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.

And the Fever Went Up

Allie was burning up last night when I checked her when I went to bed. Her temperature was 102.5 I gave her tylenol and set my alarm for 3 hours so I could check her and give her motrin if her fever hadn't gone down. It was a LONG night. I got up twice and I made Dan get up one time. In addition to my alarm waking me to check on her, Allie also did a lot of moaning in her sleep. Her fever has stayed right around 100 today with tylenol. She has no other symptoms.

Jaelyn had a pretty bad tummy ache last night, but it seems to be better today. Caden and I both have sore throats. I haven't taken anything up until today and finally dug into the medicine cabinet. I thought I took Tylenol Cold and Sinus day-time, but I think the box must have had day and night because I took a 3 1/2 hour nap this morning. I've been in a daze ever since. I'm thankful today is Saturday and Dan is home. I need to be more careful about the medicine I'm taking.

Up to Her Old Tricks

Allie has been so much better lately about getting into things. Or maybe, I've been better about putting things away. Either way, we've had a peaceful time lately. All of that ended yesterday. Jaelyn has field day today so I got the sunscreen out so I'd remember to put it on her. I sat it on the counter (mistake #1). All four of us went upstairs to Caden's room to read. We read a few books together and then Jaelyn picked out a book to read to me. At that point, Allie and Caden decided to go downstairs to play (mistake #2). It was a new book for Jaelyn so it took her a bit to sound out all of the words. I normally have a sixth sense about Allie when she's getting into trouble, but my warning alarm did not go off. When we were almost done with the book, Caden came upstairs to wash his hands. I thought that was odd, and my alarm started ringing, but not loud enough to make me get up and run to check (mistake #3). Instead I sat and let Jaelyn finish the book while I thought about checking on Allie. I couldn't think of anything she could be getting into. When I did finally check, I was beyond mad. There are many things my dad has made me that I'm sentimental about, but of all of them, the kids' wooden rocking horse is my most treasured treasure. Let me just say that Nay Nay will be pale for the rest of his existence. No worry of sunburn for him! Oh my! He was covered in lotion. They had also squirted globs of lotion into a empty plastic tub lid. As far as messes go, it was pretty easy to clean up. Soapy water to get the lotion off of Nay Nay. It didn't damage the finish, thankfully. I used a spoon to scoop up what was in the lid - sun tan lotion is expensive and they used over half a bottle. Allie and Caden lost every ticket in their cups. It didn't phase Allie too much, but it sure had an impact on Caden. I think he'll be tattling next time instead of participating, at least I hope he tattles next time!

So the moral of the story, don't let Allie out of my sight or maybe it should be to put things away and let her out of my sight. Hmmm, I'll think about it.

And On To Kindergarten

Allie is done with preschool. I can't believe she is 5 and starting kindergarten next year. Jaelyn seemed ready, but Allie seems too young. She's my baby girl. Putting Jaelyn on the bus last year was heart wrenching, I can only imagine putting both girls next year. Stocking up on kleenex will be required!

Allie's last official day of school was the last Friday my parents were here. Last week, her class had a picnic at a park. We had a fun time. The kids got to feed geese, fish, stomp in mud (didn't make the mommies happy) and say good-bye to all of their friends. Her teachers gave the kids a certificate and shared what the kids liked best about the year. I was the play dough mom and several listed play dough on their list. It made me feel good that my efforts were appreciated. So good, in fact, that I might sign up to be the play dough mom for Caden's class.


Allie doesn't totally understand that she's done with school or that her old friends won't go to her new school. She keeps asking me when she's going to school. I know she's missing her friends, especially the boys. Allie didn't really click with any girl in particular, but she did with the boys. Her favorites were Drew and Kyle. She gets this silly look when she talks about Kyle - her first crush!

Allie standing between Kyle and Drew.

Miss Patty and Miss Barb

Allie's preschool class

Caden climbing on the playground

Pretend You're an Ant

We had a playdate this morning. Miss Karon and Eric came for a bit, then Miss Kelley and Lyssie joined us and stayed for lunch. The kids played outside and had fun looking at things through magnifying glasses (that I'd just dug out of the closet). On the way back inside, Lyssie looked at Caden and said "Pretend you're an ant." She wanted to look at him with her magnifying glass. We cracked up. I wasn't sure how to advise Caden about being an ant. So, give me help - how do you pretend to be an ant? My only thought was to carry my couch on my back, but I don't think that's possible! Here's Caden with Lyssie.



Allie didn't feel very well during our playdate and didn't eat very well. She ate most of her lunch, but it took her a long time where she normally inhales and her plate is empty. I noticed she was warm when she sat down beside me on the couch. She's has a 101 degree temperature. Oh my!

