Our little Kayley is growing up. Next year she’ll be a junior in high school, soon she will have her driver’s license, and today she started her first job! Kayley got a job at the brand new Sonic opening in July right across the street from her high school. She started her training today at one of the other Sonics. When she came home she was completely wiped out but I convinced her to let me take this picture of her.

There’s a couple from our church that I’d like to introduce to you. Their names are Ken and Tanya Keifer. They lost their 18 month-old son, Will, a few years ago to cancer. Will left behind his twin sister, Grace, and Ken and Tanya have since welcomed another beautiful daughter, Hannah. What makes their story so special is that through their grief they were able to find hope. Not only hope for their own family, but hope for each and every other family who is somehow affected by childhood cancer.

Ken and Tanya have moved through their grief in a big way. Shortly after the loss of their son they rallied together a community of cyclists in Sacramento, CA and committed to raising public awareness and funds for childhood cancer research. Wednesday of this week they completed their second Ride To Reach The Day ride from San Francisco to Washington D.C. Over 3,000 miles they completed in 10 days.

The team started their 10-day ride on June 16^th. After their rally at the capitol, they were on their way!

During their ride they made various stops at local children’s hospitals, visiting children and raising spirits. At each stop the children were asked to sign their jerseys as inspiration and motivation.

They saw beautiful scenery throughout the country. Here they are in Colorado:

And finally, after 10 long days and nights, the team celebrated their accomplishment by dipping their bikes in the water at Sandy Pointe State Park in Maryland, followed by a time of prayer.

If you are interested in learning more about the most recent Ride To Reach The Day tour across the country, you can click here . Be sure to start at Day 1 and work through chronologically to Day 10.

To learn more about Team Will and/or to make a donation, please see their website.

You can’t be a close friend of Reed and me without knowing that our favorite restaurant is Jardin Del Rey in Leander, Texas. Since we first got together in February of 2004 that has been “our place.” We love it because it’s close, it’s good, it’s a quaint little atmosphere, and the two of us can eat for less than $15 (and that’s includes big enough portions that the two little ones can eat off our plates). Their salsa is to die for! It’s the perfect blend of onions, tomatoes, garlic and lots of cilantro! If we were to pick one single reason we frequent this restaurant so much, it would be the salsa.

Lately, though, our favorite little restaurant has begun to disappoint us. Our most frequent visit was last night. We stopped in for a quick bite to eat before Kayley’s volleyball game. The first thing we noticed was the sauna-like atmosphere when we walked in. Luckily, our favorite server was there and he directed us to his section. But, at the entrance to our favorite server’s section was a hand-written notice informing us that the air conditioning unit in that section was no longer working. We opted for the cooler patio over our favorite server.

As we were being seated I was disgusted by sticky grime on the back of the chairs and tabletop. The highchair they brought us was even worse and the “safety” latch did not work. The menus were also sticky and worn. This is not the first time we’ve noticed how dirty this place has become. The dining room was equally as filthy. If you are going to eat there, don’t look at the intake vents or you will surely lose your appetite altogether. Reed and I eat there about once a week and we always have to make sure Olivia does not touch the blinds or window seals because of the layers of dust. Yet we continue to return. It’s our place and it’s difficult to give up on it.

Today I searched the Williamson County Public Health Department website and found the latest inspection scores for our favorite restaurant. If you go here and key in Jardin Del Rey in Leander you can see the scores for yourself. Surprisingly during their last inspection they received a perfect score, but only after receiving 29 out of 30 possible demerits just a month prior.

We’ll give it another chance and if they don’t get their act together Reed and I will be forced to stake out a new favorite, local spot. Come on, Jardin!!! We’re rooting for you!

I’ve decided that the Frank family calendar is going to change. Well, at least during the summer while I’m off work. From now on Monday is going to be Oneday. I mean I say it all the time; it’s about time I make it all official.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said to either myself or my husband, “One day I’m going to straighten out that desk.” Or “One day I’m going to take pictures of all my maternity clothes so I can eBay them.” Or “One day I’m going to make that appointment for Reed so there’s no fear of needing the maternity clothes that I’m going to eBay…one day.” You get the idea.

