Hey, wassup? Me? I'm kinda random again.....

So, we are still alive here. Yes, we have been busy and that is one of the reasons I haven't blogged, and yes my computer broke and that is yet another reason...but to be very honest I have simply been stressed out to the extreme. And to get on here and say that Lena has an attitude still and that Tobey said "cookie" seems to be not that important. I don't want to leave anyone hanging, but we don't have enough information on the stressor to share, so I will go on with the things that just don't feel quite as important.

(Putting myself in a good frame of mind by thinking about chocolate)..... I do so love chocolate! The schools are still excellent, I am impressed daily by how they educate my kids. Even Tobey is learning beyond what I thought he could in this amount of time is simply amazing.

So, here for your reading pleasure is the kid update....

Miss Melody is doing great in school and her favorite thing she has? A kitten that we found in our engine. Yes, we got a kitten and she is named Butterscotch...adorable and fun and Eddie has been caught petting it. She is going for more screening in November on the Autism front, at this point I would think I could do the testing myself.

Emily or a.k.a. Cocoa is doing great and making so many friends. She is so cute at school and the littlest one in her class, she may also be the smartest....just saying. We have started doing cooking together on Monday nights....this Monday we are making lasagna, salad and bread sticks. She is giddy about it.

Tobey Jude, Eddie just called me and told me that his school picture came out badly. Which is crazy because he is very photogenic. Eddie said that he looked stoned, to be honest he is so medicated I am not sure how we ever get a good picture.

Olivia is driving me crazy...maybe it's the age. Anyway, she is very anal about times and how everything should be done by the letter. And when I am stressed out, I am quite honestly a dingbat (bring it spellcheck!). So, we are not best friends right now. According to Oprah (why do I listen to people who don't have kids) we are not supposed to be best friends, so maybe I don't have to cry myself to sleep?

Edwin, as you know he has a thing with shooting people. I am slightly worried that I may end up as one of those parents on Dateline saying " He is my son and I will support him no matter what." So, we are now going to start seeing a Psychiatrist and doing an intense speech therapy to teach him the right words. That will bring my weekly appointment total to 964....just seems that way.

Alison, She is turning 13 in 23 days. That my friends is scary.... I mean really, she was born like 2 years ago, or maybe it just seems that way. All she wants is a MP3 player, that I can handle. I may let her have a sleepover, you know because I don't have enough kids at my house.

And Lena, not a whole lot going on with her. She has a robots class that she is loving and doing very well in. She may even get on honor roll this semester. I love to see her excited to go to school, it has been a while since we seen that.

Husband Eddie has some new projects in the works, so he is a happy man right now. He is throwing around getting a part time job to help out with the holidays and so I will enjoy what time I have with the guy.

On my last blog, 2 years ago I put on their we were going to the pumpkin farm next weekend. Unfortunately I didn't have my calendar (which you need to look at Eddie) and I will be in Chicago for a kid conference with my Church friends.

Speaking of Church I need to say something about my Pastor, we have not had the best of weeks and I am so blessed to have someone like him in our family. To feel alone in something and to have someone say the simple word of "we" gave me the feeling that we are not alone in this. So, here is my thank you note to Sam, thank you for always being that welcoming listener when I am panicked and crying. Thank you for understanding Eddie, even though I am starting to think that you encourage some of his behavior now, just sayin'. Thank you for everything you have done in our lives, sharing your family and bringing us to God. We are better people for knowing you.

So, I think that is all I have for today. Talk at you later.

Hello...It's a random kind of day.

First off I want to respond to Alyssa who asked for a picture of William. If you google William Wells Warsaw, his obit will pop up under the Union Times paper. I lost all pictures of him in the house fire, so I help that helps.

I am not sure how to segway off of that one, sorry.

This weekend we have Abby's wedding, the girls are getting nervous. Eddie is at rehearsal with them while I am writing this...I hope everything is going well.

Plymouth is growing on me. I really didn't think it would. The schools which are so great to deal with (all 6 of them) have done everything in their power to help us out. I am starting to feel like a celebrity there. Every time I call them or walk in I am greeted with "Oh, you are the Mom with 7 kids, right?". If they thought that standing on their head would help, they would. I have no complaints about these amazing schools.

And then there are other things like you can drive across the whole town in less than 10 minutes, and not a whole lot of lights. I also love being 7 minutes away from our Pediatrician.

