Preparing for the school year.

There was court on Tuesday.  I went and saw Kitty's mom for the first time in awhile.  She still looks hallow-faced and sickly.  They ordered a full spectrum hair follicle drug test.  We're still waiting for the results.  The longer it takes, the better for us.

I don't really want to think on any of that.  If it comes back negative then we have nothing until she screws up again.  For her and her kids' sake, I hope she doesn't.  For our and Kitty's sake, I hope she does.

I've got my linens reorganized and pulled out a lot of stuff to donate, so I need to see what's next on the list.  We'll need to go through the kids clothes soon; apparently Kitty has nothing to wear!

We went to the renaissance faire last weekend and Kitty wanted to dress nice.  She we through almost everything she owns.  We made suggestions.  Nothing she wanted to wear fit.  She picked out a sheer ballet skirt over short shorts, which made her look like she was just wearing undies.  We told her no, and there was a TANTRUM.

We haven't had one of those in at least a year.

Murl told her to can it or they would stay home and she wore another skirt under her ballet skirt.  This all took over an hour.  I told Murl that we'd be picking out her school clothes the night before.

I realized, while preparing myself for the school year (in case she's with us) that all the elementary schools wear uniforms.  Thank goodness!  Its more money, but less hassle.  Plus, her mother would have to pay for half, so its not really an issue.

The schools down here also have supply lists that are twice as long.  Sigh.

Wolfie and I are making peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies.  Almost done, then to his nap!

How could a mother...?

I wrote this last night, but couldn't get my words right to finish it.  I'm still not sure what those words are, because I can't wrap my mind around how someone could act the way Kitty's mother does.

I really don't understand it.  How could a mother just... BE the way she is?

Kitty went back to her mom's this morning.  Murl talked to her on the phone and she spent the day playing video games.  Her mother hasn't seen her in over two weeks; you'd think they'd spend some time together!

CPS is involved now because of alleged abuse and neglect.  Kitty's brothers are violent to her and other kids.  The house is apparently full of cat feces.  Her (second!) parole officer is the one who had her arrested for alleged drug use and theft.

I'm watching Wolfie sleeping in his swing (he wouldn't go to bed!) and I can't imagine what must go through her head.  How could you let your sons get as out of control as they are?  How can you steal money and pills from your own mother and neighbors?  How can you not put your kids ahead of your wants/needs?

I understand she's got an addiction.  She needs help, but she obviously hasn't been motivated enough to get it.  For her kid's sake, I really hope this helps, otherwise she might not have her kids anymore.

Just before she left.

Back to court

(I would like to own this picture.)

We've been waiting for Kitty's mother to screw up and we found out today that she did.

Last Wednesday.

No one bothered to tell us.  Our lawyer got an anonymous call today.  Which means we dropped Kitty off on Sunday and her mother hasn't even been home.

So, Murl drove up to pick up Kitty, who is with us now.  Her mother called to say she was released and arrange a time to pick her up tomorrow.  Unfortunately, we'll have to give her back.  But, we're filing to go back to court and this time we'll have some more fuel.

We don't know why she was arrested this time, but its probably drug related.  I can't find any information online, so I guess there's not a newspaper there that publishes these things.  I'm not sure.  I did, however, find an old mugshot of hers, which is hilarious!

Its another waiting game.  I'm hoping this all gets sorted out before school starts!

A Day of Cooking

Today was a cooking day.  I made lasagna, which was tasty.  I also tried making a key lime pie.

Juicing limes take a long time!  So does crushing graham crackers!  It was pretty easy, but I had evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed, so it was not sweet.  Next time I'll make sure I have the right kind.  I think that with some cool whip it tastes OK.  Murl will probably not eat much, which sucks, because he is the one I made the pie for.

That pie took so much time that I didn't really do anything else.  I'm sad that my plants look so sad.  I don't know if they will be ready to go outside anytime soon.  I need to clear a spot for them anyways.  I meant to clean out Wolf's clothing drawer today, but didn't have time.

We had court today for custody.  They figured out our summer vacation, so I'm just waiting to get that in the mail.  Apparently Kitty's mother had an outburst in the courtroom (about Murl not giving her my phone number), which makes her look bad.  And Kitty's advocate is on our side, which means if the custody evaluator had been on our side we would have gotten custody.  So, now its just a waiting game until she screws up.  Should be soon.


Murl leaves tomorrow after work.  I'm excited for new foods, but I will miss him.  I'll have no one to watch SNL with tomorrow or to cuddle with in bed.  I'll have to let the baby in bed with me.

The Party

I think the party went really well.  I got up early so I could go buy hamburger, charcoal and chips and come home to turn the hamburger into actual burgers and make fruit salad.  Murl made the cake with Kitty and we frosted it when I got home.  Yellow with purple frosting and pink letters.  She originally asked for white cake, but changed her mind, so we just put in yellow food coloring.  Food coloring is expensive!

Someone was very exciting about presents!

