The Holstein Christmas....and the New Year

This has been a fun and crazy holiday season. I have always been really big on all the traditions that we used to have, this year not so much. And as Eddie and I were rushing around after Christmas Eve services I figured out why. When I started all of those crazy traditions, we were a very secluded family with no real friends and Church family. Now? We are so blessed that we were not even able to attend everything we were invited to. We have so many people that we love in our life now, I don't need to fill up our lives with the same old thing. We are filled up and I LOVE that.

We had several highlights, first in my mind was the Christmas Eve Service, we had a blast in Kids Kanyon but the best thing was having a special needs child curled up in my lap...what a feeling. And as I sat there I seen the love that Lena has for Tobey, and that is amazing to me. Seeing like a 100 kids excited about Jesus' Birthday was such a blessing. Then we attended the second service. Sam did awesome on his service, which I expected....seriously he is the best Pastor ever. The band did great, very moving. But then the icing on the cake....Eddie played Trombone!!! The guy plays like 13 instruments, and this was the first time I ever saw him play. I didn't think I could fall in love with the guy anymore, but I was wrong.

We headed home, and had Ramen noodles (so not my style...I was tired) and I made an overnight casserole while Eddie helped Santa set up gifts. We went overboard, like big time. But we have had some tough Christmases and I have been planning a big Christmas since the beginning of October. Eddie and I had wine out of Halloween cups (they had bats on them), and settled in for our long winter's nap. Notice they say nap, because kids don't sleep much that night. We were up 4 hours later, watching the kids tear the heck out of our house.

After gifts, I went back to bed and then made breakfast for Eddie's family. Had Christmas with them and then it was time to make the big Christmas Dinner (no one even really eats that dinner, they want to play).

We then vegged out the rest of the day, and played Minute To Win It with the kids. So pretty relaxing day. Nice.

I am actually in shock the kids vacation went so fast. They go back on Tuesday, too soon. We have had a lot of fun. They have been cracking me up. I honestly think that I may have the coolest kids. I know, everyone thinks their kids are the coolest....I do think I would win. Melody and Emily have started posing like "Tebow". They have no idea who he is, but they look adorable. Edwin came up to me yesterday and blew on me. I was a little surprised and asked him why he did it...he told me it was the Holy Spirit. Tobey has pooped several times on the toilet, he does great if he is only wearing a T-shirt and a smile...not real appropriate for real life, unless it is at Wal-Mart (whoa, did I just go there?). Olivia got sea monkeys, I am getting stressed out because they don't give you enough food. Do you order more, or just let them starve? What is their life expectancy? I didn't think about all of this when I bought the stupid things. Now, I have like 50 more mouths to feed. And then that is another thing. How big do they get, do you buy a tank for them? I should have thought about all of this, and got the guinea pig that I wanted. They don't need purified water and leave me with a fear of the unknown. Ok, enough of that. Alison and Lena have made a few appearances from their rooms, since Christmas. I got them DVD's and movies they can watch in their room....and that my friends, is how you deal with teenagers over the holiday's.

So, now we are heading New Year...we are going to have a junk food fest Saturday night and I got the kids party hats and horns. And then they can open their crackers. I did not get confetti this year...not regretting that decision one bit. We have talked to the kids about what their resolutions, but they also need to tell us how they plan on reaching their goals. I would like for them to write out a plan and show the steps....we'll see how that goes over. I think setting goals is so important for them to learn motivation. I don't want to raise kids that feel like they are entitled, and the world owes them something. I want them to see what hard work and taking chances can do for them. Eddie and I learned that the hard way....and that my friends is one of my goals, to raise upstanding human beings...not matter what you think may be against you.

We have had such an amazing year, some awesome...some sad. We went to Disney and that was a blast, we moved, Eddie got his promotion, I started a new job, the kids started going to amazing schools, Tobey said new words and we got some scary medical info on another kid, we got a Durango, and realized that car payments really are not fun. I turned 35 and did not die, Eddie threw me an amazing party. Lena went to her first date and dance, and I did not panic. Alison has a boyfriend, and I am panicking. Edwin has found God and seeing God through his eyes have been inspiring. Olivia has come out of her shell and we found out that she is an athlete, go figure. Tobey told me that he loved me, and I cried as hard as I did when I found our he was Autistic (I am tearing up now). Emily is going to big kid school and is being reigned a genius, and Melody went to pre-school and is loved be everyone there. I went to Chicago and renewed my faith in Christ (I evened raised my hand during worship!). I celebrated 15 years of marriage with the love of my life and still madly in love with the dude.

Looking over the last paragraph, I can not believe how blessed I really am. And I am nearly giddy for 2012...I think it will be another amazing year...it will have to be to top Disney!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The parties and Edwin.......

Wow, the big day is almost here! Can you believe it? The kids are counting down the days, and ready to open the gifts. Me? I am counting down the days I have to get everything done....ahhh, the life of a parent.

We had a busy weekend as I blogged about earlier...but with 7 kids things don't go as planned. I woke up on Saturday morning and the Tobey Jude's ear took a turn for the worse. So that important meeting I was supposed to go to did not happen. Come to find out the little dude had a staph infection in his ear, nasty stuff. He is however feeling much better now and has made several requests for pop-tarts. He also sang a song with me today, so I am not as concerned about his hearing as I was. We go to the Doctor again on Friday to find out what to do next.

I was abls to have the Precious Stones party on Saturday, it went really well. We had 2 new families and there is a picture of Melody looking at Santa that will melt your heart on my Facebook page. We did a much more low key event and it went over very well.

After that party I rushed back to Plymouth and picked up chicken for my sides party. We had about 15 minutes to set up, light candles and give the kids those all important talks. If you are a parent you know what I am talking about....Don't ask Grandpa why he is not married to Grandma, the list goes on and on. The highlights of the party was Edwin doing the prayer. I asked everyone not to snicker when he did it (that is very hard) and they did well. The prayer went something like this....

Mother loving (I am freaking out a little here and thinking this may have not been my best idea)
We are gathered here to talk about how Jesus died (not really Edwin....go on)
Love has been spoken (Building 429 quote)
Don't let Santa die (that is a given, but ok)
Thank you for the chickens (Yes, Martin's make a great fried chicken dinner)
Blessed Father (we are nearing the end....)
Amen (whew, the boy did it and I was the one who could not keep a straight face)

Edwin has been full of quotes lately....I told this one last night at a dinner so if you were there, sorry about the repeat...

Edwin upon seeing the snow "Wow, look at all the snowman blood!"

There is nothing boring about raising that boy. He cut his hair last Sunday because he said that wanted to be a new son for us. I am pretty much in love with the one he already is. His brain simply amazes me.

