Life as it happens with our three beautiful and adopted children, Shayla, Yamira and Manuel: Better late than never caught up, right?

I have less than an hour to write this. Let us see if I can do that. Sometimes it takes me over an hour to do. Depends on the details I remember. Last week was crazy, so I am not sure if I remember any of it well.

Monday was insanely crazy. We were sharing a car as mine was at the body shop. Bill got a call in the morning asking if he could fill in for someone not feeling well at the station. I told Bill to go. We both got ready quickly and I dropped him off as I needed the car. I picked up Yamira at 11:00 am and then we did a few errands. In the afternoon, I picked up Ping and I took the girls to their swim lessons. After that I fed them a quick dinner and took Ping to Daisies. Difficult when you have to drag the three everywhere. Mind you I did it when Bill was working, but now we only have one car. So I went to pick up Bill at the station after I dropped her off at Daisies and we ran to Walmart for 3-4 items. Mind you, Bill is only in the store for a few minutes when the tones go off. He comes running out of Walmart and tells me to move out of the driver's seat. Don't ask me why. He flips on the light and we take off for the station. Mind you as we are driving, I am like "Where is the stuff?" I am told it's in a cart at one of the registers. So we drop off Daddy and head back to Walmart. Not where I want to be with two of the younger ones at that hour. We find the cart, get the rest of the stuff and get back in the car. I decided to go to Daisies and just wait for Ping. Why go home for 10 minutes? Not worth it when you have to unload and load up the kiddos. After I get Ping, I called Bill. He was at the hospital and not back at the station yet. So I took the kids home and put them to bed. Bill called when he got back to the station. I felt awful, but called my sweet neighbor Cheryl and asked her to come over. I felt especially bad because she had just bathed her granddaughter! Anyway, she came over and I ran to the station to get Bill. Finally at 7:30 pm, he was home. We were both exhausted. Sharing a car stinks big time.

On Tuesday, Bill was filling in at the station again, but he got a ride. Taking three kids out at 5:45 am is not the way to start a morning around here. The rest of the day went much better. I was able to get Yamira on time, Manny got his nap and Ping was picked up from school. We all trotted off to skating for Ping and then we picked up Daddy later at the station. Still a busy day with errands in between, but totally doable.

On Wednesday, Bill was home so he took the girls to school. I helped out in Ping's classroom from 9-10 am and then I had a conference with Yamira's teacher. She is doing very well. Aside from some behavioral issues we have to combat regularly, she is pretty smart. What can be so frustrating is that she is smart, but doesn't always do the smart thing. Part four year old issue and part previous history issue. I grabbed Yamira at 11:00 am and we headed home so she could have some lunch. I then took her to therapy. Bill stayed home and laid on the couch for most of the day because he wasn't feeling well. Stomach upset and a bad cold. Yamira has had stomach issues for a few days as well. It's making it's rounds I suppose. I took Ping and Yamira to gymnastics and left Manny at home with Daddy. Love when I don't have to drag a bored kid to activities. The rest of the evening went well. Yamira did well at gymnastics. She doesn't always listen and that is very frustrating for me.

Thursday was a great day. The girls had a half day, so I picked them up and met a few friends and headed over to Overlook Farm/Heifer International. We walked around and looked at the camel, the sheep, the pigs and chickens. It was beautiful out. It was great to spend the day outside with some sweet people. All the kids did great together. Ping had a meltdown at the end because she wanted a stuffed animal at the gift shop, but she finally got over it. After going home and getting Bill, we went to get my car. Finally. Freedom returns. We then had a meeting with Maureen who was our adoption social worker. She just came to check on us one more time before closing our case. Goodbye. Not sorry to see the end of all of that. The rest of the evening consisted of dinner, homework and cleaning.

On Friday, we all got up and headed out the door. Bill took the girls to school and took Sasha for a hair cut. I headed out to do a few errands with Manny. In the afternoon, Bill and I and the two youngest headed out to do a few errands. We then went to get Ping at 3:00 pm. We were going to go to a craft thing that night at 6:00 pm, but between my stomach issues and Yamira's behavior, we decided that we would not go. At this point, I seemed to have what Bill and Yamira had been plagued with.

