A Very Expensive Lesson to Learn

I learned an important lesson this month. It's a lesson that I'm sure most people would roll their eyes and throw stones at me for having to learn the hard way really. Laugh if you must. I at least learned something from it. What is it, you ask? I learned that they people at the auto shop aren't kidding when they tell you to change your oil every 3,000 miles.

Yep. It really needs to be changed. Did you know that going almost 20,ooo miles without changing the oil WILL result in having to get a whole new motor? Yep. It will. Know what else? That motor will cost you nearly $4,000.oo to get. If you happen to be a rich person with money to throw away on the results of stupid mistakes, this is really no big deal. But, if you are like me, and you happen to be just a typical American doing your best to get by day by day AND buy a lovely new home for your family, $4,000.00 is a lot of money.

So, I was without my van for a week. A WEEK!!! Do you know what happens to the mother of five with no vehicle for a full week? It isn't pretty, let me tell you. I was ready to go and rent a donkey or a camel or some other beast of burden just so I could get out and about and do something, anything really. I was delighted when Byron came home and needed a gallon of milk. I immediately volunteered every chance I got to go and run the menial errands.

Then, we finally got the stupid thing back, and it died. Again. I called the repair shop all hot under the collar prepared to threaten them with...with...with CHILDREN! Yes! That was it! I'd tell them that they could take all the time they needed to fix it, and I'd be happy to wait in the sales office with all five kids. I'd tell them that Aiden would be good, but would sit there pouting the whole time because he wasn't with his friend, Jake, eating his mother's food. He insists that Jake's mom's food can be burnt and would still be better than mine. I'd invite CJ to ask the repair man all the questions he could think of and then tell him jokes. There isn't enough medication on the planet to help a repair guy who has CJ "helping" him do his job. Rachel would be polite enough, but would feel the need to sing every song she knows with all the wrong words and completely off key at the top of her lungs. Drezden would spend the entire time crying for his binky, which I would bring with me, and just forget that it was right there in the diaper bag. And Liam? Well, he'd poop. There isn't a ventilation system in the world strong enough to mask the horror that is Liam's poop.

That was my plan. I was going to bring the kids with me to help motivate them to get the job done. To my dismay, though, they were very polite and helpful. They came and towed the van in, and got straight to work on diagnosing the problem.

I learned another lesson that day. If you have a dead battery, and don't at least try to jump it, you'll end up paying for a new battery, the tow to get it to the shop. And, yes. All of that will be on top of the nearly $4,000.oo you paid the week before for not changing the oil.

New Boots!

CJ has a special love for his cowboy boots. He has worn them EVERYWHERE. He wore them to school, to bed, to shower (he put them outside the shower door while he was in there), to play in the snow, to get school pictures taken, and to church.

They weren't new boots when he got them in the first place. They were actually hand-me-downs from Aiden. Regardless of how he came by them, they were a treasure and his whole heart went into wearing them. Sadly, CJ's beloved boots met their demise. They'd fallen apart before, but a little crazy glue held them together for a couple more months. This time, though, even crazy glue wouldn't fix them.

The fake leather (did I also mention they were from WalMart?) was coming off, the soles had come off, and they were as broken down as any boot could be. Still, CJ loved his boots and wanted to wear them everywhere. It was with a heavy heart that he finally gave in when I told him it was time to let them go.

Tonight, I surprised him with a Mommy Date. We drove to the cowboy store (no stinkin' WalMart boots for my little cowboy), and I set him free to choose himself some real boots. He was excited as could be, although I think it's because he also noted that there were cowboy toys there. Anyway, he proudly tried this pair on, and that was that. He was in love. We also went for a new haircut, but that paled in comparison to those great new boots.

I have a cowboy sleeping proudly cuddled up with his fabulous new boots dreaming of whatever it is that CJ dreams about. What could be better than a great pair of new boots?

Go Ahead. Laugh.

I've hit a new low. I know. I thought my last new low was as low as it could go, but I beat even that one. Yep. It is indeed possible.

I had to go to WalGreens to buy old lady make-up. "Cover your age lines and wrinkles..." That stuff. I need it. It's not actually the wrinkles that are the problem as much as the dark circles under my eyes. Okay, and the wrinkles. At the same time, I had to buy some skin cleanser that I think is meant for pre-pubescent teenagers to help clean up the lovely acne in other parts of my face. I know. Classy, right?

Now, none of this would have been so embarrassing were it not for what happened on my way out of the store. (Okay, so it was still embarrassing, but the story sounds better if I add a little suspense or something). I had Liam with me, and was running late to pick up Rachel and Drezden from Mrs. Buffy's school.

I hurried out to the van carrying the baby, trying not to let him lose the balloon the lady at the make-up counter gave him, and hoping no one would note my many facial imperfections. I pushed the unlock button on my van and promptly opened the backdoor. Upon attempting to put Liam in the van, I realized it wasn't even my van!!! Oops! There was a very kind, very old, man in the driver's seat.

In my defense, the van I opened was the same make and model as mine. It even had the same sticker from the same dealership as mine. And it was parked right next to mine. Luckily, the older gentleman just smiled and let me continue on my way. But, I and my zits and bandaged up baby with the balloon was adequately mortified.

Go ahead. Laugh.

I Will NOT Use Potty Words. I Will NOT Use Potty Words. I Will NOT...

*Deep sigh* Selling a house is a total pain in the butt. I mean, really. That's just how it is. We completely flipped this house and made it into everything we ever hoped and wished it could be...just in time to sell it. Figures. We got a buyer right away, which is no small miracle with the market the way it currently is. What do I have to complain about, right?

