Finding Time For Me??

One of the first things that happened when we had a teenager sharing our computer time....was a computer crash! UGH! And along with a whole lot of other things we've been involved with we have decided to nix the internet at our house, at least for a little while. It was far to time encompassing and distracting for our family at this point in time. We will be resuming our services, but after we get a better handle on life as we know it! The biggest downer to this is that my blog has kinda gone by the wayside. Not because I don't thoroughly enjoy it, just due to lack of time on the internet! So I apologize for my large gap in things. I do a lot more reading others than I have done on my own for the last few months... However, I'm looking back at all I've written and really appreciate that I took the time to write out so much about our transition. It helped me get through things and get beyond the emotions. And it DEFINITELY has given me a way to see our progress...no matter how slow it seems to go some days.

 I want to find a time to keep this little piece of my sanity going. :) SO.... here I am! :)

Just a quick catch up on life as it has happened over the last 3 or 4 months. Helaena is still with us and loving being here. She is currently working with an advocacy group doing some counseling, etc. Back a month or 6 weeks ago, Helaena made the decision that she wants to live here to complete high school. She struggled a LOT with this decision and withdrew a lot. She quit caring about herself, quit caring about school, quit caring about any friends... basically just sat on the couch. I think she had a lot to think about and was worried that she would have to "hurt" a parent, no matter which way she decided to go. When she tried to talk to her mom, it became an all out battle... well really, more like a WAR. She was yelled at, told she didn't have a choice and hung up on and she didn't even have a chance to speak up for herself. We decided to involve a group that has experience, hoping for the best possible outcome now that the end of school year is looming before us. I guess all we can do is trust the people that have experience, say a lot of prayers, and hope for the best right now.

A positive thing that we've been partaking in at church has been a weekly Dave Ramsey class 'Financial Peace University'. It's one of the reasons we've scaled back on our internet expense right now, too. If you EVER have the chance to take this class, I say DO IT! It's really awesome. It is packed with information, humor, advice....it's REALLY FABULOUS! I would not say it's all easy, or that we're soaring like kites and excelling...this stuff takes time!!!.... but it's definitely changing our outlook and hopefully overtime, our whole life!

As for general day to day life... we're getting there!! :) We've developed a pretty awesome teenage chore system complete with a budget (Thanks Dave! :)) We pay all "commissions" up front and bills are given for work not completed! We're working really hard to make a system that makes life a "teachable moment" and gives good skills to build on for life, not just nag about things that aren't done, etc. We want to help her learn to be responsible, accountable, and take pride in her work. Maybe I'll do a post about how our whole system is set up?!

Anyway, I am committing to blogging more frequently again. I'm super excited about a new system we're starting for the little guys too! So stay tuned! I have a lot to share!! :)