Our new toilet seat

I know when I buy something like this, I am past the magic of parenting young children.  Maybe I feel richer and think I can indulge in things like this.  Regardless, let me introduce you to our newest upgrade.  And I do mean upgrade.

This is our new toilet seat.

This is also our new toilet seat. 

Actually, it's Sarah's new toilet seat.  Do you see how the top picture show the little seat up and this one shows it down?  It stays up there with a strong little magnet until needed.  Sarah pulls it down when she needs to use the bathroom.  When she closes the lid, it snaps back into place again.

(We have trained all of our kids to close the toilet when they are finished.  Sarah does it about 99% of the time.  They also flush.  I know the last person to use the toilet is a guest if the toilet lid/seat is left up.  We've also had a lot of little guests who don't flush.  Yucky.)

One last thing we like about this toilet seat is that it closes s.l.o.w.l.y.  This is an action shot of the toilet closing.  No more slammed or dropped lids!  We do hear a snap if it is connecting with the child seat, but nothing else.  You have be standing right by it to hear it close, otherwise.

I've known about these seats for a while, but I hadn't talked myself into buying one with Joseph.  After all, he stands most of the time!  But Sarah is a sitter and it suddenly became worth the $40 if it meant I didn't have to keep flipping off her little seat every time I wanted to use the bathroom.

It has been TOTALLY worth it!

Where can you get one of these engineering marvels?  You can get them online (amazon.com).  I got this one at Home Depot.  The down side: they only come in white.  So, it doesn't match our toilet.  Oh well.  When I'm sitting there, I can't see any of the toilet and when I'm out of the room, I don't care!  ha ha

This particular model is called Next Step, made by Bemis.  I do believe there are other choices out there.  If you love this, and get one, let me know so that I don't have to feel so over indulgent!  ;)

*All opinions are mine and offered voluntarily.  I was not compensated in any way for this review.

Hellish Dandelions

The dandelions are everywhere.  The kids and I have been working on them a little.  We've packed two of those white buckets full of the little monster plants.  It doesn't look too bad in the first picture.

The second picture gives you a better idea of the nightmare before us.

Yes...we let them go too long.  Chad did spray them, so there is some hope.  But it feels like such a little amount of hope! 

Have I mentioned that the riding lawn mower is out of commission? 

End of the school year

Teacher Appreciation Week was May 7-11.  The kids took a gift for their teachers.  My inspiration came from Pinterest.   They were filled with homemade caramel corn.

Most of you know about my insane need to do some things while completely blowing off others.  Last year I made the kids shirts to wear on the last day of school.  They were a pretty big hit and some of the kids still wear them.  I used fabric and paint on last year's shirts.

This year I used heat transfer vinyl (iron on).  I had some very cute paw prints from my friend and I had been saving them to use on these shirts.  I spent the last two weeks before school let out stewing over what to actually say.  Inspiration definitely hit with these!

It is to be expected that someone will be unhappy when I want to take a picture.  At least we could still see his shirt.

 In case you can't see what they say, I will "translate".  ;)  The school kids' say: 1st Grade   Been there... (and on the back)...done that!  Obviously, only Rebekah's said 1st Grade...I'm trusting you to keep up here!

Joseph's says: Kindergarten Class of 2014 (and on the back) - a paw print with a 14 cut out.

Sarah's says: I never take NO for an answer (and on the back) - DETERMINATION

The shirts got quite a few comments...so I felt accomplished.  *wink*

Note on the picture...those are swimming trunks Daniel has on.  His fashion sense is a little unique, but even he has limits!  hehe

Daniel's Ordination

Daniel will be turning 12 this weekend.  (I can hardly believe it myself!)  He will be ordained a Deacon on Sunday.  He has been looking forward to this, and his first suit, for a little while now.

We are not expecting anyone to make the trip for the ordination.  HOWEVER, any and all are welcome.  We will take care of it after church, about 3:30 PM.  If you think you will be coming, please let us know, so we can at least clean up the house!  (And maybe prepare a bit of food.)