I think that is all I have for today......

Bring it!!!!!!

This weekend may quite possibly be one of the busiest holiday weekends ever. On Friday, after the marathon drop off of 5 kids at 4 schools, I have grocery shopping which is becoming an Olympic event in 2014 (for my size of family, it should be), and then a trip to the pharmacy for Tobey's bizillion meds and then about 10 errands. After that I pick up Melody and get some Christmas shopping done for my side of the family which I thought we weren't exchanging with. Pick up Edwin from school and take them to work so I can make treat bags for Precious Stones and wrap gifts. Then, I will head home to clean the house. Saturday I have a meeting for work, rush back to Plymouth to pick up the kids (Eddie is working overtime to help out with Christmas shopping) And head back to South Bend for Precious Stones party set up. Eddie will then meet us there during the party and take the little ones home to set up for my sides party. I will clean up at the Church and then pick up chicken ( I am NOT cooking) and cupcakes and have merry festivities. At 9 that night I will collapse from exhaustion and self medicate with a Coke and chocolate. And then Sunday? I can't even think that far ahead at the point! The crazy thing is though, I like being this busy! Isn't that the most insane thing you have ever heard? Maybe that is why I have 7 kids....

Yesterday we had a very rough day with Tobey Jude. He was hurting me and himself again. And it took everything in my power to control the boy. And don't you know it....that was the exact time that all the other kids needed my undivided attention for things like homework, zippers and requests for ice cream. I tried not to yell, but honestly Tobey is hitting me in the face, I can not dish you out ice cream and put sprinkles on it....sorry. On the bright side Tobey has attended school for 3 days in a row and even got to go on a field trip, which he had a blast!

Also yesterday was the anniversary of the day Eddie proposed to me. 16 years ago....I am feeling old. Anyway to celebrate we watched a gruesome show I can not get enough of and watched Tobey sleep....it was nice. After what I went through with him, I was so thankful top watch him sleep.

I think that is all I have for you today, I am off to make a bunch of lists for this weekend! Have a great one!

The IEP's and the Tobey Jude

Yesterday we had both of the boys' IEP's. For those of you in the non-special needs sector that is Individual Education Plan. I used to dread these things, but they are so different in Plymouth.

We had Edwin's at 7:50 in the morning which is one of earliest meetings we have had. Edwin only attends school for 4 hours. And he has a breakfast, lunch and recess in there. He also has what they call sensory breaks. Somehow, he is keeping up with all the "normal" students and doing Honor roll work. So, we have decided to start having him stay an extra half hour a day for now, and he is going to eat lunch with the 4th grade class. Our hope is to have him in with the "normal' kids most of the time by the end of the year.

Tobey's was at 9, it went great! The see Tobey starting to recognize letters and numbers. And they are ready to put him on more of an academic plan. After he gets his letters and numbers down, he will learn money with the help of his Ipad. He can do so much on that thing and will probably be more technologically savvy than his Mom. And then they want to put him in a normal classroom for a little bit each day. Now, I never thought in a million years that Tobey would sit in a normal classroom...huge blessing.

So, since I am on the subject of a Tobey Jude. The little guy was fighting a bad cold for quite a while and he was having fevers every other day. We took him to the pediatrician a couple of times but it always seemed to fall on a "good day". The school was noticing that his blood oxygen level was getting low and his heart rate was abnormally high. And between us, the school and his Dr there was probably 50 phone calls. On Tuesday and Wednesday he was running high temps and we did that whole Tylenol and then Motrin trick. And then Friday night he was screaming his head off. But because the little dude doesn't talk much we had no idea it was pain. And then we noticed his ears were leaking and then today we found out that both of his ear drums burst and he has a severe bacterial infection in his ear canals. So, now the boy is drugged and blissfully sleeping with no pain. This is the part of Autism that just sucks, I can't tell the difference between screaming because of a tantrum or pain. I can ask him if he is in pain, but he can't tell me. At the Dr's today they were asking me questions about him and all I could say was I don't know. Very hard. So, he goes back next Friday and we will find out about putting in tubes and then we will discuss getting his hearing tested because they are worried about him losing some hearing. So, any prayers for him are appreciated. The whole hearing loss thing is terrifying to me with all the other communication issues.

That is about all here at Holsteinville.....I hope you have a good night!

Update from the Holstein's

Hello world. I am using Lena's laptop. First time on a Mac, not to bad. The keyboard is a lot easier to use.

So here is what is happening in our neck of the woods. As you know if you read this blog I am huge on traditions. I am not sure if it's because I never had them growing up or maybe it is because I feel like since we have a large family that maybe we are supposed to have this Norman Rockwell Christmas. So, this week while dealing with a very sick Tobey Jude I have held on to these traditions with a vengeance. Last night we were supposed to go to our Church's live nativity, but do to the Tobey we had to bow out. Normal people would probably just enjoy a night of nothingness....Me? I decided to move up our Christmas story night. You know that night that I have the kids eat with no utensils. Another tradition is Bernie the head elf brings coordinated pajamas for the kids on Christmas Eve, that is getting tougher every year. But, I am coming to the conclusion that I may be doing the traditions for my sake and not sure that the kids are getting much out of them. So, now that I am ready to call it quits on them, Eddie thought of a new year one for next year......we are going to start an ugly sweater contest, and wear them on Christmas Eve. It will never end!

As I said earlier Tobey Jude has been one sick little dude. It has not been a fun week. It has been rearranging every plan we have made and taking him to work with me. One cool thing is that I found out that Tobey Jude can speak sentences in his sleep. How crazy is that? Part of me thinks that it is so cool that he has the ability to do that. The other part doesn't understand how to get this when he is awake.

I did get one fun event in on Friday. I went to a cookie/ornament exchange with my friend Sarah. It was pretty cool and the kids enjoyed eating their cookie breakfast the next morning. I didn't even know that they had found the darn things let alone would eat that freaking many!

Our Precious Stones party is on Saturday, it is going to be a much more laid back event. More of a story time with Santa and one simple craft. There is enough things that over stimulate special needs around the holiday's. I have no plans to add to it.

Oh the tree, it has become a pain in my soul. It is not only crooked but only half of it is lit up thanks to the cat and it is already drying out. I have to sweep under the stupid thing daily and we forgot to trim off the lower branches. So there will be no actual gifts under the tree....just around it. Not very Norman Rockwell.

Tomorrow I have the boys IEP's, I am hoping that they are ready to put Edwin in full day. I love the boy, but I have found the joy of having the kids in school. And even though it may make me sound like a bad person...I LOVE it!!!! I mean, really. It is the best thing ever this school thing. Years ago Eddie and I tried to homeschooling and to be honest we sucked at it. And if I could go back in time I would (pardon the french here) kick myself in the ass! Love, love school.

