Day 6!!!

We made it to day 6 of Eddie's overtime, and after this week, I will be glad to have him home in the morning. I plan on making a large dinner tonight of cube steaks and mushroom sauce with mashed potatoes and green beans and for dessert Pie! He will be a happy man. The kids are still in their pj's and we are just enjoying free time until after lunch and we go gangbusters on the house with household relay. Kid 1 (Lena) goes to room 1 (upstairs bathroom) and picks up all clothes and stuff, Lena goes to room 2, Alison goes to 1 and takes out the trash, no 2 kids can be in the room at the same time so you can't enter until your leader yells done! It is pure chaos but a ton of fun. When we finish we will play a game or watch a movie with them. We finish the house top to bottom in 2 hours and this is a huge house!

Tobey is still talking, I almost cry when he does it, I am enjoying every minute in case we lose it. He is currently watching Madagascar and making vacuum cleaner noises, a favorite pastime of his. Edwin had a rough night but everything was solved when we noticed there was a mushroom on his pizza, he must have strictly cheese. Alison is getting very nervous about ISTEP. It really frustrates me when they keep getting money cut and we expect so much more from the kids. Olivia is loving not having any activities out of the house today and has found the on demand feature on the cable box, she wants this feature in her room, yea......no. I will never see her again. Emily is getting quite the personality, I think we notice more of what she says because we didn't get it with Tobey. Yesterday I thought she was taking my pop and I said " No, that is mine put it down" without missing a beat she says " Duh, I was handing it to you. " Wow, I just got served. Melody is still just an odd little kid, I said this once to the boys Autism Dr. and she was already to test her, I was like no she is simply an odd child, no shock ,Ed and I are not exactly normal. I mean who has 7 kids anymore? Except that family with 19, now they are nuts, they need to be tested, hahaha! That is a whole 'nother blog. Ed will get that joke!

I got a mouse pad that has a quote on it that I thought I would share...

"I know of nobody who is purely Autistic or neurotypical. Even God had some Autistic moments which is why all the planets spin." Jerry Newport

I am working really hard on letting Edwin know about Autism, how to not hide from it but embrace it. His brain works differently, not badly, just different. And there is nothing wrong with that. I think he is starting to embrace it, I noticed that he looked up Mozart (autistic) the other day on-line, did my heart good and worth the 20 dollar poster showing famous autistics. There are a ton, you would be surprised! Have a great day!

Tobey Jude, cont.....

Tobey has had several days in a row that he has been talking, now we have a couple of days a month that we get some speech, but we are on day3 and it is awesome! I almost hate to put it into print, I don't want to jinx it! I am not having conversations with him, but he is answering questions and singing songs. It is really seeming like a dream come true, I don't want to lose this, I am scared to miss any moment, terrified that he may stop. He amazes me everyday! I know that we will never be able to walk out of this haze of Autism. I am ok with that, it is the path we have been given.

The rest of the crew is doing awesome as well. Lena is doing well and totally obsessed with CSI. Alison is really liking having cable finally and is pushing for piano lessons. Edwin had his first cooking class at Hannah and Friends, he really enjoyed it. Thanks Lorrinda. Olivia is becoming quite the young lady and loves helping me out with cooking. Emily is cracking me up everyday, she is a nut. And Melody is doing a great job of taking care of her large family of dolls. I totally see her having a large family also!

The husband is working a 72 hour week, I assume that he is doing well, I only see him for an hour a day. We are planning to take the kids to Chicago or Indy next week to give all of us a much needed break. I do have to put out there in cyberland, how much I appreciate my husband working so hard to support our family and allowing me to stay home with the kids! I love you big guy!

If I don't get on again this week , I hope everybody has a great weekend!

My Tobey Jude

Tobey had a wonderful night last night and I just had to share. I asked him if we had his teacher over for dinner, what should we have? He started naming off food...pizza, apples, pie, cookies and cereal. I just sat there amazed, not wanting to do anything to stop him! He amazes me, I know how hard it is for him to talk, to make those connections, and he is getting it! He got a talking machine (thanks to our church) last January, and it took the pressure off for him to talk. Awesome! Then Eddie and I was playing Beatles Rock Band, and he started attempting to sing with it! I was tearing up so much I got a bad score on singing. I just love when the Dr's are proven wrong!