Now with that being said. I get giddy when I am know that I am going to go to South Bend, and I love having what I think of as my "South Bend life", which is Church, my friends, work and just all around fast paced chaos. It seems like a good balance, and I am doing ok with it. I know that we needed to slow down a little bit, Plymouth just forces it on me now.

We have set a date for the Worlds amazing Pumpkin farm! October 8th.... So, if you want to go with us, just Facebook me and I will get together with you. It is all the way in Merrillville, but well worth the trip.

So, now I will leave you with an Edwin story. I have started doing incentive charts for each kid to work on a goal. Lena has to work on attitude, Alison needs to get organized....you get the point. So, if all 7 kids fill up their chart we are going to go to Chuck E. Cheese, except Lena who wants to go to my hairstylist. So, Edwin has to behave in school, and if he does we worked out an arrangement with the teacher that she will put a star on his daily chart. (By the way, his teacher gives me a schedule of everything he does and then a sheet that records if he is in a good mood for that particular thing). So, Edwin gets off the bus and here is our conversation....

Me- Hey Buddy, how was school?
Edwin- I'm so sorry Mom.
Me- That good, huh Edwin.
Edwin- Yeah...I am not awesome today.
---I then check his bag and find all the paperwork and low and behold there is a star! I bring him over, high five him and say...
Me- Edwin, you are awesome today, you get a sticker for your chart!
Edwin- Oh wow! I am not sorry Mother.....

The boy cracks me up. Love him!

Well, that is all I have for today, I will see you on the flip side. What the heck does that even mean? Anyway....

William Wells

http://www.wndu.com/localnews/headlines/Claypool_man_killed_in_Kosciusko_Co_motorcycle_crash_129396253.html

This was my cousin, he was only 32 years old, the father of 2 and way too young to die.

My Dad called me to tell me about it, otherwise I wouldn't have noticed that local news story on Yahoo about a guy dying in a motorcycle wreck. I tend to skip over those... to depressing. It's weird how different it is when you know the person, it is no longer the tiny blurb mixed in with entertainment news. It is now remembering going swimming with him and sneaking into the snack cabinet at Grandma's hose and being so thankful that he was taller than me. It is thinking back to that time when he jumped on Grandma's dining room chair and it broke under him...all fun and games until Grandma came out and found us.

I am sorry that this happened to you William, I don't know the right words to say to your Mom and Dad or to your wife and 2 little boys. I do know that you were so loved by them and you will be missed and I want to thank you for the cookies and the swimming. And I will never forget the time that you told me that I should listen to more black music and I exclaimed that I loved Michael Jackson. You laughing then said the funniest line ever "Melissa, that makes you even whiter." God bless you Will.....

Melody Summer and Preschool

Today my sweet Melody went to school. She was excited, confident and looked so tiny with her backpack. I was a little teary walking her in, but when we came to the classroom I was simply an afterthought. When does that happen? You know you were the center of their universe and then.... Bam!! They are in their own life. I am so relieved that I am not the parent who can't get the screaming child off their leg and that my kids are excited to try new things, not scared of them. But a goodbye hug would be nice.

Ironically as I am writing this, Melody is watching Finding Nemo. You remember the one with the overbearing parent who can't let go. I see Finding Nemo in a different light though, I mean it is a small fish with a disability that gets nearly eaten by a shark. I probably wouldn't let Nemo the heck out of my sight. And much like Nemo, Miss Melody is ready for the world...me? Still not ready.

Onto an Edwin story now....Edwin has decided that he is the king of Box Tops for Education. He has become so obsessed (thank you Autism) with them that he is tearing apart my pantry to get them and has even snuck items into the basement so I don't catch him ripping apart a cake mix. He takes these so serious that during family meetings he will explain to us in full detail about how he puts the box tops in the container and how his teacher thanks him. When I go grocery shopping he will only carry in the items that have the box top labels, and leave the rest in the car. So, here for your reading pleasure is the latest conversation concerning these cardboard treasures...

Me- Hey Edwin, I have 4 box tops for you (yelling from the kitchen)
Edwin-Oh thank you Mother!!!! (running down the steps)
Me- Put them in your backpack so that you don't lose them.
Edwin- Mother, you are awesome (as he trims them, because for some reason I lost my rational mind and had simply ripped them from the box in excitement)
Edwin them gave me a hug and yelled "Woo Hoo, I am getting money for my school!"
Me- Breathing a sigh of relief that he has no more desires to blow up the school....because if he ever did? I would have to save a TON more of those stupid box tops!!!

So, if you know Edwin and would like some undying love from him....save your box tops!

