poor baby boy is sick

Andre has spent his weekend being sick. poor kid was throwing up last night so bad it was coming out his nose and he was making no effort to even wipe it off. today he took a shower and got dressed and then crawled in bed and went to sleep, where he remains. Poor guy. this is not like him. this kid cant even watch tv because he cant sit still that long so napping is a general no no as far as he is concerned. so I know he is really sick.

BIG NEWS!!

REALLY REALLY REALLY BIG!!!!

Two of our kids struggle with school. To be honest they are bit or "slower learners" and we didnt really expect much. we do encourage them or rather TELL them they must work hard and do their work at school but we didnt think it was going to come quickly for them. Today Diana and Ben brought home flashcards of words they have been working on at school. Diana is very very bright and fast learner. I had no worries about her reading them. she read me dozens of them until I said Andre? can you read these words? I showed him a couple and HE COULD READ THEM!!!!!! WAHOO!!!! way to go little love!!!! Ben didnt say anything when he brought them home so I assumed he couldnt read them. After Andre read some of them I thought wow! what if Ben is hiding his abilities? I have to chide him every day just to write his name on his paper! he would rather let his aide do it. well I showed him the words and HE CAN READ TOO!!! BEN AND ANDRE CAN READ!!!! YYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY! I couldnt be happier right now! we ask Ben all the time what sound does this letter make. he has no idea. he cant tell you that a T says tuh. but if you put the words in front of him he can sound them out and read them! wow this is a momentous day in the Enberg house!!!

I also got a note home from Andre's teacher. I had spoken with Andre about his attitude at school and he had really turned it around. She was writing to say that he had really turned it around. I had him post it on the fridge for all to see that Andre did well at school today. He is very happy today and is outside sledding with his sisters. Why didnt someone tell me all I had to do to get them outside was give them new sleds? My mom gave them sleds for Christmas and they are out there every single day before school sledding down our hill and the girls are out there after school about every day sledding. Andre hates to go outside. cries at the door the whole time. until the sleds. he has been out an hour almost! he will sleep tonight! I hope!

maia natasha diana and chrysta got their ears pierced on sunday. they are so excited. they are doing so good cleaning them. they have a little trouble turning them so I help with that. but they are so cute!!! love them girls! chrysta got a cartilage piercing the other girls just got their first lobe piercing. maia had hers done as an infant but she was such a wild thing she wouldnt wear the earrings and they closed. true to maia form within 24 hours of the piercing she had lost the back to one of her stuf earrings. the others didnt lose anything but maia is a jumpity hopity fidgety dancety twirly swirly happy go lucky in her own little world kind of girl.

Jaeger has been helping put out the dogs. thats a huge help. he likes to help. he helped make dinner the other night too and was really good at that.

Andre ate spaghetti last night. he actually ate it. without too much prompting. its funny when I say what should I make for dinner no one has any ideas then when I make spaghetti they all complain. but there was yummy schwan cheese garlic bread that made spaghetti tolerable.

Today I have IEP meeting for Andre. wonder what kind of bull they will have for me. I hope his teacher will be there as well she is pushing for help for him. she is totally on our side. he needs more than speech. he comes from a past of neglect and institutionalisation. he didnt exactly spend the last 7 years being primed in math and language. he just didnt get the exposure our kids get. it isnt his fault! yet they want to do nothing.

Sophie started with PT last week. its going well. Ben is starting to walk again. more and more. I bet with AFOs and shoes he will do great!

Oh I just remembered I have an article due tomorrow!better run get that done.

today has not been a good day.

