When Mom Can't Do Math

Everyone who knows me well, knows that I am mathematically impaired. Seriously. When the boys were little, I sold Avon and the worst part was keeping track of the math for the orders. I always used a calculator of course, but I remember a time when Jeff looked at a bagged order, with the bill attached and said, "Karin, this bill is wrong. Couldn't you tell just by looking that $3.45 + 4.50 + 7.50 could not possibly equal $32.55?

Um... No. I hadn't even noticed.

Ahhhhh.....

So, you will understand my distress when my children bring home their math homework when Jeff is out of town. Jillian's fifth grade class is doing geometry.

G.E.O.M.E.T.R.Y.

I flunked geometry.

Something about logic and shapes...and more logic, that I just didn't grasp.

My brain is not logical in the least. Practical, maybe. But not logical. I equate logical with b.o.r.i.n.g. and to sit staring at an algebra or geometry book makes my face want to slide off my skull.

Fortunately, my husband is very gifted in all things math and his brain is able to understand why a+b -c+s could possibly = y. For me? I don't even know why anyone would even care about knowing that.

But anyway.... Jillian had a geometry PROJECT this week. Yes. Being her mother's daughter, she waited until 8PM the night before it was due, to actually work on it. And then she asked ME to help her. With lots of tears. My heart ached and we Go*gled things, but there was little to be done. Finally, in desperation, I begged Taylor for help. With great exasperation--and muttering things like, "How could anyone not know this stuff?" he came over and gave Jillian the answers. This brought a whole new slew of tears because she then realized she had done a large part of her project incorrectly.

Just shoot me now.

It was 9:30. I convinced her to just go to bed. There was nothing to be done about it at that time of night. She's only 10, so she could not pull an all-nighter getting it done.

The poor little thing went off to school this morning, with her project sheathed in a plastic bag--to protect it from the "Nor Easter" (ie: driving rain) we're getting today.

And I...well, I have no plans to try to improve my math skills (BORING), but next time, I hope we can start the project early enough to Skype Jeff for help.

Are we having fun yet?

Jeff comes home tomorrow. Ahhhhh.... I hope to not be needing a padded room by then. Let's just say this hasn't been my week for stellar parenting. Yesterday, I seriously had fantasies of driving off into the sunset alone, or at the very least, understanding why some animals eat their young.

I took the kids to the pond to feed the swans--thinking it would give us a needed, fun distraction. Instead, the kids annoyed the living snot out of me by constantly running off and not listening. I don't know what got into them. I spent the whole time (at least it seemed like the whole time) yelling for them to come back and being totally exasperated. Later, I uploaded the pictures that I took and wow...they painted a different story. The kids looked all adorable, with no hint of their naughtiness.

Did I just imagine it?











Awwww....

Is that not the cutest little dimple?!

"Come on, Kate! We can veer off into the woods. Mom's outnumbered and won't be able to catch all of us."

And they're off. Insert me yelling, 'Come back here! Wait for me! You guys come back here, RIGHT NOW!" ad nauseum.

"Why do I have this sick feeling that Mom is going to make us take a nap today?"

God's Word Stands Forever

Mom's at it again

"Hey, Zoey...Mom has her camera pointed at us again. Grit your teeth."


"Katie-bug, I just can't help but smile at Mom. You know me...I can't smother smiles."
"ZO-EY! Can't you at least just give her a monster face?"
"No, Katie...I crack up just trying NOT to smile."
"Argh, Zoey. You're hopeless."


"Oh alright. Sigh. I give up. CHEEEEESE!"

Miss Zoey

God totally answered prayer today about the decision regarding Zoey's foot and leg. Although the news is hard to hear, I know in my heart that it is her best option. The doctor very emphatically said that he recommends amputation. He wasn't sure until he saw her x-ray's--which showed a very abnormal ankle. There just isn't much to work with--and even if they did many, many surgeries and leg lengthening, she would still not have a foot that would be very functional. He told me that he could probably give her something to walk on--but she wouldn't be able to run or keep up with other kids.

