Jess headed off for Mercy last week. She was very nervous but to her surprise, she had a wonderful first day! She had a great time bowling with her Mercy 'big sister', the other freshmen and their 'big sisters'. And, there was a journalist there - Jess and her sisters made into the Omaha paper! Follow this link to read the article! The actual first few days of school were quite rocky, but I think things are settling down. I try to text, facebook or talk to Jess every day, however I haven't heard back from her very much. She told me she is very busy with classes and has taken on volleyball to boot. Keep your fingers crossed and send some prayers or good energy out there for her.
Jack has been obsessed with going to K-mart. He keeps telling me which trains are available at K-mart and that I will get them for him. Jack has been obsessed with my being on "a-cation." He is sad that I was on vacation and refused to go to Crown Center so he could play with the train table at the toy store. Even though we visited the train table at the US Toy, he wasn't satisfied - he insisted on the train table at my work. I stood my ground - I was not going to work in any way shape or form even for my sweet sweet Jack.
Jack was telling John "Mommy liked it when I was a baby." I said "I like you now too, pal. You are a lot of fun to talk to and hang out with." Jack said "Fank you, mommy. Fank you, but I was talking to Daddy."
Dad, John and my brother-in-law Mark put up a swing set in the back yard a few weekends ago. The kids have to have an adult with them to go out and play. Jack is constantly asking to go outside. He tells me "I have a dolt to go with me, mommy." I ask him who his "dolt" is and he says "Um, I have one, I do, I do." We dolts are still trying to figure out which one of us he actually means is his dolt...
Wy - hugs himself and says "I happy." Then he likes to go around the room and ask each person if they are happy. If you answer that you are not happy, this makes him very sad and he will tell you that you are happy until you tell him that yes you are happy. At this point he beams with happiness that he brought up your spirts and tells you "I happy!"
If Wy is in trouble or he is unhappy, he curls up in the fetal postion with his forehead on the floor and cries "Nooooo." If he gets put in time out, he sits there and yells "NO!" A few times I have lightly swatted him on the bottom for something and he wipes his bottom hard and then throws it away shouting "NO!" as if he is erasing the fact that I swatted him.
Abby & Connie have completed their first week of school. Even though Jess is off in Omaha, it is still quite crazy around here with all the scheduling, cleaning etc. At our most recent family meeting we decided to divvy up some of the adult responsibilities. One of us is in charge of scheduling, someone else chores, another person cooking etc. Hopefully this will help us to share and ease burdens at the same time. And I hope it will allow us to get the kids a bit more out doors a bit more. We do have a bit of scholastic incentive for that though; Abby has a walking program that she is supposed to participate in for school. Every mile she walks earns her a check mark. Then I think so many check marks earn her something at school.
Devlyn stayed the night with Devon at her apartment twice last week. With Devon so close, we are talking about each of the girls taking turns staying a night or the whole weekend with Devon. The girls are excited about possibly getting some one on one special time with their mama.
OK - that does it for today. I'll be in touch again next week. Love and blessings,
Amy & the Gang.
No shirt, no shoes, no service.
Wy spends a lot of time with his tongue out. He likes to talk with his tongue stuck all the way out to his chin. "I lum baba" is "I love daddy" and so forth. He talks and talks like this, then lets out this contagious squeal of laughter and says "I funny!" 
Devlyn and Wy had a great time one afternoon just hanging out in the laundry basket. Jack pulled them around and around the living and dining room - he refused to be in the picture.On to a delicate issue: Jack started spending a lot of time with his hand in his crotch again this weekend. I then spent a lot of time reminding him not to do that. He was digging around so much that by early Monday evening I took him to the bathroom for a look. That poor guy had a large inflammation on the side of his penis. I finally got a hold of one of his nurses who told me to give him Benedryl and bring him in Tuesday morning. We followed instructions but when we woke up Tuesday morning, Jack's penis was freakishly inflamed. I mean it was so inflamed that I flipped out. I was not waiting for our 9:30 appointment. I got us dressed and out the door. The Doctor told me Jack's problem is called Summer Penile Syndrome. "What is Summer Penile Syndrome?" you might ask. Quite simply people, it is a bug bite on the penis. The Dr. said they see it all the time. He told me to keep giving Jack Benedryl and the 'issue' would resolve itself within 48 hours. Over the next few days we gave Jack the Benedryl and kept checking on him. Devon saw Jack messing with his business and told Jack "Leave your junk alone, buddy." He told her "It is NOT my junk. It is my body." So I took the boys to lunch at Taco Bell one afternoon late this week. As we were eating I asked Jack very quietly if his penis was still bothering him. He said "No." Then I looked at Wyatt for some reason or other. When I looked back at Jack he was standing on the bench with his shirt up around his neck, his drawers down around his ankles: he was checking out his "body". I don't know if anyone was paying any attention to us or not, but I sure felt like all eyes were on us. I was mortified - Jack thought it was all very funny.
