What a day!!!!!

Banner day for the Holstein's! First off Tobey's lead came down 5 points! Officially taking him out of the brain damage level for lead poisoning.....what a relief. If he can come down that level again in the next 3 months we will be done with the lead chapter in our lives, which is one chapter I want to close.

And we had our date night for the year! Which was a blast and I know that we should have more than 1 date night a year, but it is not the easiest thing for us to schedule. So here are all the details on our date... We met up with my Dad and girlfriend at the Emporium where Eddie had steak and I had this wild chicken and mushrooms (I didn't like mine much) and after a civilized dinner (nothing was spilled), we headed over to the show. We spent like 15 minutes trying to park without spending 8 bucks, and then walked 2 blocks to the Morris.

There was a ton of people that we knew there and most were in our section! We had not so great seats so moved to better ones when the show started, not sure if that is legal but everyone else did it.

Finally, Micky entered the stage! I nearly jumped out of my seat. There he was the guy that I used to watch on that show with my Mom when I was a little kid. I loved watching the old footage, Peter was fun....Davy however annoyed me for some reason. I don't know why...just not a fan. The most shocking part was when Micky's hat fell off while drumming and I seen how bald the dude was. I am talking bald, people.

The line of the night was said by Micky, he was talking about a party being thrown for them by the royal family (not the queen, The Beatles) and he said "I was told that I had a good time!" , funny! I have to say this I don't know how old they are, this was the 45th anniversary for them. But their energy was amazing, and the show was over 2 hours with no intermission. I have been a fan for a long time, and I didn't even know they had over 2 hours worth of music.

After the show we got some ice cream and I thought it would be fun to go to the first place that we had our first kiss. We decided against it, I was slightly worried that we may have ended up in a position where we would have to go to Granger Church (get it Sam!) so we ate our treats in the driveway.

So, 15 years ago today I married the love of my life.... best decision I have ever made. This next part will get mushy if you want to skip over I understand. In 15 years Eddie we have had 7 kids, 6 miscarriages, 4 dogs, probably 20 cats, burnt dinners, amazing Christmases, a house fire, our hearts broken, and our faith restored. We have gotten thought things that would take down other couples, and still in love and laughing at the end of it. There has still never been a day that I don't look at the clock and figure out how long until you will be home from work, there has never been a place that I would rather be then in your arms. I still can't wait to tell you my good news of the day, and when it is a bad one...you are the first one there with your shoulder for me to cry on. I can not imagine myself with anyone else, your smile and your humor sustain me. Thank you for marrying me and making me the luckiest woman in the world, am ready for 50 more...years, not kids.

Now that I have finished my job at Hallmark....I have such exciting things to do. Today I am going to clean the bathrooms and get the laundry monster tamed. I hope that your day is just as exciting, have a good one.

Turning 35 and Emily's Great Restaurant....

So, I have a very exciting week this week. First off tomorrow it is....Date Night 2011! the Monkee's and The Emporium! Woo Hoo! A full night of adult conversation and Mickey Dolenz! I am a happy woman.

I also, will be done with being 34. To be honest I am glad to see that one go. That whole thing of living my life feeling like I can't break the curse of surpassing my Mother's age will be done. Hopefully Eddie will stop telling me that I am living on borrowed time...that would be a great present Eddie!

Eddie is taking me and the kids to Cracker Barrel for my birthday and I actually have the day off! I don't even volunteer this week at Church! Eddie however will be volunteering so we will still be at both services. This however will not make Edwin happy. It is all he can do to get through one service...I will bribe him, yeah that is good parenting.

Eddie had his first live skit at Church last week, it went really well. I would try to explain it but it will not make sense unless you seen it. So, the concept was a support group for super heroes and there was an invisible man, and then Eddie was like one of those guys that eats for a sport (think of the Asian dude with the hot dogs in New York). So, there you go, it makes no sense this way...but trust me it was funny!

Emily, is obsessed with food. If you have read this blog for a while you already knew that. Anyway, she has decided to open her very own restaurant when she grows up. I love that....she was explaining to me all the foods that she was going to have and where all her family members would work. I would be in the kitchen with her and her Dad will take orders. She said that if Tobey would stop running he could set the table. I have worried about where Tobey could work, now I just have to figure out how to send Emily to Culinary School.....

Lena had an awesome week at camp. First thing she told me was she wants to go to a Christian College....SCORE! She also told me that she gave Jesus her attitude, Jesus sent it back yesterday. So, we are back to living with a teenager....I just realized that I will have teenagers in my home for the next 15 years....please pray with me

Lord, please protect the Holstein's as they enter the danger zone of raising teenagers. Please comfort them as they have to lock up their 5 daughters, and guide them in the ways of getting a gun permit from Wal-mart. Lord, help the girl that touches Tobey Jude....may she heal quickly and have an easy transition into the witness protection program. In your name, Amen.

