Fundraising Help

Now that we've spent all our money on getting Y over here, he wants to be part of a cheer team. Not an inexpensive pasttime! It costs over $200/month to be part of the team.

Legacy Allstars is offering two fundraisers to help defray costs. One is a Scentsy Candles fundraiser and the other is a Little Caesar's Pizza kit fundraiser.

Please visit www.scentsy.com/secret to view the candle fundraiser. (Please note, you will need to send me an email telling me your name and your total order so that Y will get proper credit for the sale! adoptyaroslav@yahoo.com)

These pizza kits look awesome. For the most part you get 3 pizzas and fixins for less than $20. All items are individually packaged, so they can be refrigerated or frozen for future use! Local pickup/delivery available (Houston, TX area) or we can have the pizzas shipped to you (shipping costs extra). Here is just a sample of what you can get:

3 Pepperoni Pizzas (12") $18.50

3 Whole Wheat Pizzas (12") $17.50

3 Cheese Pizzas (12") $17.50

3 Thin Crust Pizzas (12") $17.50

9 Personal Pepperoni Pizzas (6") $18.50

9 Personal Cheese Pizzas (6") $18.00

6 Microwave Baby Pan!Pan! Pizzas (5") $19.00

Family Meal Kit (1 12"x16" pizza, 18 pc crazy bread, 15 break-n-bake choc chip cookies) $18.50

I think we'll have to order some of those for ourselves. Remember, most people go through their pizza kits quicker than they think, so make sure you order enough to last! Please email me at adoptyaroslav@yahoo.com or vectormama@consolidated.net with your order. I will accept payment online via PayPal (email: vectormama@consolidated.net).

Both of these fundraisers close on or about 9/12/09, so get your orders in now!

Thanks much!

Natalie

TX

The Big Sleep

Y has been fighting us for quite a while about his bedtime. He even acknowledged two weeks ago that bedtime on school nights is 10pm. Of course, now that school is back in session, he has been like a little kid coming down to get something to eat or drink after 10pm; or just flat out telling us he's not tired and he's not going to bed!!! Fifteen minutes later, of course, he's crashed out asleep. He has to get up at 5:30 am to catch a 6am bus.

Monday night he slept a little over 3 hours with first day of school jitters. Tuesday he fell asleep at 7pm and slept until his alarm went off. Wednesday night I got a phone call on the way home at 10:05pm:

Y: "You put password back on my computer!"

Me: "Yes, it's a school night. It's time to go to bed."

Y: "I hungry. Papa say no ice cream."

Me: "Did you eat dinner?"

Y: "Yes."

Me: "Then it's time to go to bed. You can eat again tomorrow morning."

Y: "Bye."

(I arrived home at 10:45pm, and he was sound asleep.)

Thursday morning he looked like he was still very tired. When I arrived home Thursday afternoon, I told him that he had to go to acrobatics that evening. He said he was tired, he didn't want to go. I told him he needed to go because he had missed the past two weeks. A few minutes after 5pm, Y came downstairs and asked me what time was acrobatics? I told him 6:30pm. He said, "Okay," and went back upstairs. At 5:30pm I went up to tell him that dinner was ready. His TV was blasting, so I banged on his door. No answer. I pushed it open and found Y sacked out on his bed, so I turned the TV down. I didn't want to wake him up by turning it off. We ate dinner, I walked the dogs and then went back up at 6:20pm to check on him. He hadn't moved an inch. So, I went to acrobatics, told them he wouldn't be there this week either, and picked up the fundraising info they had for everyone. Tori told me that if he didn't show up on Monday for their twice a week practice that she would have to cut him from the team. I told her I would let him know. Unfortunately, we would still be obligated to pay the fees even if he is not on the team. They would just let him use up the money by doing several private sessions each month. At least we would save money on the travel costs if he doesn't participate.

Y was still asleep when I went to bed last night, and he was asleep when I got up at about 4am this morning. So was Bill, Mr. Insomniac himself. Bill said he heard him get up to use the bathroom, but that Y just went right back to sleep. I had a 5:30am shift today, so Papa got to make sure Jr was ready for school. Y called me about 5:45am to ask if I had the paper he gave me yesterday. I told him it was still in my purse, so I would drop it off at school after work. He sounded pretty chipper, and well rested, as he should be! One ten hour night and one 12 hour night this week!

Hopefully Y will get the point now, that 10pm is the LATEST he should be asleep, not the earliest.

At least he hasn't had any homework, yet. He gets most of it done in school during his ESL sessions.

Another post to come soon about our fundraising efforts for acrobatics!

Natalie

TX

All is Forgiven

It seems all is forgiven. Y was asleep last night when I got home around midnight. Good thing, as I'd have been pretty annoyed if he was still awake. Bill said he hadn't come out of his room after dinner. There was no light on is his room as I pulled up, but I could see the flickering of the TV. I let the dogs out, and went quickly to bed myself, knowing I'd be the one to make sure he was awake at 5:30am.

I didn't even have to get him up. He was already semi-awake and dressed at 5:35am. And, I got to hear all over again how upset he was about my telling him the wrong bus number the day before. That is one thing my men have in common, they like to blame others when they make mistakes. I'm used to it, I guess. I even bought my husband a shirt that says, "I didn't say it was your FAULT, I said I was going TO BLAME YOU!"

