Just a whiney post

I have been is such a funk lately and just can't seem to find anything worthy of a blog post, so I am just going to vent about all the trials and tribulations of what's going on:

. This economy sucks! Yes, I know we're in a recession and all, but I just feel paralyzed to do anything, I want to plan a summer vacation, but feel so uncertain of my job situation that I just can't do it. We are so due for a "real" vacation, I love visiting family and staying there, but having to make my own bed and clean up after myself does not constitute a vacation in my book. (No offense to you Gail, I know you feel the same way).

. I think Chase is outgrowing his dosage of ADHD medication. His behavior has been awful lately and it is wearing on my everlasting last nerve. A call to his pediatrician is warranted and I just need to put it on my "to-do" list. He does have an awesome teacher now and she is so calm and just tells me that we'll give it a week and if things don't change, we'll put our heads together and come up with a plan. I don't know what medication she takes, but I want some of it!

. I have a new blackberry phone with all these fancy features on it and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to download the pictures I have taken. I know I should just contact blackberry, but I just don't want to.

. Because of my first issue (see above), I am not inclined to buy a new house here in Austin right now and the thought of going through a Texas summer without a pool in the backyard is almost excruciating. I know, I am spoiled and my problems could be so much worse.

. My absolute fantastic, wonderful, kind (insert any other great adjective here) brother-in-law is back in the hospital with more complications of a this horrible, insidious, ravaging (insert any other awful adjective here) disease. It just breaks my heart to see what is happening to him and my sister. Godspeed to an end of this suffering.

. I am sick of broken, lost, missing piece toys! And I know this is probably a mommy mistake, but I have indulged my kids with lots of toys in addition to the ones they have received as gifts from family and friends. But dear Lord, if I find one more truck with no wheels, batteries pulled out, arms broken off, naked doll with "I guess I lost her clothes response", broken crayons, markers with no cap, absolutely no remorse, couldn't care less attitude toward it all, I am going to lose it! I had no idea that we have a third child living in this house named "not me", as in "who did it?, not me". I took the drastic step of taking all of Chase's toys away this week related to #2 above and have made it clear that he will have to earn them back one by one. So far it is Thursday and he still has no toys.

. I am tired of my 5.5 year old having to wear pull ups at night and still soaking thru them and the rubber sheet protector and having to wash and remake beds almost.every.day. And before you tell me to get pull-ups that don't leak, the only ones that I have found that do that are the Kroger brand and the closest Kroger is 200 miles away.

Okay, this post could go on for days, I have many, many more gripes, but I will stop and try to get on with my day. Oh how I wish it was 5 o'clock here! And yes, I do know it's 5 o'clock somewhere, but I'm just not in the mood for Child Protective Services to show up today!

The Easter Bunny found us in Chicago

Nothing like waiting until the last minute to finalize our Easter plans. At the last moment, I decided to take Caroline and Chase up to Chicago to visit their Aunt and Uncle and their cousins Steve and CeCe. My BIL's health makes it impossible for him to travel and given the depressive situation that's going on in their house, I decided to liven things up with 2 kids and 3 dogs! Just what the doctor ordered! Since airline tickets at the last minute were prohibitively expensive, we drove the loooong trip. We had so much fun, I think we ate out every meal, we took the kids to one of those Benihana type restaurants and they got to use chop sticks for the first time, and what a show, the kids loved it! We played in the park, went bowling, went on an Easter egg hunt and just had so much fun. Easter Sunday, the big bunny found us and left the kids so many goodies, I don't ever remember getting so much stuff in my basket, I think they are a tad bit spoiled. We spent the remainder of the day gorging ourselves at this massive buffet in this beautiful restaurant that my nephew Steve manages; I think Chase ate 6 cupcakes from the dessert table! Caroline of course was all about the sausage. My cousin Mark joined us for brunch and filled us in on his latest mission trip to Cuba, what an incredible experience. Both kids were just in their glory; I swear that Caroline would rather spend her time at a funeral with family than spend the day at 6 flags! She just looooovvvves being part of a family, she could be the poster child for what adoption is all about! Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures and the ones I did take don't really represent Easter, but here are some from the fun:

This first one is for my nephew Steve. When Steve was in college, I swear he kept this particular bar in business! Here's Caroline drinking out of a souvenir cup, training for her future college days... NOT!

Chase checking out his loot:


Forgive me for this one; my BIL Larry is such a good sport and enjoyed, I mean tolerated the kids doing funny things to him:

Can't leave the fur babies out. Here's Violet "smiling"!

Bragging on my little Care Bear

Caroline and Chase have started playing soccer this season, this is the first time either of them have played in any kind of team sport. Now Caroline, God bless her, is not the most athletic of kids, whereas Chase seems to have much more coordination and speed, but Caroline gets an "A" for effort and getting out there and trying.

This morning was their second game of the season; there are about 10 kids on the team (Caroline and Chase play on the same team). There is one little girl who is probably the youngest kid and is extremely shy, she has yet to do anything but sit in her mother's lap and eat apples! The coach has tried to coax her onto the field, but she just buries her head in her mom's chest and will not even look at the game let alone play in it. Well, my little Caroline just took it upon herself to be this girls friend and came over, said "Hi, my name is Caroline, let's go play, grabbed her hand and dragged her onto the field and ran up and down the field holding her hand! Oh.my.God! It was about the cutest thing I or any of the other parents have seen! I was so proud of her! She didn't care if she didn't get to kick the ball, all she cared about was making sure this little girl was out there and having fun. What an incredible mommy moment! She should get the award for best sportsmanship! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera to capture this sweet scene, but here are some pictures from last week in their first game.



Gotta give equal time to Chase!