So, I am ready to medicate the kids....I hope you have a great one.....

I flunked what?!?!?!?!?!?!?

So today I had to take testing for my new job (second job, but that will be another post) and we joked around about them training me on Autism. I mean really, what new thing are they going to enlighten me on? This is my life.

So after watching one of those boring videos, with the disco music and horrible acting it was time to take the test. I then realized that the test is from 2004. So here was one of the questions...
1. True or false Autism effects 1 in 500 children.
That my friends is false it is 1 out of 110. But, I got it wrong because in 2004 there was not as many kids diagnosed with Autism. ( they obviously had no idea that the Holstein's would be such breeders!)

And the whole freaking test was that way! So I missed 7 out of 10! And I failed the test on Autism! Holy crap! So, after I made my case they gave me my A, thank you very much.

Happy Father's Day Eddie!

Lately I have been going to the Walmart by our house and every time I seem to get this cashier, or I see her in the store doing some odd job. And for some strange reason she has a a slight obsession with our family. I am not sure if it the size of it or if it is the Autism factor. She makes this point to ask about all the kids and asks tons of random questions.

Well, a few weeks ago she asked me if I had a husband since it is always just me and the kids in there. At the time it seemed kind of odd. I have 7 kids, I better have a husband I joked to her. And she told me that she meant to say....did he stick around? I was a little dumbfounded.

The more I thought about it though. Not every father sticks around, even with 1 kid and no disabilities, not every father thinks he is up to the challenge of being a real man.

And I realized how truly lucky I am that not only did Eddie stick around, but he has done a great job at being a Dad. He plays games with them, gets them interested in sports, makes them homemade popcorn, has in depth talks with them, blasts music when they are doing chores, cooks the meals when I work, and he is the brave one who takes them out to eat and to community things by himself! I don't do that, are you kidding me?

If you know Eddie, he is the fun parent. I have no desire to do the Cha Cha slide before bedtime, or go get ice cream at the weirdest times.

Eddie is also the one who has brought our family to God, and is helping to turn our children into Christ followers, and for that I eternally grateful.

I don't always show it Eddie, but to me you are the most amazing man I know. Your humor has gotten me through so much, your patience is that of a saint and your heart is gold. Thank you for not only being my husband of nearly 15 years but for being the greatest Dad I know to our 7 kids. I wish there was bigger words than "I love you", but for now that is the best I can do.

Hello World!!!!!

As you know the kids are out of school, and I am out of my mind! It isn't that bad and I know that I should enjoy them time I have with all 7. Tobey and Edwin are going to Extended School Year on July 5th, and then at the end of August all 7 are going! That still seems insane. I keep getting asked what I am going to do with all of them gone....I thought about going to school myself. But I am not sure about taking on more debt. Dilemma's, dilemma's.





So, last week we talked to a credit counselor. We want to buy a house but when you owe your first born to Memorial Hospital it seems like an impossible dream. Going on, so after finding out where we stand we will be able to buy a house in 2 years after we have established some credit. So, now the car payment is a good thing....go figure!





So, Eddie has been doing pretty good on this whole fitness thing. He is still running some and now he is taking Martial Arts. He was in a lot of pain last week, but he survived!





So, here is my update on the kids....





Lena, if you have seen on Facebook is in a relationship! I think she may actually want to go back to school now.....

Alison, is doing pretty good, I have been having lots of talks with her about her Dr. appointments.

Edwin is LOVING his summer break. He has been spending a lot of time playing by himself in the backyard, he needs the quiet.

Olivia is so happy that one of her old teachers is picking her up for the day in the near future....Thank you Mrs. Yoder for making her summer with that one!

Tobey Jude ohhh my Tobey Jude. That precious boy now says strawberry, but he says "Strawbreberry", how flipping cute is that?

Emily did the cutest thing the other day. She came down the steps in full Princess attire while Eddie was scrubbing out the fridge. So, she decided to pick up some paper towel and help him out. Eddie looked at her and said that he didn't know that princesses cleaned refrigerators. She told him that they do, but only when the Princes are being lazy. Nice!

Melody has been good this week but you can tell that she wishes the big kids were back in school. She misses our time together.

And me? Well, I had to make a very hard decision this week. I decided to resign from my job and move onto another company. I love the job, I love the clients (they are family to me) but I am not in love with the staffing issues. Part of me feels guilty about leaving the clients, they do not attach themselves to staff easily because they leave. This is going to be a hard 2 weeks. So, tomorrow I have to meet with my bosses so they can try and talk me into staying.....Awkward.

Talk to you later.

24-7

So, it's official...the kids are out of school for the summer. Holy crap, what did I get myself into?!?! I mean, these kids are going to be here 24 hours a day, seven days a week!

What am I supposed to do with them? What could I possibly do with them?

