Zoe...an Only Kitty

When we went to Germany, my parents became foster parents to our then 8 year old kitty, Sebastian. They've loved him and have taken good care of him. Since we got Zoe, I've missed Sebastain even more. Zoe isn't a loveable, lap kitty like Sebastian was/is. Recently, I started thinking about asking my parents if we could have Sebastian back. They are traveling more in their motor home and Sebastian is a lot of work because he has extremely long hair. They've been considering it, but I don't think we'll be taking him home. The kids have been horrible with him. He's not easy going like Zoe who lets the kids haul her around and bug her without so much as a meow. Sebastian is very opinionated and isn't afraid to express that opinion. He has been hissing, spitting and popping since we got here. He's even doing it to me, who he loves. My mom says he's mad at me for bringing the kids with me into his home. I don't think any amount of time will help him to settle down with them. I think Zoe is going to have to continue to be an only kitty...or maybe I'll keep watching the animal shelter website to find another sweet calico like Zoe.


Sebastian - the 16 lb Maine Coon Cat. He looks a little mad at me in this picture, don't you think?

Why Did the Turtle Cross the Road?

We saw a turtle crossing the road this morning. Any animal attracts much attention from my kids, but this turtle really made them excited. Grandpa got out of the car and helped the turtle across the road. The kids begged us to take the turtle home as we drove away; so we promised to get it on the way back if we could find it and release it in my parents back yard. We were sad that the turtle wasn't there when we turned passed them corner about an hour later.

We spent the afternoon at Grandmother's house. We had a horrible storm, again. The turtles must be out with all the rain because Nana (who lives next door) came over with a small box turtle that she'd seen in her yarn. Nana will be getting extra hugs for days and she didn't even know about the turtle from this morning. The kids scared the poor turtle (which I named Tabitha) and it went straight into her shell. I made the kids go in and would only let them see the turtle from the backdoor. While they were waiting for the turtle to came back out, we tied a pillow to Caden's back so he could pretend to be a turtle. The girls didn't want Caden to be the only one having fun and soon they were crawling around the floor with shells on their back too. We brought the turtle home with us and released her in my parents flower bed. She crawled away quickly and is resting in the corner of the flower bed. Maybe she'll stick around so we can see her again.

All About the Food

When we go home, so many things are centered around food so it's not surprising that I start thinking about everything I want to eat long before we take our trip. For Dan, that means eating his mama's cooking: fried chicken, mullet (yuck), fresh grown vegetables straight out of the garden. I make all of the things I grew up with so eating at home is no big deal for me. For me, it's all about eating out. My cravings include things like Krispy Kreme donuts, a sandwich from the Deli Case and a grinder from Santinos. I want a quesadillo or maybe nachos from Moe's and a cheeseburger from Whataburger.

My Krispy Kreme craving was fulfilled this morning with 2 chocolate glazed. Dunkin Donuts, while too convenient, doesn't hold a candle to a warm Krispy Kreme donut. Dan got his fried chicken (which I absolutely love too) and fresh vegetables for lunch and then we were planning on having a simple dinner with my parents tonight. Unfortunately, the power went out from a thunderstorm and we started thinking about Moe's or Whataburger. I think I'll be getting my cheeseburger for dinner. 3 cravings satisfied in 1 day - doing pretty good, huh?!?!

BTW - Just thought I'd add I used my parents treadmill and home gym this morning and plan to every morning for the rest of our stay so I can afford to eat everything I want to :p!

We are Insane!!!

We left home yesterday morning at 6:15. We dropped Dan's car at the airport in Baltimore and then headed South. The only word to describe the kids is awesome. They did so great. We were asked "are we in Florida yet" and "how much further," but there was no whining associated with the questions. The kids entertained themselves with magnets and coloring. I read them a Junie B. Jones book and we watched movies. We stopped mid-morning for gas and a potty break and then drove on until lunch. We found a Chick-fil-a in North Carolina with a play area for the kids. We spent an hour eating, playing and resting before loading back up. We took one more gas and bathroom break mid-afternoon. I was a little delirious at this point and let the kids each choose a candy bar. We bought a Kit Kat, 3 Musketeer, a Nestle Crunch, M&Ms and a Hershey Bar. We were nice and gave the M&Ms to Dan and then divided the other 4 candy bars between us for a taste test. I had the kids rate each candy bar from 1-5 to decide who liked what best. Jaelyn and Allie's favorite by far was the 3 Musketeer. Caden loved the Hershey Bar best. I, of course, liked them all and had quite a sugar high from the chocolate and the coke I drank.

We stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel in South Carolina. At that point, we were just a few hours from Atlanta. The plan was to drive to Newnan to spend the night, but as we got into Atlanta, we made the decision to keep going. The kids were doing great still. The sugar didn't effect their behavior at all. I am amazed we didn't have any whining, crying or complaining. They were as ready to get to Florida as we were. We put the kids into their pajamas, took away their toys and turned on a movie. Caden made it until about 9 before he passed out. Allie fell asleep while I was telling silly stories, but Jaelyn was too tired and excited to sleep. I let her watch Kipper and finally about 10:30 she told me to turn the movie off. We heard a few moans from her and she was out.

The last 2 1/2 hours from Montgomery were so long. We made it to Pensacola around midnight their time, 19 hours after we left our house. The kids all woke up when we pulled up on my parents drive-way. We spent about fifteen minutes bouncing around before tucking everyone into bed.

I'm tired this morning, but the kids seem to be doing well. Allie and Caden slept till 7:30 this morning (8:30 our time so 2 hours later than they usually do) and Jaelyn stayed in bed until 8:30. We spent the day with Dan's family. They didn't know we decided to drive through so we were able to surprise them this morning. Dan managed a nap at his parents house, but no naps for me. He's going out with his pal tonight so I'll be in bed early to catch up on some sleep. It's going to be an early to bed night for everyone tonight!

General Updates

I have a few little things to share that don't really require their own entry so I'm going to glump them all together.

First on the fostering home front, we passed our health inspection. I did have to turn my hot water heater down which I am soo not happy about it. I might have to accidently bump the knob with my foot some time. We received our fingerprint clearances in the mail today, as well. Check, check, check!

I haven't shared about our vegetables in a while. I have pictures to share, but not tonight. We have our first zuccini and a yellow squash (I think - a friend gave them to me) growing. Our tomatoes have blooms all over them so hopefully, we'll have tomatoes when we get home. Our green bean plants have a few green beans - not enough for a meal for us, but enough for an Allie snack.
And lastly, our peaches are about the size of a golf ball now. We pulled off most of the peaches because we want the plants energy going to growing, not producing fruit, but we did leave a few to watch. Who knew peaches would grow this far north.

We leave tomorrow to head to Florida. We googled it and it is 1,032 miles from our door step to my parents. That's 2 long days in the car. Pray we make it without any major fits, from me or the kids :p!

You Could Eat Off My Floors

Ha! I like my house picked up and organized, but I would never say it was germ and bacteria free. That's not my style of cleaning. I guess I'm more of a surface cleaning kind of gal. Well, even though I know the health inspector is looking at certain things and there's no way he'll be swabbing anything, I still felt the need to really CLEAN my house. The bathrooms are spotless (including the nasty grout that is in desperate need of replacing). The kitchen and dining room floors have been scrubbed and then mopped with vinegar. I would even feel comfortable letting my kids eat off the floor (there's no way I would, of course), not that I could stop them from doing it when it just appears to be clean. The only thing I can't vouch for is the dusting because Jaelyn was in charge of that. Her cleaning isn't quite up to my level of cleaning, but I'm not complaining or going behind her.

In addition to getting our house clean top to bottom today, we also got the oil changed in the car, got the girls' hair cut and went to Toys R Us and bought a few items for the road trip. No wonder I'm tired. Tomorrow, we are heading to the bank, the library and the grocery store.

I Need a List

We leave in 4 days to drive for 2 days and I am NOT ready! Between now and then, I have to get my house clean and not just going on vacation clean, but ready for the health inspector clean - literally. The health inspector is coming on Thursday morning to clear us to foster. I have a shopping trip to Ikea planned for Friday to pick up my mom's much needed last minute items and hopefully I'll know how full the car will be by that time so I can trim her list if I need too. My mom is hilarious. Every time they come, I take them to Ikea and she needs an extra suitcase to get home with all her goodies.

