Busy Saturday

First of all, thank you for your comments on the church thing. The reason I haven't approached the pastor is because in a church our size there are several pastors under him who are suppose to handle the problem. And they are the "ABC team." And secondly, I don't want them to say that Ty can work in nursery because they are told they have to. I know how they feel. I would not even want them to ask him to. In this case it truly is their loss and the sad thing is that they don't seem to care that they've alienated a teen from the church. And people wonder why kids drop out of church when they are old enough. Ty, Jessica, Adam and I are visitng one of two new churches we plan to try tomorrow. We don't want to involve Jasmine yet at this point because she's so bonded to G. & N.


Today was a really full day. The pictures below are up to lunch. More to come later.


At night our cats go out and dogs come in. So first thing in the morning the cats come in to eat and the dogs go out to potty and eat.







Warming up. Yep, I know the cleats are untied. They came untied during the game and when she stopped to tie them, a lady yelled, "hey ref, a kid's tying her shoes" and he turned right toward our bleachers and said, "So." I wanted to say, "So, she just had surgery on her neck and she's cleared for soccer, not to get stepped on." But I didn't. The ball was out of play anyway so would it have hurt anything to wait a second. But the rules say you can call time for tying a cleat if YOUR team has the ball but not the other team. But since it was out of play what difference would it have really made?



Game time



Jessica refs.

Taking a bite of Jaz's treat.
Not sure about this.
We did our Purpose Driven Life chapter at a nearby park this week. It was Chapter five which talked about how our view of life influences how we live our life. Like if we think life is a race we will be focused on winning and doing things quickly. If we think like is a party we will be focued on pleasure.The author's point is that life on earth is a test & that character is both revealed and devolped by tests. And life is a trust. God entrust us with talents, m oney etc. and the morme God gives you, the more responsible he expects you to be.



You see us playing this game a lot. That's because it's easy to take along on our PDL time Saturdays. It's Catch Phrase Jr. A player has a certain amount of time to describe as many words as they can while the others guess them. You are suppose to play in teams but we don't and we don't keep score. We also allow some acting out of the words.



We took all the makings for kabobs and our little grill with us.


You can only drink from the bottle if you are taking the last drink before it's empty.
Ty loves tree climbing.

At the playground after we finished out Purpose Driven Life chapter.
I was amazed she could do this without it hurting her neck (due to her surgery)
This adds a whole new dimension to tag.





Later today we are trying on costumes and baking pumpkin face cookies.

Church Woes

I'll try to keep this brief so everyone doesn't die of boredom and go to another blog.

We started attending our church when we moved to the panhandle in 2004. It has three services/SS hours. We went to service the first hour, SS the second hour and three of us volunteered the 3rd hour. So we'd leave home at 7:30 a.m. and get back about 1:00 p.m. I worked with babies, Ty with 3-year-olds and Jessica in a children's worship service and then promoted to security.

Ty's baptism at our church.












Everthing was fine until last fall. Every one would tell me what a joy the kids were, how responsible Jessica was and how Ty would get right down and play with the kids on the floor.

Last fall, since I was actually in nursery Sun a.m., p.m. and Wed p.m. by now as a volunteer, I hired on as paid staff for about 10 hours a week. G. was in charge of my floor. She is a wonderful person and she and Jasmine have a close bond. She even created a talent show so Jasmine could sing for others.

Then G. moved up to older children and C. took over preschool, which includes babies. N. became G's assistant and J. became C's assistant. Sounds like an algebra problem, huh? It began to feel that way too!

Shortly after I started as paid employee, C. comes to me and says that Ty is getting the boys too wound up, someone is going to get hurt and he cant' work there. I guess N. is the one who complained. I make several suggestions of other things he can do which she responds to with no.

I say, "So you are saying there is nowhere in our church for my son to minister?"

She says, "Don't take it like that."

I ask her to restate it then so that I can understand what she is say, which is "There is no place for him to minister in our church."

And I get to tell him. Remember that he has aspergers and also that working with the 3's is really what gets him up and going Sunday mornings.

