Baby Momma Drama

My friends, let me tell you the things I have been dealing with lately.

No it isn't really MY drama but it is in my family.

My baby brother had a baby with a girl 3 years ago. The momma was 16 when she had my beautiful little niece. Neither one of them were very good parents. They lived up here for a little while and each of them would fight over who was gonna change her diaper, who was gonna feed her, who was gonna pick her up when she cried. I felt so sorry for my little niece that I offered to become her guardian and take care of her so they could be "teenagers". Of course, they said no but I really wish they would have let me.

Now they are living their own lives of course. My brother is FINALLY starting to show a little maturity. He has a job in the prison system in the state of Georgia. He is also married. He hadn't been with this girl for very long and he moved into her apartment. She took care of him for a while and then he got his job. They woke up one morning and decided to just go get married. So that is where they stand.

I don't know his wife at all. I do know that she has two very young children. I also know she just got her kids back last year. She had put them with a relative because she was hooked on drugs. Now she is clean and taking care of her kids, has her own place, and has a job. He loves her but her past worries me.

Now on to my brother and his Baby Momma Drama. I don't want anyone to think I am on either my brother's side or my niece's mom's side. I am on my niece's side. End of story.

My brother's wife has posted a lot of crazy stuff on Facebook about how the baby's momma is neglecting her, how they live in filth, how the baby has head lice and has had it since February. I'm not down there so I really don't know what all is going on But I did comment on her post saying that Facebook is NOT the place to air family business such as that. All the comments on her posts were arguing about how bad the other woman is. NO ONE was even talking about the baby.

Now a few things I do know from talking to everyone (family) close to the matter is:

My brother doesn't get/see the baby as often as he should because he always seems to have an excuse not to. Like "stuff to do" "I'm tired because I worked" ect.

The baby often goes to her grandparent's home (my brother's dad). 

The baby usually arrives dirty and smelly.

The baby does in fact have lice and it is so bad her head is covered.

The baby has some female issues from either uncleanliness or someone hurting her.

Those are the things I do know.

So I also commented on the wife's post that there are better ways of dealing with this stuff than facebook. If they suspect the child is being neglected then they should call Child Protective Services and have the living conditions and stuff investigated. I also stated that the baby's mom could take the irate facebook posts and use them against my brother. She could get restraining orders and have his visitation taken away. Finally, I told my brother that he needed to keep a photo and journal record of when he sees the baby, her condition when he got her, anything she says that doesn't seem right, and if he suspects anything is wrong, take her to the doctor.

Well, my brother's wife called me and started her conversation with "Let Me TELL YOU Something". Ok so I hung up because I will not be yelled at by a kid lol. I called back and told her that I will sit and talk with her but I will not be talked to in that way. So she called me back and told me she was done with my brother's family. So she is burning his bridges for him. He did call me and apologize and I explained to him where I stand. I don't care if my niece is with him, her mom, her grandparents....as long as she is being cared for.

Now, last night I went to get on the baby momma's facebook page to look at the most recent pics of my niece. I couldn't get on her page. I imagine she has blocked me because she thinks I am against her. So now I have to straighten it all out. I want info from both sides of this situation. BUT most of all I want what is best for my niece.

So now I dunno what to do really. I try to stay out of that stuff as much as possible and I try to be pro my niece. Not for my brother, not for her mom. I am just lost at this moment and absolutely worried sick about her. 

What would you all do if you were in my shoes?

Many Hugs,

Erin

Unexpected Visitor

Yesterday we had an unexpected visitor here in the Adkins house! My dad who lives about 45mins to an hour away gave me a ring on the telephone yesterday around noon asking if I was going to be home later that afternoon because he wanted to come by and bring some things he had for the kiddos. Of course, whenever one of my parents wants to visit I would drop all the unimportant things I had planned to spend time with them since their visits are few and far between BUT yesterday I was just lounging around with my hubby on his day off.

Hmm..I think I should give a little bit of background of my dad. We don't really get to see him much because he is always off doing something. He does work at on of the prisons in Chillicothe so that takes up the majority of his time. On his days off he likes to do things with my brother Joe (who is between kiddo #2 and kiddo #3's ages) He also spends time with his girlfriend so his busyness makes it really hard to catch up with him and spend time with him.

After I got off the phone with my dad I realized that it was Tuesday and he usually works on Tuesdays but then it dawned on me that IT WAS HIS BIRTHDAY!