Eddie, being the great provider that he is will pretty much be living at his job this week. I told him that he may as well sleep there. I have the debit card for payday.

Well, I suppose I should give Lena back her laptop. See you all later!

Happy Holidays and Random Thoughts by Melissa

Hi, the Holiday season is among us and folks settle in because this will be a long blog.....Last night we put up our Christmas Tree. We decided to do a real tree because the fake ones have LEAD!!!! Why do they continue to make things with lead? Going on, Kroger had all there trees for $35.00 no matter the size so we got the biggest one they had. Eddie did not know how to use the deluxe stand, we had needles everywhere and the kids are nearing bedtime. I am still keeping my composure until I saw that every single ornament needed a freaking hook. I don't know how many ornaments that I hooked but it was enough for a 10 foot tree. The kids who all wanted to help decorate the tree were not very patient. But we finally got the silly thing done, and then realized that the tree is very crooked. I sent the kids to bed without having them perform my fantasy of singing around the tree Charlie Brown style and breathed a sigh of relief that we had no injuries. Then this morning I looked at the tree and noticed no lights, garland or ornaments on the bottom half of the tree. It was then I remembered that we have a very active kitten. So, we will decorate the tree yet again tonight. Maybe we will do the Charlie Brown thing.

The washer passed away last week after a short illness. Eddie did his best to bring her back, even though I told him it had a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate order). So, I am at work trying to catch up the laundry. Goodbye washer and your crazy ways.....

We have noticed as Tobey is getting older (he will be 7 next month) and bigger that his Autism quirks are more noticeable. Let me see if I can explain this right.... It is normal to see a 2 year old in a diaper amazed by a car and then throw a HUGE tantrum. It is NOT normal for a 6 year old to do that. It is normal for a 2 year old to not talk to the cashier, it is not normal for a 6 year old to not have a conversation. I have got Tobey programmed to say "Hi", when I prompt him to get us through for the quick little conversations. But that is all I got. I can't make him tell people what he wants for Christmas or how old he is. And I used to be able to pass him off as shy, especially when he made no eye contact. But when you have this adorable kid who looks right at you smiling and spinning the tires on his ever present matchbox car....you can't just say he's shy.

Another side note on Tobey Jude, his Aide at school said he looks like a young David Cassidy. He does actually, the scary thing is she thought I was old enough to have been a fan of David Cassidy....funny. Even though I am a fan of the Beatles so, maybe I shouldn't be offended. Going on.....

We had a great Thanksgiving, my dear friend CJ and her girls Mary Mae and Christine came over for dinner, we had so much fun. Of course, I made way too much food. But I think it may have been the best Thanksgiving we have ever had.

Lena and her boyfriend went out on a date last weekend. They went to see the Muppets. I really like this kid, he is the same boyfriend that she has had for a year. I used to think he was quiet, I was wrong he fits right in. I know I have mentioned it before but he loves the Beatles and cats. She has chosen well.

Last night I made out Christmas cards and came to the conclusion that the big box I got is not near enough for how many friends we have. We are beyond blessed to have so many friends that I need to get another box of cards today. I could have worse problems....

I am almost done shopping for the kids and Eddie. We have cut out all extended family exchanges this year. I think they were relieved when we told them. I know that 7 kids is a lot to buy for. It is also a huge weight off my shoulders and I am so enjoying just shopping for the kids. Their lists though are getting more extensive....Lena wants an Ipad which will never happen, Alison wants a stereo, Edwin wants the Operation board game, Olivia has changed her mind daily, Tobey I am assuming wants cars, Emily wants a Barbie house and Melody wants a baby. So besides Lena's request very easy this year. In our house we have a few traditions on Christmas Eve the kids get their pajamas from Bernie the head Elf. And then Mrs. Claus brings the kids underwear and socks, Please don't tell Lena that you heard that here. She will be mortified!

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

Hello, I have Comcast again!!!!!!

I have no idea what to blog about, I am still in shock that we have Internet again and I am back with the living. Well, among the living that have Internet.

At first I was going to blog about what I saw on the Today show with the 14 year old special needs girl that was abused by her aid and teacher, but to be honest I was so pissed when I saw that, I don't want to go there again.

Then, I thought I would blog about the kids and what I am thankful for instead, because there is enough negativity out there.

So, I will now tell you everything I am thankful since there is a certain holiday coming up next week.

• My Church and Jesus, first and foremost. I have such an amazing Lord for giving me the life I have now. And I thank him daily for putting Living Stones in our lives. I have no idea where our family would be without them. And, I couldn't love my Church family anymore.


• My husband, Eddie is not only a great provider but he is the funniest guy I know. I am more in love with him today then I was 16 years ago when we met.


• All 7 of the amazing kids that we have been given, you guys are such amazing kids and to be honest I have no idea how I haven't messed you guys up yet. I love you so much.


• I am thankful for my warm home, and for appliances that work. Except for the washer. I am not thankful for you washer.....you, and the crazy things that I have to do to you to get you to work is insane. Why can't you be one of those normal washers? You know the one that the neighbors have? There is no magnets or praying involved in their washing needs. I will go on......


• The schools that my kids are in. All 6 of them have been awesome in not only teaching my kids, but also they have been awesome in loving them and understanding our family dynamic. I adore every teacher that my kids have.


• I am thankful for my friends, the sane ones that keep me from going postal and the insane ones that make me laugh until I cry.


• One of the biggest things I am thankful for is how far the boys have come in a year. Edwin who is a honors student again, is in love with Jesus and is becoming such a neat young man. A few years ago, he was left in a corner and was called unteachable. And Tobey Jude, holy cow the boy talks. He talks more everyday. He calls me Mom, he tells me that he loves me daily. Even if I never have a "real" conversation with him, I am alright with that. I already have so much more that we were told we would get.


• I am thankful for the all the Dr.s that we have now, they have bent over backwards for us and they totally understand what we need before we even know.


• And there is like a thousand more things but, I don't have all day to blog. Tobey has an eye infection, ahhhh life.

So, that is all for today. I hope that you are enjoying the season and take time to think about all the things you are thankful for.

Edwin and his BFF, Jesus....

Yes, you read that right. Edwin has a friend in Jesus, and they are tight! I should have known it was coming. Edwin has a way of latching onto things and taking them to an extreme...ala Autism. But his relationship with Jesus has gone onto a level I have not seen yet.

