A Day in Pictures

We had a crazy busy day. Jimmy finally got new glasses. It has been six years since his last pair.

Hezzie saw a doctor about his seizures and she was not his normal pediatrician. she was no help.

We saw our niece/cousin (the kids cousin not ours)

Maggie ate giant pieces of homemade granola. Dexter went to youth and Jimmy visited a friend in the hospital.

Catching my Breath

It has been a seemingly busy week. I feel like I have not been able to catch my breath. The week started with Jimmy and backache that kept us home. We turned in our cable for Netflix and will be hooking up our antennae again soon. Dexter had a psychiatry appointment which has ended with his being medicated. I honestly wonder some days if these "chemical imbalances" are not somehow linked with my irrationality while pregnant. I know if I wonder too long I will make myself crazy...umm crazier.
Jimmy was put on Wellbutrin which needs to stop. He is a easily aggitated and let me just say, not in his normal I stepped on a Lego in the middle of the night way. He called his psychiatrist today and we are waiting hear back. I can say that Maggie is doing much better and his so lively now. YAY! Good news, right?

Jimmy is volunteering at HVRC once a week and I think it will do him good to give back. We have been spending a bit of time having "in home mini dates". The other day he made some hot tea and I set the table. He broke out the tea biscuits, we talked and read. It can be done with five kids roaming the house.

Creativity is blooming. We need to collect more cardboard boxes. The kids love making things from them. I am hoping to get my hands on appliance ones. Then they can make cities and such, or make them a bit more easy.

Oh and this guy is teaching me guitar!!

Love,
Momma and her tribe

Busy Bee Saturday

After a short stop at the Goodwill store we went up to the Western Science Center for Science Saturday. The kids had so much fun, they always do. Today's theme was physical properties. They made some goo and did some other fun things.


It was pretty nice weather out. It was warm enough for a light sweater a or if you are acclimated short sleeves and shorts....like Dexter above. Oh, looks like Maggie also likes short sleeves. We went to the Ramona Bowl to see if the kids could get casted as rock Indians. The whole ordeal was a wild goose chase and there was about 100 kids there, and we had to leave to get out of town to see my dad. I guess we will try again next year.


We went to John's Incredibly Exspensive Pizza, thanks to gift cards. My dad met us there. We ate and hung out for a few hours. I am actually not sure how long. The kids had sooo muuch fun. Dexter bought all the kids "tokens" with his allowance. That just warmed my heart.


That's All, Folks!
Love,Momma and her tribe

Everyday Life

Life is beginning to get a rhythm, and is flowing better these days...or well as of today. There seems to have suddenly become a bit of "normalcy". Considering there is recovery going on and a child with an undiagnosed "mood disorder", the rhythm is not skipping steps.
The picture above is one of Maggie's masterpieces. She amazes me everyday with her artistic abilities. There seems to be no end to what she can do. Often I find that she is shy about showing it or if she does she is shy about speaking about it.

Part of Jimmy's rhythm is journalism. This is helping him and he has made a commitment to it. Obviously you can see Hezzie wants to journal as well.
This afternoon brought some nice moments of partnering. We worked on the long neglected backyard some. It has been a great source of embarrassment. He cleaned up a spot and I hung some laundry. It was nice as we both listened to our perspective music and podcasts. That was followed by enjoying the front yard on our metal lawn chairs while Jimmy strummed the guitar. We went to his recovery center's Alumni meeting and came home....
Life is slowly becoming what we had hoped for, we know there are more hills on this path. I think anything worth while does not come easy.

Love
Momma

Friday, Fun...err sick day

Despite the warm day time weather outside, the kids in my house have all fallen victim to a cold. The cold comes complete with coughing fits. I made two of the kids who just were not in the mood for the other kids some hot ginger tea with honey sticks. They drank most of it and napped. Then they played outside during the warmest part of the day running through the front and backyard laughing loudly. Needless to say, it lifted my spirits.

This is what night time looks around here these days. Medicines are handed out. It's heartbreaking for me to do so. I am really a hippie and naturalist at heart. In my heart I know sometimes you just have to give in to modern medicine when what you do alone is not enough.

