November wrap

So November has been a crazy month for me. In October I received my RNA or registared nurses assistant certification. The end of August I started working with a family who has two disabled children. One has a feeding tube, so I have been certified and trained to be able to feed him. I enjoy my work there. I never sought a career as a caregiver, in fact, I was kind of pushed into it. Isn't that the way with a lot people. But I am enjoying it. I find my work relaxing and rewarding which has enabled me to do more than I thought I could do.
Halloween week was an eventful week for my adopted family. My client was in and out of the hospital as things just got worse for him. I don't want to say anything that would violate privacy contracts here, but it was a scary couple of days for all of us. He is doing much better now. But in the mess of all that was going on, we had a caregiver quit. There are four of us that work with these two children. As a result, I have been able to pick up a lot of hours. Most of them are temporary. Although I think we will see my hours go up in the long run. It's hard to say just yet as we are working through the headache of getting a new schedule made.
Todd has had to take up a lot of the slack. He comes home early to watch the kids. He has even watched my daycare kids for short periods of time. He has helped keep up on the house. And he has been amazing. My mom has also helped to watch the kids when she can, so Todd can study, and I can work.
The week of Thanksgiving, the Tri-Cities was covered in snow--right as I tried to fight off a cold. Todd picked up the slack, and he allowed me to sleep. He also ran the paperroute on the not ideal roads. He has more experience driving in the snow than I do. He has been amazing. And I appreciate him. The extra hours are huge blessing. We have a lot of work we need to do on our cars--and so any extra will go into them. We have some repairs and a lot maintance work to do.
We have also realized that the last time we spent Christmas with Todd's family, I was pregnant with Karla. So it's been a while. We feel it is important to spend this Christmas with the Nef's. It's one prompting we are very excited to follow!! And we have seen the Lord's hand in making this trip possible. My co-workers have moved most of my hours to before the trip, so I am not losing much by going there. We have found a subsitute for the paper route that is excited about making the money--he may not be excited about doing papers again. We feel very blessed.
The other news for November was parent teacher confrences. Karla is hitting exceeds expectations in reading, writing, and math. Most of this is because of preschool. She is also good at following directions, working in a group, and the other social parts of kindergarten. She needs to work on being responcible for her backpack, her homework, and her coat. We are working on this at home as well. Kylee is doing very well in preschool too. She gets along with her classmates better than expected. We have set some goals to help her vocalize her needs to someone who can help. We are also working on letter recognition and realizing that 4 correlates to . . . . 4 of something. I am excited for both girls. They have been asking to go back to school with this long vacation.
We love you all and wish you fun, family, and safety this holiday season.

Look what I found.

So we have not had our camera for three weeks. So we just took pictures. Take one of me mommy. Here are my hams.

When money was really tight last time, before I got a wonderful digital camera, I would take pictures knowing I couldn't come back and take them. And I collected the film and knew one day, I would develop it. So I took in box of film and just got the CD's. I was surprised at what I got. Maybe next time I will put on some of the more obscure pictures. These are my favorite finds. But I can't help but to compare them to the pictures I took yesterday.

Karla and Kylee and Daddy at Grandma's house.

I love my sister. They are so cute!! Now, when we go to pick up Sister at school. They run and give each other a hug. I love it!! Sisters are the best. (I have been thinking I need to get that on film, but I didn't have my camera.)

Before we got a slip n slide.

Cyntha with new baby Ben.

Ben with Grandma Julie on his blessing day. Can you tell she is the proud Grandma.

Karla being my big helper. Her hair isn't falling out yet, so I love this shot.

Karla and Uncle Garth at the free movie.

Kylee and Uncle Garth

Kylee dressing up as a movie star, at her potty party.

Karla in her balloon jungle, at her potty party.

Karla and Kylee at McDonalds. During the winter time, in the motorhome, to keep our sanity--we went to McDonalds so the kids could just run and not get into trouble. This was our favorite play place because it had a ramp. The stairs in other play places was a bit much for them.

Brenda our friend with Karla. Brenda loves babies. And we love Brenda.

Kylee's 2nd birthday--they both got sunglass, which they still have not broken.

Kylee's potty party. This is our balloon pit.

Karla and Kylee with dad--probably about 2 and 3 years old.

The brady's on Ben's blessing day.

Collage days musings.

So life has gotten really busy. We had some things happen at work, and I have picked up lots of extra hours through the holiday season. It's suppose to settle down come January, but you never know what will happen. Todd has been a real trooper and has really helped out at home. I am so grateful for him and so proud of him.
I lent my camera to Mom for her vacation, and Mom, Cyntha, and Dot have all decided they want one just like it. I should get it back this week. But I have no pictures to post. So I thought I'd post a poem I wrote. These are all old poems. But I haven't shared them with most of you. I love the quote from the Dead Poets Society "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. . . . And the human race is filled with passion. . . . Poetry, beauty, romance, love: these are what we stay alive for."

Potty Training

Someday I'll be big--

Mommy said so.

Then I can do things big kids do:

cross the street

go to school

stay up past 8 'o'clock

and go to the bathroom all by

myself.

Who wants to sit and wait

till Mommy remembers

I need help.

May 1999

This poem was an assignment to write a poem off a picture. I ended up with a cute picture of a little kid sitting on the potty--looking out the door. But I think the poem stands on it's own. I still see that picture when I read it. Although I now see two little toe heads too.

Excuses

I sit by the window.

You said 3:00;

I was here at 2:30.

Packed last night

It took no time at all.

My plans were cancelled,

I dropped everything,

Told everybody

"My Daddy is coming."

As the clock ticks

3:00, 3:30, 4:00 . . .

I am still waiting. . . .

May 1999

Behind Glass

Smooth glass and tired hands touch again

as I kiss your picture before bed.

That is all I have left now--

A couple of old letters, your picture

and the memories that haunt my dreams:

Batting movie quotes

and pick up lines

back and forth.

Your laugh echoing . . .

As you tell your stories something in your eyes dance

Reminding me of flames on a black night.

And for a moment, like puzzle pieces

I seem to fit in your arms.

Until my roommate calls

"What's taking you guys so long?"

And I wake--

Touch my lips and the glass

And go on without you.

Feb 2002

This last one is one of my favorites. Probably because I sat down to write. I didn't know what to write, just that I had to--and this is what happened. In looking at it after the fact, I realized that I felt this way in one of my relationships at the time--long ago, in a far away place. I love it when I discover in the process of writing. My best writing comes that way I think. And so I still have a special place for this one.

Wet Shoes

Cold, bare, and exposed

my shoes lie wet on the floor--

exposed to the frost filled wind

streaking through the open door.

Tossed there and forgotten

as I strip my wet clothes for

dry, fuzzy sweats

and slippers given me last Christmas.

Knotted and mangled

from the days adventures;

I toss them outside

and shut the door.

September 2002

Well Kaylyn has just gone down for a nap. And I have two hours before Family Home Evening. I'm going to attempt a 15 minute pick up in the living room--while Kaylyn is not undoing my work. Then I'm going to catch a quick nap. And then I think I will finally get dressed for the day! I still dress up to look good for a guy.