What else do I have to do??? Today, we need to get the car vacuumed out and washed. I was not planning on washing, but Jaelyn has begged so we'll get outside and I'll squirt them with a hose a little. It'll be loads of fun and might help me work off a little stress (the squirting, not the washing LOL). We need to get the oil in the van changed tomorrow and then go shopping for snacks and a few more entertainment items. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it'll be easier to drive 18 hours with one 3 and two 5 year olds than it was to do with a 2, 3 and 4 year old. I have books on tape and movies for entertainment as well as coloring books and leapsters. I'm still on the hunt for magnetic paper dolls and maybe magnetic Diego or pirates or something that's not too girly for Caden. For me, I have the beginnings of a basket weave baby blanket. It's my first big knitting project and I'm using circular needles, which is also a first. I'm excited about it.

In additional to all of that, I keep thinking of things I need to pack, but I'm not writing it down. I don't know what's the matter with me. My super organized, OCD brain needs a list and I can't seem to make it!!!

So, could you say a little prayer for me! That I'll survive until Saturday morning and get everything I need to get done done, even though I'm having trouble remembering what I need to get done. Also, and most importantly, pray we survive our trip without wanting to kill each other. I'm really hoping Jaelyn doesn't start our trip with the words "How much longer till we're there?" like she did when we left Pensacola to move here!

The Actual Recital - Shhhh, Don't Tell I Video'ed

Here are the video clips of Allie's actual performance. The recital over all was good. There were some groups that literally stood on the stage and looked around and then there were some groups that could really dance. We bought the $37 (uggh) DVD so the kids can dance to it later. The theme was a Night at the Movies and the songs were all theme songs from popular movies.

So, here's Allie. I think she did pretty well, and yes, I know, I am biased. She starts in the center back in each one.

Smile

Good Ship Lollipop (in it's entirety this time)

Monkey Girl

Jaelyn thinks she's a monkey and loves to climb the "tree" in our living room. Maybe one day she'll listen when we say "no," but until then, I thought you might like to see the video clip.

Photoshopping Teeth

We met with Dr. "Neal" this morning. He was really nice, but very young. I feel old (but not as old as Joanie according to Dan, huh??? :p). Anyway, he said he just wants to monitor it every 6 months at his check-up with x-rays. There's no need to do a baby root canal or any of the other treatments I've been researching. The tooth is dead, but the ligaments are doing their job of holding the tooth in. There's nothing that needs to be done right now to save the tooth. That also means there's nothing he's willing to do to help with the brownish gray color. He did say that sometimes the injury could be temporary and the color could change back kind of like a bruise, but since it's been a month, most likely it's permanent. My heart just breaks when I think of that cute little smile being messed up with an ugly gray tooth. The silver lining is that at least I know how to use photoshop so we can still have pretty white smiles in pictures!

The actual smile...

After help from photoshop.

Jaelyn's Idea of Style

Jaelyn picks out her clothing these days. Sometimes she'll ask me if something matches, but for the most part, she takes care of herself. This is her outfit Wednesday morning. She wears this shirt a lot mostly, I think, because it's a hand-me-down from one of her friends. She wanted to wear a belt so she picked out shorts with belt-loops, but then needed help tucking in her shirt because she couldn't see the sparkly belt. The best part of this outfit, for me, has to be the socks. She's gotten it into her head that it's fun and stylish to wear two different socks. I just smiled, told her she looked nice and off to the commissary we went. Long gone are the days when I would have made her change so she matched.

PS Encase you noticed the bulge at her tummy, she was holding a toy and instead of putting it down for the picture, she shoved it inside her shirt. Silly girl.

S-M-I-L-E

Allie's dress rehearsal was last night. I took some videos, but didn't realize my camera battery was low. The focus had issues and then the camera stopped recording during Allie's second number, Good Ship Lollipop. It normally beeps at me to tell me, but it didn't or maybe the music was just too loud. Here's what I got...

Allie's is center back to begin with and then marches around to center front.

Allie is in the back right corner. I'm sorry it cuts out so soon because this is the cuter number of the two, but at least you get to see a little.

I'll also buy the DVD of the performance, but I doubt I'll be able to post it online.

Teeth - The Good News and the Bad News

Caden had his dentist appointment this afternoon. He did a good job. He sat still through two rounds of x-rays. Dr. C says that most likely Caden's tooth is dead. He is referring us to a pediatric dentist. He mentioned a root canal and talked about that, but my brain was having trouble focusing on Caden having to undergo that while the girls played loudly in the corner. We have an appointment next Monday. I'm concerned about being able to squeeze everything in before our vacation. So, that's the bad news.