Here, just off the top of my head are some of those Oneday items:

1. Organize the MOUNTAINS of paperwork that have taken over my husband’s desk. He reminds me of this weekly…how his work desk is no longer usable because, well, you can’t even see the desk anymore. I think what he forgets is that included in that mountain of paperwork are copies of his paystubs, travel magazines, medical receipts for the children, all our monthly utility bills, etc. What I’m getting at is that he seems to conveniently leave out forget that he is part of the mountain.
2. Wash, iron, photograph and list on eBay all my maternity clothes, as well as all the kids’ clothes that they have outgrown. I am sitting on at a minimum $400 worth of name brand, designer clothing and I’m talking eBay value here.
3. Although I’ve been told that I waited too long now because of the summer heat, I MUST get out in the garage and organize all the items I’ve tossed out there for a garage sale. Several weeks ago I endured record temperatures in the sweltering garage and ALMOST had the entire thing ready so that I could start pricing things. As my luck would have it, a large thunderstorm (aka Kim’s Big Black Cloud) came rolling into town and all the weather stations warned of golf ball-size hail so we all ran into the garage and chucked stuff (literally) against one side of the garage so that we could squeeze (again, literally) my van inside. Chalk up 4 new scratches to that night. Once we backed the van out, the mountain collapsed like a giant fisher price and household knick-knack landslide…and has not been touched since. As a side note, I found a lady in town who will come to your house and do the ENTIRE garage sale for you. I’ve been to several that she has organized and they are extremely well set up. She sets up covered canopies, puts out signs with balloons, prices everything and conducts the entire garage sale while you float leisurely in the neighborhood swimming pool sipping pina coladas. The catch? She keeps half of the profits. For me I say, “Cool!!!” But my hubby says otherwise. I think it would totally be worth it because at this point I’m ready to GIVE the stuff away. Hubby, however, feels that if we leave the children unattended in the house just long enough to find the Clorox Bleach, metal sticks, and unsecured electrical outlets work together that we can get it done pretty quickly and keep all the profits. I want to beat adore my husband.  
4. Several Onedays from now when my husband’s desk is cleared, I must either start sending my brother/sister-in-law’s boxes back to California or find a new spot for them back in our (knock on wood, cross my fingers, pray to the Clean Sweep Gods) newly cleaned-out garage. Right now it takes up 1/4^th of our front room and it’s the first thing people see when they walk into our house and I’ve “oneday’d” it for 5 months now too long.
5. OMG, if I don’t “put Olivia’s baby back together” as she asks me daily I am going to throttle myself! I have several layers of paint on it but still have to do the details on the face and add the eyelashes and hair. Oh, and stuff and sew the body together. I’ve already purchased a dress for Olivia that has a matching dress for her baby and at the rate I’m going I’ll have to pray one of my children has a daughter of their own that can wear it! The dress is a 3T, Olivia is a 2T and growing. That must be a Oneday, soon!
6. Figure out why the heck our online banking software NEVER balances with our bank statement. I swear to you I’ve gotten so frustrated with it that I’ve threatened to throw the computer through the window on numerous occasions. Olivia always seems so disappointed when I don’t follow through so I suppose I should make sure she’s not around when I balance our checkbook anymore…or send her to a neighbors when I actually do throw it. Don’t laugh, but I have also SERIOUSLY considered closing my account and starting all freaking over so there’s no way it can be off. I’ve never had a problem balancing my checkbook before!! It MUST be the software. J
7. Child locks. We MUST install them! My youngest son tosses all our Tupperware containers in the trashcan, pots and pans become stepping stones, and if you need a Ziploc baggie, try looking under the sofa or between the cushions. And if at any time you are in our home and think you’ve just seen a mouse, chances are it’s merely an unwrapped tampon which you’ll find scattered around, hanging from ceiling fans, or lurking in corners. At this point I think a hysterectomy would be cheaper than purchasing all the feminine products we have to replace each month!
8. Replace the pool key that has been missing since July 4^th, 2007. I know the neighbors are tired of us asking them to let us in and Olivia is worn out from all the times we’ve made her climb the fence!
9. In an hour or so The next time I catch Carson shredding the wrappers off the condoms that he keeps managing to find, I MUST make that dang appointment for Reed!!! My husband obviously only knows how to use the phone for personal calls is too busy during the work day to make the call himself. Thank goodness I had the time to make my own dang OB appointments during two LONG pregnancies!! With each passing day, the $700 payment we will have to make at the time of the procedure seems more and more attainable. Pregnancy or food for a month?? Hmmm…ice can be really tasty on a hot day and I’ve heard a family of 12 once survived for two weeks on one can of beans and a bag of Sour Patch Kids!
10. Fix the fence that blew down 2 weeks ago.
11. Sign Olivia up for Pre School and dance lessons.
12. Organize the bucu boxes of photo’s from over the years. I actually managed to find Reed and my wedding pictures that we haven’t seen for over three years now while cleaning the garage. I really need to put them all in an album rather than the diaper boxes they are currently stored in.  
13. Make time to actually write all the blogs that are swimming around in my head…driving me crazy because they need to come out.
14. Actually mail the birthday, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day cards and gifts for my in-laws. (I’m AWFUL about that!!)
15. My list could go on and on and Oneday I’ll finish it. I’ll leave you with some inspiration for myself, and a good laugh for you:

