Life... or something like it

I'm not new to this whole blogging thing. I run another little blog called My Frugal Family. It was started out as a blog to show what we are doing in life to the family and friends we don't regularly see.

It turned into a whole lot of something else, which I love, but I felt we still needed something for those family members and friends we don't see much.

So, here it is, my corner on the web- Minions x 3. Those of you who know me well, know that we often call the kids our minions. Or brats, or kiddos, or kidlets, or "Hey, you!". They even respond to numbers, which is both kind of funny, and kind of scary.

I have 3 children, which are both a blessing, and at their worst, penance for past sins, I'm sure.

Raegan is our oldest. She's 13 going on way too young to be acting so old. She'll be 14 soon, and starts her high school career this upcoming fall. It scares me to no end to realize how old she's getting. She loves to read, and (to our relief), would prefer an old t-shirt and ratty jeans to a mini skirt, hairspray, and makeup.

She's a great kid, but she is a teenager. You'll hear me venting about that at times, because it has reared it's ugly head more times than not. All in all, though, we often get compared to Lorelei and Rory Gilmore from The Gilmore Girls. We laugh, we hang out, and we have fun. You know, when that teenageryness (that's a technical term I just coined) is hiding, and she's being her sweet lovable self.

Next up is our only son, and biggest challenge, Christian, or Chris for short. Chris has sever ADHD. We've had him on 8 different types of medication for ADHD, plus 3 others not specifically for ADHD. We've tried no meds, we've tried vitamins, we've tried stimulant drinks (coffee first, but he wouldn't drink it, then small doses of no sugar or low sugar energy drinks). We struggle with him.

I'm not looking for judgement or advice- I have tried just about every "trick" out there, and the only thing that keeps him in a classroom all day is medication. He's in the 5th grade this year, and slowly but surely, it's getting easier every year.

He is an amazing kid, though. In 1st grade, before he was diagnosed, he wasn't reading at all. He was unable to focus on anything long enough to learn. Within a month of starting his first type of medication, he was reading at a 3rd grade level. The kid is a sponge, he picks it all up!

Last we have Gillian, our little Silly Gilly, the lil Gilly Bean. We were calling her Gilly Bean before she was even born. Well, kind of. We decided that since we had a girl and a boy, we would be surprised in the delivery room. We had names picked for both a boy or a girl, but I was really hoping for another girl.

Gilly (never Jill. It's why I went with a G instead of a J) is a bit of a challenge herself. She's 8 right now, and acts rather young for her age. We still have issues with her doing what she's asked to do, and she has some struggles socially with other children. She's also very similar to what Chris is like, though she has never been diagnosed with ADHD. She functions in the classroom right now without resorting to medications, so at this time, we're content to let Gilly be Gilly.

She has the most amazing natural sense of humor, though. Sometimes, she reverts back to that "it sounds funny to a child, but really isn't funny at all" kind of humor when she's trying to be funny. Other times, things just come out of her mouth that make everyone stop and have a good laugh. Or, make us pull over to a gas station on Christmas Eve because Mommy just spewed soda all over her clothing, the windshield, and the review mirror. Just sayin'.

All in all, my kids are not perfect. They fight, bicker, boss each other around, and tattle. They are real kids. I won't gloss them over- sometimes, I just go in my bedroom, close the door, and hide under the covers.