Better Days Are Coming...in October

I may be better now, but I'm not going to know until October.  I went to a regular MD last Friday for antibiotics, which I got.  But they made me sick!  So I got new ones on Monday.  Tuesday, my allergies started kicking in.  So I'm going to be stuffy and miserable until October now.  Really?  I hope not.  I really do.  I just want to feel better again.  The drugs I have to take are probably taking years off my lifespan and they make me so tired which makes me irritable.  Sneezing my head off and dealing with a stuffy head and sore throat also makes me irritable, as does not getting enough sleep the night before, thanks to the stuffy head and sore throat.

Paul commented this week that I have been grouchy ever since we got the girls.  He went on to clarify that I have not been real pleasant, actually, for the past 2 - 4 years.  At first I was offended, but figured that getting grouchy about that would only prove his point.  But I'm baffled as to what life event took place that suddenly turned me into a sourpuss.  I really want to change.  I absolutely do not want to be a grouchy wife and mom.  I understand that right now we are going through a real time of testing as we adjust to being the parents of 6.  I am having trouble keeping all the plates spinning, that's for sure!.  I'm thinking, though, that being a grump has become my fall-back attitude.  That is the last thing I want my kids to take from home as they leave - memories of a grouchy mom.  So anyway, I need to do some thinking on this.  I suspect that the answer may not be so much in eliminating stress as it is in learning how to gracefully handle said stress.

We went to Adventureland yesterday.  It was a nice day for it - not too hot, which would have been miserable.  We finally got up there and I got the stroller loaded up with everything we would need.  We got the girls in their seats, Paul took a picture of all of us.  And then it was the classic, "Do you have the tickets?  No, I thought you had the tickets!"  Argh!  We had to unload everything, load the kids back up, and make another 40 min. round trip to fetch the tickets!  So, it was about 1 before we actually got into the park, which was fine with me.  My allergies were not being kind and I knew the day would be a test of endurance, anyway.  Will joined us mid-afternoon, although it was only due to parental coercion.  He had football practice in the AM and would have preferred to stay home and sleep.  Although, I couldn't help but notice today that he also had practice, but yet, when he found out a bunch of his friends were headed to the state fair, he suddenly had plenty of energy to head that way himself this afternoon!

We did do the water park, too.  I knew with 6 kiddos, it would be more of a challenge.  I did meet a white mom with an adopted black daughter over in the splash pad area.  She approached me when she figured out who my kids were with.  We had a nice conversation.  Later, I was able to float down the lazy river with Paul and Baby.  That was probably the best part of the whole day!  A-Land added a wave pool this year and I did want to try that out.  It was kind of fun for a little bit.  But then, I was on a tube with Baby on my lap, Paul was on another tube and a wave, or another tube rider crashed into me and I completely flipped over, upside down.  I banged my head hard on the bottom of the pool and totally scraped up both knees.  All I could think about, though, was baby, because she went down with me.  Fortunately, she had a life jacket on and was just as happy as could be!  I guess it's not a good idea to take little ones into that wave pool.  They allowed them, but it's probably best avoided, I'm thinking.  My sunglasses got lost in the water and I was very concerned because they are $300 prescription glasses!  Fortunately, Paul was able to find them after awhile.  I'm still banged up with a big lump on my head.  The worst part was that I got my hair all wet and when my hair gets all wet and dries naturally, it looks horrible.  I went to both gift stores, looking for some barrettes or a headband but they didn't sell them.  I eventually stole a tiny hairband off B's braids and bought a big one from the gift store (that they did sell) and was able to pull my hair back so it didn't look quite so awful.  A little bit later I went on a roller coaster and jammed my big toe against a covered bolt on the floor.  It broke my nail and began to bleed.  And people wonder why I'm so grouchy... 

Last weekend was our trip out west.  It went fine.  It ended up being the same weekend that Paul's great-niece and nephew moved in with his folks - lots happening!  I was able to spend some time with the niece, who is 8 years old.  She is a really nice child and very mature for her age.  When I did B's hair on Saturday night she asked me to do hers the same way.  When I did my shopping this week I swung into a couple of a consignment stores and was able to find some church dresses for Elli.  She had grown out of what she had and I figured I probably had a better handle on little girls' clothing than Paul's 70 year old mother does!  So I bought the dresses, along with matching hair accessories and mailed them to her this week.

Last Wednesday we inadvertently skipped church.  Our plan was to eat at Chick-fil-A and then drive over to church.  Had we not had to wait in line for 2 hours and 40 minutes, we might have made it.  As it was, we were eating our supper at 8:30 pm!  It was the Chick-fil-A appreciation day called for by Mike Huckabee and we definitely wanted to stand with other Christians and voice our support for not only traditional, Biblical marriage, but for freedom of speech.  It was SO cool to see the lines wrapped around the inside of the mall.  You had the knowledge that you weren't standing in line for supper, but for a much greater cause.  I just loved being part of the whole experience!  A few days later while shopping with Kathy, I stumbled across a Chick-fil-A shirt at Kohls and had to buy it for Ben (because he needed a first-day-of-school shirt).

Probably not coincidentally, the Des Moines Rag - er, Register - ran a story the following Sunday about a man here in central Iowa.  It caught my attention because this man is a foster/adoptive parent.  He has sacrificed so much for his four children and the story made tears come to my eyes.  But yet, the focus of the story was not on the foster care/adoption part of the story.  It was on the fact that this man is gay.  It bothered me after reading it and I couldn't put my finger on why I was so bothered until a little bit later.  It then that I realized that the story had not been about this man's experiences in parenting as much as it was about his lifestyle choice.  If the newspaper truly wanted to write an article about foster care and adoption, there are thousands of Iowa families (well, hundreds, at least) who have touching stories to share about their experiences with foster care and adoption.  But, no, they chose to write about a gay man and then used the circumstances of his parenting as a reason for the article, when that was not the reason at all.  There was a bigger agenda at play.  That's why I was bothered!

I got Ben registered for school today and turned in the other boys' CPI forms for homeschooling.  Now, if I could just get their schoolwork figured out for next year!  I'm starting to panic, since we need to start in two weeks!

Busy week next week, too, which does not bode well for getting schoolwork figured out.  Monday morning, I go to the zoo with some friends who are in town, that afternoon I have an appt. for the girls.  Tues. evening I have to attend some mtg at school with Ben.  That's when he'll be given his laptop and that's when I have to track down the principal again to inform him that I don't want Ben bringing home his laptop - again.  Wednesday is our big court day.  Thursday I go to the dentist so I can be scolded about my flossing habits.  Friday may actually be free at this point.  But I'm not holding my breath.

Pray for me, friends, ok?  I really need extra strength these days.  I'm feeling very sapped, physically, emotionally, and mentally.  Yet, at the same time, I know God does not ask us to do things He will not equip us for.  That's a very precious promise and one that I am hedging everything on these days!