Life as it happens with our three beautiful and adopted children, Shayla, Yamira and Manuel: School Vacation Week

Some call it "Survival of the Fittest." I call it "How to kill your mother 101 ways." It is actually Thursday and the week has really flown. I can't complain. Mind you, I have kept the chickens really busy. I will explain more when I get to that day in the log. We are home right now, but are heading out in less than an hour to see a show at the Worcester Library. Hopefully it will be good. I had a lot going on today, but somehow things must have been switched around because we are not as jam packed as we originally were. Anyway, it has been almost the entire month of February since I have checked in. Every time I think I am going to get better at this, I get worse. So frustrating. Days just pass so quickly!

We have had a good month, but a busy one. It has been good, but we have had a lot of challenges as well. Shayla has been fine and having great days at school. Manny has good and bad days, but seems to be improving. We are having a rough time with Yamira. I am not sure what is going on with my chicken. Nothing here has changed. Bill has been busy doing ride time on the ambulance, but nothing else has changed here. She has really been struggling in school. She has been very defiant. I have to talk with her teacher nearly daily which is disconcerting. She has been purposely acting out. She has been giving her teachers a hard time and she isn't listening very well while at home. She has gotten to know the assistant principal and the principal well. I never had to see my principal in all the 12 years I attended school! However, my beginnings in life were excellent and Yamira and Manny's were not. We are working hard with her therapist to see if we can turn things around. I am hoping that things improve soon. She seems so angry. She is pretty emotional in general. Wish I knew what was triggering this. I do believe that because she is in a classroom with children who have some poor behaviors isn't helpful. There is nothing I can do about that though. I am sure they aren't getting anything from her poor behavior either. Yamira has been very challenging and it is exhausting, but we will continue to do everything in our power to give her the best life possible and the tools to be a successful adult.

So what have we been doing all month? Hmmm, well on Friday the first, we had our friend Ashly's daughter over for a play date after she and Manny got out of school. They had a blast. Then in the evening, I took Yamira to her Daisy meeting and I had dinner with Ashly and Rebecca at Olive Garden. We had a nice time.

On Saturday, we had basketball. I don't remember what else we did, but I believe we had lunch with our friends at The Mill. It is awful that I can't remember! We stayed home on Sunday as we had no plans. That is always a nice bonus.

On Monday, the kids went to school and I went for a walk. Bill had school, but not till late afternoon. I thought Ping had yoga that afternoon, but she didn't. I felt bad that I got her all excited and I was off by an entire month!!!! Just as well as there was plenty of homework to do and she had her Brownie meeting that night.

On Tuesday, I dropped the kids off and went for a walk. I then went to get Manny from school and met Bill at home so that I could go to the foot doctors appointment alone. The rest of the day was spent getting the girls from school and doing homework.

On Wednesday morning, I met my friend Christine for breakfast. That was fantastic. It went too quickly. I had to get Manny from school. I had an 11:15 dentist appointment for a filling since I pulled mine out over the weekend by accident. Manny was okay during the appointment, but I would have preferred he not even be with me. I could not talk as my mouth was hanging open, so I couldn't ask him to be quiet at all! We then went home for lunch and a nap for Manny. Bill was at ride time from 7:00 am - 7:00 pm. Makes for a very long day for him, me and the kids. We got the girls and did homework for the rest of the afternoon.

Thursday was busy. I went for a walk after dropping off the children and then I went in to the school for Yamira's teacher conference. Then Manny and I went to therapy for Manny. After therapy he had lunch and a nap and then we went to get the girls and went to our friend Cari's house for a short play date. That evening I had dinner with friends at Finders Pub.

Friday brought ride time again for Bill. I dropped the girls off and then did some errands. We didn't have anything planned for the day. So with the exception of the kids being at school, we stayed home.

On Saturday we stayed home as we got two feet of snow. Bill was home for part of the day and at the station for another part of the day. So there was no basketball or anything because we were not supposed to be on the roads per the Governor.

We stayed home on Sunday as well. The kids watched TV and played games and went out and played in the snow.

I was going to go for a walk on Monday after I dropped the kids off at school, but the snow was too high. So after doing a few errands and getting Manny, we stayed home for the rest of the day. Ping did have Brownies that night. Bill had school.

On Tuesday, I have breakfast with a girlfriend while Bill was at school and Manny was at school. I picked Manny up and we stayed in for the rest of the day. We only went out to get the girls from school in the afternoon.

On Wednesday, Bill had ride time, the kids had school and I had a meeting with my CASA kids and their grandmother. The kids are lovely. It was a great visit. I then picked up Manny and we came home for lunch and a nap for him. We got the girls in the afternoon, came home and did homework and hung around.

Thursday was crazy busy. It was Valentine's Day. I did some errands and then in the afternoon, I met my friend Kirsten for the quickest lunch ever and then stopped by Meri's house because she made me a doily and pot holder for Valentine's Day. I then picked up the girls from school and after taking Ping home, I went to therapy with Yamira. It was a good day for therapy as Yamira had a really bad day at school and I was very frustrated with her. We then went home and had dinner. The kids loved their candy that they got for Valentine's Day.

On Friday I had a doctors appointment at my sleep clinic. That went fine. I then picked up Manny from school and went home. I was supposed to go to my friend Maura's house, but she wasn't feeling well. I was disappointed not to see her, but we will reschedule. That night Yamira had Daisies.

Saturday was crazy. Bill was doing ride time, so I had to take the kids everywhere. We all went to basketball in the morning. We then had to take Ping to a birthday party in the afternoon. I had to take Yamira and Manny with me which I really didn't want to have to do, but had no choice. It worked out fine. The kids read books at Barnes and Noble while I chatted with my friend Renee and Heather. Ping's birthday party was at Snip Its. She had a ball. The three of us then went to The Red Lantern a Chinese restaurant in Worcester and hung out for 30 minutes till our friends showed up so we could celebrate Chinese New Year. The Devines came with their two girls and there was another gentleman and his two children. We had a nice time, but it made for a very long day. Daddy was even able to meet us to have dinner. I then didn't feel very good, so I drove home feeling miserable. It passed quickly. I still have issues with some foods. Not sure why.

Sunday we drove to Connecticut and spend the day with our friend Stephanie and her daughter Alexis and her boyfriend's daughter who is 2 and adorable. We had a great day. The kids played outside in the snow. It was frigid too. We then had dinner and came home.

On Monday, we met our friend Christine and her son Mason and two foster children at Applebees for lunch and then we went bowling. We finished the day off with ice cream. We had the best time.

On Tuesday, we met our friend Ashly and her two daughters at the library for a little over an hour or so. The kids made a bookmark and hung out together.

On Wednesday, Ping took an origami class at the Worcester Art Museum with her friend Molly. After class, we took the kids to the Vintage Grill for lunch. It was my friend Kirsten with her family and me with the kids. We had a nice time.

On Thursday, we stayed home until 3:00 pm and then we went to the Worcester Library to see a marionette performance of "The Dragon King." It was great. We then came home.

Today I took Manny for therapy and then we went to Ayi Meri's for lunch. We hung out all day long. Had a great time with her kids and my friend Katie and her kids. It was relaxing!

Now I am home and I need to get a few things done before I sit to watch some TV. It has really been a great vacation week. I am so happy about that. There have been some tough times, but all in all, it went well!

Mama Out!!!!!