Yesterday we were back to part time school. It is impossible for me to jump back in full time with Grandma still here…we want to spend as much time with her as possible.

Since a couple of the kids had colds, I left Elizabeth to baby-sit them and the RAD kid who couldn’t quite wrap his head around math ( 8+0= ?) even though he was doing two digit by two digit multiplication. The rest of us went shopping and out for lunch. We had a wonderful time with Grandma and then came home and relaxed.

The puppy is back out in the “ugly” house because the kids are just too distracted to watch her. I also noticed that a couple more kids are coming down with colds. Great.

Last night I asked two boys to take the other dogs out and they went outside and fooled around like boys do when you have more than one of them together. They assured me that the dogs didn’t have to poop…and you will never guess what I found in the living room early this morning. Yep…dog poop.

So, I woke the boy up who was responsible…VERY early…and he cleaned up the mess and took dogs out for a walk to end of the field. I am NOT happy! I have read that in the tween and teen years, there is a MAJOR reorganizing of the brain, which causes children to not be able to think. They do dumb things and when you ask them why they did it, they say they don’t know. The article said that they really DO NOT KNOW why they would do something so dumb…this is because of the brain upgrade that they are getting. All children go through this, not just boys, however, it is the boys that take longer for the upgrade. In fact, I think the upgrade may not be complete in the male gender until well into the 30′s or even 40 years of age. This could explain why my husband laughs hysterically at the dumb things his boys say and do while the girls and I don’t even smile.

Time to get going today….more later.

I keep thinking I should write a blog post, then the kids need me or I am just too exhausted to write anything down. Today is a “free” day…nothing to do and no where to go…so I am going to try and give you a glimpse into what has been happening in our house.

My mom has been here since December 19th and I have really enjoyed her company. We have had a lot of fun since she has been here. We have been shopping, bowling, and out for lunch. We have rented movies and been shopping and out for lunch! She will be here for one more week and I wish she could stay longer.

My RAD kids are still RAD…nothing changed just because Grandma was here or because we had some special holidays. In fact, it was worse having special things. Sometimes I don’t think I will make it to the finish line. I get so tired of dealing with the lying and sneaking and stealing and I wonder why on earth I have done this to myself. I mean, I actually chose to take these kids on knowing that other families had given it their best shot and couldn’t go on any longer. What was I thinking? What makes me so special? Did I actually think that I could succeed where others had not? I wonder what is going to become of some of these children. Will I have actually made a difference in their lives? Just this morning I found out about yet another incident with one of the children who continues to be on restriction. I feel like a yo-yo…giving them a chance and then pulling them back when they mess up, giving them another chance, messing up, pulling back…like a continuous, endless cycle. And to make it twice as hard, I do this as a single parent during the week. Only God.

Steve got sick the week before Christmas, yet couldn’t stand the thought of not being here. So, he came home. He promised to wear a mask and not prepare any food. He said he felt better on Friday, so he went to work and then came home. On Saturday, both he and my mom were not feeling well. She hadn’t slept well and was light headed. They each took a couch and pretty much laid on them all day while I made Christmas Eve dinner….lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and two desserts. Christmas Eve I took the children to sing at our neighbor’s Nativity service in her barn. We had decided to open gifts on the morning of Christmas Eve to kind of keep the RAD kids off balance and it worked!! They were not expecting anything and so did not have time to sabotage anything and the other kids got the benefit of not having to wait to open gifts…a win-win situation for everyone.

I was awakened at 4:30 Christmas morning by Steve yelling and moaning. When I got up to investigate, I found him standing in the bathroom unable to move. I guess he coughed and threw his back out. I helped him back into bed, where he promptly fell asleep and there I was wide awake. So,  I made cinnamon rolls and the kids opened their stockings and gifts from Grandma. Since we were also fostering 11 puppies, the children were kept busy with new toys and taking care of puppies out in the barn.  My mom was feeling better, but Steve was worse, so he pretty much laid around while I got the ham and potatoes ready. I asked the boys to bring me in some potatoes from the barn and they discovered that “someone” left the water on and flooded the puppies out of the barn!!! I went to Steve on the couch and told him I was sorry he didn’t feel well, but I was at my breaking point now and he had better get up and do something!!!!!