Today I am taking Edwin for immunizations, so that will be fun. He is however enjoying how quiet the house is, and acting very well behaved, we will see how he is at 2! He and Tobey both got haircuts on Saturday and he keeps rubbing his head, funny. I do not however like Tobey's haircut! My theory is ... his middle name is from a Beatles song, and he should have long hair. The school and my husband disagreed, so now he looks like he should be in the military, John Lennon would not approve! Eddie kept saying that he looked like Celine Dion's son, it was not that bad. I told him I was going to cut Emily's hair and he had a cow, double standards if I have ever seen them!

I think that we are going to take the whole crew to the farmers market on Sunday, my kids just love that kind of stuff, Olivia especially... she is so in her element when it comes to baking and fresh veggies. I am going to attempt a garden with her this spring. I have a long history of killing plants though! Ironic, because my grandma Frances owned a garden shop and that was my first job. No joke I bought a hyacinth on Friday and it is almost ready to end up in death row. I will not give up on the gardening, there will just be a ton of casualties. If anyone has hints I am open!

Well, I have appointments and all the weekend work to catch up on, have a great Monday!

He was mine all weekend!

As usual we had a busy weekend, I remember hearing people say how they were so busy, I am now in that boat. On Friday we bought our dining room set and put it together, we bought 2 regular sets and attached them, Voila a set to fit a family of 9! We sat down to dinner with the kids and they talked our heads off! We finally got to eat after they finished. On Saturday Olivia had girl scouts and we picked up her cookie order, I painstakingly made separate bags for each order, put them in boxes according to my side and Eddie's side, only to have the hubby leave them on the table overnight. I woke up to Emily and Melody eating cookies on the table and singing! Thank God we bought extra!

Eddie was home all weekend, people used to tell me, oh when you've been married a while you will get tired of each other, not true for us! I love spending time with Eddie, even if it is just helping him with a Saturday dinner or helping him change a tire, or playing Beatles Rock Band, we just have a great time together. He just gets me, he knows to wake me up with pain pills and chocolate milk, and that I like milk in a glass and not plastic. He knows that I am quiet in the morning and talkative at night, and from our daily calls at lunch, that I need chocolate. I love that we have a history, and not all of it has been sunshine and unicorns, there has been some storms, but you can't enjoy the good times without the bad. That is just not how life works. For example I walk through this home everyday and realize that if we didn't have a house fire, I would not have this awesome home that we love. Eddie is getting ready to put in a 72 hour work week, so I will only be seeing him at night on his way up to the shower.

Today after Eddie and I both worked in Kids Kanyon, my Dad and his live-in, as he calls her, (I call her Dee) came over and we had an actual visit with them, I think that is the first time they have ever done that, they just don't do that in my family. It was nice though. They watched Wall-e with the kids and Emily fell asleep on his lap. They did however get a small insight on our life with the boys, after seeing Edwin have a meltdown due to over stimulation, (the kids were all hyper from the visit), Dad said to spank the boys, that is not how it works though. But he just doesn't understand how spanking is not how you discipline children, especially autistics.

Well that is all for tonight, Beatles Rock Band is calling my name! It is time to kick my wonderful hubby's butt!!!!

Finally.....

We are finally making some headway on the house. It seems like every 2 weeks we are getting some real work done. On Superbowl weekend we got the living room redone. Got new furniture, installed the TV, and put down a rug and coffee tables, we know have enough seating for a large family. Some of the kids still insist on sitting on the floor, I am not going to fight that battle.

Now this weekend, we are working on the kids bathroom. In it is a claw foot tub, which I love, you can fit several toddlers in at one time. The faucet started leaking, I thought this was not a big deal, well guess what, it was. The faucet is outdated and you cannot just go out and replace it with any faucet, it must be special ordered. This then caused the water heater elements to burn out because it was hot water leaking. The water heater was just installed last October. We tried to engineer a way to just put in shutoffs, which it didn't have, which meant the pipe needed replaced because the shutoffs for that size are also not available. So, now I am waiting for a faucet and hoping we don't burn out the elements first. This then got me thinking that the bathroom should be my next decorating project. So now I am going to make Eddie do a major overhaul and pit down tile, new toilet and replace the sink pedestal. Now the reason I can afford this is that Eddie is working a ton of hours, and not in the mood to spend his precious free time turning our bathroom into my vision of a Charlie Brown experience. Thank God the man loves me!