I am extremely disappointed in my boys. 3 of them anyways. one did what he always does and just played and couldnt have been happier and one is old enough to know better and is little trouble. however 3 others really haven given me a run for my money today. so the day started with my demanding that they ALL HELP clean up the living room and dining room. together. with me. 10 kids plus me you would think wouldnt equal too much work. but it started out with everyone trying to get out of it. My mom and dad were coming and I wanted the house to not look like a trash pile when they got here. I got mad and yelled at them. they finally got in gear. until Jaeger did something I dont know what and Andre bit him. 5 kids told me Andre bit him. even though andre swore he didnt. I put him in his room and he went BALLISTIC. tantrum of mammoth proportions. after we got past that we finished cleaning. they were playing then on the top bunk and Andre punched Jaegers lights out. just popped him a good one right in the face. not sure why. Jaeger picks on him plenty so I was thinking Jaeger probly deserved it. but I scolded Andre anyways for hitting. Just not as severely as I might have if Jaeger and Ethan didnt find every chance they can get to pick on the smaller boys. Andre and Ben are only a year younger than Ethan and Jaeger but they are VERY SMALL physically and very delayed as well. so more like 2 4 year olds in a body that has been around 7 years. got through that. My parents came and the excitement of toys and visitors and Andre hit Ethan and he went crazy. so I calmy suggested that Andre PLAY in his room. not punishment but he could play away from the others since it seems he has done a lot of hurting others today. he went apeshit. I put him in his bed and stood there and kept laying him back down saying NO! when he tried to get out.(which would be jumping off the top bunk because they broke the ladder) so he pounded the wall with his feet. I moved the bed. he kicked he thrashed he wailed he screamed. he sounded like a 4 year old who needs a nap. NOW Maia was in there and the door was locked and Maia kept yelling STOP STOP STOP! STOP IT! STOP IT! they opened the door and Maia was cornered and crying and they had been taking turns kicking her. and trying to put their feet in her mouth. they are absolutely out of control. so they are staying in their room. all three of them. Andre is standing at the door crying wailing Im sorry mommy Im sorry mommy. I wont do it any any more. (where have I heard THAT before?)I think I will cook dinner. Eric is sound asleep on our bed. so I guess he wont be much company. I cant really wake him though as he is on call and it is quite possible he wont get any sleep tonight so better let him nap when he can.

I dont know what happened

but something clicked and Ethan and Jaeger are best buds. sadly though they team up against Ben and Andre. but I am happy to see some brotherly love. In fact at breakfast we had to seperate them because they were so busy messing around they werent eating. usually we have to seperate them because they are fighting!

update on the fam

for once ethan and jaeger are getting along. they call each other martin and chris(the kratt brothers) but whatever just be nice to each other!

andre told us this morning he wanted to stay in ukraine becuase then he wouldnt have to get up for school in the morning. Guess he didnt know his play days were numbered in Ukraine as well. school was looming at some point and it would have been a lot less nice than school here where you come home to mama and papa. we just kind of let it roll off. he was trying to get a rise and it didnt work.

the girls are the girls. the three muskateers. Papa took maia and natasha XC skiing and they loved it. they did 7 miles. Maia especially was very proud of that. I have given up on the school advancing Maia and Diana. it doesnt seem to be going anywhere. I call and ask and call and ask and call and ask. Eric and I decided that we will homeschool those two first grade over the summer so that in the fall they can go to second with the others. The girls are really lovely most of the time. but they pick on Chrysta sometimes.

Chrysta is into her ice skating. its her favorite winter activity. she is doing really well with piano but is taking a break on her flute as she doesnt care for the new band teacher.

Ben and Sophie are in short casts now. ben is trying to stand. sophie isnt. only a few more weeks until afos! Looking back at photos you can clearly see her feet are clubbed in the pics of ukraine.

Cody sure is growing up. boy can he eat. he is a good helper. a general all around good kid.

Lunch forgotten

well Im surprised this is the first time this has happened. somehow in the morning chaos(that started at 4am with boys messing around and continued with dog messing her crate and husband was not at home so I was on my own) anyways somehow in the morning chaos I sent everyone to school with a lunchbox. however not all of the lunchboxes had a lunch! MOST of them had a lunch. but somehow Maia went to school with an empty lunchbox. so she had hot lunch. she loves hot lunch so its ok but gees what a crazy thing to have happen! they must think I am crazy at school.

meanwhile I was in duluth looking at houses. we were supposed to look at some land too but that didnt happen. seems our realtor didnt get the memo on that one. the two houses were eh. both have potential but neither made us drop our bags and get out our pens for a contract. one we love the privacy. you could do anything out there and no one would know. no one would care if you have chickens(or how many) you cant even hear road noise its so far back in the woods. no one would care if your kids were loud or your dogs run loose.

we will keep looking. surely there is SOMETHING out there for us! we were a bit disappointed in what you get for the amount of money we are looking to spend. the one house, the private one, has a lot A LOT of work needed. its a fixer upper. it isnt listed as one but it sure is. and they want nearly 300K for it! it needs a new septic which will run at least 15-20K. so anyways we will continue searching and I dont think these houses are going anywhere any time soon. if they do? then they werent meant for us and we wont be heartbroken.

