An Inside Look Into Our Big Crazy Adoptive Family!
If I must eat brownies. If I must ignore any pretense at trying to lose weight. If I must succumb to chocolaty goodness. Let it be so that I can enjoy rich gooey homemade brownies baked with love by my sweet, beautiful, generous, talented little baker, Gloria.
We didn't have a picnic or go to the lake. We didn't attend a special memorial service although we drove past one. We didn't really do anything specifically for memorial day today.
This morning we took the girls and two of their friends to the movies to see "Speed Racer". It was much better than I had thought it would be, but I think it was too complex of a story line for anyone younger than about seven or so. We loved the old cartoon when we were kids, but frankly the details are a bit fuzzy by now. The movie was a perfect blend of serious and funny, real and animation. I do wish, though, that a couple of the bad guys had been a teensy bit less scary.
Snoopy is becoming quite a favorite everywhere we go. He's just so adorable. His great big smile and excited laugh draw indulgent looks even from people he bumps into when he's trying to play "can't get me" at church or anywhere we go really. He likes to toddle off and hide behind or under something and then peek out to see if we are looking for him.
Danya and Gloria have joined the "Pen & Pencil Club" for 6 to 11 year olds at the library. They meet a couple of times a month to share stories and poems they've written and talk about books. This time they had to write an answer to the question, "If you could go back in time and meet anyone, who would you most want to meet and why?" Danya wrote that she'd like to meet Magellan and travel with him around the world. Gloria wanted to travel with Lewis and Clark so that she could meet Sacajawea and get to know her. She also wanted to find out if Sacajawea had a baby boy or girl with her on the trip. They both also won prizes for solving riddles during the club meeting. They can't wait for the next meeting!
At the used book fair we went to a couple of weeks ago there was a CHEC booth with several tables full of books for only fifty cents a piece. They were books that had been donated that CHEC doesn't have room to store.
Latte can read! We've been working with her on letter recognition and learning the sounds that each letter makes for a long time now. She likes the "Leap Frog Letter Factory" video and watches it at least once a week with Kevin. Friday morning I decided to try letting her sound out some letters and put words together. We found this old book, "Hats", that Gloria used when she was learning to read. Latte read the whole book! She can sound out any simple three letter word now.
This is the basketball hoop we were purchasing the day that DCFS called us to ask if we would take Snoopy. The kids ask every day if they can go out and play. They don't even seem to mind having to chase the ball when it rolls down the hill in our backyard. We may not end up with any future NBA stars, but everyone's having a great time playing together.
Do you ever feel like you spend some weeks just living in your car? Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to spend an entire day at home, not going anywhere at all. "Homeschooling" is such a misnomer. We are rarely in our actual house except to sleep and occasionally eat.
Daniel works for the phone company, Level 3 Communications. At work more and more he's been training the other techs since he's a bit of a "guru" whose been working in telcom for almost 13 years now. Even if there's something he's never handled before Daniel will figure out what's needed and find a solution. He's a natural problem solver and a good one-on-one trainer.
Today we had a visit from Snoopy's GAL (Guardian Ad Litem) which means his attorney. She's very nice and seems extremely concerned about his well being. She came to our house just after lunch to see how Snoopy was doing. We were told a lot more information about Snoopy's family situation. It sounded like his attorney is very happy with how he's adjusting to life at our house.
We're reading several books right now, but the main ones are Pocahontas and The Strangers and The Witch of Blackbird Pond which is about a girl in Puritan times. The Pocahontas book is the girls' favorite so far. The other one may be a bit advanced for them. We'll see. So far we're only a couple of chapters into the book.
Mother's Day was nice this year. I didn't get my usual breakfast in bed, but otherwise it was perfect. Daniel brought me flowers at church which he gave me between morning band rehearsal and first service. Danya and I matched somewhat. I was wearing the plaid slacks that my sister-in-law, Jennie, mailed to me a while back.
I've got a little catching up to do here. I lost my camera for several days and finally found it today. So I don't have nearly as many pictures of the past week as I'd like, but I'll make up for that in the coming week.You've got to accentuate the positiveAC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE
(Johnny Mercer / Harold Arlen)
(Mister In-Between)
I guess I should have listened to Bing Crosby because this little boy is a dream. He barely cries and even then it's more of a fuss than a cry. He sleeps all night long. He goes to sleep within 10 minutes of being put down at nap and bedtimes. He's snuggly one minute and completely independent the next. He's won the hearts of everyone in the house with his mischievous smiles and insatiable curiosity. I'm going to call him Snoopy because he doesn't say actual words but he speaks volumes with his actions. We love this kid to bits!
The Thornton Community Band was pulled together quickly and only had 8 weeks to rehearse, but everyone did an outstanding job. I feel like I learned a lot this season. The music was challenging enough to really make me work hard to master it, but still fun to play.