It started out with us encouraging the kids more with their own walk of faith, and not on Sunday alone. So we incorporated more Christian music and prayers as a family, and Bible stories every night. And them one day I looked in the back yard and their was Edwin acting out the crucifixion on our deck. I stood their dumbfounded as Edwin broke down when Jesus dies and then dance and clap in complete joy as Jesus came back to him. Then 10 minutes later I came back outside to see Edwin talking to his friend Jesus about thugs. I don't know what Jesus said to him about thugs....

Everyday, I have to haul Edwin and Melody to Jefferson Elementary to pick up Emily and Olivia and everyday it is a fight with those two. Now, that we play Christian music in the car, Edwin takes his paper jams guitar and puts on a regular concert for us. I have had no fighting for 2 weeks now.

Today Eddie called me and told me while they were munching on bologna sandwiches in the car Edwin said "Let us Pray...." and then proceeded to thank Jesus for his lunch. Wow.

Edwin goes through phases, he used to be obsessed with Mighty Beanz and Hex Bugs, and we spent nearly a year of not being able to go out into public because of this stupid "Thing" costume he used to wear. I hope this is not just a phase, because right now to my son, there is no one cooler to him than Jesus, and that my friends is amazing.

I am now going to get the boy a Jesus action figurine for Christmas, I know they make them because our Pastor has one in his office.... Now, onto the rest of the kids, maybe I should have Edwin preach to them.

One thing that is odd, is during Church he would much rather being playing games then listening to the sermon (sorry, Sam) but when he gets home he will tell us what happened in the sermon. He gets it though. And that is all that matters.

Hey Y'all!!!!

Hey stranger, how is it going?
Me? I am so freaking happy that Halloween is over it is not even funny! This year, I went to 3 Fall parties at schools, went to a pumpkin drop at Olivia's school, made like a thousand cookies, took all the kids to a real haunted school, went to retail trick or treating, Newton Park trick or treating, and then regular trick or treating, we also threw a Precious Stones party and had Alison's birthday. We went to a pumpkin patch and handed out over 900 pieces of candy. I am done!

Today, I went with Melody's preschool to go and see the Plymouth High school production of The Little Mermaid, it was excellent. Melody got the biggest kick out of her teacher riding in our car with us.

Tobey Jude has been a sick little dude lately, he has this cough and a fever that comes and goes. He did however, in his fevered state call me "Mom" for the first time, which was the best! Remember the first time you heard your kids call you that and multiply that number times a thousand. Best feeling ever, totally worth the nearly 6 year wait.

We are staring a thankful patch tomorrow in our living room and the kids have to write down everyday what they are thankful for, I think the little ones will love it. But I do believe that I can actually "hear" Lena's eyes rolling as I am typing this.

Emily is becoming such a kid now, yesterday she could not walk in the house after school and laid in the yard proclaiming she was a dead apple. I have no idea what that even means, but I do know I had to carry her up to bed last night, you know because she is a dead apple and all.

I forgot to mention during all the 6,000 fall festivities I had parent teacher conferences. We found out that are kids are actually smart! Lena got Honor Roll and 1 of the classes she got an A+! And no, it wasn't gym, it was a robotics class. Alison didn't get anything below a C-, which is impressive for Alison. I am pretty sure Edwin got Honor Roll, and Olivia is reading past a 5th grade level...she is in 3rd. And Miss Emily, holy cow! I am just simply not going to worry about retirement now, the kid is a genius! For, a kid who did not go to Preschool, she is doing amazing. Now, Tobey doesn't really have grades....they more or less just give us a report on how he is doing with his skills. He is doing pretty good writing his first name and he is actually sitting down in class. So, in my mind he is honor roll in the special needs sector....just saying.

Eddie had his interview for College, it went well. I still can't believe what great opportunity he has been given with this, we are so blessed. So, I am going to brag on the dude for a minute...bear with me. Eddie has got this really great talent for writing, and he has been writing sketches for Church lately. And they have all been great, but he has a really big writing project coming up and as soon as I get the green light from him I will give you the info on it.

Well, I think I am done for the day. I hope you have a great one and if you still have your Halloween decorations up I will egg you! Ok, not eggs because they have gotten very expensive lately, and we can go through at least 2 dozen a week. So, if I see scary decor in front of your home, I will TP your house. So, there is your warning. Bring on the turkey!

A good Sunday!

Today we had to be at Church at 8:30, which is quite the feat when we live in a different town. But I had it in my mind to not be screaming at the top of my lungs "Get in the car, let's try and look like a normal family ". And I succeeded!

The kids were dare I say cooperative? And Eddie laid out everything the night before. We had a good morning. I served in Kids Kanyon for the first service and then during second service I sat with Lena, Edwin and Alison. Eddie thought we would take Edwin up for Communion which to be honest made me a nervous wreck. I was just waiting for Edwin to say something like "Oh, Jesus is dead again". ( He just realized 2 weeks ago he is alive!) but, the boy did well even though I don't think he liked the little Chiclets looking things. And then when he returned to his seat he prayed with Eddie! I know, right? The boy that would like to kill me on a daily basis and has told twins that he finds them creepy PRAYED!! There is hope my friends, maybe some day he will be a pastor at his own Church, or work at Krispy Kreme....I am good either way.

Well, the week has come and I will be the Mother of 2 teenagers on Saturday. Is this some kind of cruel joke? I mean really I am not doing so great with one. Alison is not going to celebrate her birthday on the 22nd because we are having a Precious Stones event, but we are doing something really cool on the 29th. We are taking the kids to Newton Park which does safe trick or treating, and then I am taking Alison on a spooky wagon ride and they are opening up this "haunted" school. She is going to flip.

Eddie got the final word on going back to school. I am going to be married to an Industrial Engineer in a few years! He has a meeting on Wednesday with a lady from Purdue, we are so blessed to get this kind of opportunity and it is paid for! How cool is that? Now, of course we are back to that old enemy the schedule, but I know that everything will work out.

So, I think that is all today, I am sure that you are in shock that I blogged 2 times this week. And, also I am begging for candy donations for Fall-oween, so if you would love to help out some amazing special needs kids, facebook me. Have a good one.

Hey there!

Whoa, I have been busy with what seems like a thousand school activities, Chicago and raising 7 kids. It has been busy, but a good busy....I love being busy.

So, first off one of the joys of having 6 different schools is you get to go to 6 different fall activities for them, and that is insane. I LOVE fall but do we really need to have this many harvest parties, fall fests, monster mashes or no joke...there is a Hallelujah night coming up. And then as if I haven't had enough, I am the baker out of the group (gets me out of working the booths!) so I will be covered in frosting and sprinkles for 2 weeks straight. Now lets mix in parent teacher conferences (which I have to bake for) and there you have it my schedule for the next 2 weeks! And then Thanksgiving comes, and I already see 4 schools are doing something!

