Ups and Downs!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  It has felt like that around our house for the past few weeks.  To kick it off, about three weeks ago, we had a bit of a miscommunication about who was in charge of making sure Elli's bathwater got turned off.  In addition to the obvious problem in that situation, Elli had also managed to disable to the overflow safety pipe.  The water basically poured through a hole in the tub onto the drywall ceiling below.  Awesome!  Once we got it stopped, we had two different disaster repair companies give us estimates in the $2,500 range.  Not loving the thought of that, we cut holes in the drywall and used six fans for the next 5 days to dry things out.  Not sure when we'll repair the drywall.  As you'll see in a moment, I'm glad we didn't do it immediately!

The water in the basement was mostly in our exercise room which has an easily removable (and easily dryable) modular foam tile floor.  We took out all of the tiles and let them dry.  On the 5th day we put the floor back together and got the room cleaned up except for the holes in the ceiling.  On the 6th day...Elli flooded the bath again.  We had decided we would no longer use the bathtub as a babysitter.  Usually, she loves the bath, which she actually uses as a shower.  We have a disability showerhead in there, and she sits under it.  As part of creating the first flood, she put the plug in the drain, which is unusual.  For the second flood, Christi was hyperaware of the overflow danger, and went to check on her after just a few minutes.  But sweet Elli had done something she had never done before.  She had grabbed the disability showerhead (on the end of a hose) and threw it out of the tub and onto the bathroom floor.  So this time, instead of all of the water overflowing directly onto the drywall below, the water pooled up on the main floor and went down through two air vents and any other cracks and crannies it could find.  Which means it affected different areas than the first flood.  And some of the same areas.  Meaning it was great that we hadn't fixed the original holes in the exercise room ceiling and we were fortunate enough to need three more holes in the boys' room ceiling.

Now for a major up!  A few days later, Christi and I anxiously watched a videoconference for my work.  They were announcing the winners of the 2016 Pinnacle award.  This fantastic award for the top 7.5% of the sales force each year takes a lot of hard work and a whole lot of luck to win.  And I won!  Which means in May, Christi and I get to go on an all expenses paid vacation to the beautiful island of Providenciales in Turks and Caicos.  We're staying at the Palms hotel and we are SOOOOOOO excited!  Like I said, a major up!!!

About a week later I was at work and got a text from Christi:  "Call when you are in a good mood."  I hate that text!  Of course I called immediately and tried to convince her that I was indeed in a fantastic mood and she could tell me whatever dire news she needed to share.  The shower upstairs had been going (not Elli) and Xander noticed water dripping down from the holes in the exercise room ceiling again.  Aaarrgghh!  Fortunately, it was a very small leak.  I think it was just the result of old caulk not sealing out the water around the tub.  So I took two and a half hours, cleaned the old caulk and put in some new.  Hopefully it will take care of the problem.

Other challenges and craziness over the past few weeks have included Elli losing track of her days and nights and screaming through much of the night, lots of parent conferences and IEP update meetings, a need to completely remove Elli's foam tile floor (due to many diapers leaking) and Christi and I replacing it with sheet vinyl.  Xander had to spend the night at Primary Children's Hospital because the doctors weren't sure if his abdominal pain was an appendicitis or something to do with his CLOVES syndrome.  (It was his CLOVES, but he's doing better at this point.)  Xander also had minor surgery to remove a very ingrown toenail.  We've had to go through medications for thrush, driver permit tests, evaluations for Cali to get hand controls added to a minivan (that we are in the process of shopping for) and many other crazy and exciting activities, illnesses and events.

Through all of this, we've had one overarching AMAZING thing that our entire family has been looking forward to.  Over a year ago, we started planning and saving for a big family vacation.  We have five kids graduating in the next three and a half years, so we wanted to do something super fun before we start losing control of their schedules.  The kids have been working hard and putting most of their money towards this trip.  All we asked for from Santa was help for this vacation.  Through all of our adoption trips we have accumulated enough frequent flyer and hotel points that our airfare and hotel is free!  So next month we are headed out on a trip of a lifetime.  We are all (except Elli :( who does not travel well) flying to Orlando, spending a few days at the theme parks, then going on a Royal Caribbean cruise with ports of call in Cozumel, Costa Maya and Grand Cayman.

So I guess we can weather a few of those downs!

Jer

Hello Summer!

This past Friday was the last day of school.  The kids are excited to be done and are looking forward to lots of fun adventures in the good weather.  Christi and I thought that with the lack of homework, concerts, sports teams, parent-teacher conferences, periodic grade reviews with the kids, early morning scriptures, getting 10 kids out the door with lunches in hand, and calls from frantic children who forgot this or that, our lives would be a little less hectic.  We could set the alarm clock a little later.  No pressure to get people places at any given time.  Yeah, right!

Here are some of the things we've been involved in during the first two days of summer break:

-Lexi is attending a braille day camp for two weeks (30 minutes there and back each morning and afternoon.)

-Xander has soccer camp at the high school two hours each day.

-Taylor and Parker have basketball camp at the high school two and a half hours each day.

-Graci had a routine but significant surgery that required a full day a Primary Children's Hospital.

-Taylor and Parker have started a lawn aeration and fertilizer business which required help from me in purchasing a used aerator and a few other miscellaneous items.

-I had a dentist appointment.

-Family Home Evening

-Christi had two doctors appointments (everything is fine:).

-Lexi and I attended a fun daddy-daughter date at church.

This, of course, is on top of breakfast, lunch and dinner for 12 people (two of whom are currently doing the Whole30 diet, making meal prep that much more challenging), working full time, managing the nearly constant barrage of requests and needs from our wonderful kids and of course making sure that Elli is getting the attention and supervision she requires.

In other words, WE'RE EXHAUSTED!

Fortunately, we really are enjoying the chaos.  We're getting to see more of our kids than we do during the school year, and that is truly a pleasure.  It's fun to watch them grow up and to see them become more independent.  It's also so fun to see their personalities develop.  They really are a fun group to hang out with.  And things will slow down somewhat.  We just started vacation with a bang;).

Happy Summer!!!

-Jeremy

Silver Linings

Life is hard.  The trials that we go through ourselves can cause much pain and heartache.  But the trials that we see our kids go through can hurt us even more.  Before I got married I remember my dad telling me that being a husband and a father would intensify the experiences I would go through for the rest of my life.  The highs would be higher.  The lows, lower.  I believe this to be true.

