- OUR DAY/EVENING & TOMOROW -

i got up this morning & went to my nieces house to watch her boys/nephew as she'd to take spike's mom to the doctor (don't worry sharel, she's doing great!) - the boys were wonderful & we all had a great time

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tonight, we met with some friends/family (zach, licia, henley, trey, dad, mom, madisyn, rob, angie, aubrey, bob, cheryl, jenna, spike, myself, dustin, brittan, kiara, ruby & karleigh) at the golden corral restaurant here in town for dinner - we were there from 5-8:30 so i'm sure they were glad when we left!

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we then came home & dustin came with us as he's going to be doing some yard work for us in the morning so he just stayed all night - after the bear cubs went to bed, spike, dustin, brittan & myself all sat down & played a couple games of euchre & had a blast

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tomorrow morning i'll get kiara off on the bus (8am), take karleigh to school (9am), take ruby for pickies/shots (9:15am), pick kiara up from school (11:15am), pick karleigh up from school (11:30am), rush home & drop kiara & karleigh off with spike as i've gotta rush out the door to take ruby to riley hospital & need to be there at 1pm so with getting home about 11:45 & needing to leave BEFORE 12, i'll not have any time at all - better put my roller skates on now!!

- CAN YOU SAY... F A B U L O U S ? -

that's exactly what it was this morning at church... FABULOUS! - there was about 1+ hours of praise & worship & then it was topped off by about a few minutes of preaching & man was it great! - pastor piercey sure knows how to sing & get things a movin' & pastor mccamey had a great word

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dustin came with us & after church we grabbed brittan a sandwich & took her to a local nursing home where she & some other kids her age all put on a 'senior prom' for the old people (old music, painted the ladies fingernails, they all danced, etc.)

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the rest of us went to monkey BBQ (mongolian BBQ) for lunch & it was FABULOUS too! - we then ran some errands as we'd an open house today & 3 families came!! - then when we finally arrived home, i did bills while spike let the girls watch a movie, then it was their bedtime - a busy week this week so i'll catch up when i can

- GOIN' TO PLAY... AT CHICK.FIL.A -

well, the girls needed to run off some winter 'cabin fever' today so we took them to chick-fil-a to play in the play area (for free) - we got a coke & watched them for about a hour or more - they had fun & here's some pics to prove it! - hope you enjoy (they sure did!)

- SILENCE IS GOLDEN -

we're starting to work harder around here on ASL (sign language) & to do so, we're trying to think of fun ways to 'practice' - we're going to take 1 hour per day & the girls will put a bandage on their mouths & they can ONLY sign - today was the first day of trying this & the girls thought it was fun, but then it also made them work harder at communicating (which was hilarious to watch)

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spike, brittan & myself are going to work very hard on signing everything we can when talking to anyone (even if ruby's not around), as it'll get us practiced up & even though it might look silly to some, it can only help improve on our ASL vocabulary

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ASL finger spelling practice game is a good place to practice - i've been doing it & so hopefully in time, it'll make me faster!

- WHAT DO YOU DO IN THE COURSE OF A DAY? -

yes, that's a question that was written on a blog of someone i know, asking the blog world... "what do you do in the course of a day?" - here's my answers as it is right now (but keep in mind, around here, things can change at a moments notice!)

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first of all, i'm a wife to spike & a stay at home mother to our 5 (soon to be 6) kiddos - dustin's 22, brittan's 16, kiara's 5, ruby's 5, karleigh's 4 & a newborn due in august/september - we attend church every week & love it - we're very active with our extended families (camping & vacationing, etc.)

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monday-friday: i get ruby up at 6am, dress her, feed her & get her on the bus (monday-wednesday) - i get kiara up at 7:30, dress her, feed her & get her on the bus (monday-friday) - i get karleigh up at 8am, dress her, feed her & drive her to school (tuesday & thursday)

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i then get things done around the house while i wait for 11:15am to come around (as that's when i pick kiara up) - some of the things i do from 9am-11am are: laundry, start dinner, make beds, pick up clutter around the house, dust, vacuum, blog, check emails, etc. - i then head to get kiara at 11am & we get some lunch - since i have to pick karleigh up on tuesdays & thursdays at 1pm, i usually use that time (11:15-1pm) to run errands, grab lunch, etc.

