A Baby Shower & the Splash Pad - Our Sunday

Sunday afternoon I threw a baby shower for my cousin Lauren who has a 5 year old little boy & is now pregnant with a little girl!  Ella Faith should be here sometime in August so we wanted to celebrate and have an excuse to buy cute baby girl clothes!  On this side of my family the last "baby girl" to join the family was my cousin Kasi who is now near if not 20 years old and has a little boy of her own.  I guess you could say S is the most recent girly addition to all the great grand kids (5 boys and counting) but she is as of right now not a permanent addition so Ella Faith will be the first Great Granddaughter to my Grandparents and we are all very excited!

Here is the cake I made, to which Ben said to me, "Who do you think you are?  Emeril?"  I guess it must have looked good :)  This is such a cheat cake, so easy to make.  I just used a devil's food cake cake mix and cool whip.  It comes in chocolate too so that is what is in the middle with fresh strawberries and some regular cool whip on top.  Easy!

Unfortunately these are the only pictures I got of the shower because my husband was nice enough to take the boys, Kobe & Michael along with Big Dave & Little Dave, to the splash park during the shower and he took the camera with him!  I will just have to get some pictures from the other people who had cameras there!

And here are the kids at the splash park.  They had a great time!

Kobe's Quote of the Day - June 29, 2009

Picture me in my bedroom working on the computer.  Kobe and Savannah are playing in Kobe room right next to me:

I hear: "Savannah, please get out."

Next he says:  "Did you hear that Mom?  I said please get out, not just get out."

I guess we are getting somewhere?  lol

Kobe's first "job"

See the 2 dollars in Kobe's hand?  They have such a great story behind them and I had to share it!

Friday was a stressful day for me, S had her first 2 hour visit with her mom & I had to go see a man about some money he owed me.  #1, the first 2 hour visit was scheduled for nap time and #2 I HATE dealing with people who owe me $.  :) 

So, we get to S's visit and her mom comes 15 minutes late and then tells me she can only stay for 1 hour, not 2.   OK, the was a little frustrating because I needed that extra hour!  I wanted to spend those 2 hours dealing with the person who owed me money (by the way that all worked out just fine, God made it very easy on me and I got the money that day without any problem) AND I wanted to go to VG's who was having a triple coupon sale up to $.99 without 2 kids!!!  So, I ended but going to deal with the man about the money first and then went back and picked up S.  BTW, because they were late I offered to not pick her up until 1:15 pm if they would like that and they said yes.

So I pick her up and it is so nap time.  BUT apparently I am a gluten for punishment because I am still determined to go to VGs!  I can't pass up my first chance to have my coupons tripled!!!

So, anyway, as I have stated several times, it is nap time.  Thankfully I found a cart with the little car on the front and the kids are thrilled so away we go.  After a while, my little 2 year old monster decides Kobe cannot be in the car anymore or she is going to scream.  As you can see she is all about sharing.  My darling 7 year old was nice enough to stay out of the car so she wouldn't scream.  I was very very thankful.

We get to the check out and there is no bagger and I wanted to make sure all my coupons tripled so I decided to ask Kobe if he wanted to bag since there wasn't much he could destroy.  Kobe bagged up almost all of my groceries, very nicely I might ad, and then as I was paying the man in line behind me asked me to give Kobe $2 he was handing me for his hard work.  At first I said no, but he said he wanted to give Kobe the money because he was such a great helper!

Kobe of course was thrilled and thanked the man for the $.  As we walked out to the car Kobe and I talked all about how great it was that God sent that man to tell Kobe what a great job he had done and to give him that money.  As I got in the car I had tears in my eyes thinking about God wanting to bless Kobe like that.  I could have given him $2 for helping me, but coming from a stranger it just meant so much more!  Kobe was so proud of himself and I was really proud of him too.  I hope Kobe continues to see God show up in his life that that everyday.  Seeing God doing something like that for your child is just amazing, I am so thankful for a God who is real!

*Kobe with his money and the groceries he bagged*

And here is my haul from VGs~!  Just under 30 items for under $30!!!!

Better than shopping at the dollar store for about the same price!

Transformers Surprise!

Ben is such a good daddy!  Transformers came out on Wednesday and Ben knew how excited Kobe was to see it so he decided to surprise Kobe with tickets to the IMAX to see it the day that it came out!!!  He also went out and picked out this new t-shirt for Kobe to wear to the movie.

