One of my special needs kids just had such a hard day. She is my Aspburger's Bi-Polar etc one. We were just a little up and stuck so needed to make a quick trip to our wonderful Physch. and are crossing our fingers for the morning. Isaiah was frantically trying to study for his "first" ever test tomorrow on local Geography and was struggling with the spelling of such long words. It sort of seemed like everyone was talking at once and the phone didn't stop either. And to top that off they all couldn't seem to understand that swimming in a thunderstorm was just a little dangerous. Maybe it's the heat that is making them all a little crazier than usual. Oh, and the first run through of the play was at my home so of course I was trying to make dinner, keep the house tidy, do the homework, keep them all away from Dad who just happens to be filming on the west coast next week and needed to get his script right. Whew!
At least the six dogs and two horses were being friendly. Did I mention them before? We seem to collect animals as well. We have a three legged poodle, (her leg was chewed off by another dog years ago) and have rescued two miniature horses, Lady Bug and Angel. They eat the grass on the three acres. Keeps the mowing down just a little. They also poop a lot, but that makes great fertilizer for the small vege gardens we have begun to experiment with. The kids adore the horses and spoil them and the dogs rotten. We have toy poodles and English Cocker Spaniels.
Cooked 30 chicken legs in their favorite fake fry in the oven, three pounds of potatoes into sour cream and cheese mashed potatoes and a big old dish of mixed veggies. A couple of french loaves were also demolished and then they lined up for apple pie and ice cream. The older boys just came back around 9.00p.m. for the leftovers (of which there was not much). Finally they are all (hopefully) asleep. I must admit they are a lot of work but the reward and joy of seeing them grow into wonderful kids makes it worth while.
Looking forward to a small break in Nashville for me when my better half gets back from the west coast. Off to do some recording (I write and sing too) and a breather to get recharged. That is something that is really important when you dare to have this many kids with needs. It is not always easy to get away together, but we do make an effort and grab a day or two where we both recharge our batteries and get to think without being interrupted every 30 seconds or so.
We have discovered that hotels and getaways are not so good for us together. Our older kids are gracious enough to swap babysitting and when we need time out together we spend it at our wonderful home "Cressbrook Creek" and stay in, cook a couple of steaks with seafood and buy an excellent bottle of wine to relax and talk without interruptions.
In fact, my sweetheart has just cooked up some coconut shrimp and I am going to join him and review the day and what we were blessed with.
Kate, I admire you and the way you seem to juggle everything in your life! Ten kids at home would be enough to drive anyone over the edge, but you thrive on it! And on top of that, you are always busy with theater, song writing, recording, etc! Good going!
ReplyDeleteI saw Ben at Chick-fil-A this week. I don't think he recognized me.
Keep up the blogging! I love to read them.
Thanks Gale,
ReplyDeleteI really love doing this. It sort of like a diary, but better and I so want to encourage others to be supportive of the enormous amount of kids who need homes not just here but seemingly all over the world.