So here is an update on the kids.... Lena is doing well with the grade skip, but had no idea on the work load. Alison got a haircut which she fought me on but loves. Edwin is obsessed with Star Wars, not Star Trek... he will correct you. Olivia and her doll have recovered from the birthday party, Olivia said that party's are a lot of work. Tobey said "HI" to his bus driver, I thought she was going to cry, he is also feeling better today. Emily is being bossy as usual and is sleeping in today. On a side note, since we got a flat screen, when the show is done she gets up and claps, cute. Melody is helping me out a ton lately, bringing diapers and wipes for Tobey and even asked me if he got his meds.

It really amazes me how the girls just love the boys and how they understand about their needs. I remember how we could not afford school pictures because Tobey had to start a new medication. And we made this bowling trip and had to turn around and go home because the strobe lights put the boys into breakdowns. At the last family meeting Ed told them how great they are about that, and they really didn't seem to notice that they were doing it, they just love the boys unconditionally and that is all they know, how great is that? I know that they will grow up to be compassionate people.

Well that is ti for today, I have a ton of housework to do before the Tobey is here. By the way Karen thanks again!!

Kate Sullivan

I would like to tell you about an amazing person in our life, her name is Kate Sullivan and she is Tobey's teacher and has been for a year and a half. Now she is paid to teach my son(I am sure not enough) but she is not paid to love him and to help us take this walk with him.

At Tobey's last IEP meeting we started off the meeting with her saying that we were there to celebrate the man of the hour Tobey Jude. Now if you want me to love you....love my Tobey Jude, don't feel sorry for him, see the awesomeness that is him. And she does, she helped us take a very difficult step in his education and had us laughing during it. When Tobey made a huge art project for Christmas she drove it to our house. When we mentioned that Tobey is hard to control, she offered to come to our home to see what we can do to improve our schedule for him. When I need to talk about Tobey, she will meet me at the Chocolate Cafe'. Today he got sick and knowing that Ed is at work, she got him home. I am so blessed to have her in our life and will miss her tremendously when Tobey has a new teacher next year.

It is really amazing how God puts the right people in our lives when we need them, I am utterly thankful that she is Tobey's teacher.

I have been busy as usual, we enjoyed a wonderful holiday with the kids and even got quality time with my husband. We had a at home date night on Saturday complete with surf and turf and then a movie, with some time to talk, even. Not about kids, but about the love we have shared for 15 years, the joys and sorrows and our dreams for the future, both as a family and alone. Ed has been working so much lately, it was great to just reconnect. It amazes me how we become closer all the time.

On Sunday, we took 7 kids to Build A Bear, pure CHAOS!!! I mean serious lines and a ton of stress with a large family. On the bright side the kids loved it, and we will do it again, next year!

Well that is all today, have a great day!

Exhausted!!!

Ed and I are hardly functioning right now, we are simply exhausted, at the end of our rope. Ed has been working 12 hour shifts all week at a very physically demanding job and not able to help out at home, I on the other hand have been taking care of 7 kids by myself and Tobey is having a rough week. We even had to cancel all our Friday appointments because we are getting so overwhelmed. I know how blessed we are for the overtime, but on a regular week we are tired and the boys are not liking that their Dad is not home when he should be, he's the fun one!

Ed has to work on Saturday so when he gets done we are going to take the kids to build a bear for their Valentine's present. One of the great things about having a large family is we are considered a party, so we will get our own assistant, NICE!

On Sunday after Church, Ed will shovel snow for people around the church and then we are going to deliver cookies and visit family. That is all for today, I am not typing very well from lack of sleep! Will post more tomorrow!

Yesterday (great song!)

Yesterday was kinda of a laid back day, all the kids were pretty mellow and I got a ton accomplished (deep cleaning 2 rooms), today I have to clean the rest of the house because the cable man is coming tomorrow! Hallelujah!!!! I can hardly wait I am going through a Deadliest Catch withdrawal, I find Sig soooo cute! To keep the kids from tearing up the house we got the kids some craft stuff to do when they come home, that works like magic.