The good news is Dr. C spied Jaelyn's snaggletooth. She let him look at it and touch it (at least that's what he told her he was going to do). He was fast, and pop, he had it right out of her mouth. She was shocked and it took her a few minutes to figure out she was supposed to cry and act all melo-dramatic like she likes to do.

Initial Paperchase Complete

I have the packet ready to send back to our social worker. All I'm lacking is Dan's signature on one document. How exciting is that! Thank you, Danny, for working so hard this weekend on your autobiography. I feel good having everything possible done before our trip!

Getting Strict on Discipline

I used to be really strict with my discipline. I've loosened up a lot in the last year and feel like in some ways I've totally lost control. I'm not saying my kids are bad, because they aren't. They are really good, but we do have issues with listening, following directions and keeping our hands to ourselves.. We've been doing our tickets and have kind of given up time-outs. Today, I decided to back up and go back to time-outs. Tickets work with Caden, but the girls don't really care them. Sure, they love to earn them, but losing them is no big deal. We also only count tickets once a week so the consequence isn't really immediately felt.

Allie hit my leg today because she was mad at me. It was more of a tap, but still...so I put her in time-out. She did not like that at all. It took a while to get her to sit on the step I told her too and then she decided to spit at me. Spitting and sticking out tongues is also becoming a problem. I then gave her a cup with a line and told her she couldn't get out of time-out until she had sat quietly for 5 minutes and she had filled the cup up with spit to the line (thanks for the awesome out of the box idea, Kim). It took about 25 minutes for Allie to sit quietly on her step for 5 minutes and to fill her cup with spit. She got up, apologized and went on her merry way.

Next was Jaelyn's turn. She got mad at Allie while coloring and threw a book across the table. I told her to pick up the book. She refused. I warned that she could pick up the book or sit in time-out and then pick up the book. She again refused. I carried her to time-out and for the next 20 minutes we played the game you see on the Super Nanny...mom puts child in time-out. Child runs from time-out. Mom chases child and puts child back in time-out. Repeat over and over until child stays. In the end, Jaelyn jumped out of time-out and ran into my arm. She fell back onto the step and started yelling at me that I hurt her on purpose. I did not push or touch her. She did it all herself, but was way too out of control. She continued screaming so I took her to her room and closed the door. That made her really mad. She continued for about 3 minutes and then all was quiet. I opened her door and she was on her tummy reading a book and getting herself calmed down. I told her to finish her book and then go downstairs and pick up the book off the floor. She had her quiet 5 minutes in her room instead of the step and them came downstairs and not only picked up the book, but she also cleaned up all the books on the craft table and got a towel to wipe down our dining room table. She finished the job happy and ready for the rest of the day.

So, first morning of following directions done, many more mornings and afternoons to follow!

Success at the Gym

I feel good. Caden pouted about going to the gym this morning, but I continued to be positive about it. I reassured him I wasn't leaving the building and that Jaelyn and Allie would be there with him. I reminded him of the lollipop buckets and made sure he had shorts with pockets so we could pick his lollipop out when we got there. He got to keep it in his pocket while he played and got to eat it when I got back! No tears when I dropped him off. He went right in and kissed me bye when I left. I didn't want to push him so I spent about 15 minutes with weights and 15 minutes on the treadmill. If we had gotten there sooner, I might have taken a zoomba class because my favorite sub was there. She adds a lot of jazz and hip hop moves in with the latin moves. Her class is always a lot of fun. I've stayed away from all the classes since I twisted my ankle. I'm afraid if I start cha cha-ing, I'll twist it again.

So, hopefully, I can get back in the swing of things for the next two weeks before we leave for Florida. Then my parents have a treadmill and home gym in the bedroom I'll be sleeping in. I plan on using that - or maybe I'll decide I'm on vacation and rest!

My Shirley Temple

Allie is dancing to The Goodship Lollipop for her dance recital. They have little sailor suits to wear complete with little white hats. Her pictures were last week. We rolled her hair in the morning just like her teacher wanted. I was really worried about it being too short and not showing out from under the hat, but she looked absolutely adorable. I know I'm a little biased, but Allie was the cutest one in her class. Of course, it helped that I actually followed directions and rolled her hair unlike half of the other moms who didn't bother.

