What Do I Do Now?

So, today was the kids' third day of school. And for the third day, I walked into an empty house...looked around...and didn't know what to do! Sure, I have a to-do list. But I always had that anyway, even with the kids. I don't know how to do things without my three shadows. Today I went grocery shopping, dropped off clothes at the dry cleaners, put away groceries, washed the car, cleaned Esias' room, vacuumed the rugs, answered a few emails, and went to the pharmacy. So I got quite a bit done before 11:45am (when I pick up Esias). But it just feels so doggone weird! For nine years my life has revolved around children and their needs. Even if it wasn't my own child's needs, it was the needs of one of my daycare kiddos. So now, I have all this "free" time and it just feels so weird. Will I get used to this? My sister gave me some advice today: You better get this figured out before they leave home for good! True.

Back to School, Back to School...(sung like Adam Sandler)

Today was the big day! THREE Grimes children packed their little character backpacks and trekked off to school! A preschooler, a kindergartener, and a third grader walked into a bar...oh wait, that's not what happened.

Anywhoo...all the kids went to school and Momma survived! I did some very quiet shopping. Alone. By myself. It was...weird.

Esias went on the bus at 8:01am without a hitch. I was shocked! I was anticipating clinging, crying, fit-throwing. And I thought Esias would have trouble, too.

Elly walked hand-in-hand with Eden up the street to our neighborhood school. She looked back at me once, right before she got into the line, and then she was off and had no worries.

Eden, of course, was fine. She did say the night before that she was nervous. But the nerves gave way to the excitement once morning came and the new sequined tennies were on her feet.

I came home from dropping Dan off at work and ate some chocolate covered strawberries (a gift from a very thoughtful husband who knew I'd be a wreck).

And three hours later, I picked up Esias. He looked up at me and said, "Muuuuuhm!" and came a-runnin'. Precious! Wait, before that. I did stalk him. I drove by the playgroud at recess time. He was playing so adorably. No tears whatsoever. And Esias was fine too.

Summer Hodge Podge

I have not posted pics in a while, so here's the whole summer in a nutshell!

Our first major event was Esias' third birthday! He and my older sister share a birthday so it was fun to be able to share the party again this year. He loved the car cake and all the car/dinosaur themed gifts.

Of course, Aunt Tiel brought the funky 80's shades.



A few days later, a most precious birthday occurred! Malcom Ellis Anderson (my little sister's son) arrived safe and sound, 4 weeks early.


The Anderson Family! Malcom 1 hour, and Marcus 4.5 years old!

The entire Stanton/Howard/Grimes/Anderson family! (My sisters, their husbands and kids and our mom and dad) We all crowded in the hospital room an hour after Malcom's birth and the kind nurses looked the other way on their 2 visitor policy ;) The could tell they weren't gonna get us to split up. Poor Brynn. Though she looks great.

Marcus was over the whole hospital experience by the next day ;) He took becoming a big brother in stride!

Right after the 4th of July, we had Dan's sister Angie and her girls Gianna and Layla and his little sister Trish, her hubs Chris, and their girls Hannah and Alivia come for a visit to our part of the state. Angie lives in Texas so we don't see them very much. It was a blast-- we spent a lot of time at Darin's farm with the trampoline. There were LOTS of girls. Levi and Esias were feeling a little outnumbered.

I didn't get any pictures of this, but we also got a visit from Dan's older brother, Doug and three of his children- Chloe, Bethany, and Eleazar-- all close to Eden's age. It was 100 degrees outside, so we had some fun at Darin's farm and then the Doug, the kids, and I went to the mall to goof around. I think I got some pics on my phone but not sure how to upload those...my techie brain is not as techie as it used to be. We missed you Heidi!



We spent a lot of time outside on our slip-n-slide. We did go to the pool three times and the beach once, but the backyard setup seems to provide just about as much fun and a lot less money and effort!


One night after Dan got off of work, and against my better fiscal judgement, we took off driving out of town to find a little fun. We ended up in a town nearby, at a tiny Mexican restaurant, eating fajitas and messing around with our camera in the really awesome lighting. We have fun, the five of us.


Eden snapped this one ;)



A cute little building outside of the restaurant caught our eye.

