Lots to Report

This has been a really busy and stressful week. I'll get to all of what's been going on in a moment, but first, I want to thank everyone who has prayed for me and my family. For those who don't know, my grandmother, Dad's mom, went home to heaven last night. We knew it was coming, but it's still hard. Here's a picture of Grandma and me at my wedding 11 years ago. I was very honored to wear her wedding dress. It was such a special day.

Dad is flying out to Idaho on Saturday. I have not heard all the funeral details yet. I wish I could go, but I just don't know how that would be possible financially or with the kids. It's too early to leave Cindy with anyone yet, and I'd be of no use to anyone out there with her in tow. So, I will just have to send my condolences and my hugs along with Dad.

Losing a grandparent is stressful enough, but it seems like stress has been hitting me on all sides lately. I know this because my body is letting me know it's stressed. My IC has flared up, I am clenching my teeth at night and waking up with a sore jaw, my fingernails have been subconciously bitten down to nubs, and my mouth is full on canker sores. Anymore stress, and I'll be a really big mess!

The crazy thing is, I can't pinpoint exactly what's bothering me. Yes, the kids get on my last nerve every now and then, yes, my house is wreck, ans yes, finances are tight, but none of this is new. So why am I having such a rough go right now? I'm really not sure. I've been talking it over with Ryan, praying about it, and taking as many measures as I can to "relax". Hopefully it all helps soon.

Last Friday night, we had a nice calm evening of fishing and picnicking at Piester's again. I always love being out there. It's very peaceful. Then we came home to a message on our answering machine from our social worker asking us to meet her in Wichita on Sunday. Our post-placement visit went well, but unfortunately Kaden was not in a good mood that day. Road trips with small children are stressful enough, but when you add a very grumpy child into the mix, it just makes it that much harder. It was a big sigh of relief to get home and get him in bed.

Speaking of Kaden, he is now officially part of the CARS mania! I think all boys around that age are fascinated with that movie. He almost has the whole thing memorized and wants to act out scenes all the time. Of course, he is Lightening McQueen. Ryan is Mater, I'm Flo, Cindy is Sally, Grandpa is Doc Hudson, and Grandma is Lizzy. The funniest one is that he's made Uncle Jon Frank. Frank is the big combine that chases them after tractor tipping!

Cindy is soooooooo close to "officially" walking. She can now stand up in the middle of the floor completely on her own, balance herself, and then walk about 2-3 feet before falling. She is doing this with more and more frequency, but still chooses to crawl most distances. With a little more practice and better balancing, I don't think it will be long before she's walking all over the place. I'm not entirely sure I'm ready for that.

Well, I need to wrap this post up. It's about to beome a novel. I should be utilizing nap time to try and get the house picked up. Tina is arriving from Germany tomorrow and she will be shocked at how my housekeeping skills have nose dived since becoming the mother of 2! I'm very excited for her visit and am looking forward to our big family trip to Branson next weekend. I need a vacation in a bad, bad way. Here's hoping it all goes smoothly!