Speaking of Teeth

Caden fell out of the bathtub about 3 weeks ago. He hit his mouth on the ceramic tile and cut his lip. His teeth hurt the first day, but have been fine since. Last week, I noticed that the main tooth he hit (his left central), is starting to change colors. It was yellower then his other teeth last week and is looking more brown to me now. I hate it. I wasn't able to get him into the dentist until next Monday. I don't know that there's much they can do for him. I'm really concerned about him loosing that tooth before he's old enough too.

Snaggletooth

I've been calling Jaelyn Snaggletooth for the last few days and she does not like it. Jaelyn's top teeth have been loose for a while. She fell out of the swing a month ago and caught herself with her mouth. The fall loosened one of the teeth up quite a bit more. Well, we went to Baskin and Robbins on Thursday to celebrate Jaelyn's last day of school. Jaelyn hurt her loose tooth biting into her ice cream cone and we had quite a time with bleeding and crying before she settled down. Poor thing - who knew an ice cream cone could hurt you. The good news is her tooth is really about to come out now. It's hanging on by the tiniest of roots. It's probably 1/8" lower than the other teeth and hanging to the side. It looks so funny and absolutely adorable. I can't wait to see her smile without that tooth. I wish the other one would hurry up and come out too so that she's have a big gap there. I think kids are so cute when they've lost those two teeth at the same time.

Crazy for Reading

Jaelyn had an assembly on Wednesday and she brought home a reading medal. She said only 5 kids in her class received one. To earn it, she had to read every time she was supposed to - I'm guessing that means doing her nightly reading for her homework. She's doing so well with her reading. She picked out Junie B. Jones has a Peep in Her Pocket to read with me today. It's the first chapter book she's wanted to read. Normally, she shies away from books with a lot of words. She finished the first chapter. I had to help here and there, but for the most part, it was all her reading. I never imagined she'd be reading chapter books by the end of kindergarten. I'm amazed!

BTW - The end of kindergarten has come. Thursday was her last day and she was so excited. I picked her up after school and took all the kids for ice cream to celebrate and I'll write more about that later. Jaelyn is so proud to be a big 1st grader!

Jaelyn with her reading medal.

Last day of School.
Jaelyn with Miss Cathy, her bus driver. Miss Cathy absolutely adores Jaelyn.

Completed Pride and Onto the Paperchase

Our last two Pride classes were great. Angie and her daughter Lexie stayed with the kids on Monday night and Kelley and Lyssie stayed on Wednesday night. Angie had to deal with an Allie melt-down and Kelley had to deal with a Jaelyn tantrum; so both nights were equally fun for my friends. Thank you, gals, for helping out! I so appreciated it and even though there were a couple of issues the kids had a lot of fun.

Dan and I also had fun finishing our classes. Wednesday night was a graduation of sorts with lots of food and cake. They had a panel of social workers from different departments and several foster families to speak to us. While I enjoyed it, I wish we could have taken the classes in our County. I feel like I know several of the workers in Cecil County, but no one in ours. Oh well, I'm sure we'll get to know them very well before this is over.

Friday, I met with Brenda who is the new foster parent intake person. We spent about an hour going over paperwork and talking about what I learned from the classes and how we came to want to foster. We were also able to both get fingerprinted for the state and federal clearances. They have a fingerprint technician in their office so there were no trips to the jail or to the FBI fingerprint office to get fingerprinted this time. Also, no waiting months for an appointment to get fingerprinted. I like this domestic foster care/adoption thing. The paperwork, knock on wood, is going to be a piece of cake. It is so easy compared to what we did for our home study and Russian dossier. I don't even have to have anything notarized. It just seems so unofficial to me after all that apostilling I did before. I've already completed everything I can complete. As soon as Dan finishes his autobiography, I can drop everything off and get the ball rolling. Just for your general knowledge, we will all have to have physicals and get that form filled out (no notarizing or begging for a copy of the doctor's medical license this time!). I have the appointments scheduled as soon as we get back from vacation. We'll have to meet with our social worker twice in our home and have the fire marshall and health department out to inspect. They are basically looking to make sure we have smoke detectors and a fire extinguisher and that our chemicals are locked up. Our references will have to fill out a form and two will have to meet with our social worker. After that, our social worker will write up our home study, our license will get issued and we'll wait for that first call! We are hoping to be licensed in September or October. I want the kids settled into school before we get a placement. Keep praying!