Taylor and Parker made the Providence Hall basketball team again this year.  No huge surprise, although, since the coach was different, it wasn't a foregone conclusion.  So Christi and I were able to breath a little easier when we got the text Wednesday morning from Parker.  It was a picture of the team list.  Both of their names were on it, along with several of their friends.  We were so happy for them.  Then I noticed that two particular names were missing.  These are good kids, great kids even.  Both close friends of Taylor's.  And knowing as many of the kids that made the team as I do, I knew that both of these boys should have made it.  Prior to last year's tryout, one of these boys had told Taylor he had been praying all summer to make the team.  He didn't make it last year as a 7th grader, but we were sure he would make it as an 8th grader.  For some reason he didn't.  The other boy looked at the final list on Wednesday morning, saw he wasn't on it, checked out and went home.

Even though they're not our kids, Christi and I just ached for these two boys.  We know how devastated either of our boys would have been had they not made the team.  And we love these boys, too.  They are great kids who are a good influence in Taylor's life.  Why?  Why does life have to be so hard?  I know at some time, at some level, our boys will face a day when they don't make the team.  How do parents face such crushing pain and still go on?

Christi and I were really impacted by it.  We talked about it several times through the evening.  At one point Cali looked at me, obviously not understanding how important such a thing could be, and asked, "Why are those boys sad?"  Me:  "Because they didn't make the basketball team."  Cali, with a bit of a smirk on her face, "I didn't make the team!"  She kind of rolled her eyes as she said this, indicating that she thought it was a pretty silly thing to worry about.  I think  that was all she meant, but the deeper meaning in what she said hit me pretty hard.

OK. Find pain in not making the team.  But then look at your legs and realize how grateful you are that you could try out.  Someday you'll grow up, get a job, have a family and probably forget that you missed that one year of basketball.  But you'll always have your legs.  Some people don't.

So much pain in the world.

But so much joy.  So much to be thankful for.

Friends who rally around Cali.  Friends who invite her to all kinds of parties and late nights and church activities.  Friends who push her between classes and help her understand assignments.  Unbelievable advances in medical care and equipment.  Laws that seek to make as many opportunities as possible available to people with all types of disabilities.  Literally hundreds of people who love Lexi and who have experienced the light she brings into a dark world.  Thousands of people who have viewed videos of Sophi on YouTube and who have had their burdens lightened by watching how she lives her life with joy in the face of hardship.  (Soph just walked in and is narrating every picture of the first link above:  "Me on a slide in the park!  Me on da beach!  Me in a box!" and on and on and on:)

So many experiences in the world around us that testify that God lives and loves us.  Sunrises.  Sunsets.    Mountain peaks and ocean surf.  Tulips in spring and roses in summer.  Horses to ride and dogs to love and wild animals to marvel at.  From the Grand Canyon to the Florida keys to the vast beauty of China, so many, many places and wonders in God's masterful canvas.

And most of all, faith, hope and love in and through Jesus Christ and His gospel.  Faith that someday we will all be resurrected with perfect bodies.  Hope that through His grace we can live again with our Father in Heaven.  Love for a family that will be together throughout eternity.

And so I hope that as life continues to bring it's inevitable challenges, we will each be able to focus on the equally inevitable joys.  I didn't start this out thinking it would be a Thanksgiving post, but I guess it fits.  I hope I can always give thanks for the blessings in my life, even when the hard times come.  And I hope my kids can do the same.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jeremy

Laws of Life

Murphy's Law:  Anything that can go wrong, will.

Hanlon's Razor:  Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

Green's Theorem:  Random difficulties are infinitely more likely to occur when only one parent is present.

I was on the home stretch.  Get the kids off to school and all is well.  One little appointment for Lexi and then Christi will be home and the universe will once again be in alignment.  So simple.  But of course our life couldn't be quite that easy.  

Our morning scripture study starts at 6:25. I usually get up at 6:20.  At 5:59 I woke up to a shuffling noise in my room.  It's always just a bit eerie to sleep by myself, so knowing someone else was by my bed gave me a bit of an adrenaline rush.  I figured it was one of the kids, but I must say I was relieved when I turned on the light and saw Jesi's face and not some guy in a ski mask.  (Side note:  we LOVE having light switches right by our bed:)  Sophi and Lexi were whispering in their room.  Jesi had determined this fact was important enough to our family's wellbeing that she needed to wake me up and let me know.  Of course, the worst thing that would have happened if Lexi and Sophi continued to talk was they would have woken me up...

I told Jess that it was OK as long as they were being quiet, and that she should go back to sleep.  (Judging from the completely-ready-for-school state she was in upon arriving in my room for scriptures 20 minutes later, I'm guessing she never made it into bed.)  I had an excruciating headache, so I took some ibuprofen and laid back down for 20 minutes.  Just drifted back off when Jesi came in and turned on the lights.  "Time for scriptures."  Head throbs.  I look at the clock.  6:15.  "Um, Jess.  Scriptures start at 6:25."  "Oh.  OK."  Lights go off.  Head throbs.  I just drift off when my alarm rings.  

After scriptures the older kids are sensitive enough to my lack of skills to realize I need extra time to get everyone to school.  They all volunteer to have school lunch instead of home.  Grateful, I tell them my head is killing me and I'm going to sleep until about 7.  You guessed it.  I finally drift off and the alarm rings.  

The older kids are almost entirely self-sufficient in the morning, so we say family prayer and then I help Cali out to the carpool.  It's now 7:28.  By 7:40 I have to have Elli up, Lexi bathed and hair washed and leave for school with Elli, Lexi, Sophi, Jesi and Xander.  I have to be back by 8am because Lexi is having a 3-day EEG and the technician will be arriving between 8 and 10.  I'm hoping it's not right at 8, because Lexi is supposed to have her hair washed and dried before the tech arrives.  Also, Elli's bus arrives at 8:15.  The race is on.  