She tells me, of course, to pray about things. What's to pray about? He thought he was doing a great job and unlike most of the older workers, he actually gets on the floor and plays. Some of the older women said they loved having him in there because of his energy. So I guess it's how you look at it--energy or hyper and going to hurt someone.


Our church directory picture.







I decide it's time for all of us to step down from volunteer work for now. G. & her aren't happy to lose Jessica and I but she's the one that told me to pray about it.
We now get home at 11 instead of 1. (I get home earlier because I dropped out of SS last month). But I still do my paid job Sun p.m., MOPs, MMO and Wed p.m.




I keep the paid position only because I just started working there and it was still fun. But as C. implemented more and more policies, some -- well, most-- of the joy was sucked out of the job.


So, a little more than a year passes. Ty is 18 now which means he can be in the younger nurseries. One night I"m short a person and the teen Bible study had been canceled so I ask if he can work in my room with me.


She says "What if he is dangerous and badly injures someone." Oh give me a break. We've gone from him being hyper to being dangerous and capable of badly injuring someone. Honestly. How many of you with special needs kids (who may lack a little judgement) think your child is dangerous? I said I needed to run him home then and she agreed he could stay, but right with me and only this once.

Well, he did great. And I think she knows it because she was down there every minute peeking around the corner. He sat on the floor and rolled a ball with my 1's/2's. And he feed them cheerios one at a time.

Last Sunday I had three kids crying and a child who was taking advantage of it by hitting others. Ty came to tell me that his Bible study was canceled again. I told him to come in and distract the mean child. So he tossed a ball with the kid.

Another lady went and told C. that he was in there and C. came marching down and told him to get out. So I was back to three crying children and a meanie--which meant more crying children because they were being hit.

I knew that G. really loves Jasmine and I thought she could help. I sent her this e-mail.

Since Tyler was relieved of his children's church ministry, he has felt very unconnected with church. He says he has no feelings for our church and would prefer not to go. I still require him to go Sun a.m. and p.m. After he graduates in May I told him he stil has to attend at least the a.m. service. He says he'd rather find another church. We had talked about that when the incident first happened but Jasmine and Jessica were upset at the thought.

Last night Ty came up to tell me that there was no teen group. I asked him to come in for a minute to help with Rb. because I was holding a crying child and so was R.

Ty helped A. and I one night in our classroom and he was totally appropriate and also working side by side with me.

C. came by and told him to leave. He says he does not want to attend our church any longer.

So I am left in a tough spot. We can:
1. Look for a church where Ty's help is wanted and upset Jessica and Jasmine.
2. Force Ty to come to a church were he feels no connection anymore and has been hurt.
3. Allow Ty to attend a different church from the rest of us.
4. Allow Jessica and Jasmine to attend there while the rest of us attend elsewhere.
5. Force Ty to come and when he goes to college he will probably drop out totally.

I am uncertain of what to do. Rick and I wonder if it would be best if I step down from my job for a while until we can sort through feelings or if we should all step a way from the church for a while and then see how the kids feel about going back.

I got a message back that she is praying for us but can't help. I finally decide to step down from my job. No one even cared. Sad.

So, Ty and I are going to start visiting other churches starting Sun a.m. Rick is indifferent on staying or leaving, the girls don't want to leave. We probably will though just because of the feelings Rick, Ty and I have about the situation with Tyler.

And also, the church is a bit rich for us and is now building a new $24 million sanctuary. Any idea how many homes you could build in Haiti for that? The funny thing is, we are near the homeless shelter and about twelve people from there come each Sunday. But they always sit up in the balcony. So do we. Must be the poverty section : ) No one really acts snooty but you can tell everyone has money. One day in SS they were giving announcements and it was like, "We need $20 from each person here for the M. school project to get each child a headset, we $12 a person for the pizza party and goody bags for them. Oh, and our Christmas party is the 20th and it's $30 a couple and let's not forget to give generously for a present for our SS teacher." Really, it was almost $100 dollars by time the announcements were done.

On the plus side, our church has mission trips for the teens and Jessica got a full scholarship to World Changers two summers ago and Adam got a scholarship to music camp. They have a lot of stuff for the teens and kids.