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from 1:30-3:30 the girls lay down to rest or sleep & then we've to watch for ruby monday-wednesday as she gets off the bus at 4pm - after she arrives home, we're all here, rested & ready for the evening - the girls work on 'school work', play, have snack time, read, etc. as i finish up on household duties, fix dinner & we all wait for spike to get home

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if we've got somewhere to go or something to do in the evening, then when spike gets home, we all load up & out the door we go, so we're not out late as the girls go to bed at 8pm - if we're staying home, then we've dinner, clean up the kitchen afterwards, let the girls play with daddy for a bit since they've not seen him all day (unless he's worked at home, but even at that, he's not 'seen them', as he's been working) - after dinner, somewhere about 7pm, i get them in their pj's, brush their teeth, settle them down & then at 8pm it's prayer time, hugs/kisses & we're done (for that day!)

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in my free time (can someone please tell me what this really is??), i work with rebekah hubley as we're co-founders of a ministry we started, called 'HANDS THAT HEAL', where we help get children out of haiti on medical visas, find them doctors, hospitals, host families, etc. to take care of them while they're in the states, make sure they get the treatment they're in need of while they're here & then get them back to their biological families in haiti at such time they're cleared by their doctors to travel - this ministry's really only just begun & we already have our first little one here 'widline' & another is coming next week 'schnaider', so god's really moving in a big way!

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i also help families stateside, with helping new adoptive families through the process of compiling their dossier - i help answer their questions, make phone calls to haiti on their behalf (almost nightly... yes, comcast knows me by name!), take pictures & videos of their children whenever i travel to haiti - we also try & get to haiti as much as possible & that's usually a couple 3 times per year (it's about time to go back too!) & whenever we go, we work with 2 different agencies while we're there

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i also work for Shiloh Adoptions out of kansas - i've been working with them now for several months, love the people i work with & what they represent - i'm currently helping 3 families (each family's adopting twins!) & am waiting on several other families that have contacted me regarding haitian adoption, to see if they've decided to 'get on the adoption roller coaster with me!' - what i do for shiloh is helping families build their family bigger through the adoption of a child(ren) from haiti & i love it - haiti's where my heart's at & forever will be

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i then, along with my best friend angie, plan & coordinate a haitian family camp one time per year (february) in lafayette, indiana, where people from indiana, ohio, illinois, iowa, kentucky, tennessee, michigan, haiti, etc., who have an interest in haiti (whether it's families that have adopted from haiti, are adopting from haiti, thinking of adopting from haiti, work with missions in haiti, etc.) no matter what agency you're working with, get together for the weekend - it's a great time to get families that all 'look the same', together for a fun weekend where the kids can stay in contact with other families 'like theirs'

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i also, with having a child that's profoundly deaf (ruby), try to work on learning as much ASL (sign language) as i can - she attends a local deaf school, but as she gets older, she needs us to know more than we know now & i don't want to hinder her in any way, so i'm working hard on signing faster & learning more - one thing about it's, with us being with kyle & angie so much, it really helps as angie's fluent in sign & teaches me soooo much!

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i also love taking pictures & have a wonderful time playing around with my camera - it helps as i've got beautiful subjects to photograph as well! - i'll take them to the park, an old covered bridge, a creek, etc. & snap away - i do nothing with the pictures once i take them (except pass them on to grandmas), but i like it & it's fun!

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saturdays are used for going out of town to spend time with our best friends kyle & angie caswell, getting together with family, spending the day lounging & watching movies, taking the kids to the park, etc.

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sundays are used for going to our church & doing last minute errands before starting a new week

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we also have our home for sale as we're busting at the seams now & we're adding another little person - we've a floor plan picked, a lot picked out & a pre-approval for another mortgage so we can move into something larger, WHEN this house sells - i'm constantly picking up, packing up & doing whatever we can to sell this place - we like the house, but we need more room - when we do sell, we'll be moving into an apartment or small house until our new home's built & then move again to our final destination about 4 months later - WHEW, that makes me tired thinking about it!

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well, there you have it... a day in the life of lori shepler!... now, who's next?

- A FUN WAY TO 'SHARE' -

as most of you know, we're adopting 1 more child (& then we're done!) - we're hoping to find out on april 15th whether it's a boy (deon) or a girl (ahniér) - i've been thinking of how to 'share' the sex with the entire blog world & have decided what i'm going to do is this...
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i do the girls hair around the middle of the month anyway - i'll have them all ready to go, when i head to the hospital that morning - then when i get home, i'll fix all their hair in either pink or blue, take a picture & then blog it

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whatever color you see in their hair, you'll then know the sex/name!! - i told the girls about this tonight & they're so excited - don't forget to be watching on the 15th!!! (oh my goodness, i'm sooooooo excited)

