Backwards Day

Today was backwards day, apparently Kobe's Mommy isn't very creative because she only put his shirt and hat on backwards but I didn't see any that were dressed much crazier.

Today Bobbie went to the doctor and everything seems to be going great!  She is now allowed to pick up David which she is so excited about!  She is having some minor side effects that come with brain trauma but nothing that is very concerning.  She is doing great and getting closer to being totally healed everyday PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Spirit Week~!

This week is spirit week at Kobe's school!  Today it said to dress up in jeans/overalls, plaid shirts, bandanas and straw hats (maybe they meant Cowboy day?  :) )

The kids are having special treats all week and are having a great  time!

Starting off on the wrong foot...

Um, so, the kid we are training to shoot weddings...he went to the wrong church.  He went to the one for SATURDAY not the one scheduled for TODAY.  So, as I am stuck in traffic he calls me and says "I think I'm at the wrong church".  I say, "Are you at United Methodist of Grosse Point?"  He says, "No, I am at the church in Detroit."

Yeah, we had a little mix up today.  He got to the correct church earlier than he needed to be even with the mix up.  Everything else went fine...we shall see.

Guest Post

Lindsay from http://mlewentzel2.blogspot.com/ and http://saveonorganics.blogspot.com/ is guest blogging for me over at GoodDealorFree.blogspot.com.

I asked her to post about something of interest to her that pertains to saving money...well, like lots of us she is thinking about Christmas already!  (I already have lots of my shopping done but lots more to go!)

Go check out what she does to save money on Christmas!

I ran across this really great site the other night...

You all should check it out

Click here

FREE :)

Tonight is the night that Cold Stone is holding their FREE Ice Cream social!  Kobe and I were out and about and decided to stop in and get some ice cream... ...Kobe was thrilled and surprised to see the blow up in the parking lot that were rented to go along with the ice cream social.  What a great surprise! What a fun FREE night :)

Ok, I don't really have anything to be stressed about-I just like to pretend I guess.

This weekend will be an interesting weekend for us.  Ben and I have 2 weddings to shoot this weekend-one on Friday and one on Saturday.  Recently I decided it was time to look into finding and hiring someone to shoot weddings with either Ben or I for a couple different reasons.

1.  If we are going to be doing Foster Care I think one of us needs to be available at all times.  We don't know what kind of children we will be getting and while they may be well behaved (I can't help but laugh when I say that) they very well may not be and I don't want to put that burden on anyone else for those long wedding days!  Mark and Cindy ALWAYS watch Kobe for us and we are lucky that Kobe is pretty easy going so it has worked out.  We have no idea how the next kids will be!

2.  My over all goal has recently become to build a 2 person "camera crew" that will shoot the weddings for Ben and I without Ben and I having to go at all.  We will be doing this very slowly and throughly.  We are very picky about our work and want it to be as perfect as possible.  We are going to start out with one person and then when they are really ready we will start training another.

So, I was put in contact with a young man named Jeremy thru a friend of mine at church.  He is 19 and recently was discharged from the navy because of a cracked hip.  For fun he likes to videotape his friends skateboarding WHILE he is on a skateboard too!  I asked him how many cameras he had trashed by doing this and he replied "Only one"  :)  oh, boy.

Anyway, his mom owns a wedding chapel in Waterford called Victoria's Wedding chapel and he has been looking for a job like this.  We have had him come to The Point for a couple Sundays to take over Ben's job videotaping the service so he could get used to our cameras and chasing Pastor Jim around the stage (which tends to be way harder than a wedding ceremony :) ) and he has done really well.  We are excited that this could work out, I think the harder part will be finding a female camera operator because girls are not very dominant in this field.

So, this Friday and Saturday are our first weddings training Jeremy, I think he will do fine.  We hope this is a move that will really make things easier for us in the long run. 

Happy Birthday Lindsay!

We hope it is wonderful!

"He looks too grown up!"

Here is Kobe's 1st grade school picture.  Could he grow up any faster?  :( 

I told him "Wow!  Your picture turned out great!  Your smile was perfect!" and he just smiled at me and says "Thanks".  :)

Money Monday

Go check it out

Click here to see the video of bobbie & dave (and david's sad little face :( ) on the news yesterday

Frequently Asked Questions!

How is Bobbie doing?

Bobbie, Dave, David & the new baby are all doing great!  They were actually on the news again last night getting interviewed about what happened.  Bobbie is doing really well, getting better everyday.  She has an ultrasound scheduled for Friday thru her OBGYN.  This is the regular ultra sound everyone gets during this part of their pregnancy.

So, where are you guys with the Foster Care stuff?

We are still waiting to have our finger printing come back.  Also, we have not gone and gotten our Physicals or TB tests done.  I called around yesterday to find Ben and I a family Doctor and found one very close to our house.  I will make appts soon for Ben and I and then I will do Kobe's.

I also called Kobe's doc to see if he was willing to see any foster kids that we have and if he takes medicaid.  The answer to both was yes so that was good news :)

Did Ben have a good birthday?

Yes, Ben had a good birthday!  He came home early from work and we had a great dinner and then he opened his gifts from Kobe and I.  We even had time to run to Kohls to take back things that didn't fit and get new things :)

How is school going for Kobe?

