The Weekend

Overall the weekend was great! The kids did well up until yesterday when it was time for the visit with Mom.....On Saturday I got to go to the grocery store alone while Don stayed home with the boys and Elizabeth napped for over 3 hours. Then my great friend Tami came over and played with the boys while I puttered around the house putting laundry away, recapturing my kitchen counters, etc. We then had a nice lunch and put the boys down for naps while Don kept an eye on Elizabeth so I could nap too. I caught the creeping crud from the kids and then put the ugly nights up with John's hacking cough I really need some rest.

Sunday morning we managed to get to church only about 5 minutes late even with daylight savings:) My friend Tami had to attend as Don and I had John asking Tami to come sit with him on Sunday. Tami has been a member of our church for a bit but hasn't been the best on attendance as of late:( She finally bribed John that she would come to church and sit with him if he ate his lunch Saturday. He did and boy did he run to her when she walked up to church! Super sweet! Thanks Tami! Tami even got John to go to Sunday school. Major steps of progress.

We then quickly came home and changed so we could meet Mom at 12:00. Grandpa is now supervising visits in a public place. His homestudy isn't complete so they cannot take the kids there. Mom of course doesn't acknowledge the kids but starts talking to me. They showed up with the kids' older brother, whom the grandparents have permanent guardianship over, and the kids' cousins, whom the the grandparents also have permanent guardianship of.....need I say more? Well, I had to wait to see how they were going to get everyone in this 5 seater car. I made sure the kids were in their carseats and we left. Oliver says "where Lizzie? where John?", he is attaching to them already. Don, Oliver and I went to BJ's (like Costco and Sams) for a much needed stock up trip of just about everything. And then we went out for lunch and back home to unload and put Oliver down for a nap (he has the creeping crud too).

Don went alone to pick up the kids. He walked in to the house with Elizabeth and said "what an awful experience" which I already knew. I guess John screamed and cried. He fell asleep in the car on the way home so Don then carried him in and he woke up in tears. Don and I spent about an hour between us trying to talk to him but he wouldn't even look at us. I think he feels disloyal to Mom if he is pleasant to us especially after a visit. So sad. He finally fell asleep and so did Elizabeth for about 20 minutes. Don got a motorcycle ride in with our friend Pete. Pete is a child psychologist and offered us some good advise on reassuring John continually that none of this is his fault, he said kids his age blame themselves. So we are working on it. Lizzie got no real nap all day just a couple of catnaps. Both kids ended up having a pretty crudy day. John ended the day being pleasant but having a really hard time going to sleep. He was then up during the night coughing and throwing up.

We are back to the doctor this afternoon. Mom was going to come but couldn't find a ride. I really don't think her coming is good for John's mental state at this point. Neither kid is really feeling great yet but we are praying that will change quickly. Don sweetly shared last night that he has more energy than he has had in a long time and knows it is God's way of telling him "you are doing the right thing".