I finally watched This Is It, if you know me, I am a fan of Michael Jackson and The Beatles. My kids are also fans, they have no choice! That was one of the best movies I have seen in a while, what a loss, and what a genius. Before he died you almost had to hide that you were a fan of his, now no one stares at you for blasting his music going down the road, or wearing his shirt or having him as a ring tone. Funny how we always tend to realize how amazing someone is after they die. I guess that is just Human Nature (pun intended). I still get choked up a little watching things about him, I feel so badly about the way he was treated and how we have lost that type of entertainer. It seems like so many musicians don't really seem to have that much talent anymore. I could literally go on all day about Michael Jackson, I digress.

We spent the weekend getting everything done for the big game only for the Colts to lose, what a disappointment and a sore subject for my husband, but the Letterman commercial was great, The Who was also a disappointment. It is really sad when you can say the highlight was a 30 second commercial out of 4 hours, what a waste of time. We did have good food though. The kids just love cake.

Speaking of cake, somehow I got talked into throwing a birthday party for Olivia's doll, she came to us a Christmas time, so she is only 2 months old. I sometimes feel bad for Olivia being the middle kid and in between 2 bothers who have Autism. So needless to say, I am baking cookies, not cake, we just had that on Sunday. And, we are making decorations, Olivia is letting me pick out the dinner at least, I hope that she likes chicken. Olivia is responsible for the homemade card and I am going to help her make a gift with some scrap fabric. I am not sure now that I think of it, if this doll even has a name yet. Anyway, whatever it takes to let Olivia know that she is loved, I will do!

Well, folks that is all for today, I have cable to prepare for! Have a good one!

Last Night.....

Last night was rough. I will not sugar coat it, it sucked. It started off really well, we have our morning routine down pat. There is no yelling, coats and backpacks are on 10 minutes before the bus arrival, essentially stress free. With 3 different bus schedules this was not easy to navigate.

Emily and Melody were up and dressed before 8:30, we even had time to play ghost and read 2 books. And then the Tobey came home and he was in a mood. Now he was talkative, but these weird screams that I think are his attempt to talk. After 2 hours I was ready to take a bottle of ibuprofen. I put on my new Michael Jackson movie and he liked the music(my boy) but the interviews started the yelling. I finally put in a CD. Then Edwin came home, now this boy has been a character for a couple of days now. On Tuesday I found out that he had such bad gas that he had to be taken out of class, no joke. He also has figured out that he is a ninja. He decided to play with Tobey and got him all wound up again, and Michael Jackson's angelic voice could not help me this time. Olivia forgot her spelling words and Alison forgot her reading journal, so some of the homework was not finished. Then I look at the clock and it is 4, time for a play date at our house. Not knowing what to entertain with today, I put in Rock band. There were 4 girls trying to belt out Beatles songs that they didn't know, I am now at my limit of ibuprofen. I finally call to the sleeping beauty (Lena) who so happily got out of bed to help me with a smile on her face.... Yeah, that is not what happened and went to make dinner. Lena then left for youth, leaving me to handle the crew, and I am at my limit and it is only 6, Ed will not be home for hours and he still had errands to do. I finally got the crew all settled in by 10, later than usual because I am one person, you know. My husband walks in the door at 10:30 and says I am so ready for the weekend, I am burnt out! Good luck with that my dear, the children that we feed, clothe and love unconditionally won't allow it!

In his defense, he knows me well and brought me home flowers and a huge bag of chocolates, I knew I married him for some reason. Tonight I am forcing an at home date night and he has to watch Michael Jackson's movie, with me, with the extra features...mwahahahaha, that is an evil laugh!

Parkour!!!!!!!

Eddie and I are obsessed with The Office, in my opinion it is the best show on TV since The Golden Girls(yes I love them, Dorothy is my favorite). Anyway, on The Office they showed an interned sensation called Parkour. It is simply getting from point a to point b the craziest way you can.

We decided to institute this into our home on a nightly basis. I don't know about other kids but mine have this insane amount of energy right before bed. So we yell "Parkour" and just go nuts! Eddie usually tries to do some crazy stunt with the banister but I have yet to see it completed. He is attempting something, I don't know what though. Oh, that is husband Eddie. Lena doesn't usually participate, I think that she thinks we are all nuts, ahh teenage years. Alison usually jumps on the couch. Edwin usually stares at us, occasionally running. Olivia is usually laughing too hard to do much. Now Tobey, this boy takes this to a whole new level. He jumps everywhere and runs in circles, and here is the magical thing, if we end it to soon ... he says Parkour. It is the best sound in the world. Emily loves to yell out what everyone is doing. And Melody being the youngest has to be in a safe place and just jumps! If we ever get company at this time, we have a lot of explaining to do.