Well...that pretty much clinched it for me. She is very athletic and active. It would be torture for her not to be able to participate in activities. She runs and hops on that little ankle in ways that make the rest of us wince. She needs to be able to keep running, hopping and jumping.

Jeff is on a plane to Italy, so I haven't been able to discuss this with him yet, but he was leaning toward amputation anyway, based on what the first surgeon had told us.

The doctor recommended that we wait for another year or so before we do the surgery. Zoey is getting around so well right now that he thinks its better to let her get to a point that she's starting to get uncomfortable. Emotionally, he thinks it would be poor timing to do it right now when she is getting around so well. He would also like her to have more time to get completely settled in our family before putting her through the surgery.

She is so spunky and happy that I think she will handle it pretty well.
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And now for my pitiful tale of woe, that occurred after the appointment (because I have no one else to vent to--ha).

The drive to the hospital is very convoluted. It twists and turns. Although I tried to remember the turns, I soon realized it was impossible and I would be dependent on the GPS. Well, it was dark when we finished Zoey's appointment and the hospital is in downtown Boston.

So. It's dark. It's rush hour. And I have no idea where I'm going.

No worries...I have a GPS. (Yeah....I can hear you snickering already.)

I got about three blocks from the hospital when I got stopped in traffic. The GPS said, "Turn left."

Well, I would turn left if I wasn't stopped dead in traffic.

As I sat there, it said in quick succession, "Turn left... Turn right.... Turn left."

I kid you not...it was losing it's mind. Then it went silent. Okaaay...well, I'll just turn right, since that was the original direction it gave. As soon as I turned, it said, "Recalculating." Argh... It told me to go back the other way. So I did. Then it said, "Recalculating."

For Pete's Sake!!! I came to an intersection while it was still recalculating so I had to guess which way to turn. And of course, when I did, it said,

"RECALCULATING."

argh!!

Needless to say, I seemed very, very lost and ended up in a bad section of town. Well, this was not good. The thing about a GPS is that it doesn't differentiate between roads in safe areas vs. not-so-safe areas. It was so dark--the streets were not well lit, so it made everything just that much more frustrating. My mind immediately began to run wild with memories of D*teline NBC stories about people who got lost in big cities and ended up murdered. Yeah...that was a helpful line of thinking. At one intersection, there was a creepy drunk guy walking up to cars asking for money. He came up to my window and just stood there. Staring. I could feel his eyes boring into the side of my head as I willed the stoplight to please change. If I truly thought he needed money or was hungry, I would have gladly given him something.

Awk...ward..... and a little scary.

I did get a bit panicked a few times when I would turn where the stupid GPS said to turn, and it would say, "recalculating." I started to think I would just spend the entire evening wandering and circling Boston.

Thankfully, I finally emerged from the city and was sent home a different way than I had come--which didn't go past ANY Panera Bread Co., which was what I had my heart set on eating. How rude!

Kinda like a scene from COPS--only without the cop

Stomach Flu and some time to breathe....

Only one child down with stomach flu this week--hopefully the ONLY child... God used the timing of it to allow me some time to reflect on my priorities.

One...that there is not enough time in the day to play with my kids, do the laundry, housework, make meals, take photos and read blogs. Oh...and do laundry. Did I say that already? Um...yeah, because I swear that it reproduces itself faster than rabbits. Seriously. I know I have 10 kids, but still....

So...back to my priorities...something had to give. And since I can't stop doing the laundry, I guess it will have to be reading blogs. Well, that's no fun. However...it's needed. So I may not post every day, and I may not read all my favorite blogs every day...but I will continue to post and read as God provides the time.

Enough about that...

