Yeah I know

I keep switching stuff around on the page. Notice I made nice easy to read fonts, this change was made assuming everyone reads blogs when I do, in the middle of night. This was also done assuming everyone else also has hideously poor eye sight.

But when I feel like I have no control over my life, I have to have control over *exaggerated motion with my hands* something. Changing the font and the background is also fun.

Since Kent is sick and has gone to bed, leaving me to entertain myself, I think I'll share a post I wrote on my diaper board (cloth dipes, more natural living, lovely group of individuals).

Prayer is always included in major decisions. At the same time I believe that God gave us brains to think and expects us to use our heads, so even while praying, options need to be considered, we need to educate ourselves on our choices, we need to know the pros and cons before deciding.

I had some really rough social times as well. Middle school is brutal. Just brutal.

I have a certain amount of resolve that I want to teach my children to handle the bad stuff, because bad stuff happens in real life, cushioning kids, trying to alleviate disappointment, pain, sorrow and such does a great disservice to our children. They need to know how to cope and I hope I'm teaching them those coping skills.

At the same time, there's a point where the negatives just beat a kid down and while I want growing up to be realistic, I want to intervene long before any one of beautiful children loses their sense of self worth.

Jane could easily be beaten down. Easily. I see that clearly. That's why we're doing everything we can for her (and have for a number of years, like the six years of taekwondo) to help her grow into her potential. I see that potential and it's beautiful. She's immensely kind. She's fiercely loyal. She loves people. She shows concern for others even those she barely knows. She has an interest in art, a love for music, enjoys creating, enjoys making others smile.

In that awful age of "tween", her peers don't see these wonderful qualities. They only see the awkward girl that doesn't fit in. That laughs a little to loud, finds odd things funny, doesn't always follow the conversation.

*sigh*

I had a very strong impression when pregnant that this child would have challenges and honestly I wouldn't have ever put my finger that they'd be this non-descript and yet so painfully real.


Please note it starts off in the middle of a sentence, out of context because I've only included the information pertinent to my family. It was a discussion on switching schools for Jane, a suggestion given to us by her grandmother. It's not something I believe would be in Jane's best interest but the suggestion did evoke a lot of thought on my part on how to continue to help her.

Jane is currently reconnecting with a friend she's having over in the form of a sleepover. A sweet and gentle girl being raised in awful circumstances. We would never allow Jane to spend the night over there, so I was thrilled that she called to ask if she could come here.

In other Hill news, Ean spent the morning with my mother. Apparently he now knows the contents of her every closet. I cannot seem to get it drilled into his head that's it's not appropriate to snoop!! At least it was my mom, who has a sense of humor about his curious nature. Ean has also discovered the amazing technology known as a GPS. He drove around town with my mom using it, had to go to Kent's store to show his daddy. Pretty funny!

Ean's IEP had him getting special services into Kindergarten. They've realized really quickly that he is not resource room material. After a terrible morning yesterday of never finding his shoes (I'm almost prophetic in Wednesday night's posting) I went to his school with a new pair of shoes after a quick run to Walmart. He was being tested and the teacher said to me "He's really smart." Why yes, yes he is.

She looks at me "No REALLY, he's VERY smart." Apparently Ean was telling her that N O spells NO while O N spells ON. Keep in mind the child is only into his second month of Kindergarten. Oh my, the challenges with this one are so very different then the challenges I had with his sisters!

I don't know what the twins will do, it's to early to tell, we still have to many struggles with language. David I suspect will be more like Ean, just taking off in school. Greg has some more struggles. His comprehension is very poor right now and he still gets so frustrated when he thinks you don't understand him because you're telling him no on something. It's still very early in the year for Greg, there's plenty of time for him to do amazing things!

Kate, what can I say on Kate. Really who wants to know the world almost ended because she didn't get to play with a friend today? Seriously, I have got to figure out how to get the girl to talk in a regular voice without. the. whine. She's terrible about whining!!!! I've never allowed it, we've always stopped her and made her talk normal but she still does it! FRUSTRATING!!!

She's matured in so many other ways. However, this one issue, we're really going to have to ride her about it. I may go crazy otherwise!

So that's us, new format, new background, new font a little updating as well.