Today I’d like to discuss a problem that has been slowly creeping up on American society and I, personally, am fed up. I might as well just get it out in the open, every one else is. It’s this dang crack issue that really has me worked up today. It’s becoming more and more visible…no one even tries to hide the problem anymore. I see it everywhere I go and it’s not just the teenagers!! Today IN church a married woman with her children sitting on either side of her…just two rows in front of me…made absolutely no effort to hide her crack problem and I thought, “This has gone too far.” What has happened in America that we no longer have any humility, pride, or concern for those behind us???

Seriously, folks. I will say that low-rise jeans are much more attractive than the old 80’s style where you fastened your belt under your armpits, but only until you sit down. At that point it becomes a danger to society. Who can maintain focus on their Pastor’s thought-provoking message about Joy when a human buttcrack is staring them straight in the face? How many times have you found yourself in the grocery store searching for your favorite brand of canned tomatoes when your vision is blurred by a 400 pound woman reaching for something on the bottom shelf? I sit on the floor at story time every Wednesday with my kids and, out of sheer boredom, count cracks. My poor son has been exposed to more nudity at the age of 14 months than any 16 year-old with a Playboy subscription. It’s unbelievable how wide-spread this problem has become. Eww…and the wide-spread problems are the worst of all!!

I think it’s high time someone comes up with a cure for this new-age crack problem. For starters, I think we should ban all open-backed chairs. Women should be forced to carry long metal claw tools in the event that they should drop something. Perhaps the fashion designers can add a no slip grip rubber seam around the waistband. If that doesn’t work, why not install a wire sensor in the lining of the butt-floss underwear that will set off an alert siren if exposed to the open air?? And if all else fails…someone else came up with the perfect invention below:

You’d have to have read my “Our Children Are So Gifted” blog to understand this:

We just got back from Chick-fil-A where they have a little playscape. The playscape is enclosed behind glass walls. Reed and Kayley and I were sitting at our table watching Olivia playing with other younger children. Olivia keeps looking around at the other children as if she’s trying to figure something out. Finally she comes to the door, opens it, and announces, “Mom! It smells like baby bear in here!!!”

We almost made our own baby bears laughing so hard!!

Or in this case, limes…

Don’t be without your camera…

Or you’ll really regret it..

Reed and I are both lucky and proud that all six of our children have above average intelligence. Jacqui has been taking tests to earn college credit while she’s still in high school and is a very talented musician. Kayley is taking advanced high school courses and is an extremely talented athlete with hopes of a volleyball scholarship. Lindsay is in the Gifted and Talented Program at school and has a sense of humor and knack for acting that could probably take her far. Noah has never made less than an A and was just accepted into the Gifted and Talented Program and is a most excellent football player…watch out NFL! And Carson can throw an Elmo figure 20 feet across the room, can walk just as far, and is already talking WAY more than any other baby we have had.

You may have noticed that I skipped Olivia. Olivia has a special talent. A few days ago she made her very first poop into her own little potty. It was a stressful moment. She’s been peeing in the potty now for well over a week…she just goes on her own without any prompting. But a few days ago she asked for a diaper. I asked her if she had to poop and she said “no.” Knowing better, I took her to the potty and she screamed and cried and locked her knees so she wouldn’t be forced to sit down on it. I do not understand why so many children are afraid of pooping on the potty!! It seems to me to be the MUCH more hygienically superior choice…not to mention comfortable.  Kids would rather poop in a diaper where it immediately becomes welded to their back-side than sit on a toilet. But I digress.