Of course, I couldn't let this visit just be a visit, I had to make it special. So I made him a birthday cake, made sure he had cards from us and the kiddos, made sure he had ice cream, and made sure he had a wonderful dinner.

My dad turned 54 years old yesterday. He said his visit made his day a wonderful day. He played catch with his grand kids and even accidentally hit kiddo #4 in the nose with the baseball. He also let them show him our van and the garden beds, and just spent time goofing off with them.

I can remember my dad being silly with me just like he was yesterday. It filled my heart with joy to be able to provide a meal, cake,and ice cream for him. It warmed my soul to see him and the kiddos interact with each other.

His visit also made me realize some other things too. For one, the cake I made was just a plain old yellow cake with chocolate icing. It is my favorite cake. It is his too. 

I realized I get my goofiness from my dad (sadly I don't let it show too much) and my seriousness from my mom (she raised me so this seriousness about everything..never letting my hair down for anything comes from her). 

I also remembered just how much I love to have company over and how much I love to entertain. I have a humble home. We have the necessities and maybe a few of the things we just wanted. I honestly don't have much to offer anyone other than good conversation, a listening ear. I will feed anyone who comes along (I regularly feed the neighborhood kids during the summer). I guess what I am saying is that I don't have much but I am willing to share what I do have. I love having people over to chit chat and to cook for. I love making huge meals and set them out banquet style. Grilling out. Seeing kids play together. Sadly though, we rarely have visitors. My dad was the first since New Years.

~~~~~~~~~~

On a different note. I have some bloggy updates coming soon. My garden is growing well and I have one tomato on one of my heirloom plants (yay) which I will save for seed. I also have one strawberry that is nearly red enough to eat. I have tons of snow peas ready for picking and eating and I am overwhelmed with leaf and iceberg lettuces and spinach (anyone want some?)

My crochet is coming along too. I have permission to go yarn shopping soon. My wonderful hubby wants me to make him and a buddy some golf club covers. I found a pattern online of the little groundhog (or whatever he was) from Caddy Shack. I also want to get the yarn to do a Flowers in the Snow blanket a la this blanket from the blog According to Matt. I just can't decide if I want the squares to be like this one or to look more like a flower. I have been adding a color here and there to my ripple blanket but have become bored with it so I have been making quick projects like dish cloths. I have also been making more granny squares with the Caron Simply Soft yarn I have. 

Oh and I have tons of pictures of the crazy kittens to show you. I just need to sit down and write up all these posts (after I recharge my camera battery).

Until I can get some of these posts going, I just want you all to know that I do visit your blogs regularly, even if I don't comment. I have been going through a lot of personal and spiritual changes lately and I can barely keep up. (That's another post on its own)

Many hugs and lots of love to you

Erin

Busy busyness

My friends, as usual, I have been super busy!

We have been doing:

Gardening stuff

End of School Year Events

Yard Stuff

Family Days

Family Visits

Vacation Plannings

A little Crochet (when I have time)

House Duty stuff

Pet stuff

Exercise stuff

Shopping Stuff

The list just keeps going on and on.

My kiddos have had several school events these past couple of weeks. They have had tons of field trips to watch movies, to go to museums, to visit neighboring cities. They have had reward parties that include our school's swimming pool. They have even had walking field trips to a local park. I will be very happy when this school year is over (May 23) and we can relax and enjoy the warm weather.

I have been busy with making sure things are in line for the summer holidays. I have been scoping out places to take the kiddos. Mostly free or cheap places but some not so cheap. They desperately want to go to Kings Island Amusement Park BUT taking our family of 6 will be very expensive. We may opt for the more wallet friendly Coney Island instead. We also have plans for going to the Zoo and some water parks, going to see Tecumseh, and going to a Chillicothe Paints game. We want to  go camping and even venture out of our state for a weekend. We are also hoping to make a trip to Florida sometime during this summer.

I have also been doing all the normal mommy/wifey things. House keeping (ok I have slacked off a bit), grocery shopping, bill paying, errand running, running forgotten things to hubby and kiddos, helping a friend who just found out she is pregnant. Oh and not to forget, tending my garden beds and my flower beds. Oh and being a listening ear to my neighbor who is being forced to move due to the landlord putting the house they are living in up for sell. And if course trying to keep up with my Bible reading/studying.