Tuesday didn't get any better - Mom & Connie were in a car wreck. Some fella hit them in the rear driver's side door. Fortunately Connie was on the passenger side. Mom says Connie had just asked if she could undo her seat belt because it was too tight. Mom told her no and 2 minutes later they were in the wreck. Everyone is fine, but Mom's door is crunched and we aren't sure about the car yet - it isn't safe to drive - we do know that. Then the girls decided to hold the World Wrestling Federation Cup Finals in bed. Abby wound up kicking Devlyn in the face. Devlyn bit her tongue hard enough to make it bleed. Then she FREAKED out because she was bleeding. I finally got the girls to chill out and went to sit with the boys. Jack was asking for something and I kept telling him no. He finally looked at me and said "If you say no one more time, you will lose your biscuit." (I frequently say something like "If you (fill in the blank) one more time, I will lose my biscuit.")Wy runs around singing "Mary, Mary, wike a dream! Farmer had a dog E-I-E-I-O!" It took me about 2 weeks to figure out what he is trying to sing. The first part is Row, Row, Row your boat - merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream. And of course Old MacDonald. Then he throws in a few seriously off key "Happy Birfday to you Gordon!(Poppy, or whoever he thinks of at the moment.)"
The boys are obsessed with my being on "acation" right now. Jack is desperate for me to go to work so he can play with the Thomas turntable. I staunchly refuse to go anywhere near Crown Center as I am not going anywhere near work. Instead we have been going to US Toy once or twice a week to play with their Thomas set up. Wy gets a bit possesive of the trains on the table and sometimes tells the other kids "Not you! Not you!" as he tries to wrestle a train away. We are working on sharing - but he is 2. 
Jess heads to Omaha Monday evening so we had a going away party for her today. It was a fairly small affair for a Blessington/Abels gathering but we all had a great time. Look at the amazing cake Mel made for the party! 
Jess spent the majority of the week with her friend Caroline. They have jetted back and forth between our houses, the movies, McDonald's and who knows where else. Of course the girls stayed up each night until they passed out from exhaustion. Here are the girls one early morning as the rest of us were getting ready for the day. OK - I'm exhausted and am going to bed. Much love to you all and we'll touch base again after we get back from visiting John's Dad & Marilyn in Chicago next weekend!
Blessings,
Owenland Park.
Doctor, Doctor!
You will just have to deal without the pictures for a bit - I don't have the converter thingy to get them off the camera and into the computer...
We have been chock-a-block full of Dr. appointments this week. John had a follow up on Monday for his migraines. Jack INSISTED on going with him. Jack was such a good boy that Daddy took him down the street to the US Toy. They played with the Thomas turn table and picked out a new train for Jack.
Later in the day, Jack went back to the same health care complex when he INSISTED on accompanying Jess and I to HER migraine appointment. The Dr. gave her a prescription that we have tried to fill, but the insurance won't cover it without prior authorization. SO, we are waiting for the Dr. to talk to the insurance people. I understand why they aren't jumping right on the wagon to pay for her meds. The 30 pill RX could potentially be a 15 day supply (if she has a migraine every day for 15 days and needs both pills each time) and runs $900.00!!! I am sure there is a reason WHY he picked this med and not another migraine med - but I'm not sure what it is. Now, I have to call both the Dr. and the pharmacy every day to see if anyone is making any progress on anything or if he will prescribe an alternative med that will help her and not bankrupt the insurance company.
Wednesday I went in to have my stitches removed. Absolutely crazy, but I didn't feel anything. If I hadn't been watching, I wouldn't have believed she pulled them out. The Dr. and I are both very pleased with the look and placement of the incision and how it is healing. I wear tape for another week and then use Cocoa butter or Vitamin E oil for up to two months to help the scar.
Thursday I took Connie in to be evaluated for ADHD. After answering a ton of questions and visiting with the Dr., Connie was rated well within the ADHD range. He gave her a prescription. After a bit of debate in the family about whether or not to ask for a different med, we decided to have this RX filled. What do you know - the insurance won't cover it without prior authorization. SO, we are waiting for the Dr. to talk to the insurance people...AGAIN. This means I get to call the Dr. and the pharmacy every day about 2 kids. Just what everyone wants, more things to do each day!!! WA-WHO!!!
On to more normal things:
Jess is spending as much time with her friend Caroline as possible. Dad took Jess to get her state id this week. She will need id to do anything with her checking account etc. when she moves to Omaha. She was so excited about getting her id until she understood that it is just an id and not a driver's permit. Wow - did that burst her bubble! How crazy is it that an ID costs about $22.00 and the driver's permit is only $10.00.