Now She Likes My Bed

I normally make my bed as soon as I get up. I didn't today and went back upstairs later to make it up. Look at what I found snuggled under the covers:

Zoe used to sleep by my feet at night, but since our vacation, she has started sleeping on Caden's bed. He is definitely her favorite. He's nice and calm around her. He doesn't try to carry her around. He ignores her when she's in the same room. All of those things are the opposite of how the girls react to her so I'm not surprised Zoe has picked Caden to be her buddy. I'm a little sad though because I want a furry snuggle buddy at night too!

Queen Bee...Spelling Bee That Is

Jaelyn had a spelling bee yesterday. Out of 17 children in her class, she finished FIRST! Some of the words she spelled were: of, I, a, you, am, and, an AND her winning word was are. She now knows more than 100 sight words. She is reading me books without any help that she needed help with just a few months ago. My soon to be first grader is ready!

ETA - Since Jaelyn seemed to have very easy 1 and 2 letter words, I quizzed her on a few of her harder words over dinner. She did great spelling the 3 and 4 letter words too.

Random Pictures from the Last Few Weeks

Dress up time. Caden is a cowboy gladiator wearing...uhhhh...high heals? Ready to ride.
Caden is trying to wet his sisters no doubt.
Jaelyn sitting on the tiki man sprinkler. He's going to blow his top in just a moment. I hope she moves!
Allie all wet and cold, but happy.

My Challenge

I have a confession. I spend way too much time playing on the computer, checking my message boards and email and reading my friends' blogs. The kids are happy playing by themselves and I let them. That's going to end. I'm not giving up my computer time, but I am going to start limiting it: 15 minutes in the mornings and an hour in the afternoons during rest time (hey, I can't give it up totally - this blog takes time and it's important :p). Anyway, I want to get back to a more structured, activity oriented day. I want to do arts and crafts again and spend time putting together puzzles. I used to spend hours a day reading with the kids. We do read, but not nearly what we used to. I want to turn the TV off and play more games. We've been coloring more and I even got out the finger paints today for Allie and Caden.

Hold me accountable, okay?

The End of School

Jaelyn has almost survived 180 days of school. She's gotten tired though and cries some morning because she just doesn't want to go anymore. Thursday is her last day. Monday, she had a picnic that I was invited to come too. It was fun. First, they let the kids play water games outside. They paired up and played catch with water balloons. Encase you don't know, 5 and 6 year olds aren't very good at throwing and catching. They got very wet, which was great because it was hot - high 90s. Next Jaelyn's group ran a relay race. They had to get water from one bucket to another using big sponges. The first time, they let the kids run, but after that they made them hold the sponges over their heads and hop. Jaelyn was pretty wet at the end. Because of the heat, they moved the picnic inside to the common area outside the kindergarten classrooms. The rest of the games were held in the gym. The kids got to play with a parachute and have sack races. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad I was able to go and watch.

Jaelyn with her teacher, Mrs. Daughtery.

Boyfriends

We've had a couple of teasing discussions about boyfriends since seeing Liam at the pool on Saturday. We've told Jaelyn that she's not old enough to have a boyfriend. Liam can be her friend and when she's older (does 22 sound good?), he can be her boyfriend if she still wants. She went to school on Monday with instructions to tell Liam she can't have a boyfriend. I was at her school for a picnic and she told me she told him. She brought home a paper that said "Liam Loves Jaelyn" with a big red heart colored on it; so he obviously wasn't too phased by it.

Allie told me Drew told her she could be his friend as long as she didn't follow him around all the time. She also told me Kyle already has a girlfriend so he can't be her boyfriend.

Apparently both of our girls are boy crazy and they are only 5. Can you imagine what 15 is going to be like???

Oops, She Did It Again

I have a friend babysitting for me tonight and she asked that I get crafts together for the kids. When putting everything into the basket, I hesitated on the kid scissors, but put them in the basket anyway. Angie stopped by today and I was showing her were everything is. Allie must have heard me mentioned the crafts, because when we went downstairs to show her the lock on our back door, Allie got into the basket on the counter.

We were gone just a few minutes and came upstairs to quiet. Allie and Caden were in his room with the door closed. I found her sitting on top of his dresser looking in the mirror. There was hair all over the floor. Now, I've got to back up and say, it's taken her hair a year to grow out from the incident last summer (also 1 week before her ballet recital). She didn't cut quite as much (or as short) as last year. She cut the left side up above her ear so it looks like she has half a head of bangs. She also thinned out the back w/ a couple of layers. I can fix the back without any troubles and I can pull her hair up in little clippies to make the side look okay. She's been wanting her hair cut shorter, and I told her after the recital. She's dancing to "Good Ship Lollipop" w/ a sailor costume and her teacher wants Shirley Temple curls. I guess she couldn't wait. Unfortunately, she also cut 4 bald patches in Caden's hair. I just buzzed his head this weekend so there's nothing I can do to fix it except except shave his head and that's not an option. At least his hair grows fast. Maybe she was getting even for him cutting her ear last year.