Leaving a Comment

I had someone recently wanting to leave a comment for me, but they didn't know how. I know there are a few less than computer savy people reading (how's that for politically correct) so here's how to leave me comments. At the bottom of each entry is the word "comments" with the number of comments that have been left. If you click on it, it'll take you to a new screen. There's a text box to enter your comments. After that, you retype the word verification and then you can either enter your google account and password info or if you choose, you can click on anonymous (just sign your name in the text box if you do that or I won't know who the comment came from). Click "publish your comment" and you are all set. No logging in required.

And the Phone Rings

Last night was session 5 of our foster classes. It was Anna's birthday (our babysitter) so we baked her cupcakes in the day, made play dough to play with, and made her a present. We left Anna and the kids happily eating pizza.


About 1 1/2 hours into our class, the phone in the room rang. I should back-up and say cell phones aren't allowed in the courthouse so we left that phone number as an emergency number for Anna. My heart immediately dropped. I was sure it was going to be for us and I was right. Poor Anna. Jaelyn was pitching an all out fit and was refusing to put on her pajamas, go potty, get into bed. I could hear her shrieking in the phone. Anna was beyond her experience and had no idea what to do (as most people would feel when dealing with Jaelyn's tantrums). Anna managed to get Jaelyn on the phone and between her sniffling, she actually talked to me. She didn't want to go to bed. It was as simple as that. Jaelyn and I compromised. Bed was not negotiable, but pajamas, potty and a pull-up were. I told her to get into her bed in her day clothes (as they call them), be very still and quiet and STAY AWAKE. If she didn't want to go to sleep, she didn't have to, but she had to be in her bed. Pick your battles, right... I then talked to Allie, who was laying on Daddy's pillow reading a book and being very good, and Caden, who was in pajamas and ready for bed as well.


Our class wrapped up early, thankfully. We have a quiet class, except for one person. I'm sure the instructor would like more interaction and discussion, but I'm getting a lot out of just listening and don't feel the need to discuss things in front of everyone else. Dan and I usually have a good talk on the drive home, but I'm off topic now. We got out early, about 8, and drove home as fast as we could to rescue poor Anna (and on her birthday no less). All was quiet when we got home around 8:30. Anna said she thought they were asleep since they'd been quiet for a little while. Sounds can be so deceiving with my little angles though so I went upstairs to check. First Caden's bed...no Caden and then I heard a loud crash from the girls room. I checked there next and found a mountain of books on the floor. I peaked in Jaelyn's bed and found Caden on the end preparing to throw another batch on the floor. Jaelyn's bed was full of books as well. Apparently, the kids had been very stealthy and had gotten all the books out of Caden's room. They had also cleared the girls' bookshelf. I turned their lights on, told them to clean them up, and then left Dan to supervise while I took Anna home.


I think I was awake half the night last night (and the circles under my eyes this morning confirm it) trying to figure out how to make them be good for her. Bedtime is the issue. The conclussion I've come up with is that bedtime is stressful when I'm doing it, and I've been doing it for 4 1/2 years. Next time, I'm going to have her get them ready for bed and then have her park them with their pillows and blankets in front of the TV to watch a long movie with the threat of going to bed if they get up. If nothing else, we only have 4 more classes to go until we are done. Just please pray the kids will be good for Anna so she'll keep coming!! We really need her.

This is Anna with the kids wearing our birthday hat from Baba. The kids said she didn't wear it while she blew out the candle on her cupcake and they were singing to her, though. :p

Final Notes from Baba

Kelly, I've finally settled down long enough to finish my notes from our trip to your house. After reading the events at your house recently though, I think maybe our week was not as eventful as I thought. It was probably just a normal week.

These are just a few things that I forgot to tell you.

Each night I let the kids rotate who said the blessing first. On the night that it was Allie's turn to be first, I guess she wasn't fast enough and Jaelyn jumped in first. To get Allie to calm down I told her to just say two blessings which she did. The next night when Jaelyn was first she hadn't forgotten the double blessing so I think you could say she had a triple blessing. For a moment, I wasn't sure we were going to get to eat.

Monday night after you got home Caden was still thanking God for bringing back his Mommy and Daddy. What a sweetheart!!

I forgot to tell you that the day Allie and Caden were so wild before bed I had fed them brownies at Chic-fil-a. I didn't think they put that much sugar in them!!!

The first time I picked up Allie at school, as I went in the door way down the hall, I saw her class walking back to her classroom. All of a sudden in a very loud voice, I heard "Baba, there's my Baba. There's nothing quite like the excitement in a child's voice.

Jaelyn got green lights all week!! I knew she could do it.