Ask Jesi to go get Elli from her room and bring her upstairs.  Throw Lexi in the tub.  Wash her hair.  (Because of the EEG she can't use conditioner.  How is that going to work?)  Get her out.  "Jess, can you get Lexi dressed?"  Cut up an apple and spread peanut butter on a plate for Elli.  "Thanks for getting Lexi dressed.  Can you get Sophi out to the van?"  Hand peanut butter and apples to Xander.  "Can you feed Elli while we drive to school?"  Hand Jess the van keys at her request.  Apparently say "yes" when she asks if she can start the van.  Lock up.  Head out to the van and realize Jesi is filling our garage with carbon monoxide.  Give a quick lesson on why not to start a car when the garage door is shut.  Last thing I hear as I shut the side door is Sophi's plaintive cry, "I don't want to die!"

Jess and Xander are at school.  We are headed back. We'll make it home by 8, but if the EEG tech is there before 8:15 I won't have time to dry Lexi's hair.  I drive up to the home and open the garage door.  I pull in.  My phone rings.  EEG tech has the wrong address but is close.  Give her the right address.  She will be here in 20 seconds.  Not good.  I get the girls and walk in the house.  It's very dark.  Several things are beeping.  I'm focused on Elli and Lexi and don't put things together very quickly.  I turn on the light.  Only the light doesn't turn on.  I try it again.  What is going on???  The electricity is out.  You've got to be kidding me.  Sometime between opening the garage door and flipping the light switch we lost power.  

I yell out the front door to EEG lady (Tena.)  Do you need electricity for what you're doing?  'Cuz ours seems to be out.  She does indeed.  She has us scheduled for a two-hour appointment, so she comes in to wait for awhile.  I usher her into the living room, apologize for the wet hair and my lack of ability to be in the room with her and I rush off to get Elli dressed.  There are still at least three loud beeps coming every 10 seconds.  New house-I have no idea where they're coming from.  One starts to be overpoweringly obnoxious.  I track it to our security system and turn that beeper off. I start taking the duct tape off of Elli's clothes.  (It worked last night.  YEAH!!!)  Elli fights me, making it even more challenging.  (Ever left duct tape on clothing overnight and then tried to remove it in the morning?  The warmth of the body stickifies it even more than already ridiculously adhesive duct tape normally is.  It can be a bit challenging.)  Clothes off.  BEEP. Help her use the bathroom.  BEEP.  Pull-up on.  BEEP.  Complete stranger in the living room talking to Lex and Soph.  BEEP.  Clothes on.  BEEP.  Looking for socks.  Can only find socks with the toes cut off (for Soph).  BEEP.  Suddenly realize that one of the beeps is the computer backup battery.  BEEP.  Turn off computer and backup.  BEEP.  (Man that thing's obnoxious!  What is it?  Don't have time to look since bus will be here momentarily.)  BEEP.  Find socks and shoes.  Put them on.  BEEP.  Put on harness.  BEEP.  "I'm taking Elli out to the bus.  Sorry to leave you alone in here.  Be back in a minute!"  BEEP.  Get Elli on the bus.

Take a deep breath.

Back inside.  Notice that Tena is now doing Lexi's hair.  Maybe it was a good thing I didn't get very far with that.  She'll do a much better job than I could have.  BEEP.  Start looking for the beep.  BEEP.  Track it down to the elevator.  BEEP.  Realize it's likely a backup battery like I have for the computer.  BEEP.  Flip a couple of big power switches in the control room.  Wait.  Wait.  SILENCE.  Glory be!

I finally have a minute to talk to Tena.  She explains that there is a fair amount of prep before she needs the electricity, so she'll get that done and see how things are.  By the time she's got Lexi's hair braided and marker all over her head for the spots where the EEG goes, the electricity still isn't on.  She can come back later, but perhaps we have a relative locally and could go there instead.  Hmmm.  Where could we possibly go that has electricity?  Hmmm.  How about our other house that hasn't sold yet?  So we pack a couple of camp chairs and head out.

Tena fixes Lexi up good.  I believe she has 23 wires attached to her!  Pretty cute.  Tena is enamored with Lex and Soph.  We finish up with not a second to spare.  Got to rush back home and get Sophi ready for her bus.  Pull up to the house and the granite repair guy is sitting and waiting in his car for us.  Electricity is back.  YEAH!  Show Raul the crack in the granite.  Tell him I can talk in several minutes once Sophi is on the bus.  Take her to the bathroom.  Change her clothes.  Feed her a frozen GuGurt.  Rush out to the bus.  Apologize for the hair and the lack of a coat.  Explain that mom isn't here and dad is an imbecile.  Driver agrees.

Take a deep breath.

-Jer

Letters

Dear UPS:

You want logistics?  Try helping Sophi, Lexi and Elli go trick-or-treating!

Love,
A Tired Dad




Dear  Sophi:

Just because the unmatched sock basket is right next to the dryer and provides a nice step, doesn't mean it's OK for you to climb in.

Love,
A guy who will respond quicker the next time he hears "I need help to get out of here!!!"




Dear Parker, Jake and Cole:

Glad you're not too old to dress up for Halloween.  Love the "I-wore-this-when-I-was-three" costumes, by the way.

Love,
Mr.-I-have-one-Halloween-costume-and-wear-it-every-year.





Dear Family:

Somebody tell Lex that the cowboy hat could be worn a little further up on her head.

Love,
The man with his hands full on the other side of the picture;)



Dear Bathroom Garbage:

True story...I emptied you THIS MORNING!!!

Love,
Wondering why I even try.


Dear Taylor:

In all seriousness,  thanks for being our first-born.  Mom used to call me a Holiday Grinch.  For some reason I would get really uptight on holidays.  Easter had to do with camping in rather cold, dusty conditions.  Mother's Day I felt inadequate to take care of Mom to the level I should, so I just kind of gave up on it altogether.  Christmas I was grinchy during the couple of months building up to it.  I had a hard time watching all of that money go to Walmart, Target, etc.  Then I had a tendency to be grinchy on Christmas Day itself if all of the wrapping paper didn't end up in the wrapping paper box I had prepared.  On birthdays I could get pretty grumpy if the kids crowded too close to you for me to take pictures while you were opening presents.  And then there was Halloween.  For some reason I would always have a meltdown.  Even at age three I expected you to be perfect while trick-or-treating.  If you didn't talk clearly, say thank you, and stay off the grass, I would let you have it.  Ah, the trials and tribulations of being the oldest.  Thank you for your patience with me.  Thank you  for your forgiveness. 