They say there is no rest for the weary.

My sweet hubby has been busy tending to the yard, working, and even helping me a lot more with the kids and some of the household chores. He also has been very kind to listen to my concerns and complaints AND he even paints my toenails for me and puts lotion on my back. How sweet is he?

As for picture taking...most has been done with my cell phone. I have some pictures of various outings and of the cute little kittens who will be 4 weeks old this Tuesday! Time is flying by here!

I hope you all are staying busy! I hope to be able to bring you wonderful pictures of all the goings on here very soon. 

I miss talking to you all.

Many hugs to you!

Erin

Spring has Sprung!!!!

The weather has been very nice lately. We have had more sunny days than cloudy. We have had average temperatures in the 70s. I sure cannot complain at all about this weather! 

I actually yearn for sunny days and warmer weather. I am a naturally chilly person. Just like at this very moment, I am on the couch covered up with a blanket and it is in the mid 60s outside. I am not warm until mid 70s or low 80s. Beyond that though, I love the outdoors. I love gardening, watching things grow and bloom. The excitement of the bulbs I planted pushing through the earth every spring. The excitement of listening to the birds early in the morning and watching the trees slowly getting their leaves. The smell of grass being mowed and the gentle buzzing of the bees hard at work. I just love it.

Unfortunately the outside temps at night nave not been warm enough to let my plants hang out on my porch. You can see some here in my bay window. Please overlook the dirty windows..the puppies love to hang out there. I have 2 spider plants: one is in a huge pot. My mom gave it to me because it was too big for her and the other is in a homemade hanging basket ready to be put up on my front porch. I also have 2 hanging baskets of petunias. Both of which I bought off of the discount racks at Lowes for $3 each! Check out their discount racks..great deals can be found there and most are just plants they have overstock of. I also have a poor fern I am
to save but I am just not sure it is going to survive.                      

                                                                                       Sadly or maybe fortunately , when spring arrives, my  dining room table gets taken over with  my                                                                              seedlings just waiting to be put in my garden beds. My kiddos are very happy every year when this phenomenon takes place because they get to eat their dinner sitting in the living room floor watching movies. I am  hoping to be able to put my plant babies in my beds on May 1st since our last frost date is April 23rd. I just have to  pay attention to the weather reports and pray no frost hits after they are planted.                       

Warmer weather also means tons of outdoor and mainly free activities

for my family. One of our favorite things to do is to go fishing. Sadly, about a month ago, someone decided to steal our fishing poles so we decided to splurge a bit and go buy 6 brand new fishing poles. Each one of my kids picked out their own poles, not to exceed $20. It was very fun and we have already used them. Last Sunday we went fishing and everyone caught at least one fish......except me :(

Along with fishing, we have always wanted to go camping. Since we cannot afford a camper, we decided to splurge on a tent. Here is the bag for the tent. Unfortunately, after putting it up to make sure i know how and to make sure all of the parts were there, I couldn't get it rolled into a small enough roll to fit in the bag. Our tent's new home is a tote and it is very happy.

 Here you can see our "home away from home" all set up. It measures 20 feet long by 10 feet wide. The center height is 6 feet 6 inches. It has 3 rooms. It can sleep 10 people in sleeping bags or it is big enough to place a queen size air mattress in each of the 3 rooms. With my family, this is the perfect fit as we have 2 girls, 2 boys, and 2 adults. We CANNOT wait to have our first camping trip which will probably be in my mom's or my dad's back yard.

 Another outdoor activity my hubby enjoys is golf. I, however, do not have an athletic bone in my body. But he has convinced me to dabble in the sport. A couple years ago we purchased a men's golf club set second hand and I must say, the golf bug has bitten me. I have not went to an actual course yet but I was pretty good at the practice range with the men's clubs. So we decided it was time for me to have a nice women's set. I purchased these from Golf Outlets of America via Amazon.com. They arrived yesterday and I have dabbled with the driver in the empty lot beside us and a plastic practice ball. If that dabbling is any indication, I will more than likely produce lower scores on the course than my hubby. At least that is what my competitive nature has told me.

I have also been playing around with my camera. I would love to get into photography. I would LOVE to do special events, portraits as long as we aren't in a stuffy studio, landscapes, everything. I have so many pictures on my computer, my computer runs slow. The sad part is, I also have 2 external hard drives full of pictures.

