Making A Home

Family Photo 2010

I wanted to share our latest family photo!  Our church is working on a new photo directory, and since our last family photo has THREE children who are no longer ours... it was time for a new one.

Our adoption agency also wanted a family photo for our profile (that goes out to state departments and other agencies they work with).  Does this look like a family you would entrust your child to?

Don't answer that.  :)

My friend, Renee, is a professional photographer.  It's been fun watching her business take off. If I didn't know her personally, I may never have been brave enough to step out of my "Sears Photo Lab" mentality and see how much better REAL portraits can be.  Not to mention how great it is to have a relaxed, rather than contrived, photo session.  Head over to her business website, Little Earthling Photography to see other great photos of families, babies and kids. 

I'm told MOST of the outtakes were because of ME, either closing my eyes or not looking at the camera!

Preparations

Airline and Park Tickets purchased... check.

Reservations made... check.

Maps printed... check.

Park-and-fly package for hotel near airport booked... check.

Park menus researched and assembled... check.

Ipods loaded with music and a new audiobook and charged... check.

Movies loaded onto mini-laptop... check.

T-shirts made... check.

 
Arrangements made for Jake to say with his previous owner while we are away... check.

Jake's bowls, food, treats, extra leash and treats packed in a backpack... check.

Care for cats, chickens and fish lined up... check.

Itineraries for each day in the park, using Ridemax to maximize rides and minimize wait time... check.

Practice drills begun with children for airport, security and airplane routines... check.

Clothes laid out for first day of travel... check.

Additional clothes bagged in ziplocks and labeled with photo and day to wear... check.

 
  
Groceries ordered to be delivered to our hotel on 2nd day of stay... check.

Carry-ons packed with gameboys, books, coloring, ipods, snacks, one change of clothes (in case the checked luggage is lost), swimsuits and toiletries... check.

Maps, e-tickets, confirmations, itineraries, and menus assembled and comb-bound in to three books (Travel, Disneyland and DCA)... check.

Adoption worker told of vacation plans and informed that we WILL be reachable by cell phone AND by hotel fax, should anything really interesting come up while we're gone... check.

House clean and ready for us to make a joyful return... um, no... I'll get right on that.
 

Judge not, lest ye be judged

Well into our visit to the children's museum last week, (and right when Brian had offered to go get the remains of our coffee drinks from the car), I and several of the other moms noticed drops of blood all over the wooden floor in front of the stage area.  "Uh oh, somebody's kid has a bloody nose!"  I quickly take inventory of my own kids (and the others in the general vicinity) and seeing no blood on their faces, remark "it's none of mine."  Other moms do the same.  After several minutes, and after noticing the blood drops continue further than originally thought... up the stairs, over the walkway, this way and that... and after admittedly casting some level of judgement on the mom who is obviously not watching her children close enough to realize one of theirs has blood dripping down his face and all over the floor throughout the museum (it was DRIPS of blood, so it logically had to be a bloody nose)... around the corner comes Hallie again (remember I'd JUST checked her face for blood minutes ago), her right foot absolutely COVERED in blood.  After the initial seconds of shock wore off, I grabbed Natty under my right arm (Brian still wasn't back), Hallie under my left, and made a bee-line for the restroom, blushing all the way and announcing sheepishly "I found the blood!" to each of the moms now casting their own (well-deserved) judgemental glances my way.

It turned out she had stubbed her toe (though she couldn't remember where or when, and it still bewilders me that she didn't think blood gushing from her foot was something she should come tell me) at just the right angle that her toenail cut into the end of her toe. We ran it under cold water for quite some time, applied pressure with the guaze a manager had brought in, sprayed it with hydrogen peroxide, bandaged and taped it and she was off and running again.  We filled out an accident report with another employee, and I kept apologizing to the manager, but she was great about it.  She even gave Hallie a toy (a kit of scratch-off pictures) to play with later in the day (despite that the injury was not due to negligence on the part of the museum at all, and we'd made a nice bit of work for the employee that had to disinfect the floors while I cleaned the foot.)  The manager's parting comment was something to the tune of "We try to make things as safe was we can in here, but if we removed everything that a child could possibly hurt themselves on, there'd be nothing left to explore."  I had to agree.