As I took Lexi and Sophi out tonight, I realized that I have come ever so far.  I think I have earned 25 years worth of patience over the last five.  For a solid two years now, holidays have been great.  I love Eastering, regardless of the weather.  Christmas with our bunch is going to be expensive-so accept it!  And Halloween.  Not to toot my own horn, but I am about as patient, sweet and loving as a Dad could be.  It's not that no one really cares if Lexi accidentally steps on their lawn.  Or that people are so mesmerized by Sophi that they don't notice if she says "Trick-or-Treat," let alone "Thank You."  No, it's because I have learned so much about what is important in life.  And you, my son, are important.  I have only five more Halloweens before you move on to bigger and better things.  I have only five more Easters before you go on a mission and then to college.  The time is running out, and I have finally learned to simply enjoy it.  Thanks for putting up with me while I was figuring it all out.  And thanks for helping me see it, so I have many more years with Sophi and Lexi and Elli and Jess to just enjoy the journey.  You are one of my closest friends.  I love you.

Love,

Dad

Dinosaur Daddy and the Party Pool

About once a month I have to take a road trip for my job.  It's about a four-hour drive through rural Utah and takes me to such metropli (metropoleis?, metropolises?) as Vernal and Roosevelt.  I stay overnight and then hit some other towns on the way back.  It's really quite a beautiful drive.  In February I pulled Jesi and Grace out of school so they could come with me.  They read, napped and iPod-ed in the car, and then enjoyed a dinner out with dad, time in the pool and a complimentary breakfast at the hotel.  Good times were had by all.

Yesterday was Taylor and Parker's turn.  We got up early and headed out.  The boys slept most of the 2.5 hours to my first stop.  We had lunch at KFC and then finished the driving and calls I had to make.  After I was done with work we took the opportunity visit Dinosaur National Monument, which is just outside of Vernal.  This is one of the most amazing sites in the world.  Truly.  If you ever have the opportunity to visit, it is worth the drive.  (Thanks Grandpa Nelson and Uncle Matthew for the tip!)  A bazillion years ago, when the dinosaurs were here, a large river ran through that area.  As dinosaurs died, their bodies were pushed along by the river until they hit the area that is currently Dinosaur National Monument.  Many of these dinos were deposited there, then covered by layer upon layer of silt, sand and mud.  The bones fossilized.  As the rocky mountains were formed, the ground was pushed upwards.  This layer of thousands of fossilized bones was no longer lying flat.  It was pushed up until it was pretty much vertical.  In the early 1900's the bones were discovered, and it became apparent what an incredible find it was.  They excavated quite a bit, but left over 1500 of these massive bones partially exposed in this wall.  Then a building was erected around it for protection from the elements.  Taylor, Parker and I were awed by the experience:

Those bones were just found there!  Thousands all together.  Very cool.  I feel very blessed to have boys who appreciate this type of beauty and grandeur.  They are my best buds!

The rest of our Vernal trip consisted of a dip in the hotel pool, a showing of Madagascar 3 and a visit to a pretty nice steak house.  The boys had never had really good steak before, and they can't stop talking about it.  (They are now trying to convince Christi to try medium rare, or at least medium, but "charcoal" is still her preparation of choice:)

While I was gone, Christi set up our new kiddie pool:)  It is 10 feet in diameter and 30 inches deep.  Xander went over to the neighbors and invited them to come see our 30-foot pool!  Even the dad came over, wondering what it took to install such a thing.  So while I was gone, Christi hosted 14 kids for a pool party.

When we got home today, Parker played with Elli in the pool.  She loves being squirted!:

Tonight, Christi returned the favor:)

She left to a church activity with Taylor and Graci.  Parker went to scouts.  "Oh, by the way hon, I promised Lexi and Sophi that they could go swimming tonight in the pool.  You might as well let the other kids go too.  And don't forget the sunscreen.  Love you!"  Once I got my head wrapped around it, I dove right in (pun intended:)  I really did decide to just have fun with it.  And, by the way, except for those of you in similar parenting situations (and there are a few) you have NO IDEA what kind of chaos our family can erupt into in no time flat.  OK.  Sunscreen.  Really?  We won't even get outside until 7:10.  And we need about a gallon of sunscreen to cover everyone.  Can't I skip it just this once?  The kids will be fine.  Well, I guess they say the exposure can be harmful, even if there's no sunburn.  I don't want to condemn my kids to skin cancer in their 60's.  All right.  I'll be a responsible father.  So I sunscreen all of the kids.  (As it turns out, I really didn't have a choice.  Sophi absolutely insisted on "sunscream" in addition to her "swim soup.")  Just as were about to go outside, the phone rings.  It's the neighbor dad from last night.  (I've mentioned this before and will say it again.  Many tears are going to be shed when this family moves next month!)  "Um, I just got home and Gracie, Annie, and Levi are telling me they're going over to the Greens to swim in the pool.  Was that the plan?"  "Well," I replied, "I don't think it was exactly 'the plan,' but I am just going out with our younger kids to play in the pool.  They're welcome to come over."  So all of a sudden I'm in charge of a gaggle of 8 kids in a pool.  As we step outside, the first thing I notice is that the pool is completely inside the only shadow on the lawn.  Our neighbor's tree is completely blocking out the sun from the pool.  In other words, no sunscreen needed.  Of course.

Everything is going along fine.  I get in and splash with them.  Everyone is having a fun time.  After 20 minutes, the kids are getting a little chilly and they start to get out.  Someone asks if we have popsicles, which we do.  Refreshing treats are passed around, and I think I'm about done with the pre-bedtime part of my evening.  But then Jesi gets this hankering to go back in the water.  I try to convince her otherwise, but she insists.  She eventually convinces everyone else to join her, and so everyone (including me!?!) ends up back in the pool.  This time they start running and jumping in.  It's really pretty cute:

Another 20 minutes.  I'm pretty cold.  I finally tell them we're going to go in after five more minutes.  Within seconds, two more of the neighbor kids come running around the side of the house with loaded squirt guns.  A huge water fight ensues.  I become the prime target.  We now have 10 kids in the back yard:

Christi is somewhere far away, sitting quietly and listening to a spiritually uplifting speaker.  I am soaked to the bone.  Actually, I would not have traded with her.  It was a great chance to spend time with the "littles."  It was about this time Elli decided she wanted to join in the party.  Earlier she had emphatically let me know that she did not want to go in the pool.  So I used rather poor judgement and dressed her in jeans and a shirt instead of her swimsuit.  Inappropriate apparel aside, she now decided that being in the pool was exactly what she wanted.  And so our lives go:)

With Father's Day around the corner, I can't think of a greater gift than the time these kids still love to spend with me.  I have eight wonderful blessings that I count every single day!