There are days that I feel like such a failure as a mother and those feelings really flare up when Allie gets into trouble. Why can't I convince her to be good? I do love her free spirit, but it's frustrating at time. My friends have all been awesome and I've been reassured Allie is not the only one who gets into things. I'm not alone in my struggles!

April Photos

Sorry so late...

So You Know What I'm Up Against

Fun Day at the Pool

I thought winter was never going to end and all the sudden we've hit summer. I think Spring was those 3-4 weeks we had the windows open. I was expected a longer Spring, but who knows, it might return. Anyway, we hit 90 yesterday and were forecasted to have a hot day today so I had Dan check the base pool schedule. It's been open for a few weeks now. We packed up after lunch and headed off armed with our sunscreen, arm floaties, duckie rings, nerf balls and a snack.

The pool was packed. We only went on weekdays last year and it was always empty. I wasn't prepared for that, but we still had fun. We divided our time between the baby pool and the big pool. The girls did great; although no one attempted to swim without floaties in the big pool. Caden trusted his floaties this year and was even jumping off the side of the pool to me. What a difference a year makes. I really need to schedule swim lessons for August.

Jaelyn had a little surprise today. There was a boy swimming back and forth where the kids were jumping to me. He was kind of annoying me because he was in my way and kicking and splashing me. He popped his head up one time and Jaelyn said "Liam???" It was one of her friends from school. I haven't heard her talk about Liam very much other than he's one of the boys she kissed that day (picture me rolling my eyes). Today, she told Dan that Liam is her boyfriend and let me tell you, he likes her. He followed us back and forth between the baby pool and the big pool. His mom came and got him several times to get in the big pool, but he kept coming back to where Jaelyn was. I wish I'd had my camera to capture the silly grin on her face. It was priceless...young love (rolling my eyes again). What am I going to do with her???

Babysitting and Making Up Our Class

I finally talked to the foster parent coordinator for our county yesterday. Once we finish our last two classes next week, I need to go in and meet with her to go over our home study paperwork. That's only a week and a half before we head to Florida so I'll get as much done in that time period as I can. For a small fee, we can complete session 2 that we missed online (yea) so we won't have to wait until September. We'd heard home studies had been taking months in our county, but the social worker (SW from here on out) said they've hired extra people for the summer so they should go faster. We'll have to meet with the SW two times in our home and we'll have to have the fire marshall out to clear us. Then of course there's the fingerprint clearance, reference interviews and medicals forms to complete. There may be, probably is, more, but that's all I remember from our home study 5 years ago (Yes, 5 years ago this summer we were beginning the process to adopt the girls. We've come full circle.)

I've found one friend who can cover one night for us next week. I'm still searching for someone to help the other night. Please continue praying.

Allie and Spelling

Not too long ago, Allie decided she wanted to spell monster. For days, she would ask me how to spell it and I would sound it out while she wrote: mmmmm....ooooo...nnnnnn...sssss....tttttt....rrrrrrr. She did well getting the letters - monstr. Today, I found her sounding out Polly Pocket and writing it down. She spelled it "pole pocet." Pretty good for a soon to be kindergartner, I think!!!

Jaelyn's Stories

Jaelyn has been writing more and more stories for school. I thought you might like to read a few.

In her words what she had done the week before:

I got alt my swiming pool. I plad altside I brog Anu to my hals. We at kupkaks. It was fun. It was hr brda.

Translation:

I got out my swimming pool. I played outside. I brought Anna (our babysitter) to my house. We ate cupcakes. It was fun. It was her birthday.

In her words - Math about me:

My birthday is July the 17. I have 1 sisir. I am 5. My fonubr is xxx-xxx-xxxx (she got it right). We have 8 mor days uv skool. my brudr is 3.

Translation:

My birthday is July 17. I have 1 sister. I am 5. My phone number is xxx-xxx-xxxx. We have 8 more days of school. My brother is 3.

