Maddie Wright, from Georgia, writing.  Thought another update on our family was in order, so here goes.

Our youngest child, four-year-old Korina Grace, continues to be a mixture of joy and frustration.  She's taken to sassing us back at any given opportunity; seems that her favorite word as of late is "NO!!"  (and the more emphatic she says it, the better!)

We have had to put her in time out, so she understands that we won't tolerate such deviant behavior from her (four minutes, one minute for how old she is; longer if she is especially vile); I don't think it's making much of a dent in her stubborn will. 

So far she's learning to control her temper; she is no longer hitting us with her crutches (much to our relief); maybe our bruises can now have a chance to heal.  It's embarrassing to go out in public and have people looking at the marks on our legs and arms; they always act surprised when we tell them that our four-year-old daughter did this to us! LOL

That, or they give us looks of revulsion and tell us to control our child, which is even worse.  We are trying to take control over her behavior, but you know how stubborn toddlers can be at times!  Sheesh!!  That girl has a will of steel!!

In other news, Kenny's baseball tourney went without a hitch; but in the game before the final, his team lost, 6-0; therefore, they were eliminated.  We were disappointed, but maybe it was for the best:  Kenny and his teammates tried their best, gave it their all, but they were tired, and they were more than ready to go back home.  So were we.

Kaylie and Khristmas continue to be the sweet, loving girls they are.  I just hope their little sister turns out like them; so far, I just don't see that happening, for Korina has a spirit that is all her own.  She is a little spitfire, one of the stubbornest little children we've ever seen!

Maybe that's one reason why she does so well in her therapies!  LOLOLOLOL

The weather here is hot: summertime has definitely returned to Georgia.  Already the local pools have been doing a boomin' business, as have the water parks and amusement parks (with most guests hitting the water rides, in order to cool off from the blazing southern sun).  I'm already looking to fall, and summer is barely a few days old!  LOLOLOL

I do have some sad news to report:  the kids' great grandmother, Queen Esther, whom we saw back on Easter, has gone to her eternal resting place.  She was 103; she would have been 104 in December had she lived.  It might as well be for the best: she was more than ready to go; she was tired.

We will miss her terribly; she was a rare jewel!

Also, Kate and Jon Gosselin have filed for divorce.  Don't know the specifics behind it, but I feel sorry for all of those kids.  They are going to have a very hard time dealing with it.  I will keep all of the Gosselins in my thoughts and prayers during this traumatic, difficult time (and their lives are already difficult enough, being in the public eye all of the time).

I have been writing in my journal, as well as to my friends around the country.  One who has remained faithful is my friend Louisiana Sandusky in Tennessee; however, I have been busy, so I haven't responded to her last letter.  She sounded upset in her last letter; hopefully things by now have settled.  I have been keeping her in my prayers and thoughts!

Another woman I write to is in California, Heather Abramson.  I know she is having a hard time with her son, Tyle Nehemiah, who has Canavan disease; he is sverely disabled, both mentally and physically.  I have been praying for her, too.

We have a tight support system, we parents who live with children who have special needs.  We need to feel that we aren't alone in our struggles, and we need to feel the joy when our kids do well, as well as be there for one another when our kids are sick or in the hospital or aren't doing well in their therapies.  We are indeed grateful to have each other; I don't know what we would do if we didn't have one another to bounce off of!

I have been writing to a young teenager in Colorado; I do believe she is seriously thinking of suicide.  Her name is Sage, and she has had a very hard life.  Her mother and father abandoned her when she was small; she now lives with an aunt and an uncle, and she has a lot of problems.  She recently accepted Jesus Christ as her saviour, but I don't think she is putting her trust fully in Him; otherwise, she wouldn't be acting so oddly.  I have been lifting her up in prayer, trying to encourage her, the best way I can.

Seems if I'm not raising kids, I'm either on the phone or am on the computer!  LOL  No wonder my ear and my hands/fingers hurt!  LOL  Too much phone or computer time!  I need to quit that....LOLOLOL

Well, I am going back to bed now; it's not even six o'clock in the morning; too early for mommies to be up, especially in the summer, when their kids are out of school!  LOL  I will write in here again (hopefully at a decent hour!); until then, this is Maddie Wright saying so long and God bless!

~Love, your friend, Maddie Wright.  *yawning*  =0