RAD is UGLY

We've been struggling the past few days with our sweet daughter who sometimes can display significant symptoms of RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder).

Things have been getting MUCH worse the past 5 months, since we have been living apart from Papa.  Then ... things were okay during the 2 weeks that Papa vacationed with us.  Now that Papa is back home and we are On The Road again, the behaviors are escalating.

We spent 2 hours yesterday in a RAD Battle, while trying to pack up and get back on the road.  (Due to the RAD Battle, we had to miss seeing the Oklahoma Bombing Memorial, and we were late for lunch with the Riggs family.)

Today, I am in another RAD Battle.  All of the other kids are at the swimming pool, and Little Miss and I are in the HOT tent, working through yet another challenge.

Mama is HOT.  Mama is TIRED.  Mama is tired of "giving consequences" every day.  Mama doesn't know if she can survive another 2 weeks on the road, if we are going to have daily RAD Battles.  Mama is wishing that she could put Little Miss on an airplane and send her home to Papa.

Please keep this in your prayers.

Day #20: Caddo Mills, TX (It's HOT here!)

You know it is  HOT when ...


...  you are sweating by 8:00 am,
     while eating breakfast.


...  you visit friends for lunch,
     and when you return to your van
     you discover that the glue holding
     on your rearview mirror has melted,
     and your mirror has fallen off the windshield.


...  when you arrive at your friends house,
     you go to give them a big hug and they say,
     "Sorry ... I stink".


...  you go swimming 3 times in 1 day,
     for a total of 4+ hours,
     and you wish you'd had more time in the pool.


...  you go swimming at 9:00 pm,
     and 5 minutes after getting out of the pool,
     you are dried off, without using a towel
     (except, of course, for the profuse
      sweating that never stops).


...  at 11:00 pm, the temp. has "cooled down"
     to only 87 degrees.


...  at 11:00 pm, you are sitting within inches of the fan,
     and you still have sweat dripping down your face.


...  you are glad that tomorrow will be "cooler";
     as it's only supposed to reach 99 degrees, 
     rather than this afternoon's 107.


...  you can't believe you have to wait until 9:30 am
     to go swimming again, and you think the 
     campground pool should be open 24/7,
     because you might actually go swimming
     at 3:00 am.


...  you wonder who came up with the brilliant idea
     to go camping in Texas in August 
     without air conditioning.




Seriously ... NOT complaining tonight, just laughing at how ridiculously HOT it is here in Caddo Mills (NE of Dallas).  While it was HOT in Oklahoma the past 2 days, it did cool down a bit faster in the evenings.  We were able to sleep by midnight.  So, tonight, we just sit here waiting for the "cool down", hoping that we might be able to sleep from 2 - 6 am.

Days #18 & 19: Bloggy Friends in Oklahoma

Day #18 ... Drive ... Drive ... Drive ... Drive ...


Mama drove 600 miles, and Kati drove 640.  It was a long day ... a very long day.  We left the Carlsbad KOA Campground at 9:00 a.m., and pulled into the Oklahoma City (East) KOA Campground at 10:30 pm.  (We changed time zones, so it was actually a 12.5 hour drive, rather than 13.5 hours.)


But, overall, it was a good day.  The kids traveled really well, for such a long day.  We found a really nice park to stop at for lunch.  We splurged on Subway sandwiches for dinner.  (Can't beat the $5.00 Foot-longs, shared between 2 people.)


Even though we pulled in LATE last night, it was HOT and MUGGY.  Oh my!  (It had been 99 degrees here earlier in the day, and it was still HOT at 10:30.)  But, we were so tired that we all fell right to sleep, and slept well.


Oh yea ... yesterday was my wedding anniversary, too.  Papa and I have been married for 28 years!  Oh my!  Didn't have time on my 600 mile day to write a sweet and romantic blog post about all of the ways that I love dear Papa.  But ... I think that, by now, most of you know that he is one amazing husband and father, and the Lord has BLESSED our 28 years together.






Day #19  ...  A FUN Day!  Yeah!


We all slept in a bit, and then had a leisurely breakfast.  The children enjoyed the KOA swimming pool this morning, while I caught up on emails.


At 11:15, we hopped on the freeway and headed North a ways ... destination the Smith Family Farm.  We met Linda and family on our Road Trip last year, and were so excited to be able to visit with them again.  Charlie grilled up a yummy BBQ lunch, and then Linda and I visited all afternoon, while the children swam in their pool.  (As we were driving away, I realized that Linda and I had been so busy visiting, that we hadn't taken any pictures of our children playing with each other.  Oh dear!  So sad!)


Back to the KOA for dinner, and more swimming afterwards.  Mama even put aside her computer work for awhile and joined the kids in the pool for an hour or so.


