Olympics, Picnics, Life, etc.

Last night's Closing Ceremony of the Olympics were so cool. My niece didn't want to miss the performance by One Direction, so she made my sister and her husband stay at our house until they came on, so she wouldn't miss a second of it. I'm not sure if we missed them or what, but at 11pm when the local station airing it came on and said "We will return to the rest of the ceremony in one hour" we were all kind of bummed. But, the whole thing was awesome!

Things have been quiet as far as Brent's concerned. My children got to go to "Meet Your Teacher Day" at their school. It was bittersweet. For some reason, I'm having a harder time this year letting my children go.

Something keeps coming up from the trial that is really bothering me. Brent's team of attorney's made it a point to tell the judge that my two younger children are in "daycare" and that it's basically a waste of money. Yet, here's my side ... since Brent has yet to pay one penny towards tuition and cares more about refilling his crack pipe then his children's every day life, I question why he even has a say so in the matter. But, second of all it's preschool NOT daycare. According to Wikipedia, here's the definition of that word. Preschool education (or infant education) is the provision of learning to children before the commencement of statutory and obligatory education, usually between the ages of zero and three or five, depending on the jurisdiction. Next of all, my children enjoy this school - they have established friendships, religion, education, and most of all - they are happy there. Yes, I'm literally located 2 minutes from another school. But, this is familiar grounds for them and since they had so much change in their life already, I will flip freakin' burgers to keep them there. The two younger ones are only going half days, so let's clear this up ... if I was going to put them in "daycare" - I wouldn't pay what I do for 3 hours, 5 days a week. Besides the fact, that it has been proven that this period of their brain development is most crucial. With that being said, my children are in great hands at this school and I'm impressed by what they've learned thus far.

I guess that's just the nature of divorce to see how you can make the other one look bad. I can honestly say, I didn't take that approach. I didn't have to ... he did it all on his own. But, what-ev's! I guess if I was in his shoes, I would be grasping at straws as well. Let the chips fall where they may. I'm gonna bust a Charlie Sheen out and still scream "I'm winning"! Having sole custody over them was what was most important.

This weekend I hung out with my family at the St. Joe's Orphanage Picnic. I copied some information below from their website at www.sjkids.org because this picnic holds significant importance in the Louisville Community, besides the sentimental ones that each person holds. I remember going there as a kid with both sets of grandparents, my parents, siblings, and my friends. So, it's really special to share it with my children.

My cousin reminded me of a funny story that my paternal Grandmother would share every year around this time and I would love to share with you. My grandparents had 7 children - 6 boys and 1 girl. When their children were young, my grandparents took them to this picnic. One particular year, my Grandfather won a big cash grand prize. Over the loud PA system, the spoke person kept calling his name as the winner and to report to a certain area. Since this picnic is so large, my Grandmother happened to be on the other side of the picnic at the time and frantically made way to locate her husband. Before she could arrive, the spokesperson got back on the intercom and announced "We would like to thank our Jackpot Winner for his generous donation to the Orphanage!" As the crowd cheered on my Grandfather for donating his entire winnings, my Grandmother got lost in thought, "didn't he realize he had his own orphanage at home"?!?!

Here is the info from the website:

The Picnic is born

In 1851, a fair was organized to meet the payments on the Society's first home. This annual picnic continues to be a major fundraiser as well as a community social event.

Families have changed since 1849, but at St. Joseph Children's Home our commitment to children has not. Through the years, we have offered hope in family-crisis situations, assisting the child in overcoming obstacles which could limit growth and development.

Today's dependent child is no longer a victim of epidemic or war, but of family crisis, financial difficulty or an abusive, neglectful environment. In response to changing societal conditions, St. Joseph has evolved from an orphanage to that of a more diversified child caring facility.

If you get an opportunity, be sure to check out their website. It's really interesting. Anyway, the children start school this week, so I'm going to jump off here and enjoy the last moments of summer with these crazy kids.

Much love to all and God Bless!