Elli's Antics

Elli, Elli, Elli...

What are we going to do with her?

Anyone who has a child with severe autism knows what a rollercoaster ride it can be. Elli can go from laughing to screaming to singing to screaming to quiet to screaming (are you getting the theme here?) for no apparent reason. For the past few months, the screaming and sadness seemed to be the overriding emotion and it was becoming extremely difficult for everyone. We decided to start her on some meds to try to stabilize her moods a bit.

Results were quick! We felt like we had our Elli back. She became more verbal and sweet and happy. Along with that came a whole new Elli.

We call her Miss Mischievous.

Elli's newfound energy and contentment (which, by the way, is by no means constant-- she still knows how to scream, but overall it is much less) has been channeled into wreaking havoc upon our home. In any given 5 minutes, she can destroy an entire room. Whereas before she would tend to stay in one area for long periods of time, playing with her music toys, she now roams the house constantly, exploring and making messes. One of her favorite new things to do is to go into the bathroom, climb in the tub fully clothed, and turn on the shower. This was funny perhaps the first couple of times it happened, but quickly got very old. After several stints in the shower, Jeremy purchased the "childproof" plastic doorknob covers to put on the bathrooms. It helped for approximately one and a half weeks. Yesterday we were out at parent teacher conferences all afternoon and left most of the kids home with Taylor and Parker.

Speaking of parent teacher conferences, we visited with over 20 teachers. Eight kids and two in junior high make for a lot of visits!

But back to Elli. We got a phone call from Taylor that went something like this, "Dad, Elli found out how to open the bathroom doors and went into the shower again."

"Oh, I'm sure someone just left it open."

"That's what we thought the first time, but it's happened twice now. She knows how to pull apart the plastic on the covers and can get in. She's showered twice."

Seriously, what are we going to do with her? The other day she went in Jeremy's office for a few minutes and managed to create a huge mess that had Jeremy pulling his hair out. When I went to get her the other morning, she had pulled off the closet door in her room and was sliding down it. She's broken the piano bench and ping pong table. She tears pictures off the wall, "clears" off the kitchen table, pulls all of the blankets and sheets off beds, and every other thing you can think of.

Whatever you're envisioning, it's worse. I'm actually very worried to find out what she's doing this very moment! But believe it or not, it's better than the constant screaming. She seems happier most of the time. So I'm not sure what to do! It's impossible to watch her every minute of the day. She's kind of acting like a one year old, but can do so much more damage because of her size and strength.

One thing that has come to mind is getting her more musical toys. She has a TON already, but she plays with them constantly, so the novelty can wear off. Every time we get her something new, it provides hours and hours of mess-free Elli. But it kills the budget. So... if any of you readers out there happen to live in my neighborhood and have musical toys that would just go to the DI, PLEASE ask if we have them, and if not, send them on over here! You could be saving an entire house from utter destruction! (:

I'm not even kidding.

We do love you, Elli! It's fun to see you come alive. (:

Lovely.

Today Jesi had an appointment at Primary Children's.  I had to bring Sophi with, and she was being very distracting during the visit.  Luckily, the physician was enamoured with her and not bothered at all.  At one point, she gave her a roll of stickers to play with .  Sophi peeled them off one by one and put them on my shirt.  I wasn't really paying attention to the whole thing-- just happy that she was finally being quiet while I was visiting with the physician.  By the end, I had at least fifteen brightly colored stickers on my shirt.  All along the top part of my chest, if you get my drift.

I totally didn't even think about the fact that I had all those stickers on my shirt, and proceeded to run errands the rest of the day.  Don't ask me how I didn't notice them. I chatted with the guys at the Smith's checkstand, ran kids here and there, visited with acquaintances, etc.  All without a coat or jacket on.   It wasn't until I went to pick up Lexi and Xander from "sports camp" (an adaptive camp for kids with special needs) that I realized people were staring at my shirt.

Um, oops.

I love being a mother.  (:

You may be wondering...

... what's up with all the blog posts this afternoon.

It's simple, really.

It all started earlier this week when I had just folded a huge batch of clothes and had them sitting on my nicely made bed.

Insert Elli.

Within minutes of her going into my room unsupervised, she had not only thrown all of the clothes off the bed and strewn them about the room, but had taken the sheets and blankets off the bed, knocked various items off the dresser and nightstand, and was tearing up papers from the desk. Oh, and she emptied Jeremy's very organized card file, which he was oh-so-happy about.

I was too overwhelmed and busy to clean it up then, and in the last few days that mess has multiplied. (That seems to happen a lot around here.) Now you can see approximately three square inches of carpet in my bedroom. Which is why it was supposed to be my project this afternoon. And I would think you would agree, if that was your project for the day, you would rather blog too!

AGH!!!!! (:

Surprises

This may come as a shock to everyone, but there are lots of jobs to do around our house. It's true. Xander loves to help out, but his ability to actually move the work forward is somewhat limited. One job that he can do very well is take messy diapers out to the garbage. He has become our default "dirty-diaper-taker-outer." Now, this job is not really as disgusting as it could be. By the time he receives the package, it has been placed into an old Walmart bag. The bag has been tied up so as to minimize exposure to any toxic contents. All he has to do is hold it by the handles, go outside and to the side of the house and deposit it in the trash can. Not too terrible, right. He often lets us know his displeasure at the assignment, but given the small amount of work he does overall, I'm not that concerned about it.

