Another Busy Week

Well, this week is not as crazy as last week but almost as busy. We have three big events that happened this week. The first is that Gromit came back out of the potty when we were out one day and when we came home Carson found him on her dresser and even more exciting...he came with friends: Robot Dog, Shop Owner, and Sheep. With Wallace, Penguin, and the Wrong Trousers, she has all the Wallace and Gromit friends. Carson is so excited and carries Gromit everywhere with her. She keeps telling people, "Gromit came out of the potty." We were a little nervous she would try to flush him again so we told her if he goes down the potty he will be gone forever. She is now trying to understand the concept of "forever" so everything is forever. I overheard her playing with Jeff and Jeff said, "Oh, you are killing me" and Carson replied, "Then we will die, forever!" Carson's other news this week is that she has learned to spell her name in sign language and she has had a cold with a stuffy nose and a sore throat.

Jeff's exciting news this last week is that he finished his History project, presented it, and won 3rd place. Around 35 kids entered projects and he did really well. As you can tell from the picture, he received a cool trophy. He did an amazing job and worked hard. I am sure he will be emailing some people with a different picture to tell you how he did personally. As you also can tell from the picture, he had his hair cut. Whenever my kids get their hair cut, I am amazed at how much older they look. Jeff is also looking much thinner. Jeff is turning into an amazing young man. We do need to work on his self-deprecation though as he got a B in science and he was distraught. Jeff is torn with school. He loves the academics and has two good friends (Austin and Jeff are reading Vampirates together and having book discussions.) but some kids are jerks. Jeff is also writing a play and today I told him he should write down the books he reads with the date he read them and write book reviews in a type of journal. I hope he does it. Already this month, he has read Milkweed, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Wolverine Origins, and is reading Everlost.

As you can tell from the picture, Calista's big news this week is her haircut. She loves it and while I loved her long hair I have to say I love this hairstyle too. We took her to a place called Lunatic Fringe that does funky hairstyles. She too looks so much older. She has taken to posing and looking like a model all the time. The best thing about Calista deciding to cut her hair is she also decided to donate her hair to Locks of Love that makes wigs for children with cancer. She originally didn't want her hair that short but they said she needed to cut off 11 inches in order to donate it so she decided to do that. We found pictures online of some cool haircuts and Calista mixed some and came up with the hairstyle herself. It is the first time she has had bangs since she was 2 or 3. She received straight A's on her report card and is working on a book report on Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand. She is an amazing girl and so creative. With the stupid dead body found in our shed she has started having bad dreams and being scared to be alone so I hope that works itself out. If any of you have any ideas tell me; I would love the help.

Ewan is doing slightly better. He finally got over the flu after 7 days of throwing up, off and on fevers, and not sleeping. Now he has a cold with a sore throat and he still isn't sleeping. He wakes up because of his throat and I think his leg is uncomfortable. He used to wake up with some mumbling but now he wakes up screaming bloody murder, it isn't my favorite way to wake. The longest he sleeps is two hours. He slept better as a newborn. He is ticklish now and laughs really loud. As you see in the picture, he has learned to wield his cast as a weapon. Beware to anyone changing his diaper and sitting near him. He swings that cast straight up, he tries to grab his toes, can't reach, his leg gets too heavy so it comes crashing down on any unsuspecting individual. He smashes it repeatedly on my leg, on Erik's ankle, and he smashed Kat's hand while she babysat him. All day long you hear Thump, Thump, Thump as he swings it up and smashes it on the ground, his chair, the toys above him, or anything he can reach with it. Only two more weeks with it and it comes off. I am looking forward to having him not so awkward to carry. Another thing he does now is spit,not just drool but he spits with noise accompanying it.

Erik's new quest is to get Carson not to eat her sandwiches like this, inside to outside. He has been a little dispirited this week. He received a letter from PAPD (Port Angeles Police Department) and he is ranked in 2nd place. To him this means yet another thing he is trying to do for the family isn't working out and he has failed us all. To me this means he will most likely be hired as they have 3 total positions opening and his letter said the top 5 ranked people are going forward for the hiring process for when a position opens. It does mean another waiting game to see if it pans out. He isn't happy. We don't want to live here even though he likes his job. He wants to go back to school to become a lawyer. He would be great at it but it doesn't seem likely if we stay here with the current financial status. We are doing fine but feel we are coasting. I try to follow John Lennon's words, "Life is what happens while you make other plans" but something needs to change. He is even talking of moving to PA and going back into construction work. It is sad that with two semi-educated people, the best job either of us could get is in construction. C'est la Vie.

For those of you who think I am a strong person...you are wrong. I skirt on the edge of being exhausted, going insane, laughing hysterically, and having fun with the family (sometimes all together). Even though in this week alone I have dealt with no more than 5 hours of sleep, parent/teacher conferences, a broken leg, dentist appointments, play rehearsals, a cold (Erik's, mine, Carson's, and Ewan's), the flu, an history project, a book report, doctor's appointments, trying to exercise, finding time to read and play guitar, and everything else, through our troubles, I still feel as if I am the luckiest person in the world to wake every day and see this: a zombie baby (he tries to eat me all the time), a self-perceived devil husband, a scared model, a messy eater (who recently told me, "you are a grumpy, mean mom"), and an Egyptian, emotional, pre-teen.