Ben came home Wednesday night and gave Kobe the computer print out that was the receipt for the movie tickets and had Kobe read it to figure out what the surprise was and then gave him the t-shirt.  Kobe was so excited!  They went to the 9:15 pm viewing and were out until almost midnight!  They got there an hour early and there was already a huge line to wait in just to get seats.  They both had a GREAT time!

Click here to see Savannah with the boys!

Silly Banana Video - our private blog

click here

Father's day - the kids on their bikes!

Kobe learned to ride a two wheeler a little while ago-this is our first time getting it on video though.  I can't believe how the kids are growing!

Click here to see video of the kids on the slip & slide and S  :)

Father's Day 2009

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there, I could write a big post about how amazing of a Father my husband is, but I think if you read my blog at all you have heard about how amazing he is already.  He is a good man and I still can't believe he is all mine!  :)

Anyway, here are some cute pictures of the kids from Sunday, playin' in the water :)

To see more you can click here

Where did June 18th go?

I seem to be missing some days-they seem to be flying past me without a trace - accept the messy living room that I have as proof that they came and went.

Ever since S stepped foot in this house I have been flooded with work, which is great, I will NEVER complain about work when so many have been having employment issues.

I cannot get over the plan God has had for us and the gifts HE has given along the way.  One that continually comes to mind is our vacation in Orlando, FL.  Oh what a godsend that was and still is!  Only God could know me well enough to orchestrate our life in a way that I would finally break down and plan an amazing trip for our family of three right before we went onto another wonderfully exciting chapter of our lives.  It still is a blessing I look back on and just cry at the thought that we got Kobe to Disney World and got to have, honestly, the best vacation ever!  Only God could have talked me into it and I am so glad HE did!

I get tears in my eyes still as I think about the graciousness HE is showing me daily as I work at becoming a better mom and an understanding foster mom.  The patience He has given me, which is usually just not there, and the bond He has given to S and I is amazing.  I know it can only be from Him and I will gladly give HIM the credit!

If you can't tell by my rambling, I am a little tired.  Between chasing kids, cleaning house and working every spare second (that usually is only available when the kids are sleeping) I am on a different schedule than I used to be :)

It is also such a whirl wind of emotions.  It really really is, and there isn't much time to sort them out in any kind of logical way.  All the sudden I have a 2 yr old girl in my house that is very attached to me, calls me mom and hugs and kisses me every day.  There is no time to figure out how much of a wall I should put up between my heart and my situation because it is here and I have to deal with it now.  

I have to give everything I have everyday as I look into those big brown eyes and see that today, I am "mom".  I am the only one here to give the hugs, fix the meals, kiss the owies, change the diapers, stroke her hair as she falls asleep, put her in time out, and tell her I love her.  In a way, I'm all she has, at least right this minute and every minute that I do it I feel so deep inside of me that I was born to do this, just as I was born to do it every day for my beautiful son who Ben and I made, I was born to take care of this girl for as long as I need to, not forever, but as long as I need to.  

For years now I have felt a hole in my life that I never knew how to fill, I could feel this spot that was empty and I didn't even know what belonged there.  It made me feel like there was some purpose for my life that I had not figured out yet.  I knew I was meant to be a wife, and a mom and many other things, but I had no idea I was meant to be a mom to someone else's child.  I really had no idea.  Even if S left tomorrow, even if she was our one and only foster child, I know when I look in her eyes that I was meant to do this. 

 Don't get me wrong, I still ask God "why?".  I still ask Him why He thinks I can do this, why I am the right person to do this.  Why do I need to do something that is going to be hard.  Why I need to do something that might really hurt when my part of it is done.  Most of the time I hear Him answer, "Because I knew you would, because I know you can, because I know you.  Because I made you to do this."

And that is what gets me through the day, and after the kids are in bed, it is what gets me through the evening as I think about the day that will inevitably come when it is time for her to go.

Summer Days

Kobe loves to have bond fires, little fire bug.  He will ask if we can have one for no real reason and we will just for the heck of it.  Ben & Kobe had one last night after S went to bed and I was working on the computer.

This morning we woke up to rain, LOTS of rain.  I was happy because that means our grass will stay green for a while.  

This morning the kids & I got to sleep in and then when they got up we went out on the porch to watch the rain.  They enjoyed it a lot!
He is big brave Kobe killing a bug while S watches...
...for more pictures click here 

Oh, the things I say yes to...