This is my new favorite item. My cup full of cold brew Twinnings tea. I have been spoiled on mixed berry tea and agave nectar. After a long and disheartening week, I splurged on myself. The cup is new and from Big Lots.
For dinner I went out on a limb and we had hot wings. I justified it but saying the tea is healthy. Needless to say I won't be having hot wings for quite some time.
As the night progressed we all settled into bedrooms or the front room. The lights were out with just the glow of Toy Story 3 on the tv and we all started to doze off. I woke up sometime when the toys were trying not be recycled. I pried myself off of the papasan and called Jimmy to bed. We slept with a couple kids between us....or so I think I was too tired.

Hope your Friday was good.

Love,
Momma and her tribe

ROAR!! It was Thursday!

So, no so much a loud roar as much as the roar of sore throats of tiny voices and sniffling noses. The warm days and cold nights get us. We make do and I am considering making a big pot of soup today so we can relax and be warm tonight. The kids said the hot tea and honey sticks made them feel better.
Despite them being sick they were pretty animated once they were awake for awhile. Maggie and Waylon are two peas in a pod, except when they are not. They tend to be a lot a like when it comes to whose opinions matters the most. Then there are moments when they just get a long so well, I wonder if they had amnesia.

Dexter and Maggie can pull each other to bits in a moment and the next they are singing a tune. When Maggie was a baby Dexter doted on her quite a bit and even up until a year ago or so when he had a "girlfriend". Now, she irritates him and I had warmed him at some point his desire to make her a princess would backfire...I guess momma is right some times. Yesterday, was a good day for them. They were singing and while he played his guitar she even danced.

These are the besties. Don't mess with either one of them or you'll get attacked with flying objects. They both love Sonic and loves to throw oranges when people use bad language.

I took Dexter to dinner with Poppa and then I took Poppa to get new shoes. One thing he had neglected when he was drinking so much was keeping up a neat appearance. He would walked around in shoes that had no sides or backs. Finally, I made a point to just say, "The money is there and you need them." He caved and off to Payless we went.

I bought two more citrus trees and they will be planted soon. I can not wait to have fruit seasonally for the kids. Not, that they don't get any now. Taking life as it comes...works so good for me.


Love,
Momma and her tribe

Van, teeth and another dinner...

Yesterday morning while driving Jimmy to rehab we heard a weird noise coming from the rear passenger wheel. This was quite alarming since we just had the brakes and such done to the tine of $455 the week before. So we called the mechanic took it in as it dumped brake fluid all over the place. Turns out the wheel cylinder they put in went bad...I hope it wasn't our bad one rebuilt. Jimmy walked to rehab and I waited out the repair...in my slippers.
While I waited I chewed on a gumball and I had some pain from a root canal gone bad. I ended up yanking out what was left of the top of that tooth. I have to say eating has not been this pain free in quite a long time. You know you wanted to see the picture.

I spent the remainder of the day with the kids enjoying the warm weather with the windows open and curtains ruffling occasionally in the breeze.

In the evening I took Joaquin and Hezzie to have dinner with daddy. They enjoyed their time so much. I love doing little things like that.

Love
Momma and her tribe

Busy, busy day

I got up early and went to get groceries. I have to say sometimes I am surprised by the discount grocery store and it's offerings on gluten free foods. I was so happy to find these hot dog buns for him. After some grocery shopping we had to take Maggie to the psychiatrist. He did not like how she was reacting to the meds and changed one. She is much more spirited and herself after missing two doses of the one she was one. Momma is happy about that.
After that I finished up some shopping and picked up a few things from someone. I headed to get donuts for Maggie and then home. I had an hour to prepare for SSI phone interviews. Yes, two of them. I was on the phone for an hour and about thirty minutes since she took both cases. I did loads of laundry and headed back out for soaps. Came home and rested a bit.

In the early evening I took Maggie and Waylon to see Jimmy for dinner. This is something the kids have eagerly waited for. By Friday they will all of had their turn with him. While, we were waiting for him, they spotted snack machines and wanted me to buy them snacks. I declined and we watched the moon grow brighter before we went inside.
We came home and I retired to be as I felt a chest cold coming on and my eyes was hurting. Busy day and a lot was accomplished and my house was a wreck.

Love
Momma and her tribe