The Thrown Rock

Today I went to pick up JP from school. I parked right in front of the front doors of the school where parents can pull up and park while they wait for kids. It was busy, kids everywhere. I let Zachy go inside and get JP while Taylor and I waited in the van. The boys emerged, got in the van, and strapped themselves in their seats. JP sits in the back of the van on the driver's side in his booster. I was ready to pull out when we heard a small popping sound and then the back window shattered. My first thought was someone was shooting so I yelled for my kids to get down. It was not a good feeling. Then, when no more sounds came, I looked back and saw the back window was shattered. I asked JP if he was alright because as you can see, he was right next to the shattered window. He said he was OK but scared. Taylor and Zachy were scared too. So was I!

I had them get out and I got out of the van. A mom was next to the car and asked if we were OK. Her daughters said they saw a boy throw a rock and hit our van. (Not on purpose I'm sure--just being naughty.) So the school secretary came out and talked to the boy who allegedly threw the rock. He denied it, and I was not surprised. His mom was right there with him and she said "that would be out of character for him to throw a rock." But the other two girls insisted they saw him throw the rock.

So the school took down his name and I guess the school principal will shake him down on Monday to get a confession. Will he have his Miranda rights read first? Probably not! Meanwhile I calmed down my kids, called my auto insurance company, scheduled to get a new window on Monday morning, and then I called the police. The police came out a made a report. I did this for insurance purposes but the officer said it was serious, JP could have been hurt or one of the other many kids standing by the van when the rock was thrown, and he added that if he can get the name of the rock thrower, the city will prosecute the boy if I am willing to cooperate. I said "you are kidding. He was just a kid." The officer said any child over the age of 8 can be prosecuted as a juvenile and the city will do it.

I told the officer I just want the kid (or his parents) to pay for the damage. I think it will be hard to get down to the bottom of who actually did it, but the officer and the school principal assured me that kids are easy to crack and other kids are always willing and eager to rat each other out. Nice. I don't think it is necessary to prosecute the child, but I guess it depends on how sorry he is, and whether his parents are willing to pay for the damage. We'll see.

So in the meantime we have glass all over the van, no backwindow, and a million places to be this weekend with a van that's "all jacked up" as Taylor says. Bad timing. But thankfully no one was hurt. :)

Easter

Easter is always fun with little kids. I know I am biased, but I thought Taylor was THE CUTEST girl in church today. She picked out her own shoes. She calls them "my sparkle shoes." We bought them this week and she was very irritated when I would not let her wear them earlier this week. I made her wait until today. How adorable is she?

It was very sweet in primary today. The kids were singing their song for this year, The Family Is Of God. It is a beutiful song and the lyrics are equally as beautiful. I was playing the piano while the kids were singing, and I happend to look up and saw Taylor, sitting in her pretty pink dress, singing her heart out. "God gave us families, to help us become what he wants us to be. This is how He shares His love; for the family is of God." I got so teary watching her sing that I had trouble playing the piano!

Mommy's Top 10

Today I was thinking about some of the things I've said to my kids over the last few years that I never thought I'd say. I compiled a list of some of my favorites, and here they are:

Mommy's Top 10 Things I've Said That I Never Thought I Would--

(10)"Whoever put the bugger on the window is responsible for removing it!"

(9)"Boys, don't pee on your sister!"

(8)"Taylor, get the fork out of your nose."

(7)"Anyone can look out of any window they want to in the van; no one owns a window and no one has the right to prevent anyone else from looking out of any windows."

(6)"I'd rather you throw up in your bed than on the carpet."

(5)"I hope that cricket JP ate was not covered in bugspray."

(4)"Jared, if you need to use the potty, go inside and don't just go #2 in the backyard grass."

(3)"Zachary, once something goes in the toilet, you do not never take it out!"

(2)"Why did you put that in your nose? Well, let's blow it out."

And my favorite...
(1)I love you more than anything in the whole world. And I mean it."

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

I spent this afternoon in JP's kindergarten class doing my monthly mommy volunteer time. One of my projects was to sit with the kids and help them paint yellow paint onto paper plates. I started with groups of boys. I called them three at a time. MAN--WHAT IS WRONG WITH BOYS??!?!? They were crazy, messy, sloppy, gross, obnoxious, and incredibly silly. Well, there was one boy who was not. But honestly, every single other boy--my dear son included--was like a puppy dog, bumping into everything, drooling all over the place, and leaving a trail of mess behind for someone else to clean up!!!

So, feeling like I was trying to wrangle a yellow paint tornado, I decided to switch to the girls. Without exception, the girls took forever, making sure every centimeter of their paper place was perfectly painted. They were calm, careful, but very, VERY chatty. I had to keep reminding the girls to hurry up, stop talking, and get to it. Sweet girls. We are so very different than our stinky, smelly, messy counter parts!

Pajama Party

Zachary & Taylor were invited to a school friend's birthday party. We feared they would miss it because of the strep throat, but thankfully everyone is well today. They set off to their party today in their jammies, blankets & stuffed animals in hand. How cute are they??

My Friday Night Date

Friday nights are special at our house. Every Friday night, Zachy & I have a special date together. It is our little secret...we sleep together in mommy's big bed!

A little history will help explain how this is not weird! Zachy's goal in life is to sleep with me. He always asks if he can sleep with me. He wakes me up at night requesting to snuggle in bed. Remember--this is the little boy who did not sleep through the night until he was 14 months old. As a baby, he'd wake up at least once a night, every night, just wanting to be held. This started when he was a newborn. He's always been snuggley and has loved to be held. I used to get up at night with him just to hold him for a while until he was OK to go back to bed. Apparently at nearly 5 years old, he still wants to snuggle with mommy.