The answer is simple. EVERYTHING! We are days away from closing and our buyer just happens to mention that their financing has fallen through. Ack! What?!?!?! That's a problem. They *think* they have it figured out now, but it pushes the closing date back. No biggie, right? Well, we think not, but we are already under contract to purchase our amazing and wonderful house in the new area we're moving to.

Sometimes it's so hard to keep the faith instead of sitting down and crying and using potty words. I mean, I won't do that because how on earth can God bless me for having faith if I'm sitting in a corner swearing, right? That's not exactly showing great faith. Of course, no one ever said living and walking by faith would be easy. I've only ever heard that it'd be worth it.

I can't complain. Byron got this job by no small miracle. It was handed to us on a silver platter. Then, Liam and Drezden's health made total turn-arounds out of the blue. Then, we found out we're moving to a place where the leading pulmonology doctors for children is. Further, we found out that some of the leading oral Deaf schools are in the area we're going to. We sold our house (if it all goes through) for a profit, and found a new house in a matter of hours over the weekend that we were there hunting for a home. We discovered that our new ward has three other Deaf children all with cochlear implants.

So, with all of that going on, how could I not have faith that this little hiccup is just that? A hiccup. *Deep sigh* Apparently I still have a lot to learn. Of course, once I learn to live and truly walk by faith, I'll probably be dead.

Bet Ya' Thought I Was Dead or Something, Right?

Nope! I've been here the whole time. Things have been CRAZY around here. Our house sold, we went to the new place we're moving to and chose a fabulous house, the kids are doing great, and well...that about sums it up, doesn't it?

CJ is doing worlds better at school. He still has a couple of off days, but nothing to really complain about it. It helps that his friend, Jim, motivates him with Dairy Queen ice cream cones dipped in magic shell. He seemed to sort of hit rock bottom and actually ended up making his sweet teacher break down in tears. Poor thing! I felt for her.

Aiden is suddenly quite the little man. He tells me I need to get ready because he's pretty sure he's going to hit puberty soon. He checks his armpits for hair regularly. Apparently he's unaware that hair might grow elsewhere. I'm thinking I'll let him go ahead and get that surprise later.

Rachel grew! I mean, she has really just grown into a beautiful little girl on me. I can't believe how beautiful she has gotten. She reminds me that she's still my girl when she makes little comments like, "Mom, a fart in the tubby and it makes bubbles". She really knows how to warm the heart.

Drezden is talking up a blue streak. His favorite word is, of course, poop. That's how I know he really is my kid. He also uses NO frequently. He has really taken to cuddling up in bed with Aiden to sleep. They're best buddies.

Liam has made leaps and bounds progress!!! HE IS NOT USING OXYGEN ANYMORE!!! The Amazing Dr. Sanchez is as surprised as we are by his progress. He's just doing so great. He still has one test to take at home to be sure his sleeping oxygen levels are safe, but that's about it. He has developed his own little sense of humor and seems to think crawling backwards and chasing my dirt pile around while I sleep is hilarious.

An Easier Decision Than We Thought

We are going to move to the area closest to Byron's work. After lots of research, we have discovered that the ward area we love so much doesn't have one single house in our price range that would meet our needs. That made it a pretty simple decision. I think we will benefit from amazing friendships in the other ward even if we don't live directly in their boundaries.

Decisions, Decisions

I may have made mention of the fact that we are being relocated. Things have really fallen into place and the Lord has made clear that it is absolutely His intention for us to go to this new place. While we hate to leave behind those that we dearly love here, we know there are blessings to be found there. Hopefully we will also be able to bring blessings to those we meet.

We have a big decision to make right now, though. Where should we live? The decision was going to be quite simple until last week when everything changed for us.

A few weeks ago (maybe even a couple of months), I got a message on my hearing loss blog about a boy who was working on his Eagle Scout project. He was creating a blog and a website for deaf and hard of hearing kids like himself to get to know each other and share stories. The poster asked me to put a link on my blog to his and then to write up a story for his website. No problem. I posted the link, and then went over to his site and told him he could use any stories or experiences from my blog he wanted.

Last week, he e-mailed me and said he’d noticed that I had “I am a Child of God” and “Teach Me to Walk in the Light” playing on my blog. He asked if I happened to be LDS. I told him that I was, and he then asked to friend me on facebook. I agreed.
About a day later, I got a PM from him saying that he’d noticed that I mentioned moving to the place we're going to. This shocked him because he lives there. His dad is the bishop of his ward. He was so excited about this. To be honest, I was stunned. My blog has been up for over a year now, and this was the first time I’d made contact with him. It just seemed like things were falling into place.

We exchanged questions and answers, and I learned that his ward has him and TWO OTHER FAMILIES WITH DEAF CHILDREN. There are 3 year old twins and a 9 year old girl who all have hearing loss in his ward. This is totally unusual for a hearing ward. Plus, all their youth know ASL because this young man has taught it to his peers. Built-in babysitters.

I spoke with the young man’s mom the other day, and she describes the ward as if it’s like the amazing one we’re already in. It’s small, but not minute. There are other parents who have already juggled the school district and told us which schools are great vs. which ones are not. Their ward is having a dinner and silent auction fund raiser for the youth on one of the nights we’ll be there looking for houses, and we were invited to join them that evening. We will be there.

Then, my bishop from when I was a youth contacted me to give me the names of some of the people he felt could help us find a good ward. He had lived in in the same place we're going, and found some good people. That sister called me today and went on and on about how great this young man’s ward is and how happy we’d be there.

It’s very close to the oral Deaf schools, the children’s hospital, and really anything we’d need. The catch? It is about a 30-45 minute commute for Byron. We really didn’t want to consider an area with more than a 20 minute commute. It really feels like we’re being led to this particular ward in some ways. So, what would you do?