There were actually seven trombone players in our group, but I only managed to get a picture with two of them. Everyone else left too quickly after the concert. One of them, Mike (not holding a trombone in the photo) was the soloist. He was absolutely amazing. When I first met him I thought, "this is what a trombonist should seem like." He's just got a great persona, very laid back, laughs a lot, constantly encouraging others, and simply loves to play his instrument. He was one of the original organizers of the band, too. The other guy pictured here is Larry. He shared the second trombone part with me and put up with my teasing about his valve trombone. He's just a really nice guy, fun to know. I hope he comes back next Fall.
Kevin got in on the act after the concert was over. Danya and Gloria helped me flip the tops of the music stands over so they could be stacked in the racks. Kevin carried a stand across the stage to help put it away. It was bigger than he was, but he managed to carry it. I wish I'd gotten a good photo of him with it. He was fascinated by all the different kinds of percussion instruments and equipment. Then again, at his age anything you can bang on is cool.
As we were getting the kids packed and having our last fun lunch at Mickey D's (at the request of Coach) on Wednesday I kept remembering that scene in that Bruce Willis movie, Armageddon, just before the men get onto the space shuttle and they all start singing to Bruce Willis' daughter, "Leave-in, on a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again." They flew out Wednesday afternoon. I don't even know what city in California they went to. We're praying they end up somewhere safe. My heart's still breaking. Somehow I know that Coach and his baby brother will be alright, but I'm worried how Ma Bell will end up. I sent them with a letter for their new foster home and included our phone number. I wish that it weren't always so final when kids leave. We'll miss them a lot even though we didn't know them long.
Dad: (noun) also known as a "mobile playground," the main source of childhood income, airplane rides, living room floor wrestling matches, stricter discipline than mom has the heart for, and guaranteed permission for messy activities such as playing outside on muddy days and crafts involving paint, glue, and power tools. Also see: First Aide - parent in charge of any and all injuries involving blood.
We call this game "Don't Kick Me!" and it's one of Kevin's all time favorites. Coach quickly grasped how it works, not that it's complicated, but he definitely mastered the game. It starts by giving Kevin a good push so he's swinging high. Then you pretend to be looking at something else or just smiling and talking to him. As he swings towards you he sticks his feet straight out and yells, "Kick!". You immediately make an "Oof!" sound and pretend that he's kicked you so hard that you stagger. Then Kevin laughs hysterically and the game repeats. After the first time you're supposed to sternly look at him and say, "Don't you kick me!" sometimes while wagging your finger at him.
The twins turned 9 on Monday so we had a small water party at the park to celebrate. We didn't expect that they'd get to stay until their birthday, but I'm really glad they got to.
Daniel and I bought a ton of water balloons and gave each of the kids a water gun. We had a water balloon toss to start with and then just let them loose. We quickly discovered that we had to lay a few ground rules like "no aiming above the shoulders" and "no ganging up on a littler kid" but other than that it went well. They were all screaming and laughing and chasing each other around the park. It was great! Kevin just hovered near the water balloons picking one up one at a time and throwing it onto the grass to see whether it would break or bounce.
It started snowing the other morning. No big deal really, except that it was the first of May. Then Coach asked if he could go outside. I started to say, "no" until he pointed out that this doesn't exactly happen much in california. How can I argue with that logic? At the time we believed the kids would be heading home to CA possibly as soon as the next day.
Wednesday Daniel and the kids dropped me off at church for band practice and service. Then they cotinued on to find "Pump It Up!" which is a place full of giant inflatables to climb, bounce, and slide on. Unfortunately I didn't clarify the directions. I said it's just off of 36th on Wadsworth. I meant Highway 36 and Daniel thought I meant 36th street. TOTALLY different directions.
This Tuesday we rushed a bit to meet with our friend, Dawn, and her three girls at Fazoli's. She is one busy lady. She's a tax accountant who works free lance, so she's got a lot going on right now.
Afterwards we gave Dawn's kids a ride home in our "two ton tomato". It was fun filling up all 12 seats. I was really just returning a favor since Monday night I decided to take a long walk at around 7:30 at night. I ended up quite a ways from home when my knee went out on me again. It does that sometimes when I overuse it. I guess it didn't like that last huge hill I had to walk up. Since Daniel was at home with three kids already in bed he couldn't come get me. Instead I called and asked Dawn to come rescue me. She's such a good friend. She immediately came and drove me home.
Welcome to the wonderful world of foster care. They tell us Monday that the kids will be flying back to California on Wednesday. So we ask our friend, Tiffany, to watch baby Evan while we whisk the kids off to a whirlwind birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. They had a fantastic time and we gave them all a ridiculous amount of tokens.