When we went to IKEA the first time, Caden insisted on wearing his hiking boots so he could be tall enough to get in the play area. They made him take them off but he was tall enough anyway.

I guess I was so tired to describe the carnival to you the first time I wrote about it. It really was fun. The kids started off by getting something painted on their arm. Jaelyn got a horse, Allie got a flower, and Caden got a chocolate ice cream. Our next stop was the tatoo table. Jaelyn got a big cat, caden got a purple cartoon animal (?), and Alllie got a butterfly. At the third table they all made bracelets out of beads. The forth stop was golf. The girls got tickets (to spend later) for trying but little brother Caden stepped up to get a hole in one. He got a stuffed animal. At the fifth booth, the kids got four chances using a very heavy mallet to send about five inch long bugs flying through the air into the mouth of a frog. Unfortunately no one was able to feed the frog so they all got tickets for later. The next booth was rolling golf ball into slots and trying to get twenty one. Allie and Jaelyn tried and both got tickets for later. With me holding Caden up so he could play, he rolled his five balls and guess what. He got twenty-one!! He walked off another stuffed animal. The last booth that we went to was a ring toss and pencil pull. All three kids got their rings over a stuffed animal. All three got prizes. The pencil pull was pretty easy. Hand over a ticket and pull a pencil. It as a lot of fun for only ten dollars. As we left the carnival, we cashed in our tickets for later for little prizes and then we took time to let the kids play on the jungle gym. We learned that no one is quite ready for the monkey bars yet!! Hanging in mid air is no fun.

Caden got the bruise under his chin when he flew from the couch to the ottoman. Is he allowed to do that?

Allie got the knot on her forhead when she ran into your bedroom door. She had a long morning and I had just gotten her calmed down when she turned to leave the room and ran straight into the door. She's your murphys law child for sure. When we went to Target, she touched a night gown and it literally jumped off the hanger. If it's going to happen, it seemed to always happen to Allie.

Taking the kids to see Nim's Island at the movies after you got home was fun. We really enjoyed the movie but I think the kids enjoyed the popcorn the most.

Finally that last trip to Ikea was great. I love that you can eat, have babysitting and shop all in one place. There's no doubt that Ikea helped us to fill up that third suitcase that then cost us $25 to bring back.

We're looking forward to all of you being here for a couple of weeks this summer. Our big adventure will be camping at Wales West. We're looking forward to taking the kids on the train around the park, watching the fireworks, cooking out, swinging in our new hammock, swimming, working puzzles, playing board games and just being together.

Kelly, I'm glad to know you've forgiven me for forgetting you in High School. Since you forgot Jaelyn in elementary school and I forgot you in high school, do you think your brain is going faster than mine?

The next time you hear from me will be at the Adventures of the Traveling Lake House. When I have time, I'll be entering my journal since we got our motorhome in 2006 and then I'll make entries about our trips and maybe other things that seem important to me.

To everyone reading this - I hope I get to meet you one day if you're a friend of Kelly!! I already know a lot about many of you! All good of course.

Success at the Gym

We spent an hour at the gym this morning. Caden did great. I talked his ear off on the way about playing and having fun and mommy being right outside the door. I reassured him over and over that I was coming back to get him. He did great. Allie was with him, but I never saw him playing with her (I peeked in quite a bit).

My ankle is feeling better. It's only sore if I turn or rotate my ankle - like sitting indian style on the floor still hurts. Walking in a straight line doesn't hurt. I did 20 minutes of cardio on the treatmill and even jogged 1 mile with only a 1 minute break in the middle. It wasn't a fast mile (just 8-9 minute miles), but still, I'm happy. I'm itching to have one of the trainers do the measurements again, especially the body fat percentage, but I'm giving myself a couple more weeks.

Pictures from St. Lucia

Sorry it's taken so long...

A Purple Phantom, A Haircut, and a Fat Lip

This is Allie's favorite costume (the hat and the mask). I bought 3 Mardis Gras masks at a garage sale a few weeks ago. Allie loves to wear hers. She even went disguised to a birthday party last weekend. Silly girl!

Jaelyn has been begging me to cut her hair. I really wanted to let it grow, but brushing is no fun as her hair is fine and knots up very easily. Jaelyn and I went to Great Clips on Saturday morning. She says she doesn't like her new do, but I think that's more listening to me saying I don't like mine. I think she looks adorable and I am able to brush her hair again without a single complaint.
Caden fell getting out of the bath tub tonight. He caught his mouth on the corner of our ceramic tiled tub. Ouch. He cut the inside of his lip and it bled quite a bit. His teeth seem to be fine - at least nothing is loose. Poor little man - his first fat lip!