day 5

Wendy's.... yep.... even though the documentary "super size me" was enlightening.... we dominated Wendy's for dinner.

then we spent $50 bucks at Kroger. Bread, doughnuts, milk, cookies (double stuff oreos variety..yumm), yogurt, waffles, and birthday cards... Queen B's birthday is next wednesday. Debated on the chili cheese corn chips........ but they didnt make the cut.

Kids are worn out! In bed and lights out by 9pm. That is typical for the school year but usually closer to 9:30 or 10 during the summer.

One thing about being a single parent....I am in need of conversation that does not consist of what we are having for dinner or what is off limits for snacks. Thanks to our friend Linda for taking Andrew to the park and then back to her house today I was able to get a few hours worth of uninterrupted work done. It was enjoyable!

4 days left.. they return on Monday evening around 6:38 *Smile*

joe

day 4

great day with only ONE meltdown and it wasnt by me.

breakfast, lunch(for andrew only) and dinner(chicken parmesian from a box, left over ceasar salad and green beans) were all served on time.

Annie started crying about 8pm and didnt stop till about 9:30. She misses her mom and no matter how much Dad loves on her... its not the same. She whimpered all the way before, during and after taking a shower.... Chalk it up to missing her mom and being extra tired.

As we try to resemble the cleaver family(sarcasm!)...aaron so wanted to MOCK his younger sister for crying as she was getting out of the shower and into her jammies.....I said, "go tell her you miss your mom too and it will be ok." so he did and Annie shouted, "I DONT CARE!!!!"... for those of you that know Annie she can scream with the best of them. Aaron felt he should have went ahead and mocked her... Probably would have gotten a similar response....aaahhhh the joys of parenting.

We took a bike ride to cool creek park. Still finding it to be refreshing and rewarding. And thankfully.....not life threatening.

I completed my task list from yesterday with one exception... the front door springy thingy. I know I know.. I only had 3 things on the list..... well 2 were accomplished... .667 a very respectable batting average no matter what level you are playing. *SMILE*

joe

day 3

laundry day didnt win.. the bennetts minus 2 did!!!! TAKE that domestic chores, you thought you could win without our queen (tia) and our princess (amy) but you were wrong. I am Mr. Mom hear me ROAR!!!!!!

dinner got served at 6 sharp! Including lasagna (from a box), ceasar salad (pre-packaged)and strawberries (already cut/sliced). Nevertheless, it was yummy and dishwasher was loaded and ran while we went to Basketball at 6:30.

We then went to BW3's for chips and queso and CUBBIES...Kiddos had a lot of fun.

to do list for tomorrow.. (now I see why my wife has a love affair with LISTS)...1.. fix front door springy thingy...2...put away dishes and vacuum....3...Pray for my family (have to put this on the list otherwise it might not count)...thats enough for me.... I like magageable lists.... ones I actually can complete. *SMILE*

Single Moms....including my mother and my sister.... wow. How did you do it all those years? Cleaning, cooking, parenting and working? Suffice it to say, God is teaching me a lot and one of those lessons is an appreciation for what Single Parents experience on a daily basis. Keep em coming God... I need a lot of teaching... It seems the older I get the more I realize how much I need to be taught!

Tia emailed again today and said they are all falling in love with the kids. Amy is doing well and really likes the food and the comradarie with the other team members from our church.

gnight.
joe

day 2

Day 2 was a busy one but fairly typical for our family.

breakfast for all by 9 except Annie who I had to wake up at 9:20. Make their lunches for CCC.

Annie and Aaron spent the day at Cool Creek Camp from 10 till 3 (Thanks to Annette Dart for picking my munchkins up). I went and picked them up at 3 and delivered Noah home safely.

At ten I had to work with a new agent who was with Andrew and I at our house until noon.

Then while Andrew took a nap and before pick up of the kids I was actually able to get insurance work done.

For dinner we had Beef Stew that my brother brought over yesterday (I had to turn it off yesterday when my Boss showed up in town and asked us to dinner). It was very good. All 3 of the kids had a big bowl and well.. I love beef stew.

Then I had to get babysitters aligned for the night for I had 2 places that needed my presence. The first was a travel baseball end of season/beginning of next year type of meeting. It was exciting to talk about our trip next summer to Cooperstown. The second was at church. I usually play basketball on Monday nights so that was my intention but our meeting went way too late so I just went to the gym to talk to the guys about playing in our prison basketball ministry. 3 more guys had their paperwork finished.

Thanks to Shana Miller and Emma Hoefling for taking care of the kiddos.

Tomorrow is Cool creek camp again and Laundary day. I also need to get some work time in as well. Keep praying for us. I am getting an appreciation for being a single parent. More on that tomorrow.

I am sleepy.

Joe

Costa Rica

We made it safely to our destination. I am at a internet cafe typing this, we couldn´t get through to email though. It is simply beautiful and hte people are lovely. We are in a very poor area, we saw a squatters village of the poorest people today. We have gotten to go to church, a small group meeting, a festival and pilgrimmage in Cartaga. Google it, it is a pretty cool thing.
We worked at the project today all day. Amy and I pulled nails from boards all day, and visited the orphanage. Amy is ready to adopt them all. Good news is that the US will be allowed to adopt from there soon. We are tired and ready for a shower.
The food is great, we never go hungry. We are staying a t a bed and breakfast. Not anything like the ones in the US, but nice. We are sleeping in bunk beds. It is very loudoutside and hard to sleep, but we are adjusting.
Amy has been great. Making friends and being very grown up, she is working hard too.
So long for now.
BTW the weatther is beautiful, in the 70´s and breezy. The sun is hot and strong though. The mountains are beautiful, they remind me of the ones in Hawaii.

day 1

pretty uneventful.

Accomplished more toward finishing the back porch.

Brother and sister n law came over with a pot of stew and stuff to store in our basement.

Then had a surprise phone call from my boss who was staying the night in Indy so I took the kiddos out to eat with his family. Was given a job offer and am looking forward to talking with Tia about it.

I am tired and am going to bed.
joe

Mr. Mom

Well here we go...... Tia and Amy are safely on their way to Costa Rica via Atlanta. I am here with the rest of our lovely clan(there were only 4 fights in the van on the way home from the airport). So I thought I would try to blog each day about my chance to be Mr. Mom.... cooking, cleaning, work etc....

hope you enjoy.

should be interesting nonetheless.

God help us!!!
joe