Apparently he is. Unbeknownst to us, he has begun protesting his lack of union representation through an act of civil disobedience. Taking these bags of human waste with a smile on his face, he has quietly been walking out the back door, stopping on the porch...and tossing them in the window well just to the side of the patio! Monday evening I happened to look down into said window well and there were at least 15 messy diapers piled up down there! I actually impressed myself with my reaction. First, I asked who had done this. Xander admitted it was him and I thanked him for his honesty. I then gave him a bucket and lowered him into the window well to clean up the mess. He pretty much freaked out in fear of spiders and whatever else might dwell down in those depths. I doubt he will ever put another diaper down there again:)

Jer

Cereal Box Saga

Teri, I’m seriously considering your offer. (:

After reading Jeremy’s posts I committed to not make the Walmart runs quite so frequent. As I was first reading them, I thought he was stretching things a bit, but the more I thought through the last couple of weeks, I realized he wasn’t stretching it at all—I had been calling him daily asking him to pick up various items. Yesterday I was determined that we would go Walmart-free. (: I guess that’s just not in the cards for us right now…

Let me backtrack… Wednesday after school, Parker told me he had to decorate a cereal box into a “writing box.” Ah… the first school project! (Actually, as I type that, I realize that’s not true. We’ve already decorated paper dolls for the first graders.) Anyway… I told him to call Jer, because he had already mentioned he was stopping at Walmart after work. (Surprise, surprise.) By the way, not all of these shopping trips have been for food. Sometimes it’s a “Mom, I need a padlock for PE,” or “Mom, we’re supposed to bring a different kind of notebook than what you bought,” or “Mom, I need a zippered pencil box I can put in my folder.” You get the idea…

So anyway, Parker called his dad and asked for a cereal box. It was kind of strange that he had to do this in the first place, as we are a cereal family. We ALWAYS have cereal. TONS of it. But we always stock up when there are big cereal sales and fill the storage room shelves full of it, and it has been a long time since there was a big sale. Currently, we only have the Malt-o-Meal bagged kind.

When Jeremy came home with two boxes of Cracklin Oat Bran, I was so excited. My favorite cereal, hands down. (Even though when we have brought it to church in baggies as a snack, children have been known to ask, “Why are those kids eating dog food?”)

The only problem with this cereal is the size of the box—too small for Parker’s project. Of course. So that evening, after his church meeting, Jer stopped at the store once again. This time he got Lucky Charms. We never get Lucky Charms, at least the brand name, so Parker was excited not only about the size of the box, but for the cereal itself. Score.

Except for one thing. The power went out. His idea to decorate the box from pictures on our computer wouldn’t work. And at this point, I was getting frustrated. It was late, he was supposed to be in bed, and we were working by the light of a candle. We tried some different ideas, but nothing was working. I finally told him he would just have to ask if he could have one more day. It was at this point that he decided to tell me, “Well, I guess that might work, ‘cause I don’t even know if it’s due tomorrow.” Thanks for telling me that NOW, sweet boy!

As it turns out, it wasn’t due until Friday, so we did have another day. And, you’re going to laugh… as I told him to fetch the Lucky Charms box last night so we could get started, Jeremy walked in holding it saying, “You mean, this box?” The box he was referring to was indeed the correct box. Except it had been completely cut up by none other than our sweet Graci. In her defense, she was only following the directions on the back of the box, which was to cut it up to create some sort of game.

At this point, the littles were already in bed and I was already out of gas. Like I said, I was committed to not make any more trips to the store, so I told Parker he would just have to borrow a box from a neighbor. Our cute Parker hates to do things like this, but I told him he would just have to be a man and do it. He went to our next door neighbor. He’s the nicest guy in the world, even if his rooster does wake us up in the morning. (As a side note, that should end today, as he has told us that rooster is their dinner tonight. Whew.) Parker came back with a cereal box, but once again, it was too small. He begged me to go the store, but I said we’d just have to try another neighbor. This time I called first and specified it had to be a big box. He went over to get it. Rice Krispies. In a big box. Except even though it was big (very tall) it wasn’t quite wide enough. Oh well, it would have to work.

We get to work on the computer picking out pictures. His idea was to put funny, crazy pictures of our family all over the box, collage style, with a caption that said, “I get my writing ideas from my unique family.” Pretty cute! We had a ball picking out silly pictures, and stayed up a bit too late doing so. We finally sent the pictures to the printer. After one page printed, the printer stopped. Two cartridges were out of ink. No problem, I think. Jeremy’s always got spares on hand. Except of course, tonight he didn’t. Which meant…

Another trip to Walmart.

Actually, I tried for Smith's first (it's closer) but of course, they didn't have the correct kind of cartridges. I did however, get a box of Corn Flakes that was just the right size!

Luckily, as I was at Walmart walking down the aisles like a zombie, I called my mom, who mentioned the fact that Elli’s birthday is today. A fact I already knew, and had thought of all week, but had spaced that whole day. I needed to get her present and little noise makers to share with her class, making it a good thing that I ended up at Walmart after all. (:

I shouldn’t admit that I sent Parker to bed and stayed up gluing the pictures on the box myself. I usually don’t do homework projects for my kids, but he needed his sleep and the whole thing really wasn’t his fault. It turned out pretty cute!

If you're keeping track, these are the cereal boxes we went through: Cracklin Oat Bran (1st trip to the store), Lucky Charms (2nd trip to the store), Honey Bunches of Oats (neighbor), Rice Krispies (other neighbor), and the winner, good old Corn Flakes. (:

So what do you think, can we make it today without visiting our second home???

--Christianne

PS. I’ll try to come back later to blog Elli’s birthday. We sure love you, birthday girl!!

Dab makes lunches!

Sophi call me "Dab." She can say "Daddy," but can't seem to put the "d" sound on the end of a word. This morning she sees me stumble into the kitchen to make seven lunches for our fantastic kids. "Dab?" she hollers out. "Yes?" I respond. "Morning, Dab." She truly is amazing, just the way she is:)

I grew up in a family where if you were served food, you ate it. Period. With a smile on your face and gratitude in your heart. (And for the record, that would still be my policy, if it were mine to make.) Christi grew up in a home where if you had different taste preferences, the head chef would make something different for you. (Which, for the record, is a very loving way to cook for your kids.) Early in our marriage, I tried to curb Christi's tendency to cater to the individual culinary appetites of our individual children. We had some "discussions" on this topic. I finally came to the realization that if someone is willing to cook 99% of the meals for me and my family, I better shut my mouth and let her cook whatever she wants for whomever she wants. (This is similar to the realization I came to that if someone is going to do my laundry, I better not complain that the shirts are hung up facing left instead of right. But I digress.) I will say that on the rare occasion that I do cook, the kids know that they will eat what is served to them. Period. With a smile on their face. Chili and pears from a can are AWESOME. Now eat!!! Actually, I've become a bit of a softie myself. For example, when I make mac and cheese, I will hold out some of the macaroni before I add the cheese. This is for Jesi, who likes it with spaghetti sauce. Anyway, you get the idea.

