What to do (venting)?

well, from the title of the post, i bet you can guess that i have a dilemma! actually i have two of them. the first is a christmas issue. i will be upfront in saying that i do not like to talk about my problems, especially money issues as i am too proud normally, but i have literally been sick to my stomache thinking about christmas. i know, gifts are not everything, but this year, we have absolutely no money for christmas. normally, my hubby gets a check from work by now, but he has not gotten it, so, i am assuming that he will not be getting one this year. you have no idea how many nights i have cried thinking of my kids waking up on christmas morning with nothing under the tree. don't get me wrong, they will not have absolutely nothing, i have gotten them a couple of things, but that's it. christmas just seemed to quietly and quickly sneak up on us. normally we live well, my hubby makes good money, but we do not have extra money to even set aside for things that may come up, mostly due to the oil prices (we live in a big, OLD house which takes tons of oil), and gas prices. so, we do not have a savings account to draw from. i am going to continue to pray and trust in God to help. i know he will supply all my NEEDS, but what about wants for your kids? oh, and did i mention exactly how many birthdays we have coming just this week alone! we have my moms on the 18th, hubby's mom on the 19th, hubby's on the 20th, and my sister jessica and daughter latoya's on the 25th. we cannot afford to buy any of them anything, nothing! i know they will understand, but it doesn't make it any easier. latoya is having a big party on monday. it is already paid for, that's the only reason she is having one. atleast it should be a good day for her. also, just a side note, my kids are eating and the bills are paid, we are not that poor, it's just the extras we don't have money for. once again, i know it could be worse, and i know presents are not everything, but they are quit a bit to 4 kids! :)

anyway, my next problem involves jordan. another sore spot with me is pointing out faults in my kids. i just plain do not like to talk about my kids faults. i do have very good kids in my eyes and normally they are fairly well behaved kids, but, they are still kids. they do the normal kid bickering and pushing mine and their siblings buttons. anyway, like i said, this involves jordan. jordan, while he can be very mean to his sisters, usually gets along great with all other children and very rarely has any issues with them. the past couple of montsh for jordan have been very trying. he has come home 3 times with notes of concern from his teacher. all of them have been for spitting. this time the note said that if he did it again, he would be sent to the principle. he knows there is no excuse, and he gets in trouble no matter what the person did to him. here is the issue though, it always involves the same boy. jordan is not one to start a fight, EVER! he will defend himself, but to do that, he will not hit another child, he turns to spitting. i know it is gross and beleive me, it is not tolerated at home at all! my problem is that this other little boy is ALWAYS the one who has either tripped jordan, hit him, or is involved in some other way. the thing that makes this more difficult is that the other little boy is the teachers son. the advice i have been given is to have the principle talk to jordan before he actually gets sent there. i think that is an awesome idea, and i will definitely do that. my question is what to do about the obvious bully. this is a kid that i have personally seen go up and push jordan and several other kids for no reason, and stick his foot out to trip other kids. don't get me wrong, i am beyond upset at jordan for spitting repeatedly. any good suggestions or things you may have done when your kids ran into a bully. obviously this is a little different since the teacher is this other boys mom, so things are needless to say very uncomfortable for me. it's not like i can just go to the teacher about it. anyway, any ideas would be good.

i also just wanted to mention that jordan saw the dr. today for the last time for his HSP. his urine still showed only a trace of urine, so we are done with the dr. appts. of course tonight he had a pretty bad stomache ache, but i am hoping it is just a coincidence, we'll see how the night goes. he has not had anymore outbreaks of the rash either. :)

on to other news, the girls are doing EXCELLENT on the potty training. kelsey went all day with no accidents, and kaylee had one. this included going grocery shopping as well as a couple of errands, and the accident that kaylee had was when she was playing. she just got distracted. i also have not changes a poopy diaper for about 2 weeks. for some reason pooping on the toilet came easier for them then the peeing. i know it is usually the other way around, but i;m happy with it! :) i'd rather have the peeing accidents than the pooping ones! sorry, too much info! i'm just so proud of them. it was definitely easier than i thought it would be!

so, that is all for tonight. i do not have pictures surprisingly. also, i was asked a few times what i thought of the kids pictures. i personally think jordan's are great. that pose is jordan. his facial expression and everything, my hubby and i really liked his. so, i think i will keep his. toyas i thought came out great too, i just didn't like how her head was tilted. looked to me like she was straining her neck. anyway, i think i will get toya's done again and keep jordan's. i'm stil not positive though.

i will post another update with pictures of toya's party either monday or tuesday. it ought to be interesting seeing as we will have about 16 kids bowling. i'm not sure what to expect, but i think they will have alot of fun!

i hope you all have a great week!