Murl set everything up, which he was cranky about, but I planned and prepared the whole thing, so its only fair.  I stayed with the kids at the park until it was time for food.  It was supposed to be raining, but it held off, which was awesome.  It was really windy, though, which made for problems lighting the grill.  We thought we were going to have to pack it in to go somewhere else to grill, but we got it.

His sister didn't show up with the cousins until 2 hours after we started and our old roommate was there and we kind of ignored him.  He owes me $300 for bills, but his son and Kitty have grown up together, so we'll always invite him.  The kids played, mostly in the sandbox, and I think they had a lot of fun.  We decided not to do the pinata because of the wind.  All the little pieces and candy would go everywhere.  So, we'll do that in 2 weekends when Kitty is back.

Throwing kid's parties is hard, but so far they've all come out well.  Probably because we don't have a lot of other kids to invite.  I'm no where near ready to throw a party with other kids.  I imagine that would be pretty expensive.

  

Parking Lot Carnival

This weekend was really busy.  My FIL took us to a parking lot carnival Friday evening.  We met the cousins there and spent a ridiculous amount of money for the kids to ride mediocre rides.  They loved it, though, so its worth it.

Kitty's mother wrote Murl a 5 page long guilt trip about how she can't stand being away from her daughter for 14 days in a row and he needs to think about how it feels for her.  Not seeing Kitty for 14 days in a row is something we now do every month and something that Murl has done quite often in the past, whenever her mother has decided he can't see her.  So, boo-hoo.

Friday was crazy hair day!

Saturday we had Kitty's 6th birthday party.  I'll post on that later, complete with photos.

Today is mother's day and it was OK.  That's really all I have to say about that.  Murl dropped Kitty off at 8am and I got to sleep late with Wolf.  We watched TV and I cleaned up the kitchen and part of the bathroom.  Murl took a nap, since he had to get up super early and I didn't wake him up, which made us late for dinner at a friends.  He woke up two hours after we were supposed to be there to a bunch of missed texts.  So, we headed over there with Wolf and ate some delicious foods.  Burgers stuffed with blue cheese, bacon and spinach!  Yum.

Birthday Woes.

Since Sunday is Mother's Day we were going to drop Kitty off on Saturday night, instead of Sunday morning, because it would be helpful for her mother.  Now, because her mother decided to change her mind about her birthday, we are going to just meet them on Sunday.  Our lawyer said that we shouldn't be doing them any favors, which I agree with.  She is going to raise some hell for us.

Murl talked to Kitty on the phone and asked what she was doing this afternoon and she said they were just going to the park.  Apparently those were her "plans" that interfered with us seeing her after school.  Total crap.

Went back to work today to pick up some stuff.  Didn't have to see the manager since he never works on Thursdays.  It was good to see people and I got some photos printed instead.  Once I finish all my cleaning, I am going to start on my scrapbooking and Wolf's baby book.  I'm super behind on both.

My MIL is taking us to a fair tomorrow afternoon, which will be fun.  I'll need to remember to bring the camera.  Before we go I need to finish cleaning the kitchen and bring laundry to my in-laws.  I think I can handle that.  All the kitchen needs is the fridge cleaned out, the nook cleaned and the floor mopped.

Here's your daily Wolf!

This squinty face is apparently his new thing.

Party Planning

Tomorrow is Kitty's 6th birthday.  We were planning on going up to see her, since she is at her mom's on weekdays.  Murl thinks that our lawyers have been talking, because they did not answer their phone at all yesterday and today she told him they have plans tomorrow and why did he assume he could take Kitty out after school?  He asked her about this weeks ago and she said it was fine.  So, we won't be seeing her until Friday night.  We'll make a cake and finalize plans and then party on Saturday!

My MIL reserved the pavilion at the park today and my FIL is making potato salad.  I need to pick up a few things tomorrow when I shop and we will be set.  Its supposed to rain, of course, so we'll be heading to their house if it does.  At least the kids can get outside to play if it dries up.

Mr. Crinkly Face

I cleaned up most of the kitchen today.  Cabinets were vacuumed and food was rearranged.  I somehow ended up with more room for food then I had before, without throwing anything out.  Tomorrow I'll clean out the fridge and clean off the top of the fridge.  Then its just the nook and the floor and that's it; the kitchen will be done!  Its very exciting.  Yes, it was already pretty clean to begin with, but getting a whole room clean is still exciting.

Fish Kisses!

I want to try to post new photos of Wolf every day, so here we go.  We hung out inside and cleaned all day, but that's ok, because playing on the floor is still fun.

What a ladykiller!

Nom Nom!

Rainy Weekend

We got some new furniture this weekend from Murl's parents.  A nice bench, which will go by the stairs for taking shoes on and off, and a cabinet that I'm going to use for my craft supplies.  So, right now they're just sitting in the middle of my living room.  I was going to move them today, but I didn't feel like making space.

This weekend was low.  It was an OK weekend, but its the first weekend where I'm not working.  I spent it worrying about money instead of enjoying my time with my family.  That was stupid of me.  The one thing that I did not worry about was getting Kitty to clean up after herself before she left, which is never done if I'm not home.