Ok, I will talk at you later!

Growing up too fast....

Tomorrow my sweet Melody Summer is going to preschool. She is so happy and proud, I however am having doubts. I know as a parent I am doing the right thing. But my gosh I will have no one at home with me on mornings for 3 days a week. I will have no reason to watch Elmo or Rango for the 5,000th time. My baby girl is growing up and I don't care for it one bit.

And another kid that is growing up is the Tobey Jude. Last night the boy told me "I love you". I never in my lifetime thought that I would hear those words coming out of him. It was his voice, looking right at me, and said "I love you". I cannot think of any word in the English language that explained how that felt. I am tearing up now just typing it. The weird thing is, he never had to say those words to me for me to know that he loves me. But he did, and it was the most amazing thing. I just may be one of the luckiest Mom's I know.

Onto other things, but how do you follow that? We had a great weekend of Blueberry Fest, complete with a parade (which people came over for) and fireworks (which we FINALLY saw) and fair food. The kids however were disappointed because I wouldn't spend money on rides. They ate and played games...tough life.

Eddie and I also got some stuff around the house done. It was nice just having a day at home...we don't do that much. We painted some shelves and the thing that is around the door (don't know the name) and set up our bedroom.

Next weekend is Eddie's sisters wedding, so we are both taking the weekend off then too. All 5 girls are excited about being in the wedding and begging to wear makeup. You know I have to put some glitter on them, they have to match my hair!

Oh my gosh, I nearly forgot to tell you...I got rude with a lady at Blueberry Fest! I know, sweet Melissa is never rude. Well, I was. Here is the story. I took Tobey Jude with his leash to look at a booth. He of course had his leash on and was majorly stemming because of the insane crowd. So this lady looks at her daughter ( I am assuming) and said " There must be something really wrong with that boy". Talking about my Tobey Jude....really. So I looked at her and I said well he is Autistic and Non-verbal but, he is probably still smarter than you! My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my freaking chest! She apologized to me, not him...(pick your battles here) and went on to look at some religious calendars, nice. Maybe me saying that to that stupid lady is why Tobey said he loves me.....

Well, I will see you later...I have to prepare my heart for Melody becoming a kid. Have a great one.

Melody Summer is going to Preschool!!!! And Plymouth smelled like green peppers today, FACT!!!!

Hi, there, I know I keep going on and on about the various aromas of Plymouth but it is super odd. Anyway, here is what is going on in the life of Holstein.

Melody Summer is going to preschool next week. My baby will be leaving her mother for 2 and half hours on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for what seems like eternity. We were very blessed to not only get her in a Christan Preschool but also one across the road from us and is willing to work with JESSE which is the special needs people for Plymouth Schools if...Melody is officially Autistic. We are so blessed.

The rest of the school age kids are doing awesome in their assorted schools and I am adjusting to the crazy schedule much better than I thought I would.

I got my hair done which it looks awesome! I love it, it is very funky. It has highlights, a feather and these glitter strands called bling. Eddie said I look like Rainbow Bright, but a little fact about Eddie.....He had a little thing for Rainbow Bright when he was a kid, just putting that out there, no charge.

Tobey Jude lost his first tooth Thursday, he sat there at the table at lunch and just yanked it out. The teacher was a little shocked, she obviously doesn't know how much of a man child my Tobey Jude is.

Lena's boyfriend is coming over to our house tonight to go with Lena to the Blueberry Fest, I am at work so Eddie will be the one meeting him. To be a fly on the wall for that introduction!

This weekend we are totally doing everything Blueberry Fest! We honestly have no choice. We live across from it and the kids have learned nothing in school this week because the whole town is OBSESSED with this thing. (Ironically, the town has never once smelled like blueberries which seems so very odd. ) I have prepared for this fest like it is the end of the world, the cabinets and freezers are full and I picked up all of the kids sleeping meds...I need nothing more.

We are also missing Church on Sunday, which I feel horrible about. For one, traffic will be a living Hell. For two, they are doing a South Side day. South Side day is when our Church goes in to the South Side of South Bend (see the reason behind the clever title now?) and they perform all sorts of service projects for people with no strings attached. I love this kind of stuff, but Eddie and I have come to the conclusion that there are just certain things our family cannot do. And that is one of them...case in point? Go back to August of last year and read about our Church Picnic. I have noticed that there was no Church Picnic this year, hopefully it is not because of a swing hitting Melody in the head....

So, I think that is all I have for you today...See you soon!