In her words - My Favorite Season:

My favorite season is winter. I like to go slating. I like to skat. I like to fro snobos. I like to bild snomen.

Translation:

My favorite season is winter. I like to go skating. I like to skate. I like to throw snoballs. I like to build snowmen.

And the Phone...

Didn't Ring!!! Two classes to go. We left a little earlier last night because of a horrible storm. The kids were happily eating hot dogs and mac 'n cheese with Anna. We went to walmart in the day and bought 3 new, much wanted movies that will only be watched while we are at class. I also helped everyone be a little more mellow with a dose of benadryl (I hoped anyway).

We had different instructors at the class. They joked that the Kristen and Rose show wasn't there meaning we'd be going till 9, not getting out early. It was actually a refreshing class because it was all about permanency and adoption. The two adoption coordinators were there and went through the court process. We watched another movie. I think we are both learning that we are doing the right thing with the girls being so open and talking about their adoptions. We are doing the right thing by doing a birthparent search so when they do hit that questioning period (Who am I? Where do I fit?), we'll have answers or we'll at least be able to share that we tried to get them answers if the searches are unsuccessful. It's helping to reinforce and give us guidance in how to help them process everything. The videos we've watched each week have been a little hard as they all be documentary types showing real adoptees who are struggling to figure out who they are and to come to terms with their adoptions. Of the adoptees we've seen, the ones who had adoptive families that were open and supportive during that period are the ones that grew closer to their adoptive families in the process. In the movie last night (it was about adoption and searching for bio-family), there was an 80-something year old women who finally decided to search for her son. She found him when he was 61. It was quite a reunion. Having all of this training really makes me wish we had been required to do some with the girls' adoption. I think it would have been helpful in guiding us. Anyway...

I called Anna on our way home and the kids were all doing great. They opened up our craft cabinet and had gone to town doing projects with construction paper, squiggly eyes, stickers, glue, pipe cleaners, you name it. Anna drew the line at paint, thankfully! Smart girl. I don't know if it was the prayers and movies and or the crafts and or the rain and or the benadryl, but it was a great night and I am thankful.

The only bad news is that Anna has finals next week that count more heavily than she thought. She may not be able to babysit for us so we are on a babysitter hunt again.

"I Want My Mommy"

I had such high hopes for last night. We had a good day. We played outside in the back yard and at the park, rode the bikes and went for a long walk. The only problem was that Caden didn't take a nap. I was hoping that might be good since he'd be tired, but it turned out to be bad because he was tired. We left Anna and the kids at 5 happily munching away at dinner. We had an oops moment on the drive over when Anna called to ask how to open the bar on the door. I meant to open it - oh well. I must have forgotten my supermom cape at home.

Our class ran LONG - meaning we finished on time. We'd finished early every other class. The phone in the room rang about 8:40 and I knew it was going to be for me. Caden was in full melt down mode and just wanted me. He was so exhausted, but Anna didn't know what to do. The girls, btw, had been great and Jaelyn had even been trying to distract Caden by getting him to draw me a picture. She can be a really good big sister when she wants to be. I talked with a very weepy Caden and convinced him to get one of my teddy bears to hug until I got home. The last 15 minutes of the class took forever and then we had to clean up snacks (on a side note - my snacks turned out great. The 7 layer dip was totally devoured and I got several compliments on my cookies. I'm a words of affirmation kind of girl, you know!). We made it home around 9:35 to find Jaelyn awake, Allie just about asleep, and Caden conked out on the floor.

We brainstormed on the way home and I'm going to leave Anna with my parents cell phone so that maybe Baba can talk to whatever child is having issues before she tries calling us in our class. It's just such a long time for us to be gone (a 3 hour class, plus a good 45 minute drive each way) and it's late. It's a bad combination.

Jaelyn's Question of the Morning

Jaelyn finished getting ready before I did today. She came to me in the bathroom and said "Mommy do I have time to....














...DUST before I go to school?"

I love this little girl. She found a dusting cloth and off to work she went. Letting her play clean when she was smaller has definitely paid off!!!

Nap Still Required???

We've been going back and forth with Caden on his naps. I normally put him down 5-6 days out of the week. He still needs it, but we are getting close to giving it up based on his bedtime antics. The days that I let him stay awake, I usually find him sacked out somewhere half way through the afternoon.

Notice his thumb is NOT in his mouth, but it's in close proximity encase he needs it.