I spent a few evenings away from home and left Dan with the kids. It was nice. I got a total of three pedicures this summer...that's more than I had had in my lifetime before June. Sheesh. I am hooked now...

This happens when Daddy in charge.


Cousin cuteness.

This past weekend we met up with my parents and took the kids to the Blank Park zoo on Friday night and the Iowa State Fair on Saturday. Fun times! Perfect weather, too.

We had a great summer! I love having my kids all under one roof all day, but I can tell they are bored in general with running errands with me! I am sad that school starts Thursday! I will miss my three amigos!

So behind!

I have hardly blogged all summer! Excuse me for being at the pool, watching movies, fixing countless meals and doing laundry! Ok, sorry. Got defensive for a minute there.

Anywoo...summer is going fast. The end of June brought Esias (and my sister Tiel)'s birthdays and then right on the heels of that my new nephew Malcom was born! So we had quite an eventful few weeks there. Esias is now a full-fledged three year old and lovin' it. He can hold up two figures and say "three" (that third finger likes to stay down and be ornery!). He's starting to make more and more word-like sounds and try to engage other people with words instead of being so silent in public. He's had weekly swallow therapy for a month and a half now and that is going well. In all other ways, he's a normal, happy, ornery, active three-year old boy!

So in the matter of my new nephew...have I mentioned I love him? Oh my heart. He is presh.us.

Eden spent a few days concentrating hard on a writing contest sponsored by our local TV station. She's already planned what to do with the $1500 grand prize WHEN she wins ;) The contest was writing an essay on what you want to be when you grow up. She would like to be a reporter/newswriter and I think her essay could be a serious contender (though I am tempering my pride in her work with some realism for her sake). She is a very creative writer and I would say quite good with words, especially for her age. By the way, she would buy a plane ticket to either Africa or China and an American Girl Doll with her money if she wins.

Elly is still working on getting her two bottom baby teeth out. The permanent teeth are completely grown in and yet she is so afraid of losing her baby teeth. We have an appt. schedule with a pediatric dentist (she has the right to use gas) and Elly knows that if she won't wiggle those babies out by that day, she's getting up pulled. I really despise the teeth-losing phase of life.

Dan and I are deep in the middle of fundraising for our upcoming Ethiopia trip. I am so thrilled to be able to go back again. So want to throw my hands around the necks of Birtukan and Nesibu and give them a big squeeze. And if time allows, we will go back to the place where Esias spent his 10 months of his life, Gelegela Orphanage.

Right now (meaning today and for the next 12 days) we are hosting two students from WuHan China. It has been (already) a great experience. The kids LOVE our students, 20 year old Ruen Xiao Ying and 19 year old Fu Hong. The are both girls and so sweet and kind. They unloaded all kinds of gifts on us last night. Such sweethearts. They are sleeping in the basement, hopefully the kids will give them privacy. The kids have had a hard time realizing that it's not like when Grammy and Papa sleep over; you can't just go jumping on Chinese college students at 7am to wake them up ;)

So, busy busy busy as usual. But all good! We are so blessed. For serious.

VBS Week

This past week we had Vacation Bible School at church. It was a fun, exhausting week! It was the first time all the kids went and I volunteered in the craft area. Esias did not want to go into his classroom (the nursery) so he stayed in the craft room with me, playing Angry Birds most of the time. So I'm not Mother of the Year. ;)

Some of the highlights--

--Being told by Elly's teacher that she said "symbiotic relationship" during a discussion
--Being told by Elly's teacher that she said, "buh-blinging" in reference to the Prodigal Son
--Hearing Eden's sweet voice tell me that she accepted Jesus as her Savior on Friday of VBS!

Sweet, sweet week of fellowship with other women and the kids!

More Edenisms.

Yesterday was an eventful day around here, starting of course with the discovery of our poor deceased feline. Then we went on to go to church and out for Mexican food afterwards (it was Father's Day, afterall, so we had to celebrate a little). On the way out of church, we had to part ways with dear Marcus who historically is not a fan of saying goodbye to the girls and Esias. He was crying in his car when we pulled away. Eden said the following:

"Mom, I wish we could just take Marcus home with us so Aunt Brynnie could just relax." (she is 9 mos. preggo)

I said, "Well, honey, it is Father's Day so he needs to be with his daddy."
Eden replied, "Yeah and the tragic death of our cat doesn't make our house very welcoming."