I walked him out to the bus once again, and Y asked me why I was coming with him. I told him that it would be the only time I would see him that day, so I wanted to ask how school was yesterday, etc. He told me school was good, and that, "Last night, I sleep 7 o'clock!" Apparently he went right to sleep after dinner. Ten hours of sleep almost made up for the lack of sleep he's had the past few days.

Mama, of course, got him on the bus, let the doggies out and then went back to bed herself! Unfortunately, I won't be able to do that tomorrow morning since I have a 7am shift. I'll just drive out to the end of the driveway, wait with Y, and then go on my way to work. Hopefully the bus will be there again at 5:59-6:02am so that I won't be late.

I called home at 3pm, and Bill said Y had gotten home a few minutes ago. So, I called Y's cell phone, and he happily told me that the correct bus was much nicer. He also said, "The children's tell me I have accent. I hard understand. I speak good English, I tell them!" I told him he does have an accent, but that it will get easier to be understood with time. I also told him that he would be asleep when I got home, so I will see you tomorrow. He told me, "Maybe."

Looking forward to my 4 hours of sleep tonight, then a physical for work tomorrow afternoon. Oh, joy.

Natalie

TX

Bad Mama!

Y got up by himself without a problem this morning, although he told me he really didn't like the "foghorn" noise of the alarm clock. Oh, well. Less than 30 minutes after getting up, he was dressed and on the bus to school. I told him he could sleep on the bus, but he said, "No, Mama. I talk my friends!" I told him maybe his friends would be sleepy, too.

Our school system sends out fewer buses in the morning than the afternoon. They take all of the 6th graders, Jr High and High School kids on the first bus of the morning. It comes by our house just before 6am! They drop the 6th graders off at 6:40am, the Jr High at 6:50am and the high school at 7:10am. Each of the schools get out around 2:30pm, so they have one bus that takes the 6th grade and Jr High kids (schools located right next to each other) and another for the high school kids. So, Y takes bus #3 in the morning and #27 in the afternoon. I know I told him that, but apparently he got on bus #3 this afternoon. The driver took all the other kids home first and then dropped Y off at our door, since he was on the wrong bus. When I called to check on him (I work eve shifts on Tues/Wed), he was mad at me. "You tell me #3! I home 4 o'clock!!!"

Tomorrow I will make sure he has the index card with his bus numbers with him. Don't want to be a "bad Mama" again!

Natalie

TX

The Day Before School Begins Again

Y really did not want to go to the school today, even for a few minutes. We had to, though, because they make you fill out paperwork each year that parents and kids must sign and then they give you your locker assignment and schedule. When I was a kid, they used to mail that stuff to you. The school had an open house type of thing last Thurs eve and Fri morn, but guess what? I work Thurs eve and Fri morn every week! And there was no way Bill was going to be able to do that with him last week. Besides that, he was at his friend C's house last Mon thru Thurs night. We won't be doing that again for a long while, but that's another story. Their family seems nice, but just less structure than Y needs right now. Even though he complains about it every step of the way.

The only good thing those few days apart from us were that Bill and Y are now no longer at each other's throats 24/7. They had a few days of not really speaking much to each other, but that seemed to end yesterday. Surprisingly (but not to me) it ended when Bill finally did something for Y that he has said he would do for weeks - hook up the dish receiver to his TV!!! I kept telling Bill that he had to follow through on something he said he would do no matter what Y's current attitude, or Y's attitude would just get worse. Bill didn't believe me until he did it. Y even asked Bill to come upstairs and look at things on his computer/TV last night. Finally, that's not exclusively my job!

We are also seriously considering getting a fourth dog. One that would be Y's dog and sleep in his room. He wants either a rottweiler puppy or a vizla. Not exactly cheap dogs either way. We have decided to wait about a week and then take him to the animal shelters to see if there are any young dogs or puppies their that grab his fancy. At $100 or less, that's definitely the way we want to go. Y told me today that he wants a male dog and he does not want to have it neutered. I told him that was not an option. At least if we get it from a shelter it will already be fixed. Once again, a man in this house thinking that just because you are taking the dog's "you-know-what's" off, that you will be removing his as well! We also explained to Y that he will then be responsible for caring for all four dogs (feeding, water, walking, etc) and he will be responsible for cleaning up ALL messes the new dog makes. He says he does not want to clean up poop. Guess again, kiddo!

Should be lovely trying to get Y to sleep before 10pm tonight. We have repeatedly told him he has to get up at 5:30am to catch the bus at 5:55am. He can eat breakfast at school for only $1. He also told me today that he wants us to give him cash money each week to buy his school lunches, so that he can buy whatever he wants. (Funny, that was kind of my idea, too.) I told him he would get $20 each Monday, and ONLY $20. If he uses it all by Wednesday, then he would have to pack his own lunch for Thursday and Friday, or use his allowance money. IF he does his jobs. He was very upset when I told him he would not be getting his allowance tonight because he did not do all of his jobs this week. He only walked the dogs once, took the trash out to the cans once and fed the pets three times. He did not wash his clothes, or clean his room or bathroom at all. He said, that's because I was at C's house. Oh, well. Going to C's house was your choice. Next time maybe you'll remember that.

We are also working on him wanting us to buy him things/services NOW and then "work it off later." Not gonna happen any more. You don't have your cash with you, then you don't need to buy it right now. End of story.

Gotta go now.

Natalie

TX