just another day in paradi....I mean philly

goin home tomorrow. FINALLY. was fun seeing everyone here. but I am ready to go home. Today was spent playing, eating, playing, eating, playing, eating, playing, and now going to bed. we woke up this morning to heavy snowfall and our friends had illness in their house so we just hung around here all day. I tried to enjoy the bathtub in this room but it leaks and the water pressure and amount of water that comes out of the faucet is so low it takes forever to fill the tub! I turned the water on, got sophie on the toilet, got her ready for bed. got ben ready for bed. checked my email. found my book. took off my clothes and went to the bathroom myself. after all of this the tub was still only a couple inches deep. I gave up and got in anyways. read my book awhile while the tub filled around me. finaly gave up on filling it as it leaks so fast. relaxed a little bit and finally went to bed. all this took up an hour. thats how slow the tub fills. I so want a tub in our next house. hot tub would be even better!

My ear is still plugged. so I am partially deaf this week. I get the ear cleared and then I turn my head and it plugs up again. blah.

looking so forward to looking at houses and making plans for moving and the future. we have a couple really good leads on houses. I wonder which we will choose? Already looking forward to being near friends and family. we can have friends over(we already have friends there! not so many here, just maggie and jay and the boys are the only close friends we have.) stuff for kids to do! activities! stuff for the family to do! and TIME FOR US TO DO IT! no worries about our dogs. no worries about our kids in the road. country in the city, best of both worlds.

tomorrow philly which means today, much to do. and no car to do it.
I hate not having my van! so I have to walk on the road to town and try not to break my leg(I broke my leg walking on a paved street... in mexico....where the only ice is in your glass!) to buy some groceries, and hit the bank. I could wait for eric to come home this eve to get groceries but I have to go to the bank and I dont know the passnumber for my debit card to get cash so my only option is to go to the bank in person and they close to walk up at like 4. I need cab far for philly, money to do something with the kids one day since we will be stuck there an extra day after our friends go home. I am grumpy and its cold and I DONT WANNA!

sophie's school bus is supposed to be here 5 minutes ago....I am always sitting here waiting in morning sometimes they are 5 minutes late sometimes they are early sometimes they are half hour late and if I am not out the door the minute they pull in after school they are at the doorbell. grr. yes I am complaining. remember women are not suppossed belch, fart, snore, or sweat, therefore we must bitch or we will blow up.

Will miss this kids at home while I am gone. they are excited to eat school lunch though in my absence. oh I just thought of something else I need to do so I better go do it.

updates

yesterday was a bad day. I went to hinkley to pick up Cody and Chrysta and had to take the baby (15 passenger van) so I could take all the kids as Eric wasnt home yet from work. I normally love driving it. but it was a big nervewracking as roads were less than optimal. My other van is frozen in the driveway because of the rain last week. the back wheels are frozen and it was frozen to the driveway. so we made it to Hinkley and back....almost. The water pump went out about 18 miles from home. Eric was unable to get my van moving so that left the prius. He could only take 4 kids at a time. Each trip took 40 minutes round trip. no heat. very cold. so those of us left in the van were pretty cold while he drove the others home. thankfully we always bring lots of blankets in the big van. it paid off. While Cody Natasha and me were the only ones left waiting the police came. they let us be warm in the back of the squad while we waited. they called a tow truck for us. Then Eric finally came back. We had to follow the tow truck to take the van to Mora which is about 30 miles from where we live. but the only place in our town that does auto mechanics was closed. by this time I had to go to the bathroom so bad I nearly didnt make it. I had been holding it for several HOURS as there was just no other option! Natasha Cody and I were cuddled under about 20 blankets when the police came. took hours for my feet to warm up. and the truck we dont drive in winter and take out the battery and drop the insurance. so now we are a 4 vehicle family down to ONE!


This week is also philly week. which means I dont have a car to go to the cities. Our friends are busy this week anyways so Eric will have to drive us I guess. He is on call Sunday so not sure how we will get back home again! But it will be like a party when we get there! many other AMC families there!

So the good stuff. a new house. a new job. a new city. new schools. all that good fun. We are looking for a new house. in a new city. with new schools. and looking very forward to it. We have a list of about 4 at this point that we really like the looks of from online, but need to go look in person. they are in Hermantown and Esko. one is a smaller house that could be a really great fix up and turn it into our dream home. its on a small river/creek which could be a lot of fun! Eric starts his new job in July so I dont know when we will move. before that I guess!