After the young ones headed to bed (VERY tired after a HOT day in the sun and 3+ hours in the swimming pool), Mama and Ben headed to the KOA Laundry Room.  It was definitely time to get caught up on the dirty clothes.  We enjoyed a quiet evening in the air-conditioned lodge, editing pictures, catching up on emails, talking with family on the phone, and taking care of the laundry in and amongst all of the other "stuff" we got caught up on.  Overall, it was a very productive evening.


I must head back to my hot tent now, to get some rest.  It's 12:30am, and we have a driving day tomorrow.  However, in the middle of our driving day ... we are so looking forward to lunch with the Riggs Family.  Then ... off to Texas we head, to visit the Blocks ... and on to Louisiana to visit the Wright Family.  Yes ... this is Bloggy Friend Week for our Road Trip.


I am writing in Real Time, now.  Hopefully I'll have good internet connections for the rest of the trip, so I can keep up-to-date with my blogging.


Lots of blog posts running through my head ... just need a few hours to write them all down.  But, sometimes we Mamas just need to jump into the swimming pool with the kids, rather than writing blog posts.


Hope you are all enjoying following along on another one of Mama's Crazy Adventures.

Day 17: Carlsbad Canyon Nat'l Park, New Mexico

Another WOW day!

In 1 minute,

an elevator took us

750+ feet down into the earth,

to experience life in an

8 acre Cavern.

We were sad, though, that the "Bat Show" was cancelled

at the last minute, because of lightening in the area.

Every night, 100's of thousands of bats fly out of the caverns.

I've seen it before, but was so looking forward to having

Kati and the younger kids see it.  (Elijah and Josiah

were just 4 & 6 when we were here in 2006.)

More Junior Ranger patches were earned.

Another stamp was added to our new

National Parks Passport Book.

So cool!

Our kids had a good question for me today, 

so I told them to ask a Ranger.  

Do any of you know why some places 
are called National PARKS, 

while others 
are called National MONUMENTS?  

Yesterday, we were at White Sands, which is a Nat'l Monument.

Today, we were at Carlsbad Caverns, which is a Nat'l Park.

The answer is quite interesting.

Day #16: Sledding in New Mexico

Don't worry, I didn't skip a day.

Day #15 was "Do Over?" Day.

While not on our itinerary ...

YES 

... we went SLEDDING.

Oh my!  So fun!

Have you ever gone sledding

in 95 degree weather?

Wow!!!

Did you read the sign?

It says, "White SANDS".

Yes ... 

we were SLEDDING ...

on SAND DUNES.

We have never visited sand dunes before.

It was simply amazing!

More Junior Ranger patches were earned.

Have any of you ever visited White Sands before?

Did you go sledding?

Day #14: Under Water in Phoenix, AZ

We spent 2 days with our former Children's Ministry Director, in Phoenix.  Pastor Barb always has a lot of FUN things planned.


In addition to ...


...  swimming in the 107 degree weather.


...  watching fun kid's movies.


...  eating YUMMY things.


...  going to the ice cream parlor

     (and Starbucks for Papa & Mama).




Pastor Barb thought the kids needed to take some pics with her underwater digital camera.  

Oh my!  Too fun!

  

  

  

    

We Came Upon ...

Snow in August?!?!

(If you remember, we were surprised by snow

 in September, in Colorado, on our last Road Trip.  

But ... we certainly weren't expecting it this year.)

Where are we?!?!

Day #13: Route 66 in Williams, AZ

On our way to and from the Grand Canyon, we enjoyed the fun little town of Williams, AZ.

If you are not familiar with it ... Route 66 (I believe) was the first major interstate highway, that ran from Chicago to Los Angeles.  Many of the towns along that original route have stayed true to their 1950's heritage.

Here are a couple of pics from Williams ...

Papa & I got a Chocolate Dipped Soft Serve Vanilla Cone.

Yummm ....

Do Over?

Oh my ... can I call a do over?  

Or just erase today from history?  

Can we start today over?  

Or forget it ever happened?

First of all, I didn't get to bed until midnight, because I needed to print out m*pquest directions for the rest of our trip, and I was having serious printer problems.

Then, after less than 5 hours of sleep, I woke up at 5:00 am and lay there until 7:00, when we needed to get up.

While I did a very similar trip last year, with basically the same group of children (minus Carissa ... add Kati), last night I really had to take a deep breath and prepare myself mentally for the weeks ahead.  It had been so good to have Papa with us, that I didn't know if I was ready to head out for 3 more weeks with just the children.  I'm sure that was why I was wide awake at 5:00 am, as well.

We packed the van and headed out at 8:15.

