Eight down, three with glasses, good odds???

LOL! We have pretty much spent two days each week for the last couple weeks at the eye doctor's office.

Seven kids needed eye exams, and when all was said and done, one who HAD glasses previously no longer needed them (Zeri is very, very happy!), and one who needed them before (and had them - three times destroyed) needed a new prescription and NEEDED to be WEARING his glasses (they are very, very, very, very carefully monitored so hopefully they will survive, and two more needed glasses, both of them reading glasses, not all the time glasses, so they are pretty happy too. Especially with the doctor saying that their periodic headaches are likely due to eye strain. Ben has his and is just cute as can be in them with his bright shining eyes, and Alex will get his in a week or more. He is actually jazzed and what she described sure made sense, and hopefully this will help make some things easier for him. And he got cool glasses so he is happy! (LOL!)

And to add to it, we have had a season of dentist appointments too. Needless to say, we really don't want to be there all day, so we group the kids a little, into three groups and cycle them through. Which does mean that about every three months, we have a crew there. Plus, Faith will need some orthodontia soon, so we shall be visiting them more and more again! Sigh. Like the folks there, but wow. Imagine eight kids (with one to three going back for appointments) waiting in a dentist office for an hour or two at a time. Thank the Lord the kids are so wonderful and that we plan carefully! We bring educational games, Uno, books, MP3s, puzzle books, whatever. And people always seem amazed that not only do I expect the children to conduct themselves appropriately, but that they do. Shouldn't they? Or rather, why shouldn't they? Everyone takes a turn, everyone gets cared for, we have to work together so we all are well taken care of. So, of course they would behave so we could get things done. Don't all kids do that? Shouldn't they? Seriously. Seriously? Well, I am so grateful for my kids. And after an arduous session or whatever, we do something fun - like last week - we went out for ice cream!!!!! It was a huge treat and we all loved it! Wonderful rewards!

I think my days of working regularly are coming to an end. Our growing family needs so much attention, and we have worked so hard to get finacially stable. I love having the extra income, but we need to always be focused on the kids and what they need. I will keep working on call, but not like it has been. I loved being a regular staff member in a place nearby, but the demands of needing to be there every week five days a week, no matter what, well, it just is not working. Spring is coming and I have eight (hopefully soon to be nine) thriving kids. I will go back to what works for us. Working evenings and weekends when Steve can be home with few exceptions. We find that there are so many things in this world that are WANTS rather than NEEDS. My children NEED us. We don't NEED fancy things. We NEED simple things that keep us all going. We NEED each other. We NEED time. That is what we need the most. Time to really learn all that we need to learn from our time together. Time to teach, time to enjoy, time to train, time to grow. So, I will most likely sadly resign my "regular" job and return to simply on call basis. It means I have less contact with other rehab professionals, and won't quite be the same part of the "team", but it is what will work for our family. And it has supported us well in the past and I am sure will again. We do find that we spend more when I am working more - more eating out, more rushed things, etc. So, it will work out. Maybe we can get our home businesses going - our dairy goats, my spinning, my writing, crafts we like to do, our rabbits. Just simple things. But things focused at home and with our family.

Changes are hard, even good ones. There is always a huge element of fear involved. For me it is also a loss of control. If I am working, there is more that I can control - I can bring in more funds and do different things with it. It is mostly in my head, I know that, but there it is. To do this, I have to let God be God and move us further into this path he has us on. Steve keeps bugging me to write - and my biggest fear is what if no one wants to publish it? Maybe it doesn't matter at all whether it is ever published or not. Maybe it is just about taking those steps.

Well, it is time to take those steps - steps to bed tonight. I know that this road we are on has been the most unpredictable, most unusual, and the most rewarding. I could never have ever dreamed of anything so wonderful. Not that it isn't hard at times, but wow - is it ever rewarding. All I have to do is listen to the kids chatter and laughter. Yep, that is it. This is right where I am supposed to be.