On Saturday, we got up and went to do a whole slew of errands. Bill stayed in the car for the most part while I ran in and did what had to be done. He came because there were some things I wanted to show him. I had to pick out tile for the pantry and a light for Manny's bedroom. I had to get a few other things as well like shelves for Manny's room. We got home after 6:00 pm and while Bill fed the kids, I ran out the door for a pedicure appointment with Bridget, Ashly and Rebecca. We had a great time. We got our pedicures and then headed to Finders Pub for something to nibble on. It was great to be out with good friends. Even better because there were no kids and we could actually finish a sentence without interruption.

On Sunday, Bill took the girls to Sunday School and then ran to Walmart again. Once he collected the girls, he came home and showered. He had to work a shift at the Fire Department. While he went there, I took the three kids after lunch over to the Heberts Candy Mansion in Shrewsbury to have their picture taken with the Easter Bunny. We met Rebecca and her lovely Hannah and Ashly and her sweeties Skyler and Teresa. There was literally no line. We walked right in and could take the photo immediately. That was fantastic. We then did a little browsing and took some pictures outside. We stayed for an hour or more and then headed to Lowes for a return. I had gone to Michaels on the way to get something, so other than Lowes, it was straight home for us. I had to do a lot of cleaning at home. After all, we had not been home all week. Before I knew it, Bill was home. We fed the kids and put them to bed. I then sat down to watch a great movie. I was so tired, I just could not do one more thing. So I watched the movie and Army Wives which is my favorite show! Did a few other things and went to bed.

Monday was a long and tiring day. Was not a bad day, but I was determined to clean my entire walk in closet. I cleaned the floors, the rails holding the hangers, every hanger was cleaned due to dust, I cleaned every shoe, vacuumed, dusted and ditched 7 trash bags worth of clothes. What a day. I ditched bras and underwear too. The walk in closet looks great now. I worked with Manny staring at me in the morning and then we went to get Yamira. Then the two of them watched me for a few hours and then I went to get Ping. We then went to swimming lessons, home for a quick dinner and then back out for Daisies for Ping. You may already know this, but if you don't, Ping often says "Remember when we were a family of three Mama? Well we used to do this and that." It's hysterical. She blames the two youngest on her "tough life" now. So yesterday, I pull into a spot, but have to readjust the car. Yamira jumps out of her car seat only to have me yell at her to jump back into her seat. She had no right to get out of her seat. I felt bad for yelling, so I calmly told her I just didn't want her to get hurt. Yamira says to me "Mama, I won't be in our forever family if I get hurt bad and die?" I told her that I just didn't want her to get hurt and we shouldn't be thinking of dying at this point. So she and Ping are now grilling me. Then Ping says "I think if she isn't going to be in our forever family anymore, that is a good thing! She is smiling and clapping. She said "Then we will be just a family of four." Now I know this sounds awful, but it was hysterical!!!!! She is trying to whittle the family down so it can just be the three of us again. She doesn't mean it. I know she doesn't. She says things just for shock factor. She loves them, but she does see them as hindrances sometimes. I told her that wasn't nice and I knew that she didn't mean it. It was really funny though. Mind you, she was laughing. Anyway, Bill came home at 6:30 pm and said he would grab Ping at Daisies, so I didn't have to go back out. I don't mind the running around, it's the dragging of all the kids I hate. The in and out of the car seats just takes forever and is a pain in the rump! Ping and Daddy then dined on some chocolate pudding and Ping watched some TV and decorated the rest of her Easter stuff that we are giving to the seniors at the Senior Center and also to the children at Sherry's Kids. She went to bed way too late for my satisfaction. Someone spoils her!

Today has been a decent day. I dropped the girls off at school and Manny and I headed to the gas station, the cleaners, CVS and Walmart. We came home and put everything away and headed back out to get Yamira. After a quick lunch, Manny went down for a nap. Yamira wanted to watch a movie. I had her lay down and put a blanket over her. Usually she keeps popping over to talk to me. I just looked at her though and she is snoring. She never falls asleep. The cold she has must just be bugging her enough. I did hear her coughing this morning. Sadly, I have to wake both of them up because we need to go get Ping, head back to CVS, Michaels and then get Ping to skating!!!! The rest of the night should be free after that. Yay. Well I am off to get all of the skating stuff and the right coats for everyone.

Have a great week!

Mama Out!!!!!!