 

Natty's Last Day

Natty did indeed move to her new home last Wednesday night.  (Sorry for the silence on the blog.)  We've heard nothing from her new foster mom, but hope and assume all is well.

Tuesday night we let the kids have a slumber party.  A last bit of togetherness before the next day's goodbye.  The girls shared the bottom bunk (Natty's bed... though it looks like Jake thought he was invited, too), and Sam took the top (Hallie's bed.)  After Hallie making Natty scream one (twelve) too many times, Hallie had to move to Sam's room for the rest of the night... but it was fun while it lasted.

Wednesday morning, we got the kids up and loaded up the van for a trip to the Children's Museum, as planned.  Natty was fussy that morning, particularly as we were packing up the last of her things, and as we were heading out to the van.  It's hard to know what a 2 year old is comprehending, but once we were IN the van and talking about the museum, she returned to her fun and friendly disposition.  Instinct says she thought getting in the van was the final goodbye, but once she realized it wasn't, she was fine.

-

The kids had a great time playing, as they always do at this museum.  They splashed in the water of the little river, played dressup, made art creations, made music, and explored every inch of the space as if they'd never been there before.  There were (to be expected) Tyler and Hailey flashbacks, as it's the same museum where we first met our "hopeful children", but it didn't seem to put any extra damper on the morning. 

 (Natty as "Lella", her adorably cute word for Cinderella.)

(I've got a side story to insert here, but since this post is about Natty, I'll save it for tomorrow.)

We picked up McDonald's for lunch, and headed home to get Brian to work.  Natty took her nap, and not long after waking up, Lolo called to say she'd gotten off work early and was coming to get her new daughter.  The big kids cried.  Lolo was compassionate and gave them both hugs.  Natty was stoic, as she gets when she is unsure of things.  After she drove away, we had dinner, read some of our current read-aloud, and the kids went to bed before my Grump Therapy friends came over (with apple pie). 

We're ok.  Though as Sam is sitting next to me now, seeing the photos I'm putting up, he's begun weeping again.  I can't stop getting out 5 plates for each meal, adn whenever we go somewhere, it feels like someone is missing.  But we are looking forward to vacation, and hopeful for what God has for us when we return.

And after being so careful, since she's not our foster child anymore... I can get away with just one unaltered photo, right?

 
Or two...

Tomorrow

We were able to find what appears to be a good foster home for Natalie.  (For those who missed it, her tribe won't allow adoption or guardianship, so she is essentially stuck in foster care for the forseeable future.  Since we are an adoptive home, not a foster home, she needed to be moved to somewhere she can stay until her plan changes... or she grows up.  We let the state know at the beginning of the year, we were setting a deadline to have her moved before we left on vacation at the end of February.)

As of last week, they were no closer to finding her a new home than they'd been at the first of the year!  So I took things into my own hands a little bit.  I went to my foster parent coffee meeting armed with an adorable photo of our 2 year old.  By the end of the meeting, I had found a fellow foster mom ("Lolo") who only had a 3 year old boy in her home, had room for another, and thought Natalie was a doll.  We arranged for Lolo to drop by after the meeting to spend some time getting to know her.  Their meeting went great, Natalie was charming, and we heard from Lolo the next day, wanting to take her for an overnight on the weekend.  (Yes, I was honest about Natalie's fits and rages, and her sleep issues.  Lolo seemed unconcerned.) 

Natalie did great on her visit over the weekend, and the move date was set... Wednesday.  She leaves tomorrow, after more than a year in our home.  We will miss her, but I am thankful she's going to a good home, and that we should be able to keep in some level of contact with her (since her new mom also goes to some of the support meetings).  We've also offered to do respite care as needed.

We'll spend tomorrow morning hanging out at a nearby children's museum, making one last day of memories.  Brian has to be at work in the afternoon/evening, and Natalie will be picked up after dinner... after which my "Grump Therapy" girls will be here to talk me down.

