Today Might Just Be the Day...

What happens in the daily life of the family.. the drama of foster care, the adventures of parenting, & pictures to share with everyone!

Happy Holidays

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Christmas 2015

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Cruising away October 2016

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Christmas 2016

I can hardly believe it’s nearly Christmas. And I have so many things to do! I should be wrapping or cleaning or cooking or something. But, I wanted to sit down for a bit. Well, to be honest, I was eating and to eat I sat down and I sat down in front of the computer. And, as we all know, once you sit down it can be really, really, really hard to get back moving.

Anyhow, while I embrace the lazy for a second, I also give myself to think about the past year. And it has flown by! There were some massive hurdles this year.. parenting teenagers is not for the faint of heart! And there have been some massive successes–one of those teenagers has stayed out of trouble for months now!

One of the little guys I used to watch has grown so big that he no longer needs a baby sitter and has moved onto preschool. And my other little dude just became a big brother!

My youngest two are growing like weeds and my teens are my height (& maybe even taller). They all are beautiful (I assure you it’s true, not just the mommy goggles!). And they have these amazing personalities that are so fun to watch.

I keep seeing all over social media how awful 2016 has been and how ready my friends are for it to be over. But, I don’t want anything to rush! I want time to slow down! Maybe even on those really horrible days… Then maybe we can appreciate the good a little more.

Anyhow, the laundry and wrapping and cleaning calls.

Merry Christmas!

‘Merica

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Are you ready?

I love Pinterest! It’s sort of an obsession… However, you’d never know it based on my pins. I mostly just scroll and scroll. But, I do absorb some ideas.

And to get ready for the 4th we tried a couple 🙂

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This is the little dude’s shirt. I will attempt a photo of the kids with theirs tomorrow. It was a really easy project & I thought the results were cute.

Then tonight, Bean & I baked cupcakes..

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What are you doing to celebrate?

Tomorrow we will avoid the crowds & likely just relax at home, but we’ll have cute shirts on 😉

School’s out for Summer

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Today is the last day of school.

Right now the baby is sleeping and I am enjoying one of the last quiet moments I will have for a couple of months.

All in all, I’d say we had more wins than losses as far as school this year. I think we’ll all enjoy the break from homework and the busy days.

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And, to compare… Here they are on the first day.

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Vegas, Baby..

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We made it! It only took 5 bathroom breaks for the 5.5 hour drive.. :p

Then I took the kids on a hike adventure…

We walked from Circus Circus to M & M’s world. I have no clue how far it was, but we had quite a few detours and we were all beat once we made it. Took a taxi back & enjoyed a picnic dinner in the room before crashing.

Today we’re at the Adventuredome. The kids are loving all of the rides. My wallet is feeling the midway (and all of the stops during our adventure yesterday). Thankfully, my kids get it and were happy to have another picnic lunch.

On tap for tonight, “room service”… It will be pizza as that’s the only in-room option.

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I will not kill my children, I will not kill my children….

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Sick mom + sorta sick kids + kids just not doing what they’re supposed to do = very annoyed mom

*And* as I came here today, I had to key in my password like 5 times. It’s been so long that I’ve forgotten how to blog!

Once again, I have a sinus infection–and this one is taking it’s tole (some are easier to fight than others!). Next week I will go back under the knife to, hopefully, get to a place where I am not having these as often. This will be the second surgery I’ve had on my sinuses, but this time around I am with a new ENT and I am looking forward to better/longer-lasting results.

In the meantime, I need to get through this sinus infection and keep my kids and family and life moving in the right direction.

One of the reasons I haven’t been blogging much is my new job 🙂 I have a little dude who I babysit three days a week. He is 5 months old and is definitely giving me my baby-fix. He’s also serving as a good reminder of how hard those baby days really were. We just hang out together for the most part. He does really well when we have errands to run, but he’s pretty picky when we’re here–he’d rather be held than play on the floor or sit in his swing.

Other than their slightly homicidal mom, our kids are doing well. This is the time of year when we seem to have a birthday every week or so… B is now 6, V is 7, d is 10 and D will be 11 in just a couple more weeks. My big boys are really big now–they can almost look me in the eye! And the little ones aren’t so little anymore… At the doctor the other day I was quite surprised, both of them are over 50 pounds now.