Next week could be a very trying week, so I may not post much. Jeff has to go to Italy for the whole week (wah). Monday is a very, very important doctor appointment for our Miss Zoey. We have been waiting three months to see the specialist about her leg and foot. Her left leg is shorter than the other (by several inches) and her foot has no ankle/socket bones. Her foot is turned totally sideways so that the inside of her 'ankle' touches the ground when she walks. The surgeon we saw in Ohio told us that she falls into the gray area between amputation and trying to save her foot, and lengthen her leg. Best case scenario with trying to save her foot would be that she would never be able to bend it at the ankle, so it would stationary. I was very surprised to find out that they do not make ankle joint replacements (like hip and knee). An ankle joint gets so much use that it would wear out in a matter of months--hence, no replacement.

Before we adopted her, we knew that we were most likely facing an amputation. But after watching her run on the beach, play in the water, etc., this summer, it is so hard to imagine her trying to do that with a prosthetic that cannot get wet, needs to be cleaned (kept free of sand), etc. How will she run on the beach? How will she play in the sandbox without having to take her 'leg' off? She is a rough and tumble little girl--very athletic and loves to get dirty.

On the other hand, based on her athletic ability, the prosthetic would probably be a good thing--since it would enable her to move freely once it was strapped on.

Anyway...it's just hard to look at her cute little foot and imagine it not being there anymore. We are praying that the doctor is very decisive with his recommendation. It's a hard decision to make. If we choose amputation, will she be angry at us for 'cutting off her foot?' If we choose the multiple surgeries it would require to save her leg and foot, will she lose her childhood to a hospital (as the prior surgeon has warned)?

We know that God has a wonderful plan for our spunky girl and we trust that He will show us the best option for her.

Whatever the plan ends up being, we will do it together!

We love you, sweet girl!

Watching Three Year Olds at Play

"Um, Jakie, can you give me a wide on you bike?"


"OK, Doey, you sit wight here."


"Um, Jake, we not moving."

Wah...euhhhh.... "Zoey! Git off...you git off. You not sit on my bike! We stuck."

"Humph. You not be nice at me, Jakie."

Quick Trip to the Cape

It was unseasonably warm yesterday, so we decided that after church, we would drive down to see famous Cape Cod. It now gets dark here at 4:45PM (UGH), so we knew our time there would be brief. It was worth it, though, to see what I have heard about so often in books and magazines.

Jeff, who likes to plan trips like this, asked me where I wanted to go--the Cape is a big place. I shrugged and said, "Let's just drive down there and find something...you know, like an adventure." He looked at me and raised his eyebrows, as if to say, "Are you kidding me? We can't just aim our cars in the general direction and hope for the best." He got out the GPS, a map, and poured over both in an attempt to get us somewhere meaningful. Ahhhh....that is why we are good together. I have ideas and he makes them happen. Hee!

The fall colors were mostly gone, but I bet it was gorgeous a few weeks ago (when it rained almost every weekend).

First Stop: Nobska lighthouse

View from the Lighthouse

A sailboat, far out in the water

Jeff, Jillian and Molly climbed down the rocky beach to the shoreline

Certain unnamed children then had to use the restroom, so we headed back into the town of Falmouth.

After the purchase of the obligatory sweatshirt, we hopped back into the car for some more scenic driving and happened upon this beautiful inlet.

Fortuitously, this guy strolled into the photo frame, on his way to search for ??? Maybe crab? Lobster?


Then it was more driving to find a beach with some sand for the kids to play and search for shark's teeth. (We didn't find any, much to Chloe's disappointment.) Zoey and Kate got a kick out of watching the waves crash up and splash Mommy.








All too soon, the sun began to set and we had to head for home.


But not before stopping to eat a yummy fish & chips dinner, while enjoying this beautiful sunset.



The restaurant was also next to a dock for one of the ferry's that takes people to Martha's Vineyard. The kids were enthralled to see the cars driving onto the boat. (Mama was kind of enthralled, too.) We can't wait to go back!