Superbowl 2010

With no cable, we were at my mom's this year.  She talked my stepdad, Bruce into it by describing the foods I generally serve for major sporting events.  And they have a fancy flat-screen-big-screen-HD thing.  Somewhere in the process, a few extras (Bruce's cousin and her friend) got invited, too.  The more the merrier... and I always make too much food anyway!

Here's the spread:

 
  
Menu:

Mexican Layered Dip (my mom's contribution)
Mini Sliders (mini cheeseburgers)
Chicken Chimichangas
(With Salsa, Sour Cream and Homemade Guacamole)
Bacon & Cream Cheese Puffs
Little Smokies in Sauce
Potato Chips with Onion Dip
Pretzels
Cheetos Puffs
Veggies with Ranch Dip
Licorice
Key Lime Cheeseball with Nilla Wafers
Mini Cherry Cheesecakes (also from my mom)
Football Shaped Brownies (store-bought - Little Debbie's)
Peanuts
Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Footballs




I told the kids to pick which team they were rooting for before the game started.  Hallie chose the New Orleans Saints, so I told her to go find something black and gold to wear.  She came out in a black t-shirt, a gold tiara, and a shiny gold skirt from her dressup stuff.  Then since Sam had chosen to root for the Minnesota Vikings, she brought out something blue and white for him to wear... her "Dorothy" dress from the Wizard of Oz!  I suggested a blue t-shirt might be a better choice.

Vacation is coming...

We told the kids where and when we are going on vacation.  OK, we didn't TELL them.  We made them figure it out.  I gave them this code:

And they had to hunt for these symbols to decipher it. 

(I cut them apart and hid them around the house.)

 

And then we ate Mickey Pizza.

Yesterday's Forecast: Cloudy...

...with a chance of meatballs.

We're doing a weather study this year with the kids.  Learning about precipitation and cold fronts and tornados and cumulonimbus clouds and all that jazz.  One of the books we picked up (for fun) for our study was "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs."  Then, just a few weeks after ordering it, (truly, we didn't know), the movie came out in theatres.  So we HAD to go... it was for school!

When the movie released on DVD, I knew it was time for a party with friends who hadn't seen it (or even read the book yet!)  Yesterday was the day.  This was one of our most simple parties...

- Read Book
- Watch Movie
- Eat Spaghetti and Meaballs for Lunch
- Eat Spaghetti and Meatball Cupcakes for Dessert

No, that's not lunch... that's dessert!  Here's another view to prove it...

My aunt Patty got me a cupcake decorating cookbook for Christmas, and these were in it, in the "April Fools" section!  Too much fun not to try.  Check out Renee's blog to see some of the reactions and more photos.  I brought my camera, but alas, didn't realize until I got it out at the party that my son had stolen the batteries out of it, presumably to put in some toy.  Sigh.

We'll be following up with a game of "Spaghetti and Math Balls" to practice our addition/subtraction skills.  (OK, the kids, not so much me.)  And we'll read "Spaghetti and Meatballs for All" again - it's a really fun math/thinking skills book.  And that, my friends, is one more simple, fun, educational, memory-maker party.  Have I mentioned lately how much I love homeschooling? ;)

 

Groundhog Day 2010

We started yesterday, discussing Groundhog Day, it's origins and traditions. 

This morning, the children got these for breakfast...groundhog pancakes.

Under that grassy green hill (green-tinted pancake topped with flower sprinkles), is the groundhog's burrow (half an apple with peanut butter).  The groundhog himself is a crumb donut hole, 2 butterscotch chips, a mini M&M, and edible eyes made from white candy melts and mini chocolate chips. 

School today was a compilation of spelling, vocabulary, math, reading, science and more... all in the form of groundhog worksheets, word finds, dot-to-dot, maze, fill-in-the-blanks, math codes, groundhog tic-tac-toe and a groundhog prediction door-hanger project.  I printed them out this weekend and comb-bound them into a book for each of my students.

We watched the official proclamation online, and watched the silly "Groundhog Day" movie on Roku (Netflix viewer).  During our movie's intermission, we enjoyed a snack of groundhog cocoa.

Punxsutawney Phil says 6 more weeks of winter... but I say I'm still WAITING for winter. 
Where's my snow???