I hope that your day has started better than mine!

 

Oh, and don’t fear… the kids are in school now so they’re safe for at least a few hours.

K is for…?

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The other night we were all out to dinner–the family & a few Aunts & an old family friend. And B was entertaadults the adults. I wish I would have saved the picture she drew to scan. It was basically a circle with 4 lines sticking out from the bottom.

Then, she was having the adults guess what animal she drew. And, ya know, with the lack of detail, it was quite the challenge. So, she started to give clues.

 

—It starts with a K…

—It has four legs…

The guesses were flying, “Koala? Kangaroo? Kitty?”

We got one more clue, “It is white with black spots.”

 

Obviously…it was a kow 🙂

Loss

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We are mid-air on our journey home. I didn’t expect this to be a happy or easy day, tired kids and the stress of travel don’t make for the most peaceful days, even in the best of circumstances. But, I had no clue what a heart-breaking journey this would be…

Yesterday, as we were waiting in customs, B got a call from his sister. His father has passed away….

Only a few months ago, Grandpa was feeling healthy and looking strong. He was having some stomach issues, and they were playing with his diet, but it seemed there was nothing more going on… But, the stomach issues continued to grow. He spent about a week in the hospital a little over a month ago—his gall bladder was removed, they treated him for pneumonia and they put in a stint. He left, but never made it back to healthy.

A few weeks ago he was back in the hospital and they finally found the cause—cancer. Such a horrible disease. Thankfully, they live close to us and their daughter so we were all able to be together and laugh and cry and support him and Grandma..

He’s been doing chemo for the past few weeks. And he was doing o.k. Have I mentioned that cancer sucks?

As you know, my family was gathering in FL for our cruise… We saw Grandpa the morning we left. I wish we would have gotten all of the kids out for hugs, but had my crystal ball been working we would have skipped the whole trip.

I feel so incredibly sad for my husband. I wish he would have gotten more time with his father.

I have told he kids that it is o.k., but there is nothing o.k. He should have had more time. He was too young and we loved him too much. There is nothing o.k. or fair about his death.

I am a very lucky. I am married to a great guy. And it is his parents I have to thank–they raised him right and have him handsome genes. They also have loved me like a daughter. They fully supported us through our crazy journey of foster care (being Grandma and Grandpa to all who came and went no matter how long they were with us). They have loved me, accepted me and treated me like a daughter. And it is not time for me to let go of my Dad yet.

Once we heard the news we worked to get B home with his sister and mom… It was not an easy day. The kids are devastated. B had to be away from us to be with others who need him, too. My parents and family were trying to help as much as they can—but, this is a loss that can’t be fixed, at least not without some time and healing…

Hold close the ones that you love. Use each day and treasure them the best that you can. Life is far too short.

Love you so very much Dad.

Vacation!

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One of the things I enjoy most about our school district is the calendar year. They have what they call “modified year-round” school. The kids still get a summer break, but it’s shorter than most & they get extra time off in the Fall and Spring. It is amazing for us in AZ, because the times you want to be out and about are not in the summer!

The other huge bonus is that extra times means that we can travel and enjoy without having to fit it all in a week…

This year, we are doing something more than normal, too! Rather than go through it all, I will try to blog as we go (key word= try).

Anyhow, we started our trip yesterday and it was a full day of travel. We literally were on the go the whole day… We left the house @ 6:45 in the morning and got the kids in bed @ 1:00 this morning—thankfully there is a time difference in there. It was a long day. But, we have good travelers and it gets easier each year.

Today, the kids slept in and we just ran out to the store to pick up food…

And then we hit the pool.

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Right now we are waiting on the family… We are in FL, so we get to spend time with Nana, Papa & most of the cousins & they will get to see most of their Aunts & Uncles, too!

We will be quite the crew!

Started with puke… Hasn’t improved.

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Sigh.

I am ready to send my crew to bed–the lot of them!!

Little d has an ear infection that made him sick this morning. Big D is being bossy and loud and obnoxious. V is pouting. And I had to carry a crying B all the way home from school.

Add to that some frustration with prescriptions and the fact that I only got a short run in today and I am ready for bed, too.

Sigh.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.