I went to Chicago last weekend for a conference. I knew I was going to learn something, I had no idea how much it would renew my faith. I loved and I love the ladies that I went with. And I found out that there is an actual job that would combine 2 things I love, disabilities and God. I may just consider going into Disability Ministries down the road. One thing that got me thinking was when the speaker said that just because you are special needs does not mean that you have a free pass to get into Heaven, that is deep and I had never thought about it that way. So, I decided to try an experiment in my home. And here is how it went.

I am going to be very honest, we are not perfect Christians. I know, you are probably shocked. People see us at Church and the kids are looking cute, every now and then coordinated. Eddie and I serve in Kids Kanyon (which we love), Eddie writes amazing skits and we have lots of Church friends. Eddie, Lena and I are baptized and we have our bumper sticker on the back of the Durango. But, none of that makes us "perfect" Christians. We are not great about praying as a family, or reading the Bible and my kids listen to the Beastie Boys and a lot of old school rap. On the way to Church we are usually screaming at our kids, and Eddie and I tend to have our worst fights on our way to worship the Lord. So, here is how we are working on it.

The Beastie Boys are gone and have been replaced with a CD of a group that I heard at the Conference. Edwin is actually singing along and he is asking about Jesus!!! I will wait here for a minute while you pick yourself off of the floor. We have been reading Bible stories with Olivia every night and the other kids are joining in, it has actually become our favorite time of night. I had a real conversation with Emily about God and she GOT it. I think sometimes when you go to Church you also think that you get a free pass, and you don't. So, we are going to take baby steps every week and I just can't wait to see what God has planned for our family.

Ok, now that I am done preaching, onto other things. I am sorry about the lack of blogging lately. The computer did not handle the move and we have to get another one, I have only been able to blog when I am at work. Secondly (is that a word?) our baby Melody may have some serious health issues (not Autism) and the prognosis is not so great. Soon, we will head down a road of testing and in a club that I never thought I would be in. I hate being vague but I don't want to put a label on it until we are 100% on it. But we would appreciate prayers for her.

So, that is all today. Thanks for hanging in with me even though I have not been blogging regularly! See you later!

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!

Fact- Plymouth also smells like tomato sauce.....

No joke here people, there is always some odd food smell in Plymouth. It has never smelled like chocolate which is very unfortunate.

So, we are adjusting pretty good to a new town. The kids schools although there are many of them are all fantastic. I had 2 IEP's yesterday and I was very impressed with all that they are already doing with the kids. Almost all of the kids have made friends (Tobey and Edwin have a harder time) and we have really settled into a good routine.

I have decided to just work part-time with one job for a while, I think it is for the best because Eddie will be going to school in the spring for Engineering if we have no catastrophic things happen in our lives....that is the plan. So, I will hold down the home front and be the supportive wife. I plan on staying busy with Church stuff and getting involved in the kids school as much as I can. I like Tobey's school the best, they just seem to get me.

Next weekend is Blueberry Fest and because of my location from what I have heard we must plan like it is the Apocalypse. I am trying to make sure that we are settled in and have everything we need for 4 days, it is not easy to stock pile soda when you and your entire family are seriously addicted to it. We have company coming also, so I think we are going to have a fun weekend with our friends.

Eddie's little sister is getting married the week after and all 5 girls are in the ceremony and Eddie will be an Usher (not the singer!), my main job will be to prevent Edwin from trying to kill her as she is walking down the aisle and to keep Tobey from running around. I am also making food and some crafty stuff so we will be busy that weekend too.

After that though I am delving right into everything Fall because I LOVE it! I have already made a turkey dinner at the new house and I have the apple cinnamon air freshener in the car! I am ready!!!! I am so ready to see pumpkins and the crunch of the leaves and the Halloween candy which is always the best tasting out of all the holiday candies! I am trying to plan a train trip for the kids but we will have to see if we have time. We have a Precious Stones party and school stuff and a Autism walk, and the list goes on.

So, here is some self reflection...(very random post, sorry....to be honest this is how my brain works) I found out with the move and having no Internet, cable, home phone and 1 part-time job that a secluded Melissa is not a happy Melissa. When the highlight of my day is getting a key chain there is something very wrong. And even though the key chain is nice, I have to be busy. Me sitting at home looking at a clock brings out a bad side of me. I am so much more in my element in the busy life of South Bend, not the slowness of Plymouth. So, I am going to just have to double the gas budget.

Speaking of gas I got gas the other day for $3.09! Jealous?! I was so giddy that after waiting for 15 minutes I realized when I got to the pump that the tank is on the drivers side...so another 15 minutes of waiting after I made a fool of myself I got the "cheap" gas! Again, that should not have been the highlight to my day.....

This is a long post....sorry. Last week we our dear friends Aaron and Jenni came to our Church and we went out for lunch. We had such a great time with them. Every time we hang out with them we just love them more and more. But man, you should have seen the looks Old Country Buffet with 8 kids and 4 adults. I had my crazy hair colors and Jenni looking so sweet and innocent in her hair pulled so perfectly in a bun. It was a sight. You know what is so awesome though, we are friends because we all serve the same God and how cool is that? Here is a little fact about Old Country Buffet in South Bend, it is practically a fashion show there. We were actually getting to the point where it was hard to keep a straight face. There was some interesting outfits there to say the least. After we finished, Aaron and Jenni loaded up my car with things from their garden and this awesome potato dish and 2 chocolate cakes! Which had zucchini in them and Edwin ate them! Shock! So, thank you Aaron and Jenni for keeping Olivia and Emily for the night and for being our friends.

Ok, here is the last paragraph in the never ending blog. And it is a Tobey Jude story....here we go. After the IEP meeting for Tobey I asked if I could go see Tobey and give him kisses. They acted like I was nuts but in South Bend you were not always allowed to jump back to the classroom and see your kids, going on... So he was on his way back from gym (he is in gym, how cute is that?) and he seen me and grabbed my hand and took me right to his classroom. Before we walked in the door, I gave him kisses and hugs and was going to walk in the room with him and he slammed the door on me! What the heck? At first I was in shock! I mean really Tobey I nearly died having you, I write a blog on you, you are the world to me and you slammed the door on me? Arghh! So, after I regained my composure, smiled to the teacher even though Tobey had just stuck a knife in my soul and walked head down out to the car. Am I happy that he is loving his school? Of course. I am happy that he is getting a life without me? Uhmmm no. That should just not be allowed.

So, I will see you guys later. Bye!

Back to School....