It also rained all weekend (and today and again tomorrow), so there was no going outside.  We had a thunderstorm, but it wasn't a very exciting one.  We stayed inside and mostly played board games.  The dollhouse was pulled out at one point, but I don't like playing with it with Kitty.  There is a wooden cat that stays in the house and farts on everyone, which is gross and something that I'm trying to get her to stop doing.  She will also tell me how to play and get upset if I don't follow her lead, but she's always been like that.

My tomato and jalapeno plants look really sad.  Some of the leaves started falling off.  We have a huge window that takes up most of the living room wall, but it faces south.  It is awesome in the winter and was great when I first planet the seeds, but now the sun is moving more north and it doesn't come through the window as well.  I need to decide when I'm going to put them outside.  I'm afraid they are too small and would be washed away or eaten.

I was going to doing my kitchen organization questions for Zone Defense, but its late.  I'll do that tomorrow and move the furniture.  I'll throw out some boxes and make space.  We still have the crib box, which is very flat and doesn't take up space, which is probably why we haven't thrown it out yet.  Its not in our way.  Plus, people are always saying they're going to take it and burn it, but no one has.  Its going in the dumpster!

So that was mostly my weekend.  I was very tired during it.  Wolfie and I wake up around 10 usually, but Kitty is used to getting up at 7 for school, so that's what happens when she's here.  Its not her fault, school starts early, but she wakes up Wolfie and then we're up.  And, she won't nap, so I don't nap either.

Next weekend is Kitty's 6th birthday.  I need to get a headcount tomorrow and decide what to buy.  We are having a cookout at the park, which will be a lot of fun.  I'm hoping it doesn't rain.  Its rained the past few weekends.  Friday is supposed to be sunny, so hopefully that will continue through the weekend.  Otherwise we'll have too many people in our apartment and we have almost no seating.  Plus, the dentists downstairs are open and the kids will be too loud, which will result in an angry call from the landlord.

So, now I head to bed.  Murl should be done with my kindle, so I can play sudoku as I fall asleep.  He hogs it!

Family Dinner

Image from Flickr

I read two articles today about the Family Dinner. (both called Table Talk, one from the NY Times and one from the Huffington Post)  A family dinner is one thing that I want to do, especially now that Wolf is eating real food at every meal.

Growing up we always had family dinners. We had to eat what was on our plate and we couldn't talk about what we watched on TV.  It was for catching up with what was going on at school and with friends.  My parents still sit down to dinner together at the table, even though its just the two of them.

I guess we do have family dinner every night, its just in front of the TV.  Our dining table is in a corner covered with my sewing stuff.  My goal is to get that cleaned off and move it so its not in the corner anymore.  That will give us a better place to eat instead of in chairs (since we don't own a sofa).  There's a nook in the kitchen, but once 3 people sit in it it feels super cramped.  We use that as an art table instead.

I want Wolf to enjoy his dinners without distraction where he can feel like he can talk about anything.  Plus, I think its important for Kitty to have that stability every night.  We only get her 3 weekends a month, so its a good way to catch up with her school week and her friends.  The TV is on a lot, especially when Murl is home, so most of her time is tuned out and half listening to us.

I am going to set my goal to have the table set up by next weekend.  I also need to find another chair for it, since we only have 2.  Then, we can reclaim dinner!

Knitting

I haven't knitted anything in so long and I should start again.  I have so many projects started!  Before Murl and I got married I started knitting a had for Kitty's 3rd birthday, but it came out badly and I never fixed it.  Last month I unraveled the whole thing and wrapped the yarn around some cardboard to get the kinks out.  Maybe I'll start it again and finish it for her birthday in a couple weeks.  Three years in the making!

"Mother"/Daughter Dance

We picked up Kitty tonight because she had a "Mother/Daughter" dance that she really wanted to go to.  After showing up 30 minutes late, her mother changed her out of her dress at a Walmart parking lot in the car with the door open.  It was like 40 degrees out.
In the car on the way home she tells us about her day when she says she had fun at the "fath-- mother/daughter dance."  It turns out it was a father/daughter dance.  Her mom lied to us and got Kitty to lie to us, too.  Murl felt really bad, because he would have taken the day off and taken her to the dance if he had known.  Kitty got very quiet for the rest of the ride home and stayed silent when he apologized for not being able to go.
Not only has BM told everyone that Murl is a bad father, but she's now proven it by taking her to the dance instead.  I'm sure it was never mentioned that her father was never told.  Plus, there's now proof that BM is getting Kitty to lie to us.  Awesome.
I don't understand how someone could do that to their kid.  I know their relationship hasn't been amicable since before Kitty was born, but she should be glad that Murl wants to be involved in her life (unlike her oldest's father).  Instead its always a struggle, there are lies and yelling and its all to make him look bad, like that will get him to back off, which I know has crossed his mind.  Through all the yelling and fighting, I still think its best for him to be there.  He's a much better parent than she is and Kitty needs stability, which is something she doesn't get at her mother's house.
To cap it off, Wolf screamed the hour ride home.  It was very loud, but somehow Kitty slept through it.  Dancing all night will do that to you.