We got the puppies settled into the “ugly” house out back with a heat lamp…after the girls had given all 11 a nice bath and dried them in a towel. Grandma took over the dinner while I dealt with puppies and Steve supervised the boys getting things ready in the house. He came back and laid down and then we had dinner. Steve decided he was going to be unable to drive the 2 and a half hours back to work and called in sick.

The next morning, he was still not feeling well. So, I popped a new movie in for the kids and my mom and I went after Christmas shopping. Sometime while I was gone, Steve decided he needed a doctor and since no one was open, he left for Boise shortly after we returned from our shopping trip. I was sorry to see him go, but at the same time didn’t want anyone to get sick.

On Wednesday, Grandma took everyone bowling for our 2nd annual bowling fun!! Elizabeth beat everyone with a score of 100 and some of the boys’ egos took a beating with low scores. But, everyone had fun.

Yesterday, Luc came down with a cold…great. I hope everyone else doesn’t come down with this and especially not Grandma or ME! I also got a phone call that a transport was coming to take 5 of the 11 puppies. I met the transport and handed off the puppies. Now we were down to 6 puppies and it seemed so quiet. As I was finishing up making our dinner of ham and scalloped potatoes, the phone rang again. The transport had decided to take another 5 puppies along, which left just one puppy that was already promised to someone from northern Idaho. So, I jumped in the van with the other 5 pups and headed to the shelter.

One puppy is a lot more work than 11…or even 6!!!! We had decided it would be too cold and lonely for the puppy to be out in the “ugly” house, so we tried to put her in a kennel in the house and she was miserable. In the interest of everyone getting a good night’s sleep, we put her back in the house with a couple of stuffed animals. One of our barn cats came up and we threw him in there too. The puppy was happy to have the company and settled right down by her stuffed animals and went to sleep. The cat, however, is probably scarred for life!!

Tonight is the last night of 2011 and tomorrow begins a new year…2012. We will have special food tonight and my children will go to bed at their normal bedtimes because I am not about to try and stay up until midnight with RAD kids and besides…I’m just too tired to stay up.

What will the next year bring? I’m sure there will be blessings as well as hard times.

That’s just the way life is.

More later….

Almost every Monday SOMEONE has to do SOMETHING “Rad-ish” and almost EVERY Monday several will make bad choices that cause them to go to bed early. Today I had 9 out of 12 in bed early. One has a chronic “sniff” that only happens when she wants to irritate someone and that someone is usually me. So, I say “Oh, you must be coming down with something and will need your rest tonight…early bedtime!” All the while I smile because early bedtime can be a very good thing…for me.

A few more just couldn’t get the school thing today….”Oh, you must be really tired! Early bedtime!” All the while I smile, knowing what that means…for me.

A few more didn’t believe me when I said it was time for dinner and didn’t pick up. Instead they started to throw the cards across the room and fall down on the floor and act like the foolish boys that they are. “You must be really tired not to obey me. Early bed!”

One “accidentally” used his brother’s toothbrush…it was an accident, I’m sure because he is SO tired that he can’t tell the difference between red and green. “Oh, but I think you must be really tired out from that walk we took to confuse your colors like that. Early bedtime!” All the while I smile…for me.

One blindsided me…it came out of no where. I had NO clue he was eating toothpaste behind a closed door! I think perhaps he was trying to get back at me for not letting him sleep without his pull up. But, his brother caught him red handed…or with toothpaste all over his finger. “I am not eating it.” he said weakly as he saw me come around the corner. Of course not…you got caught! I’m sure this has been going on for a while and the poor choice has now caused me to have greater diligence in watching him. He has now chosen to never be behind a closed door and to never be left in the vicinity of toothpaste…because, you know, that stuff is poison!

As I came down the stairs…only three were left. Ah, the three good ones…the ones I can trust. I smile…suggest a snack of ice cream before bed and go and take my shower. As I relax under the warm water, I plan my strategy for tomorrow. I come out of the bathroom to voices…”Would you do that if Mom was standing right there?” DO WHAT?? Lick the empty bowl like a dog!!

And then there were two…because we do not lick bowls like dogs and I won’t offer a snack before bed again for a long time.

It’s been a long and RAD filled day and I am looking forward to hearing the tick of the clock in a quiet house as I try and relax and get ready for tomorrow’s adventures.