Abby is having a little friend over to stay the night on Friday. This is her first overnighter since the girls came to stay with us in January. I'm very excited for her. I will pick the girls up from day care this afternoon and then I think we will stop by the Blocbuster to pick out a few 'tweener' movies for them to enjoy tonight. I'm thinking they might like some popcorn and sleeping on the sofas downstairs. Gracious, I feel like I'm having a sleep over with a girlfriend and not Abby!
While I'm on vacation the next few weeks, Beth and Devlyn are going to have a "Beth & Devlyn Day" each week. This will be something special for Devlyn and will allow me to do something each with with just the boys. We started this past Wednesday. Devlyn hung out with Beth and her granddaughter Stephanie. The girls had a fun time shopping, eating out and hot tubbing! I gave the boys the choice of going to the park or going to play with the Thomas turn table at the US Toy. Guess which one they picked? Fun times for the boys as there was no one else there to share the turn table with!
As you all know, the kids love U:BUG:ME. They are still asking to listen to the CD and don't understand that I can't take them to see the show again because we closed this past weekend. One of the songs is by the big mean Horsefly, Packo. He sings "My name's Packo, I'm the baddest fly around. If you see me coming your way, you better get your thorax out of town. I am trouble, anyone can see. Even though I'm just a horsefly, I'll sting ya like a bee. Cause I'm bad news!" Jack has taken to saying "Mommy, if you say no to me one more time, I will sting you like a bee." I say "No." and he makes a raspberry noise at me, which is the sting of the bee. I told John about this and he thought it was pretty mean of Jack to say that. I'm still debating it. Jack doesn't say it with any meanness. I'm waiting for Jack to say it to John before we decide anything about it.
Wyatt has taken to saying "Poppy, my favorite!" I guess the rest of us are just left out in the cold. He and Devlyn had fun times the other day just hanging out in the laundry basket. He has taken to telling me (frequently I might add) "Mommy, I'm strong. Mommy, I'm cute!"
We say Grace each night before dinner and I have taken to having Wy start us off; "Wy, what do we say?" and he delivers a mangled but somewhat understandable "Bless us oh, Lord" then the rest of us join in. He spends the rest of Grace with his tongue out like Gene Simmons. John and I are thinking of going out as Kiss for Halloween one year - since Wy has the tongue for it...
Now that we are due for an update in a day and a half - I'm going to wrap this one up and get it posted.
Much love and many blessings,
The gang at Owenland Park.
We have been chock-a-block full of Dr. appointments this week. John had a follow up on Monday for his migraines. Jack INSISTED on going with him. Jack was such a good boy that Daddy took him down the street to the US Toy. They played with the Thomas turn table and picked out a new train for Jack.
Later in the day, Jack went back to the same health care complex when he INSISTED on accompanying Jess and I to HER migraine appointment. The Dr. gave her a prescription that we have tried to fill, but the insurance won't cover it without prior authorization. SO, we are waiting for the Dr. to talk to the insurance people. I understand why they aren't jumping right on the wagon to pay for her meds. The 30 pill RX could potentially be a 15 day supply (if she has a migraine every day for 15 days and needs both pills each time) and runs $900.00!!! I am sure there is a reason WHY he picked this med and not another migraine med - but I'm not sure what it is. Now, I have to call both the Dr. and the pharmacy every day to see if anyone is making any progress on anything or if he will prescribe an alternative med that will help her and not bankrupt the insurance company.
Wednesday I went in to have my stitches removed. Absolutely crazy, but I didn't feel anything. If I hadn't been watching, I wouldn't have believed she pulled them out. The Dr. and I are both very pleased with the look and placement of the incision and how it is healing. I wear tape for another week and then use Cocoa butter or Vitamin E oil for up to two months to help the scar.
Thursday I took Connie in to be evaluated for ADHD. After answering a ton of questions and visiting with the Dr., Connie was rated well within the ADHD range. He gave her a prescription. After a bit of debate in the family about whether or not to ask for a different med, we decided to have this RX filled. What do you know - the insurance won't cover it without prior authorization. SO, we are waiting for the Dr. to talk to the insurance people...AGAIN. This means I get to call the Dr. and the pharmacy every day about 2 kids. Just what everyone wants, more things to do each day!!! WA-WHO!!!
On to more normal things:
Jess is spending as much time with her friend Caroline as possible. Dad took Jess to get her state id this week. She will need id to do anything with her checking account etc. when she moves to Omaha. She was so excited about getting her id until she understood that it is just an id and not a driver's permit. Wow - did that burst her bubble! How crazy is it that an ID costs about $22.00 and the driver's permit is only $10.00.