Here you see my youngest son blowing dandelion seeds in my mom's yard. (Don't tell my mom's hubby..he hates having dandelions in his yard.)

Here is an artsy fartsy shot of the dandelions in my mom's yard.

A bumble bee on my mom's trees.

A honey bee on a dandelion

 And the beautiful sky

Spring = a renewing of life. My lovely indoor cat was impregnated by my lovely outdoor cat and 7 kittens were born. One, her first born, was still born and looked just like its daddy. The other 6 are alive and well. As you can see in this picture, we have an oddball as 5 of her kittens are grey or grey and white and one is black and white.

My final picture of today is the progress of my ripple blanket. This blanket is being made to fit my bed. It is being made of mostly odds and ends of yarn from various other projects. I did buy a few extra skeins because I liked the colors but none of those have made it in the blanket yet. Once I finish with one color, it goes into one bin and then I just close my eyes and pick another out of my other bin. I know it will take me a while to get it finished as I am alternating days working on this blanket and crocheting 6 inch squares for Share a Square.

I hope you have enjoyed this post and I will try to update more often. Life is crazy busy right now AND I seem to always forget my camera. Maybe I need to buy a point and shoot to keep in my purse.

Sending my love and warm hugs to all of you!

Erin

About Me

Hello again my friends. I am sorry I haven't been around lately. Life has certainly been very busy. We have had tons of appointments and functions to attend on top of our everyday school, work, and home schedules. I tell you we have barely had time to breathe lately. 

I have wanted to blog about so much stuff that has been happening but I have failed to take pictures of most of the goings on. However, I do have some to post soon. I am just waiting on the right time and for a few more things to come to fruition. 

So I decided to help you all get to know me a little bit.

I am 32 years old. I have been married for nearly 12 years to the greatest man alive and I have four beautiful and very intelligent children. Two of which are girls ages (nearly) 13 and 11 and two of which are boys ages (nearly) 9 and 7. I am also the mom of 2 doggies: a 3 year old Chiweenie, Tinkerbell and a 5 month old Chihuahua, Roxy. I cannot forget my kitties either. My outside boy, Wickett and my sweet inside girl, Daisy who just had 6 kittens fathered by Wickett.

My husband and I met in high school but we are not sweethearts. We were best friends. We hung around the same crowds and he dated a couple of my friends. I really didn't see him as "boyfriend" material because he had a tendency to be a player and was a smooth talker. He and I didn't get together until I was 19 and after I had my oldest daughter. I began to see him in a different light when I saw how he was with her. We became a couple because I felt it important for my daughter to have a strong male figure in her life and our relationship really didn't become as a couple until we were married for a couple of years. I guess I always knew I loved him but didn't realize it until a big argument happened and I thought he had left me.

My oldest daughter obviously has a different biological father than my other three. Her dad and I broke up when I was 6 months pregnant with her. The next time I heard from him she was 2 and after that I contacted him when she was 7 because she wanted to talk to him. He lives in Georgia so she doesn't get to see him.

As everyone who follows my blog knows, I suffered from severe anxiety and panic attacks for 6 or so years. Most of those years were spent inside my home and a whole year was spent inside my bedroom because I would have panic attacks just to go to the bathroom. My love for crochet developed out of those times in my life. Crochet gave me something solid to hold onto. It gave me that finished product to keep working towards and to look forward to when all I wanted to do was curl up and die. My very first product was a blanket made using all double crochet stitches. It had uneven sides but I was very proud of it so I gave it to my mom. My second project was an American flag afghan.

I am very spiritual. I have been drawn to God ever since I can remember. I used to go to church all by myself when I was a kid and if one was within walking distance from where we lived. I don't think I would be alive today if it wasn't for God and prayers.

I almost committed suicide when I was in the middle of my anxiety. I had a bottle of my hubby's blood pressure pills poured out in my hand. What kept me from doing it? My hubby couldn't cook anything but hamburgers and spaghetti at the time and I told myself that my kids could not live off of just hamburgers and spaghetti. I put the pills back and never thought of it again.

I am nothing like my parents. Both of them tend to be on the selfish side. They don't mind doing things as long as it doesn't inconvenience them. I am very loving, giving, caring, and I will go out of my way to help others. People who know my parents and know me all think I am adopted but I look too much like my mom and my dad to be adopted.