So when making lunches for seven kids who are used to being served foods that they personally prefer, there are a lot of things to remember. Graci won't eat chocolate. Jesi will only accept a half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. No tuna. No turkey. No peanut butter and honey. And it has to be seedless jelly. Grape is best. Taylor prefers white bread for his sandwiches. Unless it's tuna. Then he prefers wheat. And the tuna has to made with fat free Thousand Island dressing. Not mayo. Graci prefers turkey, but will eat peanut butter and jelly. Especially if it's raspberry jam. But if you put it on wheat bread, she will only take about one bite of it. Parker wants ranch on both sides of his Turkey sandwich along with cheese, lettuce, tomato and pickles. Taylor wants turkey AND ham (two slices of turkey, one of ham) with mustard on both sides, cheese and lettuce. NO TOMATO! Graci only wants a little ranch on one side, lettuce and cheese. Taylor prefers plain old traditional potato chips. No Doritos, Fritos, Cheetos, sour cream and onion or barbecue for him. He will settle for Sun Chips if that's all there is. Graci prefers Cool Ranch Doritos, Cheetos, Regular Doritos and Sun Chips. In that order. Elli will only eat a sandwich if it the second Tuesday after the full moon. Chips are the third Friday. She does better with a granola bar and pretzels. Got all that and have an hour a day to spare? You're hired!!!

Jer

Random Tidbits

Sophi calls herself "Wafee" (rhymes with "toffee")

Xander decided to "help" today and put in a full load of laundry (mixed colors) and even added an undetermined amount of detergent and OxiClean (of course in the wrong compartments).

Our microwave is possessed. Sometimes it works fine, and other times you push "5" and it turns the light on, or push "1" and the fan starts. Today I had to push approximately 30 buttons just to cook my oatmeal.

Tonight I have the job of packing for 9 people (Jer mostly does his own) for our upcoming adventure in Idaho. Nine people plus seven days equals LOTS of stuff. Lucky me!

Speaking of numbers, last night I counted 17 cute kids in my house. And that doesn't count Graci, who is at Girls Camp. I love summer nights and that friends like to hang out here.

I'm pretty sure I have a broken toe.

My sweet friend, Mary, is not only cooking dinner for us tonight, but just called and invited my kids to come eat it at their house.

AND... I have such exciting news to share! But I'm waiting for Jer to show me how to upload a video.

(: (: (: (: (:

Jello Hazards

My kids think jello and Sunday go together like cookies and milk. This Sunday, I had tripled the batch and was being oh-so-careful as I placed it in the fridge, seeing as how it was almost to the top of the dish. Then, at the last second, my foot slipped a bit and this happened:


What do you do?

Well, the camera was right there, so I took a picture (somehow taking pictures of messes alleviates much of the pain) and then my mom and I cleaned it up together. It took a good deal of time getting the jello out of all the nooks and crannies of the fridge. When we finally finished, our hands were stained a beautiful red, but I was glad that at least there still seemed to be enough jello for dinner. As I carefully put it back, we realized that jello had likely seeped under the fridge. I asked Jeremy to come and move the fridge so we could clean underneath. The fridge doesn't move easily, so you have to use a back and forth motion. (I'm sure that you're smarter than I and can see where this is going.) We actually didn't find much jello underneath, but there was a plethora of other junk/crumbs/nastiness. Lucky for me, I was in the middle of making rolls so my mom took on the fun task of cleaning.

As Mom is cleaning, Jeremy happens to open the fridge. Come to find, as the fridge was being moved, the jello had again sloshed around-- creating the exact same mess we had just cleaned up. Except this time, it was a bit more set--making it even harder to clean.

I love when I'm smart like that.

Christianne

Half Empty or Half Full

Full: Lexi knows how to wash her hands by herself.
Empty: The faucet in the bathroom is very difficult to turn on and needs to be changed if she is going to be able to wash by herself in that room.
Full: I am fairly confident in my plumbing abilities.
Empty: The new faucet sets us back $50.00 and takes hours longer to install than I thought it would.
Full: I am able to spend some time with Taylor and Parker and help them learn how a compression fitting works.
Empty: Shortly after we finish the sink, I am reading to the children in the living room when suddenly we hear the ocean trying to rush into our home through a 1/2 inch pipe.
Full: The compression fitting failed while we were at home, and not the next day while we were at church.
Empty: It was the hot water fitting, so I was scalded as I turned off the water under the sink.
Full: I had purchased the more expensive, flexible tubing at Home Depot, just in case I couldn't get the cheap tubing to work. Therefore, I was able to re-repair things and get the water running again right away.
Empty: Myself and everything that had been stored under the sink were soaking wet.
Full: I have a sink and stuff under it:)

Jer

I'm running away...

You know those days. Everything goes wrong. Your house is a mess and you don't know where to start. Kids are particularly needy. This has been my day. And I have to say, I was pretty excited when 12:45 rolled around and it was time for the bus to pick up Elli. Xander had just left for his school, so I would just have Sophi and Lexi here. Sophi usually naps, so I was thinking of all I could get done with it just being myself and Lex.

Elli and I go outside and wait for the bus. We wait, and wait... After finally making a phone call, I find out that today was early day, and we had been gone when the bus had come earlier. Lovely. I calculate whether it's worth it to get everyone loaded and drive her to school myself, but realize that she'd only be there for a half an hour, and decide against it. I bring Elli back inside, who is not very happy that she isn't going to school. I look around at the mess and feel very overwhelmed. Sophi is crying and Lexi is repeatedly asking for a bath. She's already had one today, but I figure it will give me 15 minutes of freedom, so I put Sophi down for her nap and put Lexi in the tub. Elli's out in the living room creating messes I don't want to know about. I hide in my room and call Jeremy to talk. He tells me he's eating Chili's southwestern eggrolls for lunch. My mouth waters and I want to switch places with him. But I fight the urge to feel sorry for myself and decide I'm going to go out and conquer the mess that is my home. At that moment I hear Lexi call out, "Elli, no! No, Elli!" This piques my interest, as Elli is supposed to be in the living room and Lexi in the tub. I go out to check and find this:



Oh, Elli.