Just kidding! We actually have a lot of plans for them! First off, we have coupons for the kids to bowl for free.

Secondly, we are joining the Y. YMCA that is...I think the Village people would be proud. However, we will not be joining the navy...

Thirdly, the kids will be participating in reading programs at the library.

Finally, there's always manual labor. My favorite!

What are you planning on doing with your younguns? If you have no younguns anymore, or yet, what are you yourself planning on doing? Comment below!!!

Chatterbox

As a family, we love to make progress. Progress in our lives, our finances,our goals. Eddie and I also have goals, not just for ourselves and our lives together, but also for the kids as well.

When Tobey was first diagnosed with autism, he was diagnosed as a nonverbal autistic. Meaning, he did not use verbal language to communicate. As you can imagine, this was very frustrating...for us as well as Tobey. We didn't know what he wanted...He couldn't express to us what he wants, even if it was pain. We knew immediately what our goal was for Tobey. This little guy needed to talk. after countless therapy sessions and 3 years of school, we started to make peace with the idea that Tobey would not talk.

I must now call attention to a word...WAS! This little guy, in the past 3 months, has gone from having a vocabulary consisting of 50 words to walking around with his daddy and naming off everything he sees. He sings songs. He recites his alphabet...he counts to 13.

When he wants a drink, he says drink. When he wants to go outside, he says he wants to go outside...he even verbally volunteers to put on his shoes and socks.

Progress is amazing. I know I usually post a longer blog than this, but this has been on my heart since earlier when I went shopping with Eddie and the monkey...BTW, if you say to Tobey,"Tobey is a..." he replies,"monkey". then he imitates a monkey!

Thank you, God, for progress.

Thursday Musings...

Usually on Thursday I hang out with one of my favorite people Sarah.But she had childcare issues. I then thought I would drop off the girls at the sitters and spend some time by myself, then Alison threw up and I am now at home typing a blog.

So, I had a meltdown of my own last night. I can blame it on the fact that I packed in way too much stuff on my day off, or that I am busy with all that end of the month paperwork at my job....but the truth is I had one of those times of just feeling sorry for myself. And it was over such a small thing.

I went to a baseball game for the kids (Tobey,Edwin and Alison) all three of them are in a organization called Challenger....they are awesome and the kids have a great time in it. Well, I only watched a total of 5 minutes of the game because Emily and Melody were buttheads...( I say that with L.O.V.E.). And so I ended up taking them to the car for the rest of the game.

So, here is my meltdown....I came home and of course I got on Facebook. And there it was Tobey's cousin (the one who is 2 months older) looking adorable in his little league pictures, and I lost it. Now don't get me wrong here I love Tobey's cousin, and obviously would not wish him any ill will. But in those pictures I seen the Mom looking well rested and stress free, he was not on a leash or had to have a special buddy to help him. There was no worry of seizures or therapies to think of. He was just a kid playing a normal game of ball, not a care in the world.

I talked to Eddie and I just lost it, I think I seen just how different our lives are. Tobey's cousin is going to regular school and Tobey will go until he is 22 and never even get a diploma, his cousin will lead an independent life and Tobey will always live with full time care or family. So, there you have it, I am not as strong as everyone thinks...I had officially lost it.

With that being said, I can not imagine what my life would be like if Tobey was "normal", I may have even ended up bored. I know for a fact that I wouldn't be the person and Mom I am. Or even be doing the job that I am. I am not sure if I ever told you, but when they asked me for my job experience with special needs, she just put down Tobey....that was all I needed. If you can take care of Tobey and live to tell about it, you are hired!

So,lately I have been shopping at Meijer's. They are closer than Wal-mart and they double coupons. So, yesterday after the game I was wanting fried chicken. So, we jumped in there to grab some. They had just cleaned out the case and it was marked down but still hot, I thought I had won the freaking lottery. Well, that was not the case my friends. Worst chicken ever! It was so dry that I literally had flashbacks to National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. You know the scene where that hillbilly family overcooked the turkey. I mean it looked ok, but you had to chew it forever and the actual chicken (not the breading) was actually crunchy.My kids who eat anything (including brussell sprouts and lima beans) could not even stomach it down. Just horrid, horrid chicken. So, if I have not drove the point home enough yet...DO NOT GET MARKED DOWN CHICKEN FROM MEIJER'S! Never. I now will wait patiently for the slander lawsuit.

Eddie and Edwin got their haircut yesterday. They went to the same Barber that did Tobey's hair. Edwin looked at himself and said that he looked amazing, he has a slight ego problem. In his defense, he did look amazing. Eddie really liked the nostalgic feel of the place. I think it would be so cute if the three of them go together every time. Probably won't happen but would be adorable.The barber also refers tome as the boss, which I kinda like.

So,I suppose I should get some more work done. I hope you are having a great day.... I will be catching up laundry. Jealous?