I love to cook. I can cook nearly anything I set my mind too with the exception of fluffy biscuits. However, I hate the clean up. I absolutely hate doing dishes. I have done them since I was 7 and I am begging my hubby to get me a dish washer :P

I have OCD. It started when I was 9 or 10 when I lived with my dad. My stepmother would be very mean to me and if she checked my room and it had just a teeny piece of paper from a notebook on the floor she would flip out on me and take stuff away. I started being a "neat freak". I tried to relax it when I had kids because I didn't want to be crazy around them with having to have everything perfect. So when the house is a little messed up I am usually grumpy until I get it cleaned. (I am definitely a lot better about it now though..I'm not as grumpy)

You may have guessed that my parents are divorced. My mom and dad lived here in Ohio. They seperated when I was 6 years old. My mom moved to Georgia where my grandparents had moved to. My dad was supposed to come once he sold the house and got the affairs in order. He never did. He told me when I was grown that he couldn't uproot his life to come to Georgia with us. I did see him every summer. I lived with him for 3 years from the age of 11 til 14. After I moved back to Georgia with my mom, I didn't see my dad again until I graduated high school. It is ok though. My grandpa was like a dad to me. He took me fishing, doted on me, and even walked me down the aisle when I got married. (my dad  didn't come to my wedding either)

Last but not least....I love you guys. Even if this is the first post you read, I just want everyone to know that I am sending love to everyone out there. 

A big hug from me to you!!!!

Erin

A Few Ta-Dahs

What a wonderful day it has been! I have been enjoying some sunshine, taking pictures, staring lovingly at my garden beds and my seedlings, and I even made a video tutorial for my best friend down in Georgia who is a newbie crocheter. 

Ahhh life is so good right now!

I am so happy that I have finished two projects! Both were for my cousin Mandy. One was a baby blanket for the little girl she had YESTERDAY.

As you can see it was made in the round using baby pink, lavender, and a little cream.

The second was for her son Cade (who is such a cutie patootie)! She requested it to be in the browns and greens and this is what I came up with ....I do love love love the diagonal stripes of this blanket.

 Unfortunately I have not yet had the chance to give them to her as she had her baby girl yesterday afternoon but I am sure I will be making a trip to visit as soon as her and her new addition settle in at home.

I also have a couple little garden updates for you.

First of all, I have lovely little pink tulip buds in my front flower beds. These pink tulips were for the Plant for Hope campaign.

My peas have sprouted and are starting to get their lovely little tendrils to climb, climb, climb.

My little seed babies have been enjoying themselves in their little greenhouse (and my little garden helper Roxy has been naughty, naughty by trying to eat my seedlings)

And I have beautiful, gorgeous, unique pink bleeding hearts flowers!

That is going to be all my friends. 

Life has been slow and steady lately.

It is rather nice.

Now for a photo of the day....

This is the same tulip in the photo above. I just LOVE the pink and white...GORGEOUS!

Many Blessings to you all!

Today Before Noon.....

Good afternoon. I have had a busy morning.

Today before noon I:

Ate a yummy breakfast of fruit (cantaloupe, honeydew, and pineapple) and cottage cheese.

I then showered and did my hair and put a little makeup on my face.

I carried all of my little plant babies outside to enjoy some fresh air and sunshine.

I also recorded new sprouts, changes, repottings, ect in my garden journal.

I cleaned the messes the kids left last night and I vacuumed and swept all floors.

I had to clean the kitchen since I didn't do so last night.

I brought the outdoor box from the basement to my front porch for all the kiddos outdoor playthings.

and I put some of said playthings in the box.

And now for the afternoon:

I will put the last load (well until showers tonight) of the never-ending laundry in the washing machine.

One can always tell it is the last load when it is oddiments such as gloves, lined rain coats, and a small rug

I will then eat my lunch. A honey ham sandwich with mustard and a raspberry yogurt.

And then since my chores will be finished I will sit on my front porch and crochet.

Doesn't my front porch look so sad. It desperately needs furniture but I have yet to purchase any. I am thinking some bright red adirondack chairs.

Then this evening when the kiddos get home from school I will be going to the grocery store to buy food for dinner, cooking dinner, cleaning up my kitchen again, helping with homework, monitoring chores, making sure baths get taken and eventually we will all pile into our beds. I will then do some spiritual reading, watch the news for the weather forecast and then go to sleep.

Be blessed!