Down on the farm

Our farm is growing!  We had 3 little kittens born on Mother's Day.  They are very cute and still haven't started venturing away from their momma.  Leah is very drawn to animals and these babies are getting a lot of her attention.  She doesn't handle them yet, but she crawls under the table where they are and stares at them...for a long time.

We hatched chicks...twice.  We've come to admit that we are no good at hatching eggs.  We don't know what we are doing wrong, but the first time we started with 2 dozen and ended up with 4 chicks (though many more had been moving the day before they should have hatched).  The second time we started with 32 eggs and had 5 eggs hatch, then one chick died several days later.

Luckily, there is a mill in town where we can buy as many chicks as we want.  We bought 15 chicks to go with the first batch.  One of those chicks died; I mentioned it in a previous post.  Then we had our 4 chicks and got a call from Chad's dad.  He had access to free chicks and we could have as many as we wanted.  So we weren't really in need of more chicks, but the price was right.

Fast forward to the present...we have 54 chicks.  FIFTY-FOUR!  We'll see how that works out.

We did sell 3 of our lambs a couple of weeks ago.  We still have our bottle-fed lambs since they are not afraid of us.  We have staked them out in the orchard to help us keep the grass down out there.  But lambs are not very smart and we are constantly going out there to untangle them.  I'm glad it's summer and we can send the kids out there.

Tonight, Chad and I held a mini-rodeo and caught the last two lambs to put them in a back corner of the orchard that is all grass.  We hope it's not too late to tame them (though my hope is weak).  It was quite a site to behold.  When lambs don't want to be led, they lay down.  So we dragged two lambs and got tired and sweaty.  It was so much fun.

I am grateful we have the opportunity to raise these animals.  I watched Joseph help me wrangle the tame lambs as we hooked them up tonight.  He got pretty firm with one of the lambs and smacked her on the rear to get her moving.  It was funny...I don't think she even noticed.  There aren't very many 4-year-old boys having that experience.  Even Sarah tries to manage the lambs sometimes.  :)  The kids gather eggs, fill water troughs and throw hay over the fence.  Tonight they helped plant more of the garden.  It's a great life.  If we ever have to leave it behind, I will be sad, but grateful to have lived it at all.

Medical Mysteries

I know.   I have been missing.  I have been BUSY!  School is finally out, so I am looking forward to things slowing down a little.  (I may be delusional, but everyone needs to have hope in their life.)

Where do I start?  The foremost events in our lives right now are the battles Daniel and Nathan are waging against pain. 

Daniel's jaw pain is back.  We're speculating it may be from his most recent trip to the orthodontist, where he had more of his build ups ground off and molds taken for a new retainer.  I guess we'll see if we're right...he has to go back for his retainer check tomorrow.  Since Friday, Daniel has been taking pain killers constantly.  He is currently taking ibuprofen and hydrocodone...one or the other every 3 hours.  He did make it 5 hours today...a major step.

Nathan's problem is much more confusing to all of us, including the doctors. For some reason, his pelvic bone twisted...one side forward, the other side back.  Because of this, the ligaments in his rear end tightened up.  He walks like he's survived polio. He can't really run.  Additionally, the muscles in his back are so tight that one shoulder hikes up, the other one doesn't move much, and the spine is pulled into a curve. 

Both boys have been seeing physical therapists.  Daniel's initial visits with the PT did wonders for him, so we're a little frustrated that two visits since the orthodontist have left him no better.  Nathan has also seen improvement, but not like Daniel did.  They can work on him and loosen him up, but things go almost back to where they started.

Our insurance doesn't cover physical therapy and each half hour session costs $75.  I am praying for miracles!!

I don't know why the boys have been given these trials, or what they should be learning from them.  But they have been amazing troopers (Daniel has been suffering for almost 3 years now) and we all still find ways to laugh about it sometimes.

Add to that, Sarah has been fevering off and on since Friday (at least).  I finally took her in and she has an ear infection.  Her cough the past 3 nights has been torture to hear.  She makes child #3 taking medication in this house!

