Changes

The dynamics among the kids is changing around here lately. It is interesting. Hannah has surprised me with some of the things she has said to Haylee lately. I wonder if some resentment is starting to show. Haylee doesn't need Hannah as her protector anymore. She hasn't since she has been in our home. Hannah has seemed to be defensive of Haylee toward me lately, but not very friendly to her. They have had a few yelling fights in the last few days which I have needed to intervene. Interesting...

I am not sure what is going on...time will tell. They are staying with my parents this weekend. I hope it all goes well.

Rough day, already...

Mondays are rarely easy around here. Hannah is having a rough day. I keep thinking about that saying, "There she blows." I keep waiting for that to happen. She isn't happy because her day isn't going well. My husband corrected her this morning before he left when she was playing the piano. Quarter notes and eighth notes don't get the same value. We struggle with fractions, so of course we also struggle with this concept. Next we started math and she couldn't remember how to count change which we spent Thursday and Friday on last week. She is not a happy camper at the moment. I hope she doesn't blow. I can see it in her eyes.

She struggles tremendously with making connections with math concepts. If you give her rules to follow she can get the right answer, but she doesn't understand the concept. It is very difficult for both of us on days like this. I hope I don't blow either.

We are starting an adoption support group in our town. APAC is hosting the meeting. The first meeting is tonight. I believe about 30 people have said they are attending. I am excited to see what is planned for tonight.

Enjoying the weather!

My husband took all of the kids out again today. I am trying to complete our business and personal taxes for 2010. I am also catching up on bills and planning school for this week and next. We are going to Nashville this Thursday through Sunday with Alex for the Southeastern Swim Championship Meet. The girls will be with my parents and Tucker will be at Boy Scout Camp. I get a little nervous when we are all spread out like this.

I am trying to get things situated so things will be smoother when we return together again next Sunday.



Here is a picture of the girls outside at a friend's house today. The boys are fishing at their pond.

Good News...Bad News

Good News...I went out of town by myself today. My husband kept the kids and helped them with school. I was able to get some things purchased for Tucker, who is going to be traveling a lot in the near future. He is going to a boy scout leadership training for two weekends and to Teen Pact for a week. He is going to be a tired young man!

Bad News...I had to go because my 6 1/2 year old car was having trouble. We were smelling oil, we thought, and it was making a funny noise. This is not going to be a cheap repair. Something about the drive shaft and leaking transmission fluid. At least it can be repaired.

More Good News...they will have it repaired tomorrow and they let me drive a Toyota Highlander home from the dealership today. It is always fun to drive a new car for a few days.

It was nice to not have to be responsible for anyone but me today.

I bought the girls some solid t-shirts at Tar*get today for $4.99. I was excited about the price. Well, Hannah was NOT happy that I told her she could not wear it tomorrow to play outside. They are painting these big boxes they have made into houses and we don't need paint all over their new shirts. Oh well, I guess she will recover from being angry with me, as usual.

After I returned, we took the kids to the pool in my rental car which is really too small for seven, but we squeezed in with 5 kids, 5 swim bags and 5 mesh swim equipment bags. It was pretty funny, like a can of sardines. After swim team, the kids had pizza and movie and my husband and I had quick dinner date. It was nice.

I guess I will travel the hour one way again tomorrow to pick up my car. I wonder if I will be by myself again?

JOY

We have seen a change in Hannah since the Father Daughter Dance. We are seeing more genuine happiness in her than ever before. We are seeing more genuine smiles and more laughter. I believe another piece of attachment occurred on the magical night for her. I believe another layer was pulled back and healing has started on the new layer.

Praise God!! He is faithful!!

1/2 mile for the girls!!

The kids are all participating in a swim a thon to raise money for our swim team. Haylee and Hannah thought they would have a hard time reaching their goal of 1/2 mile or 825 yards or 33 laps. Well, Haylee and Hannah swam today and did wonderful!! (They had a few issues about getting to the pool with their swimsuits, but once they had their suits, they did well.)

They each swam the 33 laps with very little problem. Haylee did really well as this is the time she has a lot of energy because she is transitioning off her medication.

Tucker, Alex and Morgan will swim tomorrow. Tucker is swimming 3 1/2 miles or 231 laps. Alex is swimming 165 laps or 2 1/2 miles and Morgan will be swimming 1 1/2 miles. They will all enjoy pizza after the swimming tomorrow.

We saw the pediatrician today. It is official since May of 2010 they have each grown 2 inches. Haylee is 48 inches and Hannah is 46 1/2 inches. They are still small for their age, but growing. I was relieved that the meds do not seem to have slowed Haylee's growth. They have stayed about 1 1/2 inches apart since they joined our family. Yeah!!

Father Daughter Dance

I spent last night in Atlanta with only the boys. I was a nice change. They get so little of my attention because the girls demand so much!! The boys are very understanding of the demands of the girls. It was very quiet!! Well, I took the boys to a swim meet and Elliott stayed home with the girls. They had a dress up date night last night and had a wonderful time. I had to get home today to help them get ready for the first annual Father Daughter Dance in our town. About 45 people attended. They aren't home yet, but I am sure it was great!! Elliott had a sweet speech planned about learning to "dance" with your daughters. He mentioned that two of our girls are adopted. He said it took him about 4-5 years to learn to "dance" with Morgan. It was difficult but they dance well together now. He said that he is still learning to dance with Haylee and Hannah and a lot of toes are being stepped on in the process. It is a challenge worth taking. Girls desire to "dance" with their fathers. Each of them have a different "dance". It is worth stepping on toes to figure it out. It can be life changing. Anyway, it was a very meaningful speech. He probably doesn't even know I read it. He left it on the computer when he left tonight.

Rocking along...

Everyone is doing pretty well. Hannah continues to get in trouble because she doesn't want to use her brain to think. She would prefer to use Haylee's. She does well when she exercises her brain. She also doesn't think before poor choices and often forgets that the world doesn't revolve around her. For example, I told her not to let the dog get a bug outside. She got the bug on a stick and gave it to the dog. Needless to say, I wasn't a happy mother and the rest of her afternoon and evening wasn't very fun. I am praying that the confidence she has in herself will continue to increase and she will overcome her struggles. Some days are better than others.

Haylee is doing pretty well in school. She does well most days. I am really starting to see confidence issues in her as well. Since she has really improved her "baby talk" I am able to see that she uses it when she isn't sure about herself. I can always tell when she is afraid to tell me something or not sure of an answer in school. I have been reminding them this week to speak boldly and with confidence even if you aren't sure. It is better to appear confident and be wrong than not confident and wrong. The other benefit is that when she speaks boldly she can't speak like a baby.

All in all, they are doing pretty well if you think of them as their maturity age of about 7, instead of a young nine year old. Morgan is definitely more mature than Haylee and Hannah.

Morgan's birthday party went well. Feeding the dog the bug happened the afternoon after the party. Hannah always seems to have issues when something big happens and it isn't about her. She is doing much better. She usually takes her punishment well. She doesn't voice her disagreement, but you can see it all over her face. I believe I did see some repentance this time when I discussed the issues with her later.