At least she took her shoes off.

Sophi never did take her nap, BTW.

And, yes, I do realize that instead of posting this, I could have cleaned my living room-- but the drive is gone.

Lovely, lovely day.

--Christianne (:

The Long, Long Weekend:)

At the end of January I had a business meeting in Orlando. I left on Monday morning and returned Thursday night. Prior to my leaving, Christi was somewhat overwhelmed with the prospect of taking care of the kids alone for several days. To help cheer her up, I suggested that she plan a girls only weekend sometime after I returned. She decided to go up to Rexburg, ID and surprise her sister Becky for Becky's birthday. Since it was such a long drive, she would stay two nights. Of course it would be even better if their other sister, Leslie, could go to. Leslie's husband is a firefighter, and wasn't able to be home the weekend they were going. So I volunteered to watch her three boys as well. So, yes. You have added that up correctly. Last weekend, I stayed home and single-handedly took care of eleven children for 48 hours...and they were all alive when Christi came home! The ages were: 12,11,10,7,6,6,5,5,4,3,2. And believe it or not, I actually had a lot of fun.

It's not really fair to say I did it single-handedly. Grace, Taylor and Parker were absolutely incredible. They helped make meals and get kids to bed and change diapers and clean up. They even let me sleep in Saturday morning until after 9am! They are truly amazing kids. And in spite of all of the work we had to do to keep the 12 of us going, we still managed to have a good time. Taylor and Parker both came up to me independently and commented on how impressed they were that we were able to do everything we needed to do, without mom to help us, and still have fun. Leslie's three boys played a LOT of Wii. We were blessed with temperatures in the low 60's (record highs for this time of year) and so we were able to get outside and ride bikes and throw the football a few times. Sophi was the hit of the neighborhood in her walker. (The walker is another post for another day, but she is SO CUTE in it:)

Prior to the trip, Christi asked me what I was planning to do for church. I told her I would try to go. She thought I was crazy. In fact, she mentioned it to her mom, and her mom thought I was crazy, too, and should just stay home. (How often do you get permission from your mother-in-law to skip church?) But I really was going to try to go. HOWEVER...Friday morning dawned and Christi and I were both quite sick. I was really worried. I was barely convinced I could take care of all those kids if I was perfectly healthy. What was I going to do if I was under the weather??? But she left me anyway. By Saturday, Lexi, Elli and Sophi all had runny noses as well. That evening I told the three oldest kids that I would not be going to church, but that if any of them would like to, I would be happy to drop them off.

Sunday dawned, and there are few mornings that could be better characterized by Dicken's famous line: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times!"
Best: I was awakened by Taylor saying, "Dad, can you take me to church?" I cracked one sleepy eye and saw the Taylor had woken up on his own and gotten completely ready to go. Handsome as could be in his suit and tie, he wanted to go and worship. I was so proud. I jumped up and off we went.
Worst: I returned home and decided to say a prayer before I faced the day. I was on my knees and just starting to pray when Graci opened my bedroom door. She looked at me kneeling and said, "Oh, sorry. But it is kind of emergency!" I looked up at her and she said, "Elli took off her diaper and pooped on the bed. And she's eating it." OK. I can handle this. I am a grown man. I have had 38 years of life and 12 years of parenting to develop patience and unconditional love. I will not leave this for Christi to take care of when she gets home. I am a man. I want my mommy!!!

I went downstairs, and sure enough, there was Elli. The one small bright spot in all of this was that she had remained on the bed, which meant the mess was mostly confined to the bed. Elli had grabbed handfuls of the stuff and had basically made a foul snow angel on the sheets. She had indeed tried a mouthful. She had combined said mouthful with enough saliva to make a thin paste out of it, which she had then managed to spread over her face and throat. She looked like she had a mud mask on, minus the cucumbers. She had chunks of it in her hair. She had tried the "spaghetti test" with some of it. You know, where you throw spaghetti against the wall to see if it sticks? It stuck. I found it on three of the four walls.

Somehow, I managed to stay calm. In fact, my overriding emotion was sorrow and empathy for my little girl, that she would have to deal with things like this. I showered her off, washed the sheets and walls. I even gave her some ponytails when I was done. Ah, the joys of parenthood.

Really, though, overall we had a great time. And I have great kids!

Jer

C'mon...

Am I the only dad who finds toothbrushes on the bathroom floor? Is there much more of an "ick factor" than that? I mean, c'mon!!!

Jer

The Joke's On Us...

We actually set our alarm clock to wake us up this morning. Hello! When we finally rolled out of bed at 3am, after another sleepless night with the Soph-monster in between us, Jesi was up and completely dressed for school, knee-high boots and all, sitting at the kitchen table doing her homework.

It's crazy that I'm actually looking forward to the day the alarm clock is what wakes me up:)

Good night,

Jer

What am I going to do with her???

Elli knows how to wreak havoc on our home. Today she seemed to be making even more messes than usual, including chewed up crayons in the carpet and some especially sweet diapers. I had finally had enough, and piled the kids in the van to run some errands-- mostly so I could keep her strapped in for awhile. (: Our first stop was Walmart. On the way out I bought the kids ice-cream cones from the McDonald's inside. The kids are very good at not verbalizing when they have "treats," as they know Elli will want them if she knows. (Our girl has a sweet tooth!) I bought her a shake-- so I could feed it to her and she would stay clean, and we all got buckled in the car. Jesi handed Xander her cone so she could get buckled. He was sitting next to Elli.

I'm not sure how she realized he had ice-cream. Did she smell it?? Accidentally touch it? ? All I know is that Xander and Jesi both started shrieking like they were being stung by a swarm of bees. Elli had found the cones. She was grabbing at the ice-cream and shoving it in her face as fast as she could. We're talking handfuls of soft-serve ice-cream. Xander couldn't do anything because he was buckled in. He was holding them as far away as he could, but Elli is smart and strong. I wish you could have seen her determined little face as she shoveled the ice-cream in. By the time I got out and rescued the cones, ice-cream was eveywhere. I was laughing so hard I started to snort, which made me laugh even harder.

Why do I even try with this girl??? Needless to say, Walmart was our last stop.

Marjorie Pay Hinckley said, "The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache."

We laugh a lot around here!

We cry once in awhile too.

--Christianne