So, the Holstein kids are officially back in school and the schedule is crazy for getting them ready. Here is what a typical morning is at the Holstein's.

6 am I wake up
6:15 I get up the crew
6:20 Dress the youngest three and braid and/or fix 5 girls hair.
6:40 Cry because for some reason they have tangles in their hair even though I brushed it before bed and put it in a ponytail (what the heck do they do while they are sleeping?)
7 Now we are at crunch time! Mad scramble to make sure everyone has what they need so I can shove them the heck out of my house.
7:20 Edwin and Tobey get on the short bus....their driver is named Charley, he is probably 70 and wears hearing aids (said that Edwin is a quiet kid....turn on your hearing aids Charley)
7:25 Send Lena to her bus stop.
7:30 Send Alison to walk nearly a mile to her school.
7:35 Breathe and watch the Today show for 5 whole minutes.
7:40 Walk Emily and Olivia to school with Melody in tow.
8 Deal with walking Melody back home and she hates me for leaving her sissy at THAT place. On this trip back home with youngest I am told that I am mean and Melody loses her ability to stand. So I usually end up throwing her over my shoulder and trying to avoid eye contact with other parents.

So, that is my mornings. Welcome to my life.....

I think Plymouth schools are great but this whole 5 school thing is seriously screwed up. Lena goes to Lincoln Jr High, Alison goes to Riverside, Edwin goes to Webster, Olivia and Emily go to Jefferson and Tobey is at Menominee. We got the paperwork on Melody and she will be attending Washington shortly. Just so you know that leaves only the High school and the Catholic schools that my kids are not in. The whole coming home from school thing is even worse than the mornings because somehow I am going to have to clone myself to get Tobey off the bus while picking up Emily and Olivia....Nice.

Today I am taking CJ's kid to Church with me to help put at a Back To School event and tonight I am going out to dinner and to see a community theater play with a dear friend of mine. I am sooo looking forward to the break and just let Eddie take over the kid thing for a couple of days. Of all weeks Eddie had to work some 12 hour days, I am surprised I made it!

I quit one of my jobs and to be honest I am enjoying just working 1 part-time job. I have to stay busy though or I will lose my mind! I am simply not any good bored. I have some ideas for Precious Stones and I have 6 schools I need to get involved in and of course my Church stuff so I think I will stay busy enough.

I signed the kids up for the Boys and Girls Club. I had no idea how awesome of an organization it is! First off it is a $170 for the year for the 4 oldest kids. Wow! And they do all sorts of fun activities, Edwin is going to do a program on making video games on computer...perfect. And, the kids can stay there until 8 if I wanted (which I don't because we are trying to eat together every night) and they do special things for winter break and they are open on snow days! Holla! I am giddy about this one folks!

Well, I am off to put on makeup for the first time this week and feel like a human again! I hope you have a great day!

It's the most wonderful time of year...

We all seem to be a LOT more at ease right now. I am not sure if it’s because we are out of the situation we were in, or because of the small town vibe we get from Plymouth, but we are just a lot more relaxed…
Anyhoo, the kids are very excited about starting school, especially the Emilita. She is going to Kindergarten and is very excited about it. We are hoping to get Melody started in preschool, but it is looking like if we do, it will be a private one. The public preschool is a co-op initiative. Melody’s doctor wants her to go to a special needs preschool so we can keep an eye on any possible autistic tendencies, but Plymouth is different than South Bend in that respect.
Edwin is an enigma. There are times when I could hug and kiss that boy all day everyday. Then there is the rest of the year when he is in a “mood”. He has a wicked sense of humor and loves to torture his siblings.
Tobey is really enjoying the extra space in the new house and he seems more at ease, more able to be himself, so to speak.
Lena is really excited about the new school year and also getting her own laptop via a program at the school.
Alison is a little apprehensive about a new school. She is at the hard age of 12-13. Growing pains definitely suck, and she is a little sensitive anyways.
And Olivia has decided she is a girlie girl. When we moved into this house, we moved literally 3 houses down from my best friend in high school, Michelle. She has a little girl, Olivianne, and Olivia has taken a liking to her. One thing I have to get used to is the fact that my non-autistic children can just go outside and play without me having to worry. I still will, but I don’t need to.
Well, that is all for now. Take care, have a good week, and BRING ON THE FALL!!!!!

(husband here---bring on the football)

So, Plymouth smells like Pickles....FACT

Hello world, I have no Internet at my house yet, so I am doing this while working......The move has been interesting, to say the least. I know that we are not living in the desert or anything but this has been a little bit of a culture shock. So here is some things about Plymouth.....

Yes, my readers it does smell like pickles, there is a pickle plant behind Krogers.
There is only one Starbucks which seems insane.
The town essentially dies at 9:30 pm. Krogers and Walmart are the only things open I think.
There is only 7 schools in the town and my kids are in 5 of them...God help me!
Even thought we live in town it seems rural to me, I told Eddie I should get a cow!

I miss my South Bend so much, I tell Eddie that we need to head into the big city! that being said I can't stay away from South Bend for more than 48 hours without going through withdrawal. I am so thankful that we were able to find a big house and in a safe area and that takes pets, but my heart is in South Bend and I get this excitement when I know I get to go to South Bend that day.

Ok, so on to the kids which I know is why you are reading this. Haha

Lena is very excited about going to a new school where she gets to bring a laptop home for the year. And even though she got the smallest bedroom she is LOVING having her own room, finally.

Alison is loving having friends 3 houses away, I am sure that she is driving them nuts though!

Edwin has been a handful. The boy has decided to try elopement again and tried to jump out of the upstairs bedroom. I caught him in time, but now he has to be in my sight unless he is sleeping and he hates that.

Olivia who is also thrilled about having friends down the road is so excited that the owner planted a garden, she is so in her element picking vegetables and seeing how things are growing.

Tobey Jude, this has been very rough for him. First off he started the move very sick. Which I am to blame. I have to keep such a close eye on his temperature and fluid intake and because I was so focused on moving he got very sick, very quickly. He also has had a fever and his allergies are acting up so he is not my active dude yet, which breaks my heart. He is still not a 100% yet, so we just keep watching his every move.

Emily Frances who is loving her new house but the excitement of starting school trumps everything! I have never seen a kid so excited about school in my life! Love it.

And Melody is doing well, she has decided that Icee Pop is her dog now, and enjoys introducing the dog that way to everyone that comes over.

So, that is all on news for now....I will be back on Sunday!

This is not Good Bye South Bend....

So, here is the good news...we found a 6 bedroom house for us to live in! It is in a great area with great schools, it will take our pets and welcomed 7 kids. The landlord fixes things and very personable.