Finally after the promise of not one, but TWO packages of Dora Gummies, Olivia made her first deposit. We hooted and hollered and gave several high-fives!! Then, as if being tragically drawn to an accident scene, she gradually inched back toward the potty…daring to peek in. Her timid little expression slowly gave way to surprise, and then excitement. “I made a baby bear!!” she exclaimed! Stifling a laugh I half sarcastically responded with, “You are very talented!” “Yes! Thank you!!” she says. Like a potter sculpts the clay with his bare hands, our Olivia….well, anyway.

Yes, I will admit that for a split second I debated taking an actual photograph of it because, I have to say, it did actually look like a baby bear. Am I awful or what. But I refrained so this blog will have to suffice as memory enough for how incredibly talented our children are.

We are so blessed! 

Sorry, I had to make my Ex’s blog private because someone decided to email a link to it through their yahoo email account…I can’t imagine to who? Guess I’ll be starting that anonymous blog after all…and I know JUST what the first topic will be!!

What? You wanted more??

All my ex’s live in Texas…and oh how I wish they would move FAR away!!! OK, warning for the pure of heart…I’m totally PMS’ing this week so if you don’t want to hear another vent…stop reading.

You’re still here? OK, well don’t say I didn’t warn you. Let’s discuss for a minute the topic of ex’s. More specifically, my ex. I can’t even explain to you how sick and tired I am of his wacky bi-polar behavior. Here’s just a brief example from the last 7 months…One afternoon I was cleaning the kitchen and Reed was off meeting with his boss. My phone beeped indicating I had a text message. It was from HIM and it simply said “19.” He is so odd, I had no idea what this message was supposed to mean. I should have followed my first instinct and just ignored it like I usually do, but the fear that he would come back days later and say something like, “I TOLD you Noah needed $19! Now he’s going to be kicked out of football…” you just never know with HIM. So I bit the bullet and responded, “19??” and this is what I got back, “10/15/88.” It took me a few more seconds to realize what he was saying and I instantly got chill bumps up and down my spine…you know, the creepy kind. It turned out that that very day would have been (PAST tense!!!) our 19^th wedding anniversary. Eww! I never think of that day anymore. October 15^th comes and goes as just another day in the Frank home. As soon as Reed got home I showed him the text messages and we both got a good laugh out of it.

A few weeks later Noah’s football team made it to the championships (which they ended up winning…Go Stallions!!) and HE buys me a jersey but says Reed has to buy his own. Weird. I hated wearing that jersey just because he bought it for me. Then about a week or so after that Reed and I were sitting in our small group at church and I get a text message. I looked at it and was stunned at the nerve. The message said, “Thanks for all you do for our children. I am so sorry for all the pain I caused you. You will always have a special place in my heart. Our secret.” Reed has put up with a lot. He’s not the jealous type, we trust each other completely. But this particular text message had him boiling. Reed and I do NOT keep secrets from each other and to have someone suggest that I DO keep a secret from him…especially one of that nature…really ticked him off. But we both know that attempting to deal with this in any sort of way…with HIM, anyway…would be useless. So, once again we ignored him.

It’s obvious his current marriage is not what he thought it would be. He married one of the women (and I use that term loosely) that he cheated on me with. She was the one in high school that he could never have. He followed her to Austin and she wouldn’t give him the time of day. Now she’s stuck with him and he her…for the time being, anyway. It’s a just repayment for their sins. I have no doubt another divorce is in their future based on what the kids tell me…and based on what HE tells me about her. They fight constantly, and he is constantly telling the kids he should have never divorced me. He is living with total regret at this point. At first I was glad…serves him right…he SHOULD regret all he’s done. But now I just want him to move on with his life and leave me alone.

So, after months of being “nice” to me, it hits him one day that I am not responding to his advances. I don’t reply to his text messages or emails unless it has something to do with the kids. So he decides he’ll make me suffer a little by sending me this email…

“Kayley is going to Bryan Texas with Iessa.  Your the parent and could have stopped this but it appears you made no attempt.  I guarantee your in attention to this and other matters will have consequences.  Starting with, you can pay for Noah’s summer camp.”