Pumpkin Kitty Grimes 1998-2011

Pumpkin died this week after a few months of looking not so good. She was 13 years old, a decent age for a cat. She was my first baby, I got her after moving to Omaha on my own at 20 years old. She lived in an apartment with my cousin Sara and I. She was a crazy, crazy kitten who terrorized our toes at night. She would scratch me all night and bite my bright and early to get fed. She calmed down though and went to live with my parents in our old house when I moved back to IC and lived in an apartment. After Dan and I bought this house in 2002, we brought her back to live with us and she'd been here ever since. She was a good kitty. After the kids were born we spent less time adoring her of course, but she always came to snuggle us, visit us in the bathroom (!) and sleep at the foot of our bed at night. I woke up in the night to use the bathroom and when she didn't nearly trip me, I realized again that she is really gone. I am very sad, I loved her lots. Pets are really fun to have except for this part ;(

Distract-a-mundo

Elly is easily distracted. This is nothing new to anyone who has spent time with her. Getting dressed is particularly difficult for her because of all the fun things in her room that catch her eye and the mundane-ness of the task. This morning, she ate her breakfast and I told both the girls to go get dressed. A few minutes later, Eden walked by the door of my room (where I was) dressed. Several minutes later, Elly walked by toward the bathroom STILL IN HER PJs. I said, "Elly, you are not dressed! What do you need?" She looked at me and simply answered, "Lip gloss."

Lots to Catch up on!

Wow, the summer is off and running and I have become a blog slacker! June is already half over, how can that be?

Here's what's been up with the Grimey Kids.

-Esias' TWO YEAR Famiversary was June 9th! We first met him on June 9, 2009 and then united him with the girls on the 12th (I think) so there are lots of fun dates to celebrate (referral day, birthday, etc) but I like to remember the day we met. His birthday is for him and the "gotcha" day is for me and Dan :) What a surreal moment it was to walk into that dark, closed up room and see this tiny infant who appeared to be about 3 months old (and in reality was 11.5 months) and was SICK. Scary sick. But we were so hopeful and just so so glad to be there and have him in our arms. And now, two years later, some things are not what I expected them to be but I would not change a single minute, a single challenge. Esias is an ornery, active, loving, sweet, messy beautiful child who has every part of me wrapped around his little finger. I love you Esias!!! So blessed to be your mommy. The anniversary of his arrival at our house also means writing his post placement report. It gets sent to Grand Rapids (to our agency) and also to Ethiopia where the identifying information is removed and the report is there for viewing by any relatives and also so the government there can make sure the children are receiving good care and continue the program. I struggled writing it, it is hard to express just how amazing Esias is doing and how much he has overcome. But in my page and a half, I think I conveyed it. The fun part is that we have to include pictures of all of us and I think his smile says it all.

-Eden finished out the last month of school with her typical fervor, bringing home LOADS and LOADS of papers and drawings and journals for me to see...and she is now enjoying her down time and leading Elly in all sorts of shenanigans here at home. It is nice to have all three of them home together. She's been in the tree alot, her favorite spot to get away since the sibs can't get up there yet ;)

-Elly is showing me just how very READY she is for school this fall. Her vocabulary is amazing and she told me today while we were very low on gas and searching for a gas station, "Mom, you are going really fast." I said, "I know, I am trying to get to the gas station before we run out of gas." She replied, "Well, Mom, the faster you go the more you use up your gas. Except if we are going downhill." So funny. Then she told me she wants to be an engineer on Sundays and a veterinarian on Tuesdays.

-Esias started private feeding therapy today and it was great! He is working with a PhD at the U who thought his case was interesting enough to take him on, apparently! I am so glad. I am trying not to be regretful that we didn't do this long ago, but I know that this is all God's timing and it has taken me this long to really accept E-man's slow progress with feeding and realize he has a disability. And this is a good time to have a commitment like this, we can all get there easily and it is not as hectic as the school year. Now if we can just win the lottery (you know the one where you don't have to buy a ticket) we will be able to afford it! Ha!