- IF YOU NEED IT, I'M SURE HE'S GOT IT! -

that's right! - my dad stores everything & throws almost nothing away - one time we'd a camper (class c) & the little girls were to sleep up on the top 'bunk' above the drivers seat - i was afraid they'd fall off & mentioned in front of dad, "man, what we need is something like those 'mesh' things people put across their tailgates - then we could still see the kids, but they'd be 'locked in' & they couldn't fall, but still easy to get out when they needed to" - dad walked over to the garage, turned around & handed me a brand new one! - i said, "where did you get that?" - he said he'd had it for a long time & couldn't even remember where he got it, but never had used it & gave it to me! - i heard the other day that my brother called & mentioned something to dad about 'going out to look for an odd car part of some sort' & yep, you guessed it... dad had one layin' 'round! - it's like this all the time with all kinds of things from bolts, tires, wire, mesh hubcaps, rims, tailgate things, etc. - i know 'let's make a deal' could come to his house & he'd win for sure, because if you need it, i'm SURE he's got it!!

- HOW FAST CAN YOU TYPE? -

66 words

Speed test

- MOM GOT A NEW THONG! -

well, this' another one of brittan's funny stories from when she was younger (age 13, so not all THAT young!)

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we'd just gotten kiara home & were having a garage sale at our house - a neighbor lady of ours, that we'll call 'sue' (that's always had 'her opinion' of us adopting black children), stopped by for the sale

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sidenote: kiara had just turned 1 the weekend prior & for her homecoming/1st birthday, a friend of ours threw a party at my brother in law/sister in laws house as they had tons of room, pool, horses, etc.

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while here, sue said, "thanks for letting brittan come over the other day to play with our daughter 'teresa' & eat dinner with us - we'd dinner guests that night & brittan was telling us ALLLLL about your pool party that you recently had" - i thought it was odd brittan would've called it a POOL party as we hadn't called it that, but it was a party & there was a pool, so i let it go

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i said, "yes, we'd a fabulous time" - she said, "she also told us that you'd gone out & purchased a big thong that was bright pink with flowers on it" (keep in mind the party was a 'luau theme' & i'd purchased a big FLIPFLOP PINATA filled with candy for the kids) - i said, "well, she was talking about the pinata as it was in the shape of a flipflop - 'sue' said, "no, she said a thong & that it was pink with flowers on it" - i said, "yes, the flipflop pinata was bright pink with flowers on it" - she said, "well, i think she would've said flipflop OR pinata if that's what she was referring to... don't you???" - she then turned & walked off to her car, still thinking i'd purchase a big thong that was bright pink with flowers on it for ME to wear!!!

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those that know me... my size... my weight... etc. please erase the mental pictures that you now have in your mind, because no, i did NOT, will NOT & have NOT ever purchased or wore (not that it's any ones business) a thong... EVER!!

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i know that out there in blog land, i'm someones... blog material!!

- CARPOOLING, PIZZA HUT & REST TIME ahhh -

well, karleigh & i went out this morning to run errands (she thought a good 'errand' would be to hop on over to disney world for the day!... keep in mind we live in indiana), then we got kiara, went to pizza hut for lunch as we had 2 free kids meals (YEAH!) & then it was home for rest time/movie time

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our kids go to bed every night at 8pm, but on tuesdays, they go down at 7:45 due to us watching american idol (i love that show!) - since they go down a bit early on tuesdays, i don't have them to nap those days, but instead they can watch a movie & just rest - well, sunday we were going over to my sister in laws house & i mentioned on the way over to the girls that they didn't have to nap that day - karleigh (with her head bobbin' & her hands on her hips, really sassy-like) said, "why, coz it's american idol night?" - that girl's too smart for her own good!

- TAP TAP TAP -

a nurse on the pediatric ward, before listening to the little ones chests, would plug the stethoscope into their ears & let them listen to their own hearts - their eyes would always light up with awe, but she never got a response equal to 4 year old david's comment

gently she tucked the stethoscope into his ears & placed the disk over his heart - "listen", she said - "what do you suppose that is" - he drew his eyebrows together in a puzzled line & looked up as if lost in the mystery of the strange tap-tap-tapping deep in his chest - suddenly, his face broke out in a wondrous grin & he asked, "is that Jesus knocking"

- A NEW NAME?... angie this' for you! -

today the girls got up & as they were playing i began to hear, "zachary?", "hey zachary, what are you doing?", "want to play with me zachary?", etc. - knowing that it was just the 3 bear cubs in the bedroom & there were no zachary's in there i went to investigate - i asked kiara, "who is zachary?" - kiara said, "it's my friend (& pointed to karleigh)" - i said, "why are you calling her zachary?" - kiara said, "mooooooom, because she's been karleigh waaaaaay too long!"