Consequences...Country Style

Chad left for a scout campout last night and the care of the animals fell to the boys.

The task wasn't too difficult.  It was mostly making sure the animals all had water, the chicks, chickens and dog had food, and the two lawn-mower lambs tied up in the orchard were untangled.

All three boys went out.  Nathan did 85% of the work.  Daniel untangled the lambs and then stood by, watching Nathan work.  As they had headed outside, Nathan made a comment to Daniel about that very thing.  It's a common thing around here.

When they came in, I questioned them about the state of everything outside...including the chicks.  I was told that they did indeed have food and water.

This morning I went out around 11:30 to check on the laying hens (they have grown a liking for the taste of raw eggs).  I found the chicks' food tipped over and empty and their water dry.  Additionally, one chick was dead.

I called for the boys.  I held them BOTH accountable.  Nathan was the one that told me they were taken care of.   I think he didn't look very carefully.  Daniel didn't even get close, so he couldn't have caught the error.  (Joseph was out there, but doesn't have any responsibilities yet.)

I informed them that they wouldn't be having lunch or eating until dinner.  After all, the chicks didn't have anything to eat or drink...and one of them died.  I added to Daniel's consequence and gave him the task of removing the dead chick from the coop.

He nearly fell apart out there.  The amount of crying and shaking surprised me.  I left him to work it out on his own time and told him he could come in when he was done.  He sat out there for almost an hour, but he finally did it.

He was supposed to show me he had the bird, but I think the trauma of it all sent him right to the garbage can.  He was crying and shaking a bit all over again.

I hope this sticks with him.  He needs to be more responsible and Chad and I are pulling out our hair trying to get through to him.

At least I know Daniel and Nathan will eat a good dinner tonight (or at least they'll be ready to eat...I make no guarantees on the quality of the meal).

Did you ever have a consequence that was particularly difficult?

Uh oh...here comes summer

If today is any indication (or most of the Fridays of this school year) of what I get to expect for summer with 6 kids close in age, I am going to be twitching, stumbling, and babbling before the 2012-2013 school year begins!

 

(Wow.  How was that for a long sentence?)

Current State of Mind

Some of you may be wondering how my one experience with therapy has worked out for me.  Overall, I have to admit that it has been a positive experience.
While I didn't have the experience I expect or even wanted, it was beneficial.  I WANTED things to be better and really did my best to internalize what was said to me.

I don't know that anyone likes to hear that they are too sensitive and expecting too much.  I still don't think it's expecting too much to have my family closer, considering how distant they are.  But the counselor pointed out that my mother and sisters (specifically, a certain sister) have always been this way and they aren't going to change.  I have to lower my expectations or I will continue to be disappointed and hurt.

He also described something he referred to as the Principle of Least Interest.  In effect, it means that the person who cares the least has the most control because he or she sits back while people reach out to them.  Until they see or get something they desire, they remain uninterested in the relationship.  I am 38 years old.  My sister is 37.  She has mastered this principle.  I have played into her trap for well over 30 years.  I am no longer playing and it feels very freeing.

Along the lines of this principle, I have experimented with it in my other family relationships while practicing not being overly sensitive.  It is working.  I am feeling better.

I made a trip to visit with my mom last weekend.  The two days and two nights I spent there weren't any different from most of the visits I'd been making over the last several years.  I feel that my changed outlook drastically changed my experience. I enjoyed myself, much to my own surprise and relief!  in order to do so, I had to ignore a lot and overlook much.   But it worked.

My family is never going to be close.  That is difficult to accept.  I still feel very sad that my sister doesn't care.  Families are supposed to love and accept you when the rest of the world might throw you out.  It's a little inside out for me.  But I am using this experience to give me guidance in rearing my own children and supporting my husband.  These are the people that I plan to have through life's greatest difficulties and most rewarding moments.  Anyone else will just be an added blessing, if they decide to join us.

I am sticking with my decision to not return for further counseling.  Maybe I will reconsider in the future, but it won't be with that guy.  I really am feeling lighter and happier than I was before.  I guess we'll see how it goes from here.