They come in threes...

They say that bad things come in threes.

For me, there are three 'bad' things about the kids being at Grace.

#1. 6am. I hate it. It hates me. 6am makes me angry. If I get up at 6am, I just wake up angry. 6:10 or 6:15, not so much. 6am though is my nemesis right now.

#2. School lunches. The #1 thing I LOVED about the kids being in public school was the $1.50 school lunches. $20 a paycheck and there were no worries. Kids had lunch everyday and I didn't have to do a thing. It was, stupid as it may sound, my favorite thing about the kids going to public school last year. THAT and the free breakfast! Paired together, it made the mornings much easier. Now, we have to send lunches with the kids every day. I know that I sound awful. But I REALLY HATE making school lunches. This is another one of those scenarios where you think "Why did I have more than one child?"

Katherine doesn't really care for peanut butter and jelly. She will eat it, but she prefers turkey. Not just turkey and bread. Turkey with miracle whip and lettuce. No cheese. Just lettuce, miracle whip and turkey (and bread of course). No cheese.

Kaleb also will eat peanut butter and jelly, but he prefers turkey with cheese and miracle whip. No lettuce.

Abbey is easier, in that she will ONLY eat peanut butter and jelly. Every day.

Olivia, as most of you know, cannot eat peanut butter, as she is allergic. So, Olivia only has jelly on her sandwiches. She prefers apricot jelly, but we only have grape and strawberry right now, so she will just have to 'deal'. Oh and speaking of Olivia's allergy to peanut butter, I've been building a theory. Her initial allergy test showed no allergy to nuts of any kind, mold or grass or trees. But when she started breaking out in hives after having ranch dressing, I decided to look at the common ingredients. Soy bean oil. That is the ONLY common ingredient. This was further confirmed for me the other night when she broke out in hives after eating Pringles and a hot dog. Kris said he's never noticed her break out when she has the cheese flavored pringles. The kind I gave her were sour cream and onion. (I know this is getting boring now-I'm almost done with this part). When I looked at the ingredients, the Cheese ones MAY contain soy or peanuts. But the sour cream and onion actually contain soy bean oil. So my theory is that she is only allergic to soy bean oil. I have a prescription for another allergy test that will hopefully confirm my suspicions.

#3. Driving. The kids took the bus last year. It was a matter of Kris sending them off to school. Granted, the girls' hair never got brushed, but other than that, it affected me very little. Most days I left for work before they were ever up. And then my drive to work was MY time. I listened to my books and had a really nice drive to and from work. Now, I drive the kids to school. And this also upsets me. I'm not mad at them...I'm mad at having to drive them to school. It really makes no sense. Besides the fact that I am just crazy. I'm having a hard time adjusting to having four LOUD children in the car with me every day. To ease some of that, Kris has offered to take the kids to school for me on Tues/Thurs. Dean brings them home these days (except for the days Kaleb and Kat have soccer or Girl Scouts). Those days I pick up whichever child is still at school at 5pm. All in all, it is getting better.

But those are the three things that are on my "I hate" list right now. And yes I do realize that this makes me seem incredibly selfish. Well, here's the truth: I am. :)

Good things about the kids being at Grace-THEY ARE AT GRACE! It's been such a blessing to have them back there. No more school bus. No more worries (well some but not as bad) about Kaleb getting picked on. No worries about Kaleb and Katherine not being able to learn at the capacity that they need to be learning at. It's hard that Abbey isn't getting her therapy right there in school, but starting next week I will drive her to speech/occupational therapy two days a week. And the other great benefit is that all four kids are in the SAME place. For the first time...ever. All in all it is a wonderful blessing to have them back there.