Abby is having a little friend over to stay the night on Friday. This is her first overnighter since the girls came to stay with us in January. I'm very excited for her. I will pick the girls up from day care this afternoon and then I think we will stop by the Blocbuster to pick out a few 'tweener' movies for them to enjoy tonight. I'm thinking they might like some popcorn and sleeping on the sofas downstairs. Gracious, I feel like I'm having a sleep over with a girlfriend and not Abby!
While I'm on vacation the next few weeks, Beth and Devlyn are going to have a "Beth & Devlyn Day" each week. This will be something special for Devlyn and will allow me to do something each with with just the boys. We started this past Wednesday. Devlyn hung out with Beth and her granddaughter Stephanie. The girls had a fun time shopping, eating out and hot tubbing! I gave the boys the choice of going to the park or going to play with the Thomas turn table at the US Toy. Guess which one they picked? Fun times for the boys as there was no one else there to share the turn table with!
As you all know, the kids love U:BUG:ME. They are still asking to listen to the CD and don't understand that I can't take them to see the show again because we closed this past weekend. One of the songs is by the big mean Horsefly, Packo. He sings "My name's Packo, I'm the baddest fly around. If you see me coming your way, you better get your thorax out of town. I am trouble, anyone can see. Even though I'm just a horsefly, I'll sting ya like a bee. Cause I'm bad news!" Jack has taken to saying "Mommy, if you say no to me one more time, I will sting you like a bee." I say "No." and he makes a raspberry noise at me, which is the sting of the bee. I told John about this and he thought it was pretty mean of Jack to say that. I'm still debating it. Jack doesn't say it with any meanness. I'm waiting for Jack to say it to John before we decide anything about it.
Wyatt has taken to saying "Poppy, my favorite!" I guess the rest of us are just left out in the cold. He and Devlyn had fun times the other day just hanging out in the laundry basket. He has taken to telling me (frequently I might add) "Mommy, I'm strong. Mommy, I'm cute!"
We say Grace each night before dinner and I have taken to having Wy start us off; "Wy, what do we say?" and he delivers a mangled but somewhat understandable "Bless us oh, Lord" then the rest of us join in. He spends the rest of Grace with his tongue out like Gene Simmons. John and I are thinking of going out as Kiss for Halloween one year - since Wy has the tongue for it...
Now that we are due for an update in a day and a half - I'm going to wrap this one up and get it posted.
Much love and many blessings,
The gang at Owenland Park.
WELCOME!
For those of you who don’t know the story yet, my sister Devon gave birth on July 22 to her first son, Jude Allen. (Jude shares a birthday with John and my Daddy.) Devon had Jude in Sioux City, Iowa because she had decided to put him up for adoption and Sioux City is the home base for the agency she selected. Devon was able to pick the family and spend some time with them before Jude was born. Marshall and Lili are from Alabama and are committed to having Jude be a part of our lives as he grows.
Devon has been having a very difficult time over the past two years; you all know her four girls are living with us for the time being. She has not been able to get her life in focus. She seems to be getting on track now, but did not think it was fair to the baby to bring him into what she can provide for him. She made this decision on her own – she didn’t tell any of us until after the baby was here and the adoption had been initiated. Right now, she is staying with us, but she has an apartment to move into in a week or so and is looking for a job. Please wish her well, and add her and Jude to your prayers.
We were fortunate enough to meet Marshall, Lili and Jude last weekend after Devon broke the news to us. They are Catholic and will be having Jude baptised as soon as they can set a date and get all the plans taken care of. Mom is making Jude's Baptismal gown and I have started working up a rosary for him.
And so, we welcome Marshall, Lili & Jude to our family!
If you want to see pictures of our meeting - go over to Linky-Dinks and click on the Shutterfly link. Then select the "Jude" album.
Blessings!
Owenland Park.
Devon has been having a very difficult time over the past two years; you all know her four girls are living with us for the time being. She has not been able to get her life in focus. She seems to be getting on track now, but did not think it was fair to the baby to bring him into what she can provide for him. She made this decision on her own – she didn’t tell any of us until after the baby was here and the adoption had been initiated. Right now, she is staying with us, but she has an apartment to move into in a week or so and is looking for a job. Please wish her well, and add her and Jude to your prayers.
We were fortunate enough to meet Marshall, Lili and Jude last weekend after Devon broke the news to us. They are Catholic and will be having Jude baptised as soon as they can set a date and get all the plans taken care of. Mom is making Jude's Baptismal gown and I have started working up a rosary for him.
And so, we welcome Marshall, Lili & Jude to our family!
If you want to see pictures of our meeting - go over to Linky-Dinks and click on the Shutterfly link. Then select the "Jude" album.
Blessings!
Owenland Park.