So, I got a call today from our foster care agency.  I was expecting it to be about setting up a time for S's visit with her mom this week-but it wasn't.

It was one of the social workers there, they were calling to see if we would take 2 more!  A 2 year old boy and a 1 year old girl, siblings.  They were at their mom's house for a visit and she apparently was saying the 2 year old had lots of bruises all over him (isn't that normal for a 2 yr old?) and was trying to blame it on the foster parents.  The agency was wondering if we would take the kids if they needed a place to stay tonight and I said yes.  What was I thinking?!?!

They said they would call me back and let me know, once Ben got home we both were laughing at the fact that I had said yes and to be honest I was really hoping they would not need to come to our house!  As it turns out, they did not need to come and that worked out well since I probably should have said no in the first place.  But how do you say no to 2 kids in a possibly abusive situation?  Anyway, this was a good dry run for me, I am going to practice saying NO so the next time I get called for something I am really not ready for maybe I will be able to say it!!!

Two Kids, Less Sleep, and Busy Busy Busy

As you can imagine, life around here has change a lot in the past week.  In certain ways I laugh at how worried I was about what we were getting ourselves into, and in other ways I think "wow, it really is as hard as I thought it would be".

I guess I will start with the easy part.

As far as the things that are slightly easier than I thought they would be, that would be how adding a second child would effect our family.  Yes, it is busier around here and I don't get to do things the way I used to, but honestly, she just fits around here.  In our home it is like she has always been here.  Kobe & S play just like brother and sister - sometimes (most of the time) they love each other & then other times I catch Kobe doing little things to make her scream.  Sound like any older brother you know?  :)  

Ben and I both have our own relationship that we are building with her.  

Yes, I am already "Mom", and no, I did not ask her to call me that.  I think, as with most two year olds, who ever is the woman that is the care giver to the kids is "Mom".  S treats me like I am her mom, and for right now as far as I can see that is the roll that has been given to me for an undetermined amount of days and I plan to be that to the best of my ability.  She is a sweet little girl and I already care about her already very very much.

Ben, to S, is "Ben".  I didn't know what to call him when introducing her to him, so instead of pushing a new "Daddy" on her I just called him Ben and it stuck.  She loves to play with him outside and is happy to use him when ever she needs something, but if I'm around she would prefer to be with me.  Ben has actually managed to be even more amazing at this "foster dad" thing than even I thought he would be.  He has so much patience (I can't imagine that he learned that from having to put up with me all these years ha!) and such a sweet spirit towards S.  He has put in so much effort with her the past 7 days.  I could not have asked for a more perfect person to spend my life with.  I am SO proud of him.

read the rest here

Water Pad

Oh how I love summer-even though our weather seems so weird!  It is very pleasant, but not roasting hot like it sometimes can be in June.  Friday was a great warm day to finally make our way over to the park that has my favorite summer activity.  I just LOVE watching the kids play here.  They have so much fun and the pictures are always great!

To see more pictures of S click here

Gifts & Pictures I can post!

Well, since S has gotten here our living room has been filled with age appropriate toys all over again-I had just gotten Kobe's confined to his room :)

As you can see, we aren't exactly lacking in the toy dept. thanks to Cindy who went through all Kobe & Brook's old toys and sent them home with us.  I was excited to get the McDonald's toy because all the kids love that toy.

Shelly and Brook let us borrow the finding Nemo little bike thing (which S loves) and a talking Winnie the Pooh which she had to sleep with that night.

Sorry these pictures are so out of order but Lindsay & Matt sent us a very nice pkg in the mail of toys for S.  She LOVES the baby toy and has traded in her very favorite baby for the one you sent her, thank you guys!!!



To see more pictures (ones with her face in them) click here

Vannah Banana's Room

Well, it was quite a whirl wind around here in the days before S came to live with us.  I thought I had until Wednesday - but then she came Monday (which I am so happy she did!)

Saturday night my sister and I went to Walmart to do some shopping and I found these cute poka dot wall stickers.  My plan all along was to do this to the room, but I didn't feel like running out to Target so when I saw these I bought them without knowing if I would like them or not.  Well, I LOVE them.  I love all the bright colors and S loves them too :)

This dresser is my dresser that my grandma & grandpa Neighbors got me when I was born.  I love it!
And here is the little rocking chair and "old paint" (the rocking horse) that me and my cousins grew up playing on at our grandparents house.  S loves them too now :)