He thinks Kayley is still 8 years old and doesn’t believe she’s old enough to drive to Bryan, Texas with 3 friends AND their parents. He has issues with Aissa, as do I, however I have talked at length with Kayley about it. He believes I let her go off on her own too much. Either that or he’s just using it as an excuse to get out of paying for camps that he committed in writing to pay half of. I mean he thinks his lousy $640/month is more than enough to raise 3 children. He deliberately holds a job as a toll-attendant so he doesn’t have to pay me more child support. He pays me less for 3 kids than most people get for 1!!! Anyway, he sent Kayley a text message during school hours that basically said he didn’t agree with her going and he was going to punish her and she would not like how she was going to be punished. She called me freaking out thinking he was going to physically harm her. I told her that my guess was that he was going to renege on his agreement to give her his white Ford. Kayley will get her license in a few more months and he promised to give her the car. I was right. He eventually took back the car offer as well. I responded with this:

“You have no idea what you are talking about so don’t start tossing accusations at me without all the facts. Sending Kayley threatening text messages is childish and is scaring her so why don’t you calm down, grow up, and act like an adult/parent yourself. If you would get to know your daughter, you might not be freaking out so much right now.

As for Noah’s camp…if you want to go back on your word (that I have in writing) and punish Noah because of something you perceive Kayley as doing wrong then i will try my best to explain to Noah why he can’t go to camp. Sad. I really thought you had grown out of this phase.”

The deadline for the deposit was this Sunday; I got this email on Friday. Whatta jerk. HIS response:

“So, are you dodging the issue.  Is Kayley going to Bryan or not?  I have no idea about what, explain it…  Did you give her permission to go or not?  simple question

I know my daughter, she would rather be some where else than your home, but that excuse is not going to work all the time.

My text messages to Kayley are not childish they are a concerned parent and their are consequences to the decisions she makes.

and there are consequences to decisions you make…  you can pay for Noah’s camp and many other things I’ve been paying for not in the decree.  and when the kids ask why I’ll tell em why things have changed…  you will be responsible for the crossfire about to take place….”

Ugh. See what I lived with for 15 years? Here’s my response:

“I’m not going to get into a verbal war with you. You are obviously off your medications again. I will tell you that, yes, I agreed for Kayley to ride in the car with Brianna, Ashley (from volleyball) and Aissa’s parents. Aissa is already at the game. Kayley and I have had many conversations about Aissa and I trust our daughter. She has always been honest with me so I have no reason not to trust what she says. I have no doubt that you have non-Christian friends that drink and cheat on their wives and do God knows what else, so maybe you should practice what you preach.

As for your financial threats…more power to you. You will only be hurting the kids, as usual. I do not plan on causing any “crossfire” so whatever your intentions are, YOU can explain to the kids. They know better than to think that I would be the cause of YOU no longer providing for them. They aren’t in kindergarten anymore.”

And his response:

“Wow, let’s trash George and avoid the Kayley issue and nothing gets done.  Let’s not address why Kayley prefers being away from home, lets avoid why she can’t find a balance with friends and home, lets avoid why she is allowed to stay out past 9:30 on a school night, lets just get her a car and make sure she is always gone, let’s just avoid why your a parent.

That’s how you grew up hussy, I have higher hopes for kayley!”

After I got a good laugh over the “hussy” comment I found myself furious again over his ignorance. Please tell me what 16 year-old stays at home 24/7?? Please show me a 16 year-old who doesn’t want to attend school events (like the game she was going to in Bryan), go to the movies, spend the night at friends, etc.? Please also show me a 16 year-old who attends church EVERY Sunday, attends a church small group EVERY Wednesday, gives up their entire spring break to WORK on a mission trip helping underprivileged children,  who gets up early EVERY Thursday morning to attend a church prayer group where they pray IN public, who would rather be on the volleyball court than some party, who is now willing to work and spend her OWN money just so she can go to church camp??? Why can’t he see what a good kid she is? I swear half the time I think he just doesn’t want to see it because that would mean giving me the credit for it. Instead, I am the reason she is always gone (although she’s home more than most teens I know.) I am a terrible parent and therefore the children will suffer the consequences of my behavior by not being able to go to church camp because I allowed Kayley to ride in a car with adults driving. Oh, and God forbid I allow Kayley to hang out at a friends house (3 houses down the street) until after 9:30 p.m. on a school night!! Lock me up and throw away the key!!!

Grrrrrr!!!!  Thank God we don’t have to deal with this with Reed’s ex as well anymore. She finally got the message and leaves us alone although if she’d had her way we would all be celebrating every holiday and birthday together as one big happy dysfunctional poster-family for the happily divorced…she makes the Texas polygamists seem normal. 

OK, I had to get that out there. I always feel better after a good type-written vent. I’m considering starting an anonymous blog so I can do more of it! J