So a few months ago, Zachy noticed on his normal trip upstairs to wake me up in the middle of the night that on Friday nights, daddy Jared is down in the office on the computer all hours of the night. I think Zachy got the pattern down of Friday night = daddy's in the office late, and so he seized the opportunity to sneak into bed with me. At first I would make him go back to bed, but after his persistence, I decided to just let the poor child sleep with me. Eventually, Zachy asked if he could go to bed with me on nights when daddy is in the office on the computer. I said yes, and thus began our Friday night dates.

All week he asks "is today Friday?" Once he knows it is Friday, he will look at me, smile, and wink. He knows what that means. So, at night we put Taylor to bed, then JP goes to bed. Then, Zachy and I sneak quietly to mommy's room. We snuggle, talk, read, sometimes watch TV together, and eventually, say prayers and turn out the lights. We go to sleep. Eventually daddy Jared comes to bed and I carry the sleeping boy downstairs to his bed.

We love our little Friday night dates. Zachy LOVES me; truly, deeply LOVES me. He tells me I'm pretty, always wants to sit in my lap, hold my hand, and even thanks me for making his lunch or says "mommy, you did a fantastic job cleaning the kitchen!" Zachy always makes me feel so wanted and appreciated, and I have to admit, I simply adore him too!!! Who could ask for a better Friday night date than this cute little guy?

Trying to figure out how to post pictures..

This is where you will find my boys doing their favorite activity...playing Star Wars Legos on the PlayStation 2. The LOVE it and could spend hours doing it if I let them. Somtimes I admit, I DO let them!!

The Overlooked Old Man

I had a man come to see me at work because his uncle was just moved from the VA hospital to a nursing home and the nephew needed a power of attorney for the uncle. Nephew wanted to get the man on the state medicaid program to pay for uncle's care. The nephew is the closest relative to the old man, and I can tell the nephew means well but does not intend to have much of a relationship with his uncle after the move to the nursing home is complete. The nephew wants to do his duty as a nephew, get the uncle moved into the nursing home, be reimbursed for his expenses, and send his uncle an annual Christmas card---and that's about it.

So I set out to do what I was hired to do. I went and visited the elderly uncle in the nursing home to see if he was competent to execute a power of attorney. Now, it is never fun to go to a nursing home. They smell, and they are sad. Old people go there to be housed until they die. That is the truth. But I go anyway, briefcase in hand, to meet the uncle of my client. I wander the hall until I find his room. I find him in his bed, feet sticking out from under his blanket. I introduce myself to him and we start talking. What a sweet man he is! He is a vet, and served in combat in WWII. His wife of over 50 years died a few years ago. She had severe diabetes so they never had any children. He is alone; no family near but for this one nephew who is my client.

We chat for a while. I asked him all about his life, his family, his late wife, his service in the military. As we talk, he occasionally has a tear stream down his cheek. I think I was the first person to talk to him in a long, long time. I asked him my competency evaluation questions, and after I knew he was competent to do his estate planning, so I took notes on his wishes. I drafted his documents and went back the next day to have him sign his documents.

Here's the sad part. He owns a run-down little mobile home and has basically no money. He lives only on his social security income which is not much. He is physically pretty well so I do not think he will pass the medical screening to qualify for the state medicaid program, which is the only way he could afford the $5,200 a month to stay in the nursing home. He actually thinks the nursing home is pretty nice. He has activitieis to keep him busy, his food is made for him, and they even have a barber shop right there so he can keep his hair trimmed. Unfortunatley, he does not have the money himself to pay for him to stay there. His family is not going to pitch in and pay for him to stay there. So what will happen to this sweet, old man? He cannot stay in the nursing home. He's not ready to die, not terminally ill, and is physically quite well. Medicare, Medicaid, nor hospice will pay for his stay in the nursing home. But there's no one to take care of him, and he should not live alone. What will happen to him when the nursing home kicks him out when he cannot pay the bill to stay there? And honestly, who will care?

So, I have taken it upon myself to help him. I cannot sleep at night thinking of this sweet, old man who no one cares about. I've contacted the VA up in Prescott and am working with the social worker there to apply for him to receive VA benefits. If he can get approved, he will get a little money each month that can hopefully pay for a caregiver to come to his house, help him, do some cleaning, errands, etc. I am getting him connected with local government offices to help him with meals-on-wheels, activities for elderly adults, etc. I am getting in touch with his church to see if I can get him a schedule of visitors to look in on him on a regular basis. (If he went to my church, he'd be taken care of for sure!) And you know what, I'm going to put it on my calendar to call him once a month to check on him.

Now I was only hired by the nephew to do a power of attorney and submit the man's application with the state medicaid program. That is all I "have" to do. But how can I just let this man, who has no one else, just be lost in the system without anyone looking out for him? As the old saying goes, what would Jesus do?????

Givin' It a Try

So my brother does it. My sister-in-law does it. My niece does it. Even my mom gave it a try. Now I thought I'd try it myself...blogging. Welcome to the Phelan Phamily Phun blog. My hope is that it will give me a forum for showcasing my adorable kids, expressing my thoughts, and sharing it all with the world...or anyone interested. I will admit I'm not quite a techy, so I'm sure it will take me a while to get this figured out. But here goes....

Today was not so "phun." The boys have been not feeling 100% for a while, but I knew today a Dr visit was needed when I saw JP's horribly disfigured neck. Zachy had a fever and hives, so we all made a fun trip to the pediatrician. I did not threaten to kill anyone or leave the office crying, so all in all, it was one of our better visits to the doctor. (Sometime I'll share with you the drama of some of our prior visits!) The diagnosis was two boys with strep throat. Poor guys. Now they are on the blessed antibiotics so things should improve. Unfortunately, we get to wait and see if little Taylor gets it or not. I'm sure she'll let us know the second she's not feeling well. She's pretty good about that!