Frustration!

This move has been nothing but awful! We are in this dang hotel WAY longer than we planned. It was so stupid of us to buy a house. If we had just rented we could have been moved in and settled by Christmas! Here it is, practically Feb. and we are still in limbo. We were supposed to have moved into the house tomorrow. The moving truck showed up today instead and said they can't come back tomorrow...they'll have to come back monday. I want to scream! If they had called us this morning (instead of just showing up at the house a day early at 10am) we could have arranged for it. Now we are stuck here still!

We can't even get out of the hotel. Landon is sick. The doc yesterday said he's afraid Landon is starting to get pneunomia. That means we have to stay in this tiny cramped room and not go anywhere.

Never again! Next time we move we WILL have a house to move directly into. There will be a maximum stay of 2 nights in a hotel.
Now it may seem like I'm overreacting, but remember, we've been in hotels since the day after Thanksgiving!!!

I just finished reading...

Unraveling the mystery of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder.

Now you might think it's strange that I would read this book considering I have no autistic children, but it was the only book I had on my list to read that the library had! I am in the process of researching the dangers/benefits of vaccination and found a recommendation for this book at www.bulkherbstore.com.

The book was so good. It was a very quick read and read like a novel. It's the story of a mother who's son was diagnosed with autism, how she researched and worked with her child to CURE him. It's an amazing story, and YES I believe it is true. While the autism part was interesting, the most fascinating part to me was how what we eat can have such a huge affect on our bodies. I also loved that this mother did not just accept what the pediatrician and specialists told her, which was that her son would suffer for the rest of his life, but that she took action.

A thea update

Thea seems to be doing better today. She's still fussy, but in much better spirits than yesterday. Today she took 2 naps instead of sleeping all day! I still see her grabbing at her ear (i've been putting some garlic oil in it to help), but I pray that this is a turn around for her. God must have heard your prayers. Thank you so much!

Calling all prayer warriors...

My Thea is sick. She has a horrible cold and only wants to sleep all the time. It's painful for me to see her so uncomfortable and listen to her cough and sneeze. Please lift her up if you get a moment.

Is 4 really that many??

Since we've moved from Hawaii I've noticed something. Everyone stares at us as we walk by. I see them count how many children I have, stop the person they are next to to point us out, or just stare and smile. While it's sweet that they think we're cute, it gets uncomfortable having someone stare at you for a long time...even if they are smiling. People often question if they are all mine and comment that my hands are full.
I don't think 4 children is all that many. While it may be more than most, I just can't imagine that people think it's so unusual! Perhaps it's because I look young or that they are so close in age. I don't know. However, I love having a lot of children. I'm proud of our big family and our adorable kids. I may be biased about that :) They are most often well behaved and fun to be around. Maybe if more people knew how fun it was and that it doesn't make me "insane" or "lose my mind" they'd have more, too!

This blog needs pictures!!

We are using our laptop while we are in the hotel so I can't download any pictures right now. However, I have access to pictures from the last time we lived in a hotel...about 18 months ago!! Here are some pictures of my sweet boys before they got so big. They are taken in San Diego right around Landon's first birthday. The time passes so quickly...I love them so much.

A house!

We are homeowners! What a big step we have taken. I would lie if I said it dosen't make me a little nervous, but I'm trying not to worry..."each day has enough trouble of it's own" right? We love the house. The basement is finished and we're going to use it for a school/play area. I'll be able to put up alphabet posters and maps on the wall without feeling like it makes the house look tacky! I may even set up my crafting stuff down there, but I doubt it. The back yard is very large and has a nice wooden swing set already in it. The boys are really going to enjoy that. We met the previous owners and they told us that the house two doors down from us has a great babysitter. How exciting is that? Now it takes a lot for me to trust anyone so I'm not sure we'd ever use her, but I'm praying that it will work out! Dan really wants us to be able to go out alone, and if it's that important to him I'd like to do it.
Now we just have to wait another 12 days and then we will be able to move in...I'll post a picture as soon I can. It's getting so close i can almost taste it! Yes, I'm very sick of living in a hotel.

A great website...

I found this website today off of another MOMYS blog. I read some and thought it had wonderful advice for raising children. So much of what I have read lately feels sort of "heavy" in the discipline department, and this was really refreshing. While it does not condone allowing children to get away with things or have bad attitudes, it still remembers that they are children and focuses on getting them to "choose" to obey instead of feel like they "have" to obey or risk certain distruction. The mom who writes it has 10 children so she's been there!
Check it out...


http://www.raisinggodlytomatoes.com/

Now you can learn what it means to "tomato stake" your kids!

Hotel times...

Last night we went to the YMCA for the first time. Quintin took his first Tae Kwon Do Class and loved it. The instructor was really good with them and there were only about 8 kids in the class. Two of them are black belts so Q will have something to aspire to! He's so excited about getting his uniform (I do'nt know how to spell Gi, gie, whatever) and getting his belt. Ashton loved the childwatch room. They brought landon to me after about a 1/2 hour. He had been fine, but turned around and saw that ashton wasn't there and started crying. He still didn't feel better when they brought him to Ashton so they brought him to me. Landon kept asking for me to go into the toy room with him. I had to explain that moms and dads can't stay there and play. I'm hoping to take an aerobics class a few mornings a week...they told me that they won't let sick children into the room so I'm praying they won't get sick all the time from being in there. It's only for an hour and I bought some airborne Jr.
Today Dan went back to work. We ate breakfast and then we did school. I'm trying to get up the courage to go out with them. It wouldn't be an issue except that it's freezing out and I hate the cold...it seems to zap my patience.

We got 2 crock pots at Walmart yesterday and we've starting having dinner at home. Here's the menu...
2 Bean Minestrone (last night)
Spagetti and vegtables (tonight)
black bean dip and chips (tomorrow)

Breakfast is the continental at the hotel and I guess we'll go out for lunch.
good times...

We're here...yet homeless

Well, we are now officially moved. Unfortunately we are ready ahead of our house! For the time being we will be hanging out at the Amerisuites and enjoying not having to clean. We had the inspection on our house today. Everything looked good except for a crack that runs from the foundation to the top of the master bedroom. The owners had a structural engineer come out...he said it's fine...uhhh...I don't know anything about it, but it just doesn't seem "fine" to me. The housing inspector said that it would cost about 5-10 thousand to fix and I'd hate for the repair to fall onto us.
We also joined the YMCA. It's only a mile from the house and has a lot of great things to offer. Dan was really impressed with the workout room, the kids with the childwatch room and I with the...uhh...well, maybe I will like the aerobics classes they offer. Too bad I have a huge phobia of leaving the kids where i can't see them at all times!!
We also found a goodwill close by. This is very important for a large family! We went in looking for a crock pot and a glass bowl for the microwave at the hotel and somehow came out with kids books, kids videos (the hotel has a VCR), and some toys. The kids were smiling and we were just completely bewildered at what had just happened. Good thing the toys, books and movies were all 99Cents.
Dan starts work the day after tomorrow. I am so scared to get lost! Good thing I have my handy dandy GPS. Thanks Dan :) We will hopefully spend some time at the YMCA and maybe find a park or 2 that we like. The weather is supposed to get much warmer by the weekend.
I will post pictures eventually!