Someone asked what was on my mind so heavily awhile back. As most people know, our Natasha has a sister. We fought to seperate them and take only Natasha. we won. but also we lost. Natasha lost her sister. she misses her. I miss her. and her sister misses Natasha. The sister will likely go to an institution as she is very very delayed. She functions at maybe a 2 year old level at age 6. We didnt feel we could take that on. I feel terribly that we left her behind. I dont know how we could go back and get her, or when we could go back, or even IF we could get her home. but I miss her and think of her and it hurts my heart that we left her there. and it hurts my heart that Natasha and her sister Vika are hurting. Not a day goes by that I dont think of her. Natasha sometimes cries when we talk of her sister. I always hold her and tell her that I understand and its ok for her to cry and feel sad. I just wish there were more I could do.

on a happier note, miss sophie wants to walk so bad! she is getting SO STRONG! today she tried SO HARD to climb the stairs in the movie part of the dentist office. she was able to propel a ride on toy more than she ever did before but I had to help her balance on the narrow seat. she is getting on her feet at the couch nearly every day. she is just so determined! today she found herself a new way to eat soup! she puts her arm on the spoon and uses it like a lever lifting the spoon to her mouth. pretty impressive. this kid is going places!!

well I better get dinner on for my hungry crew. tonight is chicken and potatoes and green beans and maybe some biscuits if chrysta quits playing her piano and makes some. I cant complain too much though because I love to hear her play.

Happy new year!

happy old year. last year we had not one, not two, not four, but SIX new kids join our family. Life is jumpin here with ten kids but reflecting on the last year it was a good one. We met some awesome kids, and now we parent them! we also met some awesome people along the way. 2010 had some bumps but it was a good year.

so here is where things are now.
Cody is growing so fast he struggles to understand the changes in his life and body and knowing that one day soon he will be expected to find his way in the world and at 16 has no idea how he will do that.

Chrysta is growing into a beautiful young woman, with a touch of attitude (from her dad I think). She strives to do well in school. She is enjoying ice skating with her friends. her piano is coming along beautifully.

Jaeger ranks among kids who have come the furthest in their life this last year. He has turned into a sweet loving kid. I knew he had it in him but he had to work through some demons when he came home. Thankfully those seem to be taking a back burner and he is enjoying his new family and life.

Ethan is FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY starting to grow! only 6 years we have been trying to fatten him up! he has a bit of a rounder face now. he is getting taller too. He and Jaeger share clothes, they are just about the same size.

Natasha is a darling of a girl. She loves ot help. She is good at everything she does. she just decides to do something and then does it well. She and her sisters have become very close since coming home. She is warming up to her daddy more and more all the time. she was a bit standoffish with him after coming home, but we know that many of her interactions with her own parental figures were not positive so we figured she just needed some time. we were right.

Diana has come into her own. she has absolutely blossomed here. she and her sisters are 3 of a kind, always together, dressing alike, or not at all soemtimes. they do sister stuff like stay up talking and do each others hair. She is giggly and funny and she absolutely can not lie to mama. I can always tell when she isnt telling the truth and can get it out of her.

Maia is still Maia. Sweet everloving dancing dreaming funny Maia. She has grown so much and I often ask myself who IS this child and where is my baby girl? she still lets me pinch her cheeks sometimes though. = ) she loves having sisters.

Andre is the older "twin" turning 7 in September. He had some rough starts coming home too but has also become loving and a clingon. sweet and kisses. he is still so little. he wont eat most things but we have cracked down and after many hours sitting alone at the table he mostly decides that eating is easier so he can play. hopefully he will grow some now.

Ben is the younger "twin" turning 7 in October. Ben has made great strides this year. in his second round of serial casting and never complains. He is doing well in school, better than we ever expected. lately our VERY VERY quiet boy has become a chatter box! cute as can be and funny too!

Sophie the baby had a big year too. she is 5 now! and has gone from completely helpless, unable to even feed herself, to rolling crawling sitting and most recently STANDING! she wants to walk so bad. I hope this is the year for that!

Eric has signed with a new company so we will have more changes this year. moving to a new town, new house, new school.

I have plenty of running to keep me busy. much more than I did before! but its a good busy. I adore the kids. they are all worth it. Flying to philly every other week is a drain on my energy but Sophie and Ben have come so far and we have made so many wonderful friends in the process.

I hope you had a happy old year. and I hope you have a happy new year. I am off to cook dinner. one more aspect of busy for me! = ) but though I am a late bloomer I am a GOOD COOK! I will enjoy cooking even more in a bigger house with a better kitchen!!!