My Quarterly Post

Rome was fantastic! Oh my word, I am so glad that I chose to go there for my first trip out of the United States. So much history. It's incredible to be standing in the midst of that.

Then we hosted a lovely young lady from France named Cyrielle. She was very kind and polite. Cami spent about ten days with her family near Paris. They took her everywhere!! Disney, Notre Dame, castles, etc. They were extremely kind to her. What a fabulous exchange that was. 

This is Cyrielle in Disney World. 

This is Cami in France. Eating a waffle with chantilly. 

Now, it's September and Caleb is about to turn 18 years old. I need to go to probate court to get guardianship of him as well as social security to apply for SSI. So much to navigate when you have a mentally disabled child/adult. 

He still loves baseball!!

Simon started Tiger Cubs last week. Olaf takes both the boys to Cub Scouts. I'm a nervous wreck about Simon going because he is so far behind academically. He should be starting first grade, but he's going to be at least a year behind for awhile. He's at least a head taller than all the other boys in his pack, which makes it even worse that he's behind. He looks older than he is!

Josiah is in Webelos 2. He's a cute boy. Tall and thin with those dark eyes. 

This was his 11th day of school picture. I forgot to take a first day of school picture. He's yawning. 

Gracie's 11th day of school picture!! She's in Girl Scouts again this year and loves it. She's starting on her Silver Award.

Roma!

We arrived this morning in Italy. I traveled First Class and poor Olaf sat waaay back in coach. I slept about an hour on the plane, even though the seats reclined to a full flat position. After a car ride to the hotel, we walked to the Borghese Gardens just a few blocks away. We rented a rickshaw for an hour and tooled around the park. Then back to the hotel to see if our room was ready. After a quick shower, we walked to The Spanish Steps but it was so hot outside. I was sweating like crazy. Came back to the hotel and I took an hour nap. Then we went to a local restaurant and had a very nice dinner. I had lasagna and Olaf had a calzone. The house wine was excellent. We also had tiramisu and espresso. Now it's almost 9:00 pm and we are tired. Tomorrow we have a full day tour of Rome and we are super excited!!

Friday!

I know no one reads this blog anymore, but we leave this Friday from Rome. I think I'll post my travel updates here. (Providing I can hook up to wifi) I really want to journal my first time out of the country, and this seems more logical (and permanent) than paper and ink. I am not looking forward to the ten hour flight to Rome in row 39, but at least I get to sit next to Olaf. I'll probably take a phenergan and hope to sleep a few hours. 

Roma

We leave for Rome is just a few short weeks. It will be my first time out of the country. I am super excited and nervous too. Cami is in charge for a week and that is a lot of responsibility for a 17 year old young woman. Two butts to wipe, four dogs to care for, cooking and cleaning... So grateful she is so responsible and can do this for us. Then she'll go to Paris for two weeks in July on her IYE exchange. My 17 year old has been to New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Spain and now France. I am so happy that she likes to travel and is independent enough to go alone. Grace gets to begin IYE exchanges when she is 14. I think she'll be a world traveler as well. Speaking of Grace, she turns 12 this Thursday. Time marches on and I'm getting old. 

Mama got a new iPad

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and my family bought me an iPad. My Mac is about six years old and full and getting slow. I love it still, but thought it would be fun to have an iPad. So, I asked for one. Yes, I know I am spoiled. Simon uses it more than I do so I am hoping he will want to play more educational stuff since the screen is bigger. 

The children are almost done with the school year. About a week left. Cami only has one class to finish high school! One class. It's precalculus, so it might take her all year to do. I need to look into dual enrollment and let her take a college course next year as well.  Maybe a composition class or something. As of now, she wants to major in English and perhaps get a job as an editor or write for the local paper.  

This is Kidani. She is huge. We covered the couch with blankets so she won't stink it up. She's very protective of the house and she is super scary when she barks at the UPS man or anyone else coming to the house.  We try to take her out as much as possible to make sure she stays socialized. We do not want a mean dog. She is about a year old now and still gets crazy and hates the cats. I need the Dog Whisperer to help me as I have no idea how to get her to NOT chase the cats. She is crazy with the other dogs as well. Bailey likes her, but until Bailey's spay incision is healed, I won't leave them alone together. No rough housing for her and Kidani tries to mount her. 

We have been in our house one year now. Still have boxes everywhere. I suck. 

Look at Bailey now

She's happy and getting fatter! She is afraid of the leash so we are trying to get her used to it. I think someone must have used a leash and a collar to choke her. Poor girl. She loves Cami the most. Cami is the one that finally lured her into our yard the night before we called animal control. The picture on the left us the day we turned her in. The one on the right is today. Such a huge difference. She looks so happy.

It's May

There is really no reason not to blog now that there is an app on my phone. Technology is crazy. What did we do before the Internet?

Cami just had a cyst cut out of her breast bone and next week gets all four wisdom teeth cut out. Poor girl. She only has one more subject to finish and she is done with high school. She's just finishing her junior year, so hopefully this pre-calculus class will take awhile. I won't let her go to college until she's 18.

We are picking up the dog we turned into animal control three weeks ago. She was spayed yesterday and I feel bad about keeping her outside, but we have no choice. Kidani is crazy and I'm not bringing her in the house. We've named her Bailey. Here is a photo we took if her the day we turned her in to Animal control.

Fun night

I had so much fun last night playing Music Trivia with some friends and Cami. We were in last place, but thanks to a final jeopardy question and betting all our points, we wound up in second. We got a $20 gift card to the restaurant we played at. I have a feeling this will end up being a weekly event for awhile.

I'm addicted

To live trials on Court TV. Jodi Arias has me pinned to the TV. I am in my pj's all day. I don't clean. I don't parent. I don't do anything.

I am a sucky blogger

However, this is mostly for me anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter that I suck!

We just spent the weekend at Disney World.  A whirlwind, but fun trip.  Four parks in two days.  You have to love that Guest Assistance Pass that we get for Caleb, because it enables us to do what we want in each park without the wait times that most people have to endure.  Of course, Caleb could never wait, thus the need for the Guest Assistance Pass.  I think the GAP is being abused though, as I saw several cast members with clipboards checking off how many people were using it as we entered numerous attractions.  And that is fine with me if they crack down.  If we need a doctor's note in the future, I would welcome that. I do not like seeing people use the pass that obviously do not need it.  It ruins it for those of us that really do.

Cami just started precalculus and is having a difficult time. I cannot help her anymore.  She is way past my comfort level.  I am looking into finding a tutor asap.  If it were me, I wouldn't make her do it at all.  However she is getting an accredited diploma through an online high school and it is a must.  Her goal is to work for minimum wage at Disney World, so I don't think calculus is required.

Olaf and I are contemplating a trip this summer to Machu Picchu.  We are considering an Adventures By Disney Tour, but financially we need to go over it.  He has two positive space tickets on Delta, so we want to go somewhere fantastic.  I also want to go to Rome, but I think eventually they are going to close Machu Picchu to visitors and I want to get there before then. 

I still haven't started formal school with Simon.  He will be six in May and still doesn't know his alphabet.  I have no idea what to do with him.  Plus, I'm lazy. All of my children were reading by now, but he is definitely different than the other children.  And the baby.  And probably coddled too much.  Speaking of being the baby, he always will be.  Olaf is getting a vasectomy on March 8th.  Yes, we have made the decision.  No more babies until grandbabies come along.  I am now 45 years old and I have zero desire to have another one. 

And on the lazy note, I am super fat again.  Time to start watching what I put in my big, fat mouth.