- THANK YOU KARLEIGH -

out of all our kids, karleigh by far & going away seems to be the most remorseful of any of them when she disobeys - she's ALWAYS without fail, the one that comes back to me (either right after 'the situation' has happened, or before she goes to bed & apologizes for whatever it was that she did that day, says she'll try really hard not to let it happen again & then always asks for my forgiveness) - tonight we were in the van & i was on the phone & chaos was running wild in the back seat - they all received a stern talking to when the conversation ended & they also got their new sunglasses taken away from them on the ride home (& i made sure to turn as many times as i could to let that good 'ole sun do some shinin' in too!) - we got home & she went on & on to me about how sorry she was & how she didn't act the way god would've wanted her to, etc. - she explained that "when mommy's on the phone, we're all to be quiet for you" - i just think it's sweet that she's already thinking of other peoples feelings & it's not just to get out of trouble (we get lots of apologies that way by all of them!), but it's sincere - thank you karleigh, that means a lot!!

- LOOK WHAT WE FOUND! -

look what we found! - well, we found exactly what we're looking for & it's on ebay, but still has like 6 days to go - we can't take out a loan due to us getting our new home mortgage pre-approval (that's one of the requirements is to NOT get a loan until we close on the new house... bummer!) - spike said if we'd the money to get this, then we'd just turn around & sell my mini van which we've only had 1 year & it was bought new, due to him knowing we could get enough money out of it to pay for this one - mine's got VERY low miles & is in excellent condition, but i can't sell it until i've something else to drive (stuck between a rock/hard place)

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whenever the time comes that we do get one, it'll be something like this as it's got cloth seats (that's exactly what we've got now & what we're looking for!), it's got enough room for 12 people & even plenty of room for my strollers, etc. - go to ebaymotors.com & then in the search bar type in 150227384361 & you'll see it & what all it's got - oh my goodness!!

- WHAT DO YOU WATCH ON TV? -

here are our family favs!! - every night we manage to watch leave it to beaver, little house on the prairie & andy griffith & the girls love it! - it's almost a nightly thing as sit down to dinner sometime from 5-7pm & these are the best things on - when leave it to beaver's coming on, karleigh says, "& jerry mathers as... the beaver!" as she's seen it so many times

- RAINY DAY/NIGHT -

well, i'm off to bed as it's been raining here most of the day & so far all evening - it's 12:30am & i'm bushed - got to carpool tomorrow, run errands & clean this house - continue to be praying for this place to sell - right now there's 6 of us living here & will be 7 in a few months & it's cramped now! - thanks & nite all

- WHAT I WISH FOR YOU... -

we tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse - for my grandchildren, i'd like better - i'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes, homemade ice cream & leftover meat loaf sandwiches - i really would - i hope you learn humility by being humiliated & that you learn honesty by being cheated - i hope you learn to make your own bed, mow the lawn & wash the car - i really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you're sixteen - it'll be good if at least one time you can see puppies born & your old dog put to sleep - i hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in - i hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister - it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, i hope you let him - when you want to see a movie & your little brother/sister wants to tag along, i hope you'll let him/her - i hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends & that you live in a town where you can do it safely - on rainy days when you have to catch a ride, i hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your mom - if you want a slingshot, i hope your dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one - i hope you learn to dig in the dirt & read books - when you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add & subtract in your head - i hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy\girl & when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like - may you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove & stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole - i don't care if you try a beer once, but i hope you don't like it - if a friend offers you dope or a joint, i hope you realize he's not your friend - i sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your grandma/grandpa & go fishing with your uncle - may you feel sorrow at a funeral & joy during the holidays - i hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window & that she hugs you & kisses you at Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand - these things i wish for you - tough times & disappointment, hard work & happiness - to me, it's the only way to appreciate life - written with a pen, sealed with a kiss, i'm here for you & if i die before you do, i'll go to heaven & wait for you - send this to all of your friends - we secure our friends, not by accepting favors, but by doing them... paul harvey

- HORTON HEARS A WHO -

well, it was a big HIT! - we took all the girls to see the movie last night & they had a blast - they'd been anticipating seeing it since they heard it was coming out & they were beside themselves all day yesterday waiting on 4:00 to come as that's when they knew we were leaving - we got there, grabbed popcorn & sodas & we were off to find seats - they sat there just giggling, waiting on the previews to end so horton would come on the big screen - all in all it was a fun evening had by all!!