Here is the not so great news, it is in Plymouth. Our lives however is in South Bend, everything from our jobs, my hairstylist, our friends and most importantly our Living Stones. I actually broke down yesterday thinking about what life would be like somewhere else. This is very hard to leave a place that I love. But I have to have that roof over our head, so there you have it.

I do have to say this, I will still have lunch dates with Sarah and I still planning on Kris teaching me how to make Christmas Stockings (that is what I finally chose Kris, so get spinning). I will not leave my duties at Living Stones, and I will still be working here. We will pretty much be using all the money we saved on rent for gas now.

Eddie is going to show me how to get better with the whole picture thing because I really am bad with that stuff, so we will get pictures of the house up asap. I am planning on doing some painting because the kitchen is done in watermelon wallpaper. And it is not that I hate watermelons...but I certainly don't LOVE them enough to see them everyday.

Here is our update.....

Not a very clever title I am sorry to admit. So, 2 out of the 3 ideal houses are a no....Today we find out about the 3rd. We were told that we were not a good fit, in other words we are too big of a family. Today we will find out about the 3rd house, if it is a no we are going to have to move out of South Bend which kills me. I know South Bend has it's crime and school issues but I LOVE it here. My family (church family) is here, my best friends are here, My Living Stones is here, our jobs are here. Even though it has not been all rainbows and unicorns I am my happiest here, I am myself here.

We have out every effort into staying here, but I will not move to a bad area. We have called over a hundred places, and on Craigs list more that Facebook (hard to believe, I know).

Eddie's parents called yesterday about a house that is 3 blocks from them in Lapaz (not to far). The bright side to the house is it is still standing and within a half hour of South Bend. The downside though....I don't get along with my in-laws, I don't like the person I am when I am with them, it has no appliances,, it has no fence, it has lead, and I have no idea if the schools can handle all of the Autism I would bring and I certainly do not know if they can handle a kid like Tobey Jude. But, at this point I feel like it is either this or being homeless which does not sound like fun either. Maybe, it won't be as bad as I am thinking.

I don't know what happened but the Portage people apologized to us yesterday, they felt bad about how they talked to Lena...there will be no court involved and we have a little bit of time to move now. They did promise no more harassing. Even with the kindness they are showing I am still not giving them a glowing review to the 5-8 people that come to the house everyday to look at the house.

So on a lighter note ( I sound like the Today show). The kids have been cracking us up. Edwin is now on this whole wish thing. He has to earn wishes from us, and when he makes the wish another family member has to say "wish" or it won't come true. The other day though it backfired on him though when he was behaving like a buffoon and we had to take away the wishes. Here is the conversation....

Eddie- Edwin stop (yelling, cussing, killing your sister...take your pick, I don't remember) or I will take your wishes!

Edwin - Come on!!!!! Don't take my wishes! (expletives inserted here)!!!!!

Eddie- Ok, that's it I wish that Edwin will lose all of his wishes!!!!

Edwin- WISH!!!!!! Oh crap! (Edwin wished away his own wishes, as is the rule of our house) I was laughing so hard!

Tobey Jude has started a new dance in the car and the boy looks insane doing it! The first time I saw it I was a little concerned that it may be the start to a seizure, it's not the boy is a dancer. I felt like I was old not knowing this new dance that all of the young whipper snappers are doing!

Well, I think that is all today! If you are a praying person (if you aren't why not?) please pray that we get good news on the 3rd house, we need this house!!!!! Have a great day and I will let you know asap with the news.

Ok, here's the story......

I apologize for my total lack of blogging.... we have been under a butt-load of stress, even more so than usual! I know!!!!!

So, here we go. When we moved into this house it was managed by the friend of the owner. we moved in happy to have a "lead free" home, according to the paperwork they had us sign. And enjoyed a warm Christmas in our home. In January the lead department came out and found some lead (not very much) on the outside of the house and said that the owner had to fix this ASAP. At this same time the owner decided that he needed a management company to handle all the work here. So, who does he hire but Portage Management. Now, why is this important? They are the same company that jerked us around before.

So, spring comes and I go to turn on the Central Air because the Tobey Jude can not handle heat (he will get seizures). But, low and behold it doesn't work and now I am hearing all this information from the lead department about how they are getting cussed out from the owner....he got no information from Portage. So, here I am in a house with lead again and no CA for Tobey Jude. At this point I am pissed and decide to not pay the rent until everything is fixed. That makes the owner super mad and also Portage who simply stopped taking our calls. Because I was scared to get evicted I started paying on the rent in payments, even though nothing was getting fixed. Then they said that the payments were not enough...we would pay more nearly bankrupting ourselves, they would add fees and the vicious cycle continued. Finally we came to the conclusion that they are not going to fix a thing and we might as well let them evict us at this point.

So, now we come to this past week. First they said we had to move in 5 days....that is not legal.
Then they came out to and threatened my daughter that she was going to have to leave our home by midnight that night or they would call the cops.....again, not legal.
Then today we noticed a little bit more traffic than usual...they put an ad in the paper that the house is for rent, and they even increased the rent amount.

From what the cops told us we have 30 days after the eviction paperwork has hit the courts. They haven't even done that yet....but we are sitting here in limbo not sure what is going to happen from one day to the next.

We are waiting to hear back from 2 houses tomorrow...we are just praying that one pans out. We tried not to do some knee jerk reaction and just take any place with just any landlord. We have our hopes up for 3 different houses in safe areas and all 3 of the owners are either contractors or maintenance guys. I will let you know as soon as we find out what happens with them.

So, there you have it....thank you to everyone who sent the kind messages and hit "Like" on all of Eddie's elusive posts on facebook! Have a good night my friends.....

Hello. Hello

Hey there! I did not drop off the face of the earth! And I am over my little pity party. We had a good weekend but I have GOT to tell you about our friends Aaron and Jenni!!!!

First off, let me say that we needed a break, to just get out of town and forget our worries. We got it in the form of visiting 2 amazing friends of ours Aaron and Jenni (and their beautiful Brianne). They are a Mennonite family that we adore. We probably looked like a weird combo with me and the weird hair colors and my kids with their shorts and all. They had skirts on...Jenni with her hair covered. But we all serve the same God and that is all we need to be friends. So, we arrived to a campfire and she pre-made everything you could ever want for hobo dinners with veggies from her own garden (wow), and then we cooked them over the campfire. Then she set up a water balloon fight for the kids. After that we had homemade ice cream with homemade cookies and strawberry preserves that she had made. Then she had a treasure hunt for the kids with clues and prizes for all of them! Then...(I know, they must have worked forever planning all of this!) we went to her garden and picked fresh veggies to take home. Emily was fascinated by this. and them the kids put on glow sticks and lit sparklers and ran around like crazt until like 10:30 at night. The final thing we did was pray together and they gave a blessing to our family. They ARE a blessing to our family.