Well, that's it for now. I need to get some more pics uploaded. Someday soon!

As I was praying with the girls tonight, this was Elly's prayer:

"Lord, oh Lord...Happy Birthday to Jaren tomorrow. Can we set some cake on the ground and you give it to him? Can you? Can you see how he digest-es-es? Can you?"

Not sure what the Lord, oh Lord part was, but it cracked me up.

More from the Eldest...

This afternoon, Elly wanted to eat some ice cream and she found a half-eaten ice cream cone re-frozen in the freezer. She licked it and said, "This is gross!" and set it on the counter and then left. So I tossed it in the trash. A few minutes later, I was rocking Esias on the couch and the girls emerge with the previously trashed ice-cream cone. Eden was licking it and said, "We got this out of the trash...I swear nothing was touching it...it's fine...so we're eating it...we're a couple of nasty monkeys."

Nature Girl Elly.

Today Elly said, "Mom, I want to be a nature girl, and like eat leaves, and say to other humans, 'what's a computer?'"

More Edenisms.

I thought that once Eden became a kid and not so much a toddler, all the funny things she said would go away too. Not so.

Today she told me that tomorrow is "International Hide from Your Siblings Day."

Yesterday, we were getting ready to head home from Clarinda (we were there for our twin nieces graduation party) and Dan took Elly in to the gas station with him to get her something to eat since she had not eaten anything at the party. Eden said, "Dang...too bad I just ate like a pig." I laughed and said, "Oh Eden, you got that from your momma." She said, "Yeah, it's a blessing and a curse."

What's Shakin'?

I have not been able to blog much...has something to do with the two ornery, er, active two-year old boys that occupy my house most days. I do want to write down a few things though, so here goes.

Eden- Eden is almost done with SECOND grade! She's had a fabulous year. What i love about her is that she is extremely intelligent but without the perfectionist baggage. Love that. She regularly misses spelling words that SHE KNOWS HOW TO SPELL because she is a daydreamer and a spontaneous person who doesn't go back and check her work. You might think that would disappoint me, but I actually love it. Sure, I talk to her about slowing down and doing her best work, but I love that she doesn't draw her self-worth from her performance. I know someone who did that and it hasn't served me, ahem, her well. Her teacher, Mrs. Schroeder is amazing and I will miss her so much. I love knowing that Eden is in good hands all day.

Elly- This gal is non-stop chatter. She talks for hours on end. People in public notice. She goes to school in the fall and I think she is more than ready. I hope she can socialize with other children and not just adults!

Esias- His speech is making improvement! We hear sentences! Albeit hard to understand, they are sentences. He says, "I want Papa" "I want pizza" "I don't want more" it sounds more like "ah-ahnt-papa" but we can understand it! Unfortunately, his feeding is not going as well. He is regressing on his desire to eat. When he came to us, he had a strong desire to eat. Sometimes kids who are tube fed lose their desire to mouth-feed. Esias didn't and it was a blessing and answer to prayer! Then we were able to stop most of the tube feeding and work on his chewing and swallowing. Unfortunately over the past few months, I see him struggle to eat things that other children eat without issue and he gets tired of trying. If it gets on his pallet or at the back of his tongue, his tongue doesn't know what to do with it and he sort of freaks out. He gags and spews and usually ends up needing his mouth swept out. Soemtimes he can sweep it out himself but usually he asks for help. And then, he is done. Like wipe my mouth, unbuckle me from the booster, I'm outta here. Even if that was his first bite. Ug! So we are quite sure he will need more feeding support than we are able to give him for the next several years. We are doing Bolus feeds (or just giving him pediasure orally) to make sure his cals are sufficient.

Gotta go- crying and carrying on in the basement!!

More Edenisms. And it's not even 8am.

This morning Eden is on a roll. She's already had us in stitches before breakfast.

She was going to wear a dress today, so when I found her in her room wearing something else she felt the need to explain herself:

"Mom, we had a bit of a wardrobe mix up. I was going to wear this dress, but then I remembered I am riding my bike to school and there is a 98% chance that my dress would get caught in the chain."

and at breakfast...

"Elly you have too much dimples. That means that you are so cute you should be locked up in a secret laboratory."

I might agree with her on that one!