We picked up water, Ice, and gas at the grocery store,  

and got back on the road by 8:30.

We dropped Papa off at the Phoenix airport at 9:00,

and said our sad "Good-byes".

Then, we were back on the freeway ...

and headed to New Mexico,

hoping and praying for a good day,

and a great rest of the trip.

Today ... 

...  great??? 

... not so much.

How much fighting and bickering can take place between 2 children sharing a 3 person bench seat?  It's not that they didn't have room to spread out.  

How many times should Mama have to say, 

"PLEASE behave yourself!"

"If you continue this behavior, 
there will be consequences."

"You really won't enjoy watching all of us swim, 
when we get to the campsite."

(That was my FULL intention ... 
until a thunder and lightening storm 
curtailed any swimming activities.)

How many thunder, lightening, and rain storms 

can you drive through in the course of 400 miles?  

Several.

How many children lost the privilege of eating lunch,

because of direct disobedience?  Only 5.

(Don't worry, I didn't starve them ... 

I just changed their eating options for the afternoon.)

How lost can you get in the town of Las Cruces, NM ... 

while looking for the W*l-Mart 

that you saw from the freeway?  Very lost.

After all of that ...

...  we drove around town looking for a place 

      to fill up our propane tank.  Struck out.  

...  got to the KOA, and saw that they sell propane.  

     But, it was "too late to buy propane tonight". 

     (It was 6:00.)

...  we couldn't cook dinner,

      and had to settle for sandwiches.

...  we had more direct disobedience,

      from 3 of the children.

...  Mama gave out more consequences.

...  we had more thunder, lightening, and rain.

     (BUT ... praising Jesus that we got the

      tent trailer set up just minutes before

      it started pouring rain.)

...  Mama got out the basket of pajamas

     for everyone to get ready for bed,

     only to discover that someone had thrown

     a wet pair of dirty underpants directly onto

     Mama's clean pajamas.  What else?!?!

Tonight ...

...  we are THANKFUL for wireless internet.  Yea!

...  the children are learning how to "sit quietly".

     They may practice for an hour or two.

...  while the children sat quietly,

     and I wrote this blog post,

     we didn't realize that we had a serious

     WATER PROBLEM!

...  I still sit and type,

     numb from the problems of today,

     while Ben gets the toolbox,

     and Kati grabs towels.

...  oh dear.  This problem is too big to ignore.

      Mama gets involved.  Mama calls Papa.

     There is a LOT of water in our trailer.

...  after the water is cleaned up,

     Papa calls on skype, and has a "little chat"

    with the 3 children that have gone far beyond

    "a bit" of disobedience.

...  after the conference call with Papa,

     Mama discovered that one of the dear children

    was resting his head on the full loaf of bread

    that Mama just bought today.  Guess we'll

    have very interestingly shaped sandwiches tomorrow.

Mama is tired tonight.  Very. Very. Tired.

Off to try to sleep in our very hot, wet, humid, 

stinky, tent trailer.  

Tomorrow is a new day .....

Day #13: Grand Canyon, AZ

WOW!

WOW!!  WOW!!

WOW!!!  WOW!!! WOW!!!

How many times can you 

say "WOW!" in one day?

Words cannot adequately describe,

nor do my pictures do justice,

to the 

AWESOMENESS

of 

GOD'S CREATION

in the 

GRAND CANYON.

Mama had to remind the Big Boys (Papa & Ben)

multiple times to "Be Careful, PLEASE."

Just a couple of weeks ago a 19 yr. old young

man fell off the ledge right where we were at.

More Junior Ranger patches earned.

Day #12: Uncle Claud in Carpinteria, CA

After church in Santa Barbara,

with Jeremiah and Ashleigh ...

we picked up my 101 year old Great-Uncle Claud,

in Carpinteria, and took him out to lunch.

It was AMAZING to spend time with someone

who has lived for over 100 years.

Truly Amazing!!!

He is still quite mentally sharp,

and pretty physically fit.

I got an email from my Cousin Linda today, reporting that Uncle Claud had told her that my children were the best behaved group he'd ever seen.  And, he was a school teacher and principal for MANY years.  I think he enjoyed himself.

His Handiwork

"The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of His hands."

Psalm 19:1-3

I took these pics while Papa was driving 

65 mph down the highway last night, 

after leaving the Grand Canyon.

As I took a series of pics,

this scripture came to mind.

Day #11: Refugio State Park (Santa Barbara)

Despite the fact that Jeremiah and Ashleigh kept assuring us that this was the WORST summer on record as far as Southern California summer weather (and despite the fact that the state park worker wanted us to pay $50 for our "bus load" of people), we had a BEAUTIFUL day at the beach, last Saturday.