Here is the crazy part, we survived the entire evening with no TV and no Coke (we drank tea that Jenni had made from her garden....seriously.) and we lived to tell about it. We left their with such peace in our hearts. Next month they are going to come spend time with us and I think they will be ready to run out of the city!!!! It makes you wonder about the rat race we all live in sometimes.

So, onto other things. Tobey fell asleep at Church yesterday! With no medications or anything! I joked it was because we were partying with the Aaron and Jenni...to be honest the boy was plain wore out and the heat was not helping. He ended up missing his last baseball game because of the insane heat.

Olivia was in her parade for the Enshrinement Festival, she LOVED it! I of course missed it but the kids had a ton of fun.

So, sorry this is not longer but it is time to wake up the boys! Have a great one!

We are not that kind of family anymore.....

Back in 2008 we made some decisions to turn our lives over to God and change our whole family dynamic. It was not an easy decision but it was one that I am so glad that we did. I stopped being closed off and scared to try new things and decided that Autism was not going to stop us from being a "normal" family. This year alone we went to the ocean for the first time, went to Disney and have done several new things without any problems. Sure we would do a few things different, like using Tobey's harness or tote around meds. But for the most part we were able to enjoy being a "normal" family.

I am the first to admit thought that we do live somewhat sheltered. I think everyone does. We tend to mainly hang out with our Church family, and people that need no explanation of the why Tobey is acting like that. I also admit that I am spoiled when it comes to our Church family, and they treat us like that "normal" family that we crave to be.

But on July the 4th we ventured into new territory and I seen how cruel the world can be. We decided to take the kids to Silver Beach. I had all of them in their Old Navy shirts. Emily and Melody looked so cute matching...But within 2 minutes of leaving the safety of my car the pointing and staring started. I even seen someone laugh at my Tobey Jude because of when he tried to talk and then we he had a meltdown a crowd started gathering to watch. We even had someone comment that he was an animal. The kids only got to enjoy about 10 minutes of actual swimming and we left early and missed fireworks.

Eddie and I talked that night after the kids were in bed and he told me that it was one of those days for him of "Why Me?". All those people saw was a little boy that was different and that scared them into ignorance. I came away with how could they not see 2 parents who are tired and stressed, and needed a day off from being "that family".

I know how blessed I am everyday to have my kids. I have read those poems about how God choose me to take of such special children....but that day no poem in the world was going to make up for feeling like an outcast.

I have no desire to ever go to St Joe Michigan again....I wish we had a beach here. So, there you have it, we are just not that kind of family.

Sorry if this was a downer, it has been weighing on me. Obviously, it's the 10th now....I will move on. I think we are going to recluse it for a little while before we venture out again, leaving the comfort of our dear South Bend.

I am 35 now!!!!!

First off I have a on of people to thank for the best Birthday ever!!! Thank you Eddie for throwing me such an awesome party and for loving me enough to put yourself through that stress. Second I want to thank CJ, Sarah and Kris for all the work you put into it...I am humbled. And last to all the people that showed up! Holy Cow I had no idea I was so popular!!!!

My birthday started with Eddie waking me up and telling me happy birthday, first thing I said was I want to go to Cracker Barrel! I have been craving that place since Disney! So we got the kids all dressed in their Old Navy 4th of July shirts (they looked like an ad) and headed to Church. Eddie was the kids worship leader for 2 services and I was a ranger for 1. Eddie had the kids sing Happy Birthday to me and I could have killed him! So, going on after Church Eddie ran me all over town and then told me he lost his work keys at Church. I was a little miffed and wanting to go out to eat!!! Anyway we pulled up and there was several cars there, we all walked in to "find his keys" and I walked into the Rock Star room to about 70 of my favorite people!!! I was in shock literally! I mean all these people took time out of their holiday weekend to surprise me.

The theme was The Beatles (you are shocked I am sure) and I even got gifts! Best day EVER!!!! Three people got up and gave me a Eulogy while I sat in front of a coffin cutout holding lilies. I got the most props for being able to put up with Eddie, I believe the word saint was used. To sit there and have 3 people that you respect (CJ,Kris and Sarah) and tell you what an impact you have had on their lives is surreal. I laughed, I cried...it was great!

I told people that I may just go wild now that I made it to 35. I think I may have started already. This past year I got my first tattoo and then last Thursday I got a funky haircut and got carmel and burgundy highlights.... Next? Who knows, the list is endless!

I did make it to Cracker Barrel. I had Chicken and Dumplings....they were great! They sang Happy Birthday to me and gave me double chocolate fudge Coca Cola cake! By the way they go a great thing at that place, anyone of any age can order off the kids menu! How cool is that?

So, that was my Birthday. Thank you again so much everyone for being there and giving me such a perfect day with all the people I love. I will never forget it. I love all of you and so blessed to have all of you in my life!

THE WIFE

The husband here...Just a quick post to let you all know, Melissa is still alive....however, she is probably going to kill me.
First of all, our modem went out this weekend, so NO Internet...no facebook, no blogging, no research on the bat boy.
Secondly, my wife does not like to be embarrassed. This past Sunday, I threw her a surprise birthday, with a lot of help from her (our) friends Sarah, Kris, and especially CJ! There were other players as well, Jennae, Ann, Sam(not a lady). All of these women and man are amazing in their own rights, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart...Thank you, ladies and man! You are amazing.
So, the embarrassment. I lead worship at Kids Kanyon that Sunday, so I lead the kids in a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday to both Melissa and America. She could have killed me.
Fast forward to the party. She gets surprised by @ 70 friends and family and, of course, get s "Happy Birthday" sung to her...again.
The redness in her face is building.
After the wonderful party, we have plans to go to the Cracker Barrel, where, what does she do? "Excuse me,"she says to the waitress,"today is my birthday!"
The waitress smiles."Well, you get a free piece of cake!"
After the meal, THREE waitresses walk up to the table. At first, we thought, maybe the cake was just really heavy. Oh no...it was time for Happy Birthday.
My wife looks at the one waitress. "You don't have to do this!"
"Yes we do!"
In all seriousness, it was one of the best days of her life, and when our modem gets fixed, I am sure she will thank you all. I thank you all for helping to make the day amazing for an amazing woman.
And to Melissa....I love you. You are 35 years young, and as your husband, the honor and privilege is all mine. Happy Birthday...




O yeah!!! Today is July 6....MELODY SUMMER'S 4Th BIRTHDAY!!!!!! I love you, Mel!!!

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?