Kobe is doing great in school!  He really is enjoying it, doesn't complain about getting up early or going (praise God!) and he has a smile on his face when I come to pick him up (my favorite part of the day :) )!

He is doing really well on his reading lists and is still excelling more in the math dept.  He loves playing with his friend Clayton and seems to like his teacher.

He came home and asked Ben and I "What does keep your self to your self" mean and we realized it probably meant "Keep your hands to yourself" which Kobe seems to have problems with so hopefully knowing what the teacher means will help. :)

He comes by all the talking and touching genetically I am sure!

So, in short, we are doing pretty good, nothing too exciting going on-this weekend we will be going to the carnival in downtown Grand Blanc so that will be fun and probably will celebrate Ben's birthday with my side of the family.

Happy Birthday Shelly!

Happy 29th Birthday Ben!!!

Today is Ben's birthday!  He stayed home a little this morning so he could see Kobe before I took him to school.

We love you!  (Even if you are getting REALLY REALLY old!  ;) )

PICTURES FROM SUNDAY

Ben & Shelly's burning inferno of a cake...



One of the kids managed to blow spit into Ben's eye while trying to blow out the trick candles...
...and here is where they got another great idea...mixing there cake and ice cream together (which isn't that bad) but then decided to add some water... 

...next Grandma decided to keep them busy by craving pumpkins with them...

...this puts us at 2 pumpkins carved so far this year with Kobe...we will see how many more he talks us into...

Shelly, is this what your mom to mom sale is like?

:)  click here

Money Monday...

Check Out this week's deals!

Building a pirate ship

On Saturday Kobe & I ended up making our way to Lowe's to make the pirate ship.  Kobe loves doing these projects at Lowe's and Home Depot.  Turns out Lowe's does even cuter more creative ones than Home Depot.

The lady who was in charge even gave Kobe a red pick up truck kit to take home and do that Ben and Kobe did when Ben got home~!

What happens when you ask God and HE answers...

July 21, 2008

 

Today I had a neat morning, just to myself.  Kobe was over at Mark & Cindy’s and (after I got on the internet :P) I decided to spend the morning in bed with my Bible.  It is so funny how, on my end of our foster parenting story at least,  my renewed commitment to the Bible has been there with me thru it all.  When I get scared, overwhelm, tired and am feeling a little hopeless I get to run to my Bible and find God there.

I didn’t even know where to start reading at first, I read a few books of the old testament and got to know God a little bit there, then, as of lately I have ended up in Psalms, finding everything I need there.

As I read thru David’s (the Psalmist David) cries to the Lord, I found myself needing to cry out too.  I ended up crying out to God asking Him to do the impossible.  I asked Him to bind my heart to a child’s heart I have never met before.  I asked Him to begin today to build a bond between us that no one could ever understand how it could be there.  I asked Him to protect that child, comfort them, help them to FEEL HIM.  I asked HIM to love on that child while I can’t.  I asked HIM to draw our hearts together far before we ever meet each other.

 

 

 

And He answered, trust me, I can feel it already.

 

 

 

 

July 22, 2008

 

Today was our first Foster Parenting class!  I can’t believe it is here and finally happening.  The class went really well, I was surprised about how many people were there.

 

The teacher was Amy Anderson and I had already met her thru Ally so that made me feel more comfortable.

 

The class kinda went like this:

 

Part One:

 

“Here are the worst things you could face as a Foster Parent”

 

Part Two:

 

“If you are here for the wrong reasons get out”

 

Part Three:

 

“Half of you will not show up next week after hearing everything I have to say”

 

Part Four:

 

“Here is how you get licensed”

 

 

The absolute BEST part of class for me was watching Ben absorb all this info and be more determined than ever that this is the right thing for us (that is how I felt as well).  With every horror story there was a part of me that would cringe, partly for kids that have gone thru those horrible things and partly because you worry you won’t be able to handle it.

 

But, after going thru the class it just solidified that we are doing what we are supposed to and it is really exciting.

 

While we were waiting in the reception area a young lady came in and sat down.  Then, another lady (older than the first) came in with 4 kids and it became apparent that lady #1 was the mom of these kids and lady #2 was their foster parent right now.  It was interesting to watch the foster mom give little bits of info about the kids to the mom.  Mom noticed one of the boys got a hair cut and the Foster Mom piped up with “I hope it’s not too short”.  The mom was having a supervised visit for what ever reasons and here we all are watching it happen in the waiting room.  Then, another lady walked in with a baby in a car seat and brought that baby over to see lady #1 as well.  It seemed that lady #1 had FIVE kids to visit with that day.

 

I am SO GLAD that visitation will be AT the agency.  So glad.

 

So, what do we have to do:

 

 

-Fill out lots of paper work

-Get physicals done

-Get finger printing done

-Get proof of income done

-make copy of our social security cards & drivers licenses

 

and a few other things I am sure I am forgetting J

 

We are going to be converting the office into a bedroom only for who ever we have placed with us so it will be fun to paint and decorate for who ever comes to stay with us~!

 

 

 

Carving our first pumpkin of the year...

...and yes, that does imply we do several :)

this was the first time kobe would actually pull the guts out himself.  as you can see it still is a little gross to him.

Tooth Number Two

Monday night Kobe and I decided it was time for tooth number 2 to come out.  As you can see he already has the new one almost half way in.

Fun at Grandpa & Grandma's this Weekend!