We have been used to changing churches every 3-4 years because Rick was military but I really thought my kids would grow up in this church and that the twins would be dediated in this church.

Hard choices ahead. Anyone else been through this?

Jessica's art project

Surgery Follow Up

It appears that they just glued Jasmine's incisions. Now that the glue is peeling off, there is no sign of stitches. She is going to have quite a scar. The dark line along her hair line is an incision too but the glue is still on.
She's come a long ways in 7 years. I was told not to expect too much.
No webbing on either side.


Rick and Tyler are getting fingerprinted in Jax today, taking Jeff to supper from Camp T. and then goingt to Jasmine's follow up tomorrow in Gainesville.

Friday Night

Waiting around for Jessica's first date.



Hehehe. Dad's ready.
He's here. Hmmm. Nice.

Mess with The Mommy and you may find yourself doing wall pushups during game time!
Cheyenne offers a word of encouragement.
Pet Shop Go Fish
My cards

Rootbeer floats. Yum! (We used 'reduced fat no sugar added' ice cream)


Playing Catch Phrase Junior. This has become a favorite and with the junior version everyone can play. We don't really play in teams. One person just starts out and describes the words and everyone else guesses. When his/her turn is done he/she passes it to the next person. We don't keep any kind of score.




We had wings and potato skins too. Got to keep up our energy for the games : )




It was really fun but kind of different with Jessica out on a date. She is out most Friday nights with the marching band at football games but this was an off week. Guess I'd better get used to it.

If you are following this blog, you might also want to follow our adoption one. We had no movement on our file this month but are waiting to hear about the interview. Blog HERE.

Kayaking

Rick and Tyler took the kayaks out in the bay and to a nearby small island. It was beautiful weather and the outting went well. We weren't sure how long it would take or how the water would be.

September food

As you know, my kids each cook once a month. Tyler didn't this month, but he does normally. They pick the recipe and give me a shopping list. That way we try new recipes and they can pick what they think they will like. No complaining about someone elses' cooking other than to give an opinion on the recipe or ideas to improve it.















Taco Bake
2 lbs hamburger
2 tomatoes
lg onion chopped
2 tsp chili powder
15 oz can tomato sauce
½ tsp salt
pkg taco seasoning mix (mild)
½ tsp pepper
15 oz can kidney beans
12 hard taco shells
2 c grated cheddar cheese
1/3 to ½ head lettuce shredded

Brown beef, add onions, cook until tender/brown. Add seasonings, tomato sauce and beans. Break shells into 1/4ths and place in bottom of 9x13 pan. Spoon meat over shells. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Top with lettuce and tomato.

Everyone loved this one. It's a bit spicy but the lettuce really compliments it.





















Old Fashion Pot Roast
2 T margarine
16 oz can beef broth
3 lb pot roast
sweet onion
2 T Kitchen Bouquet
carrots
seasoned salt
potatoes
8 oz can tomato sauce
broth can of water

Sprinkle the roast with seasoned salt. Rub with Kitchen Bouquet (Anyone have an idea what this is for??? It just seemed to make it brown.) In Dutch Oven (or other large pan), melt margarine and brown the roast on all sides. Pour in tomato sauce and beef broth. Stir. Add 1 can of water and the onion. Bring to a slow simmer and cook 2-3 hours on low. When roast is almost tender, add carrots and potatoes. Cook until the vegetables are tender.

This didn't seem to have MUCH FLAVOR! We like this one better. I think it would be better with a couple of packs of beefy onion soup mix thrown in. That extra can of water thins it out too much.



















Corn Casserole
2 eggs
15 oz can cream style corn
1 stick butter melted
8.5 oz box Jiffy corn muffin mix
½ c whole milk
15 oz can whole kernel corn drained

Mix eggs, butter, milk, both cans of corn, and muffin mix together. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350F for 50-55 min.

This was really easy and the kids really liked it. Just double it for large families.

Pigs in a Blanket
2 cans of crescent rolls
package of little sausages

Heat oven to 350. Separate dough into 8 triangles. Cut each triangle into thirds. Place sausage on shortest side and roll to opposite point. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes.

This one can be easily doubled too.