running short today and the kiddos want lunch, it seems like we barely finished breakfast. surprise there is an elf in our tree!  The travelers are trying to decide if they will linger through the cold this week or head south and endure the co...

The day after the youngest child's eye surgery was a long one. She is feeling a lot better, or she was until she put her finger on a hot stove. Very much in need of attention. We went to town for the sole purpose of getting a frozen coke. I promised her one the day of surgery when we thought we would be on our way home by 2pm.  In the waiting room her cow found safety  We waited patiently as the anxiety built once in pre-op she tried to relax  not an easy when you are 10 she did not want to sit on that bed  They took her into the OR without me and I returned to the waiting room. Within 15 minutes they came to get me. Anxiety took over and that was that. Finally, by 3pm the meds they gave her kicked in and we went to the OR together. She fought again but I held her arms and told her I was there. She drifted off but not without a fight. We arrived home about 7pm that night. and she slept until 11:30. The rest of the night she was up and down but no crying. That was a w...

 Last week we were cancelled or bumped or whatever you want to call it from the surgery list. Disappointing to the youngest kiddo but not life-threatening. But we are on for tomorrow at noon. Tonight, they are out with my daughter and her kids seeing the "Big Guy" from the North Pole, that is. I wasn't invited nor was I told where they were going. However, when you are instructed to dress them up and we are taking them out late at night, it kind of adds up to something holiday-ish. so red flannel for the tween and shimmery for the younger  heart shapes to all!  We had to be at Fort Carson by 0830 for a covid test, so the dogs did not get their leash walk today. Not sure if they will get it tomorrow or not. There will be time but the youngest cannot have anything after midnight tonight and will be quite hungry I am sure, so do I encourage sleeping in? Or do the normal day only without food. I will keep you posted. I finally got the vacuum cleaner cleaned out and I was able...