- THE BAPTIST CHURCH -

a very proper lady began planning a week's camping vacation for her & her baptist church group - she wrote to a campground for reservations - she wanted to make sure that the campground was fully equipped & modern, but couldn't bring herself to write the word 'toilet' in her letter - so, she decided on the old-fashioned term 'bathroom commode' - once written down she still wasn't comfortable - finally, she decided on the abbreviation 'b.c.' & wrote, 'does your campground have its own 'b.c.?' - when the campground owner received the letter, he couldn't figure out what she meant by 'b.c.' - he showed it to several of the campers, one of whom suggested the lady was obviously referring to a baptist church since there was a letterhead on the paper, which referred to a baptist church - therefore, he sent this reply:

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dear madam, the b.c. is located nine miles from the campground in a beautiful grove of trees - i admit it's quite a distance if you're in the habit of going regularly - no doubt, you'll be pleased to know that it'll seat 350 people at one time & it's open on tuesday, thursday & sunday of each week - some folks like to take their lunch & make a day of it - the acoustics are very good, so everyone can hear even the quietest passages - it may interest you to know that my daughter met her husband there - we're also having a fund-raiser to purchase new seats, as the old ones have holes in them - unfortunately, my wife's ill & hasn't been able to attend regularly - it's been a good six months since she last went - it pains her very much not to be able to go more often - as we grow older, it seems to be more of an effort, especially in cold weather - perhaps i could accompany you the first time you go, sit with you & introduce you to all the other folks who'll be there

- WHAT CAN WE DO? -

alright, i need some brain power for this one - kiara will be 6 in may & has been with us since she was almost a year old - out of all our kids, she's the 'whiner' of the bunch & works at perfecting it daily, i'm afraid (we didn't help this, as when she came home, she was the only 'little one' & she was babied more than you can imagine by not only spike & i, but also by her older siblings dustin & brittan)

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alright, back to the story... she's in kindergarten & has been having some 'issues' there (ie: they all line up to walk to the library & on the way, she 'wanders' into other classrooms - everyday when they arrive at school, they're to write their first/last name on a clipboard, showing their attendance that day - kiara's done this since day 1, but all of a sudden, in the past few weeks, she walks in, drops her coat on the FLOOR, wanders over to the craft table, etc. & there's no rhyme/reason for this behavior - when it's story time, she'll sometimes get up & just walk over, get another book to read & totally ignore what she's being told to do!)

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i'm really getting frustrated with this as i've got 2 more behind her, mimicking what she's doing - she's also started spitting at her sisters when they don't do what she's wanting them to do - she doesn't do this to anyone else, but to them it's getting more frequent - she also makes VERY mean looking frowny faces when she's not given an answer she wants (she does this to us too) - again, her younger sisters have started too, after seeing her do it

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don't get me wrong, we're not allowing it & we jump on it every time it happens - we're also trying to take the approach of praising 'good behavior' & that's helped some, but.................. i'm wore out!!

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even though you all don't know her like we do, she's the most lovable little girl you could imagine - she's the 'mother' of the group & when she's behaving, she's a VERY big help

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as punishments, we've taken privileges away, toys away, given her an early bedtime, nap times mean sleep time & not just rest time, etc., etc., etc., but i don't feel we're making much headway... any suggestions out there for this weary mommy?? (keep in mind we've got another one coming in a few months & i'd love for this to all be behind us before that happens!!)

- NAME CHANGE!! -

well, we'd decided on D'André René for a boy & Ahniér Mirlande for a girl, but as we were having the girls tell us last night what the new baby's name would be, ruby was having a horrible time saying D'André... UGH

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with her being deaf, i know we can't always 'fix' things for her, but we just wanted to make it as easy as possible & one less thing for her to have to 'work' on - we went back to the original list & decided to use one of the other ones we loved, so it'll be:

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boy: Deon René

girl: Ahniér Mirlande

- CAN YOU HELP?? -

nope, not asking for money or a bus (alright a bus would be awesome, but that's not what i'm referring to) - our phone company just transferred over to comcast & they (CC) were nice enough to delete my voicemail (thanks CC!) & never said a word about it - we began getting phone calls from friends saying something about not being able to leave a message

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i phoned them this week asking about why i didn't receive anything, etc. & they asked for my name, address, phone number, SS#, etc. as i was in the car & didn't have my paperwork at my fingertips - i gave them all the information they asked for, only to be told, "sorry ma'am, but we don't even have you down as being a customer of ours" - "WHAT? - we didn't want to be, but we are, sorry" - i then drove home, went to get my mail, to find what you may ask............ A COMCAST BILL!!! geez

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anyhow, since i've got to create a new message, i'm wanting some ideas - something family friendly - something 'about us' & something i can insert 3 of our cell phone numbers into (whether that's at the beginning, middle or end)

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think hard & send me all you can come up with (BEEP)!