I spent a long time doing what I thought that everyone else thought I should do. I won't do that anymore. I have realized that God has made me into a unique individual and if I want googly eyes on my plants or run around my house like a mad person, or teach the kids about the Beatles like it was a subject in school, I will. The past year of my life has been the life that I always dreamed it would be, I took that chance. I have met celebrities an d people that should be (namely my pastor, who is the best). I have opened myself up, which is not the way I was raised and realized it is not scary but amazing the world we live in. I have never been as excited about a new year as I am this one!

Now it has been pointed out to me that I focus a lot of this blog on my Tobey Jude (aka the Monkey). There is a reason for this. I literally nearly died having Tobey, and I remember after I recovered I said that he better be the healthiest boy in the world. Everything was fine until he stopped progressing, and then for the 2nd time in our life we heard a Dr. say your son has Autism. Heartbroken is not a good enough word, there are no words. But this time the Autism was far more severe, and we just had to watch him reverse. And then you get used to it, and seizures start, and then aversion to water and then self injury. There is not a moment that Tobey is home that I can be ion a different room, it literally takes 30 seconds for something to happen, and than you can end up with an hours long meltdown. Because I spend so much time with him, I know him better than anyone, and that has made us even closer than I am with the rest of the crew. So I love them all the same, but he is just attached to me all the time.

Well that is all today, this is Emily and Melody's time for Mommy to themselves. I hope everyone has a great day.

Another weekend gone...

I have discovered that our weekends are so packed that I will simply have to become a Monday thru Thursday blogger. That and with the whole crew here and one computer, there can be problems.

So, Tobey's meeting went really well, I even met his teacher that he will have next year, she happens to be Edwin's special Olympics coach, small world! She also has a child with Downs syndrome so she has walked the walk. Tobey will get 2 hours of therapy a week, including swimming. He will also have weekly community trips, but as far as academics there is not much, I am considering spending a few hours a week with him to keep him up to date more. I really feel more at peace with the decision we made.

On Friday we went to Shelton's and stocked our freezer with meat and got tons of veggies and cheese. I love the feeling of a stocked freezer, a little old fashioned I know. Tobey had augmentative therapy and then came home for a play date with Auberesch, she is a friend of Alison's that Edwin has a crush on. She is from Ethiopia and really interesting to be around. She just came here 10 months ago and adores cheese pizza, she doesn't care for pop, which is the beverage of choice in our house! After that we went to buy Beatles rock band and Eddie and I had so much fun that we accidentally woke up the kids, they told us to be quiet and go to bed, after we reminded them we are the parents, we went to bed. They were right.

On Saturday I baked 50 cupcakes for a baby shower and took Lena and Alison with. They had a great time and Alison won detergent, that will take to long to explain. Eddie bravely took the 5 youngest kids to the Bremen Bounce house. The crowds were a little much for Edwin but Tobey who is the master of jumping had the time of his life. We did some grocery shopping and played rock band, again waking up the kids!

Sunday we went to church and both Eddie and I got to work in the same room, we had so much fun, there were twenty 3-4 year olds. I told Eddie to reverse the vasectomy, I want 13 more, he did not find that funny. We realized that we are gluttons for punishments when we decided to take the kids to TGI Friday's. Now we don't do the sit down restaurants often. Here is why...

1. It is not cheap to eat out for 9 people, and we have to tip well because the kids will spill something. I did have coupons from Zoo Boo which really helped.
2. We get stared at, I know that people in this area don't have large families, but we are not that interesting.
3. You always have to wait for the large tables. Kids do not like that.
4. Hello, 7 kids, not easy to control.

Now with that being said the kids were awesome, Melody did spill chocolate milk though. We were complimented several times on their behavior. Lena had her first adult meal at a sit down restaurant and Emily used the potty for the first time in public. So we came out unscathed and will do this again in 6 months!

Eddie is always complaining that I am over scheduling the weekends, I have to! I would love to have a weekend where we don't do anything, it may happen sometime in March. Probably not.

Well that is all for today, have good one!